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KAIGAN:

My own need was lost in the pleasure I felt at being able to literally remove my Kleinos' words from his mouth. He lay on the rock in the sun and stared at me, his eyes glazed, as I petted and soothed him down from his over-intense bliss. But soon, the rumbling in our bellies reminded us we had only a bit of fruit -- and some protein, for me -- to break our fast.

He sighed finally, and smiled at me. "You have so much to teach me," he murmured.

"My honor and my pleasure," I told him again, smiling gently. "Shall we go find a sacrifice to our hunger, my Kleinos?"

"I will fetch my sling," he replied, and rose -- somewhat shakily, I am not too proud to claim -- and moved back to our camp. I followed after once again rinsing myself off, and finding the remains of the pomegranate and removing it from the spring.

The rabbits were slowly becoming wary of us, but my Obiareus' sling still found them easily enough. He took out four, but one managed to dive into a thicket before dying. When we reached the spot, a young, skinny dog -- perhaps a run-away from a villa -- darted away from us, Obia's kill in its mouth. I laughed, seeing that the dog obviously needed the meat far more than us, and turned to tell Obiareus so.

He was frozen into place, his eyes wide and his mouth in an 'O' of surprise. "I had nearly forgotten," he whispered, and I reached out to touch his cheek.

"Kleinos?"

"I had a dream, Philetor," he said, blinking at me. "A most strange dream."

OBIAREUS:

I had wanted to talk to him about the astonishing thing he had done to me, but all thought of it fled as I saw the cur that had stolen my rabbit. The dream that I had the night before the last came rushing back to me, and when he turned to me and bade me tell him, I knew I had to. Perhaps with his understanding of the minds of men and gods, he might help me determine what to make of it.

"Let us catch our morning meal first," I said quietly, "and then I will tell you."

He nodded his head, then made a small gesture in the direction of the area where I'd killed our food, murmuring something in another tongue.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"A prayer of thanks to the spirit of the rabbit, who has given some of its own for our purpose."

I allowed my puzzlement to show. "You thank the rabbit? For allowing us to -- ?"

"It is only right," Kaigan told me quietly. "It is a sign of respect. The earth yields up what we eat and drink. If we do not thank its creatures for feeding us, Inanna will surely grow tired of our rudeness." He smiled, and though his eyes shone with amusement, there was a kind of reverence there. "It does not do to be too rude to Inanna."

I did not fully understand -- I could not be certain I ever would understand the ways of his Inanna -- but I did not question. Kaigan had already shown me the wisdom of respect, and I would not argue it now.

We returned to our camp with the rabbits. Together, we skinned and cleaned them, then built a fire on which to roast them. It would have been far quicker to split the tasks, but it was an uncanny thing to want to be so near him -- to want to be so near anyone -- and so I allowed myself to relish it. There could certainly be no harm in sharing the time.

He spitted the rabbits and I prodded the fire. We sat in companionable silence as we turned our meat over the flames, and between us we soon had a good meal.

"It was a misty dusk," I began without preamble, waving my spitted meat through the air to cool it. I felt Kaigan's attention immediately upon me, and looked at him. "You and I were hunting. We had not yet found any meat, but we were far away from our pallets." I looked around us, trying to find the place where the dream began, but could not. "I do not know of the place where we were, but in the dream, I knew it well." I shrugged; that is the way of dreams, sometimes, and Kaigan knew it.

I plucked a strand of meat from my spit and hissed -- it was yet hot -- and licked my fingers. "Dark was closing far too quickly. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, we were surrounded by wolves."

Kaigan's eyes grew wide. "Did they attack?"

I shook my head. Pausing only long enough to eat a bit of meat, I went on, "You and I were enclosed within them, though, six, seven, I cannot remember." The images were so clear to me, so sure as though they were memories and not fantasies visited on me in my sleep. "Your back was pressed to mine, and we circled as they closed in. They were snarling. One began to snap." I sighed. "We were alone and trapped in the wilds, with no one to help us and only a labrys in our hands." I looked at him questioningly, hoping that perhaps he, or his Inanna, might shed light on this dream of mine.

KAIGAN:

I thought about Obiareus' dream while I ate my sacrificial rabbit -- the meat was becoming tiresome, perhaps we should look for other game. "Is there any more?" I asked him when he stopped talking, and he shook his head. "How did you feel about me in the dream?" I persisted, and he looked at me from under his long eyelashes.

"Safe," was his one-word reply. Then he went back to eating, and after a while, I did as well, thinking strongly.

The Aegyptians held wolves in frightened awe, but the Celts of Gaul looked upon them as good -- well, except when their wild hunter god, Herne, was on the prowl. I had found wolves and, indeed, all canines, to be good, honest beasts, not prone to attacking humans unless sorely provoked.

So, perhaps his dream had nothing to do with the wolves, but instead with him and me. "We stood," I said slowly, thoughtfully, "back to back, and faced the threat together?" I looked at him for confirmation, but he would not look directly at me, though he did nod. "Then, perhaps, it is meant as a warning to you -- to us -- that we must face adversity joined, rather than apart," I finally said. I spoke somewhat reluctantly. While I had -- to some degree -- come to terms with my infatuation, I did not believe that Obiareus felt the same way towards me. He had not indicated as such, and I confess, Inanna, I did not wish to risk my heart any more than I had already. I could love from afar, but did not know if I could speak of it yet. It hurt to think that my feelings may not be returned.

While I had ruminated, apparently, so had my Kleinos. He studied me now and I wondered what he was thinking. "I will think on it further," I reassured him. "I do not know, however, if more insight will come."

"It may have been enough to speak of it to you," he said, throwing a well-chewed bone on the fire. "Dreams are... difficult."

"Yes," I agreed readily. "I believe that sometimes we don't understand the warning in a dream until it is too late."

He nodded his agreement and understanding, but did not speak, though I could tell he had something on his mind. After a long silence, where I wrapped our left-over meat in grape and thyme leaves for later dinner, he finally asked a question that had apparently been bothering him. "Where did you... learn... to do that?" he asked, and his face flushed most endearingly.

I did not pretend to misunderstand him -- he was not referring to my storing of the meat. "When I was pledged to the service of Inanna," I said, fondly touching her lion, "I served in her temple in Nineveh, guarding the temple prostitutes against those who would become to -- violent." He looked at me askance. "You must understand, it is a sacred ritual for one to seek solace in the arms of one of Inanna's Chosen, but there are times when strong drink, or, perhaps, a lack of propriety, will cause a seeker to become less than welcome. It is then the guard's duty to ensure that the Chosen are safe and not molested in any way."

His eyes had grown rounder as I spoke. "Were you one of the... the chosen?" he asked, his voice breathless.

"Me? Oh, no," I laughed. "That was not my path. I was not born of Nineveh, and so when I reached fourteen summers, I was branded into the service of the king." I turned and showed him my caste mark, low on my back. "I was lucky to have been chosen to serve Inanna in any way," I added with a fond smile. "She has been my patron since I was born, and I have served her faithfully -- well, more or less -- my whole life." I wrapped up the last of the meat and set it aside. "But while I served in her temple, I was able to learn from the Chosen the ways of the flesh." I gave him a quick smile. "I am a eager student, in most things," I said, letting my smile turn wry.

He smiled back, for all it was tentative, and I was happy to see it. "I would... I would like to learn this from you as well," he said, his voice soft, his cheeks reddened.

"My Kleinos has but to ask," I told him, equally softly.

OBIAREUS:

He had asked me how I'd felt about him in my dream. It was something I hadn't considered, but I knew my answer was true: I had felt safe. With Kaigan at my back, I had known somehow without thinking that we would be well. This dream showed me certainty, even after we'd fought and our future here looked bleak and ugly.

"We." But there was no "we," I knew. There was only Kaigan... and me: two individuals. I could never cleave myself to another, as I seemed to have done in the dream.

There was no one else I could have dreamed of, I know. The idea of Xanthus in such a dream, paired so to me, made me smile in derision. Palaemon? Never. Not even my own mother could harbor me in her arms as protectively as Kaigan, I knew. How could this be? How was it possible that this man, whom I barely knew, made me feel as though hordes of wolves could not touch me? What was the adversity, then?

I still could not puzzle it out, and so I moved on to the place most likely for my mind to go: that thing he had amazingly done to me with his mouth. Ai, gods, I would be lying if I did not say it made my mind quite leave me.

The idea that my Philetor had lain with sacred concubines to learn such traits gave me a hot, strange feeling, both pleasant and unpleasant. Hekate had no such concubines to her name, and so the idea was as foreign to me as his markings, and as unfathomable. It was but one more thing for me to puzzle over among all the differences between us. And yet... there was a strange disquiet inside me. I longed once again to learn more about him, to learn all there was to know about him and his goddess, and ease this growing understanding of my own ignorance. Each new thing that fell from his mouth (and, it would seem, each new thing he did with his mouth!) showed me something more about the way the sun slanted on the world, and something more about him, in its light.

Now the sun's light shone on him squarely, and while I wished for dark starlight to hide my flush, I knew I could not wait so long as all that. It had been shocking, devastating, to feel his mouth upon me so, but it had been sweet -- so unbearably sweet that had I only been capable of speech, I would have asked him to do it again. No, that is not true; had he done it more, I may well have died of it. It had made me want to crawl out of my skin for all its intensity. My screams had well nigh echoed throughout the valley and might even have been heard in the villa on the ridge.

I knew even as I flushed hotly and smiled in terrible embarrassment that I wanted to hear his screams echoing, too.

"My Kleinos has but to ask," he murmured, and I found myself blushing again like some senseless boy in the throes of heady infatuation. Rising from my seat by the fire, I moved closer to him. Ai, I could already feel that warmth creeping into me again, and soon, perhaps sooner than I wanted, I knew I would be crawling over him, in desperate need of his skin and his mouth and whatever part of him I could reach. For now, while I could still stave it off, I wished him to teach me.

