Pueros

Tamerlane's Boys

Chapter 1
Caucasians

(Samarkand, Uzbekistan, February 2002)

(Foothills of the Pamir Mountains, July 1347)

Timur was finally recovering from the shock a year previously of the death of his beloved father, a pious Muslim leader of the Barlas tribe, a settled agricultural Turkicised Mongol people living close to one of the great Silk Roads leading from China to Europe. At the same time, the nomadic Mongol hordes had lost control of the surrounding country, called at that period Transoxonia. However, a small mounted raiding party had chosen this moment to return to secure some plunder and came across the two carefree boys.

Three hours later, Timur was hobbling back to his town, his left leg maimed for life and with semen dribbling down his chin and legs. His friend was dead.

Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) swore vengeance not only on the Mongols but, raging at life's injustices and cruelties, at all who crossed him in future.

(Tiflis, Georgia, June 1386)

The dreaded Tamerlane, dressed splendidly in colourful silk gown with matching bejewelled turban and scabbard, was personally inspecting the latest large group of Georgian captives who had failed to flee in time from Tiflis [now Tbilisi] before the city was overrun by the conqueror's feared army. All of the captured Christians were terrified except for 10 years old Vissarion, son of a local noble. The boy did not think that the bearded Tamerlane's appearance matched his notorious reputation. However, the innocent pretty blonde-haired and blue-eyed lad was soon to discover otherwise as his compatriots, including most of his family, were beheaded in front of his appalled eyes.

Vissarion had heard tales about Tamerlane's apparent bloodlust, especially that of the sacking of Zarendj, capital of Sistan [now Zahedan in Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan], where the whole population was massacred for resistance and where the loot that could not be carried away was burnt. The boy had also learnt about the lesson given to potentially rebellious slaves when the bodies of 2000 who had revolted at Sabzavar [now Meshed in Iran] were mixed with mortar and brick to form a suitably salutary monument. The young Georgian now thought that the man who claimed descent from Genghis Khan (actually a false boast although the lad was not to know) was truly a monster but could not understand why he was spared the massacre of his fellow captives. The 10 years old was not to wait long for the answer.

Tamerlane, now 50 years old, had many wives, including some who were the widows of rivals he had slain during his ascent from obscure robber baron to feared ruler of swathes of Asia. However, most were acquired for reasons of state, not least the production of sons to inherit his conquests, as the conqueror preferred boys to women. The female consorts were kept within the confines of their homes, magnificent palaces located throughout the subjugated lands, whilst Tamerlane was accompanied by a coterie of young male catamites during his frequent campaigns away from his main base at Samarkand [now in Uzbekistan].

Vissarion's superlative beauty had caught Tamerlane's eye. Instead of having the boy decapitated, to add his young head to the pile that would form a tower outside the walls of Tiflis, the conqueror had the now traumatised 10 years old taken to his resplendent tent by two members of his personal bodyguard. The soldiers were attired in splendid uniforms, which included hats ringed with fur and crowned with metal spikes.

Vissarion was stripped of his plain apparel within the ornate canopy to have his sumptuous body carefully surveyed by Tamerlane who, as the boy was a Christian and not a Moslem and could be so changed, ordered a certain alteration to the lovely form. The conqueror considered that the amendment would be useful to preserve the 10 years old's immaculate loveliness far longer into the future than would otherwise occur and that having it performed sooner rather than later was best for all concerned.

The deeply humiliated Vissarion, completely unaccustomed to such naked display and handling, which had caused him to become shamefully erect, was then escorted by his guards to another tent. The boy's acute embarrassment was now compounded by being led nude through the huge military encampment to regular raucous commentary, which he could not translate but gained the gist of, from many of Tamerlane's soldiers.

The tent to which Vissarion was taken was not large and its sole furnishing, an old bloodstained collapsible trellis table with manacles fixed to each corner, increased the boy's deep unease. The young nude was rapidly chained face up and spreadeagled on the table whilst the overseer of the mobile facility withdrew his knife from the scabbard attached to his belt. The venerable implement had already gelded hundreds, including all of Tamerlane's previous eunuchs, and was to perform its function once more.

The aghast Vissarion, who had never heard of eunuchs but had guessed that something terrible was about to happen to him, struggled against his restraints as the blade was introduced to his small smooth ball sac. However, the boy found that movement, let alone escape, was impossible. The castrator proceeded quickly and expertly with his task as he cut open the 10 years old's scrotum and located the little testicles, which soon rested on the tabletop amongst some spilt blood. The man had been helped by the fact that the lad's cock had remained erect and was so out of the way as he castrated the youngster.

Some expert yet agonising stitching, using a needle and very thin cord made from gut, produced from the castrator's pocket, completed the man's task as he left an assistant to perform the necessary bandaging. Vissarion's sobbing and screaming had now stopped as the boy had fainted whilst his genital wound was being repaired.

(Tiflis, Georgia, August 1386)

Tamerlane found that making war gave him a voracious sexual appetite and so, on the evening of his return, he had the latest addition to his boy harem brought to his tent.

Vissarion's wound had healed and he had been well trained over the last two months in the full range of demeaning tasks that he would be expected to perform for the man who had murdered his family. The young Georgian, deliberately selected for his role at such a young age so that he would be too frightened and immature to consider matters such as vengeance, had been housed during this period in a large well-equipped opulent tent with the five catamites not taken on Tamerlane's countryside campaign. The other boys ranged in age from 11 to 14 years of age and came from various conquered peoples. Two other non-Moslems, both from northern India, had also been castrated.

The catamites were each closely supervised by a richly dressed emasculated adult, with Vissarion's personal attendant providing the 10 years old with verbal and practical instructions regarding his new duties, as well as seeing that the lad's genital healing process went without mishap. By the time of Tamerlane's reappearance, the older eunuch was very pleased with the younger eunuch's recovery. The scar on youngster's empty scrotum was barely visible and the forever flaccid cock dangling above, surprisingly big for one so young, provided pleasant ornamentation.

Vissarion was dressed for his first assignment with Tamerlane in a small but rich turban and short matching cloak and minuscule silk briefs, but nothing else. The boy had previously been subjected to an enema and careful bathing and grooming. The latter included the delicate light oiling of his body so that it glistened under both sun and torch light and the application of blue mascara to the lids and brows of his lovely sensuous eyes and of rouge to his sweet dimpled cheeks and upright nipples. The 10 years old's ears had already been pierced so that they could be adorned with small circular gold rings.

The new eunuch's virgin anus had also now been discreetly greased.

(Erivan, Armenia, June 1387)

It was as if Tamerlane had two distinct personalities, the brutal soldier and the artistic aesthete. Vissarion also now appreciated, from performing cup bearing duties whilst the conqueror confided with his closest generals, that the former had a purpose. Tamerlane's armies were not huge in number compared with his potential enemies and so, in order to keep his conquered territories subdued and encourage other lands to succumb quickly to his invasions, terror was employed, usually in the form of threat, reinforced by occasional terrible example, rather than action.

This policy had recently worked in Armenia where the capital city of Erivan [now Yerevan] had meekly opened its gates to Tamerlane's forces and given up their Emir and his family and followers. The ruler had angered Tamerlane by attacking and looting some caravans making the pilgrimage to Mecca and the conqueror responded by absorbing Armenia into his domains. The Emir and all his retinue were beheaded, apart from his son, Arman.

Vissarion was never to hear the words of the Arab poet, Zaid Vosifi, who described the consequences of the appearance of Tamerlane's armies as 'Blood poured from the people as from vessels' and 'The sky was the colour of a field of tulips'. If the eunuch had heard these lines, he would have considered them, even at the end of his years of service, as exaggerated, apart from a few notable exceptions. However, he was also aware that, for some dark reason, his master actually enjoyed inflicting awful revenge on those who crossed him, as the Emir of Armenia had just discovered and the people of the Persian city of Isfahan were soon to do.

Vissarion, dressed in splendid finery, was standing in the middle of Tamerlane's encampment located outside the walls of Erivan on the banks of the River Zanga. The boy was situated near the conqueror's tent, looking at the distant sacred mountain, for Mount Ararat was usually visible on clear sunny summer days such as this, when he saw pretty 11 years old brown-haired brown-eyed Arman, naked and escorted by two guards, emerge from within. The young Armenian Prince, clearly frightened and ashamed, was being led towards the nearby canopy of the castrator. The young Georgian eunuch shivered in sympathy.

Chapter 2
Retributions

The young Georgian eunuch finds a friend and witnesses at first hand another of the terrible retributions inflicted by Tamerlane on those that displease him.

(Erivan, Armenia, June 1387)

Eunuchs were limited to non-Muslim races, as Tamerlane was a respecter of Islamic tradition in deference to his late revered pious father. They might not have existed at all amongst the conqueror's closest retinue if it had not been for his acquisition of a taste for certain aspects of Persian, Turkish and Arabian culture.

The castrator's main work was to try to mend wounds suffered by Tamerlane's soldiers, sometimes involving the amputations of unsaveable or gangrenous limbs. Ear piercing was another sideline and was the reason why Arman had been brought to his tent because, as someone who shared the conqueror's religion, the boy would not be emasculated. However, this also meant that the lad would be introduced to his captor's bed sooner rather than later.

(Isfahan, Persia, September 1387)

Tamerlane had already subdued the east of Persia, a country weakened at the time by division amongst rival warlords and consequent constant dissension. He was now intent on adding central and western Persia to his domains.

On approaching Isfahan, both Vissarion and Arman were fascinated at the stark difference between the great deserts, bounded by the mountain chains which enclosed the Persian plateau, from which they were emerging and the sight of the wide basin at the bottom of which slept the ancient city. The most striking aspect was the sudden termination of the seemingly endless expanse of rock and sand and its replacement by the huge walled green oasis that lay ahead, with big trees bearing lush, verdant foliage. The bulbous domes of the Mosques showed above the canopy of vegetation glowing turquoise-green in the sunshine, with the cool blue tiles of many of the buildings, and the city's majestic bridges over the River Zayindeh, contrasting perfectly with the hot dry barren Persian countryside around it.

The two resplendently dressed 11 years olds, both riding nice ponies, were in the mounted entourage that formed the vanguard of Tamerlane's army. Despite being from traditionally rival peoples, the young Georgian and Armenian, sharing recent similar familial disasters and new roles in life, had become good friends, whenever possible platonically enjoying each other's company, aided by mutual speedy acquisition of the Turkish dialect spoken at the conqueror's court. They even compared experiences of their times in their master's bed, which were frequent as he enjoyed novelty and had promoted some of his other older catamites to non-sexual service.

Vissarion and Arman observed amongst themselves how tender and courteous Tamerlane was in private, a side of him unknown in public where he always displayed a fierce uncompromising visage, expecting obsequiousness from everyone he encountered. The conqueror's consideration extended to his bed. Although their master would not forego penetrative sex, he conquered the boys' virginity slowly and carefully, attempting not to cause his new young catamites unnecessary distress, in stark contrast to his other invasion activities. The first act of sodomy perpetrated on them had still been agonising but not as excruciating as it could have been if conducted more selfishly, and the lads were well cared for afterwards by their emasculated attendants, both former members of the travelling young male harem.

The anuses of Vissarion and Arman had since become more accustomed to the intrusion of Tamerlane's large cock because of the frequency of occurrence, although the conqueror's intrusions still remained painful. The young Georgian and Armenian now comprised half of the boy harem, with the former the only eunuch. However, the conqueror was on the lookout for a few more recruits as he considered a different young body every night of the week most desirable.

The terrified people of Isfahan opened the gates of their city to Tamerlane's notorious army, not wishing to anger the man. The conqueror and his entourage were accommodated in the magnificent palace of the deposed ruler whilst negotiations proceeded in respect of the final terms of the city's surrender. He was reclining on a couch, enjoying an evening meal with some of his closest advisers. As usual, the remaining four members of his boy harem were present to taste their master's food and drink and present the ornate silver dishes and goblet to him whenever required.

Arman was aware that it was his turn to share Tamerlane's bed later but it was not this knowledge that caused the young Armenian to vomit after tasting some grapes. It was the conqueror who was first to appreciate what had happened and he immediately sent for his trusted personal physician, with instructions to bring the strongest purgative. Luckily, the boy had not consumed too much of the poison and the doctor's medicine performed its function well. However, the lad was to be poorly for a few weeks and had to be left behind when his master and most of the army left to subdue other parts of central Persia.

The attempt to kill Tamerlane was not the first to be made and would not be the last. Enquiries were made as to possible culprits but no leads were found. As the conqueror did not know whether he had brought the assassins with him or they hailed from Isfahan, he took no punitive action other than have some servants beheaded for incompetence in allowing the fruit to be served in a poisoned condition.

Before leaving, the concerned Tamerlane had secretly visited Arman daily to check on the boy's progress. The conqueror also kindly left behind his physician to ensure his young catamite's full recovery, as well as Vissarion. Tamerlane was aware of the close friendship between the two lads and thought that the young Georgian's presence to nurse the young Armenian could only speed the lad's recuperation.

