Princes 2

(initially ‘WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER’)

By Pueros

Chapter 2 – Constantinople

The Spanish sea captain and Tyrell were deliberately speaking out of earshot of both Dighton and Forest, as well as the two Princes, for their conversation was of no concern to the manservants and of every concern to the boys. Tyrell asked the captain “Are you sure that you can guarantee that the boys will be transported to enslavement in the farthest regions of the known world and be castrated? It’s essential that neither they nor any offspring return to haunt us.” The captain answered “Can you think of anywhere further than the Empire of the Ottomans, where is always great demand for eunuchs? They are inevitably young and pretty and either white Christians or black pagans because, I understand, Muslims are not permitted by their religion to emasculate fellow believers. Anyway, I have never known the Moor to renege on his promises. If he swears by Allah that something will be done, it is done!” “Good,” said Tyrell, “for, if anything went wrong, I’d pay for it with my head!” Tyrell then departed with his two companions to row back whence they came.

“Follow me,” the Princes’ new gaoler ordered and took the boys into his side-cabin, illuminated only by the light filtering in from a lantern in the main compartment. He informed the frightened lads “You are going on a long journey overseas for your own protection. You must stay in here, where you will be safe, throughout. You must also remain quiet at all times for none of my crew are to know that you’re on board. Many of them would like to have pretty young boys like you share their beds and might be tempted by your presence to comfort themselves with your bodies when my back was turned.” The innocent Princes, who had led very sheltered lives, did not fully understand what the man was talking about, although the elder had an idea.

The captain had emptied the small side-cabin of the various items he had stored there, erected two hammocks and placed a leather bucket in the corner. He told the boys that the hammocks were to sleep in and the bucket was for their waste. The Prince’s were shocked at the primitive accommodation but, full of bleak despondency, said nothing. The captain left briefly and returned with a jug of water, but no cups, and two tin plates with some plain bread, meat and cheese. “Don’t waste it,” he advised, “for rations are tight.” He then left, locking the door behind him and leaving the boys in darkness. He placed the bag of spare clothing brought by Tyrell’s men for the youngsters in a corner of his own cabin, for he knew that he would probably need the contents sooner rather than later.

The dispirited and tired Princes never did eat the food for they were already becoming queasy because of the gentle rocking of the boat. Once their eyes had become accustomed to the gloom and they could just make out the layout of their tiny prison, Edward tried instead to help Richard into his hammock. However, he encountered difficulty with the swinging contraption and his brother fell off twice before the tricky manoeuvre was finally fulfilled. Edward managed to reach his own sleeping position only at the sixth attempt.

As Tyrell had been advised, the ship left on the morning tide, heading eastwards down the Thames towards the open sea. The Princes had never been on a ship before, their experiences on water being strictly limited to small riverboats, and the bucket in their cabin was soon full of vomit as seasickness overwhelmed their delicate constitutions. The captain kept discretely visiting as often as he could for he did not want to lose his valuable cargo, but all he could really do to help was to empty the bucket regularly and secretly through the porthole of his cabin.

The voyage took almost a month. The weather was poor at first, despite the fact that it was still late summer, and the traversing of both the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay were particularly unpleasant, especially for the ailing Princes. The Duke of York was certainly in no state or situation to celebrate his 10th birthday as the terrible days passed. However, the boys began to improve when better conditions were encountered as they sailed down the Spanish and Portuguese coasts and they became more accustomed to the now more gentle rolling of the vessel. They had even started to regain some of the weight lost by the time the busy port of Cadiz was reached.

The captain hoped that their delayed arrival had not caused him to miss the Moor who visited the port only at this time every year. He was therefore relieved to see the Moor’s distinctive huge galley in the harbour. The captain had tried to keep his prize cargo as healthy and as clean as possible. He gave the boys good and regular rations. He encouraged them daily to wash from buckets of seawater and clean their teeth, using the powder that he always kept and which had protected his own well. He gave them combs to maintain their long silky hair. He also regularly gave them changes of clothes, washing and drying their soiled garb in his own cabin. However, he was no laundryman and their constant sickness had meant that they had not eaten well and were often too poorly to attend satisfactorily to their ablutions. Although there had been a recent improvement, the boys were still unnaturally white-faced, undoubtedly as much from lack of exposure to the outside as from their illness, and thin. Their attire now looked scrawny and their general sullenness, to be expected in the circumstances in which they found themselves, only added to their sorry physical and mental state. The captain was worried about the affect on their value if he presented the boys to the Moor in their present condition. He therefore decided to try to obtain some improvement.