"I am asking, my Philetor," I smiled. My eyes wanted to glance away, but I kept them firmly locked with his. My body was all I that could offer him, and so while I offered it, I would at least be true. I wanted to be with him in a way that I had never cared to be with anyone.

"Very well," he breathed, and that soft rumble made me shiver. He moved to simply tug his breechclout away and lift the hem of his chiton, but it was not enough.

"Please," I said quietly. "I want to touch you and look at you."

He removed his clothing silently, my tall, broad barbarian, every stitch and strap down to his sandals. I marveled at the strength I could see in him as he bent and finished undressing himself, as though it shone through his skin. Perhaps, somehow, it did.

Quickly, I stepped close to him, even before he could straighten. "Instruct me, Philetor, in the ways of this thing you have bewitched me with."

His strong arms came around me and he kissed me, even before he would speak. It, too, was sweet, sweeter still than our first kisses had been: so tender, so soft, though I wanted to devour him for sheer hunger. Kaigan's long hand on my hardness, though, was enough to pull a groan from me and make me push his hand away.

"I am yet starved for you," I sighed. "Do not touch me or you will see me languid and sleepy before you have anything out of me."

He laughed quietly. "I will try, Kleinos, to restrain myself." His hand cupped my face instead, and I sighed.

Slowly, carefully, I kissed across his beard, relishing the soft prickle before it yielded to the smooth skin of his throat. He groaned softly as I found my slow way down his body, using my lips over his skin as I would over his mouth. It was good; his scent was clean and warm and it made me want to lick and taste him. As quickly as the thought came to me, I did, and his answering moan was gratifying. This intimacy and closeness astounded me even as I wondered why I had never been loved -- or loved anyone, myself -- with lips and tongue.

I slid my mouth over his hip, then, sinking my knees into the soft grass before him. Softly, flushing even as I grew daring, I drew back to look at him.

My eyes went wide. "Kaigan, ai, what is this injury?" His erection was thin and stretched taut, strange and hard, and I touched it with my fingertips, staring at it. It was an oddity!

Kaigan groaned at my touch, and, afraid I had hurt him, I jerked my hand away.

"Ah," he said shakily, and I could swear he staggered back a half step. "Obiareus, I think -- perhaps I might explain...."

Averting my eyes and rising, I swallowed. I remembered my brief admonition to myself and met his gaze again. "Explain, then, my Philetor, for I have never seen such a one as that."

KAIGAN:

My Kleinos must be demon-spawn, he has the power to reduce me to little more than a babbling idiot in just a few words and touches. Whereas a few days before, I would have scoffed at anyone suggesting I would seriously take another lover, today, I find myself eager to teach him everything I know -- in the martial arts as well as the arts of the body. When I realized he had never been taken to passion orally before, I had a suspicion that he would wish me to teach him, and I was not mistaken.

His voice as he whispered, "I am asking, my Philetor," came close to undoing me, and his eyes... ah, Inanna, his eyes! I have come to realize that they are never the same color from one moment to the next, and here, they were a deep, smoky green, not unlike the sea. I would have done anything for him then, stolen from a babe, committed usury, even turned away from you, my lovely goddess. But he would not ask that of me. Instead, he would ask me to teach him how to love me. I hardened with gratifying, even dizzying, speed at the thought.

I had thought the feel of him tasting my skin was intoxicating, but to see him kneeling before me -- ah, let me say that it was nearly over before begun. It took me a few moments to realize he was concerned about me -- his fingers on my cock felt like burning brands and it was all I could do to keep from spilling right then.

He thought I was injured! Were I not so close to my ecstasy I might have chuckled. Instead, I stepped back a pace and breathed deeply to try and control my runaway lust. "Obiareus, I think -- perhaps I might explain...." I managed to struggle out, then watched in dismay as he rose to his feet, his face a combination of confusion and worry.

"Explain, then, my Philetor, for I have never seen such a one as that," he said, and I drew in another breath to try and calm my unsteady nerves. It did nothing to alleviate my desperate need, however.

"You have never before seen a man who has been cut?" I asked him, and to my own ears, my voice sounded hoarse. He shook his head in reply, and remained mute. His eyes were large and focused on me, and I was overcome by a feeling of gratitude over his lovely solicitousness. "It is not so strange a thing, my Kleinos. It is merely the way of my family, and many others of Akkad. Shortly after a boy is born, his foreskin is removed." I shrugged, glad to be able to once again feel in control.

"This... it sounds... barbaric," Obiareus said, and I smiled gently at him.

"No more so than other customs I have known of," I told him. "Some Nubian tribes do the same with their women babies, and that, I believe, is vastly cruel."

He shuddered; obviously he agreed with me. "But... did it hurt?"

"I do not even remember it," I said. "I was but a babe in arms. In Nineveh, where I grew, some men were cut and some were not. It was often a topic of frivolous discussion in Inanna's temple, over which man could feel more and better -- one who was cut, or one who was not."

At that, Obiareus smiled. "And was there a consensus?" He asked me, and his hand once again reached out to me, touching and caressing my chest.

I breathed in again, relieved to be past this crisis. "No, no consensus was reached," I murmured, gently capturing his hand and kissing his fingers. "I am the way I am... can you accept me the way I am?"

"Oh, yes," Obiareus said, and his eyes glittered. "I would like to continue with our lesson then," he added, leaning forward to suckle at my neck.

I groaned. "My Kleinos," I whispered, and fisted my hands at my sides to prevent them from reaching for him. My arousal, never far banked, roared back.

Once again, Obiareus descended to his knees before me, and this time, he eyed me with curiosity. "It is so different," he murmured, again reaching out to stroke me. I closed my eyes then, for I knew if I were to watch him, it would be my undoing, and a teacher must always do his best for the student. "I do not believe I have ever before examined a man this closely," Obiareus said, running his callused fingers over my shaft and testicles.

"There is great pleasure to be had in this, for both parties," I told him tightly, holding on to my sanity with both hands.

"But what is the taste like?" He asked me, distracted. Before I could answer, his tongue darted out to lick. I'm afraid I shouted, Inanna, and came so close to the edge. "You taste warm and salty, Philetor," he murmured, then before I could breathe again, he had lowered his lips around me.

OBIAREUS:

I suppose his Inanna's Chosen had the right of things, for the groan that issued from Kaigan's throat was most satisfying. He seemed not to know what to do with his hands -- one descended upon my hair, and just as it began to caress, disappeared again. Very slowly I opened my lips to engulf the near-purple head of his cock. I wondered, truly, how he had managed to so completely engulf me in his mouth as he had. Then again, I am not as large he is -- as I had long observed, the barbarian is tall and broad -- that is enough said, I think.

Lowering my head, I heard a hiss of air before he grunted quickly, "No teeth. Cover... with your -- ahhh..." It was something I dimly recalled him doing, so I did it in kind and was rewarded with another long, helpless moan.

Kaigan's very nearness and the hot intimacy of what I was doing made me dizzy. I was fascinated by the feel of him, hot and heavy in my mouth, and by the taste. I lowered my mouth as much as I could, but his thickness and length was too far beyond me. Slowly, I raised my head and slid my mouth back to the crown, swallowing. Kaigan's weakened shout sounded desperate to my ears. Pleased, I wrapped my hand around his hard shaft, steadying his length so that I could taste him again, properly. I lapped at the tip of his cock again, and a small noise escaped me as his huge, usually gentle hand sank into my hair tightly.

"Obia I am --" he managed to grunt before tensing solidly and shouting out his pleasure. I scarcely had an instant to think before Kaigan's hot release pulsed into my mouth, surprising me. I would have pulled away -- truly, it was my first instinct -- but ai, he sounded so beautiful at the peak of release. I swallowed his seed and moaned softly at the taste of it and the sheer, unadulterated pleasure of rendering him so insensible. His groans faded away to rough panting and shaky moans before he pressed me away from him and sank to his knees, pulling me into his arms.

I had, it would seem, stricken him speechless. I was very, very pleased with myself.

"It went so quickly, my Philetor," I teased softly, whispering into his hair as I held him to me. "I must practice more, and so prolong your pleasure."

And my great, huge barbarian, I am thrilled to say, whimpered.

KAIGAN:

My Kleinos...

He is a quick study.

Ah. Inanna. Preserve me in your arms, for surely I will die here, and be happy of it.

OBIAREUS:

Kaigan calmed slowly, drawing me to the ground with him. I simply rested on his chest, listening to his breathing grow steady again. After a moment, his arms tightened around me. He kissed the top of my head and rumbled softly, "You have turned me back to a score of years, I am so short-lived at your hands."

I laughed, happy and surprised to hear him so awed. "My hands were scarcely in play, Philetor."

He truly seemed joyed to hear me laugh, and before I could do other than smile at him again, he swept me to the ground beneath him and kissed me soundly.

I have found that it is a delicious joy to kiss him. I have seldom bothered with it before; Xanthus was too needy and I feared that he would grow too close with me, closer than he had. He was always so hungry, it seemed, and kisses shared do something... they bare the soul in a way that animal pleasure does not. Ilus had never cared; it might have been pleasant to while away hours this way with him, had he known a thing about pleasure in the first place.

I flushed a little, wondering if Kaigan thought of me so -- but no, I supposed that he would not dishonor either of us by pretending to desire me. Not that he could pretend; the heat and hardness of him surely would not come of its own volition had it no reason. It humbled me and made me prideful at once.

