The Lycian Prince 22

Niachiarus experienced more mixed feelings than usual when he tended to Anthonius’ devastated body. He was happy that the boy had received such a comprehensive thrashing and that his ministrations, although careful and expert, would add to the lad’s short-term woes. He was sad that he had to ensure that they also aided his long-term recovery, because the consequences of the Emperor’s displeasure at failure were too horrible to contemplate, and annoyed that they diverted his attentions away from his preparations to entertain Sura later that day. However, by the fourth hour after midnight, he had finished and he could leave the quietly sobbing boy to endure an agonising night and return to his own small bedchamber. There he would continue to sharpen the new knife that he had acquired and that had already been responsible for the removal of six testicles. He was really looking forward to the seventh and eighth shortly joining them in the jar of preservative fluid that he was now keeping as a memento at his bedside.

Diocletian, Casperius and Lysus all enjoyed trouble-free sleep. Anthonius did not and neither did his friend. Sura, in his dark dank dungeon cell, had earlier been told of his impending fate by a very happy Lysus, causing terrible emotions to run through the boy throughout the night.

Casperius asked Lysus to organise the late morning entertainment, telling the fat Lycian that the Emperor had agreed that it should be watched by all the Imperial boy companions and pages as an example of what could happen to them if they misbehaved. Lysus decided to extend the invitation to some others. He also decided that the main banquet hall would be the best location for the event and arranged for the new wooden table that Niachiarus had acquired specially for the purpose to be placed in the middle of the large dais.

By the eleventh hour of the day, the boy spectators, all very pretty and almost seventy in number, had been gathered to stand around the table in a wide circle. Anthonius was one of them. He had been dressed in a longer than normal tunic because his loins were too sore for a loincloth and had been helped to the hall by Niachiarus and two fellow boy companions. The slow walk had been extremely painful and not just because of his wounds for Anthonius knew that there was nothing that he could do to save his friend. Pleading with the Emperor clearly had not worked and Anthonius was in no physical shape to try a daring rescue. Though he was unconcerned about his own safety, Anthonius also realised that, if he had been able to make an attempt, the consequences of either success or failure could have been disastrous for his homeland.

When they finally reached the hall, the boy escorts had to maintain a light grip on Anthonius’ aching arms to ensure that their colleague’s obvious physical distress did not cause him to fall to the floor. They both shivered slightly when they clearly noticed, despite the blackness of the tunic, some blood seeping through. Niachiarus took up position at the foot of the central table, placing his bowl and knife underneath. Anthonius had been shocked to discover that it was to be Niachiarus who would perform the awful deed and had been unable to elicit from the Nubian why or how he had acquired the skill. For the first time, doubts about the eunuch’s role in his life entered the boy’s mind.

It was just half an hour before midday when the crying Sura was dragged into the hall by Praetorians, stripped of his tunic and loincloth and firmly bound face-up on the waiting table’s smooth surface. Niachiarus grinned at Sura as he gagged the hysterical boy and tightly tied the boy’s ball sac to cut off the flow of blood. He placed the bowl on the table, resting against the splayed lad’s lower buttocks, just under the beautiful form of his genitalia, and finished his preparation by cruelly placing the handle of his knife on Sura’s navel, the point directed downwards towards the boy’s penis. The eunuch then moved to the head of the table to await the guests of honour.

Lysus arrived shortly afterwards, closely followed by Diocletian’s son, accompanied by his tutor and fellow pupils. The 11 years olds looked disdainfully at the surrounding throng before crowding round the table and laughing at the sight of the naked 14 years old boy spreadeagled there. “Now, Highness and young masters,” the tutor said in a rather effeminate voice, “please remember that we are here to learn. It was very kind of Lysus to suggest that I supplement my talks on animal husbandry and human anatomy with a practical demonstration of castration.” The tutor picked up the knife from Sura’s body and, to the terrified bound boy’s utter astonishment and disbelief, lifted the lad’s cock up with the blade and began to discuss his topic.

“Castration of human males is performed for two reasons and they are often, as in this case, inter-connected. The first is to punish and the second is to make the male more suitable for his assigned role by removing his sexual capabilities. Such roles are often in the service of a household’s females or sons where it is important to eradicate any sexual temptations male servants might otherwise have towards their mistresses or young masters. The removal of just a penis such as the boy’s here is called a penectomy and is an excellent punishment but very poor preparation for service of the type that I describe. You see, the male’s sex-drive, which is driven mainly by the contents of the ball sac here,” the tutor continued whilst rubbing the point of the knife gently over Sura’s tied and reddening scrotum, “would remain intact but he would be unable to satisfy it because he would have no means of achieving relief. A person having to endure such torments of frustration would be too dangerous to serve in any household, although I believe that your father, Highness, has sent many traitors in such condition to the Illyrian salt mines. The removal or destruction of the male’s testicles would have to be arranged to annul the sex-drive and this gelding can be achieved in several ways. Please, Highness, feel for the boy’s testicles” and the tutor stood back to allow the 11 years old Prince to squeeze each of Sura’s 14 years old balls in turn before inviting his eleven elated friends to do so as well. Sura writhed in agony at the mistreatment to his boyhood.