Once the main cargo had been unloaded and the crew had set off to waste their wages in the town, the captain removed the Princes from the tiny side cabin for the first time in a month and took them up to the deck. The boys immediately cheered a little at seeing the sun and sky for the first time in four weeks, although they were also apprehensive about where they were for it was clearly not England. The captain recognised their anxiety and tried to placate it by saying “Cadiz, Spain. You’re safe here, although you’ll soon be moving on to somewhere even safer. We’re going ashore to get you tidied up.” He then guided the boys down a side gangplank to a small rowboat, left for the captain by the crew, and the threesome rowed to a quiet part of the pierside.

The captain had chosen this mooring for the rowboat because it was well away from the cheap inns and brothels that the crew would be enjoying. He proposed to use a much more costly and exclusive establishment and led the Princes through some quiet waterside alleyways to a wider tree-lined avenue, which climbed one of the hills behind the Spanish port. They eventually came to a magnificent villa, surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was the most expensive bordello in town, one of the captain’s most pleasurable self-indulgences.

The captain was welcomed like a long-lost brother by the mistress, to whom he explained his requirements. The woman went briefly away, and returned with three brown haired, brown eyed young girls, one aged about 16 and the other two about 14, all dressed in skimpy translucent low-cut white silk-like dresses, through which their pretty sun-kissed bodies could just be made out if you looked carefully. Both boys did so and the elder felt his cock becoming bigger. Whilst the captain was cheerfully led by the oldest girl to one of the luxurious bedchambers, the Princes were led by the two youngest to a large magnificently-appointed bathroom, even more resplendent than those they had come across in the English royal palaces. However, the walls, ceilings and floors of this particular example were decorated with colourful tiled frescos depicting young naked very nubile nymphs being chased by men with very large erect members. Both boys blushed bright red when they saw the scenes. They blushed even more when the girls, by means of sign language, indicated that they should strip.

Richard was at first adamant that he would do no such thing but his elder brother was aware of how much good a luxuriant bath would do them both and persuaded him otherwise. They began to remove their shirts and footwear whilst the girls pushed some small gold-plated phallus-shaped levers that made warm water begin to fill the enormous bath and poured in some scented salts from a big adjacent jar, adorned with its own obscene artwork. The girls then removed their revealing frocks and, now completely naked and chuckling, returned to the two boys who were shyly delaying the removal of their breeches in the hope that the girls would be leaving. However, it was evident from what the girls had just done that they not only had no intention of leaving and were instead proposing to join them the lads in the bath.

The girls both had beautiful smooth bodies without pubic hair but with breasts clearly beginning to form. Despite his shock at the turn of events, Edward’s cock now became harder at the sight. The giggling girls purposefully overcame the boy’s bashful reluctance to disrobe and helped them to remove their trousers, leaving them standing in just their tight underbreeches, which clearly outlined the older boy’s excitement. This view just increased the girls’ determination and they soon had these last covers off their latest and youngest-ever customers. Edward’s whole body flushed as he tried to hide his erection under his cupped hands. Richard jumped into the now half-full bath, hoping that the suds would hide his own smaller embarrassment.

All four children were soon in the bath and, as the water continued to pour in, the Princes began to realise that they were not to wash themselves. The girls had collected some sponges, soaped them and, kneeling before the sitting boys, started to sponge the lads’ chests. Edward and Richard gradually overcame their shame and succumbed to the inevitable. They eventually relaxed to enjoy the experience, even standing when directed so that the girls could attend to certain other parts of their anatomy.

Edward, particularly, found the situation very erotic and could not prevent himself having a constant hard-on. This became especially intense when he was standing and the girl attending to him washed his bum and cheekily searched for his sphincter with a finger. The elder boy continued to try to hide his stimulation but eventually that was the only part of his body, apart from his hair, still requiring attention and the girl gently knocked his hands away. The Prince closed his eyes in shame as the sponge was applied to his excited genitals but this rapidly became ecstasy as the soft wet implement was wrapped round his hard cock and the girl began to pump. He was experiencing too much pleasure to stop her and soon his body shuddered and the sponge became damper, but not with water. At the same time, Richard, sitting again, was brought to his first drier climax by the ministrations of the other girl’s right hand, placed under the water between the boy’s legs. The girls just smiled at their successes and proceeded to shampoo the boys’ hair.

