A Golden Opportunity
[Image] By Aramis [Image]
A sequel to the series consisting of The Lure, The Centaurs, A Thief's
Confession, The Charioteer and Reconciliation?
DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to MCA/Universal and were used
without permission. No copyright infringement was intended and no
money was made.
[Image]
"Hercules!" a familiar voice called.
The demigod spun around, smiling in recognition at the self-styled
King of Thieves. "Autolycus, it's good to see you. What brings you
here?"
"I've been worrying about Iolaus. Did you find him?"
"Yes, he's at his home."
Autolycus looked at the demigod. Something in his tone was not right.
"Is he okay?"
"Yes, he hasn't been well, but he's fine now."
"Iolaus has been ill?"
"Yeah, he had some badly infected cuts, including one from a boar's
tusk."
"So he obviously went hunting as he said."
"Eventually."
"What do you mean 'eventually'?"
"He went to Athens first."
"What??? But he *hates* Athens!" Autolycus exclaimed in surprise.
"And he certainly doesn't like it any more now."
"Why? What happened?"
"I'd rather not say, Autolycus. I don't know any details anyway. You'd
better ask Iolaus. He'll probably talk to *you*" There was a definite
note of bitterness in the last statement.
"Hercules, what's wrong? Aren't you reconciled with him?"
"No and it seems I'm *never* going to be."
"That bad? But you love Iolaus and I *know* he loves you."
"Yes. Ridiculous isn't it? I've tried talking to him, but I've got
nowhere. In fact, you're lucky you caught me because I've given up and
I'm planning to set off on my travels again in a couple of hours'
time. I can't mope around here any longer getting under my mother's
feet and staving off questions from her that I can't answer."
"Hercules, please tell me if I'm out of line, but would you like me to
speak to him. I'd like to help if I can."
"You can try if you want. Things can't get any worse." He paused and
then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that. If you can
help him, I'll be grateful."
"*Help* him? Look, Hercules, I think you'd better give me a few more
details about what's wrong so I don't go putting my foot in it."
"I suppose so," the demigod conceded reluctantly, "but it doesn't feel
right discussing him behind his back even with a good friend to us
both like you. I think ... well, I know, he still hasn't forgiven me
for some of the things I said in Preveza. He did tell me he thought he
deserved the punch I gave him because he hit me first. I can't agree
with that. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for hitting him. Be
that as it may, it's the accusations I made that are still hurting
him. I've tried to explain that I just said things to wound him and
that I knew in my heart they were not true, but he doesn't seem to be
convinced."
"And that's basically the problem, is it?"
"Not entirely. While he was in Athens some man attacked him. He hasn't
told me the details of why he was there and how he came into contact
with the man. He's just clammed up, but it seems to have brought back
all his memories of Mandrocles. He's been having his nightmares
again."
"How do you know?"
"That's the silly thing. He let me sleep with him the first two nights
after we met up. Indeed, he actually asked if I would as he said he
was lonely. He said he didn't want sex, he just wanted to be cuddled.
He awoke with the dreams a couple of times during both nights.
However, I was happier because I thought sleeping with him was a start
and we'd eventually get back to our old relationship, but on the third
night he asked me to go home. *That* was it. He wouldn't discuss
things. That was nearly three weeks ago and we've made no progress."
"And you didn't try to go further than he wanted?"
"No. I wanted to, of course, but I was being careful not to upset him
again."
"Well, I'll go and see if he'll talk to me. Will you wait to hear how
I get on?"
"No, I've promised some assistance to some villagers at Lambic and
they're expecting me. I really should have left two days ago. I can't
see you're going to have any luck and I just feel I'd like to be busy.
Besides, I've tried, but I've got to the end of my tether. Any move is
going to have to be up to him now."
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So Autolycus set off for the hunter's ramshackle home. He knocked and
heard Iolaus call, "Please go away, Herc, I don't want visitors."
"It's Autolycus."
"Autolycus?"
The door swung open and the small, scruffy blond stood there, looking
more unkempt than ever. Autolycus opened his arms and Iolaus walked
into them. He clung tightly to the thief and, to the latter's horror,
began to weep. Autolycus stroked his silky hair and leant down to bury
his face in it. "Come on, Iolaus," he murmured, "Let's go inside."
The untidy house lacked a couch of any description, so he led Iolaus
to the bed and sat down beside him, an arm wrapped around his
shoulders. "What kind of a greeting was that?" he teased gently. "I
hoped you might be pleased to see me."
"I *am* pleased. I *have* missed you, Autolycus."
The thief looked at the blond. He was pale and drawn and looked as if
he'd lost weight. "You don't look so well, Iolaus. Are you feeling
okay?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine."
"You don't look it."
"I *was* a bit sick. I got an infected hand. A boar slashed me with
its tusk. I must be slowing down in my old age."
"Sounds like it. Did you spend much time hunting after you left me?
Where did you go?"
"Oh ... Ah ... various places."
"So you just went hunting and then came home?"
"Ah ... Yeah." There was now a telltale flush in the pallid cheeks.
"Iolaus, don't ever take up my profession."
"Why?"
"You blush when you lie."
"When I lie? What do you mean 'When I lie'? I *did* go hunting!"
"I've no doubt you did, but rumour has it not at once."
"Rumour? Have you been talking to Hercules?"
"Yes and he's very worried about you. Since he's leaving today, he
asked me to look in on you."
The hunter's face fell. "*Leaving*? Where's he going? He didn't say
*anything* about leaving to me," he babbled, clearly slowing his
agitation and dismay.
"Did you give him a chance?"
Iolaus lowered his head so his mop of tangled, golden curls hid his
face and muttered, "No."
"Or a reason to stay?"
"No ... Look, Autolycus, it isn't *all* my fault."
"Isn't it?"
"No!" This was in a tone of vehement self-justification. Then, more
quietly and sadly, "I thought you might be on my side."
"There are no sides as far as I'm concerned. Have you tried to sort
out the problem?"
"N-No." There was a catch in his voice.
"Why not?"
"I couldn't ... I didn't know ... I didn't know where to start. I've
made such a mess of things."
"Hercules still loves you, you know."
"Yes, but he would ... he would expect ..." His voice trailed off.
"What would he expect?"
"Sex." His voice was a mere whisper.
"But he said he hasn't mentioned it."
"Gods! Is there any bloody thing he hasn't told you?"
"Calm down, Iolaus. He's tried to tell me as little as possible. I
didn't like to talk about you behind your back, but he *is* worried
and so am I looking at you."
"I'm all right! I don't want people to worry about me. I don't want
people to think about me at all. I just want to be left alone." He was
now getting very agitated and upset.
"Why? You've always liked company."
"People don't want *my* company. They look at me for what they can
get! They just see someone little to bully or someone ... pretty ...
to ... to molest. Even someone to use against Hercules."
"What do you mean 'use against Hercules'?"
"Oh, there was something he didn't tell you then," the hunter said
sarcastically. "Some bandits tried to hold me to ransom after I came
home. They thought Hercules would be prepared to pay for my return. I
escaped, so we'll never know if he would have done so."
"You *are* upset, aren't you? Hercules would have given anything to
save you and you know it."
"Do I?"
"Of course you do! Iolaus, you've got to stop feeling sorry for
yourself and talk to people. We can't help you if you don't."
"I *am* talking to you," the hunter protested.
"There's talking and there's talking."
"Huh?"
"You know what I mean."
"Is ... Is Herc really leaving?" Iolaus asked tentatively, trying to
change the subject away from one he wished to avoid and back to one of
real concern.
"Yes, but he won't have gone yet, so if you hurry you can catch him."
"No, I can't ... There's ... There's no point. I can't ..."
"You can't what?" Autolycus asked.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter."
"Iolaus, it clearly *does* matter. Tell me if you can't tell him."
"No. Please, Autolycus, just leave it, I don't want to talk about it."
He was almost pleading. "I don't even want to think about it yet. It's
too ... too ... recent." The last word hung in the air. It was clearly
not the word he meant, but it was one he had suddenly seized upon to
avoid explanation.
Autolycus decided to let the topic drop for time being. Having based
his profession in a large part on his skills at reading people, if
only to find the most effective way to dupe them, he was fully aware
any attempt to continue the discussion was likely to be
counter-productive. "Okay, let's talk about something else. What's
there to do in the local town?"
"Nothing much. You could go to the local tavern."
"What do you mean *I* could go? You're my host and I expect
entertainment."
"I'm sorry, Autolycus, I haven't got any money at the moment."
"That doesn't matter. I'll pay and you can put me up here for the
night in return."
"That's not necessary, you're welcome to stay here."
"Yes, it *is* necessary. I like company when I drink and since you're
all that's offering I guess I'll have to put up with you."
"Since you put it so nicely, I suppose I'll have to go. Anyway,
knowing you, you probably couldn't find your way to the town without
me there to guide you and you'd certainly get lost coming back in the
dark ... Mind you, that mightn't be a bad thing."
Autolycus smiled inwardly. That cheeky retort was more like the old
Iolaus. "Well, there's gratitude for you! Here I am offering you an
evening of scintillating company and ..."
"Is someone else going to be joining us then?"
"Hopefully, then at least there'll be someone worth chatting to."
They continued to argue companionably all the way to the town.
They had a pleasant time at the tavern. A number of the locals greeted
Iolaus in a friendly manner, but their "Long time no see" types of
comment, made it clear to the thief that the hunter had not only been
trying to avoid the demigod, but had been leading a reclusive
existence since his return home. This was so out of character for the
gregarious hunter that it was a further testimony to his upset state
of mind.
Still the evening passed enjoyably enough and Iolaus was clearly
making an effort to be sociable, although Autolycus noticed he showed
an incredible interest in what others had been doing lately and tried
to keep off the topic of his own activities. However, the only time
that he was clearly discomforted was when someone asked where Hercules
was and another chipped in that he'd seen the demigod setting off on
his travels that day and inquired why the hunter hadn't gone with him.
"Oh ... ah ... well, you see ... I-I have a guest," he finished
hurriedly as inspiration struck. "Well, I suppose you *could* call
this object a guest *if* you stretch your imagination to the limit,"
he added with a grin, gesturing at Autolycus.
"More like I'm honouring his home with my presence *if* you could call
that shack a home," Autolycus responded. "Still not many homes have
built in air-conditioning and a lovely view of the stars through the
roof."
"Haven't you heard of 5-star accommodation? I thought you went in for
luxurious living."
And so the evening passed. All but Autolycus would have seen very
little, if any, difference in Iolaus' behaviour to normal, aside from
the fact that he didn't bring Hercules into every second sentence, and
they would probably have seen that as out of some consideration for
his visitor.
When they finally got home, Iolaus insisted Autolycus have the bed.
"Sleeping on the floor won't worry me, but a soft thing like you
wouldn't get a wink of sleep," he commented.
Autolycus bit back a retort as he knew it was only too true. He liked
his creature comforts and didn't want the hunter to renege on the
offer.
The first few hours passed peacefully enough, but then a piercing
scream cut through the quiet night. Autolycus was on his feet,
clutching his sword, before he'd even woken up. Heart pounding, he
gazed wildly around. All was still. Then the hunter cried out and he
realized that the blond was in the grip of one of his nightmares. He
knelt down beside the thrashing form and placed a gentle hand on the
blond's shoulder. "Iolaus, wake up."
The next moment he was flat on his back as Iolaus lashed out. He had
seen the blow coming, but hadn't been able to avoid it completely and
lost his balance and fell. Then he realized Iolaus was getting up and
intending to follow up the punch. "Iolaus! It's Autolycus!" he said
loudly, as he scrambled to his feet, preparing to fend him off. He
reached out and clasped the blond's forearms.
Iolaus stopped. "Autolycus?"
"Yes or the remains of him."
"Are you all right? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, I thought ... I thought
you were ..."
"Who did you think I was?"
"Nobody. I-I don't remember." His eyes were brimming with unshed
tears.
"Mandrocles?"
"K-Kind of."
"What do you mean 'kind of'? Were you dreaming about him again?"
"He w-was th-there too." There was a sob in his voice and he tried to
blink back the threatening tears.
"Too? Who else was in it?"
"The nightmares had stopped. I thought I'd got over it, but then ...
but then ... it bloody happened again." Two of the tears escaped and
rolled down his cheeks.
Autolycus, was still holding his arms and could feel him shaking with
reaction. He pulled Iolaus gently to him and then on to the bed. He
wrapped a comforting arm around the hunter's shoulders. "Do you want
to tell me about it, Iolaus?"
"No ... N-Not really."
"I think you should."
"Not yet. Please, I'm trying to ... to forget it."
"Okay, but I think talking it over would help with that."
"I'll try to go back to sleep now. I'm sorry I disturbed you."
He started to get up, but Autolycus tightened his grip. "Come to bed
with me, Iolaus."
"No!" The note of panic was unmistakable.
"I just mean to sleep. You've slept in my arms before, after we
escaped the centaur village, and you slept better. Look, Iolaus, you
know you can trust me, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Well, then?"
"I suppose so."
They climbed into the narrow bed and Autolycus settled the blond's
head on his shoulder. "Comfortable?"
"Yes ... Thank you."
The hunter was soon asleep, snuggling against Autolycus. The thief lay
awake for some time wondering anew at Iolaus' effect upon him. He had
never felt so protective towards anyone. He'd never been so prepared
to consider another before himself. He mentally shook his head at his
own stupidity. How could he allow himself to be so besotted with a
scruffy, little blond, who didn't love him and who, under normal
circumstances, gave him nothing but cheek?
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The next day, he was awoken as the hunter climbed carefully out of
bed, trying not to disturb him. He didn't let on that he had roused
and watched the naked blond through lowered lashes. His eyes were
riveted on the creamy globes of that perfect arse. The hunter gathered
up his clothes and a spear and headed outside.
Autolycus jumped out of bed and looked out. As he had expected, the
blond was heading for the river. He could see his beautiful body
glowing in the sunlight. 'I shouldn't,' he thought, but he dressed
quickly and followed anyway.
Iolaus was already in the water when he arrived. The thief watched him
splashing around. Then he stood up in the thigh-deep water, his back
to Autolycus and began to soap himself. Water was streaming down his
glistening body. The sight was so breathtaking, Autolycus found
himself getting aroused. He decided he'd better head back to the
house.
At that moment, Iolaus sensed his presence and swung around.
"Autolycus?"
"Good morning."
"What are you doing up at this hour?"
'Bad choice of words,' Autolycus thought. 'I hope it's not *that*
obvious.' "I'm not one to lie in bed," he said.
He knew what response that would get. The hunter laughed and
commented, "Not usually much after midday anyway."
"What's for breakfast?" Autolycus asked, deciding to seek a safer
topic.
"Fish, at least, it will be once I've caught some. You can come and
watch if you like."
'More bad choices of words,' the thief thought. 'Perhaps he should
have said "watch and come" and I certainly do "like".' However, he
said, "I suppose I could provided it doesn't take too long. I can't
think of anything more boring than watching you ... fish."