Arman had recovered significantly within two weeks of the departure of Tamerlane and most of his soldiers, not least because of the gentle caring ministrations of his friend. The two boys and their adult attendants were preparing their own departures to rejoin their master when many heavily armed citizens of Isfahan raided the palace. The 11 years olds could hear the sounds of fierce fighting taking place outside their opulent quarters as the small protective force left behind by the conqueror was overwhelmed.

Tamerlane's demands regarding tribute and control of Isfahan's affairs angered many of the populace and unrest had begun to ferment after his departure, eventually breaking out into revolt.

The door burst open and Vissarion and Arman could see that the guards posted at the entrance to their rooms had been killed. A number of men, murderous intent obvious in their eyes, now advanced, bloody scimitars and knives in hands, towards the tremulous youngsters. The Isfahanis knew that the 11 years olds were bumboys of the hated Tamerlane and were bent on ensuring that none of the conqueror's soldiers or servants was left alive within their city.

The unarmed servants of the boys bravely tried to shield their young charges from harm but were quickly cut down. Vissarion, exhibiting greater speed of thought than Arman, who was still weak in body and mind after his almost fatal experience, grabbed his friend's arm, saying "Follow me!" The two boys then jumped through an open window leading to a wide garden courtyard. They fled to one of many doorways on the other side, not knowing where it led. However, the lads were fortunate in their choice as the entrance, used only by servants, led to a myriad of narrow corridors in which they could temporarily lose themselves from their pursuers.

Vissarion and Arman eventually came to a dead end marked by a bolted door. They unbolted the barrier and hurried through to find a path that led to a roadway at the back of the palace. Noisy mayhem was evident, with people, many armed, rushing hither and thither, and the boys used the chaos to camouflage their escape by rushing into the moving throng. However, although no-one took any initial notice of the young escapees, they knew that they could not risk being amongst the crowd for long as their dress was not that of Isfahan. The lads therefore eventually chose to run down a quieter side alley. On this occasion, their selection of escape route did not seem to be a good one when they came to realise that the lane was actually a cul-de-sac.

Vissarion and Arman were worried about turning back as their pursuers might by now be looking for them in the road from where they had come but were beginning to think that they had no other choice when they spied a man in a yard off the alley. The Isfahani had obviously seen the boys as well because he was beckoning them to him.

Vissarion and Arman looked up the alley to the busy road many paces away and dithered at what to do. They then looked back at the man, a stonemason judging from the impedimenta scattered around his yard, and it was something in his eyes that encouraged the young Georgian to lead the young Armenian into the craftsman's workplace.

The stonemason, alarmed at what some of his fellow citizens were perpetrating and the likely awful consequences, was gathering some of his key possessions on a rather ancient horse in order to flee the city. He was unmarried and childless and lived on his own, but was also kindly. He had recognised from their attire that the boys, clearly frightened and in flight, were not of his people but could not leave them to their fate. He spoke some Turkish and, although not of Tamerlane's dialect, managed to put the 11 years olds at ease regarding his intentions by making it known that he meant no harm but rather was prepared to aid their escape.

The stonemason abandoned his plans for his own immediate personal flight as he could not leave the city with the boys in their current costume. The craftsman also realised that they had to be hidden quickly before others ventured this way. He therefore gestured the lads towards the safest place of concealment that he could think of, a stone sarcophagus just completed for a recently deceased Isfahani noble, knowing that no-one would tempt fate by looking inside.

The stonemason slid the heavy lid back and indicated to the boys that they should climb in but the lads were very reluctant to comply. Vissarion and Arman were afraid of lying were only the dead should be and that the act could be construed as sacrilegious. However, they were eventually encouraged to overcome their doubts and inhibitions by the sound of men running down the alley.

Vissarion and Arman had to lie in each other's arms in order to fit inside the sarcophagus and both could feel the other's body shiver in fear as darkness engulfed them when the heavy lid above was closed. Their trepidation increased when they heard the stonemason talking to other men in his yard. However, the conversation was short and everything soon went quiet apart from the distant sounds of rebellious conflict around the city.

Time passed and Vissarion and Arman became aware that dusk was arriving as the little shaft of light, beaming through the tiny slit that the stonemason had left uncovered at a corner of the foot of the sarcophagus to allow air inside, dulled. The boys also realised that an eerie silence had descended over Isfahan.

It was whilst moving to try to remove some pins and needles that had developed on the arm on which he was lying that Vissarion's hand brushed accidentally against Arman's cock and discovered that the genital appendage was hard. The young Armenian had become excited by his intimate proximity to his friend, whom he liked not just for his personality. Realisation of this fact now dawned on the young Georgian eunuch who, happy to please his companion, close in all senses of that word, began to rub the erection whilst his rosy lips searched for those of his fellow 11 years old.

Arman's silk trousers and underbriefs had been pushed down to his knees by the time the gentle manual attentions to his genitals, and his own fondling of his friend's superlative form, produced the first ever discharge of semen from his sexual organs, a feat that alas could not be repeated with Vissarion's body. The boys' embrace and kissing continued long afterwards until sleep finally overwhelmed them.

The moon was high in the sky and the stars were twinkling when Vissarion and Arman were woken by the sound of the sarcophagus lid being drawn back. The young Georgian hurriedly assisted the young Armenian to preserve his modesty by helping him to pull his briefs and trousers back up before eyes could appear above. The boys were apprehensive as to whom the eyes would belong but were relieved to discover that they pertained to the stonemason.

The craftsman helped a grateful Vissarion and Arman to climb out of their cramped hiding place and the latter blushed when he noticed that the stonemason had seen the patch of dried semen inside the sarcophagus. However, the man just smiled and said nothing about the evidence of boyish paramour. He instead encouraged the lads to stretch their lovely limbs and to toilet in a nearby gutter before inviting them inside his one-room living quarters, like the yard full of the tools of his trade. There, he had prepared his young friends a meal, simple but welcome.

After feasting, the stonemason encouraged Vissarion and Arman to discard their rich but obviously foreign clothing in favour of the rough tunics worn by Isfahani peasants and slaves, which the craftsman had acquired from a second-hand clothing trader. He tried to explain that wearing the garments would mean that the lads would not have to return to the sarcophagus as they could pass, despite their fair complexions, as slaveboys as long as they did not speak. The 11 years olds managed to gain the gist of his explanation despite the significant differences between the Turkish dialects each knew. They also succeeded in translating the bad news. Escape from the city was now impossible as the gates had been closed. No-one was to be allowed to flee as everyone was required to defend the metropolis from Tamerlane's expected retribution, anticipated sooner rather than later.

(Isfahan, Persia, October 1387)

Tamerlane's army laid merciless siege to Isfahan and the conqueror, not one to wait to starve cities into submission, was soon launching vicious assaults against the walls with catapults and men. Several breaches in the defences were quickly secured through which the conqueror's fierce avengers poured to reek havoc.

Thousands of the men, women and children of Isfahan were killed immediately and the rest were rounded up to await Tamerlane's pleasure, including Vissarion and Arman. The lads' attempts to explain their real status to their captors had proved fruitless as they were first beaten and then bound, their lies, of a type not uncommon amongst rightfully fearful prisoners, obvious by their dress and the fact that they were residents of the city. The stonemason's efforts to save the 11 years olds from their fates also proved vain. His entreaties, whilst he was being separated from them to join, because of his valued profession, the group who were to be spared the conqueror's terrible vengeance, were dismissed as mere pleas for a couple of favoured bumboys.

The tremulous Vissarion and Arman, hands tied behind their backs, were in one of many long lines of captives emerging from the various opened gates of the city, in front of each of which, where the queues terminated, were ever growing towers of decapitated heads. Only women prisoners with babes in arms were excused bondage. The looming frightful scene, slowly coming closer and closer, testified to the awful punishment that Tamerlane had decided to inflict on most of the 80,000 people of Isfahan for defying his will.

A number of soldiers stood before each gruesome tower, bare chests and scimitar blades dripping blood, waiting for the arrival of the next victims, who were swiftly and mechanically despatched regardless of age or gender. Other soldiers either helped to construct the dreadful bloody edifices with the freshly delivered gory building material or dragged the headless bodies away for disposal in vast pits, freshly dug nearby. Tamerlane, with his mounted bodyguards, rode from tower to tower to oversee his terrible retribution.

The appalled Vissarion and Arman eventually found themselves within the shadow of the grisly tower where their heads would soon be laid to rest. They could now clearly see the horrible expressions on the faces of many of those who had recently predeceased them to form part of the vile structure.

The aghast and acutely frightened boys' arms were then grasped simultaneously by soldiers and they were dragged to two others carrying scimitars whose blades were covered with congealing blood. The lads were forced to kneel by the side of the men, who pulled the hair of the 11 years olds forward to expose their lovely young necks whilst the swords were raised in readiness to decapitate more challengers to the will of the all-conquering Tamerlane.

Chapter 3
Tears

Vissarion and Arman face decapitation.

(Isfahan, Persia, October 1387)

This one word, shouted by the unmistakable voice of Tamerlane, immediately brought the brutal voluminous executions in front of one of the gates of Isfahan to a halt. Fortunately for Vissarion and Arman the angry bellow was heard where they were located.

The soldiers holding the hair of the two boys lowered their scimitars, dripping with blood, but not to behead the 11 years olds. They instead returned the sanguine weapons to their sides, let go of their next intended victims and turned round to see the dreaded conqueror, seated on his impressive black Arabian stallion and surrounded by his mounted bodyguard. The man's face was also purple with fury.

The soldiers, petrified at the sight of their enraged leader and wondering what was amiss, dropped their swords, walked forward, fell to their knees and bowed their heads. Nearby colleagues stopped what they were doing to adopt a similar stance whilst Tamerlane dismounted from his steed. Fear had now transferred from Vissarion and Armar to their would-be killers as the incensed conqueror loudly asked, as he approached the large pool of blood that marked the murderous scene, "Why are you trying to kill my servants?" The two men responded by laying themselves on the bloody ground in prostration whilst, with one speechless in fright, the other shouted "Sorry, Lord, we did not know that the boys were yours!"

Unfortunately for the soldiers, this entreaty did not seem to carry any weight with Tamerlane as he withdrew his own scimitar from its scabbard and proceeded to decapitate with speedy expedition the two prostrate executioners. There was complete shocked silence all around until the conqueror, now calming, ordered other soldiers to "Untie the boys and take them to my tent. Place the heads of these two," he continued, referring to the executed executioners, "on the tower with the others as a warning that no-one threatens my loyal attendants!"

Vissarion and Armar were as shocked as anyone at the turn of events. However, the boys, faces stained with drying tears, were also mightily relieved that the places on the grisly tower intended for their heads were now to be taken by those of the men who had proposed to decapitate them. The 11 years olds additionally experienced a sudden feeling of pride when they heard Tamerlane's words, especially his description of them as 'loyal'.

The young Georgian and Armenian were quickly but carefully raised to their feet by the bloodstained hands of four of the soldiers who had been engaged in transporting heads and bodies to their respective resting places. The men untied the lads' own hands before leading them away from the terrible scene. However, they had advanced only a few paces when the conqueror again shouted "Stop!"

The soldier escorts were quaking in fear as their leader approached. Tamerlane came to Vissarion first and gently took hold of the boy's chin. "Who did this to you?" he asked, examining the cuts and bruises on the 11 years old's pretty face. The young eunuch answered by advising the conqueror about the beating he and Arman had received after their capture whilst trying fruitlessly to explain who they were. Their master did not respond directly to the explanation but instead lightly brushed away some of the tears on the face of the young Georgian with his fingers before doing the same to that of the young Armenian and quietly saying "Return to my tent to where I shall send a good doctor whilst I address this matter."

As Vissarion and Armar finally and gratefully left the shadows of the gruesome tower, both were amazed for they could have sworn that they had seen dampness come to the dreaded Tamerlane's eyes before he turned to go back to his horse.

Tamerlane returned to his tent six hours later when darkness was descending, with his encampment now illuminated by many fires. Emasculated replacements for the slain attendants of Vissarion and Armar had seen to the boys' welfare. The eunuchs, both former catamites of the conqueror, had followed the doctor's suggestions for mending the 11 years olds' wounds, which were all luckily superficial, and had bathed, groomed and redressed them so that they were returned as closely as possible to their former immaculate forms.

Tamerlane ordered the captain of his bodyguard to fetch Vissarion and Armar from inside his tent. As the boys emerged, they saw people they recognised for kneeling in a line on the dusty ground was the group of eight soldiers who had caught and beaten them in Isfahan. The dumbfounded and terrified men's hands and feet had been bound and their mouths had been gagged. The eyes of some were shedding tears.

Tamerlane, holding a sabre in each hand, approached the 11 years olds and gave each of his surprised young catamites one of the swords before guiding Vissarion to one end of the kneeling line and Armar to the other. The conqueror then invited the boys to take their revenge by decapitating the aghast soldiers, whose heads were presented for the blade by attendant bodyguards.