I could hardly stand to question why I allowed my Philetor to kiss me so senseless. In the end, I decided it was simple: I was only his Kleinos, and at the end of the second moon's turning, I would be released to my own devices again. Oh... I had already decided that I would not move for redress against this "hardship;" in three days' time I had already come far enough to understand that there were many things my lovely barbarian could teach me -- in the ways of the world as well as in the ways of pleasure. But of course I knew I would simply return to the barracks and continue to live out my life. What other solution was there, no matter how much he could teach me?

And teach me, he did. The days slid by like water leaving the shore. We hunted, we fished, we swam, we made love -- all in new and exciting ways. I would never have believed that I was a sheltered boy, but whenever Kaigan spoke of the Asgard, or Bastet, or Marduk, or any one of another armful of gods he knew, I grew amazed at my own ignorance. I scarcely knew my own Hekate, while Kaigan knew more gods than I knew men. I came to adore his stories of Inanna, until soon I was speaking to her myself. Kaigan taught me more plants than any other Jheudi knew; it was a surprise because we were all trained in healing arts. He knew the stars and could show me the gods in them, and animals and mortals who were so great they had been chosen and painted in the sky. I learned over and over that Kaigan could teach me forever and not yet be done.

Once, he showed me a horse in the sky and I felt Heiro with me in that moment. It was so strong that tears came to my eyes. Heiro had always wanted to be a horseman on the mainland; he had always sworn that he would take me with him when he went.

"We will strike out together, you and I," he had promised, when I was barely six years into the world. His slender hand had squeezed my shoulder, and I remember his eyes had been troubled in spite of his smile. He had known even then that our parents, that our country, had their fatal flaws.

"What is it, Kleinos?" Kaigan asked me, concerned. His large hand brushed away a tear that had fallen.

"I cannot bear to think that he is in the underworld. I am lonely without him, even now." The words sounded selfish to me, but I could not help them.

Kaigan only pulled me close to him and stroked my hair. "Siobhan believed that we do not lose those who pass on, Obia. They remain with us in spirit, and in our hearts. If you believe it, you keep him with you. He will not go until you are ready to release him. You may yet surprise yourself."

Yes, my Philetor is wise, and his skills as a lover... oh, they astounded me. I thanked Inanna every day, every moment his hands or mouth were on me, though he waited long and patiently to allow himself into my body. Inanna, she knows how easily he could reduce me to mindless babbling on the sands, desperate for him. No matter how I pleaded, he finally took his pleasure inside me only when he was certain I could withstand the intimacy.

Ai, and there I can find no assuaging my guilt, for he believed that entering each other's bodies was yet more intimate than kissing. I never told him that I had barely kissed Xanthus, never kissed Ilus, and my handful of other lovers had been either cursory or compulsory.

So the days slipped over the cliffs and pooled into weeks, and soon... soon it was even with a sigh of regret that I knew we would return in only a score of days. My feelings had sharpened, whetting themselves against the passion he drew out of me again and again, and on the sound of his voice, purring in the darkness, an offering to the goddess that I -- yes, I confess -- had begun, subtly, to claim as my own. Ai, Hekate would have had my head, but somehow... I felt it worse somehow to know that she was so closely guarded by kings and women who were, themselves, buffered and shielded. I did not know Hekate the way I had come to know Inanna -- and as silly and conniving as Kaigan's goddess could be, I felt a strange closeness to her.

It was but one more day in this endless string of days that, sadly, no longer seemed so endless with the second moon rapidly closing. We had been playing roughly, wrestling in the grass by the spring before simply slipping into the water. He took me slowly on the bank amid hundreds of kisses and sweet, gentle words that warmed me and frightened me. After a while, he confessed to a tightness in his arms and shoulders, and so I obliged him to turn over for something more innocent.

"Kai, my painted barbarian," I sighed, working my hands into the firm flesh of his shoulders, "tell me now of this painting here." I bent and kissed the place on his shoulder where strange symbols were painted within an oval. I felt him tense, then sigh into the himation spread out beneath him.

"It... it is called a shenu," he said slowly, his voice as tight as his shoulders had been. "It was inked on me in Aegypt."

KAIGAN:

I had hoped to avoid this conversation. I should have known better; my Kleinos, it seems, wants to learn every bit of me, from the inside out, and there is nothing that I can deny him. We have been here more than a month, I should be grateful for the delay, I do suppose. But Inanna, could you not have redirected his curiosity? I could have lived without telling him of my shame.

Ah, but that is probably why you have led him to ask.

His hands are strong, and the slight ache from our wrestling match was gone within moments. But he continued to caress me, and his hands felt so good, I did not stop him. Then, to have him say the words... ah. He is waiting now, for he knows that I will tell him, he knows that this is another story, and he has come to love my stories, this I know. And I have come to love telling him my stories.

"It... it is called a shenu," I told him, and my voice seemed reluctant to my ears. "It was inked on me in Aegypt."

He must have heard my hesitation, for he waits again, patiently, for me to continue. It is painful, and I do not want to continue, but I will. He has a right to know my shame. "It was put there by... by a man named Penmennefer, and it signifies my name in Aegyptian, Kha'y Wahankh, which means that I am strong in life. It was a... a payment, of sorts, for helping his queen, Nefertiri."

"You helped the queen of Aegypt?" Obiareus asked, his voice incredulous.

Well, I suppose it seems important, from one aspect. "It was nothing," I told him. "Her son, Amenhotep, was ill, and no one seemed to know why. I recognized it and prescribed treatment, which worked. It was merely piles," I smiled at Obiareus, who had moved until he sat before me, watching me with his beautiful eyes. "But the queen was very grateful."

"How did you come to know the queen in the first place, Kaigan?" he asked me, wrapping his arms around his knees as he watched me.

"It was Penmennefer... he was a king's man, a scribe. He made their strange symbols on sheets of flattened reeds, and showed stonemasons where and how to cut. And I..." I swallowed and looked away. Now he would know. "I was living with him at the time," I finished, my voice low.

After a moment, I felt his warm hand on mine. "What troubles you about it, Philetor?" he asked, oh, my perceptive Kleinos.

I could not look at him, not and see his gentle, forgiving face. "I will have to tell you the whole story, and it is not a good one, my Kleinos," I whispered.

"I will listen, Kaigan," he said, and his hand remained on mine.

"After... after I lost Siobhan, I walked for many weeks, until I found a port and a ship to sail on," I told him. I plucked at the grass under my leg. "It was an Aegyptian barque, and it carried me to Avaris, just after the Hyksos were pushed out of Aegypt. You know of the Hyksos here, do you not?"

"Yes," he replied thoughtfully. "My father's father told us very old stories of their ships coming to Thera after the eruption. They were a strange people, he always said. They have not come to Kreta for many years now."

"Yes, they are kin to me from afar, but still their ways are strange," I agreed. "They thought to rule Aegypt, but were only ever able to hold the northern kingdom. By the time I arrived, the southern king, Ahmose, had married his sister and had taken back the north."

"He married his sister?" Obiareus blinked, then made a face.

"Yes, the Aegyptians are a strange people as well, my Kleinos. They call their king 'pharaoh' and say he is a god." I shook my head. "I made friends with the sailors on the ship I served, and one of them, Mose, bade me seek out his brother, who worked at the royal palace. I did, and he was Penmennefer. A beautiful, exotic man." I swallowed again at the thought of him.

"He was kind to a stranger, and gave me a place to live, took me in readily. And we grew to be friends, then more than friends. And..." I took a ragged breath. "He wished me to come to his bed. I refused, for I had sworn never to love another after Siobhan died."

Obiareus made a soft noise, and his hand on mine tightened. Ah, you should not give me pity, my Kleinos, for I am an oath-breaker in so many ways. "He was... persistent. I tried to explain, but he... they have strange ideas in Aegypt, and death to them is just another phase of life. He did not understand my sorrow over losing her. I... to my shame... I let him take me to bed. I enjoyed it, my Kleinos. I let myself forget my Siobhan."

He said nothing, but I could feel his regard on me. "When he told me of the queen's worry about her son, I offered to help. The cure was simple, and in payment, Nefer inscribed my back with my name and title in a shenu. He wanted to add 'beloved of Penmennefer' as well, but I... I would not let him. I knew then, I had broken my oath to my Siobhan. I left -- I fled -- soon after." We sat in silence for a time, and listened to the far-off cry of an eagle.

"There is no shame in what you did, my Philetor." Obiareus' voice, when he spoke at last, was soft and gentle, far too gentle for my actions. "She had been gone for many weeks, you said. From what you have told me of her, I'm sure she would not begrudge you your happiness."

Oh, my wise Kleinos. How is it that you read my heart so easily? For that is exactly what I told myself while lying in Nefer's arms. "I broke my vow, Obiareus," I said sadly. "I swore never to love another after Siobhan, and..." I stopped, the words choked in my throat, for I knew I had done far worse now, gone much further.

Obiareus did not notice my agony, as he spoke again, earnestly. "It was not the same, Kaigan. Siobhan was your wife, whom you loved dearly, is that not so? This man was -- was just someone who helped you, who loved you as you deserved -- deserve. There is no shame in accepting something freely given." It was his turn to look away, and even in my pain I wondered why.

"Perhaps," I murmured. "But the fact remains, I am an oath-breaker. And... and now... I am doubly so, I am afraid. I sometimes wonder how you can bear to look at me."

When I dragged my eyes up to meet his, all I saw was confusion, mixed with a compassion I did not deserve. "I swore I would never love again, and I did not... not with Nefer." Oh, how the pain of my confession filled me. "But... I have now. For what I feel here, with you, is much more than what I had in Aegypt."

I saw comprehension dawn in his eyes and cursed myself. But he deserved to know how far I had descended, how badly I had failed myself. I only saw the look of fear on his face for a moment before he leapt to his feet and dashed off into the trees.