The captain and his two royal charges eventually emerged redressed, refreshed and reinvigorated from their experiences within the walls of the brothel. Their clothes had been washed and quickly dried under the hot sun whilst they were enjoying the company of the young prostitutes, an extra service provided by the high-class establishment. It had all cost a lot but the captain knew that he would recoup the amount if it encouraged the Moor to pay full price for the Princes. The captain was certainly pleased to see that some colour and chirpiness had returned to the boys’ faces.

They returned to the rowboat at the pierside but, instead of making for his own ship, the captain now rowed towards the Moor’s galleon, hoping that the trader was home. He was and he came from below to greet the threesome on the deck. The captain took the Moor to one side and spoke to him for a while, out of earshot of everyone else. The Princes saw that the tall, distinguished, bearded man, in flowing white robes with a jewel-encrusted scabbard on his belt, regularly glanced at them during the conversation. They also, from their standing position, took in the magnificence of the ship, far bigger and grander than any they had encountered previously. A number of men were loading cargo from small boats alongside and others seemed to be performing maintenance work on the deck and above them in the sail rigging.

The captain’s chat with the Moor eventually finished and the latter then escorted the Spaniard and his very special goods for sale below deck to his cabin, a much larger and more sumptuous facility than its equivalent on the other ship. The captain addressed the two boys “This gentleman has no English so I have to speak for him. He is the kind person who will take you to your final sanctuary. He is also a doctor and will make sure that you remain well. After the stresses of your voyage from England, he believes that it would be beneficial to perform a physical check now to ensure that there isn’t something that he should be tending immediately. Would you mind undressing for him?” The blushes returned to the boys’ faces and the Moor recognised their shamed reluctance. He therefore suggested that the captain went on deck whilst the inspection took place.

The coy Princes felt a little more relaxed now that there was only the doctor to view their naked bodies and disrobed, helped by their memory of being occasionally examined like this by royal physicians. They stood nude before the Moor with their hands initially in the usual protective positions but the man soon sensitively moved them to the boys’ sides and began his careful and thorough scrutiny of the lads’ young physiques. He noted that they were currently skinny and pale, presumably a consequence of their recent journey and previous experiences. However, he appreciated that some of his special medicines, good diet and plenty of joyful exercise under the warm Mediterranean sun, combined with pleasant accommodation and rosier future expectations, should quickly eradicate these defects. He also realised that, once this transformation had occurred, he would have very special goods that would attract very high prices in the market for which they would be destined. He was particularly happy with the way the boys’ ball sacs hung nicely, which would make their castration easier to perform, and with the lengths of their uncut penises, which were a little bigger than usual for their ages and would provide their bodies with pleasant ornamentation after their scrotums were emptied. The Moor believed that he knew who the likely purchaser would be for such superb but very expensive young white eunuchs.

At the conclusion of the physical check, the Moor opened a big cupboard, which contained a large array of new clothing kept just for these occasions, for one of the man’s specialisms was trading young boys from north western Europe in Constantinople, where they were very rare and much prized. He selected some items that he believed were the boys’ sizes. He gave the Princes white underbriefs, even smaller than their original underbreeches, along with sleeveless white tunics, which had waist cords and reached down to half way between the boy’s loins and knees. The quality of the garments was the best that the two Princes had worn for several months. Their new attire was finished off with open sandals. The Moor then led the boys to a nearby spacious cabin that had two bunk-beds located against the walls either side of the entrance door, as well as against the side walls, thereby providing sleeping facilities for sixteen. There were four square wooden tables, each with four chairs around them, fixed to the floor in front of each set of beds. Some open portholes were on the far wall, with sunlight streaming through. In front of these, bathed in the light, was an open space with an overflowing toy-box. The Moor smiled and signalled to the boys to play with the toys and left to conclude his business with the captain on deck. The Princes were never again to see the Spaniard, now considerably enriched by his latest transaction.

Edward and Robert had both noticed that the cabin showed no evidence of being lived in and wondered if there were to be any other occupants. They did not immediately play with the toys. Instead, they explored their new environment and peered out of the portholes for a while, watching the shipping pass by in the busy harbour. However, they eventually succumbed to the lure of the playthings, of which they found the small wooden soldiers to be the most attractive. The boys were just beginning to re-enact one of the more bloody battles of the Wars of the Roses when the door opened and a huge black man entered, carrying plates of food, jugs of juice and goblets. He placed them on the table nearest to the lads and, before leaving, gestured that they should eat, obviously sharing the Moor’s ignorance of the English language. In fact, the Princes were never again to encounter anyone who shared their native tongue and they would become fluent in Turkish to compensate.