The shocked and hesitant Vissarion and Armar looked at each other before the young Georgian led the way by raising his scimitar, which was closely followed in the air by the one possessed by his friend. The boys had never used a sword but that was not the reason for further delay in demonstrating their weaponry skills as the blades remained resolutely aloft. The 11 years olds had also never spilt the blood of others and were appalled at the prospect of doing so now, even in vengeance, but were afraid of Tamerlane's reaction if they declined his invitation. It was the young eunuch who eventually again took the lead.

Vissarion threw his scimitar to the ground and in a low quaking voice informed Tamerlane "Please, Lord, I cannot take revenge on these men!" Armar's sword also quickly fell into the dust and the young Armenian ran to stand by the young Georgian to show support for his friend. There was almost complete silence all around, disturbed only by the muffled sobs of some of the kneeling soldiers, as everyone waited for the reaction to the boys' defiance of the conqueror, notorious for his sudden rages, often fatal for the objects of his displeasure.

Tamerlane looked at his beautiful young catamites standing defiantly side-by-side and pondered awhile before quietly asking "Why not?" Such muted response surprised everyone, not least the boy to whom the question was addressed. Vissarion, encouraged by the conqueror's apparent mild calm, replied "Lord, the men do not deserve to die for they were only trying to serve you loyally."

"Did they deserve to die?" Tamerlane queried, pointing to the distant dark forms that were some of the putrefying towers of heads. Vissarion contemplated the question, knowing that his answer probably represented a defining moment in his relationship with the conqueror, if not his life, before finally giving his honest opinion. "Yes, Lord," the young eunuch said, "they deserved to die for they were disloyal!"

Something totally unexpected and unprecedented now occurred. Tamerlane smiled. No-one had ever seen the conqueror do so in public previously.

"You have bravery and wisdom beyond your tender years," Tamerlane, with clear pride in his eyes, advised Vissarion, "and I am happy to accept your judicious forgiving counsel." The conqueror then ordered the kneeling soldiers to be released and returned to their unit before entering his tent, gesturing to his two deeply relieved young catamites to follow.

Tamerlane sat on a chair and signalled Vissarion and Arman to him. The conqueror looked again at the boys' beautiful visages before placing an arm around each of the 11 years olds and drawing them to him. The young Georgian and Armenian had not been hugged by their master in this way previously and both realised that it was an expression of his happiness at their safe return.

Something else totally unexpected and unprecedented now occurred. Tamerlane cried. No-one had ever seen the conqueror do so in over 40 years.

Vissarion and Arman were astonished but, at that instant, both somehow managed also to assign forgiveness on the man who held them whilst his tears flowed profusely. The former forgave his castration and both forgave the massacres of their families and the subsequent debauchery of their young bodies. Instead, the boys began to reciprocate Tamerlane's now evident deep love for them. The dreaded conqueror had invaded and successfully conquered their young hearts.

Chapter 4
Mongols

Vissarion returns home.

(Tiflis, Georgia, July 1389)

The wealth of Isfahan had been plundered and returned to Samarkand, although Tamerlane himself would not make that journey for another four years, as he was busy with fresh campaigns. The walls of the city were pulled down and many of its main buildings wrecked, except for the mosques. However, most of the latter would fall into ruin in the years ahead as the populace to attend them no longer existed. In fact, it would take a couple of centuries for the metropolis to rise from the ashes of the conqueror's displeasure to become again a magnificent municipal oasis amidst the sand and rock of the Persian central plain. Today, little of its splendid architecture pre-dates the 16th century.

Tamerlane now headed back north to Vissarion's country, Georgia, as Mongols from the Khanate of the Golden Horde were raiding the domain. The capital city, Tiflis, still displaying the signs of devastation reeked upon it during the conqueror's previous visit, was reached in mid-summer.

Tamerlane no longer sought to destroy the local Christian population. He had two main reasons for this change in attitude. The first was practical, as he had come to realise that the annihilation of the infidel Georgians might have served Allah but not the conqueror's treasury. Much better, he now recognised, to let them live to pay regular harsh tribute and taxes. The second was spiritual. He now believed that, despite the sacrilegious beliefs of the populace, they could not be an overwhelmingly evil race if they could produce a son such as Vissarion.

Tamerlane had also changed his mind over the number of catamites he wanted in his service and now had only two, Vissarion and Arman. One of the others had sadly died of a fever in Persia whilst the fourth had been assigned non-sexual tasks. The conqueror was more than happy with the young Georgian and Armenian who were his closest servants, in all senses of that word, with the man sharing his most intimate thoughts with his 13 years old lovers.

Tamerlane's castrator had gelded many but not for his leader, whose eunuchs over the years were actually few in number. The surgical craftsman, a Persian, had been acquired during earlier conquests and now concentrated on amputations and his piercing sideline. However, the man knew that the conqueror always liked to have at least one gelding available for his bed and that, in a couple of years at least, he would once again be practising his skills on a young scrotum as Vissarion became too old to satisfy his master's passions.

Vissarion and Arman did not like everything that Tamerlane did but now perceptively recognised the reasons for many of his actions. The conqueror, like others before him such as Alexander the Great, was unhappy and restless if he was not campaigning. He was also driven by what he considered to be his divine mission, to become the greatest ruler that the world had ever seen, exceeding the achievements of Genghis Khan. The boys now knew that their master's claim to be a descendent of the famous Mongol was mere propaganda.

Vissarion and Arman appreciated that Tamerlane could not succeed in his aims without employing terror because of the inherent inability of his armies to control the lands that had been conquered without such awful recourse. Both knew that it was against the very nature of the conqueror to forego the fulfilment of his destiny, but wished that their master could adopt a different approach. However, neither could think of another option for the man to pursue other than retreat, which was impossible for him to contemplate.

Vissarion, in his answer to Tamerlane's question about the fate of the people of Isfahan, had expressed his true opinion. The boy was sorry for the innocents massacred but, in a cruel world, he believed that their awful ends were caused by their unwise leaders, who should have been more responsible when considering the repudiation of agreements with the conqueror whilst knowing the possible consequences. The young eunuch now saw that, given the wider strategic circumstances, his master had no other choice.

Vissarion and Arman also realised that Tamerlane had initiated such awful revenge not just for his own military reasons. The conqueror had thought that his beloved young catamites had been killed by the Isfahanis. After the experience of losing his best friend 40 years previously, their master, in deep but disguised grief, was not going to forego the pleasure of eliminating the people responsible for the boys' supposed murders.

Vissarion and Arman were beloved by Tamerlane and they now could not help but reciprocate that feeling, loving the dreaded conqueror, warts and all, despite the man's deserved frightful reputation amongst his many foes. The boys, whose immaculate beauty had blossomed even more as they grew older, proficiently attended to their master's various private needs, including those of his bed, and regularly fussed over him like a pair of mother hens.

No-one had known Tamerlane to accept previously the sorts of attention and comments made by the young Georgian and Armenian. However, all recognised that such tolerance indicated the development of a very close interdependence between the 53 years old and the two 13 years olds, a relationship no-one dare disturb. It secretly included the conqueror permitting the boys to enjoy each other's bodies whilst he watched, a pleasure appreciated even by the young eunuch as his prostrate was tickled by his friend's cock.

This intimate triple alliance was illustrated on arrival in Tiflis for, to Vissarion's surprise and delight, the treasures stolen from the ancient Sion cathedral had, on Tamerlane's secret orders, already been returned from Samarkand. The conqueror wanted to honour his beloved young eunuch by allowing the boy personally to oversee their restitution to their rightful places and even the restoration of infidel religious services. No-one had ever seen Tamerlane display such kind largesse or forbearance previously.

Tamerlane sent army patrols out to scour Georgia to locate the marauding Mongols, whom he then proposed to drive from his recently acquired domain. As the conqueror waited in Tiflis for reports, he gave permission for Vissarion to visit his father's brother who lived in remote countryside to the west of the capital. He also allowed Arman to accompany him, thoughtfully but unprecedentedly, and therefore amazingly, being prepared to forego both boys' sublime bodies during the 5 days that the excursion would consume to allow the friends to remain together.

Vissarion and Arman, riding their ponies, were escorted by the eight soldiers who had beaten them in Isfahan. Tamerlane had cleverly made the men the boys' personal bodyguards, realising that they would be grateful for their salvation, due to the young Georgian's entreaties supported by the young Armenian, and were now fully acquainted with what would happen if they allowed any harm to come to their charges. The cavalrymen, truly thankful for their lives, had performed their role loyally and proficiently during the last couple of years, developing respect and close reciprocated affection for the lads.

Vissarion's uncle, a Georgian noble with a large estate, and his family were at first alarmed to see some of Tamerlane's cavalry approach their villa, having been forced to hide from such soldiers two years earlier in order to survive. They appreciated that attitudes had since changed but were still relieved to observe whom the men were escorting.

Although Vissarion had grown since his uncle had last seen him, the boy's beautiful facial features remained unmistakable, causing instant recognition and leading to a pleasant family reunion. The boys' military escorts were happy to camp nearby whilst their young charges stayed in the villa, especially as they were well provisioned by their hosts with food and wine.

Arman was welcomed with politeness, his hosts' dislike for Armenians being overcome by the fact that the boy had been introduced by Vissarion as his best friend. Talk over the two nights and one day permitted for the visit was both sad and happy.

It was sad when the fate of Vissarion's immediate family, as well as that of many other known Georgians killed during Tamerlane's original invasion, was discussed. It was also sad when Vissarion confessed to his castration. However, conversation brightened when the young Georgian and Armenian disclosed the news of the restoration of the treasures to Sion cathedral and related some of their adventures, clouded only by descriptions of towers of skulls.

The boys' full roles in relation to the conqueror went unsaid but his hosts appreciated what they included and secretly lamented the fact. However, they also knew that the lads had no choice, were very well cared for, as evidenced by their visit, and could end up becoming very important personages as a result of their closeness to Tamerlane.

On the morning of the day of the boys' planned departure, Vissarion's uncle invited his nephew and friend to ride with him to view his lands. The man politely declined, with his nephew interpreting, the offer of protection from Tamerlane's cavalrymen, declaring that no Mongols had been reported anywhere near his estates. It was a lovely hot summer's day, with hardly a cloud in the sky, as the threesome ventured into the beautiful countryside, through the vineyards to the open fields beyond, where many sheep and cattle grazed peacefully.

After an hour or so, the threesome was approaching the brow of a hill, to gain a view of the magnificent vista beyond, when a large contingent of fierce mounted Mongols emerged from the other side. The trio immediately reversed direction in order to flee the raiding party but the uncle's rather old horse and the boys' ponies were no match for the fast steeds of their pursuers, who picked up pace to chase.

Vissarion's uncle was displaced from his horse by an arrow in the back whilst the boy himself was knocked from his pony by a Mongol who leapt at him, a fate also suffered by his friend. The young Georgian and Armenian soon found themselves resting sideways and facedown over enemy stallions, hands tied to feet under the animals' bellies, whilst men mounted alongside them guided their horses and young captives, potentially very valuable if the boys' rich attire was a true indicator, to their encampment. The uncle was left for dead behind.

Two hours later, the party reached the Mongol camp, where many more raiders were located. The frightened boys were released from their demeaning and uncomfortable bondage and taken to the Mongol leader, a scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache, who ordered the lads to be divested of their outer garments as he wanted to inspect their sumptuous clothing.

Despite the fact that the day remained hot and sunny, Vissarion and Arman both shivered as they stood, dressed just in skimpy tight white briefs of finest silk, in front of the fierce-looking Mongol leader, surrounded by many of his blatantly ogling compatriots. The leader called for another man to come forward and this warrior, obviously an interpreter of sorts, began to address the boys in a couple of languages until Georgian was understood by one of the scared 13 years olds.

"Who are you and where do you come from?" was the interpreter's initial question. Vissarion took on the responsibility of answering as the query was conveyed in his native tongue. "We live on a nearby estate," he lied, afraid of what would happen if the Mongols knew that they were Tamerlane's boys. The man conveyed the reply to his leader who responded whilst carefully continuing to examine the lads' discarded clothing.

"You are lying," informed the interpreter, "but you would be best advised to begin telling the truth for your own sakes." "I'm not lying!" responded Vissarion defiantly. "You might speak Georgian," the man retorted, "but your garb is of another land and too expensive for even a noble to buy. You have one last chance to tell us who you really are!"

"My father is very rich and imported the clothing," declared Vissarion, still hoping to deceive the Mongols. However, his claim met with further disbelief from the leader, who had now noticed something about the appearance of the two boys. He ordered some of his men to grab the arms of each 13 years old whilst others pulled down the lads' briefs.

The leader smirked when he observed that his supposition had been correct. He had noticed the different shapes in the bulges displayed at the front of the boys' last cover and now saw that one was indeed a eunuch.

"Georgians don't perform castrations, especially on their sons," commented the interpreter, after receiving further instruction, to a blushing and terrified Vissarion. The man had also joined his leader in exhibiting a smile on his face and experiencing growing arousal under his trousers. "Tell us truthfully who you are," he continued, "or your companion will soon have no balls as well!"