OBIAREUS:

He loved me... he loved me? Ai, gods, ai. Inanna preserve him, this could not be. He knew the story, he knew the pain in my heart. How could he love me when he knew I could never, must never return it?

Even then, my own words haunted me: "There is no shame in accepting something given freely." But surely that was not the same! I could not have known -- he'd tricked me --

In the same instant, I knew he had not.

I found a thick, sturdy tree in the woods and moved behind it, wishing to climb into it as I would have ten years ago. But now, it would be to hide, not out of the sheer joy of doing it. No, in very simple words, Kaigan had managed to draw the joy from me completely.

"I will not allow this," I breathed, barely aloud, to the tree. I leaned my palms and forehead onto its rough bark and sighed, cursing my own shakiness. How could Kaigan have allowed himself to do this? I had told him of Heiro and Palaemon. My trust had been abused too much, and love? No love can breathe without trust. Everyone else in my life had failed me: my mother, my Senate... even Xanthus. I had never been in love -- I had never had a reason to be, and now that I had been scalded on the flames of deceit so often, Kaigan presented me with this?

The undergrowth shuffled and crunched, and he was there. His fingertips brushed the tree as he rounded it. I thought of those same fingertips on my skin, over my hair, inside me, and ai, gods. I shut my eyes tightly.

"I will not allow this," I repeated, this time to Kaigan, and he stared back at me.

"My Kleinos, I do not understand. I--" Light seemed to dawn in his eyes, and then just as quickly, dimmed and went out. "You cannot return the heart of one so forsworn," he sighed, his gaze slipping from mine. "I know this." I felt his pain and wished to stop him, but before I could, he plunged onward, "I ask nothing of you, Obiareus. If -- if you so choose, I will return you to Knossos and to your family. It pains me, Inanna knows it does, but I will release you if you ask it of me. I know that you did not come to the woods to hear the declarations of a besotted old fool."

I shook my head hard, laying a hand on his chest, amazed at the way his heart beat so quickly under his chiton. "Kai, no..." I breathed, knowing I must stop him from his punishment of himself. "No, my Philetor, no..." I swallowed and closed my eyes, shamed that he blamed himself so for something that was my own difficulty.

"Kai, you must listen," I whispered, pressing myself against him and wrapping my arms, quite unbidden, around his waist. "The fault is not yours, much though I wish I could blame you," I sighed, resting my forehead against his chest. "I cannot love. I simply cannot. I have lost too much faith in men during what you would say are the small years of my life, and though -- though I wish I could return your confession, it is beyond me." I looked up at him pleadingly, and ai, my heart hurt to see the pain in his eyes.

"I will not press you," Kaigan went on, as though he had not heard me. His voice was weighted with sorrow. "I do love you, yes, Inanna help me, but you will never again hear it from my lips. I will not waste your tolerance or patience on the kind of foolish clinging Xanthus did to drive you away."

He tried to pull away from me, my barbarian did, but I held him fast. "Your clinging, I do not mind, my Philetor," I murmured, and as a small smile lit inside his eyes, a voice screamed in my mind that I led him on with false hopes.

Ai, but I wanted him to be happy, even as I knew I was not the one to do so. I had never made anyone happy, now it seemed not even my own mother, and certainly my lovers among the ranks would happily testify to my selfishness, my overbearing demands, my vanity. My throat closed as Kaigan gathered me close to him, rocking me.

"Thank you, Kleinos," he sighed. "I will be careful with you, I swear."

/That is well,/ I thought, my own voice a small, frightened whisper in my mind, /but who will be careful with you?/

KAIGAN:

I do not deserve him, this wondrous golden boy, who can see into me with such ease. I expected him to draw away, to see me in my shame as someone not worthy of trust or affection. Instead, he threw my shame back at me, by claiming the fault lay with him, not with me.

Ah, Inanna. My Kleinos is so very hurt, so very tender. If it is indeed my lot to love him, despite my oath, then I will do my best by him. I will give him the love he deserves, to the best of my ability to do it. I will nurture him, and give him a home, if he so desires.

He is worthy, Inanna. He is capable of so much -- his curiosity knows no bounds, his lust for learning is not abated by my constant prattling and wild tales. I am not too proud to admit that from me, he has learned to make love, he has learned to love all of a person, not just the outside.

Despite that, he is still fascinated by my body, and indeed, over the course of our time here he has laid over me for hours, examining every inch of it. No part of me has he left untasted, and he claims that certain parts are as sweet as honey to him. I force myself to lie still while he does this, while he spends sweet moments petting my flesh until it aches and I am biting my lips in an attempt not to scream.

The lion which resides over my heart was of particular interest to him, and so one day, to distract myself from the sweet torture he was putting me through, I told him the story of Inanna and the great hero, Gilgamesh, and of his lover Enkidu. He finds you immensely amusing, my Inanna, something which, no doubt, pleases you, my lovely whore goddess. How well aware I am of your often broad sense of humor.

"Gilgamesh was a mighty -- ah, yes -- a mighty warrior king many, many years ago," I said, closing my eyes against the sight of him lapping at my nipple like a cat. "He was tall, and broad, and possessed the strength of ten oxen, but he was lonely. He had no one to share his life with."

"Poor man," my torturer murmured from somewhere on my chest. "Go on, tell me more, Kai," he encouraged me, while he moved to my other nipple to continue his tormenting.

"Then one day, another man appeared out of the great desert. This one was shorter, and darker than the golden Gilgamesh, and he was covered with hair."

That made Obiareus look up in surprise. "Covered with hair?"

"Yes," I said, putting Obiareus' heavy braid to my nose. His hair always smelled of lavender. "He was covered with hair, and in fact, some people took him for one of the great apes that live in the mountains rather than a man."

"What is an ape?" Obiareus asked, once again ducking his head. He began to move lower along my torso.

"Well... that is another story," I said to hold him off, and he chuckled. "The hairy man's name was Enkidu, and he began earning himself a reputation almost immediately by boasting he could best any man in Mesopotamia-ah-ah gods Obia..."

Obiareus had reached my straining manhood and was using only the tip of his tongue to explore the very slit of it, drawing the pearls of my essence out and savoring them. It was all I could do to refrain from thrusting up into his scalding mouth -- ah, how well he had learned this lesson! After a few more delicate licks, the little demon said softly, "Kaigan. Open your eyes, Philetor, and look at me."

I dragged my heavy lids open and focused on him, certain it would be my undoing. He lay across my thighs, his beautiful golden body sky-clad, and his face holding an expression at once impish and adoring. One of his hands held my phallus, the other he used to prop himself up. "You have the most beautiful voice," he said, his own voice husky. "It is almost as beautiful as your body. I could listen to you all day, while I kissed and licked and sucked you." Suiting actions to words, he briefly lowered his mouth over me, descending once and then slowly, slowing rising. I gasped and felt my legs begin to tremble. "I cannot get over your beautiful cock," he murmured to it, and I swallowed hard in an attempt to regain my rapidly deteriorating control. "I first thought it was mutilation, but now -- it is beautiful. And your taste is beyond delicious -- how odd I never thought of doing this before."

Quickly rising, he shifted, moving down my body and settling between my legs. I breathed deeply, thinking that perhaps the torture would end -- I was caught on the knife's edge, wanting and not wanting burning in my brain like a fever. "Tell me more about this hairy man, Kaigan," he commanded softly, running his hands feather-light over my legs.

After a few more deep breaths, I managed to continue. "Enkidu fought his way through all the warriors of the great city of Ur," I said softly, watching him worship my body with his mouth and hands. It was sweet, so sweet, to be loved this way. "Finally, there was no one left for him to fight except the king, so Gilgamesh himself stepped out and offered to wrestle."

"Ah, I enjoy wrestling," Obiareus said, but the humor in the look he shot me told me he meant a different kind of wrestling.

"They fought for many days and nights, neither one of them able to gain the upper hand," I told him. He moved further down until he was level with my feet. "They fought until they were both exhausted and laughing for the sheer joy of battle. Finally, Gilgamesh broke away and offered Enkidu his hand in friendship, as an equal. And Enkidu took it, knowing he had finally met his match."

"Turn over, Kai."

My breath stopped in my throat and it was only by dint of will that I managed to avoid spilling my seed then and there. The heat in his eyes scorched me like the deserts of Assyria. Swallowing heavily, I did as he asked, allowing him to arrange me to his liking, on my knees with my head pillowed on my arms and my legs spread. Both our himations were spread out beneath me, making the grass soft and comfortable under my knees. But I would have held this pose for him were I kneeling on solid rock.

"What happened then?" he asked, and it took me a while to realize he was expecting me to continue my story.

I closed my eyes and panted with want, but managed to find my voice finally. "They had many adventures, Gilgamesh and Enkidu," I said hoarsely. "And with each one, their love for each other and their fame grew. Yes... oh, yes, my Kleinos, please..." He was kissing his way down my back as I spoke, and when he neared the place where my body split, he began using his talented tongue. First, he tasted my caste-mark, then moved lower, right into the very center of me. I nearly sobbed aloud with the pleasure of it, burning in my head. My cock ached to be touched, but I would not, I would let my Kleinos, my demon lover, drive me insane first, since I knew he would, and I knew he would catch me when I fell.

"Did they love each other like this?" he asked, his voice muffled between the cheeks of my ass.

His pointed tongue darted inside me and I cried out. "Yes! Oh, gods, yes... but no one could love as well as you, my Kleinos... ah!" For long, wonderful and terrible minutes he tasted my center and I truly believed I would die with the pleasure of it. His tongue wracked me with agonizing joy, burning and anointing me all at the same time. But then he backed away, and my voice was filled with longing to have him back. "Take me, Obia, please..." I begged him hoarsely.