The tutor eventually continued, after the boys had finished examining Sura’s scrotum, “These testicles could simply be squashed with a hammer or tong but the chances of the male losing his life as a result would be greatly increased. Instead, two safer methods are generally preferred. You see how this boy’s ball sac has been firmly tied around the base. At this moment, the tie is cutting off the blood flow. See how red the sac is becoming. Soon it will be purple and eventually it would turn black as the lack of blood kills the testicles. Over many months, the dead testes would gradually disappear, dissolved by bodily fluids. It is a neat but prolonged and very painful method of castration and, because of the latter, a second method is usually considered superior and will, I understand, be the one that we shall witness today. A cut is made along the sac here,” the tutor said as he ran the blade down from the underside of Sura’s cock, “the testicles exposed one by one and sliced off. The tie has been placed to restrict blood loss. Sometimes the resultant wound is helped to heal either by cauterisation or stitching. An advantage of gelding is that the penis is untouched and is therefore still available for urination and for ornament, although it might have a tendency to shrink over time. If needed, the genitals can still be attractive to look at if the sac heals well, despite its lack of contents, although I do know of some establishments of a certain type where the eunuchs’ own balls have been replaced by ones of wood or metal to restore full or even greater roundness to their sacs.”

“Another method of castration would be to sever the genitals entirely. This is called nullification and, I believe that the Nubian here is one on whom this has been practised.” Niachiarus’ facial expression remained unchanged despite this reference to his own unmanning and the tutor continued, to titters from his audience, “A bit too drastic for my taste, especially as the emasculated male often has to use a straw to urinate tidily. However, again I know of establishments of a certain type where such eunuchs are prized. Some are occasionally mistaken for girls after hair has grown to cover their wounds, and I believe breasts can be developed to increase the illusion.”

The tutor concluded his talk by informing his chortling young audience “The long-term affects of testicular castration are primarily the elimination of the male sexual organs as a source of sexual pleasure and regeneration. No more will the penis become hard, orgasm or produce seed, although some pleasure can still be achieved by the insertion of some object in the anus long enough to tickle the prostrate. The development of facial and body hair is stopped or severely restricted and any growth still due in the whole body often reduced. However, eunuchs can gain fat rapidly if not properly exercised.”

The tutor ran the knife once more over Sura’s now semi-hard penis and purple scrotum, and was beginning to wonder what to say next when Diocletian arrived with Casperius and several Praetorians. The tutor returned the knife to its original position and he and his pupils stood back to let the Emperor see the spreadeagled naked boy, whose dread had been heightened considerably by the lecture. Diocletian walked up and felt the lad’s genitals, squeezing the ball sac and stroking the penis. With his own cock rapidly hardening, the Emperor looked into Sura’s terrified tearful eyes and smiled before raising his head to nod at the waiting Nubian and moving to one side. Niachiarus transferred to the foot of the table again and picked up the knife. He did not have to lift up Sura’s penis because the Emperor’s handling had brought it to full erection but he held it in his left hand anyway, pointing it towards the boy’s navel, whilst his right hand positioned the tip of the blade on the upper scrotum. Sura felt his own semen splash onto his face and upper body as the Nubian began to cut. At the same time, a loud shout of “No!” came from amongst the watching boy companions.

Niachiarus was to be disappointed in having Sura’s testicles added to his collection for the Emperor, after inspecting them in the bowl, had ordered that they be sent to the palace kitchens. They were to be ground, mixed with appropriate spices and cooked, one for his new boy eunuch and one for Anthonius. Neither was to be given any other food until this delicacy had been consumed and both took several days before succumbing. However, the two boy’s torments were far from over.

Two weeks after being gelded, Sura was taken from his dungeon cell and moved into an adjacent larger chamber. The very scared boy would have known instantly what was to occur even if he had not been told days earlier by a crowing Casperius. The glowing brazier, with three branding irons embedded in the coals, located next to where he was chained suspended from the ceiling, provided clear indication. The same two irons that had marked his friend months earlier were roasting nicely but the same man who had applied them had had to have the third one recently made to the Emperor’s specifications. It portrayed a small circle of tiny interlocking Imperial eagles. Sura’s feet were off the ground but fixed taughtly in place to it by manacles. The now gagged boy was therefore unable to move when the man pricked the upper fronts and side hollows of his thighs and the middle of each bumcheek plus, a belated choice from the Emperor, a place directly above the lad’s damaged genitals. The man did not have to highlight the spots where the circular iron would be used because they were already naturally demarcated.

The man approached Sura with the first red-hot iron with exactly the same look as he had Anthonius, and received the same look back from the aghast boy as he had from his friend months ago. The man used the new iron first as its initial target was just below the boy’s appalled eyes. The smell of burning flesh pervaded both his and the boy’s nostrils as the circular iron was firmly laid around the lad’s left nipple. The man only had to wake Sura four times from a faint during the ordeal, which was lengthy because the irons had to reheat after each application. However, after he had finished two hours later, the man was very pleased with the quality of his work and the two other men, who had been watching from nearby seats as they eat some grapes, complimented him. Casperius and Lysus inspected the seven black eagles and three round emblems now painfully decorating Sura’s body and felt immensely satisfied. They knew that their revenge would soon be complete. Within a couple of weeks, the boy would be performing his menial tasks within the Emperor’s boy harem, attired only in a tiny black thong to hide his gelded state but not his lovely demeaning brands. The new eunuch would also undoubtedly have to endure frequent snide comments from most of the boys he served as a slave.

Meanwhile, Anthonius was waiting in dread for the day of the young Roman Prince’s next formal dinner.

(To be continued in Chapter 23 – ‘Dinner’)