Vissarion was happy that Arman would be oblivious to the warning, knowing none of the local language. The young Georgian also could not let the threat be carried out and so, believing that further lies were going to be fruitless and that the leader meant business, he confessed to his true status and that of his friend. The smiles on the faces of all of the Mongols increased when the happy interpreter gave them the news. The men had heard of the conqueror's infatuation with his two bumboys.

The delighted smirking leader thought for a while before issuing some orders. The interpreter then advised Vissarion "You are both to follow your calling by servicing us all with your orifices. You will then be whipped for your attempt to deceive us whilst your companion will still lose his balls. They will be returned to Tamerlane with the message that, if he does not want a pair of young heads to follow the pair of testicles, he is to leave Georgia!"

Chapter 5
Pursuits

Vissarion and Arman face up to the unpleasantaries that the Mongol leader has in mind for them.

(Georgia, July 1389)

"No!" the young Georgian then exclaimed but to the surprise of the Mongols the word was shouted not in fearful trepidation but with ominous intimidation.

"We are Tamerlane's boys," continued Vissarion in a strong loud unfaltering voice that even frightened Arman, "Tamerlane's! You will not harm us because if you do Tamerlane will find out who you are and then pursue you and all of your kin to the ends of the world. He will not rest until he has captured all of you and all of your families. You will then all die slowly and horribly and towers will be made of your heads. Be aware of who we are. We are Tamerlane's boys and you will therefore not harm us but rather let us go. You will also give me the plunder that you have taken from Georgia and then leave my country to return to your own. You will do so because we are Tamerlane's boys!"

Vissarion's words had not yet been translated by the interpreter but the very tone had caused quiet to descend on the encampment, with the only sounds heard being that of the birds and other wildlife. The astonished interpreter, smile wiped off his face, then managed to convey the young eunuch's message to his leader, whose smirk was also lost as his jaw dropped. The eerie silence lasted a while whilst the scar-faced Mongol considered the 13 years old's demands.

The leader's smile eventually returned but this time it was one of obsequiousness not pleasure. The man announced, through his interpreter, "I was, young master, just jesting about our intent. We, of course, mean Tamerlane's boys no harm. I apologise for our ignorance in not realising whom we had captured. Please, please accept your clothes back and accept our hospitality whilst we ready the items you require!"

Four hours later, the young catamites, riding good steeds and leading donkeys laden with loot stolen by the Mongols, met up with their amazed bodyguards who were tracking the route taken by the boys' abductors. The men had been alerted by Vissarion's uncle, who was badly wounded but not dead and had managed to remount his returning loyal old horse to ride for help.

The young Georgian managed to allay quickly the bodyguards' second concern. The eunuch knew that they would be worried that Tamerlane would blame them for allowing their charges to fall into danger and so told them that he would ensure that the conqueror recognised that the boys' capture was not their fault. The soldiers then happily escorted the 13 years olds back to the villa of Vissarion's uncle, relieved at the lads' miraculous survival and safe return, and their own continued wellbeing.

Vissarion and Arman returned to Tiflis two days later, after saying appropriate goodbyes, and arrived a day after schedule, to find Tamerlane deeply concerned for their welfare. The boys recounted their adventure to the astonished conqueror, whose eyes shone with a mixture of acute relief and immense pride, the latter reinforced by inspecting the Mongol animals and returned pillage in the lads' possession. However, his two young lovers had to work hard to persuade their master not to seek vengeance on their captors, finally managing to persuade him by suggesting that he would be dishonouring their word if he picked out that particular enemy raiding party to pursue.

That night, Tamerlane held a feast in the palace he had appropriated from the former Georgian ruler, located on the on one of the highest terraces on which Tiflis was built above the River Kura. His boys were the guests of honour. The largesse extended to the whole army, as food and drink luxuries were distributed by the leader to salute the young heroes, in whose name many toasts were therefore awarded. Afterwards, the conqueror and his catamites enjoyed a night of sublime passion in an ornate bedroom, through the large window of which could be seen the many lights of the city below and the full moon and stars above.

Tamerlane, after being disrobed as usual by his boys, sat as usual naked in a chair whilst he watched his young companions undress themselves before lying in each other's arms on top of the conqueror's immense bed. Vissarion and Arman luxuriated in the feel of each other's bodies and the reciprocated touch of their partner's hands and mouth. The young Armenian's cock was hard long before he had reached the bed and now it was oozing precum as its rigidity was increased by the sweet tingling caresses of young Georgian fingers and lips.

Arman repaid Vissarion's penile attentions by invading with his forefinger his friend's rectum, cleansed as usual like his own through an earlier enema. The respective actions caused both boys to writhe and moan in sexual bliss. The watching Tamerlane, stroking his own massive throbbing erection as he observed the delightful spectacle, uttered his own loud groan as he splashed himself with his own sperm.

Vissarion was by now well versed in knowing when Arman was close and so he let go of his friend's vibrating penis to reposition himself for a different invasion of his anus. The young Georgian lay face-up and held his legs in the air to present his lovely pink sphincter for young Armenian incursion, which soon arrived. The boys' ecstatic moans increased in frequency and volume as cock and prostrate were treated to wonderful sensations that were repeated throughout both 13 years old bodies.

Vissarion had never really known genital orgasm but did not believe that anything could be as delicious as the pleasures he experienced as a result of Arman's careful and loving acts of sodomy. The young Georgian joined his friend in yelling in ecstasy when he eventually felt young Armenian semen flood deep inside him.

Tamerlane waited for Vissarion and Arman to retreat from their climactic highs before joining the boys on the bed. His catamites licked away the common sign of their master's delight at watching their lovemaking before turning their oral and manual attentions to the man's lips, nipples and re-energised cock. The young Georgian then accepted another anal offensive by the conqueror, the initial pain that he always felt because of the bigger invading force quickly subsumed by the return of prostrate pleasure as his rectum was vigorously ploughed. The boy soon issued another matching ecstatic shout as further sperm impregnated his innards.

Vissarion and Arman then returned their attentions to Tamerlane's body in order to reinvigorate the man's softened cock, an aim quickly achieved. After half an hour's licking and sucking and fondling, the conqueror's vertical member was ready to erupt again and this time it was young Armenian territory that succumbed to anal conquest.

The threesome now slept awhile until Tamerlane woke and gently shook his nude bed companions into consciousness. More licking, sucking and fondling then took place before Vissarion swallowed his master's seed, an act to be replicated by Arman just before dawn.

Arman was rewarded with his master returning the favour. Tamerlane engulfed the boy's own re-hardened cock in his mouth whilst Vissarion kissed his companion on the lips and gently played with his friend's nipples. The young Armenian was soon tightly gripping the bedcover as his lovely bottom rose upwards towards the main source of bodily rapture to compensate it for its actions with copious amounts of 13 years old semen, the taste of which the conqueror thoroughly enjoyed.

The next day, after the not uncommon night of intense passion, Tamerlane gave his young catamites two splendid white Arabian stallions to replace their ponies, which they had returned to riding after the animals had been located and rounded up by the lads' bodyguards on the estate of Vissarion's uncle. The conqueror declared that it seemed that his boys had become conquerors themselves, if only of men's minds, and so deserved appropriately worthy mounts. He also sent one of his best physicians to the uncle to speed his recovery from his bad but non-fatal wound.

Whilst Tamerlane was conferring with his generals about how to drive the various groups of Mongols from Georgia, Vissarion and Arman went to inspect some of the reconstruction projects their master had ordered in Tiflis. "What I pulled down, I put back up in your honour!" the smiling conqueror had told the happy young Georgian.

The boys immediately recognised the person in charge of the works, who was talking to some of his foremen. The man was initially shocked to find himself being hugged by two beautiful, richly dressed young boys until he realised who they were.

The stonemason, who had rescued Vissarion and Arman in Isfahan, had been well rewarded by Tamerlane with gold and an important new role. He had originally been sent to the conqueror's hometown of Shakhrisabz to supervise the completion of the magnificent tomb that his new master had commissioned for himself there, before being sent to Samarkand to start work on the magnificent tomb that his new master had also puzzlingly commissioned for himself there. However, he had then received a command to travel to Tiflis.

"You'd better not show too much delight in seeing me again," the man joked, "or Tamerlane might become suspicious of our relationship!" Vissarion and Arman released their hold on their former rescuer and joined in his laughter before trading news of what each other had been doing in the previous two years.

Vissarion and Arman were never to know that one of the reasons for the man's interest in their welfare in Isfahan had been his physical attraction towards them, an appeal that he had been too shy and considerate to confess or act upon. However, the stonemason was still happy to be a platonic friend of the boys who, in the years ahead, would always look him up whenever they could.

(Banks of the River Kuban, Khanate of the Golden Horde, November 1389)

With these aims in mind, Tamerlane had pursued the Mongols into their own territory until the onset of winter had forced him to a temporary halt. The conqueror encamped with the main elements of his army on the banks of the River Kuban [now in southern Russia], which ran into the Sea of Azof, an inlet of the Black Sea. Nearby towns and villages were plundered for the provisions the army would need to sustain itself during the winter respite.

The countryside all around was to be cold and snow-covered for months and so Tamerlane concentrated on pursuits other than war whilst waiting for spring. He practised his horsemanship by playing a game with his mounted bodyguard whereby a large rag ball was encouraged by scimitars towards a line defended by opponents. The conqueror was pleased to observe that Vissarion and Arman, despite their diminutive size compared with the horses they rode, were as good as many of his cavalry at the exhilarating pastime.

Tamerlane also hunted for enjoyment and to supplement camp rations. He was particularly pleased when successful in tracking and killing bears but had been elated to see his boys bag one of their own. Vissarion and Arman, now trained in the use of a sword, had begged to be given the opportunity to fight the cornered animal and the conqueror gave them permission, despite his strong reservations. However, he could not resist their entreaties, especially when they were backed up by pleading beautiful young blue and brown eyes.

Tamerlane had grimaced when Vissarion and Arman had dismounted to tackle the large angry savage beast and almost intervened before combat was engaged, being very afraid for the welfare of his boys. However, he had desisted and been rewarded with a quick skilful kill and no damage to his beloved catamites. The creature's fur was to adorn the conqueror's bed throughout the winter, keeping him and his young lovers very warm during the freezing nights.

Tamerlane also tackled chess, a pursuit at which the seemingly strategically astute Arman in particular showed great proficiency. The conqueror was good at the game but not as good as some of his adult opponents who fawningly deliberately lost to him. However, the young Armenian did not display similar consideration and regularly routed his master, whose dislike of reverse was always disarmed by his catamite's gorgeous smile in victory.

Vissarion was not as good at the pastime as his friend but had a go and was gracious in frequent defeat. The young Georgian's speciality appeared to be in telling the many folk tales of his homeland that he retained in his mind and which often entertained Tamerlane and Arman during the long dark winter evenings, whilst sexual passions were temporarily sated and spent.

Tamerlane had also come to appreciate the eunuch's sagacity, ahead of his tender years, and always listened to his advice and suggestions, now regularly and confidently proffered without solicitation, something that the man had not allowed previously. The conqueror had additionally noticed that, when he did not follow such counsel, his young catamite had subsequently been provided right more often than not, although the boy never commented on the fact.

One night, Tamerlane woke and lay looking at the beautiful faces of the boys sleeping next to him, naked bodies warmed under the bearskin. At that moment, the conqueror wanted this winter to last forever.

(Banks of the River Kuban, Khanate of the Golden Horde, March 1390)

Chapter 6
Moscow

Vissarion and Arman enjoy some kind hospitality whereas a certain 10 years old resents that afforded to him.

(Banks of the River Kuban, Khanate of the Golden Horde, March 1390)

The Empire, also called the 'Kipchak Khanate', had its first capital at Sarai Batu near Astrakhan on the lower Volga and later at Sarai Berke on the Volga near present-day Volgograd. Its ascendancy terminated the rise of the state of Rus, ruled from Kiev, a city razed by the invaders in 1240.

Under the Golden Horde, the Russian principalities retained their own rulers and internal administration. However, they were tributaries of the Khan, who confirmed princely succession and exacted exorbitant taxes. The Khans themselves were under the nominal suzerainty of the Great Khans at Karakorum.

In the early 14th century, the Mongols of the Golden Horde adopted Islam as their religion. Thus, Russia was exposed to both Asian and Muslim civilisation. However, a loss of central control had resulted in internecine warfare among the subsidiary Mongol and Tartar leaders, some of whom conducted such independent and ill-advised adventures as the raids into Georgia. The loss of authority by the Khans additionally led to attempts by the Russian Princes to end tributary payments. Thus, the Empire of the Golden Horde was in decline towards the late 14th century and it was upon this scene that the dreaded Tamerlane now intruded.

From his winter base on the banks of the River Kuban, the conqueror chose not to make first for Astrakhan or the capital, Sarai Berke, in the north-east. Instead, he decided to pursue the particular Mongols who had been responsible for raiding Georgia and who were retreating before him towards the north-west. He had received intelligence that they were based in the vast forests south-east of a distant city called Moscow.