"I will, my Philetor, my barbarian," he replied softly, and I heard him draw the pot of oil to himself.

When his warm, slick fingers found its way inside me, I relaxed utterly. I gave myself over to his keeping, content and humming in satisfaction; how well he knew my body, and how intimately! When his fingers withdrew, he replaced them with something hotter and thicker almost immediately, so that I had no time to mourn their loss.

Obiareus pressed himself inside me gently and carefully. His generous phallus filled me to the brim and over and his warm hands held me as delicately as if I were a blossom of oleander, or a dove quivering and afraid. I cried out again when I felt his skin meet mine, knowing that he was sheathed completely inside me, feeling his hot length measuring itself along my channel.

He draped himself across my back and wrapped his arms around me. I felt him shaking -- or perhaps that was me shaking, or perhaps even both of us -- and I could barely catch my breath. "Oh, Kaigan..." he whispered, and his hips made minute thrusting motions, bringing me more pleasure than I could have imagined. "So good this is, to join with you..." he wiped his sweaty face on the skin of my back and his sweat mingled with mine, trickling down my shoulder blade and dripping on our make-shift pallets.

After a long moment where neither of us moved, where we simply breathed and felt our hearts begin to beat in rapid time with each other, he pushed himself back up and began a long, slow, excruciating withdrawal, one that left me in spasms with need. I clenched at him when he was half-way out of me, completely without volition -- my body reacting to losing that which it adored. I heard him gasp and he froze for an instant, then he slammed back into me, wringing yet another shout from my lips.

"Oh no... oh, I must, oh, oh, my Philetor..." he sobbed, as he began a frantic, almost punishing pace, thrusting in and out of me, as inexorable as tide and as strong. I clutched at the cloth beneath me and met every thrust as best I could, his movements wrenching cries of ecstasy from me over and over.

"Want it!" I managed to gasp as he pounded me. "Now, my Kleinos, please, my love, please," I begged him raggedly. One of his slick, warm hands found me and squeezed, just as he rammed into me deeply and froze, his keening wail of completion echoing off the cliffs. I took up his cry and magnified it, as white light bloomed around us and I lost my wits to the overweening pleasure he brought me.

Some long, unmeasured time later, I came back to myself to find my Kleinos still buried deeply within me. I was lying on my side and he was pressed against my back; his hands were slowly, delicately caressing me. I caught them and shakily lifted them to my lips, pressing kisses against them.

After another quiet moment, he murmured, "So, did Gilgamesh and Kenidu live happily ever after, Kai?" His voice sounded hoarse.

I had to clear my own throat before I could speak. "Enkidu, Obia, and the answer to that is yes and no." I lay dreamily content within the arms of my Kleinos, and continued speaking without thinking. "Inanna grew jealous of their love for each other, and killed Enkidu in an attempt to get Gilgamesh to love only her." I felt Obiareus stiffen behind me, but I patted his hands reassuringly. "When that happened, Gilgamesh went on his most famous quest of all, and ventured even down into the underworld where souls go after death to retrieve his lost love."

"Did he find him?" Obiareus asked, clutching my hands.

"Yes," I said. "And Inanna was forced to recognize that their love was greater than anything she could overcome. So she brought them back to the world above, and as far as I know, they are living still, fighting and loving and having adventures."

I felt his smile as he pressed his mouth to my back. I was feeling the languor that a great tumble always produced in me, so I was nearly asleep when I heard him murmur, "I would go the underworld for you, my Philetor, my Kaigan."

"As I would for you, Kleinos, my Obiareus," I mumbled in reply, though he may not have heard me, since he was lightly snoring. Within moments, I'm sure I was as well, so it didn't occur to me until later exactly what he had said to me, exactly what I had replied to. When it did, my heart sang with it.

OBIAREUS:

Yet more days flew by. There was so much yet to learn, and yet our time here disappeared until there was precious little left. I felt different, slowly, and it crept up on me until I realized that somehow I had grown. I had become more a man and less a silly boy, throwing other silly boys into the dust out of pride and arrogance.

I loved hearing of Inanna, and little though I understood her, I began to feel her hand in things. I think Kaigan liked that in me.

I also realized as the moon waned further that I was reluctant to go home. Surely, I thought, it must be because I dreaded facing the other Jheudi, and my mother. Ai, my mother would be furious with the way I had spouted out my anger, and yet I had some cause to be angry as well. It saddened me to know that she would place herself so firmly in the hands of that wretch. There had to be a way to talk to her, to convince her. I was not yet certain that she knew as I did. A seven-year-old boy, knowing nothing of politics, would believe what a woman with aspirations would not. And yet... my heart ached to realize that perhaps her knowledge was something I denied, for if she knew, she was as dangerous as Palaemon himself.

I buried these thoughts as I sat in the sun and watched my Philetor swim, the dark spring water sliding over his body and framing him. So beautiful was my barbarian that I felt as though I could stay here forever only to look at him.

I scratched at the beard that had grown on my face, so unlike me. Kaigan had told me that it made me look more like the man I had become. I had flushed and kissed him, murmuring something silly about showing him manhood.

Kaigan had a strange power over me. He made me happy in a way I never would have thought possible. His love, as he had promised, was quiet and undemanding, and I wondered at the warning he had tried to ply on me at the beginning. He had told me there were many things I did not know about him, and... I had thought somehow that he would cleave himself to me more tightly. The thought that he avoided showing his heart because I was so tender about mine gave me a strange pang, and yet... if he showed me his whole heart, he only left himself to be hurt. And I would not hurt him, if I could help it.

But what of returning home?

"Ai," I breathed aloud, shaking my head to clear it.

"Ai?" Kai asked suddenly, hauling himself out of the water and onto the rock in front of me and sweeping the water from his body with his hands.

"Ai, you are splashing!" I exclaimed, laughing, and he shook his hands out over me playfully. Then he tugged me to my feet and crushed me to him, dripping on my sandals as the water on his body soaked me.

"There, you are wet through," he teased, rubbing his beard against my neck as I laughed.

"Not through," I corrected impishly, and let him see the fire in my eyes, a fire that never, somehow, seemed to go out.

"Mmm," he rumbled, and I did not mind when his wet mouth found mine, his hands cupping my head as he kissed me slowly, belying the heat growing between us. I slipped my hands over his shoulders and back, warming his skin where the water was drying. I found his caste-mark and played my fingers over it, marveling as I had done a thousand times at the things he had seen and done. His loyalty and devotion were so strong that I felt pale and humbled beside him. Had I ever been so honorable?

Kaigan's hands slid down to my hips, then around, and before I knew it he was lifting me against him. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him. He carried me to the soft grass where our himations lay perpetually now, and lowered me to them.

"My Kleinos," he murmured softly against my throat, reaching into his pack and drawing out the oil pot. "I have watched you become so much during this time."

I smiled up into the sky. "Ah, yes," I moaned as his fingers teased at me and then deftly, carefully opened me. "Ah, Kai..." I shuddered and moved against his hand, clinging to him. When his slicked hand guided his heat into me, I closed my eyes and thanked Inanna for sending him to me. When he held me tightly and began to move, I arched against him and pulled him closer, and for a moment wondered how it was possible for me to be without this, without him. When he shifted and rolled me atop him, I arched further and kept my face to the sky.

Ai, it was too much. I braced myself against his chest, against Inanna's lion, and stared into the clouds. His rich, beautiful sounds echoed through my head as his hands moved me over him gently. Kaigan filled me, over and over, and soon my cries joined his. He wrapped his long hand around my shaft and then it was over -- a breath, a shudder, a shout, and Inanna herself felt us.

I sank over him, resting, remembering to breathe. "Kai," I murmured, languid and sleepy.

"Yes, Obia."

"Do you believe Inanna sent you to me?"

He went still, his stroking hands finding a place on my back and staying there. "Or she sent you to me," he almost whispered, as though sleepy.

I adjusted myself over him and reached up to play my fingertips through his beard. "You must thank her for me, then."

Kaigan's happy sigh sounded against my ear, still pressed to his heart. "She hears you," he told me, and I could feel his smile.

KAIGAN:

As much as I hate to admit it, our time together is nearly done. The moon has waxed and waned twice since we found our way here, to the place I've come to think of as 'ours.' I lie here this fine, cool morning, hearing the far-off bleating of the sheep and goats as they are let out for their daily ramble, and hold my Kleinos tightly against me -- against the time of our leaving. As he usually does, he has wound himself around my long body, and rested his head on my heart. He will wake soon, I'm sure, and perhaps we'll make love again before we have to break our camp and return to Knossos.

What will happen then, I wonder? Will he simply return to the barracks with the other bachelor Jheudi, or will he wish to find a place with me, to stay with me, as I so much want him to do?

He has changed my life, my Kleinos, and I want so much to hear him say the words, to hear him declare himself Parastates to me. I had taken the time to re-familiarize myself with the 'ritual' that Xanthus attempted to trick me with -- not that I let him know that. I'm glad that I disobeyed that small voice that told me it was a bad idea -- glad that I listened instead to the sarcastic wit of my patron goddess, glad that I challenged this beautiful boy to fight me for his freedom. Very glad that he lost the bet. I hope he is as glad of it.

But we are Jheudi, and we have a responsibility to the king and to the people of Knossos. Even though I was not born of Kreta, I accepted the labrys when it was offered me and that means that I accepted the onus of behaving like a Jheudi and following Jheudi ways. And so has my Kleinos, and as he was born here, he understands the burden of responsibility even deeper than I.

If he will have me, I will accept him as my Parastates, as my perioikos, and do my best to build us a life together as a pair. I know I am far older than he, and a small part of me wonders if it is fair to him, if it is selfish of me to bind him to a man who cannot have more than a double handful of good years left in him.