"Nah, it won't take long. I'm good at this." He picked up the spear
and started upriver.
"Hey, what about your clothes?"
"They'll be okay there. I don't want to have to carry them. I'll grab
them on the way back."
'Gods,' Autolycus thought, his eyes gazing lustfully on the creamy
buttocks of the blond, 'I always imagined fishing to be boring, I
never considered it to be a spectator sport. What I must have missed
out on over the years.'
Fortunately, for Autolycus' heart rate and other interested parts, the
hunter was as good as his word and soon emerged from the river with
the second of two large fish. He dropped it on the bank by the other
wriggling fish. "Grab one and we'll head back."
"Grab one?" queried the thief, looking at the fish with distaste and
some trepidation. "Aren't you going to kill them first?"
"You shouldn't have distracted me. I left my knife back with my
clothes so we'll have to take them to it."
Autolycus reached out and gingerly grasped a tail. The slippery fish
wriggled frantically and was soon out of his grip.
"Not like *that*. Don't you know *anything*? Put a thumb and
forefinger in his eye-sockets."
"What??? You're having me on. There's no way I'm doing that."
"It's quite safe. It's an old hunter's trick. Watch! See, he can't
bite you like that and you can get a decent grip on him."
"I don't care. It's a horrible idea. The old hunters' can keep their
tricks. Think how the fish feels."
"I suppose you'll want me to release him next or maybe you want him
for a pet. I bet he's really cuddly. Just your type."
It was on the tip of the thief's tongue to retort, 'Then you've put
yourself in his category because you know how much I want you,' but
somehow he restrained himself. "I'm *not* carrying a live fish. Give
me the spear. I'll finish them off."
"Spear yourself through the foot more like. I will go and get my knife
and then you'll be happy." He headed off.
Autolycus stood looking at the fish. The only good thing about the
episode was that he definitely didn't feel aroused anymore. Slightly
queasy yes, aroused no.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The two happily squabbled their way through the next three days. To
Autolycus' pleasure and frustration, the blond automatically climbed
into bed with him, snuggled down trustingly and immediately fell
asleep each night.
However, in spite of this and although he definitely looked happier
than he had when Autolycus arrived, he had said no more about what was
upsetting his relationship with Hercules. The thief had made several
attempts to get him to talk about it, but gave up when it became clear
that the topic was just distressing him further. Making Iolaus unhappy
was the last thing Autolycus wanted to do. He wanted to bury his face
in that silken mane of hair, to kiss those delicious lips, to run
teasing fingers down those ticklish ribs, to ... No! He wasn't going
to think about *that*. He couldn't afford to do so. Sleeping with the
blond was becoming a torture and yet he couldn't resist even that
tantalizingly limited contact with Iolaus. 'Half a loaf is better than
no bread,' he told himself and then silently cursed himself for
resorting to yet another old cliche.
On the morning of the fourth day, he announced that he'd better be
moving on. He was aware that he hadn't made the progress he had hoped
for in dealing with Hercules and Iolaus' problem but, at least, he
seemed to be leaving the blond in a happier state of mind.
However, that feeling of mild complacency, was immediately destroyed
as Iolaus took the news badly. "Leaving? You can't ... I mean couldn't
you stay just a *bit* longer. Please, couldn't you?" His voice was
distraught and he was virtually begging.
"I've got people I've promised to meet. I can't let them down."
"What about me?"
"What about you?"
"I don't want you to go yet."
"Why not?"
"I feel ... I feel safe when you're here."
*That* nearly floored the thief. He was very aware of his protective
feelings towards the blond, but didn't expect that the hunter had
either sensed these or felt a need for them. 'Yeah, great,' he
thought, 'here I am wishing I could steal his heart and he sees me as
a kind of security guard. I *must* really be losing my touch.' "Why
don't you feel safe? What's frightening you, Iolaus?" he asked.
"N-Nothing really. I didn't mean ... I don't know why I said that.
It's just that ..." Then his face brightened as the thought hit him,
"Can I go with you? I promise I'll make sure all the fish I catch for
us are real dead before I let you see them. Please, I won't get in the
way. I'll do whatever you tell me."
'Gods what a temptation that last assurance is,' the thief mused. 'The
trouble is it's never crossed his mind just what I might tell him to
do. Come here and sit on my lap, Iolaus. Now I want you to remove
those leather ... No, I can't! This being trusted is a damned burden.'
Pushing aside, with difficulty, the enticing visions of just what he
could tell the blond to do that were crowding into his mind, he said,
"Iolaus, I've got to meet up with a gang of men that I'm working with
out of necessity at present. I don't think they'd welcome an
additional person to our little group. They'd not want to cut you in
on the gold we're after."
"Gold? *That* wouldn't matter! I'm not interested in gold and I
wouldn't want to steal anyway."
"Iolaus, they'd not believe you weren't after a share and, I think,
they could turn pretty nasty if they thought I was planning some sort
of doublecross. Anyway we're not going to steal, we're tracking a lost
treasure."
"If they're dangerous, you might need me to help you. I can fight you
know. Also I'm quite good at tracking things."
"It's not that sort of tracking. Anyway, how come you tell me in one
breath that you need me here to make you feel safe and in virtually
the next one offer to protect me?"
"It's not that sort of 'safe'."
"I'm sorry, Iolaus, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, can I go with you? Please! I've got nothing to stay here for
n-." He nearly added "now Herc's gone", but managed to bite back the
words.
Autolycus knew exactly what he'd been about to say but, seeing the
look of near desperation on the beautiful face, gave in and said, "All
right, I'll probably regret this, but you can come on one condition."
"Great!" He flashed a devastating smile at the thief that seared the
latter's heart with its intensity.
"I said, 'On one condition'."
"Okay, what is it."
"That you promise that, sometime during the journey, you will tell me
honestly and in detail what is upsetting you."
Iolaus' face fell. "But..." he began.
"Sorry, those are the terms. Now what are you going to do?"
Iolaus hesitated, but then said "Okay, but I get to choose when I tell
you."
"Fine, as long as you do tell me."
"I promise. Thank you for letting me join you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They set off and soon Iolaus' spirits seemed higher. Just the act of
undertaking the journey made him feel happier because it gave him a
purpose and he'd always hated inactivity. By the end of the trip, he
was almost back to his old self, giving cheek to the thief at every
opportunity. Three days had passed without major incident when they
finally neared the rendezvous point.
So far, Iolaus had not provided the information that Autolycus wanted
and so he, in turn, had decided not to give the hunter further details
about the job in hand. In any case, Autolycus had been giving a lot of
thought to the latter topic and had decided that the less Iolaus knew
the safer he probably was considering the nature of their 'allies'.
They set up camp in the early evening about a mile from the cabin
where Autolycus was to meet Britones and his gang of six men. "I'm
going to meet those men I told you about. I think you'd better wait
here. I'll have to decide when, indeed *if*, I tell them about you.
I'll just play it by ear and see how things go."
"Where are you meeting them?"
"At a cabin about a mile west of here. I shouldn't be more than an
hour."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As it turned out the meeting was longer than anticipated. Britones and
Autolycus, watched by three of the men, poured over maps and discussed
all the scraps of information they'd gathered and still couldn't agree
on the location. Finally, Autolycus said, "Let's call it a night and
look these over again tomorrow. We've all had a long day of
travelling. After a night's rest, we'll be fresher and might spot
something we've missed."
Just then there was a bit of a commotion outside. All dropped their
hands to their sword hilts and waited. A voice called, "It's okay,
Britones, we've caught someone. We're bringing him in."
The door opened. "Look what we found snooping around outside," a voice
announced. Three men entered the room, propelling a fourth ahead of
them. Two were holding Iolaus' arms spread-eagled, while Fulvius, a
large, muscular man, had his left arm tightly around Iolaus' neck,
holding him against his body. His right hand held a knife pressed into
the blond's throat. A thin trickle of blood was running down Iolaus'
neck.
"Who the hell is this?" Britones demanded of no one in particular.
'Now there'll be trouble,' Autolycus thought in exasperation. He'd not
got around to mentioning the blond to the bandits. "It's just Iolaus.
He's with me," Autolycus said.
"Since when? I've never known you to work with a partner. What's he
doing lurking around outside anyway? How do we know we can trust him?"
"Because I say so."
"Look, we last met only a month ago and he wasn't with you then. How
long has he been with you?"
"I've known him for a couple of years."
"Oh, yeah? How well? We only want people with us that we can trust. He
could be spying for our enemies for all we know."
Some of the others were clearly uneasy about the presence of a
stranger and Britones' questions were adding to their doubts.
Autolycus was all too well aware of the danger Iolaus was in. He made
a quick decision and only hoped Iolaus would play along with it or
they could both be in deep trouble. "Okay, if you *must* know, he
won't betray us because he's my lover."
"Your *lover*," Alesus exclaimed in amazement, "but you were always
one for the ladies."
"True, but then I saw him. That golden beauty was too much for me. I
couldn't resist. I mean *look* at him." He reached out and ran a
caressing hand through the blond curls. "Have you ever seen anything
prettier?" he appealed.
"Nope," Gaurus, an ugly behemoth of a man, agreed, "and if you're in a
sharing mood I'd ..."
"No way, he's all mine. Now I'd thank you to let him go." Fulvius
looked at
Britones, who nodded his assent. He lowered his knife and released the
headlock. "Come here, my love," Autolycus said, opening his arms.
Iolaus hesitated. "Iolaus! It's all right. They won't hurt you. Come
here."
Iolaus scurried over to him and Autolycus pulled him to him and kissed
him, gently at first and then more forcibly, bending him backwards, as
he felt all eyes upon them. The King of Thieves' mind was working
overtime. How could he make Iolaus appear as harmless as possible?
Well, once started into a lie, it was safest to continue with it and
his unplanned words "They won't hurt you" suggested a course to
follow. He let the blond up for air, but kept an arm around him. "I
don't usually let him travel with me because he's a bit simp- ... I
mean, he's not really fast thinking enough for my profession, but
another man in his village was starting to force his attentions upon
him so I gave in. Anyway, as long as you look beautiful, you don't
need to use your head for anything else do you, my love? I do the
thinking for both of us."
To his relief, the quick-witted hunter immediately adopted a
particularly vacant expression and said, "Why did they try to hurt me,
Autolycus? I didn't hurt them?"
"They didn't know who you were. Why did you follow me, Iolaus? I told
you to wait at our campsite."
"But I got lonely by myself and there might have been wild animals or
things. I heard noises. Besides it was bedtime and I wanted you." He
flung his arms around the thief's waist and hugged him tightly, a
besotted look on his face.
Autolycus felt himself blushing, something very rare for him. 'And I
told him he didn't lie well enough for my profession,' he thought
ruefully. The men all sniggered.
"How come you didn't mention him to us?" Britones queried.
"I meant to but, we got so involved in the maps, I forgot all about
him."
"You forgot *me*?" a dreadfully forlorn little voice asked.
'Don't overdo it, Iolaus,' Autolycus admonished mentally. "I'm sorry,
my love, I'd never *really* forget you."
"Where did you leave him?" Britones asked.
"Oh, we're camped by a creek a mile or so east of here. Speaking of
which, we'd better get back there. I hope you banked up the fire
before coming to look for me, my love."
"I think we'd better all stick together. You go and get your gear and
come back here."
"If it's all right with you we'd prefer a little privacy," the thief
commented.
"You can survive without doing *that* tonight and, if you find you
can't, well none of us are prudes. We'd enjoy watching. Some would
probably join in."
"No, we'll see you tomorrow."
"Autolycus, I think we need a better understanding. After sharing my
information with you I don't want you out of our sight. So you go with
Fluvius and Tigranes and get your gear. I'll look after your pretty,
little friend in the meantime. He'll be okay."
Autolycus glanced at Iolaus and saw an expression near to panic cross
his face. "Don't leave me here, Autolycus," he appealed, in character,
but meaning it.
"You'll be all right, Iolaus," Britones said. "Your friend will hurry
back to you and nobody will hurt you. We can have a nice chat while
he's away. Okay?"
Iolaus fought down his rising panic. "Okay," he echoed, looking
apprehensive.
Autolycus kissed him gently. "I'll be as quick as I can, my love."
After he had gone, Britone began to quiz the hunter about his past and
his relationship with Autolycus. Fortunately, the persona the latter
had created for Iolaus was not a difficult one to maintain. Every
community had its village idiot because of in-breeding and Iolaus had
met plenty of people he could base his character on. "I love
Autolycus," he repeatedly assured Britones, "some people tease me, but
he's always nice to me."
"I could be nice to you too," Gaurus said, reaching for the blond and
pulling him against him.
Iolaus began to struggle against him. "Let go! Autolycus says I
shouldn't let anybody touch me ... just him."
"We don't have to tell him."
"He'll know! He knows *everything*. He's real clever."
"I'm clever too." He forced his lips down onto Iolaus' in a bruising
kiss, trying to force his mouth open. Iolaus clenched his teeth and
pushed against his assailant's chest. His terror was rising. Much more
of this and he'd blow his cover by decking the man.
Britones did not know this, but he could see the fear in the little
blond's face. "That's enough, Gaurus, we don't want to fall out with
Autolycus. We might need him yet."
Gaucus reluctantly released his grip on Iolaus. The blond pulled away
and then sank to his knees in front of the fire, shaking with
reaction. The tear that ran down his cheek was not the result of good
acting. 'Gods, why do men have to treat me like this? Why can't they
leave me alone?' he wondered distractedly, thinking of Juventas and
Mandrocles.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and flinched. "I'm not going to hurt
you, Iolaus," Britones said, "and Gaucus is sorry he frightened you,
aren't you, Gaurus? I said, *aren't you*, Gaurus?"
"Oh ...Yeah ...Sorry."
"Come on, stand up." Britones drew him to his feet and held him
against him, running a hand down his back and patting his buttocks.
Iolaus was aware his naive character would probably see this as just a
comforting cuddle, so he forced himself to say, "Thank you."
"We won't tell Autolycus that Gaurus was a bit silly, will we? It'll
just be our secret, won't it?" He gave another 'friendly' squeeze of
the hunter's arse for emphasis.
"Okay, I like secrets," Iolaus agreed, wriggling free as unobtrusively
as he could.
No further incident occurred, but Autolycus was aware of a bit of
tension in the air when he returned. Iolaus flung himself into his
arms and held onto him tightly. "Have you missed me?" the thief
inquired.
The blond nodded vigorously.
"Never mind, we'll go to bed now and I can give you a good cuddle and
make up for it." And to the disappointment of several pairs of eyes
that *was* all he gave the pretty, little blond.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day found Autolycus and Britones again pouring over maps and
arguing the toss. Eventually, they took a break and Autolycus joined
Iolaus sitting on a fallen tree not far from the cabin, but far enough
so that their discussion couldn't be heard by the others.