(Moscow, Principality of Muscovy, March 1390)

A Prince, Ivan Kalita, who ruled from 1325 to 1340, turned the small town into the capital of the Muscovy Principality, commissioning the first stone structures, even though funds were scarce because of the huge annual tribute paid to the Khan. He was also instrumental in moving the residence of the Metropolitan, the patriarchal leader of the Orthodox Church, to his city, so making it Russia's main spiritual centre.

Ivan Kalita's grandson, Dmitry Donskoy, Prince from 1359 to 1389, had strengthened the influence of Moscow and built the city's first walls. He also rebelled against the Khan's hegemony, which had so drained his peoples' resources, winning the first military victory over the Mongol army in the history of ancient Rus at Kulikovo Field in 1380, making him a popular hero. However, the enemy regrouped successfully and Moscow was brought back under the Khan's overlordship two years later, being burnt yet again and with some important nobles losing their second sons as permanent hostages against future resurrection. One of these was Nicolai, aged 2.

Very pretty blonde-haired blue-eyed Nicolai, now 10 years old, was making the annual visit to Moscow to see his family, permitted to all the young hostages by the Mongols for two reasons. The first was to prove that the boys were still alive and being well looked after. The second was to re-establish familial bonds that would discourage their fathers and elder brothers from supporting future dissension against Khanate suzerainty.

As usual, the trip from the Mongol encampment, far to the south-east, was both happy and sad. There was much joy at the annual reunion and many tears at the yearly departure one week later.

(Near Azof, Khanate of the Golden Horde, April 1390)

Tamerlane had considered the option but had decided that assaulting the mercantile centre would be too much of a diversion from his main objective. He also reasoned that he could always return later to plunder the port. He therefore accepted the presents and demanded free provisions for his army to encourage him to move on. The people of Azof thought that the requisitions, although significant and very costly, were a small price to pay for salvation, as was the request to host some visits from members of the conqueror's entourage.

Tamerlane's lines of communication with his own domains were now stretched and he had been encountering difficulties in obtaining certain supplies. The most distressing problem had been in securing adequately fine replacement clothing for Vissarion and Arman, who were not only rapidly outgrowing their present costumes but also regularly damaging them because of their playful escapades. Attire obtainable from local communities had not matched the desires for his boys of the conqueror, in terms of quality of cloth or workmanship. In fact, the two 13 years olds had had to use all their charms to discourage their master from beheading several poor tailors. However, Italian clothing and craftsmanship were renowned and so the young Georgian and Armenian were despatched to Azof with their bodyguards to acquire new finery.

Vissarion and Arman were treated by the citizens of Azof as if they were royalty, Tamerlane's boys even being welcomed to the walled city by the Governor himself. A formal party escorted the young Georgian and Armenian to the metropolis' best tailors, all of whom measured the wonderful 13 years old bodies before offering the best materials and designs for the new clothes, for which there would naturally be no charge. However, after the fresh garb had been ordered, the lads, who had never previously seen the sea or large ships and who were now both bored with and embarrassed by all the attention, asked permission to explore the busy harbour alone.

The Azof escorts of Vissarion and Arman were very reluctant to grant the request but also very fearful of the possible consequences of denying the wish, as they were after all dealing with Tamerlane's boys. The lads' bodyguards were also worried, not wanting another scare after what had happened during the visit to the young Georgian's uncle. However, they succumbed to the entreaties of the 13 years olds, now being as vulnerable to their beautiful pleading eyes as the conqueror.

Vissarion and Arman left their bodyguards to be hosted by their Azof escorts in a harbour tavern whilst they proceeded down the quayside, amazed at the sight of the many boats and the sea beyond. "No cheating by secretly following us!" were the young Georgian's final words, issued to the bodyguards with a disarmingly sweet smile, so ruining one of the men's plans.

The Mongols had let the Genoans keep Azof because of their mercantile expertise and the city's trading importance. Ships came to the port from all over the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and many different types were visible from the quayside. There were, for example, improbably squat Italian galleons with high fore and aft turrets contrasting sharply with sleek Levantine caiques and Arab dhows. Vissarion and Arman discussed the various attributes of them all as they walked, wondering whence they came and what purpose certain seemingly incongruous parts served. The boys were also absorbed at the sight of the multifarious skin colours and garments displayed by the seafarers and citizenry.

Vissarion and Arman came alongside one boat, apparently being readied to sail and crewed largely by people with black skin, a pigmentation they had not seen previously. The bearded Arab captain saw the beautiful richly-attired boys approach and noticed their interest in his vessel. Being a cosmopolitan trader of many years standing, the man knew several languages and used some of them to try to communicate with the lads. He met with success when he spoke Turkish.

Vissarion and Arman could interpret most of the particular Turkish dialect spoken by the captain and accepted his kind invitation to board his vessel for a look around. They were also pleased to accept his hospitality to enjoy a drink of fresh orange, their walk and debate under a warm sun having made them thirsty.

When the boys later awoke, they found themselves chained naked in the hold of the Arab's ship, which was now at sea.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, April 1390)

Because of their importance in helping to maintain an uneasy local peace, the boys were well cared for by the Mongols, a retinue of slaves from southern Rus looking after their needs, including their education. Their accommodation, food and clothing were the best that could be provided and they went unmolested despite the attractiveness of several to their captors, many of whom were temporarily absent seeking plunder elsewhere. However, hormonal development had caused some of the young male hostages to toy with each others' bodies, some forming stable partnerships. Nicolai had up until the present resisted the regular advances from some of his friends, who liked the way in which the 10 years old was blossoming into the prettiest member of their group, but he was now beginning to experience sexual desire for the first time.

Before Nicolai's visit home, he had started to think about succumbing to one of the approaches, which were becoming even more frequent. However, such thoughts had been subsumed by the acute homesickness, now worse than ever, that he felt every year after returning to the Mongol encampment. The deeply morose boy just wanted to be left on his own to brood and the best efforts of his friends could not encourage him to emerge from his lonely melancholy.

The 10 years old cried quietly as he lay on his bed thinking of his loving family, whom he would be unable to see again for another eleven months.

(Sea of Azof, April 1390)

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, April 1390)

Chapter 7
Redress

Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai experience a few very unpleasant days.

(Sea of Azof, April 1390)

Both Vissarion and Arman disliked being naked in front of others, apart from themselves and Tamerlane, an attitude fostered by attitudes common to their peoples, who considered such display very shameful. They especially hated being nude now for many of the largely black crew had come to ogle at their bare white 13 years old forms, although none dared risk the captain's wrath by molesting the delectable creatures. The young Georgian was particularly embarrassed as he recognised, although he did not understand the men's language, that many commented amongst themselves about his gelded genitals. His humiliation was compounded when some pointed at his groin and laughed. However, his young companion was discomforted even more by observing the Arab begin to ready, what looked like, an area in which to match the appearance of the young Armenian's smooth whole sexual organs to those of his friend.

The Arab had cleared a space on the hold floor nearby and had hammered four metal rings into the wood, at locations that would be appropriate for binding the hands and feet of a boy in order to spreadeagle him immovably. Arman's deepest fears seemed to be confirmed when the ship captain then attached strong leather straps to the rings and placed a bowl, containing a small sharp knife and a long thin cord, in the middle of the now otherwise empty area. The young Armenian's trepidation was not assuaged when the man had then departed, knowing that his abductor was probably now just waiting for his 13 years old body to be purged thoroughly before performing the emasculation. The lad knew that this should not take too long for both he and his friend had never been at sea before and had suffered badly, during the day or so that they had now been aboard the vessel, from the sickness that many new mariners encountered during maiden voyages.

The rolling of the Arab's boat had caused both Vissarion and Arman to become white-faced and to vomit regularly, even though the movement was gentle as the sea was calm, with the wind very light. The boys' bodies were therefore less pleasant than usual for the crew to ogle at but this was compensated for by amusement at the lads' affliction. However, after another day, their illness began to wane and a black man came to clean the 13 years olds, happy to perform an otherwise distasteful chore because of the opportunity it afforded for an intimate exploration of the delicious young forms.

During their time together in the hold, Vissarion had tried his best to comfort Arman, who was obviously petrified at what was going to happen to him in the short-term and both of them in the long-term. However, his efforts were undermined by an inability to prevent their abductor from proceeding with his plans for the boys. This was emphasised when the ship captain, assisted by two crewmen, came to unchain the young Armenian from the wall of the hold and tie the terrified 13 years old, struggling fruitlessly, to the floor instead.

The Arab then kneeled between the spreadeagled young Armenian's legs and used the cord to bind the base of the 13 years old's ball sac tightly, so cutting off the blood supply. He followed this up by holding the boy's rapidly expanding cock in one hand whilst he introduced the knife to the junction between the two smooth scrotum orbs with the other. The ship captain ignored the shouted entreaties emerging from the mouths of both Arman and Vissarion, instead smiling downwards at the face of his imminent victim before asking sarcastically "Don't you want to be a eunuch like your friend?"

Arman screamed "No, please, no!" "Well, too bad," the Arab replied, with a continued broad smirk, "as you'll be much more valuable to me without your testicles!" The man then aimed his blade in readiness to begin the necessary cutting.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, April 1390)

Accordingly, Nicolai was not at first too upset at being tracked down and cornered by Mongol hounds, from whose jaws the boy had escaped by climbing up a tree. The dogs were soon joined and controlled by their human masters, who ordered the tremulous 10 years old back to earth so that they could escort him back into captivity. The dejected young Muscovite recognised the utter defeat of his intentions and meekly complied, hoping that his captors would not seek to punish him for his attempt to flee from their clutches. Unfortunately, this wish was not to be granted.

The Mongol leader believed that he had to secure redress from, and make an example of, the young escapee. Accordingly, on Nicolai's return, he had the horrified boy stripped and suspended from a strong tree branch, ready to be flogged in front of the other hostages as a lesson to them all. The terrified young Muscovite, as ashamed at his nudity as the faraway young Georgian and Armenian, saw the tall muscular bare-chested warrior, who would perform the chastisement, approach with a heavy whip. The 10 years old could not prevent his cock from humiliatingly gushing a long stream of urine at the frightful sight.

The other appalled boy hostages saw the sturdy Mongol take up position behind their younger compatriot and uncurl his leather implement to practise a few stokes into thin air. Nicolai heard the crack of the whip and felt its draft and now could not prevent himself from begging for mercy. However, none was to come and instead the 10 years old's entreaties soon turned into shrieks as the first expert blow landed across his back, immediately creating a stripe whose colour darkened swiftly from white to purple.

At the same time that Arman was pleading "No, please, no" in the centre of the sea of Azof, Nicolai was uttering the same phrase, albeit in a different language, in the middle of the southern forests of Rus, and equally fruitlessly.

The Mongol took his time when inflicting the further nine blows of the whip across his boy victim's rear, wanting the 10 years old to relish the agony of each hit. Nicolai swayed under the tree branch, with the rope, connecting his wrists to the wood, biting severely into his skin in response to each excruciating strike. Meanwhile, the torment of the pain that had overwhelmed the boy, combined with the tears that filled his lovely sensuous blue eyes, prevented the 10 years old from noticing what his anguished but also amazed compatriots had observed. The front of the naked young Muscovite's sublime body sported a full vertical erection, oozing clear liquid.

By the time the requisite ten stokes had been applied, Nicolai's back and buttocks displayed the same number of purple and brown stripes. Some of the hits had cut the skin, causing blood to trickle down his body and onto the grass below. However, no immediate action was taken to alleviate the boy's injuries or hurt as he was to be left to hang from the tree for a couple of hours, contemplating the folly, futility and inevitable consequences of his attempted flight. His compatriots, sufficiently chastened at the spectacle never to consider emulating the 10 years old's escapade in future, walked back sadly to their tent as ordered, frustrated at being unable to help for now. However, their newly reaffirmed attitude to escape was still not shared by the shamed agonised youngster.

As Nicolai was left alone with his agony and thoughts, still impervious to the fact that his cock had maintained full rigidity whilst his bare body now swayed more gently under the branch, he swore to himself that he would sometime try again to leave this place. However, his intent was now centred less on a desire to return to his family and more on a thirst for vengeance. The boy did not yet know how he could turn his new desire into reality but vowed that he would find a way.

In fact, the foreign personalities who would help Nicolai to achieve his aim were, at that same instant in time, in maritime peril.

(Sea of Azof, April 1390)

The displeased captain climbed the steep steps to the daylight above to see what all the noise and fuss was about. He did not like the answer as the arms of many of his crew pointed to a large oared galley, clearly making rapid headway towards them. The man's boat could attain significant speed but not in the current light unfavourable wind, which was requiring his vessel to tack slowly to make progress. However, the galley, with its many oarsmen, had no such problem, being able to bear down on the Arab ship in a straight line and with considerable velocity.

The Arab wondered whether, after all, Tamerlane's boys had been spotted on his boat in Azof's harbour. He also questioned whether he should take a chance that that was not the case and see what the people on the approaching galley wanted, or take no chance at all and throw the evidence into the sea, still chained so that it would sink. The galley was still distant and so the action should not be seen and, if asked, the captain could then always say that the boys had briefly visited the ship before leaving again, inviting an inspection of his vessel to attest to the fact.