As my thoughts wandered, a shaft of sunlight suddenly hit us where we lay, setting his glorious hair on fire and warming us both. His hands on me tightened fractionally as he snuffed and squirmed his way awake, and his eyes -- now green, now blue, now gray -- opened to meet mine. "Good morrow, Philetor," he whispered huskily, as he stretched up to cover my mouth with his.

Selfish or not, I will do whatever I must to keep this treasure by me for the rest of my days.

OBIAREUS:

He loved me again, slowly this time, wracking shudders and agonized cries from me, his teasing sweet and terrible. The walk to Knossos would be a long one, yet far too short. Our two moons were done, and I... I had a decision to make.

Perhaps there should have been no decision. He had brought me such passion, taught me such things as to make me feel small in the world. No longer the center of Knossos, no, I was only another inhabitant in a world with as many gods as peoples, and so many peoples great and worthy. It was humbling. My Kaigan had brought me more knowledge than perhaps I had once wanted, but now I drank of it greedily. I demanded more tales, more myths, more of Inanna and her troubles. I wanted to hear more about the strange, heavy-antlered stag gods and green-leaf goddesses that his Siobhan had worshipped. I even yearned to know more about the dark cat beings and jackal-headed creatures that had lived in the river realm of his Aegyptian lover.

But was it enough to stay with him for wisdom and passion and tales of the stars? He had given me so much, sheltered me even as he awakened me, and I had nothing to give him in return but my heart. Ai, and that made such a damaged gift, as he knew better than anyone else. He was the only one who had heard the truth of Heiro without scoffing at me. That alone should have seen me bound to him for all eternity, as invaluable as it was.

He deserved love. He deserved the devotion of Gilgamesh to his Enkidu. Did I have that to give?

Most of our day was spent in pensive silence as we pondered what lay before us. Surely, we were axe-brothers to the death, but the idea of more, the idea of binding myself to him as Parastates both frightened and thrilled me. I did not know if I could bring myself to it, and yet... I did not know if I could live without it.

When we reached the town proper a goodly while before sunset, he turned to me.

"You are released, my Kleinos," he said, his voice carrying a tremor. "The choice is now yours to make. If I have treated you ill, you may have your recourse now. I will not demur."

Ai, but my heart ached. He would not look at me. When at last he raised his eyes to mine, I turned my face away. A long silence stretched between us before I finally found my voice.

"I must think," I said, intending to sound clear and firm, but only managing a whisper. "Unlike the gods of which you speak, I am not so certain of my place..." I had intended to say "at your side," but could not finish. Bowing my head to him, I turned and strode away.

KAIGAN:

"You are released, my Kleinos. The choice is now yours to make. If I have treated you ill, you may have your recourse now. I will not demur." Ah, Inanna -- how hard indeed to utter those words. But they were needed words, words that I knew both of us were required to hear.

I forced myself to meet his eyes, and was heartsick when he turned away from me. Now that our time together was past, what would he do? There was nothing I wouldn't do to keep him with me -- nothing, except to force him. That, I would never do. My Kleinos was the eagle, the wild hawk, and I could not, would not, keep him caged.

After long, painful silence, his soft voice floated to me on the evening breeze. "I must think," he said in a whisper, and my heart broke anew at the pain in his voice. "Unlike the gods of which you speak, I am not so certain of my place..."

I watched him turn and walk away and could not move to stop him. I wanted to run after him, to take him in my arms, to murmur that he would always have a place with me, that he was my soul, my life, the very breath I breathed. Ah, Inanna, mother and warrior, you have broken my heart again, if you take this boy away from me.

I sank down on a convenient rock by the side of the road and put my head in my hands.

OBIAREUS:

I heard nothing behind me. He neither moved to follow, nor left the place he stood. I cut through town almost aimlessly, knowing if I went back to my mother's house as the Kleinos tradition demanded, she would only suffer my pained wrath and then wring an apology out of me, for truly she had given me what I needed. She had shown me her true self and unwittingly given me answers for which I had never formed questions.

I moved through town to the other side of the town, a good hour's walk. I still had my staff, my himation, and my pack, and though the evening was hot, I scarcely felt it. I found a place on a white cliff overlooking the northern water and sat, trying not to think of the sea as it looked reflected in his eyes.

"My Kaigan, my barbarian Philetor, what am I to do with you?" I whispered, pleading to whichever gods might be listening for an answer. I had promised to go as far as the underworld for him, but now I was forced to wonder if it had been the ramblings of sleepy satisfaction.

Once, he had said to me, "If you doubt yourself, look to the wisest voice you know, be it that of a god or a man, and listen. Listen to the words in that voice." I laughed quietly, sadly as I realized even now the wisest voice I knew had come to me, but all it would say after that was, "I love you." Truly, not a wise thing to say to one such as me.

Swallowing hard, I looked to the pinkening sky. "Inanna, you made this match, now tell me what to do with it." There was, of course, no answer. Talking to the gods is all well and good, but they seldom reply.

I closed my eyes a long time, tipping my face up to the wind, breathing. My mind would not blank, nor would it stop returning to that foolish and frighteningly wise barbarian who had caught me -- but had not quite caught me yet. And yet....

I opened my eyes and stared at the sky and saw the clouds. Kaigan had shown me the sky so often that now I looked at it, night or day, and saw the shapes the gods formed there for their pleasure -- the belted warrior, the crawling crab, the fishes that inhabited the stars. But now I saw the bright white clouds, matched only by the pale cliffs of Knossos, and in their shapes were more animals, more gods yet. There was a horse's head: the visage a thick-necked battle steed, charging, and I sighed into the wind and thought of Heiro wistfully. I wondered if I had the right of him anymore. I had been so young when he died -- would I know him if he came home? But where that thought had once pained me sharply, now I found that the stab of grief was slighter. I was healing.

Shifting on the cliff's edge, I looked into the sky again. There were yet more shapes, some nonsense, some that I could determine. Among them was a pale shape that looked like a large, roaring lion with a curling mane and outstretched claws.

I lay on the stone and stared, and then, then I could not stop my own laughter. Were Inanna here, I would have flung myself at her feet and kissed them.

"You know the way of things, don't you?" I said into the dusky sky, and rose. As quickly as I could, I ran back to where he had been when I'd left him, hoping that he would still be there.

By the time I reached the town center again, it was full dark. Ah, Inanna, Mother, there he was still, not far from where I'd left him. He was slumped onto a rock, looking beaten. My heart felt a stab of pain as I realized the times in those early days when I'd only longed to see him so defeated. Now, I wanted only to die at the sight of it.

He seemed not to hear me as I approached. I opened my mouth to speak his name and was stunned to know that it would not come. After a moment of standing and merely staring, I moved to him and placed my hand gently on his shoulder.

He turned his face up to mine, looking for all the world as though he did not recognize me. Ai, gods, what had I done?

KAIGAN:

I should have trusted you, my goddess, shouldn't I? You always look after me. I do love you, Inanna.

He came back. My golden boy, he came back. He touched me and I looked up, and he was there, shining in the starlight. Your light was in his eyes and I saw that you had touched him and I fell in love with him, all over again.

"My Philetor," he said, and caressed my cheek. "Your... your Parastates would like to know if you would accept his love?"

Yes, Inanna, those were tears in my eyes. I stood and wrapped Obiareus -- my Parastates -- in my arms and held him tight. He held me just as tightly back. I buried my nose in his glorious hair and let the tears fall.

"I have nothing to offer you but my heart, such as it is, Kaigan," he murmured to my breastbone. "It is sore and tired, and needs a home."

"I offer it one, with all my being," I whispered back. I could not trust my voice to speak louder. "Your heart is as large as Inanna's and as strong, my Kleinos, my Parastates, and it will always have a home in me."

I heard him sigh, and he tightened his arms around me. "Kai, would you come with me to my mother's house? There are things there that I would retrieve... and if you are with me, I will not have a reason to get into a fight with her."

His voice sounded reluctant and hurt, and I ached for him. But for all that, it still made my heart soar to realize my Kleinos was intending on coming home with me. I nodded and smiled at him, foolishly, I am sure. "Of course, Obia. Are you certain you want me to wait outside?"

"Yes," he replied, linking his arm with mine. We began walking. "If I simply go in and tell her I will speak with her another day, I can put off until later the words that I know we must have."

I hugged him tightly, even as we walked, trying to gift him with my strength for what he must do. We did not know the level of his mother's complicity with Xanthus or even Palaemon, and I bled inside to think that he might end up estranged from his entire family. "Then let us go, and after that, we will go home," I said.

"Yes," was all he said until we reached his mother's villa.

OBIAREUS:

It took me a while, but I realized it was getting cool in the night air and we were walking on a public road making fools of ourselves -- not that I cared. We moved slowly through the town, in no small part because I dreaded stepping into my mother's door again.

I did not bid him wait by the gate, but just outside the door. Kaigan caught my hand as I turned toward it and pulled me back to him for a moment.

"It will not be much," he said softly. "Go in, get your things... I will be here. Remember, Obiareus: save the worst for another day."

His words sounded like an admonition, but I knew they rang so because he was almost as eager to be gone from here as I was. I kissed him briefly and pulled away, drawing in a deep breath.

"Inanna will lend you strength," I heard him whisper, and then I stepped through the threshold.

The sight that met my eyes nearly made me recoil. Palaemon was putting things in a trunk. He was putting my mother's things in a trunk.

"Palaemon," I breathed.

At the sound of my voice, he spun about, his himation catching on the hasp of the box. Impatiently, he tugged at it and spoke, his voice tense. "Obiareus. I thought you would be home a good while ago. Perhaps it is just as well." He stepped close to me.