"What's going on, Autolycus?" Iolaus asked.
"I suppose I might as well tell you now that you've got involved.
We've got a big job underway. You see we've been gathering up rumours
about a place known as "The Lost City" and trying to work out its
location. There's supposed to be a fortune in gold buried there."
"There is! A huge pile of gold bars *and* the gold mine they came
from."
"Where on earth did you hear about it?"
"Oh, I've been there. I saw them."
"WHAT???"
"I-I said I saw them," Iolaus repeated, somewhat stunned by the
thief's vehement reaction.
"Do you mean to say you *know* the location of the city?"
"Yeah."
"And you never thought of getting the gold yourself?"
"No."
Why not?"
"I didn't need it and anyway ..."
Autolycus stared in amazement at the unkempt and habitually broke
figure before him. He thought of the blond's ramshackle home and
meagre possessions. "You didn't need it?" he queried in astonished
tones.
"No, there's nothing I really need. I've got a good sword and knife
and ..."
Autolycus couldn't stand it. He interrupted, "Then why didn't you tell
*me*?
"I-I never thought about it. I didn't *even* tell Herc about it."
"Well, I suppose if you couldn't be bothered telling *even* Hercules
about it, there'd be no way you'd tell a vague associate like me,"
Autolycus observed sarcastically. He and the gang had devoted a lot of
time to this project and now it appeared to have been time wasted.
Even more annoying was the fact that he didn't like or trust the men
he was working with and there was no need to have allied with them at
all. He could have had it all for himself.
Iolaus flinched at the venom in his voice. "I-I'm sorry. I never
g-gave it a th-thought," he stammered. "I didn't have a very pleasant
time there and I just wanted to forget the place."
Autolycus immediately felt a twinge of guilt. How did Iolaus always
succeed in making his conscience active? Normally it was obediently
and conveniently quiescent. "No, *I'm* sorry, Iolaus. There was no
reason why you should have told me," he said but, with his usual eye
to the main chance, he continued, "but could you tell me about it now
please?"
"Yes, okay. You see there was this woman ..."
"Isn't there always?" Autolycus asked, feeling a sharp twinge of
jealousy.
"No! Well, not now. Anyway it wasn't like that. Moria was a reporter
for some newspaper and she was *annoying*. She wouldn't take no for an
answer."
"Oh, really? And yet it wasn't *like that*?"
"No, I don't mean that. She had this stupid theory about "visitors"
from other continents and even from beyond the stars and was trying to
find evidence for her muck-rag paper, "The Star-Globus". I was looking
for my cousin, Regina, and some other village girls that had
disappeared and she tagged along because she reckoned these "visitors"
had taken them. She just went on and on and on and ..."
"Okay! Okay! I get the picture. What's she got to do with anything
anyway?"
"She wouldn't shut up. It was all bloody "visitors" or interminable
questions about things, so I blew my stack and that still didn't stop
her. I took off into a ruined temple I'd spotted and she followed me.
Anyway in there we found stacks of gold bars and lots of delicious
food. So we had a great meal and ..."
"Iolaus! I don't *care* about the food! It's the gold that interests
me."
"Well we cared about it. We were starving."
"IOLAUS!" That was too loud. He saw a couple of the men glance in
their direction. He immediately wrapped a arm around the blond's
shoulders. "They're watching us," he whispered and then leant in and
began to nuzzle and kiss Iolaus' neck, reasoning that the bandits
might close in to listen to a possibly treasonous conversation but
would keep their distance if it appeared that all that was going on
was a bit of petting. The blond flung his head back, throat
deliciously taut, while Autolycus kissed his way around to an earlobe
and then nibbled at the earring. "Keep talking," he ordered in an
undertone.
"Then the floor gave way and we found ourselves in this underground
city. The people were mining gold. There was this real evil creep in
charge who claimed to be called Kamaros, but who turned out to be
Carcass, the Butcher Of Thessaly, and he'd used drugs and mind-control
techniques to get all these people under his control. He had them
serving him and worshipping a kid called Lorel, who was supposed to be
a goddess, but she was just another one of his victims. All these
people had given up any interest in their worldly goods and, naturally
enough, Kamaros had these. I'll tell you how powerful he was, he even
had Salmoneous in his thrall."
"What??? Salmoneous had lost interest in worldly goods?" exclaimed the
thief in amazement, leaving off his nibbling in his surprise.
"Yeah. Powerful, eh? Anyway I realized that people were being fed
drugs so I avoided eating the food laced with lotus leaf and worked on
persuading others to stop."
"And did they?"
"It was a real uphill battle. My cousin, Regina, was there and Moria
managed to get through to her and Lorel's sister Aurora, but nobody
else would listen. I thought if I exposed Lorel, as just an ordinary
girl, it would help, but Kamaros and his men caught me and then ...
and then ..." He paused as the terrifying memories of his time in
Kamaros' re-education room came flooding back.
"And then what?" Autolycus began to kiss his way around the blond's
chest, sucking at the small brown nipples.
"He tried to take over my mind. He hit me in the neck with a dart that
had a drug on it. Oh, he assured me it wouldn't kill me, but it would
aid in my "re-education" as he called it. Brain-washing I'd call it.
When I came round he had me strapped to this chair and he made me keep
looking at this big wheel that was spinning. There was an incredibly
bright light filtering through the wheel. It made my eyes hurt to look
at it and I felt really sick and dizzy. One of his bully boys told me
that, when it revolved at the right rate, it could produce a
trance-like state, making the mind extremely malleable and that
Kameros was a master of mind-manipulation. If I tried to shut my eyes
they forced me to open them. They just kept talking, trying to wear me
down."
Autolycus realized that the blond's face was reflecting the horror of
his memories, rather than the pleasures of his attentions. He
interrupted, whispering urgently, "Speaking of 'down', I'm just going
to lower you to the ground, Iolaus. We *have* to put on a convincing
act of affection for our interested audience." As he spoke, he lifted
the blond into his arms, dropped a gentle kiss onto his lips and then
bent his knees and gradually lowered him until he was seated against
the log. Then he knelt between the hunter's spread thighs, effectively
blocking his face from view, and continued to kiss and caress him.
"Carry on with the story," he instructed.
Normally the hunter might have objected to being bossed around, but he
was so engrossed in the recalling of the horrible experience, that he
had never previously imparted to anyone, that he just continued. "I
was a real mess. I was soaked with sweat and my eyes were watering. I
was *so* tired. They wouldn't let me sleep. I thought Kamaros was
going to win. It was touch-and-go. If it hadn't been for some
mind-control techniques I learnt when travelling in the east, I would
have been finished. Eventually, I pretended he had won and they
released me. When I got a chance, I attacked him. I disposed of his
bodyguard and then we had a big sword fight. *That* was a close thing
too as he was no slouch with a sword. When he saw that the game was up
he destroyed the city. He'd got the whole place rigged so he could
cause it to collapse in upon itself and, he hoped, kill everyone, but
I managed to get the people out. I don't think I've ever been so
relieved to get out of anywhere. I *even* hugged Salmoneous."
"Well, what happened next?"
"Nothing. People headed back to their home villages and I just walked
away. I never wanted to see the place again. That's why I never told
Herc about it. I just wanted to forget it. It's such a ... such a
frightening thing to nearly lose control over your will to another
person."
"But you know how to get back to the city?" His hands were now inside
Iolaus' vest caressing his shoulders and back.
"Of course I do! I'm good at directions and places. Not like old Herc.
He could get lost in ..." He trailed off.
Autolycus seized the opening, while mentally kicking himself for being
such a fool as to work on his rival's behalf. 'Why do I have to like
Hercules so much?' he wondered. 'It would be much better if I didn't
like him because I could then be ruthless in my pursuit of Iolaus.' He
did a double-take at the thought. 'My pursuit of Iolaus? What pursuit?
I'm not supposed to be pursuing him.' However, he said, "Iolaus, why
won't you go back to him? You love him. Admit it! You think about him
all the time."
"I know I do." Autolycus winced inwardly at the confirmation, while
the hunter continued, "It's not that I don't love him."
"What then?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Do you want me to take you to the
'Lost City?" he asked, anxious to redirect the conversation.
"Yes, but I'm not sure I want you to take our 'friends'. I don't
really trust them."
"Why were you working with them then?"
"In my profession you have to make some allowances. You have to take
what help you can get."
"Well you might need them yet. There'll be quite a bit of rubble to be
cleared away and I don't fancy doing the job all by myself."
"You wouldn't be by yourself. I'd be there."
"Yeah, telling me where to dig and where to pile the stones I remove.
I don't see you as a manual worker with soft hands like you've got."
"My craft requires that they be well cared for. My hands are delicate
instruments."
"Yeah, I know. I can feel them. There's no point in trying to slide
them down the back of my trousers, as you're trying to do, because my
belts are too tight and anyway our observers can't see what you're
doing so it would be a wasted gesture."
'Gesture?' the thief thought, in some amazement at the blond's
apparent obtuseness, 'If he only knew how much I want to get my hands
and other parts into that delightful area.' However, he contented
himself with retorting, "They'll have a fair idea though. Would you
prefer me to put them down the front instead?"
"No!" Iolaus said hurriedly, blushing hotly.
"If there's as much gold as rumour has it I might be able to retire.
Then the state of my hands won't matter and people, interested in
sharing my wealth, will be lining up to let me fondle them. Not that
it will do them much good as I won't be parting with it."
"Unless someone has been there before us there *was* a whole heap of
gold bars. There should be plenty for all of you provided we can get
at them."
Autolycus doubted that. He knew that, for some men, and he suspected
he might be amongst them, there could never be *enough* gold. Anyway,
he was certain that his idea of 'plenty' was not the same as the
blond's.
Suddenly, he became aware of suspicious eyes upon them. There'd been
too much talk and too little action between them and Iolaus had not
been taking an active part in the petting. Worse, he hadn't even
bothered to pretend to be enjoying it. Actually, in spite of his
desire for information, the thief had been somewhat piqued by the
hunter's ability to go on telling the story without missing a beat
despite what the thief had been doing. An urge to make the blond
react, both for the audience's benefit and for his personal pride
overwhelmed Autolycus, but what could he do?
'Okay,' he told himself, 'I need to make him appear to be happy with
what I'm doing.' He recalled their time in Lord Thanatus' cell in
Preveza and smiled to himself. While caressing the hunter he had
discovered him to be deliciously ticklish. He hadn't done anything
about it then, but now he'd put that knowledge to good use.
He took hold of Iolaus' shoulders and pulled him away from the log and
then turned him sideways and pushed him down onto his back. The blond
had got used to his manipulations and made no protest, even when the
thief straddled his thighs. He lay quiescent, watching Autolycus
though lowered lids as the thief pushed his vest off his shoulders.
However, that all changed when Autolycus ran exploring fingers down
his ribs. "No! Don't!" he protested, giggling and bucking his hips. He
tried to push the thief's hands away, but Autolycus persisted. A lot
of the laughter was anticipatory only because the thief was finding it
hard to break through Iolaus' desperate defence.
Then a shadow fell over the pair. "Let me give you a hand," a voice
said. "I noticed he wasn't being very cooperative for you earlier. He
deserves a bit of a lesson." With that, Gaurus captured the blond's
hands and pulled them above the curly head to pin them there.
Autolycus was in a cleft stick. He feared upsetting the hunter after
all his efforts to help him back to his old sunny self, but he also
knew they had to keep up their act for self-preservation. Besides
there was *still* that desire to get a reaction from the blond. He
reached for Iolaus' ribs, ignoring Iolaus' pleas to stop.
In a very short time, the blond was virtually hysterical and his
laughter and protests had disturbed those inside the cabin. They
emerged to see what was occurring and Autolycus decided the
interruption was a good excuse to stop. "That'll do it," he said,
climbing off the hunter. "C'mon," he appealed to Gaurus, "let him go."
The bandit complied very reluctantly and his excitement was clearly
outlined.
Iolaus scrambled to his knees and moved against the log, leaning his
head against it. Autolycus could see his shoulders shaking. He put a
hand on one. "Leave me alone," Iolaus muttered, shrugging off the
hand.
"C'mon, my love, I'm sorry, but you deserved it."
"No, I didn't!"
"Don't argue, my love. Everyone will think you're being silly." He
wrapped his arms around the hunter and pulled him back against him.
"Look, *everybody* has come out to see what you were making such a
fuss about."
Iolaus heeded the warning and glanced behind him. Then he twisted
around and buried his face into Autolycus' chest, muttering, "It
wasn't fair."
The thief could feel the dampness of his tears and guilt rushed over
him, but he still felt he'd taken the right action under the
circumstances. However, he stroked the tangled golden curls and
crooned an apology.
Seeing the show was apparently over, the onlookers dispersed. Once the
last one had moved away, Autolycus said, in a matter of fact voice
designed to snap Iolaus out of what the thief saw as a rather extreme
reaction, "Okay, they've gone now, you can stop the act."
Iolaus pulled away from him and glared. "It wasn't an act," he
protested.
"Sorry, but you hadn't been reacting to my caresses and they were
starting to get suspicious of our talk. I didn't expected Gaurus was
going to join in. We didn't hurt you, did we?"
"N-No, it was just ... just ... being held down. It reminded me ... I
was scared ..."
"Reminded you of what? You did promise to tell me about it, remember?"
"I *will*, but not yet. I'm n-not ready. You said I could choose
when."
"Yes, I did and I meant it. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I want
you to look at the map Britones and I have got and show me the city's
location."
"But how can I do that without him getting suspicious? He'll wonder
what's going on if I'm right."
"Yeah, let me think," Autolycus said, his devious brain ticking over
rapidly. "I know! Make a game of it and then you point out a place two
inches west of the location. After I know where it is, I'll make a
convincing case for the genuine spot. I'll twist our evidence to fit
it if needs be. Now come with me and I'll show you the map. You ask me
what it is. You won't have seen one before and won't understand it
anyway, okay?"
"Okay."
The two walked back towards the cabin. "Can I see the map again,
Britones?" Autolycus requested. "I've just had a thought about it."
"Here." He passed it over.
"What's that thing, Autolycus?" Iolaus asked.
"A map."
"What's it for?"
"It shows where places are." He pointed to a cross. "This is where you
are."
Iolaus giggled. "No, I'm not! I'm over here. You're being silly,
Autolycus."
Britones raised his eyebrows in exasperation. The blond might look
delicious, but was it worth putting up with his inane comments in
return for the occasional fuck. He really didn't know how a clever
person like Autolycus could put up with his babbling. However, he
seemed to be full of patience. The tickling incident was the only
occasion when he'd lost his cool at all with the little blond.
"See these two marks, my love?" the thief asked.
The mop of tangled curls nodded.
"This one shows where I think the place we are trying to find is and
the other mark is where Britones thinks it is."
"Can I guess too? Let me!" He poked a grubby finger about three inches
away from Autolycus' chosen spot. "Go on!"
"Go on what?"