Fortunately for the welfare of Tamerlane's boys, their bodyguards and the citizenry of Azof, but unfortunately for his own, the Arab's greed overcame his good sense and he opted for the first course of action, a literally fatal mistake.

(Near Azof, Khanate of the Golden Horde, April 1390)

In fact, Tamerlane's grief and fury were beginning to encourage him to begin his personal decapitation of the soldiers when the flap of his tent opened and Vissarion and Arman ran in unannounced to hug their distraught master. They had been redressed in some of the latest finery provided by the tailors of Azof. However, the conqueror did not notice as he grasped his two boys closely to his body.

"Are you alright?" Tamerlane eventually managed to ask before, in response to affirmative answers, he began to sob. It was the third time that Vissarion and Arman had been in serious peril since the man had known them and his relief at yet another miraculous escape was profound. Whilst he held his beautiful boys close to him and cried with happiness, the conqueror determined that he would never let something similar happen again.

Tamerlane's army advanced towards the north-east one week later, the exact amount of time that it had taken the conqueror to secure appropriate redress for abducting his boys from the Arab sea captain and his crew. It had taken the whole of this period for the men to die horribly and very slowly.

The citizenry of Azof were mightily relieved to see Tamerlane's soldiers leave the city's environs. They were also happy to reward richly the 9 years old, easily unnoticeable because of his insignificant stature, whose claim, to have seen Vissarion and Arman on a certain Arab's boat, was the only clue they had to the mystery of the 13 years olds' disappearance. The complement of the Italian galley that had actually made the successful rescue was similarly compensated for the invaluable help that had saved the port and its populace from certain destruction. They had set out with many other ships to try to earn the massive guerdon offered by the municipality for saving the young Georgian and Armenian. They had been lucky enough to spy the right ship, overtaking and boarding the vessel just in time to thwart the belated attempts of the kidnapper to dispose of his young captives overboard.

Vissarion and Arman again used their charms to save their bodyguards and restore them to their former roles, but only after accepting the condition that they would never again try to dissuade the soldiers from performing their watchful duties. However, the conqueror's ambition that his boys should never anymore be endangered was to be seriously confounded amidst the dense forests of southern Rus, to which they were all now heading.

Chapter 8
Trees

Vissarion and Arman are about to meet an old acquaintance.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, October 1390)

Tamerlane had acquired much booty during the campaign, from both the retreating enemy and the native population. However, the spoils acquired from the local peoples were restricted for three reasons. First, they were already impoverished because of the Mongol's voracious demands. Second, although naturally deeply apprehensive because of the conqueror's reputation, they were not resistant, rather the opposite, mixing terrified defensive obsequiousness with pleasure at the sight of their previous hated overlords' hurried and terrified withdrawal. Third, and probably most significantly as far as the conqueror's attitude was concerned, Vissarion had successfully pleaded for his fellow Christians, encouraging his master to issue unprecedented commands relating to the treatment of the local populace and the extent of plunder. As a consequence, the army restrained its usual instincts, helped by the sight of a few undisciplined soldiers dying horribly for being disobedient and succumbing to the temptations of raping and pillaging.

Nevertheless, Tamerlane's generosity did not extend to leaving local communities untouched. Provisions were still required for the welfare of his forces and so they were compulsorily acquired, ensuring that the native population would suffer a harsh, albeit not famished, winter. Buildings like churches would also be deprived of riches but not denuded. Vissarion's influence made sure that sufficient religious paraphernalia was retained to allow the Christian faith still to be practised properly. At the time, the local peoples considered such hardships a small price to pay for otherwise being left unscathed, especially as they hoped that the conqueror's probable ultimate departure from their lands would see the re-establishment of local princely rule without Mongol hegemony.

Tamerlane eventually halted his campaign at the onset again of the awful winter experienced in Rus. He and most of the army settled down on the banks of the upper reaches of the River Don, near to where the vast forests began. The conqueror proposed to sweep the woodlands clean of their Mongol inhabitants and riches with the eventual coming of spring. In the interim, he was actually looking forward to the dark, freezing, snowbound months ahead, hoping to enjoy them as much as he had the previous year because of the sublime company of his divine boys. He was not to be disappointed.

Meanwhile, in a Mongol encampment far to the north-west, Nicolai did not reciprocate Tamelane's expectations of the time ahead. The 10 years old did not want to face another winter away from his family in Moscow. After his cruel whipping for trying to escape, the lad had become very morose and unsociable. However, the subsequent failed attempts by several other boy hostages to lift the youngest of their number out of his deep melancholy were not entirely altruistic, as most still lusted after him. However, their efforts at spiritual healing and physical seduction were to prove unsuccessful.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, March 1391)

Tamerlane, after previous frights, did not want to endanger Vissarion or Arman during the particularly dangerous times ahead. Both were now 14 years old and in the full bloom of beauteous energetic boyhood. He therefore somehow managed to resist their desperate entreaties and commanded that they remain behind in the army's large and well-defended main camp whilst the bulk of his forces conducted the coup-de-grace against the Mongols. However, after reluctantly accepting temporary defeat on the issue, the young Georgian and Armenian did manage to extract agreement from the conqueror that their bodyguards could take part in the fighting.

The soldiers, despite their intense gratitude and liking towards Vissarion and Arman, had become frustrated at the lack of combat opportunities in recent years and this had not gone unnoticed by their young charges. Tamerlane granted the delighted men permission to refrain for a while from guarding the boys, who consequently had to promise to remain within the confines of the camp until the conqueror returned.

In the last days before the campaign was launched, Vissarion and Arman still tried all their sweet seductive tricks to try to persuade Tamerlane to allow them to accompany him but to no avail. The conqueror was adamant in his stance for once and good-naturedly withstood the boys' gorgeous begging visages, heart rendering pleading and well-acted sulks. It was with mutual heavy hearts that the two 14 years olds therefore eventually said their farewells to their adoring master. Nevertheless, the young Georgian and Armenian now put on brave faces, recognising the man's deep concern for their welfare and not wanting to separate on anything other than genuinely affectionate terms, their attitude prompted by a mix of devotion and concern.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, May 1391)

Meanwhile, Vissarion and Arman had kept their word to their master and had not left their camp, heavily guarded around the barricaded perimeter. However, such compliance had been at the price of being thoroughly bored. The boys lived in Tamerlane's resplendent tent and spent much time keeping the interior clean and tidy in readiness for the conqueror's return. They played chess, which the young Armenian invariably won, and other games together, including those of a sexual nature. The 14 years olds also exercised their splendid horses within the confines of the camp enclosure but the days still seemed long and disappointing, despite enjoying each other's company, friendship and bodies. It was as if their lives now demanded constant action and excitement, an aspiration soon to be realised.

A number of Mongol defectors were allowed to come and go from the camp. However, they were insufficient in number to cause any worry to the substantial garrison left behind by Tamerlane to guard the various looted treasures, the most precious of which were, in the eyes of the conqueror, as everyone knew, his special boys. However, despite their rather unique status, Vissarion and Arman did not display any airs or graces. They were always very polite and charming to all they met. The young Georgian eunuch even befriended the man who had gelded him, having taken an interest in the welfare of the wounded soldiers the occasional part-time castrator but frequently full-time surgeon treated. The 14 years old and his Armenian friend regularly took time to visit the patients later to try to cheer them with both words and damp cloths in their post-surgical distress. They often found that telling the warriors that they would advise their master of the courage observed was often the most comforting treatment.

Such pleasant and compassionate attitudes made Vissarion and Arman very popular amongst the army, where no-one had forgotten the boys' roles in also saving their bodyguards several times from their master's anger. Their physical perfection and obvious joyous lively and brave spirits further reinforced the esteem in which the young Georgian and Armenian were held. The fact that Tamerlane was invariably happy, and therefore more affable and less prone to sudden dangerous tantrums, when the 14 years olds were with him was a deeply appreciated bonus to all.

Many tales were told of men, who had somehow displeased Tamerlane and who could consequently expect instant decapitation in the past, escaping with mere reprimands. This had originally generally been as a result of the entreaties of Vissarion and Arman. However, apparently increasingly, the simple presence of the boys seemed to induce calm in their master, causing him to react more mildly and mercifully. Much speculation had arisen as to whether this development was actually due to a fundamental change in the conqueror's mindset. Some suggested instead that the man now simply did not want to display his natural vengeful barbaric tendencies in front of his young catamites, knowing anyway that their charms would likely deflect him from his intent.

It was the middle of a warm spring night and Vissarion and Arman were lying naked together on top of Tamerlane's bed, having earlier, as usual, made delectable love. The conqueror's tent was unguarded, no soldiers having being assigned especially to the protection of the young catamites in the absence of their bodyguards. The boys were, after all, located in the middle of a huge fortified camp occupied by many experienced soldiers who, apparently sensibly, were concentrating on external defence. However, in the event, this was to prove unfortunate for the 14 years olds.

The first that Vissarion and Arman knew about their audacious abduction was the firm placement of rough hands across their mouths to prevent them from crying out whilst other hands turned their delicious nude forms facedown to bind tightly their wrists behind them and their ankles together. The boys began to struggle, belatedly because of their initial drowsiness and surprise. However, application now of effective gags to their mouths and sharp knives to their throats, along with orders to be still or die, quickly ended their resistance. The 14 years old soon found themselves being carried by two men apiece into the darkness outside.

It was a cloudy moonless night and the only illumination was provided by campfires, none close. Everywhere was quiet, apart from the sounds of the nearby forest, which included the frequent howling of wolves. Four horses were waiting, across the backs of two of which Vissarion and Arman were laid facedown so that their already bound hands and feet could now be tied together under the animals' bellies. The boys both immediately remembered that they had been in the possession of Mongols in this way previously, although then they had been clothed, at least at first.

The four Mongol kidnappers rapidly mounted their steeds and encouraged them to charge towards the northernmost barricade. The men, who had purported to be defectors but were actually deliberate infiltrators obliged to carry out this intrepid deed at the suggestion of a scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache. Vissarion and Arman would instantly recognise the progenitor of their abduction when they saw him again. It was a reunion that was not to be too long delayed as their captors' horses skilfully and successfully leapt across the camp's external barrier, taking the night-guard completely by surprise, and headed for the seemingly endless nearby expanse of trees.

Chapter 9
Scars

Vissarion and Arman discover the Mongols' plans for them.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, May 1391)

Daylight passed as the Mongols relentlessly rode towards their destination, stopping only to rest and water their horses. No consideration was given to Vissarion and Arman, apart from the occasional fondling of the lustrous curves of their backsides by the adjacent riders. Sometimes this degrading practice extended to a fingering of their rectums. The young Georgian's permanently flaccid but nevertheless still delectable cock was unmoved by this. However, the young Armenian's penis hardened and pushed into the side of the horse on which he was lying whenever he felt the intrusion.

Vissarion and Arman were eventually released from their degrading and uncomfortable positions as dusk approached and their abductors decided that it was time and now safe to camp overnight. The boys were bound to trees, still denied food and water. The famished and parched 14 years olds were also forced to relieve themselves of their painfully stored up urine as they sat, perched against trunks. Embarrassing little streams subsequently ran away from their groins.

It was well after dusk the following day when the boys' abductors finally reached their destination, the semi-permanent encampment that they called their home. The timing was fortuitous for Vissarion and Arman. It meant that their arrival in such a humiliating manner would not be greeted by the thousands of Mongol children who inhabited the place for they had long since been put to bed, to be watched over by their mothers or other female relatives. It was therefore only the men of this very patriarchal society who remained up, talking round many campfires, to welcome the young newcomers to their village.

The naked and therefore deeply shamed boys soon found themselves once more in the presence of the scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache, who had been the leader of those Mongols who had captured the two 14 years olds whilst they had been riding on the estate of Vissarion's uncle in Georgia almost two years earlier. This time the young captives realised that boasting of their status, and the awful vengeance that their master would reek in response to any harm inflicted on them, would not now save them from whatever the man had in mind for them. It was obvious that they had been abducted for a purpose and this perception was to be quickly confirmed.

The same smirking interpreter who had communicated the Mongol leader's words to Vissarion and Arman in Georgia was to perform the same function in Rus. He advised the frightened young nudes, whose hands were tied behind their backs and whose delicious naked bodies were being ogled at by many surrounding enemy warriors, "You don't have to tell us who you are. We of course already know and it is the reason why you have been invited here. You see, unless we do something soon to encourage your master to stop his invasion, we shall be destroyed. We believe that you offer us our last hope of survival."

The leader rubbed one of his hands against the long scar on his face and continued, via the interpreter "You see this scar? It was infliced by an enemy in battle, just before I decapitated him." Laughter erupted all around at the recollection. Once it had subsided, the man announced "I propose to create many similar permanent scars on the face and body of one of you. I'll then return him to Tamerlane with the promise that the other will be sent back in similar shape if he does not withdraw his forces with an undertaking never to come back. It is my belief that your master will not only prefer one of you unharmed to both of you horribly scarred for life but also will keep his word never to intrude on our lands again!"