The now hungry Princes had not come across much of the food before but found it delicious. They had also not previously tasted anything like the juice but adored it, despite the fact that the Moor had secretly added some of his medicinal remedies. When the boys had finished the delectable feast, they noticed that the noise coming from the deck above had reduced considerably and, helped by observations from the portholes, concluded correctly that the loading of the holds had been completed. However, the galley remained quietly at anchor for another three days, apparently waiting for something as no more boats seemed to approach with cargo. During this time, the most valuable freight on the ship were well looked after, although they would not be allowed on deck until they were at sea. They enjoyed their food, play and sleep and their expressions and complexions quickly improved. Their bodies also began to fill out to their more natural immaculate proportions and were kept clean through daily baths in a large wooden tub brought by the black servant.

It was late afternoon on the third day when the last load, for which the Moor had been patiently waiting, arrived from the north on another ship. The Princes did not see the transfer take place but discovered what it was when the door to their cabin kept opening and, one by one over a period of a few hours, sixteen pretty boys, aged from about 6 to 14, entered, dressed in a similar manner to themselves. All the fair skinned newcomers seemed confused and disturbed about what was happening to them and were accordingly very quiet at first. However, as they sailed on the evening tide and a veritable banquet was brought in for them all to consume, most brightened, especially as they had now become accustomed to the rolling of ships.

Talk between the boy cargo was difficult because they spoke several different languages, for there were five Scandinavians, four Germans, four Lowlanders, two French boys and an Irish lad, who only spoke Gaelic, but all seemed pleasant enough. Indeed, as the galley spent the next three months progressing down the Mediterranean towards their ultimate destination and they learnt to communicate mainly by manual signals, they came to enjoy each other’s company enormously, with only a few minor and quickly forgotten altercations. The four littlest also did not mind sleeping head to toe in the same bunks to compensate for the fact that there were two unexpected additions to their number.

The Princes’ new friends had been sold to the Moor’s agents by poor peasant families, who had been led to believe that they were destined for a better life as some great lord’s servants. They were never informed that the boys would be removed to the other side of the known world and the truthfulness of what they had been told depended on whether they considered being eunuch catamites represented improved existences. The Princes kept their own backgrounds to themselves, as they would do for the rest of their lives, for they knew that the information might endanger them further and, anyway, they did not think that anyone would believe them.

The boys quickly lost their inhibitions with each other after becoming acclimatised to the daily bathing the black servant insisted on and which was a new experience for all, even the Princes. As a result, most, including the Princes, walked round their cabin nude in the hottest weather. Best friends were made, usually from within the same age groups. Edward’s was a Dane and Robert’s was one of the French boys. They would often help each other. This developed first towards mutual bathing and later, amongst the older boys as they grew to like and recognise the feelings caused by physical contact, into occasional bed sharing and mutual masturbation during the darkness of night. Edward and his friend were not exceptions.

Apart from their sexual adventures, the boys most liked their time on deck, where the Moor allowed them to play to their hearts’ content as long as the weather permitted and their pink forms did not redden. There, the lads often wore just their briefs and many of the tempted sex-starved crew were only kept at bay by iron self-will and the strict discipline imposed by their employer. Especially popular amongst the boys was viewing the comings and goings in the various exotic ports they entered, which included Ceuta, Oran, Algiers, Triploli and Chania, although they never knew the place names or where in the world they had actually sailed. However, this idyll finally came to an end when the galley entered a huge harbour and the boys saw for the first time the city that was to become home to many. It was the most stunning skyline any of them had ever seen, even to the Princes who knew London. Beyond the high walls, the boys observed the many roofs and domes of the great metropolis, with the most splendid having a strange narrow pointed tower next to it.

The Moor visited the boys in their cabin that night. He was pleased to observe that all, including the two most precious, looked to be at the peak of boyish health and beauty and now possessed cheery dispositions, although he was aware that the latter would soon change. He announced to the young assemblage “We have arrived at our final destination for we are moored in the Golden Horn. You will all be disembarked tomorrow to be welcomed in the capital of the great Sultans!”

(To be continued in Chapter 3 – ‘Enslavement’)