Julien
by Engor
Chapter 64
The next few days were spent planning and implementing a complicated and demanding programme of training with various Masters and meetings with Lord Aldegard. Julien had to put his foot down to make sure he kept a little time for himself, and he was absolutely determined not to be separated from Niil and Ambar again, even though some people would have liked to see the pair sent off to be educated a long way away from their young protector. By now most of the adults working with him had discovered that there was a point beyond which he couldn't be pushed, no matter how hard they tried, but some Grand Masters and other important people, misled by his kind nature and his general politeness, made the mistake of trying to treat him like the child which, technically, he still was. He was quite happy for his parents to treat him like that, but if the First Son of the Whotsits or the Grand Superintendent of the Guild of Whatever tried it, they met with implacable opposition.
Julien had checked and double-checked with Tannder that no stray copy of The Precious Garland of Delights or The Secret Garden of Enchanted Flowers had been left in his parents' kang – he had no wish whatsoever to discuss certain aspects of the culture of the Nine Worlds with them. Tannder assured him that neither volume could be found in their apartment, though he completely failed to mention that a beautiful copy of a companion work, The Complete Cornucopia of Blissful Spouses, had been artlessly left on one of their bedside cabinets, nor that the same cabinet also contained a small, artistically decorated chest which held a number of strange accessories, the use of which was carefully described, with copious highly explicit illustrations, in the Cornucopia.
He didn't yet know whether or not Mr and Mrs Berthier had made any use of either, but he was able to tell Julien that his parents were making steady progress in Tünnkeh, and that they had also started visiting the city of Aleth in the company of the Guard Askil, who had been assigned to them.
Julien had arranged for Tannder to spend an hour a day with him teaching him how to use the present that had been given to him by the Neh-kyong Tchenn Ril. He would have been happy to give the nagtri to Niil, whose eyes had lit up when he saw the blood-drinking blade for the first time, but the nature of the weapon made that impossible: this nagtri could never have another master. He insisted on taking his lessons with his friends, and before long Karik started training with them too. He still looked undersized and scrawny for a boy of fourteen, but his muscles and coordination were developing day by day.
Ambar, being younger, had to struggle and expend a lot of energy trying to keep up, but despite this Tannder had arranged for him to have some extra lessons in archery, using both a regular bow and a small but extremely powerful crossbow. As well as all this he still had to spend a large part of each day doing regular lessons with a number of different teachers, all of whom faithfully reported on his effort – or lack of effort – to his official tutor, Tannder.
Niil, on the other hand, was free to spend his time as he wanted. He spent part of it improving his combat techniques and catching up on his academic studies, which had been interrupted by the arrival of Julien. He was determined to reach a level that would be appropriate for his position of Privy Councillor. He'd also decided that from this point on he was going to follow Julien wherever he went in order to protect him: history was full of people who had died because they had nobody to watch their backs.
Tannder had been sticking to his promise to educate and train Karik, making the best possible use of his natural abilities and his intelligence which, now that it finally had a chance to flourish, was blossoming steadily. Very quickly the boy became a part of Julien's inner circle, sharing meals and joining in with such rare opportunities as they found for escaping from their studies. Ambar was of course always keen to explore new territories, and so he persuaded Karik to join him for a shower as soon as he could, though he did ask Julien and Niil first if they had any objections. And he quickly discovered that although Karik wasn't a lot taller or heavier than he was himself, his sexual development was normal for his age – and of course a normal-sized penis on a small frame looks larger than it really is, while his testicles also looked uncommonly large to Ambar's envious eyes. Further experimentation proved that caressing the penis made it get even larger, and the few little black hairs at the base of it were an object of admiration for Julien and Niil, as well as Ambar. But the crowning glory, as far as all three younger boys were concerned, was Karik's ability to produce an amount of whitish sperm – a product which, if those working on him had the patience and skill to hold it back long enough, could spurt out a surprising distance. Of course this led to some serious experimentation, in which the older boy found himself the subject of a number of highly frustrating, if ultimately satisfying, attempts by his three friends to try to ascertain which method could cause the the slowest, most violent orgasm and the most spectacular result.
At first Julien had worried about Ambar's passionate interest in sex of any sort, and about the way he seemed happy to leap into bed – or more usually into the shower – with just about anyone and at any time. But soon he realised that for Ambar sex and love were two completely different things. He liked sex the way he liked pastries and cakes, as a gourmet who was always keen to discover new flavours. Love, on the other hand, he reserved for just two people, and in different ways for each.
He felt for Niil a serious deep affection combined with a degree of hero-worship, the way a little brother often feels about a really good and loving older brother. And Niil had by now adopted him completely, especially since he now saw Ambar as his only real brother. He watched over him with tenderness, even if he often chose to hide it behind teasing and jokey remarks.
As for the way Ambar felt about Julien, that was patently clear to everyone who knew them. Although Ambar tried to keep his real feelings hidden except for when he was about to go to sleep in Julien's comforting arms, when he would whisper the way he truly felt, he was unable to prevent the way his eyes lit up whenever Julien entered the room, and nor could he stop himself from touching Julien's arm all the time, as if to convince himself that the older boy was really here at his side. Not that Julien did a lot to help disguise their true feelings for one another: he would often slip into a near-trance just from watching the way the rays of the setting sun touched Ambar's delicate, perfect, translucent ear, or he would stroke Ambar's soft brush of blond hair, or almost unconsciously pull the younger boy onto his lap, or rearrange the folds of his clothing, even while he was in the middle of a deep conversation with Tannder. They obviously loved one another in a way that didn't need words, and it was a love that they both felt they were sealing when, for the first time, they shared a genuine kiss. At that point they both recognised that no bodily games, no matter how loving or daring, could ever have the intensity or depth of meaning of this sharing of each other's breath.
They always slept together, and sometimes – if he was sleeping alone and woke up in the night – Niil would join them. But he didn't always sleep alone: Karik was frequently invited to join them for the night, and when he did he shared Niil's bed, because Niil had found that he didn't really like sleeping on his own any longer, and he appreciated the comforting presence of the boy whose gratitude had naturally evolved into friendship. But sometimes Karik was away, off running some strange errand or other for Tannder. He would never speak about these and the others knew better than to ask. Nor would he ever speak about his previous life at The Three Tankards, when he had had to put up with demands of its disgusting patrons. Perhaps one day he would be able to find the words to exorcise that part of his life, which was now happily behind him.
Ugo visited them from time to time, but he spent most of his time with Master Subadar, to whom he had once been Chenn da. Indeed, he still was, for the Grand Master of the Circle of Major Arts had refused to consider their bond broken by the terrible ordeal that had befallen Yol. They had chosen each other when they were still children and together they had developed each other's abilities, each in his own particular field, until they formed a highly efficient pairing. The Guide had led his human brother through many places full of marvels and dangers. Yol was unquestionably the most gifted Guide of his generation, and his role in their symbiotic relationship had not been limited to provided transport. They pooled every resource of their sharp minds, and at times the Guide's incredible mental discipline had been necessary to pull them out out of difficult predicaments.
When Yol the Intrepid had disappeared into the Outside, Subadar had found in Aïn a highly gifted partner, and he still made use of his services as a Guide now. But even if he had wanted to do it, it wasn't possible to establish a Chenn da link twice in a single lifetime. Julien didn't know what happened in the meetings between Subadar and Ugo/Yol, but he did know that whenever he met his friend on his way to his lessons with Master Subadar, Ugo seemed happy and was always ready to chat with him about their life on Earth, and the fact that he had lived there trapped in a dog's body didn't seem in any way to have darkened his memories of their shared experiences.
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