The appalled Vissarion and Arman were speechless, not only through alarm at the leader's proposal but also through an unusual, for them, inability to refute the man's logic. The Mongol concluded his horrific revelation by declaring "The only matter still to be decided is which of you is to suffer." This stimulated the 14 years olds into sudden response, as they both began to beg simultaneously. However, each boy did not plead for mercy or for the other to suffer instead of him.

The scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache could not be anything other than impressed at the entreaties being conveyed. His interpreter was advising him that each of Tamerlane's boys was desperately asking to be the one to be horribly scarred for life, presumably to save his companion from such dreadful damage.

The leader pondered the situation for a while, as each boy continued to offer reasons why it should him rather than his friend who was to suffer. The man then announced "I believe that it is appropriate that the decision should be made by whichever of you succeeds in a challenge. See that tree over there." The now silent Vissarion and Arman turned their heads behind them towards where the Mongol was pointing.

"The one on the edge of the forest that is bigger and taller than the rest," the leader continued, "is the punishment tree. From one of its sturdy branches, miscreants are suspended to suffer or sometimes to die. One of you will also be suspended there soon to await the infliction of the many cuts that will scar you for life. That event will take place after dawn so that all of my people can watch." The man paused so that Tamerlane's boys could pick out the dark, foreboding and unmistakable night-time shape of the tree in question. He could tell by the look of terror in the 14 years olds' beautiful faces, as they were eventually turned back towards him, that the young Georgian and Armenian had perceived the dreadful distant location looming above the heads of the watching warriors.

"My men will spread out to form a cordon between here and the tree," the leader concluded via the interpreter, "that will demarcate the route for a race. The first to run around the tree trunk and return to kiss my feet will be permitted to choose who is later suspended from the branch." The aghast Vissarion and Arman looked at each other, noticing clear disgust at what they were required to do as well as fear in each other's gorgeous sensuous eyes. They then heard the scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache issue various orders.

As Vissarion and Arman were being unbound, the many watching heavily armed warriors dispersed to collect torches and then form the necessary barrier round the racecourse. Despite the fact that the tree, for which the young naked runners had to aim, was about 400 paces away, there were so many men that they stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder along both sides of the now well-illuminated route. The two boys therefore realised that an attempt to escape as they raced was not a realistic option.

The interpreter, a smirk seemingly a permanent feature of his face, approached Vissarion and Arman and positioned the young nudes side-by-side in readiness to start their contest. He then withdrew his sabre from its scabbard and raised it into the air, whilst telling the boys that they could begin when he lowered the sword. The man finally looked at his leader, whose nod caused him to commence proceedings.

It would have been easy for either Vissarion or Arman to pretend to be trying to win whilst allowing his companion to succeed and so sacrifice himself. However, the characters of both 14 years olds meant that such a sly cowardly act never entered their minds. Each boy was selflessly and bravely intent on saving his friend from the agony and damage of many cuts. The young contestants therefore ran as fast as they could in order to be the first to kiss the Mongol leader's feet and, as they proceeded, they were cheered loudly by the watching warrior throng.

The resultant noise woke many of those sleeping in their tents but only one was brave enough to venture outside to investigate, Mongol women and children knowing better than to disturb their menfolk's night-time pastimes. Nicolai hid amongst the branches of a tree to observe events. The 11 years old Muscovite was astonished to be watching an apparent race between two naked boys.

Vissarion and Arman were almost as fast as each other but the latter had secured a slight lead as the punishment tree was reached and they ran round its wide trunk. Despite the heat and sweat that their exertions had induced within their divine bodies, both boys could not help but shiver as they then passed under the thick branch from which one of them would soon be suspended. It was clearly discernible by the ropes that dangled downwards and the bloodstained patch of ground underneath.

Arman managed to maintain his small lead as the two boys approached the Mongol leader. Vissarion was beginning to tire and he realised that he would therefore find it very difficult to overtake his friend legitimately. It was the sight of the young Armenian's bare ankles about a pace in front of him that caused the winning idea to enter the young Georgian's mind before panic did so.

The boys were about 20 paces from the scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache when Vissarion surprised everyone, not least his victim, by leaping to grab Arman's legs, bringing both boys to the ground in what today would be called a perfectly timed Rugby tackle. The young Georgian then made use of the young Armenian's shock at the turn of events by quickly regaining his feet and running to the grinning Mongol leader.

The stunned Arman had not even stood up by the time Vissarion was kissing the Mongol leader's boots. "Congratulations," the man declared via the interpreter, as the naked boy kneeled to perform the demeaning act that confirmed his victory, "you may choose your fate. Is it you or your companion who is to be scarred?" "Me," answered the almost breathless young Georgian without hesitation, as he rose again onto his feet. The young Armenian, appalled at his friend's action, now finally came running up and, without concern for etiquette, began to denounce the deed as cheating, following this up by begging to be declared the winner instead. However, his entreaties were to be dismissed.

"I admire your bravery," the leader truthfully informed the young Armenian, "and that of your friend. However, I never said that the type of action taken by him to secure success was not permitted. Accordingly, his victory stands. Nevertheless, you will need to maintain your courage as you will be nearby when he suffers the cuts." The man then turned to some of his warriors and ordered them to suspend Vissarion from the branch of the punishment tree whilst Arman was to be tied to the trunk.

"I'll see you both at dawn," the two scared boys heard the leader finally say, via the interpreter, as they were led away. Meanwhile, Nicolai, who had been watching from his distant hiding place in the surrounding forest, clambered down from the tree branches and returned to his tent, where he remained for a few hours until most of the Mongol men had gone to their beds.

Nicolai again managed to creep out of his tent without the other young Muscovite hostages noticing and carefully made his way to the punishment tree, a location with which he was very familiar because it was where he had been whipped over a year earlier. As the 11 years old came close to his objective, he saw the two naked boys again. One was suspended, as he had been, from the sturdy branch whilst the other was tied in a standing position to the trunk. An armed guard sat nearby, close to a fire that gave some illumination to the scene.

Nicolai puzzled at the sight of the suspended young nude for a while, having perceptively realised that there was something different about his form. However, he could not fathom what it could be until amazed realisation suddenly dawned. The boy's scrotum was empty.

After eventually overcoming his incredulous astonishment at his discovery, Nicolai pondered what to do. The boys were obviously in trouble for some reason. The 11 years old contemplated whether he should take the very dangerous course of trying to help them or just quietly return to his tent. Given his character, there was really only one realistic option.

Vissarion was trying to prevent himself from crying as the rope that bound him to the branch above bit painfully into his now reddened wrists. Arman was similarly attempting not to shed some tears, although these would have been created not through agony but rather anguish at what his beautiful friend was to suffer at dawn, now just a few hours away. The only earlier consolation for the two boys had been the fact that the enemy leader had not threatened them with sexual molestation by his men, as he had almost two years earlier. They both presumed correctly that this was because such action would have been considered incorrect in the Mongol home encampment with the warriors' families nearby. Nevertheless, many had come to inspect more closely the delicious naked forms of the 14 years olds, causing the young Georgian particular shameful distress as his gelded gentials became a focus of much attention and comment.

Vissarion and Arman were as surprised as their guard to see a pretty younger boy appear amongst the nearby trees before quickly disappearing again in the darkness. The Mongol stood and enquired who was there but no answer came. He therefore withdrew his sabre from its scabbard and began to venture slowly towards the spot where the youngster had appeared. It was a literally fatal mistake as a nimble and courageous 11 years old jumped on top of him from an overhead branch before, after both had fallen to the ground, the man was rendered unconscious by a blow to the head from a short but heavy stick.

Nicolai left the man's heavy sabre untouched and instead gained possession of his knife, carried in a smaller scabbard. He did not use the blade to kill the warrior, as it would be the very angry Mongol leader who would perpetrate that deed. The 11 years old Muscovite instead used the blade to release the very grateful young Armenian before scrambling up the tree to do the same for the equally delighted young Georgian.

Vissarion fell to the ground harmlessly and tried to thank his rescuer but it was immediately clear that they had no common language, although names were exchanged. Nevertheless, mutual understanding was achieved by use of various hand signals. It quickly became clear to the young Georgian and Armenian that the younger lad wanted to accompany them in their escape, an aspiration Tamerlane's boys were happy to meet. The trio soon found themselves running through the dark forest towards the south-east, a direction the naked escapees had indicated to their clothed companion that they preferred to take and which was judged in clearings from the stars above in a thankfully cloudless sky.

Nicolai was happy to follow his companions' suggestion, as he now preferred to seek revenge on the Mongols for what they had done to him and his people than return immediately to his family in Moscow. He somehow instinctively knew that the boys he had rescued would be able to help him in respect of this deep-seated desire.

Nicolai had managed to make it known to his companions that he feared for their chances of a successful escape because he knew, from personal experience, that their eventual pursuers would be mounted and would be accompanied by hunting dogs. He consequently conveyed the importance of somehow disguising their trail. It was therefore with great joy that the boys fortuitously came, as the sun rose in the sky above, to the banks of the fast running upper reaches of the river Don, flowing in the direction that they wished to take because Tamerlane's main base was situated downstream. The waterway would not only hide the route they had taken but also considerably speed their progress.

Nicolai had no hesitation in joining his new friends in nudity and soon all three were in the cool water, not really having to swim but instead just having to keep afloat as the Don took them towards safety. It was with amazed and shared exultation that three naked, dishevelled and very hungry boys were found two days later, walking along the banks of the river, by one of Tamerlane's cavalry patrols. However, the trio's distressed condition was soon rectified, although the spare military attire in which they were first dressed was much too big for them, a situation none was particularly worried about in the circumstances.

Nicolai was astonished at subsequently discovering the status of the 14 years olds he had rescued, as he was granted an audience a day later with Tamerlane, about whose terrible reputation the young Muscovite was fully acquainted. The 11 years old was politely escorted to the dreaded conqueror's tent, where he found the man in the company of Vissarion, Arman and a translator. All three boys were now resplendently dressed, had been well fed and had enjoyed a good night's undisturbed sleep.

Tamerlane, ecstatically happy at another miraculous escape for his beloved boys, asked Nicolai, via the translator, how he wished to he rewarded for saving the 14 years olds. However, the 11 years old's answer was rather unexpected. "By serving you, Great Lord," he announced, "in the same way that Vissarion and Arman do, whilst you clear the Mongols from my homeland." The young Muscovite had gained an appreciation of the true role of the young Georgian and Armenian since his arrival in the conqueror's huge camp. He was unconcerned about the sexual part, believing that it was a small price to pay for being close to the man who would surely secure his long-desired revenge.

Tamerlane was surprised by Nicolai's request but far from displeased, as the blonde-haired blue-eyed youngster was extremely attractive. However, he thought that granting the young Muscovite his wish would be poor reward for the salvation of his catamites, although he did not want to upset the 11 years old by turning him down flatly. The conqueror therefore tried to put the lad off the idea by advising "But you are a Christian and all non-Muslims who serve me in the manner of my boys are castrated, like Vissarion was."

Tamerlane did not like hurting Vissarion's feelings by making this comment and would make up for it later by apologising to the young Georgian whilst also eventually relating his motive. The conqueror then continued by telling Nicolai that "It is a custom that I'm not prepared to forego."

Tamerlane actually knew that turning Nicolai into a eunuch was something that he would not pursue, especially as he now deeply regretted having Vissarion gelded. The conqueror also recognised that, even if that was his true desire, the young Georgian and Armenian would undoubtedly persuade him otherwise. He was looking forward to being at the receiving end of their imminent attempts at dissuasion, wondering what pleasures they would be offering in return for his ultimate compliant surrender.

Tamerlane eventually terminated the audience by suggesting to Nicolai that he considered the issue further, adding that he would grant the boy another audience on the following afternoon to conclude matters. Vissarion and Arman were later fully occupied for the rest of the day within the cosy confines of the conqueror's tent, making unnecessary entreaties before, having secured victory, indulging in lengthy three-way lovemaking. It was therefore the next morning that they set out to find their new Muscovite friend to tell him the good news.

Whilst his boys were away, Tamerlane granted the unexpected and unusual request of the camp's full-time surgeon and part-time castrator for an audience. As the man entered the conqueror's tent, his leader was surprised to notice that he was carrying a small bowl.

"Why do you wish to meet me?" Tamerlane enquired. "Great Lord," the man answered, "I just wanted to confirm that your order has been carried out. I carry the young Muscovite's testicles in my dish!"