"Make a mark for me!"
"Britones won't want extra marks on his map, Iolaus." The blond stuck
his lower lip out in a pout. Autolycus tapped it lightly with a
finger. "Put that bird-perch away, my love." He turned to Britones and
indicated a point two inches east of Iolaus' spot. "Britones I've been
thinking it over and I've changed my mind about the location. I reckon
*this* is the place." He then began to make his case and Britones was
soon nodding his agreement.
Within the hour, the expedition was off, leading the four elderly
mules that Britones had optimistically acquired. Six hours later, they
were standing looking at the remains of the temple.
"Well, it's certainly been a large building of sorts, but there's not
enough rubble for it to have been a city," Britones opined.
"You're right," Autolycus agreed and pretended to consider the matter
for a few minutes. Then he said, "I wonder ..."
"What?"
"It's just occurred to me. The city's been remarkably elusive. I
wonder if ... maybe it might have been underground," he suggested
tentatively.
"Who'd build a city underground?" Britones asked dismissively.
"I agree it would be unusual, but if it was based around a gold-mining
operation as the rumour has it ..."
"I think you've got a point. Come on, men, we'll have a search through
the ruins and see if we can find anything of interest."
Success was not long in coming. Tigranes found a ventilation shaft
that looked promising and soon all were clearing rubble with some
degree of enthusiasm. However, after an hour's backbreaking work they
were all flagging a bit and it was clear that night was going to soon
overtake them. "Why don't we lower Blondie down there?" Fulvius
suggested. "He's much smaller than the rest of us. He can have a quick
look around. We can carry on clearing stuff tomorrow, but it would be
great if we had some evidence that we were at the right place."
"How about it, my love?" Autolycus asked. "Would you go down there and
see what you can find?"
"It looks a bit dark down there," the blond said apprehensively.
"We can light you a torch to carry," Britones said.
"I suppose I could. You won't leave me there though, will you?"
"Of course not," Britones said, ruffling Iolaus' curls. "Autolycus
will see to that."
"What do I have to look for?"
"Anything that people have owned. We want to see if people have been
living down there."
"Okay."
So Iolaus was duly lowered down the shaft. It was a bit of a squeeze
and, at one point, he panicked a bit about getting stuck, but he got
through safely.
He found that there was more light down there than he had anticipated
because there were quite a few smaller openings to the world above.
The city was much more intact than he had anticipated. His last
impressions of the place had been the crashing masonry, the clouds of
dust and the screams of the occupants as they ran in panic.
There were plenty of items to select from. He decided to take a couple
of ornate goblets. Then, smiling to himself as he anticipated the
effect it would have, he picked up a chunky gold nugget about the size
of a sparrow's egg. After that, he made his way back to the shaft. He
put his foot into the loop tied in the end of the rope and then gave
the rope a tug. "Autolycus!" he shouted. "I'm ready." He held on with
his right arm and clutched his spoils with the left.
Those above were only too anxious to haul him up and, because of their
haste, his left elbow got badly skinned against a sharp piece of
protruding rock. "Ow! Look at what's happened," he complained, but
nobody was interested. Britones and Autolycus had each snatched a
goblet and were examining their prizes. "Very fine workmanship,"
Britones said. "This bodes well."
He handed his one to Tetricus to examine, and turned to the little
blond, who was apparently engrossed in rubbing his elbow. "Was there a
lot of things down there, Iolaus?"
"Yes, nice things. Look at this pretty stone I found." He tossed the
nugget into the air. Britones' eyes shot out and so did his hand,
grabbing the nugget in mid air. "Hey, that's mine!" Iolaus protested.
"*I* found it. Give it back!"
Britones ignored him. "Look at this!" he exclaimed. Seven pairs of
eyes gleamed as they saw what was in his hand. There'd be some willing
workers on the morrow.
"Please can I have my nice stone back?" Iolaus asked. "There's lots of
other ones. You can get your own ones tomorrow."
Britones grinned broadly and tossed it to him. Naturally Iolaus' new
persona was a butterfingers and the 'stone' fell into the rubble
precipitating a minor crisis until Autolycus located it again for him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
All were awake bright and early the next day and busily working.
Around lunchtime they had cleared enough for ease of access. All
except for Iolaus were too excited to eat. The blond followed them
down the rope complaining bitterly about his hunger and asking why
they couldn't eat first.
Everyone headed off in different directions and soon elated shouts
were ringing through the ruins as new discoveries were made. For his
part, Autolycus sought out the food preparation area and filled his
money pouch with the lotus leaf mixture that Iolaus had told him
about. He had a feeling it might prove useful.
Iolaus found himself making his way to the re-education room. He
didn't want to go there and yet he had a compelling urge to check that
the horrible room was really out of commission. He knew it was
ridiculous, but he still felt Kamaros' lingering presence and he could
feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he looked at
the chair in the centre of the room.
He nearly fainted when a voice said, "Hello, pretty one, I was looking
for you."
He swung around and experienced a momentary feeling of relief when he
recognized Gaurus rather than 'The Butcher of Thessaly'. That relief
turned back to panic again when Gaurus advanced on him smiling
lasciviously. "You could get lost down here all alone, Blondie. You
come with me. I'll look after you." He had decided that Autolycus
would be too concerned about gold of another sort to be giving a
thought to his little catamite, with the entrancing golden curls.
"N-No! I'm all right. Autolycus will be here *soon*."
"No, he won't. I saw him heading off in a different direction. You be
a good boy and come with me. He asked me to find you and take you to
him." As he spoke, he advanced towards Iolaus holding out his hands.
Iolaus backed away, but found himself up against the hated chair.
"No, don't touch me!"
"Don't be a silly boy," Gaurus said and then suddenly lunged at the
hunter. Iolaus had been anticipating the move and he dived to one
side. Gaucus twisted around, showing surprising agility for such a big
man, and grabbed for him. A large hand caught the back of Iolaus'
vest. He wriggled out of it and began to run with Gaurus in hot
pursuit.
In his haste, he didn't think about his route and suddenly found
himself at a dead end of an uncompleted tunnel. He whirled around and
saw Gaurus was blocking the only exit. He had clearly realized he had
the hunter trapped and was now strolling leisurely towards him. "It
was kind of you to take your vest off for me, pretty one," he said
softly, smirking nastily. Then his voice hardened and he snapped an
order, "Get the rest of your clothes off *now*. Hurry up or I'll hurt
you."
*That* was it. Iolaus lost it. The village idiot gave way to the
warrior, albeit a frightened one. He braced himself against the stone
wall and then launched himself feet first at the big man, with all the
force he could muster. His feet smashed into Gaurus' throat. The
bandit's neck snapped back with a sickening crack.
Iolaus slammed down onto the rough floor, crying out in pain as his
right wrist smashed into a rock, protruding from the tunnel wall, en
route.
The thief heard his cry. "Iolaus?"
"Autolycus? I'm in here," he called, scrambling to his feet.
Autolycus appeared carrying a lighted torch. "There you are! I've been
searching ev-" He broke off as he spotted Gaurus' body. "What
happened?"
"I killed him."
"What? What on earth did you do that for?"
"He t-tried to force himself on me. I g-guess I panicked and kicked
him a bit hard. I-I broke his neck."
"Damn! This could be awkward," Autolycus muttered, as he considered
how the death could be explained away. Then, belatedly, he noticed the
blond was cradling his right wrist. "Has he hurt you?"
"I hit m-my wrist on a stone as I fell. I think it m-might be broken."
"Come out into this other room where the light's a bit better and let
me have a look at it." He led the way out to the re-education room.
"Now, let's see."
The blond extended his arm gingerly and the thief grasped it. "OW! Be
careful. That *hurts*. You'll never make a good nurse."
"I will if she'll let me," Autolycus retorted grinning. He then
sobered and said, "There's no doubt it's broken. I'll rip an arm off
my shirt and bind it with that. I doubt if our 'friends' bother to
carry bandages."
Having done that, he gazed around. "What did they use this room for?"
"You could call it a torture chamber. It was that bloody re-education
room I told you about. See!" He pointed. "There's the remains of that
damn wheel. It actually fell on me in the end. And this is the chair
they had me strapped in." He shuddered at the memory. "I don't know
why some people get ... get such pleasure out of hurting others."
He paused. Something felt different about the room. It was as if
Kamaros' shade was no longer hovering there. Perhaps it was Autolycus'
reassuring presence that had vanquished it. Unexpectedly, he said, "I
think ... I think I might try to tell you that other story now."
"Now?"
"Yes. You see I dreaded this room, but coming in here doesn't seem so
bad now. I think having you here with me and also telling you all
about it yesterday might have helped lay the ghost. Perhaps telling
you about Athens might help too."
"Herc told me you'd been there. I must say, I was surprised to hear
it. I thought you hated the place."
"I did and even more now."
"Why did you go there then?"
"After I left you, I was feeling a bit lonely, but then I met up with
Accius, who was a friend to Herc and me when we were teenagers. He is
a charioteer in Athens and he invited me to have a go at it. I'd
always fancied trying that I thought ... I hoped it might help get my
mind off Herc because it was something we'd never been involved in."
"How did it go?"
"Great ... at first. I really enjoyed the racing. I was quite good at
it too. For the first three weeks, things were fine. I was missing
Herc, but it didn't hurt so much because I was busy and had things to
occupy my mind, but ..."
"But?"
"Things started to happen that I didn't like."
"Such as?"
"I had an accident at practice and winded myself in a fall. I got off
the track, but felt a bit dizzy so I went into the smithy to sit down
for a minute. I must have fainted because the next thing I knew was
this big bastard of a smith was finger fucking me. Fortunately, some
men arrived to collect some gear and interrupted him because I don't
think I could have fought him off. I was feeling a bit sick and he was
a lot stronger than I am. He told me, if I said anything to anyone,
he'd tell the stable-master I'd been selling my favours among the men
and I'd get kicked out. He'd been working there for years and I didn't
think anyone except for Accius would take my word before his."
"And this is what caused your upset?"
"Part of it. That night all I could think of was Hercules. I wanted
him so much. All I could think of was how I ruined everything because
of that stupid punch."
"Iolaus, Hercules thinks that you were quite within your rights to hit
him under the circumstances."
"I know, but *I* don't think so and I just kept going over and over
the incident in my mind."
"You said it was part of the cause of your upset, what else happened?"
asked Autolycus. Having got the hunter talking at last, he didn't want
him going off on a tangent of self-blame and clamming up again.
"Well, I c-could have ... could have lived with what the smith did,
but things got ... worse."
"Tell me," Autolycus encouraged.
"The two men who'd interrupted him, guessed what had been going on and
they kept making comments and I started going into the city at night
to avoid them. I was in a tavern and some men made remarks about me.
There might have been some rumours about what the smith did ... I
don't know. I tried to leave, but one of them got hold of me and there
was a fight. Some men from our stables arrived and helped me. Accius
told me it was probably an attempt to remove an opposition team
member. That put me off the sport a bit because it didn't seem right
that people were so concerned to win they'd attack someone."
"From what I've heard, it's a win-at-all-costs kind of thing."
"It seems like it is. Maybe I'm naive, but I didn't ... I still didn't
really understand that even after that incident."
"So you carried on with it?"
"Yes, I was still looking forward to being in some real races. Then a
few days later, I met my ... employer for the first time." A goose
walked over his grave at the thought of Juventas and he shivered
involuntarily.
Autolycus observed the commingled distaste and fear on his face. "Am I
right in assuming he's the real problem."
Iolaus nodded.
"Well, come on, Iolaus, you'd better finish the story. You'll feel
better for having told someone, I promise." He wrapped a comforting
arm around the blond.
Iolaus pulled away in an agitated manner, but continued with his tale.
"He came to see me at the gym. I didn't realize that actually *seeing*
me was his real purpose and that he'd deliberately chosen to come to
the gym because ... because I'd be ... be naked." The hunter's cheeks
were flushing bright red at the memory. He lowered his head so
Autolycus couldn't see his face. The thief felt a twinge of conscience
as he recalled feasting his eyes on Iolaus' body on the day of their
fishing expedition, but he said nothing and waited for the blond to
continue.
"He scared me even though he didn't do much. He was talking about my
body and saying it was a pity charioteering is the only sport in which
the athletes are clothed because ... because he thought the audience
would like me. He only touched my hair and chest, but I ... I was ...
I was scared of him. It was the way he looked at me like he wanted to
... wanted to ... All I wanted was Herc. I needed him there just ...
just to *be* there. I never wanted to see Juventas again."
"But it didn't end there, did it?"
"No... Race day came around and *that* was as exciting as I'd hoped it
would be. I even won a couple of races and got placed in others, but
then ... then I blew it. In the final race our stables only needed a
place to secure overall victory and I was winning, but I saw Accius
had fallen and he was too dazed to get off the track so I stopped and
pulled him onto my chariot. He might have been killed if I hadn't, but
other people didn't see it like that."
Autolycus had been around and he knew the score. "I suppose they
thought you'd deliberately thrown the race."
"Yeah, all our team was mad with me, but I *couldn't* have done
anything else."
"No, I don't suppose *you* could."
"So you think I was wrong too."
"I didn't say *that*. I know you, Iolaus, you couldn't have lived with
yourself if you'd left him there and he'd been maimed or killed."
"Others didn't ... didn't know me so well and there was no-one there
to take my side. Juventas sent the smith and his two mates to get me.
He didn't need to. I would have gone to explain and apologize to him
because it was clear nobody agreed with what I'd done."
"Not even Accius?"
"I don't know, he'd been carted off for medical treatment so I never
saw him again. Anyway Juventas was furious and he thought I'd been
paid to throw the race and said he'd make me pay in turn. He had a
horsewhip and he told the men to strip me. I tried to fight my way
out, but they overpowered me. Juventas beat me until I was just about
out of it. Then he dismissed the men and dragged me into a bedroom."
Autolycus anticipated the rape to follow and reached for him intending
to cuddle him, but the blond waved him off. "No, I'd b-better finish.
If I stop, I won't ... I might not be able to." He swallowed
convulsively. "As you've g-guessed he ... he wanted to rape me, but
... but I was trying to fight him off and he was hitting me and-and my
nose was bleeding badly and there was blood gushing everywhere from
that and from the cuts from the whip. It was horrible. M-My hands were
still tied and I couldn't stop him. Then he knocked me out and ... and
I came around to find ... to find ..." He broke off and wiped his wet
eyes with a hand.
"You don't have to tell me the rest," Autolycus said hurriedly,
dismayed both by the story and the blond's distress.
However, Iolaus continued as though he hadn't heard him. Indeed, he
had not. He was lost in the hideous memories of the assault. "He'd
tied me to the bed and he was inside me. He was so rough. He tried to
hurt me as much as he could. He just raped me again and again. I lost
track of how many times and then he just left me tied there. I didn't
know if he was coming back to assault me again or not. I knew he could
just do whatever he wanted to me and nobody would know or care. I felt
so alone. When Mandrocles attacked me there was always a good chance
that Hercules would arrive to help me, but now there was ... nobody."