Something in his eyes nearly made me pull away as he reached to put a hand upon my shoulder, but I stood my ground solidly. "What is just as well?"

He closed his eyes briefly, a frown creasing his brow. "Your mother. Eleni...."

And I knew. Ai, gods, I knew. A shocked breath whistled into my chest. "No."

"My deepest condolences go to you," the scorpion said, his rich voice, the voice of a king's right hand, rang through my head.

I recoiled from him. "Tell me what happened," I demanded, but my voice, while I would have shouted, came out a hushed whisper.

"She could not--" his voice broke. "Obiareus, your mother and I -- we did not always see the same path--" He glanced up at me, it seemed, to see if his ruse was solid.

"Tell me... what... happened."

Palaemon stepped forward, suddenly speaking much too smoothly. "She could not take it, Obia. Heiro's death wounded her more deeply than--"

"Liar," I spat. "Mother was strong where Heiro was concerned -- too strong. Mother knew." I left the words hanging, and Palaemon straightened himself up.

"You are grieving," he said calmly. "You do not know of what you speak. I should think... perhaps it is wise that you have returned to the barracks -- or came to town with me. Your former Philetor is possibly a bad influence upon your thinking."

I drew in a harsh breath and advanced on him strongly. "Do not speak of him -- your voice sickens me. I will not return home; I come only to take away my things. There has been no influence upon my thinking but that it has grown more sure." When I was very close to him I stopped, glaring, and lowered my voice nearly to a whisper. "I will not accuse you, vulture, for I have no proof. But you and I know." I nodded my head, satisfied with the glint of fear in his eyes. "Yes. We know."

I did not regard him further. I would deal with him another day; if his actions contributed to this crime, I would see Inanna's will done. I moved swiftly to the part of the house formerly mine and laid several things in a trunk, among them a small herb pouch Heiro had made for me, and then, hesitantly, a small statue of Hekate.

As I looked into the trunk at her, the goddess of my mother, the tears began to come. Ai, it was wrong, so wrong, and I did not know how to avenge this. My mother and I had not, as Palaemon had said, always seen the same path, but this... this was unthinkable.

I calmed myself and slammed closed the trunk. My tears met the hem of my chiton quickly, and then I hefted the trunk onto one shoulder and bore it out.

Kaigan rose to his feet, looking at me closely. "Obia--"

"We must go," I told him tightly. "I will explain on the way."

When he moved to take the trunk from my shoulder, I could not bring myself to stop him. Suddenly I feared that my legs would not carry me -- until I looked up into the eyes of my Philetor. They were shining with love and something I might have thought was admiration. It heartened me. Of course my legs would carry me: they would carry me home.

KAIGAN:

I am so proud of my Obiareus.

The death of his mother was a shock to me as well, and the fact that the serpent Palaemon was in his house as he discovered it... Ah, Inanna, had I not a need to worry about him, I would have gone back in there and --

And probably gotten myself ejected from the Jheudi. Yes, Inanna, I will have to -- temper my temper. But it will be difficult where my Kleinos -- my Parastates! -- is concerned.

I fear for him now, for he has made a powerful enemy. Palaemon seems determined to destroy Obiareus' family, either by death or by subversion... but he will have to come through me to get to Obiareus. He will find that a formidable task, I do not doubt.

Hefting the small trunk that carried all my love's worldly possessions, I led him to his new home, a home much smaller than the one he grew in, but which I hoped would be a happier one. When we arrived, I would not let him even unpack, but rather drew him a bath in my bathing chamber, and then took him to my -- our -- bed. I had thought to make long, slow love to him, but instead, I held him as he sobbed out his pain over his mother's unexpected death.

My home in Knossos is humble, nothing like the villa Obiareus grew in. By deference to my age and my skills, the labrys-masters gave me my choice of residing in the bachelor barracks or in a small house near the labrys temple. It wasn't a difficult decision. The house is, indeed, small -- a bedchamber, a great room with a good-sized firepit, and a bathing chamber with a water-closet attached. Ah, the epitome of civilization is to have running water within one's home. Not, of course, that in Kreta one would ever need to run through deep snow to the latrine.

I woke early as I always did, a ridiculous smile on my face despite the night's despair. My Parastates -- what a lovely word! -- was wrapped around me and both of us were tangled in my sheet. The sun was just beginning to warm the air and I heard the arguing of the birds in my garden, as well as the first rumbling of carts in the street as the agora began to open for the day.

While I had so enjoyed our sojourn in the mountains, at the same time, I was happy to be home. Inanna, this austere building had never felt like home to me until now, now that it had been blessed by our loving. I feel very close to you, my goddess, this fine morning, as I lie here with my Obiareus in my arms and smelling the herbs from my small garden.

One thing I have noticed about my Obiareus, he dislikes waking early. He was showing no signs of stirring, nor did I want to cause him further grief, so I eased out from under him and used the water-closet, then went to my garden. It is small, but it faces south and I can see Mount Psiloritis in the distance on a clear day. There, I keep three chatty hens and a goat, and grow herbs -- many of which are not found in Kreta. I brought the seeds with me from my travels, and now they thrive here.

My neighbor had been looking after my animals while I was gone, and my goat bleated happily to see me, knowing she'd be milked. The hens provided me with fresh eggs and I picked a few plums from my small tree -- they were dark and firm and filled with juice. Back inside, I quietly put the eggs in a pot of water, then built up the fire. The milk I left in its pail, but the plums I sliced and took back to my bedchamber.

Obiareus was curled around my pillow, and I smiled to see him so. I stretched back out on the bed and kissed him gently, then rubbed one of the plum slices over his lips and kissed him again.

"Mmm," he smiled as he woke slowly to my ministrations. "We really must do something about this early morning habit of yours, my Philetor," he said, then delicately snapped the plum from my fingers.

I smiled into his sleep-glazed eyes. "I am too old to change my ways, my love," I told him, and his eyes grew softer.

"I like the sound of that," he murmured, bending his head and taking another plum slice. "I am sorry... I could not tell you..." he was looking away from me in his embarrassment, and that I could not bear.

"I knew," I told him softly. "Somewhere, somehow, I knew. My heart told me."

"I am grateful for your heart," he replied, then looked at me steadily. "I can tell you now, Kaigan. I love you. With all my heart."

I swallowed, bereft of words. Instead of replying, I kissed him. Then, because it was so sweet, I kissed him again.

We shared many kisses that morn, kissing purely for the sake of kissing, rather than trying to arouse or inflame. We shared kisses over our eggs, as he helped me clean up my garden, even as we left for the temple, later that day, to declare our status as perioikos.

We also talked, speaking of many things as we did the long-neglected chores around my house. Obiareus approved of my humble abode, and was pleased that his belongings -- those that he brought from his mother's house -- fit in so well. When his face grew sad and his eyes hard at the thought of his mother, we talked about Heiro, and I think my Obiareus took comfort in remembering the good times with his brother and his mother, over the sadness of later. I would have loved to have met Heiro, for he sounds like someone I would have been joyous to know.

I do not know what to believe of the dream my Kleinos spoke of, the dream he had under my roof for the first time, the dream of his mother, who came to him, bloodied and asking for vengeance. We have agreed to think on it, to keep our eyes and ears open for any suspicion of betrayal on the part of Palaemon. Inanna, I know you will watch out for us, our coming together has been at your instigation. Now, though, I wonder if you have some other plan on your dainty hands?

Obiareus surprised me that day in his treatment of you as well, Inanna. After seeing the small carving of the snake goddess so prevalent on Kreta, I cheerfully shifted my icon of you, goddess, to make room. You are hardly a jealous wench -- so unlike me! -- and I knew you wouldn't mind sharing with Hekate. But Obiareus made no move to add the carving to the shelf over my bed.

"No," he finally said, slowly but decisively. "I -- I feel that Inanna has done more for me than Hekate ever has." His eyes met mine, and once again, I saw your light in them, Inanna. "I will follow Inanna from now on, Kaigan."

I was pleased, so pleased at his decision. "Perhaps, then, she would prefer a place in the garden?" I asked him, indicating the statue he still held. "In memory of your mother."

He smiled at me, and agreed, so now, Hekate has a place among the herbs. I like to think she is happy there, but only you would know, Inanna.

Later that day, before we went to the temple, we also talked of the suspicions we had of Xanthus' complicity with Palaemon. If it were true, then Palaemon was indeed an enemy to be wary of. "I do not like to be beholden to Xan," Obiareus said once, "but his plotting brought us together, and for that, I owe him."

"I think his treachery more than negates that debt," I told him, my voice tight. I confess I did not and do not like the idea of my Parastates being around Xanthus any more. I would have to work hard to overcome my terrible jealousies. For Obiareus, I would.

"But he is still my friend, and an axe brother, and a friend to my family -- what there is of it," Obiareus said mildly. "I will have to confront him, sooner or later -- if for no other reason then to let him know that his duplicity did not work."

I rested my hand on Obiareus' shoulder. "Would you like me to come with you?" I asked him.

He turned and gave me a brilliant smile, before wrapping his arms around my middle and hugging me tightly. "My Kaigan. I do not want to be parted from you for even an instant," he told me, making my heart sing. "But this is something I need to do alone... you do understand?"

"Of course I do," I said, and kissed him gently.

OBIAREUS:

He was in the baths, as were all the others. I had been confused, so confused, wondering if this heat blooming in my heart was love. I had wondered if it was possible to enjoy the care and ministrations of a man so unlike me and feel something that was so like healing. What could they possibly have to do with each other? My brother's untimely death had left me bereft; he had always been a father to me, and more a friend than any Jheudi.