Chapter 10
Samarkand

Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai go with Tamerlane to one of the marvels of the ancient world.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, May 1391)

Nicolai, blinded by the thirst for revenge and immaturely not appreciating the full implications of the loss of his balls, had visited the castrator's tent, bravely determined to prove to Tamerlane the seriousness of his request. The man had been very surprised to encounter a boy bearing a request from the conqueror to be converted into one of Vissarion's kind. He had at first been very wary, as the pretty 11 years old was unescorted and carrying the message himself. However, his scepticism was overcome by the young Muscovite's pretended innocent ignorance of what the instruction actually meant, as well as fear of the possible terrible consequences of querying a command from his leader, no matter how unusually conveyed. He thought that perhaps his master was playing an awful joke on the lad, something less uncommon, and could not conceive of anyone voluntarily offering themselves for castration.

After careful consideration of all these factors, the castrator eventually ordered Nicolai to strip and lie face-up on the heavily bloodstained surgical table on which Vissarion had been the last to lose his testicles several years previously. The man then firmly strapped the now naked, very courageous but naively mistaken young Muscovite in the required spreadeagled position and tied a thin leather cord around the boy's ball sac. He let the scrotum turn painfully purple before providing the 11 years old with a leather bit to clench his sparkling white teeth on before finally introducing his blade to the lad's groin.

Nicolai bore the agony of his gelding with tremendous spunk, which the castrator admired enormously. The man had conducted minor surgery on many grown men who had reacted with far less steadfastness. The boy remained still and did not groan at all, as the bloody but skilful incision into his ball sac was made. His fortitude was maintained as first one testicle was quickly exposed and severed to be rapidly followed by the other. The first tears only came to the 11 years old's sensuous blue eye's when the excruciating stitching of his wound commenced.

It was lucky for the castrator that, after showing the dish containing Nicolai's testes to the appalled Tamerlane, Vissarion rushed into the conqueror's tent to convey the terrible news, of which his master was already aware. The horrified young Georgian and Armenian had finally tracked their new younger friend down and discovered him within the surgeon's own canopy. The young Muscovite was recuperating from his horrific experience, in a corner on some bedding with his wound carefully bandaged, and so Arman had stayed behind to comfort the 11 years old whilst his fellow 14 years old ran to inform their master of the shocking turn of events.

The furious Tamerlane had already withdrawn his sabre to decapitate the castrator but the arrival of Vissarion and the young Georgian's pleading for the man's life caused the conqueror to calm and discover instead the full sequence of events. The boy then convinced his master of the surgeon's innocence of any wrongdoing, as he just thought that he was carrying out orders. It was perhaps ironic that the 14 years old had thereby saved the life of the person who had emasculated him.

Nicolai's young body quickly healed, helped by being fussed over in Tamerlane's tent by Vissarion and Arman and the castrator, who was very grateful to be still alive but unsure how long that situation would last if he lost his patient. The conqueror then presented the brave young eunuch with a magnificent horse to match the splendid steeds possessed by the young Georgian and Armenian, on which the 11 years old would accompany his new master and friends on the swift ruthless campaign that would destroy the forest Mongols.

Tamerlane had originally returned to his main base on learning of the earlier abduction of Vissarion and Arman. The absence of his boys had caused the enraged conqueror's terrible temper to remain unchecked. As a result, he had first acquired awful revenge for the kidnapping of the young Georgian and Armenian on those of his own soldiers who had formed the camp guard on the night in question. All were beheaded.

Tamerlane then remained in his base beside the River Don to co-ordinate the activities of his remaining warriors in the search for his beloved boys. All members of the cavalry patrol that finally found them were enriched with large fortunes of gold by the elated conqueror. However, the Mongols who had been responsible for the abduction of the two 14 years olds were rewarded in a different way. Their encampments were remorselessly hunted down and mercilessly raided. Everyone caught, men, women and children, were brutally killed on the spot.

Tamerlane's boys did not try to prevent their master or his soldiers, primarily mounted archers, from reeking such sanguine havoc. Nicolai wanted to see it whilst his older friends, although saddened at so much bloodshed, appreciated the strategic necessity. However, the 11 years old was responsible for saving some people from decapitation, as his fellow young Muscovite hostages were rescued and returned to their city.

Nicolai did not follow. He did not want his family to know that he had become a eunuch and so sent word to them that he was alive and well but had chosen to serve the dreaded Tamerlane. His decision was also very much affected by the thorough excitement and enjoyment he had experienced during the recent fighting. Although originally a sensitive boy before becoming a hostage, his captivity, and particularly his whipping, had caused vengeful bloodlust to develop within his character. The highlight of the campaign for him had been to see a certain scar-faced man in his early forties with long drooping moustache and his no-longer smirking interpreter tortured horribly, with many cuts, whilst suspended side-by-side from a certain sturdy branch of a particular punishment tree. Amongst these rents were ones that severed their genitalia. The victims had been allowed to enjoy the agony from the bloody wounds inflicted for a while afterwards before being released so that their detached heads could join a growing tower of skulls.

Vissarion and Arman were also happy that the pair of adult Mongols had been executed, if only to prevent the men from terrorising any more of their master's subjects, but they did not have the stomach to watch the whole slow event unfold, unlike Nicolai. The latter's parents and siblings were distraught at hearing the boy's message and thought that he must have been coerced by the dreaded Tamerlane into service. However, they also knew there was even less that they could do to save the 11 tears old from the clutch of the conqueror than even the grip of the Mongols. They therefore sent him a return communication, reminding him of their love, wishing him well and expressing the hope that they would all meet again in this life.

Nicolai's gorgeous blue eyes became lachrymose when he eventually read this letter and considered changing his mind. However, this possible alteration in attitude quickly disappeared when Vissarion and Arman, observing their new friend's sudden melancholy whilst they sat together in Tamerlane's tent, invited him to go hunting deer with them. The exhilaration of this pastime, conducted in the company of the boys' returned loyal bodyguards and whilst their master was conferring with his generals about mopping up the last vestiges of Mongol resistance, soon dismissed the idea of a return to Moscow from the 11 years old's thoughts. He knew that he now could not live without such friends and excitement.

Nicolai's outlook did eventually adjust but his return to his homeland was only temporary and took place many years later, when he was a very rich monarch of a faraway land. The journey was conducted to meet, on one last occasion, his, by then, aged parents and adult brothers and sisters and their offspring. By this time, he was no longer worried about explaining why he could not also have children who were the product of his own loins. He was content instead to introduce to his closest relations, delighted at seeing the long-lost son once again, his twelve adopted and adorable princes and princesses, of varying ages and races, originally garnered as endangered poor orphans from different parts of Tamerlane's vast empire.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, August 1391)

Tamerlane had previously enjoyed being snowbound with Vissarion and Arman but he now realised that there was a need to return to his distant capital at Samarkand in order to update himself on, and resolve, other matters of state relating to his enormous empire. His attitude was compounded by the facts that his men needed rest and reinforcements and that his army was in possession of so much rich booty that it was a serious hindrance to further campaigning. The conqueror therefore felt compelled to travel with the vast plunder, guarded by all of his forces, back to his homeland.

Tamerlane left behind a Rus that would never be the same again, even though he did not now attack the main Mongol cities of Sarai Berke and Astrakhan in the east. Mongol dominance had been further damaged, even though substantial forces would return to the forests of the west to resume the rewarding cowering of the native populace. Gradually over many years, the local Princes would throw off their fealty to the weakened invaders and the great state called Russia would emerge.

During the long journey to Tamerlane's homeland, Nicolai had felt left out by being supplied with his own well-equipped cosy tent, with a servant to take care of his every need, whilst Vissarion and Arman stayed overnight in the conqueror's tent. This caused the boy, increasingly conversant with the Turkish dialect spoken, to ask, with potentially perilous boldness, his new leader the reason for his exile, already knowing the answer. The young Georgian and Armenian had advised the young Muscovite plainly that their master was blaming himself for the 11 years old's gelding and did not want to be the cause of any more distress by taking him into his bed as well.

Tamerlane patiently gave different unconvincing reasons to the beautiful Nicolai. However, in the end, the needs of the man's cock overrode his sense of guilt and he succumbed to the young Muscovite's heart-rendering entreaties to be allowed to become, in all senses, one of his boys.

Nicolai was returned to Tamerlane's tent and on the first night lost his anal virginity first to Arman, a kindness granted by his now eager master to ease the way for a much bigger penile intruder. As with his castration, the boy proved very brave when the agony of the conqueror's invasion of Muscovite territory finally arrived. However, the 11 years old considered it a small price to pay to be back living with his closest friends, amongst whom he now included a 55 years old man.

(Samarkand, October 1391)

'I heard that the city was beautiful but never thought that it could be so beautiful and majestic!' (Alexander the Great when he first saw Samarkand, then in Sogdia and known as 'Maracanda', in 329 B.C.)

Ancient Arab manuscripts refer to Samarkand, almost 2000 years old in the 14th century, as the 'Gem of the East'. Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai were prompted to agree when, mounted on their splendid steeds, the city's multitude of domes, many turquoise in colour and glistening in the sunlight, first came into view in the distance. It was an opinion that the three boys, destined to be very well travelled, would never alter. As the resplendently attired young trio entered Tamerlane's capital for the first time, immediately behind their master at the van of his elite forces, to raucous cheering from the huge crowds who lined the beautiful wide boulevards, they realised that they had never before seen such a magnificent metropolis. Their own homes, Tiflis, Erivan and Moscow respectively, paled in comparison. The new young newcomers' astonishment at their surroundings was increased when their master's entourage entered the central square, lined by large sparkling turquoise-tiled buildings, which amazingly would later be demolished by the conqueror's successors and be replaced by even more remarkable constructions.

Samarkand is situated at an oasis in the valley of the River Zarafshan, historically the most fertile and populous in the region and a key crossroads for many central Asia trade routes. The Zarafshan is fed from the mountains to the south and east and eventually flows into the Oxus [now the Amu Darya], which in turn proceeds through marshes to the Aral Sea. The city had actually been badly damaged when Genghis Khan had invaded the area in 1220.

Many other similarly affected major central Asian cities had quickly recovered from the Mongol invasion. However, the real rebuilding of Samarkand as a great metropolis had to await the decision of Tamerlane at the beginning of the 1370s to make the place not only the capital of Transoxonia but also hopefully the world.

The Spanish ambassador to Tamerlane's court, Clavijo, describes how the conqueror "gave orders that a street should be built to pass right through Samarqand [sic], which should have shops opened on either side of it in which every kind of merchandise should be sold, and this new street was to go from one side of the city through to the other side, traversing the heart of the township." The ruler apparently wanted results immediately and those assigned to the task, with their lives at stake, "began at speed, causing all the houses to be thrown down along the line that his Highness had indicated for the passage of the new street. No heed was paid to the complaint of persons to whom the property here might belong, and those whose houses thus were demolished suddenly had to quit with no warning, carrying away with them their goods and chattels as best they might. No sooner had all the houses been thrown down than the master builders came and laid out the broad new street, erecting shops on the one side and opposite, placing before each a high stone bench that was topped with white slabs. Each shop had two chambers, front and back, and the street way was arched over with a domed roof in which were windows to let the light through. At intervals down the street were erected water fountains."

Tamerlane's razing of the properties along the new central thoroughfare, evicting residents without notice and sending them scurrying with whatever of their possessions they could carry, was an urban renewal project as callous as any experienced today. Nevertheless, it seemed to produce the desired result. According to Clavijo, the main roadway was constructed in 20 days.

Tamerlane's Samarkand was being restored to former splendour with the help of tens of thousands of architects and craftsmen captured during his conquests, including ultimately sculptors, stonemasons and stucco workers from Persia and India, mosaic workers from Shiraz and glass blowers and potters from Damascus. However, he additionally brought back makers of armour and weaponry, as he also always wanted to improve his military capabilities as well as glorify his capital. The majolica-tiled mosques, schools and other public buildings they built, and the later structures modelled on them, are truly amongst the most magnificently decorated ever constructed.

The Registan, which the 19th/20th century British traveller and statesman George Curzon called 'the noblest public square in the world', is the centre of the old city, and the most spectacular architectural complex still standing in central Asia. Tamerlane originally planned it as a grand covered bazaar, with six main roads leading out to six city gates and thence to the rest of the known world, namely India, China, Siberia, Russia, Persia and the Mediterranean. However, the conqueror's immediate descendants, the other Timurid leaders, were also enthusiastic builders. His grandson, the learned scientist-ruler Ulugh Beg, especially undertook many extravagant urban projects, including a resplendent madrassah. This was a seminary for students studying both science and Islam and was finished in 1420. It is now the earliest of the trio of beautifully restored buildings, constructed from glazed brick, carved marble and mosaic, and packed with the finest Moslem art, that now adorn three sides of the Registan.

The journey of Tamerlane and his boys did not finish in the square but instead at the conqueror's nearby opulent palace, sadly now gone. The ruler of much of the known world was greeted by Shadi Mulk Aka, his Eldest Queen or 'Bibi Khanum', whom he had not seen for four years. The middle-aged woman's face dropped at the sight of the three beautiful boys accompanying their master.

Tamerlane had always been very discreet about his young male catamites when within one of his many palaces, not wanting to upset his many wives by flaunting his well-known sexual preferences. However, his attachment to Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai was such that he now disregarded this sensible practice. As a result, his boys were to suffer considerably during their stay in Samarkand.

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