"How did you escape?"
"I didn't. After all that, the bastard still didn't think I'd been
punished enough and, the next day, he took me to the magistrates. That
was my only piece of luck. They turned out to be Odite, Novatus and
Anaxis. You remember we met them on that other visit to Athens?
Anyway, they took my word for what had happened and freed me. Juventas
wasn't too pleased, I can tell you."
"What did they do to him?"
"Nothing. He was an important citizen and they probably thought most
people would think he had a right to punish me under the
circumstances."
"That's bloody unfair."
"They were nice to me though. Odite took me home overnight and he
treated my back for me. I suppose I should have let him get a proper
healer, but I didn't want other people to know. I didn't let him see
the injuries below my waist so they didn't even get that treatment. I
think he was suspicious about what Juventas had done to me, but wasn't
game to ask and I wasn't telling anyone. I just wanted to get away
from people and so I decided I would go hunting after all. Odite
wanted me to stay longer, but I ... I just *couldn't*"
Autolycus reached for Iolaus again and this time the blond didn't pull
away, but clung to him. They stood holding each other tightly for some
minutes, both reluctant to break the contact. Autolycus thought about
the incident when he had tickled the hunter. No wonder he'd been so
upset at being forcibly held down with all this playing on his mind.
He desperately wanted to comfort Iolaus, but knew they'd been there
too long and soon the gang would be looking for them if they were not
already doing so. "Iolaus, we're going to have to hide Gaurus' body
and then rejoin the others. There's some other things I want to ask
you, but we'll have to leave them until later, okay?"
"Yes."
"Now about your wrist. I think we'd better say a rock dislodged and
fell on it. We can blame it for our length of absence. I'll say I was
comforting you after I'd bound it up and one thing led to another.
After our abstinence in their presence, it will seem natural and help
support our pretence of being lovers." He hesitated as another idea
occurred to him. "I know, let's dump some masonry on top of Gaurus. We
can say he grabbed you and you pulled free and ran to escape him and
he tripped into a pillar or something and caused the fall of stone
that hit you both. That will cover both injuries and also explain why
you were in particular need of comfort. If they notice you've been
crying it will cover that too." He grinned in appreciation of his own
cleverness.
Iolaus merely nodded. He was in no state to be an admiring audience.
It was easier to stick with his adopted persona and let Autolycus do
the thinking for both of them. Thinking brought such upsetting images
to mind.
However, he did have one question. "Autolycus, have you got some of
the lotus leaf mixture? I can smell it in here and I couldn't before."
"Yes, I thought I might find a use for it if our friends turn
hostile."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As it turned out, the bandits took the explanation well. They'd all
seen Gaurus make up to the little blond in the cabin, on the first
evening, as well as his eager intervention to help Autolycus 'punish'
the hunter, plus they knew his proclivities of old. No one had been
particularly fond of him. His muscle had been useful on occasion, but
that was all. Now all that his death meant to them was that there was
one less person with whom they'd have to split any treasure they
found.
Any thought they might have had of him vanished completely when an
excited Fulvius located a stack of about eighty gold bars and then
Tetricus and Etylus found the mine entrance and the former came to
tell them that Etylus was investigating it. Provided they could get
the gold out, without more of the structure collapsing in, they were
made. Autolycus had invented the fall of masonry that had supposedly
killed Gaurus, but it had turned out to have been an inspired
explanation because three of the bandits had already had close calls
with falling debris and so had readily accepted the explanation.
What was needed now was organization. At first, Britones suggested
that he and Caelius should climb back to the surface and the others
could load the bars into a bag for them to draw up with the rope.
Unfortunately, the bars weighed over 20lbs each and this meant each
load would have to be small, but the greatest problem was lack of
trust.
Fulvius put the problem bluntly. "What's to stop you both getting all
the bars up and then leaving us all stranded down here? With the
ingots alone, you'd be right for life."
Autolycus had thought the same, but was pleased someone else had
voiced his concern.
Then Etylus arrived, having finished investigating the mine Tetricus
and he had found, with some bad news. The mine only went back about
thirty feet and beyond that had been blocked with a massive fall of
earth, stone and timbers. It would take a major operation, involving a
considerable element of danger to try to reopen it. Manual labourers
the men were not. In spite of their willingness to work on the
relatively short-term job of clearing rubble to get into the city, the
thought of weeks or months of back-breaking grind was not for them.
Indeed, most of the group had originally left their home villages to
avoid the hard toil of a peasant's existence in favour of an easier
life of robbery.
So if the gold in the mine was to be lost to them, the heap of bars
was even more important. Still they could all live well for quite some
time on what was there.
Unable to agree on who should play what part in transporting the gold
to the surface, they decided to carry the bars and place them in a
heap below their entrance point in the meantime. This was a task in
itself because the stack was at some distance and the ingots were
heavy. However, with eight men working it didn't take long.
"Okay, what next?" Alesus asked.
"I suppose it's 'who do we trust?' time," said Britones.
They all looked at each other uneasily. "I think Iolaus should go up,"
Autolycus said. "I think we'll all agree he's not going to take off
with the gold."
"He wouldn't be much help drawing bags up with one hand though,"
Caelius observed.
"Yeah, but he can yell out if there's any funny business up there,"
said Tetricus. "He wouldn't want Autolycus stuck down here."
"Okay, he can go," Britones conceded. "Who else?"
"Okay, I suggest either me or Alesus," Fulvius said. "You know we've
been friends for years. Neither of us would double-cross the other.
We've watched each other's backs too long for that."
"Okay, you go, Fulvius," Britones said.
After some dispute, Etylus was selected. Fulvius then shinned up the
rope, followed by Etylus. The pair then had to pull Iolaus up because
he couldn't climb with his wrist.
He then sat watching while the pair slowly pulled up four ingots at a
time. Finally, Fulvius peered down and then commented, "There's only
three loads to go." Those were the last words he ever spoke. Etylus
sank his knife up to the hilt in his back in one swift motion and then
dropped the rope down the shaft.
He then turned to Iolaus, who had risen to his feet. "Okay, Blondie,
I'm sorry about this, but you're not going to be any help to me in
carrying this gold and I don't want to share it with any one." As he
spoke, he ripped his bloody knife from Fulvius' corpse.
Iolaus backed away. "Please don't hurt me," he begged. He kept his
body slightly twisted so his attacker could not see he had a rock in
his left hand. He suddenly turned around as if about to flee. Etylus
darted at him and then the hunter swung back and heaved the rock,
catching him in the chest.
Etylus cried out in mixed pain and surprise and staggered backwards.
Before he could regain his balance, Iolaus was upon him, chopping his
left hand viciously across his throat. He gagged and sank to his
knees, but still clutched the knife. He slashed wildly at the hunter,
who planted a boot into his face and laid him out.
Iolaus awkwardly fumbled with Etylus' belt and eventually managed to
remove it and make some attempt to bind his hands. He wasn't
particularly satisfied with the results, but hoped it would hold the
man until he could get the others up.
He then ran over to the shaft. "Autolycus!" he called.
"What's happened, Iolaus?"
"Etylus stabbed Fulvius and then dropped the rope."
"Where is Etylus?"
"I hit him with a rock. He's unconscious, but he might wake up soon."
"Kill him!" Britones ordered.
"I can't."
He meant that he couldn't kill an unconscious man, but Britones
thought he meant he'd never killed a man. "Yes, you can. Get the knife
and slit his throat."
Iolaus retreated into his adopted persona, "N-No, I *can't*.
Autolycus, I *need* you."
Autolycus was assessing the situation. He produced his line and
grappling hook. "I'll try to get this up there," he said to Britones,
"but it will be a bit tricky trying to throw it straight up." He then
called to Iolaus, "Keep back, my love, I'm going to try to get my
grappling hook up." However, ten attempts or so latter, he had to
admit defeat.
Then he had another idea. "If I can stand on someone's shoulders, I
might be high enough to reach the part where it starts to narrow. If I
can get my shoulders and legs braced on either side I might be able to
'walk' my way up. It's worth a try anyway."
"How do we know you'll drop the rope for us?" Caelius demanded.
"You'll have to take my word for it. It's the only way I can see of
getting out. Someone else can try if they like."
Nobody was offering, so the thief wrapped the rope around his waist
and they helped him onto Britones' shoulders. The next move was
awkward and he nearly fell but, with more luck than anything else, he
was finally in position. He made his way up laboriously, in a series
of pushes and heaves, while Iolaus peered anxiously down at him.
The last few feet were slippery and the thief was again in great
danger of a fall, especially as he tried to heave his way over the
top. Iolaus grabbed for him and, ignoring the searing agony in his
wrist, somehow supported him long enough for him to get a proper hold
and drag himself to safety. Both sank to the ground, Autolycus gasping
with effort and the hunter clutching his wrist tightly against his
chest. "Gods that hurts," he muttered, his eyes watering with the
pain.
The thief sat up and put a comforting hand on each shoulder. "Thank
you, my love," he said. The endearment had just slipped out, even
though there was no audience to hear. He'd originally adopted it as
part of the act, but it just seemed so right to use it. He knew it was
an expression Hercules used when addressing the blond in private. He'd
heard him use it when they were at the home of the centaur, Deric. The
blond didn't seem to have noticed his inappropriate use of it.
'Anyway it's not really inappropriate,' he thought, looking down on
the soft mop of curls and longing to run his fingers through them,
'because I *do* love him. I've thrown away my chances twice now,' he
mused, as he recalled carrying the half-naked hunter from the
centaurs' village and the incident in Thanatos' cell. 'Well, they say
third time lucky and next time I'll seize the opportunity offering.'
He smiled at the thought. 'He's told me he feels 'safe' with me. With
those looks, he's not safe with anyone and it's time he realized
that.'
"Iolaus, I'm going to start loading the mules now," he announced.
"What?"
"I said I'm going to start loading the mules."
"B-But what about Britones and the others? You're not planning on
leaving them down there are you?"
"Of course not. I'll toss the rope down to them just before we leave."
"But that's not fair! There's plenty of gold here for you all and they
helped you get it."
"Iolaus, fairness doesn't have a part in my sort of business. You have
to seize the opportunity when it offers. Anyway, they'd have done the
same to us. They're ruthless men. In fact, they'd probably have left
without dropping the rope."
"You don't know that," the hunter protested, "and, even if you're
right, doing this makes you as bad as they are."
"Iolaus, be sensible. They'd have tried to cut us out of the deal
eventually. This is a great chance to separate ourselves from them."
"And get all the gold for yourself."
"Well, yes, that is another advantage."
"I didn't think you ... I-I thought better of you than ... than this,"
Iolaus stammered.
"You've been with Hercules too long, Iolaus. We can't all live by his
values. Grow up! This is the real world. Now, you promised you'd do
what I told you if I let you come with me, so go and get one of the
mules."
"No! You told me you weren't going to be stealing the gold and that
was a lie. They're entitled to a share and you're stealing from them."
He turned and walked away from the thief and stood with his back to
him, wondering what to do. Had he alienated yet another friend? He
could feel his eyes brimming. He'd been through so much emotional
upset recently that tears just seemed to well up, no matter how hard
he tried to suppress them, to his intense self-disgust.
Without consciously making a decision, Autolycus found himself walking
over to the small figure. He wrapped his arms around Iolaus' shaking
shoulders and held him against him, leaning forward to feel the
softness of the blond's cheek against his own. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, I
know you're right. I'll toss the rope down."
As he released his hold, Iolaus twisted around and flung his arms
around him hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Autolycus." His eyes were
shining through the unshed tears and his devastatingly beautiful smile
of gratitude lit his whole face, making the thief's heart thud against
his ribs.
The thief walked across and secured the rope before dropping an end
down. All the time he was mentally berating himself. 'Well, Autolycus,
I always had quite a high opinion of your mental powers, but I'm
revising that. I've heard of people being 'madly in love' but I'd
never realized that the statement was meant to be taken absolutely
literally.'
To say that the bandits were surprised when the rope snaked down was
to put it mildly. They had resigned themselves to the fact that
Autolycus had pulled a fast one and they were stuck. Britones was the
first to climb out and he said, "What was the hold up? We thought
you'd double-crossed us."
"Never! The King of Thieves doesn't stoop to such petty behaviour.
Iolaus hurt his wrist pulling me over the edge and he was also rather
upset about everything that happened up here so I've been tending to
him."
Britones glanced at the hunter, noticing his damp eyes and wondered
again how the thief could tolerate the blond, who was apparently a
real wimp as well as being half-witted. 'How did such a milksop manage
to knock Etylus out?' he mused.
While he was thinking about this, Tetricus appeared and then glanced
back down in response to a muffled shout. "Caelius wants us to pull
him the rest of the way up," he reported.
"Why can't he climb like the rest of us?" Britones complained, as he
joined Tetricus on the rope.
"He can't get any further. He didn't want to leave any of the bars
behind so he's got some in his jacket and they've proven too much for
him."
"Autolycus, give us a hand will you?"
However, the combined weight of one large bandit and 100lbs of gold
was too much. They had him about seven feet from the top when Tetricus
gasped, "The ropes breaking!"
"Pull!" Britones shouted frantically. But it was too late, the rope
gave way and Caelius fell, the gold crushing his chest. Alesus had
barely managed to fling himself out of the way.
Autolycus had to toss his own rope down to get the latter to safety.
While he was doing this, he heard a scream of pain and swung around to
find Britones had knifed Etylus. "Serves the bastard right," the
bandit leader commented, as he wiped the bloody blade on his trouser
leg.
Autolycus shot an 'I told you so' look at the hunter, but made no
comment.
They proceeded to load the mules. At this point a new problem arouse.
They had managed to get 68 ingots to the surface and there was no way
that four elderly mules were going to be able to carry over 1,300lbs
of gold. "I reckon they can manage no more than 200lbs each," Alesus
said. "What are we going to do with the other 28 bars?"
After some debate, they decided to drop them back into the shaft. "We
can always come back for them some time," Britones said. "If we cover
over the entrance we made, they should be safe enough."
"Where to now?" Alesus asked.
"Corinth," Britones replied. "It's the nearest city of any size and I
want to start enjoying my share."
"Sounds fair enough to me," Autolycus said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first day's travel had gone smoothly enough although the pace was
slow. They were now winding their way along a narrow mountain track on
the second day, the mules roped together in a long line. The three
bandits were leading and Autolycus and Iolaus were following the train
of animals.
Autolycus strolled happily along thinking of the golden future ahead
of him. Sixteen golden bars (for he was planning to claim Iolaus'
share if the blond was serious about not wanting any) *and*, if he
played his cards right, a golden hunter.
Iolaus asked innocently, "What are you thinking about with a smile
like that?"
"Just about the fun I'm ... I mean we're going to have with the gold."
He wrapped an arm around the blond's waist and pulled him against him.