But Kaigan was healing my bereavement, and had become that true a friend to me. Kaigan was no father figure. Kaigan was hot, explosive desire and spectacular, daring battle and a deep, rumbling voice with stories to tell of the stars. When he wrapped his long, lean body around me or buried himself in me or accepted me into him, I was safe. Even when he bested me in playful combat -- which he still did far more often than not -- I was safe. He had taught me to be humble as well as kind. He had taught me to be reasonable when I thought with my heart.

But now I knew where I belonged. Kaigan's presence held its own inside me beyond doubt as I approached Xanthus. I felt very keenly the difference between what he and I had shared and what I now had with Kaigan; regret stabbed at me as I realized how badly I had treated the Jheudi who had wanted me as perioikos.

"Obiareus," he said, his voice formal as I approached. I bowed, equally formally.

"Xanthus. I came to... to have a word with you." I glanced around at the other Jheudi as the bath attendants began to light the lamps. In the flickering light, I watched their suspicious eyes and realized suddenly that I had never belonged with them as any more than another axe-brother, no matter all my mother's designs on a place in society with me at her side and Palaemon behind her. "I am not sure that now is the time."

"Oh, come now," Xanthus said, and pushed away from the wall. "You are among friends, though I am surprised to see my Obiareus so fresh from two moons with his Philetor. Has he bested you too many times for your taste? Has he driven you into the ground too often, dirtying your chiton? Have you come back to me, my perioikos?" His voice held the sneer I now vaguely remembered from the night he'd sent me with Kaigan, and while I felt I owed him thanks, at least, for that, I grew angry at his assumptions.

"I came," I told him as calmly as I could, "to offer my apologies for treating you so badly. I came to tell you I was sorry to leave you on so many nights, in spite of your recent ill treatment of me. I came to tell you I wished to remain your brother in axe and friendship in spite of your treachery." He blinked in surprise, but I ignored his expression and the others as they indecisively stepped closer and then moved away. Forever will I know the smell of steamed tile and copper vats and think of my anger and the pain of betrayal.

"You--?" he began, but I swept my hand through the steam.

"But now I see," I pressed on thoughtfully. "Your treachery then was only part of a larger plan, was it not? Send the vain, self-indulgent Obiareus off into the wilds with the savage new Jheudi. Dirty him, sully him, watch him return to his mother's house and his lover's bed with tears and gratefulness in his eyes. Was that not it? Tell me, Xanthus, for if I have the wrong of it, I am truly confused as to your motives."

His silence was not nearly as gratifying as it once might have been; perhaps it was because I had never intended to hurt him, only to make myself plain. Perhaps it was because my anger had died when I had accepted Kaigan's love.

After opening and closing his mouth like the caught fish he once compared me to, he seemed to find his backbone. "I hoped that you would come to me. I was counseled that this was the way. I... I only wanted to love you. "

"Love me?" I sighed, pressing down the sharply nagging wonder at who would counsel him so. "Love is pure, Xanthus. It is Enkidu and Gilgamesh, wrestling in the stars because they are true to one another beyond personal gain and rivalry, beyond death itself. It is passion and closeness and light. It is knowing you are safe to trust the one at your back." My eyes widened as I realized the image that came instantly to my mind: Kaigan, in my dream, his back pressed to mine, a staff in his hand and his own courage flowing through my heart as we faced down the wolves that wished to claim us.

"Love is vengeance, too," I whispered, shaking my head. "Love is Inanna's wrath brought down on those who stand in the way of those devoted to her." I bent and unclasped the dagger that Xanthus had packed in my things, now seemingly so long ago, and gripped its hilt. His eyes went wide and openly fearful, silently pleading with me to stop. But the truth was that regardless of what Xanthus thought he knew of me, there was fear in his eyes. Kaigan alone knew my heart. Kaigan knew I had no more will in me to harm Xanthus, as Xanthus had to truly love me.

"Thankfully for you," I said softly, still looking at my former bedmate, "love is also knowing that punishment is not mine to dole. I can avenge treason against a lover and a friend, but I cannot avenge a gift, even one so unwittingly given as love." I dropped the dagger at his feet. Where once I had wondered at its meaning, now I no longer cared.

"I will fight for you, should you have a need," I promised him as I turned away, "as I would for any axe-brother. My loyalty to the king stands." I walked from the baths without turning back, hoping Kaigan would find me. Hoping he would understand why I floundered so much and took so long to see him for the love I so desperately needed. Hoping, above all else, that he would still call me Parastates.

KAIGAN:

When Obiareus didn't return for so long, I finally overcame my reluctance and went looking for him. Yes, I had told him I'd allow him this time alone, to deal with his former lover, but -- I confess, I was worried. He is still so wounded, and after the latest shock about his mother... My Obia had done me proud, though, and despite our suspicions about Xanthus, he had merely left him a knife and offered him continued friendship. This I heard from bystanders, as I did not see the actual scene... but it must have been a bad one. And, if I have anything to do about it -- and I believe I do -- friendship will be all that is offered Xanthus by Obiareus.

I saw Obia leave the baths as I approached -- he did not see me. He kept his head high and walked out like a ship under full sail; regal and proud. But his pride was no longer borne of vain over-confidence, it was borne of sweat and effort, and therefore well-deserved.

Waiting until I was certain he was gone, I entered the baths and approached Xanthus, who still stood alone, white-faced and swaying. I had no pity for him at all. "What was it that you drugged him with?" I asked him, my voice as pleasant as I could force it to be.

"It... it was a tincture of poppy," he said, his voice low and hitching. He must have realized what he said of a sudden, for his head snapped up and his eyes grew wide. "I did not mean anything by it, truly, it was harmless--"

"For a labrys-bearer, you are remarkably stupid," I told him. I made no effort to modulate my voice, nor did I try to broadcast -- I was merely stating facts. But the room was suddenly silent. "Poppy in wine is a dangerous, almost deadly, combination. You could have harmed him irreparably -- even killed him."

Were it possible for his face to blanch further, it would have. "No..." he whispered. "He told me that... he said it was... no..."

"Yes," I countered, my eyes narrowing as I contemplated who he might be, all too afraid I knew the answer. "You have shown a remarkable lack of sense and judgment, Xanthus, both in your actions and in whom you trust. I do not believe that I could count on you to guard my back." I heard a gasp from somewhere around us, but did not take my eyes from his stricken ones. "In any event, you will refrain from social contact with my Parastates in the future, do you understand? I invoke the old tradition, and demand your compliance in this."

"P-p-parastates?" Xanthus stammered. "Obiareus?"

"Yes, Xanthus. Obiareus is my Parastates and my perioikos -- despite all your best intentions." I tried, Inanna, I truly did try to control the anger I felt at his betrayal of my beloved. It would not serve any purpose to further threaten him -- in the bath or elsewhere, no matter how good it would make me feel. Despite my best intentions, though, Xanthus looked as though I had gored him and left him for dead. That was not my intent, Inanna. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly; Xanthus, for all he was a back-stabbing, insincere, cowardly son-of-an-ass was also a Jheudi, an axe brother. My oath to the king stood.

I straightened, turned squarely, and walked out, intending on finding my Parastates and losing myself in his arms.

I found him settled on a rock just off the trail that lead into the hills above Knossos -- where I thought he might be. Without a word, I sat myself down between his long, golden legs and leaned back against him -- so warm, so alive and vibrant, and once again I found myself thanking the gods and goddesses who looked after such as me that I had this wonderful young man in my life. In my life? He was my life, truly, and I realized that, for the first time since my beloved Siobhan had died, I had purpose, I had reason to be. No matter that I had broken my oath.

Yes, Inanna, you can stop snickering now.

We sat together in the gathering gloom, watching the sun set fire to the sea below us. Knossos slowly lit from within with the light of lamps, and from far away, I heard the sound of singing. Bees droned by us, desperate to return to their homes before the night fell, and far, far above, I saw a speck -- an eagle? It might have been. But the crepuscular light -- not to mention my ancient eyes -- wouldn't let me determine it for certain.

Obiareus' arms came around me as the light faded, and he rested his chin on my head. "I'm glad you found me," he said. "I was a little -- concerned, Kaigan," he continued quietly.

"Of what, my Parastates?" I asked softly, watching the sea turn from golden fire to dark wine.

"Of anything, of everything," he replied, and I heard the relief and laughter in his voice. He had changed too, my Kleinos, my Parastates, my golden one. He was happier now, and I knew that he, too, had come to find purpose. It pleased me that he found his purpose in me, as I found mine in him. "I was concerned that you would think me shallow. That you would want... would not want to call me Parastates. Do you think..."

"I think," I interrupted him gently and thoughtfully, "that if I stay here too long, my backside will undoubtedly freeze and you will have to build a house around me. For I'll be unable to move. That is what I think."

He laughed, and the sound rang down the hills and filled my heart. "If that is what you wish, my Philetor," he replied, and hugged me tightly. "I will build you a palace, then, one to even rival our king's home; with a hundred baths and two score water closets, and sheets of the finest linen upon the beds filled with the softest down. People will come from thousands of leagues around and marvel at the house of Kaigan, the barbarian Jheudi, the beloved of Obiareus."

"They will," I said dryly, smiling in the dimness.

"Of course they will," he said, and his voice was sure. "It will last as long as our love, which will be forever."

My smile faded. Nothing lasted forever; this I knew all too well. I had learned my lesson, and would cherish every day I had with my Obia, treating each as if it would be the last. But he was young, so much younger than I, and the years stretched before him unblemished by fear or worry. I knew better -- but would I tell him of the things I had seen in my travels before coming to Kreta, of the ruined towers, the lost civilizations, the wandering peoples whose homes had been destroyed by the whim of a god or a man?

"Don't you agree, my Kaigan?" Obiareus was saying, and his voice sounded like honey tastes.

"Of course I do," I murmured, and turned my head enough to kiss him.

end