coincidental

Karel has fallen into the hands of his enemy, Prince Jaros, who has offered him a choice between manhood and freedom. Which will he choose ?

Karel took stock of his situation. The room in which he was confined was both larger and better furnished than an ordinary dungeon cell. There was a comfortable bed, a chair, and a table on which there lay an incongruous object, undoubtedly not by accident, a knife.

That he was a prisoner was proven by the existence of yet another object, a chain which reached easily to the bed, chair and table, but not to the door. One end of this chain was fastened to a ringbolt in the stone wall of the room. Through the last link of the other end passed a split iron ring, encircling his scrotum above the testicles. The ends of the split ring were joined by a soft iron rivet.

The ring was too small to pass either of his testicles. Thus, his escape from the room was most effectively prevented. The only way to escape from the chain would be to employ the knife to separate the ring and two of his most precious possessions from his body.

Karel was the leader of a faction opposed to the harsh and arbitrary rule of Prince Jaros. Though not a commoner, Karel might as well have been one. As the second son of an impecunious baron, he was deprived by primogeniture of both a title and an inheritance. It was not only the commoners, however, but also the lesser nobility who groaned under Prince Jaros' rule.

The Prince's taxes were burdensome enough, but , worse was his meddling in their personal affairs. He determined who might and who might not marry and whom those permitted to marry would marry. He imposed a substantial tax on dowries as well, and, if it were not paid, permission to marry would be withheld.

Because there would be no dowry to tax, bastardy was punished most severely, both the father and the bastard, if male, were castrated. The mother, of course, was sent to a nunnery.

Karel discovered that he had been mistaken in two assumptions: first, that his role in the opposition was not known to the Prince, and second, that as a nobleman, he would not be charged with treason merely for protesting some of the Prince's policies. Now, he could only await whatever action Prince Jaros decided to take.

He had not long to wait. The door of the room opened and Prince Jaros entered and spoke to him. "Karel, you are young, impulsive, hotheaded, and said to be altruistic. I intend to test the latter. You have often said that freedom is more to be desired than life itself. This is preposterous. Freedom is worthless to a corpse.

You have the opportunity to decide for yourself whether freedom is more desirable than manhood. If you remain my prisoner, you will be well-treated, better, in fact, than you deserve. You will not want for creature comforts. You will have good food, good wine, even, if you request them, the services of a woman. If you desire entertainment, I shall send one of my musicians to play for you. But, you will remain in this room, chained as you are to the wall.

That freedom which you esteem so highly is the one thing which will be denied you. If freedom is all that you desire, it is easily to be had. You need only liberate yourself from your bondage by sacrificing your manhood. It is for that purpose that the knife has been provided. Its edge is very sharp, excellently suited to relieve of you of your bondage and your manhood.

The door of this room is unlocked and unguarded. If you leave it, no one will oppose your departure from the castle by way of the postern gate, without which your comrades await your emergence. They have been informed of what you would have had to do in order to leave the castle and will be prepared to provide you with the services of a chirurgeon.

Whether they would be willing to accept the leadership of a eunuch is uncertain. However, no action will be taken against them for aiding you after leaving the castle, if you do."

Karel replied boldly. "The sacrifice is great, Your Highness, and the stakes are small. Nothing would have changed. I and my comrades would be only as free as we were before your men captured me. Unless something is done to better their lot, my sacrifice would have been in vain."

"Ever the altruist." answered Prince Jaros with a laugh.

"Very well, I shall make the sacrifice of your manhood more valuable to you. If you leave this castle a eunuch, your followers have my leave to depart from this land whithersoever they will to seek freedom and better lives for themselves. Nothing will be done to hinder them.

Whatever else you may think of me, I trust that you will grant me this, that I am a man of my word. Now, give heed, for once, to the counsel of a man of better judgement and greater experience than yours. This is a decision of the greatest importance. It ought not to be made on an empty stomach. I shall have food and drink sent to you forthwith."

With these words, Prince Jaros left the room. Karel was left to ponder the decision which lay before him.

Not long afterward, the door opened again and two servants entered the room. One carried a silver salver on which were venison cutlets dressed with suet and raisins, barley, fragrant with fine herbs, and leeks.

The other servant carried a golden goblet and a flagon of wine, which Karel doubted not for a moment would be of the best quality.

Some of the viands were transferred to a porcelain plate and the goblet was filled with wine. As soon as the lackeys left, Karel fell to with gusto.

Idealist and altruist though he was, Karel was pragmatic enough never to pass up a good meal. The meat was exquisitely cooked and seasoned and the wine exceeded his expectations. Little, indeed, was left on the salver when Karel sat back with a sigh of repletion.

When the door opened again, it disclosed not the servants come to retrieve the dishes, but , rather, a very comely beautifully dressed young woman. Clearly, this was no harlot, but one of the women of the court

(though the distinction was probably mainly one of price).

The gowns of the ladies of Prince Jaros' court were very revealing of the bosom, the bodice stopping just short of exposing the nipples, but definitely showing part of the areoles.

She gave a tinkling laugh and said "Master Karel, His Highness told me that you are strikingly handsome, but even that left me quite unprepared. Surely, there must be some divine being in your ancestry."

Not to be outdone, Karel replied "Beautiful lady, surely the Goddess of Love herself has no charms which can outshine yours. Can your name possibly justfy its application to such incredible lovliness ?"

"La, gallantly spoken, Master Karel. I am called Alisoun. I venture to hope that my name pleases you."

"As far as any mere word can pretend to designate such a sublime being , it does its best." answered Karel, hoping that this exchange of pleasantries would not go on much longer, lest he run out of compliments.

"Aside from your dainty feet, what brings you here, fair lady ?"

"I chanced to overhear that Dame Nature had been far more generous to you than to other men, and this piqued my curiosity." she replied rather wantonly.

"Ah, I fear that that claim is, er, well, somewhat exaggerated, though you are welcome to judge the matter for yourself." said Karel with a leer.

A bit to his surprise, Alisoun accepted the invitation and lifted the front of his tunic. She gasped. "Exaggerated ? Nay, understated" she insisted.

Karel was already perspiring and breathing quite hard when Alisoun said " I must prove the strength of this heroic member." and began to stroke it. Now, Karel had had no relief for over a month and was desperately lustful. He began to tremble and managed to gasp "Lady Alisoun......that is not....a plaything. Already.....it is close....."

Usually, Karel had good control over his loins, but Alisoun's skilful caresses were more than he could stand. Suddenly, his seed bursted forth copiously, spoiling Alisoun's beautiful silk gown. Furiously, Alisoun slapped his face and snarled "Beast !" and flounced out of the room.

Karel laughed heartily..........and then sighed..........and then reached for the knife.