"Are you looking forward to it, my love?"
"I suppose so."
"You suppose so? What's wrong now."
"I just wish we weren't going to Corinth."
"Why? Are there any cities you do like? What have you got against
Corinth?"
"Nothing really. I just thought ... I wondered if Herc will be there."
"And why would he be likely to be there of all places?"
"His brother Iphicles is the king there and he likes to visit him
occasionally."
'Damn, I forgot that,' Autolycus thought. "Don't worry, Iolaus, if
he's there we can just move on. You don't have to see him," he said.
"I'd *like* to see him to know that he's okay, but ... Gods I miss
him, Autolycus! I'm sorry, that sounds as if I don't enjoy your
company, but I don't mean it like that. I just wish ..." His voice
trailed off wistfully.
'It appears that you haven't made the progress you'd hoped,
Autolycus,' the thief mused mockingly to himself. 'Some of your 'gold'
isn't as secure as you would like. Still there's time to rectify that.
If I can find out what he's holding back, I might think of some way of
using the information to my advantage.' So he suddenly said, "Iolaus,
do you remember when you told me about Athens and I said I had more
questions. Is it okay to ask you now?"
"I suppose so," Iolaus answered, somewhat reluctantly.
"When you were telling the story, you kept saying how you missed
Hercules. Why did you treat him the way you did when you met up again?
I'd have thought you'd have been overjoyed to see him again."
"I was ... kind of."
"I don't think you can be 'kind of' overjoyed."
"I *wanted* to see him, but I didn't think he'd want to see me. I kept
thinking of the horrible things he said to me at Preveza. If that's
what he thought of me, I didn't know how he could possibly want to see
me. I went to see his mother because I needed help with a hand that
got slashed by a boar and I was scared he'd arrive home and go on at
me again. If I didn't meet him, I could hope that maybe he'd forgiven
me for hitting him. It sounds stupid, I know, but I wasn't thinking
too clearly."
"Okay, but when you did meet he apologized, didn't he?"
"Y-Yes, but the trouble was you know how kind he is and I wondered if
he was just saying that he was wrong to try to make me feel better
because he knew I was upset when Jason started on at me for not
looking after Alcmene properly."
"And yet you let him sleep with you. You *asked* him to do so."
"*Just* sleeping. I just wanted someone to cuddle me, someone to be
with me so I'd feel *safe*." Safe! There was that word that he'd used
to Autolycus when he had been trying to persuade the thief to let him
travel with him.
"And did you?"
"Yes. I had nightmares about Mandrocles and Juventas, but he woke me
up and then he cuddled me. He was so kind to me."
The word "kind" made Autolycus winced inwardly. How could Iolaus, with
all his golden beauty, feel it was kind of someone to take the trouble
to cuddle him? "If he was so *kind*, why did you kick him out?"
"He frightened me."
"Hercules *frightened* you?" the thief exclaimed, in tones of stunned
disbelief. "What on earth did he do?"
"You're going to think I'm really stupid."
"I've thought that for years, so nothing will have changed," Autolycus
retorted, trying to lighten the situation.
"It's not funny," Iolaus protested.
"I'm sorry, Iolaus, you know I didn't mean it. You know I love you."
"Yes, but you don't ... you accept that I don't want ... Herc expects
to have sex with me."
"But you enjoy having sex with him, don't you?"
"I do ... Well, I *did* but ... but after Juventas I don't know ... He
hurt me so much, Autolycus. I was ... I was bleeding inside. He tore
some muscle or something, I don't know. It doesn't hurt now so it
m-might be okay, but I'm ... scared."
"Iolaus, Hercules said he didn't mention sex to you."
"And he didn't, but he had a hard-on in bed that second night. I don't
think he knew I'd noticed, but I did and I was just so ... so ...
frightened."
"Hercules wouldn't force himself on you, Iolaus."
"I know, but he'd be hoping I'd forgive him and then he'd expect sex
and I didn't know how ... I didn't want to tell him how Juventas had
hurt me. He might have made me go to a healer and I couldn't face a
stranger knowing what had happened and examining me. So it was easier
to say nothing and let Herc think it was just that I still hadn't
forgiven him for Preveza."
"Even if it hurt him to think that?"
"I didn't know what else to do. Anyway it wasn't really a lie. I don't
think I'll ever forget that night."
"Of course you will. I'll help you." With that he stopped, turned
Iolaus to him and kissed him gently on the lips. "Don't you worry
about anything. Everything will be fine." He released him quickly.
"Come on, Iolaus, they're leaving us behind," he said, grasping the
hunter's arm and hurrying him along without giving him a chance to
dwell on the kiss, which could not possibly have been for the bandits
benefit as all had their backs to the pair.
A short time later, disaster struck. The track narrowed dangerously
and the leading animal put a foot too close to the edge. The ground
crumbled and the animal tried to scramble to safety, unbalancing its
load in the process. The weight dragged it over the edge.
Seeing what was about to happen, Iolaus pulled his knife and darted
forward slashing down on the rope connecting mules two and three.
Tetricus was attempting the same between the leading pair.
Unfortunately, he wasn't as fast as the hunter and both leading
animals fell over the cliff face. In his desire to save the gold,
Tetricus snatched at a saddle-bag and his momentum carried him after
the mules and down a sixty foot drop into the fast flowing river
below.
"This expedition's brought nothing, but disaster," Alesus commented
bitterly, as the subdued little group continued on.
Britones said nothing. He had noticed something about the incident
that hadn't registered with Alesus. The timid, little blond had acted
bravely and fast to save the remaining two mules. It seemed most out
of character. Britones was no fool and the vague suspicion that there
was more to Blondie than he had imagined, that had found a place in
his mind when Iolaus knocked Etylus out, began to grow.
Eventually, they emerged from the mountains and began to travel across
a bush covered plain. What passed as a road was in reasonable
condition, but the exhausted animals were moving more slowly than
ever.
Unbeknownst to the weary group, they were under observation. The small
sized, but obviously very heavy loads had suggested gold to a local
bandit leader and he and his gang were shadowing them while plotting
an ambush.
The hunter, who was leading suddenly stopped and gazed around him.
"Keep moving," Britones grumbled, "the animals don't need another rest
yet. You treat them as if they were your bloody pets."
"Someone's watching us. I can feel it."
"Don't be ridiculous. There's nobody there. You're imagining things."
Knowing the hunter's skills, Autolycus dropped his hand to his sword
hilt. "Britones, if Iolaus thinks ..." he started, but the outlaws,
twigging that their prey had become aware of their presence threw
caution to the wind and charged en masse.
To Britones' amazement, the little blond rushed forward to meet the
attack, drawing his sword as he did so. Though forced to fight
left-handed, he cut a swathe through the bandits, until one vicious
thrust of his sword went right through his opponent and into a tree
behind him. A tug failed to dislodge the weapon impaling the bandit
and Iolaus could give no more time to it. He abandoned it and swung to
face his next opponent bare-handed.
He closed, ducked under his opponent's guard, chopped the man across
the throat with the side of his hand and danced nimbly back. The man
gagged and his knees started to sag. Iolaus moved back in fast and
smashed him on the chin, swearing as he skinned his knuckles.
Another man flung his arms around the blond, lifted him high above his
head and flung him, moving forward with the intention of stomping him
once he landed. Iolaus controlled his fall, rolled on his shoulders
and flipped back to his feet. Caught completely off guard by the
hunter's quick recovery, the man halted suddenly only to receive a
hard punch into his midriff that doubled him over. Iolaus snapped a
knee up into his face breaking his nose.
Britones was fighting a youth, who was taking wild swings with his
sword, showing foolhardiness rather than bravery or skill. He backed
away, fending the youth off and waiting for him to give him the
opening he sought. Then, unexpectedly, he found himself up against one
of the mules. As he faltered, the youth lunged at him. Britones dived
to the side and the thrust went deep into the unfortunate animal.
Recovering himself, Britones drove his sword into the boy's ribs.
Meanwhile, Alesus had gone down to an enemy blade and was gasping his
last.
Autolycus dispatched one of their attackers with his sword only to
have another slash down upon his blade and send it spinning from his
hand. He evaded the man's sword, and closed with his attacker, but
found himself up against a formidable opponent. The man managed to get
hold of him and then to throw him. Autolycus struggled, trying to turn
his body, attempting to land on his feet like a cat, but he didn't
make it. He struck the ground hard and the breath blasted out of him.
The thief fought to get himself into an upright position. He had just
managed to get his knees under him when he heard Iolaus shout,
"Autolycus, look out! Behind you!" There was a bone-jarring crash
against his skull and the world seemed to explode around him. He sank
into oblivion.
Seeing the golden warrior advancing on them, the three bandits still
on their feet decided to take what they could easily get and go.
Driving the surviving mule ahead of them, they took off at speed.
Iolaus started after them, but thought of Autolycus and turned back.
Britones was assessing the situation. After all their efforts, here
they were down to ten ingots and one dead mule. Well, more accurately,
here *he* was because he had no more intention of sharing the spoils
now than he had had at any stage of the expedition. Okay, now he had
to figure a way to carry the gold. He glanced across at the thief.
Autolycus was sprawled on the ground unconscious. He was going to be
no help. That left the little blond.
Blondie was obviously a lot tougher than he made out. Britones had
been astounded by the fighting skills he had shown. He was clearly no
simple villager. Britones smiled to himself. The two had obviously
been planning a doublecross and Iolaus' stupidity had been an act to
lull suspicions. He could understand and appreciate such deviousness.
He could punish it as well if it was directed against him. He removed
the thief's rope.
Britones stroked his blade across the thief's exposed throat and
called out, "Iolaus! Come here!"
"What are you doing to Autolycus?" the blond asked.
"The game's over, Iolaus. You've lost. You can drop that character
now. I saw you fight. You're a warrior, not a villager. I'd kill you
now, but I've got a use for you. Take your vest off. Now get down on
your stomach and put your hands behind you."
Iolaus hesitated.
"Do it or I'll cut his throat!"
The hunter reluctantly complied and Britones tied his hands tightly
together, causing him to wince in pain as the rope cut in to his
broken wrist. "Okay, up on your knees!" Britones ordered. "Now, stay
there and don't move."
Britones edged back to the dead mule, watching Iolaus as he did so.
Then he unstrapped the pack from the animal and dragged it over to the
hunter. "I don't suppose you'll manage the lot," he said regretfully.
"You can try seven and I'll carry the other three." He pulled three
ingots from the pack and then used the straps and the remains of
Autolycus' rope to tie the pack onto Iolaus' back. "Right, get up!"
Iolaus tried, but the load, which only weighed a bit less than he did
himself, kept pulling him backwards and unbalancing him. The ropes
were already cutting into his shoulders and chest. "Stop wasting
time," Britones ordered.
"I'm trying," the hunter protested.
"Not hard enough," Britones said, but he grasped one of Iolaus'
shoulders and hauled him roughly to his feet. "Now wait there. I've
got a little job to do before we go."
As Iolaus stood, somewhat unsteadily, watching, he moved around the
bodies of the six bandits that had been abandoned by their so-called
friends. Two were still alive so he slit their throats. "I don't like
to leave any loose ends," he remarked conversationally to Iolaus.
He then moved back to Autolycus. Iolaus was horrified. "No, please,
not Autolycus. You wouldn't be here now if he hadn't got you out of
the Lost City."
"True. I couldn't understand it. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough
to do that."
"But he *did*. Please leave him."
"I shouldn't ... but what the hell. He won't cause any trouble for me
now I've got his little catamite. At least that does seem to have been
the one part of your story that was true. You know I find you very
pretty. Your stupidity was a real turn off for me but, now I know it
was just an act, we can have some fun ourselves."
Iolaus' blood ran cold at these words. He stood frozen until he felt a
shove that made him stumble. "Okay, on to Corinth," Britones
announced.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
More than an hour had passed before Autolycus struggled back to
consciousness. His head was ringing and his vision blurred. As his
sight gradually cleared, he looked around dreading what he might find.
There was Alesus' body and a dead mule alongside him, its pack gone.
There were the bodies of six of the attackers as well. Two of these
had had their throats slit. 'Britones' post fight tidy-up,' Autolycus
correctly surmised. Well, that implied their side had won, but then
why was there no sign of Britones or the hunter.
He knew the blond would never have left him willingly, but couldn't
understand why their attackers would have taken him with them. He felt
it highly unlikely that Iolaus would have left him, to go after the
bandits, when he was unconscious. The hunter would always put a man's
welfare before gold.
As far as Britones was concerned, if their attackers had run off the
other mule he could well imagine him going after them, but that still
didn't explain Iolaus' disappearance.
Then he spotted the disreputable, leather vest. He picked it up and
hooked it through his belt. He knew the blond was inordinately fond of
the garment, which he would personally have disposed of years ago had
he had the misfortune to own it, and so figured he'd better take it
with him.
He began to look around hoping to determine which way they had all
gone, but tracking had never been one of his skills and the ground had
been much disturbed during the fight. Which way to go? He pulled out a
dinar. 'Heads I go on towards Corinth, tails I turn back ... Heads it
is.'
About half a mile on, he came to a ford. There were two sets of prints
in the mud. Surprisingly the smaller footprints were pressing more
deeply than the others. 'Must be a fat person,' he thought idly, as he
hurried on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, the hunter was making very heavy weather of the trek. For
the first mile or so he'd been worrying about Autolycus, but after
that he'd had trouble thinking about anything but his own aches and
pains. A river of sweat was flowing down his body and mixing with the
blood from where the ropes and straps were chafing deeply into his
shoulders and chest. He was swaying with fatigue and all his muscles
were aching. His breath was rasping painfully in his parched throat.
His senses were reeling and he was moving automatically, with no
conscious awareness of his surroundings. He didn't see the rut in the
road that brought him to his knees.
He knelt there, head slumped forward on his chest. There was a roaring
in his ears that effectively muffled Britones' order to him to get up.
Britones seized a handful of his hair and pulled his head up. Then he
backhanded Iolaus across the face splitting his lip. Even that blow
hardly registered with the exhausted hunter.
Britones grabbed him by the right arm and tried to drag him upright.
The angle was awkward and the blond cried out in pain as he felt a
muscle pull in his shoulder. The bandit ignored this and continued to
tug at him, but he was tired himself, although his load of three
ingots was much lighter than that with which he had burdened the
hunter, and he couldn't do it. He lost his grip on the sweat-slippery
body and the blond went down flat. He lay on his belly, trapped under
the relentless weight of the pack, gasping painfully in the dust.
Realizing that he was going to have to let Iolaus rest if he was going
to get any more work out of him, Britones reluctantly, and with quite
some difficulty, rolled him over so he was lying awkwardly against the
pack.
They remained there for twenty minutes, but by then Britones was
anxious to be on the move again. "Okay, Blondie, it's time to go," he
announced, shaking him roughly by his injured shoulder.
An ashen faced hunter looked at him through confused and blurry eyes.
He wasn't really sure who the man was and where they were supposedly
going, but he did know his body seemed to have no intention of moving
for him. Receiving a hurry up 'encouragement' in the form of Britones'
boot in his ribs didn't help things either.
Britones ended up having to take four of the ingots out of the
hunter's pack so he could drag him upright before reloading him.
Iolaus' punished flesh protested like hell as the ropes and straps
settled back into the bloody grooves they had previously cut. He
staggered off legs moving slowly and painfully under the weight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Autolycus, unhindered by gold ingots but bemoaning their absence, was
closing rapidly upon them. He still assumed that, for reasons he could
not begin to fathom, their attackers had taken Iolaus and Britones
with them and he still had no idea whether he was heading in the right
direction or not. However, by nature, he was both a gambler and an
optimist and so, having put his trust in the turn of a coin he kept it
there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Twenty minutes later and Iolaus was on the ground again. This time he
was completely out of it and so was oblivious of the thief's arrival
some minutes after his collapse.
Britones was also caught unawares. He was in the act of trying to bury
some of the bars, a difficult task with only a knife to dig with,
having decided that the blond was clearly not going to make the
distance.
Autolycus spotted Iolaus first. The hunter was lying on his stomach in
the centre of the road, mule pack still strapped to his back and a
gold ingot lying beside him. The thief's first impulse was to rush to
his aid, but he hadn't been in his profession as long as he had
without appreciating the need for cautious assessment of any
situation. Accordingly, he slipped silently off the road and
approached with stealth.
There was Britones, on his knees, busily digging. 'I should kill him
now,' Autolycus thought, 'but Iolaus would complain if I did that.
Even after what the bastard's done to him I know he won't hold with
back-stabbing. I'm going to have to teach him to look at things more
sensibly, but that had better wait until I've shown him some of my
more intimate talents.' He knew now that he had finally given in
completely to the temptation that was Iolaus.
Accordingly, he drew his sword and said, "Britones."
The bandit leader scrambled to his feet. "I knew I should have killed
you back there. I shouldn't have listened to Blondie." As he spoke, he
reached for his own sword.
It was soon clear to Britones that he had met his master. Autolycus
was a far superior swordsman and parried every thrust with ease.
Further, having carried some 60lbs of gold for some distance, his
limbs were tired and he was not moving fast. However, he was
determined not to yield. Finally, Autolycus feinted as though going to
lunge for his right side and, at the last moment, twisted and brought
his blade up into Britones' throat.
Autolycus stood panting and listening with relief to his dying
gurgles. Then he hastened over to the hunter and cut him free from the
pack, cursing as he saw the bloody lines marring his smooth chest and
shoulders. "Iolaus, can you hear me?" he asked, brushing the
sweat-damp curls from the hunter's eyes.
The blond stirred. "Thirsty," he muttered.
The thief started to open his water flask, when the blond moved
slightly, trying to rotate his right shoulder, and groaned in pain.
'Damn,' thought Autolycus, 'I wish I had something stronger to give
him.' It was then that he recalled his pouch of lotus leaf mixture,
which he'd originally gathered with the thought that he might use it
against his supposed allies if necessary. 'I'll give him some of that,
it might help ease the pain.'
He took some and dropped it into the water and gave the flask a good
shake. Then he raised the blond slightly and put it to his lips.
Iolaus' swallowed and then tried to pull away. "Tastes odd," he
complained.
However, the thief held his head steady and kept pouring, ignoring his
splutters and vague struggles. "Keep still, Iolaus," he ordered, "this
is good for you. It'll help with the pain."
It was then that the thought struck him. The opiate might help with
something else as well. If he could get the hunter nice and relaxed,
his seduction should progress more easily.
His seduction? 'Gods, I've got it bad,' he thought. 'There are ten
bars of gold here for the taking and all I'm thinking of taking is a
golden hunter.' He laughed mockingly at his own stupidity. 'I talk
about teaching Iolaus about the real world and he manages to do this
to me instead. Okay, realistically, what's my next move?'
He knew Corinth was still another five miles on and that there was no
way he could carry both Iolaus and the gold that far. 'I'd better
leave the gold, Iolaus might object if I buried him for safekeeping.
Buried him? I know I want to bury something in him. Hell, even
thinking isn't safe anymore.'
As quickly as he could, he completed Britones' gold hiding task. 'I
wonder if he'd also chosen those golden curls ahead of ingots,' he
mused. 'I wouldn't have said he'd be the type, but then before I met
Iolaus I'd have been willing to bet any amount that I wasn't either.'
He wondered what to do with Britones' body. He had no desire to embark
upon grave-digging with a sheath knife. He finally settled for
dragging the corpse another twenty feet into the woods and breaking
off a few branches to cover it.
He then returned to Iolaus to find him still lying where he had left
him. He wondered if the lotus leaf had been a good idea. Actually, he
was certain it was an inspired idea as far as the proposed seduction
was concerned, but whether it was going to prove a problem now given
that he had to get the blond on his feet and moving was the question.
He bent down and pulled Iolaus' left arm across his shoulders and
wrapped his right arm around the blond and under his right arm. Then
he hoisted Iolaus to his feet. "What are ..." Iolaus started.
"You've got to try to walk, Iolaus. I'll help you. It's not far to
Corinth now," he added, in a reassuring lie. Five miles was going to
be quite a distance under the circumstances. "Come on, you promised
you'd do what I told you if I let you come on this trip with me.
You're not going to break your word are you?"
"N-No." His weary body was aching for rest, but if Autolycus said he'd
promised he'd better try. He plodded on, leaning heavily on the thief.
They'd gone about another mile when they had a piece of luck. A farm
wagon transporting produce to the city came up behind them and
Autolycus managed to cadge a ride for them. He explained that they
were heading for the city, but had been set upon by bandits and the
kindly farmer was only too pleased to help.
When he looked at Iolaus, the farmer was struck by a feeling of
recognition, but he was certain he'd never met the little blond
before. 'I guess I've just seen him around Corinth in the past,' he
thought. He asked Autolycus if the pair had been to Corinth previously
and the thief confirmed that they had so the farmer decided he must
have noticed Iolaus then. A man of few words, he did not bother to
comment that the blond looked familiar.
Autolycus settled the blond into the tray of the wagon and he was soon
in a sleep close to unconsciousness, as the combined effects of the
opiate and exhaustion overcame him.
He dropped them on the outskirts of town at Autolycus' request. Iolaus
roused as the thief scooped him up. "Wh-What's happening? Where are
we?"
"Ssh, it's okay, Iolaus, I've got you. We're in Corinth."
Reassured, the blond snuggled trustingly into the thief's chest.
Autoylcus immediately booked a room at a somewhat insalubrious tavern.
He was only too aware of Iolaus' comment about Hercules' brother being
the King of Corinth and so knew Iolaus would have been there with the
demigod on several occasions. He wanted to ensure that he got Iolaus
out of sight before anybody recognized him. Further, this type of
tavern was advantageous in that the owners of such a joint were used
to accommodating guests who did not want their business bruited
abroad. Anything could happen in such dives and the owners would turn
a blind eye as long as their palms were well greased.
Even the sight of a darkly handsome man walking in with a pretty,
blond man unconscious in his arms and booking a room with a double bed
was not a case for summoning the authorities, but only for some ribald
speculation behind the bar.
Autolycus placed the hunter on the bed and then sent orders for salve,
soap, hot water and some strong drink. Then he stripped Iolaus. The
blond seemed oblivious of his actions. Once he muttered, "Herc?" which
was a bit off-putting, but apart from that was silent.
Once he had the items he had requested, the thief mixed some of the
lotus leaf into the ale and roused the hunter sufficiently so he could
make him drink it. This time, when muttering complaints about the
medicine, Iolaus said something about lotus leaf. "You can smell the
stuff I've got in my pouch, Iolaus," the thief hurriedly assured him.
He then set to work to clean and treat the hunter's cuts and
abrasions, applying the salve liberally. That done he began to wash
him properly.
First, he gently wiped his face and dropped a feather-light kiss on
one cheek before proceeding further. He watched closely, but there was
no reaction, not even a flutter of the long eyelashes.
The tangled mop of golden curls, framing the too beautiful face that
so enticed him, created an air of purity and innocence that
disconcerted the thief. 'It's an illusion,' he told himself sternly,
'He's more experienced at this sort of thing than I am. He's slept
with Hercules and probably plenty of other males and I'm the 'virgin'
here. Once more isn't going to hurt him.'
He worked his way down Iolaus' body. The blond lay completely
quiescent under the thief's ministrations, accepting his touch with
total maddening trust. 'If he really doesn't want it, he *should* be
more wary. How can he be so innocently trusting of *me*?'' Autolycus
wondered. His guilt giving his thoughts a touch of anger, he added,
'He should have more sense.'
Conveniently disregarding the soporific effects of the lotus leaf that
he had fed to the hunter, he had started twisting things in his mind
to put the blame for his intentions on the blond.
'Anyway, I'm not taking anything he didn't offer,' he thought, in
self-justification, recalling the incident in the cell at Preveza.
His hands moved the cloth slowly and gently down the satin smooth
body. He neared the flaccid penis lying in its nest of incredibly
golden curls. Iolaus was showing no arousal at all, no awareness that
there was any sexual intent in what was being done to him. The thief
hesitated momentarily. Then he bypassed that area.
Although he had a vague urge to caress the curls to see if they were
really as soft as they appeared, it was not that part of the hunter
that held his interest. He had no visions of playing what he saw as
the submissive role in any sexual encounter.
Unable to resist any longer, he gently rolled the blond over on to his
stomach.
Although he worked his way from the neck down the strongly muscled
back, the whole time his eyes were riveted on the creamy globes that
had filled his dreams since he had cupped them while carrying the
half-naked hunter from the centaurs' village. Finally, unable to
resist any longer, he dropped the washrag and ran a finger teasingly
down the crevice between them.
*That* got a reaction. The hunter started at the intimacy. "Wh-What
are you doing?" he asked drowsily, starting to turn over.
The thief put a hand in the small of his back to stop the movement
and, in his silkiest voice, said, "Just relax, Iolaus, I'm not going
to hurt you."
"But ..."
"It's okay, just lie still." He ran his hand down the soft flesh of
Iolaus' inner thighs and started to ease his legs apart, climbing on
to the bed as he did so.
"No, please ..."
"Iolaus, I'm hurt. I thought you trusted me. I'm going to help you.
Let me show you all your fears are unfounded," the thief whispered.
'After what he told me, it's clear someone has to show him that the
injuries Juventas caused were not permanent. This will reassure him
that sex is an enjoyable activity,' he thought, attempting to justify
his actions as altruistic.
"I don't want ..."
"Ssh, My love, it'll be fine. If it hurts at all I promise I'll stop,
but it's *not* going to. Trust me." Even as he spoke, he suffered a
momentary pang of fear. 'What if there *is* something wrong and I hurt
him?' he wondered. However, his inherent optimism led him to push the
thought aside.
"Please I don't ..."
"No more, my love, I'll go slowly. Just relax." He moved his hands up
and began to gently massage Iolaus' back, carefully avoiding the
injured shoulder. "There. This is nice isn't it? Nothing to worry
about," he crooned.
Lotus leaf was known for its ability to produce a luxurious langour
and that, combined with the gentle stroking motion and the
intoxicating effects of the strong ale Autolycus had poured into him,
was lulling the hunter. Iolaus wanted to object, but his mind was
drifting fuzzily. Autolycus began to nuzzle the sensitive nape of his
neck, sucking at his earlobes and running his fingers lightly down his
neck.
He eased Iolaus onto his side and began to fondle his balls and penis.
His hands were deft and sure and Iolaus could feel himself sinking
into a voluptuous acceptance of the caresses, an acquiescence that yet
had a shivering edge of distress. He knew he didn't want sex, not with
anyone ... except ... maybe ... Hercules. Autolycus knew that too, so
why was he doing this to him? And why didn't he seem able to resist?
In spite of his fears, the talented hands soon had him aroused. Then
they moved away, carefully avoiding his attempts to push against them.
Worse, they captured his own hands and held them behind him, away from
his straining organ.
Desperate for some pressure, he rolled down onto his stomach and the
thief seized the opportunity to put a leather-clad knee between his
thighs. This knee wriggled forcing space for its partner.
The thief released his wrists and he raised himself slightly, trying
to reach his left hand beneath him to clasp his own penis. Seeing the
motion, Autolycus took a firm hold on each hip to 'assist'. At some
stage, he must have undone his codpiece because Iolaus could feel his
erection lying hot and hard against his buttocks.
The thief leant forward and breathed, "Do you want me inside you,
Iolaus?" while marvelling at his own self-control, or was it love? he
wondered vaguely, that was somehow stopping him from slamming into the
hunter.
Desire flooded in upon Iolaus, swirling in his veins, heating his skin
and settling with aching vulnerability in the lower part of his body.
Gods he was scared, but how he wanted it. He nodded.
"Tell me."
"Y-Yes ...please."
A well-oiled finger penetrated him with maddening slowness, followed
by a second and then a third. "Ready?" the seductive voice purred.
"Yes!" He almost shouted in his need.
The fingers withdrew and the thief eased his way gently in, going
slowly as promised, while wrecking havoc on himself as he resisted his
own body's demands to behave more forcibly. Once fully sheathed, he
stopped and whispered, "Okay? Do you want me to stop," while praying,
'Please, gods, don't let him ask me to because I don't think I can.'
"No! I n-need it, Auto. Please!"
The thief laughed exultantly and began to move, slowly and gently at
first and then with increasing speed and force. The hunter began to
scream with the pleasure/pain, while begging Autolycus to fuck him
harder.
They climaxed together. *That* was the downer for Autolycus because
the blond screamed "Hercules!" as he went over the edge.
Autolycus rolled off Iolaus and onto his back, pulling the blond on
top of him and holding him tightly. He stroked the soft curls and
murmured endearments into them. He could feel Iolaus' tears wet
against his chest. "Did I hurt you?" he asked anxiously.
"N-No, I ... k-kind of enjoyed it, but ... but I'm just not sure why I
let ... I didn't mean to ..."
"Don't think about it, Iolaus. The important thing is that you're all
right." Then he took the coward's way out and said, "Now, I want you
to have more of that medicine." 'Better that he dozes off than dwells
upon it,' he reasoned. 'He'll get used to me.'
"S-So soon?"
"Yes, I'll get it."
"But I don't want ..."
"Yes, you do. I'm looking after you. Remember you promised to do what
I told you."
So the already bemused hunter swallowed yet another dose of strong ale
and lotus leaf and fell into a drugged sleep, while the thief lay
awake arguing with his conscience, which was behaving in an unusually
disruptive manner.
'Well, I never thought I'd see the King of Thieves resorting to rape,'
it observed.
'It wasn't rape, I didn't force him,' he insisted. 'He asked me to
take him.'
'Oh, yes, and he was in his right mind when he asked you, was he?'
queried the conscience sternly.
'Yes, the lotus leaf and the alcohol only helped relax him a bit,
that's all. He wanted it.'
'He was frightened more like.'
'Initially, but he soon got over that. I did it for his good. He won't
be afraid of having sex now.'
'And who's he going to have sex with? Are you still working for
Hercules?'
'I ... um ... I suppose not.'
'What if he wants to go back to Hercules?'
'I'll let him.'
'Tomorrow?'
'Yes ... No ... That's a *bit* soon. He probably needs time to get
used to me first.'
'Time for the lotus leaf to weave its spell of forgetfulness you
mean?'
'No ... well ... maybe.'
'Or did you simply mean time for you to undermine Hercules in his
affections?'
'As if I would if I could.'
'Yeah, as if.'
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So early the following morning, a somewhat confused hunter was awoken
with the words, "Medicine time!" and found himself coughing and
spluttering, but being forced to swallow yet another dose of the
horrible concoction.
The thief's immediate plans were not amatory however. A mere five
miles from town was his little cache of ten gold bars and his aim was
to hire a wagon and to collect these. He had decided it would be as
well to leave the hunter at the tavern and didn't want him getting up
and wandering off in his bemused state. It was far better for him to
sleep soundly.
He figured he'd be back long before the blond awoke. What he didn't
anticipate was that he would break the wagon axle in a rut soon after
commencing his return journey so that, by the time he reached Corinth,
Iolaus would be overdue for his next dose of lotus leaf.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Late that morning, the farmer, who had kindly provided Autolycus and
Iolaus with the ride, was in the market place, having stayed in
Corinth overnight, when he heard a bit of a stir and noticed a few
people were looking and pointing at something. "What's going on?" he
asked a nearby stallholder.
"Hercules is wandering around the market. He's staying with his
brother, King Iphicles at present. Some of the ladies are getting all
of a twitter trying to get his attention, but I don't think they're
having much luck. Some men don't know when they're well off. The
opportunities he wastes! If I was him ..."
But the farmer was no longer listening. He'd realized where he'd seen
the little blond before, walking by the side of the demigod. He didn't
know what was going on, but something *was* wrong.
As he had been driving away, the previous day, it had occurred to him
that he should have told Autolycus the address of the nearest healer
and he had turned back in time to see the thief carry the blond into
the rundown tavern. He had debated following him, but didn't like to
leave his loaded wagon on the street. 'Someone in there will be able
to tell him,' he thought, and drove on, without sparing the pair a
second thought.
Now he was most concerned. Why would Hercules' best friend be staying
in such a dive when he could be at the castle with the demigod,
receiving the best care available? There was something odd about the
whole affair and he was not a man to stand idly by when he suspected
something was amiss.
Accordingly, he approached the demigod and said, "Excuse me, Hercules,
my name is Sisenes. Could I speak to you privately for a moment
please?"
The demigod nodded and drew him aside. "How can I help?"
"I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but yesterday I saw something
that I thought you should know about. I was coming into town with my
goods and I gave a ride to a pair of travellers, who claimed to have
been set upon by bandits. I dropped them at a rather rundown inn on
the edge of town."
"That was kind of you, but I expect the bandits will be long gone now
so I don't suppose there's much I can do."
"It's not that. One of the men I helped looked familiar, but I
couldn't place him. I've just realized he's that little friend of
yours, Ionicus."
"That's Iolaus."
"Oh, sorry."
"That's okay. They weren't hurt were they?"
"Yes, your friend was unconscious, or near enough to it, and the man
with him was supporting him. The thing is it's a rough area of town
and I can't understand why the other man didn't take him to you at the
castle."
"Perhaps he didn't realize I was in town. I only called here on the
spur of the moment."
"But surely they'd go to the king for help whether you were here or
not."
"Possibly. Tell me, what did the second man look like?"
"Tall. He had dark hair and a moustache."
"Ah, sounds like Autolycus. I don't think he's ever met my brother so
that probably explains it. Look can you give me directions to this
tavern? I'll go and check Iolaus is all right."
So a few minutes later, a surprised tavern-owner's humble
establishment was graced by the arrival of an anxious demigod. All the
way there, Hercules had been turning over possibilities in his mind.
He hoped that the thief might have managed to find out what was
upsetting Iolaus and that the pair had been looking for him to effect
a reconciliation but, if so, why had they not approached the castle to
see if Iphicles knew of his whereabouts? He knew Autolycus would never
have hesitated to do such a thing whether he'd met Iphicles or not.
He'd never have passed up an opportunity to stay in relative luxury,
with servants to look after him. "I believe you have a couple of
friends of mine staying here?"
"Possibly," the man hedged.
"A tall, dark man with a moustache and a little blond."
"I don't know if they're still here. I'd have to check."
"Which room?"
"I don't ..."
"Tell me which room or I'll go up and look."
Reasoning that it's not a healthy practice to enrage a demigod, the
man said, "Top of the stairs. Second on your left."
Hercules pounded up the stairs.
Meanwhile, Iolaus had woken again and was lying in bed trying to make
sense of exactly where he was and what had been going on. Try as he
could, he was unable to remember which town he was in, but he knew
that Autolycus had been with him and that, for some reason, he'd
allowed the thief to make love to him. The experience had a hazy,
dreamlike quality, but his sore anus was testimony to the fact that
imagination had nothing to do with it.
The discomfort was not distressing in itself. Indeed, it was actually
reassuring because there was none of the tearing agony or bleeding
that he had experienced as a result of Juventas' assault. However, he
was *not* happy. He couldn't understand how he had been induced to
betray his love for Hercules. He wished his mind wasn't so fuzzy. It
was hard to think clearly. He wondered where Autolycus was. He felt
oddly vulnerable lying in an unknown tavern in an unknown town and
wanted badly someone to explain what was going on.
At that moment, Hercules burst into the room. Iolaus sat up hurriedly
as the door crashed open and cried, "Hercules! You're here!" The joy
in the hunter's voice was unmistakable and his smile was dazzling.
Hercules was across the room in an instant, flung his arms around the
blond and hugged him until the hunter gasped something about wanting
his ribs to survive the encounter. He released his crushing grip only
to put his arms around the hunter's shoulders, more gently because
he'd spotted the various injuries, and draw him in for a kiss,
inserting his tongue between Iolaus' honeyed lips in delicate play.
He then drew back and gazed at that beloved face. The azure eyes
looked somewhat unfocused, but he registered this fact only
subconsciously as he reached out both hands to run them through the
tumbled golden locks. The flush of colour across Iolaus' cheekbones
was entrancing. To deepen it was irresistible.
He lowered his mouth again and his lips traced a moist and fiery path
along the curve of Iolaus' neck and down to his collarbone, while the
hunter whimpered with pleasure at the attentions. He moved on down and
found a hard, brown nipple to suck at and tease, while his hands
danced their way lightly over the broad back.
He removed his hands and eased the hunter back onto the pillows,
pulling the covers from him and discovering to his delight that the
hunter was naked. Moving the centre of his attentions, in a series of
licks and nibbles, down to the belly button he inserted the tip of his
tongue and rotated it.
Iolaus giggled, the sound sending a thrill of happiness through the
demigod, and bucked his hips. "Stay still, my love," Hercules
whispered. He continued to torment with his tongue, while snaking his
left arm beneath his lover to hold his hips steady, and his right hand
pushed its way between the hunter's legs to seek the small aperture he
loved so much.
Firmly anchored in position, the blond had to content himself with
running his hands through Hercules' wild mane of hair. Once two
fingers had penetrated him his grip became so violent that the demigod
was forced to release his hold on the blond's hips in order to retain
some hair. Freed, the hunter began to writhe, pushing back urgently
against his hand. "Herc," he gasped urgently, "I want you!"
"There's no lubrication, my love."
"Make some! Hurry!"
Hercules grasped the blond's hard penis and began to pump it
rhythmically, while continuing to finger-fuck him. He ejaculated,
crying Hercules' name and clutching convulsively to the demigod.
Without taking the time to undress, Hercules opened his fly and
quickly coated his erection with Iolaus' seed, while the blond twisted
onto his stomach and flung his legs wide. In moments, the demigod was
buried deeply inside his ecstatic lover and was caught up in the
maelstrom of Iolaus' passion. They had made love many times, but never
like this. Never with this overwhelming sense of urgency, of frantic
need to unite with each other.
When it was over, Iolaus lay back looking as satisfied as a cat full
of cream. He gave a sigh of contentment, eyes closed, smiling happily.
The demigod couldn't keep his eyes or hands off him and the hunter lay
back luxuriating in the caresses. He curled contentedly against the
demigod's side and felt Hercules smile softly against his hair.
The demigod whispered, "I love you, Iolaus."
"I love you too, Herc," the hunter replied, nuzzling happily into his
neck.
But then the spell was broken as Hercules continued, "And no more
secrets, my love. We must be open with each other."
Iolaus froze and his face turned ashen. How could he tell the demigod
what he had let the thief do? And how could he explain why when he
didn't really know why himself?
However, the demigod could only see the top of his head and so
continued, "Why didn't you come up to the castle to look for me?"
"C-Castle? What castle?"
"Iphicles' castle of course."
"Are ... Are we in Corinth?"
"Of course." Puzzled, he pushed himself up on the pillows and then put
a gentle hand under Iolaus' chin to raise it. "Are you sure you're all
right, Iolaus?"
"Y-Yes ... The medicine j-just makes me a bit ... a bit fuzzy, b-but
... I'm okay."
"Iolaus, why are you taking medicine?"
"Autolycus said I had to. He's as g-good as you are at finding
horrible tasting medicines and ... and making me take them."
"But what's wrong with you?"
"My wrist's b-broken and I've got a pulled sh-shoulder muscle and ...
and just cuts and things."
"But why do you need medicine for those injuries?"
"Autolycus said I did."
"I'm starting to wonder just what he has been saying ... and doing.
Where is this medicine?"
"Over there." He gestured towards a table across the room.
The demigod had been vaguely aware of an odd smell in the room, odd
but familiar. He got up, ignoring Iolaus' muffled protests, and went
across to sniff at the bottle and the pouch beside it. The strong
alcohol was easily recognizable, but the granule-like substance eluded
him. Then it struck him. Lotus leaf!
He walked quickly back to the bed. Iolaus had buried his face in the
pillow fearing what was going to come next. Hercules ran a finger
lightly across his shoulder blades. "Turn around and look at me
please, my love?"
"Why?"
"Just do it please?" He looked deeply into the beautiful eyes that
normally sparkled so enticingly at him. "Can you see me clearly,
Iolaus?" he asked.
"Sort of. You're a bit blurry."
Hercules' own eyes hardened as his suspicion grew. "Were your eyes
okay before you started taking the 'medicine', my love?"
"Yeah ... I think so ... it's hard to ... to remember exactly."
"Do you remember some things that happened further back?"
"Yes, I-I think so."
"Tell me about the man who hurt you in Athens." He snapped the
question out suddenly.
"Juventas?" The hunter responded automatically.
'Ah, a name!' the demigod thought. "Yes, tell me about Juventas."
Gradually, he obtained a brief summary of events. Then he asked, "Why
were you upset with me? What had I done?"
"I-I was scared about what ... about what you might do."
"Iolaus, I've told you how much I've regretted hitting you!" an
appalled demigod exclaimed, guilt rushing in upon him again. "I've
promised you I'll *never* do it again."
"I know," and, in a halting voice, he explained about his injuries and
fears.
The demigod listened with strangely mixed feelings of compassion for
what Iolaus had suffered, exasperation and regret that the hunter
hadn't felt able to confide in him, and, above all, confusion. "Well,
what's changed?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Today, you appeared as pleased to see me as I was to see you and you
seemed very keen that we should make love. Not that I'm complaining,"
he added, hurriedly, "but what's changed?"
A flush rose in the hunter's pale cheeks. "Autolycus ... he ... um ...
he convinced me it would be okay."
"I know he's a good talker, but how?" His expression was grim.
Iolaus swallowed convulsively. He'd never been a good liar and he
didn't want to lie to Hercules, but how could he tell him? "Y-You
won't be pleased."
"Iolaus, I'm so happy to have you back, nothing else really matters,
but I want to know. I won't be angry." 'Not with you anyway,' he added
silently.
"Not ... Not even if he ... if we ..."
"No, just tell me, my love, no more secrets please."
"I let him ... I don't know why I did. He didn't force me. I-I didn't
... want to, but ... but I couldn't seem to stop him. I know it sounds
unbelievable, but I *couldn't*."
"*I* have a fairly good idea why, my love. Don't worry, I know it
wasn't *your* fault."
"You're not going to hurt him, are you? After all, he did help."
"Helped himself."
"Us too though and I ... I sort of ... I kind of enjoyed it in a way
... at the time, so it *is* my fault too."
At that moment, the door swung wide and Autolycus staggered in,
carrying a heavy bag, with a broad smile on his face. That vanished as
he spied the demigod sitting beside Iolaus. However, showing
considerable sang-froid, he lowered his burden and said, "Good
morning, Hercules, or perhaps it should be good afternoon now, I hoped
we'd find you."
"Really?"
"Oh, yes, that's why I brought Iolaus here."
"To this tavern?"
"No, to Corinth."
The demigod stood up and the King of Thieves took an involuntary step
backwards, while tossing a quick glance over his shoulder to check
that the door was still open in case he needed to make a hasty
retreat. "Is there something amiss?" Autolycus inquired in his most
innocent voice.
"Give it up, Autolycus," Iolaus appealed, "he knows." As he spoke, he
scrambled somewhat unsteadily to his feet, and stood at Hercules'
side, watching apprehensively and hoping that he wouldn't have to
intervene between the two.
The only outward sign that the thief gave that there might be anything
wrong was a quick, involuntary flick of his tongue across dry lips.
The only thing that might serve him now was honesty, not his usual
style, but he knew that the demigod was a great one for the truth.
"I'm sorry, Hercules. I didn't plan this ... originally. But as things
went along I couldn't resist the temptation. I thought I saw a golden
opportunity to steal Iolaus' heart and I tried to do so but, though it
pains me to confess it, I failed. All I ask is that you don't damage
my face."
The demigod sighed at this evidence of vanity even in extremity. "It's
okay, Autolycus. I can't say I like your methods, but I *loved* the
final result." As he spoke, he ran a hand through Iolaus' soft,
tousled curls. "Iolaus tells me you didn't force him into anything. I
know we could debate how much real freedom of choice he had but, if
he's willing to forgive you, I guess I'll have to as well."
"I suppose," Hercules continued, as he twisted a golden ringlet around
his finger, "it should be a lesson to me to guard my gold more closely
when the King of Thieves is around. Still," he added, casting a
knowing look at the bag, "I guess we both ended up with the sort of
gold we love most."
"It appears so," the thief agreed. The ambiguity in his words was
silently recognized by all three.
[Image] The End [Image]
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