Part 5: Understanding

Note: This item has been rewritten and edited. All text in rose is BRAND NEW MATERIAL for this chapter of the story. In addition there are many minor changes to the original text itself. Please enjoy this new, expanded version of Part 5 and be on the lookout for updates to the next parts!


DAILY, LIFE GREW easier for Ameni, the human, living among the Apsiu slaves of the Kana Nehekhi. Their ways were strange to him, but that didn't mean he couldn't grow used to them. Already he spoke like one of their own, and the Moru even treated him as such, including him in what they did. Ameni felt free to laugh, weep, joke, discuss, argue, make love to, and play games with them. When one of the females was ready to give birth, he found himself alternating between calming her mate, and offering the midwives assistance with the birthing process. When the pup was finally delivered the Moru all stared at him in curiosity. Thi'usa later explained what Hiakh had told him in private. The Apsiu were not used to one who could handle the tasks of both males and females with such precision. Ameni's actions that day had left them impressed, if somewhat puzzled.

Ameni himself most liked hearing the stories of the other Moru. They were far from being secretive, for the most part; they would answer any question he put to them. Tai'ihet, Thi'usa's older mate, told of her life in a previous tribe and of how she knew that Thi'usa had had eyes for her even back then. Ki'amit talked cheerfully about the family she had known before being sold to Lord Nehekhi. Old Ikua solemnly described the brutal treatment he'd received from his previous master, a Moru trader, before Nehekhi had bought him and rescued him from that life. Hiakh and Kiakh gestured widely while bragging about the time they had almost escaped an earlier master of theirs by plunging into the river and swimming amidst crocodiles, though Kiakh later informed Ameni that much of the story was in fact exaggeration. Ameni found himself bored much less often now that the Moru trusted him well enough to tell him about their lives. They asked him just as many questions as he asked them, and though he found some difficult to answer, still he tried the best he could.

"Do you truly take only one mate where you are from?"

"For the most part, yes. Unless one is very rich, and can support more than one wife."

"Do your males share the same females?"

"Not usually, no..."

"How can this be? Do you have many females of your kind?"

"Yes, we do...but they are not owned. Or shared. They are about equal to the men in the relationship..."

"How do you go about your life, all of you, free? Is there no disorder like that? How do you know who to obey and who to command? How do you know where to live or who to serve? What sort of chores do you do, if you have no master to answer to?"

"Well...it is not that difficult, living free, where I am from...one is simply used to it...we do our own chores...and seek our own mates...and only answer to those in greater power than we are...yet they do not own us, and we do not belong to them...it makes more sense, when one has simply been raised this way."

"We suppose so...we would have to see it for ourselves...it all sounds very confusing, Ameni-human..."

Such descriptions of life in Ameni's village invariably ended with the Moru all getting up and dispersing, shaking their heads in puzzlement. Ameni could not blame them for feeling this way, as he had felt much the same, on first coming here. Sometimes, he still did.

The one Moru who did not open up to him so easily was Thi'usa himself. Ameni assumed it must be because of his previous life as a Kana that full disclosure came with such difficulty. He knew that Thi'usa trusted him, so perhaps he was merely ashamed to discuss his past, when being a Kana who had been made Moru was a shameful thing to endure. Ameni tried not to be too pushy in questioning him, though the slave's reticence only increased his curiosity.

"Thi'usa-friend," he said one day as they worked at sweeping the kitchens in the back of the household. "I realize you do not like to speak much of your old life; and I fully understand this. Still, I find myself wishing to know more about you."

Thi'usa gave him a curious look. "Why? Do you not already know enough to know me well?"

"Yes, I do. But among friends it is common to know the details of one's life. Do you never feel as if you are hiding a part of yourself needlessly? What do you think I would do if I were to know about you?"

The Moru paused before continuing his sweeping. "I just believed such details were not necessary to be known...surely there are things about your life you have yet to tell me, Ameni-human."

"Yes, there are. And if you were to ask, I would tell you."

"Yet I have not asked for such details."

"This I realize. And again I wonder why? What are you afraid of learning about me? And I about you?"

The Moru was silent for a while before he sighed. He swept some spilled flour into a pile near the wall. "Each of us has things that it is difficult to speak of. Even all of those you have questioned in the Moru quarters. I am certain even Ki'amit has a deep dark secret she will never tell you."

"That is Ki'amit, and not you or me."

"I know; I was attempting to change the subject. Have you ever feared knowing too much of something, Ameni-friend? Sometimes full knowledge is not a good thing."

"This is up to me to judge. Let me put it to you this way; I can find out from what you tell me, or I can find out by some other means. And it is likely to go better if I find out from you yourself."

Another sigh. Thi'usa turned to face him, hands still upon the broom. "What is it, exactly, that you have wished to know?"

"I will tell you something first," Ameni replied. "Perhaps if you know more about me than what others know, you will trust me to know about you. I don't wish for us to have an unfair exchange, Thi'usa-friend."

"You are not obligated, Ameni-human."

"I know, but I wish to anyway. Is there anything you have wanted to know about me? That I've been less than forthcoming about?"

Thi'usa stared at him for a moment. "You speak little of your personal life in your old village," he finally said. "You have said much of your friends and acquaintances, of your daily doings, of your people's ways, but very little about you yourself. I wonder if you feel threatened by us knowing."

"I will admit that I have. My coming here was rather abrupt; when I lived among my own kind I never expected to one day be the slave and lover of a Kana."

"So you are ashamed to be here, among us?"

"Once I might have been. But no, not now I am not."

"Are you then ashamed of your past life? Among your own people? For you speak of it very little. The others have not much noticed your silence on certain things, but I have. Perhaps because I am used to being silent myself. Is there something you wish had been different? Or had not been at all?"

Ameni was the one to fall silent now. He paused to think over his words, then reminded himself who had started this conversation and shrugged.

"Yes, there is."

Thi'usa leaned on his broom. "You will tell me what it is? And trust me to know it?"

They stared at each other in silence. Finally Ameni nodded.

"Yes, I will." He leaned upon his own broom. "I made some mistakes as I grew up. You could say that I did learn from them, but I still wish I had not committed them anyway."

"What mistakes did you make, Ameni-friend?"

"I was foolish in some of my relationships with others. I realize this will mean little to you, with the way your people are. But I once loved the mate of another man. I caused her family much grief in the end. He did accept her back, but I had to leave her behind, and carry on my life on my own."

Thi'usa tilted his head. "I understand that relationships among your kind are different from our own, so I believe I understand why this was a problem for you. Still, if she loved you back, why did she not leave to be with you? Or why did you not take her from him? Could one not have done something so simple?"

"Not always. She was a well-bred woman...important in our village. For others to learn of her relations with me would have spelled more difficulty for her family." Ameni looked at the swirled patterns of flour on the floor. "It would have also spelled difficulty for me. I like to believe that what I did, I did for her; but I cannot be sure, even to this day. Her husband--mate--caught word of what was happening, and he was understandably furious, yet very lenient with me. He demanded only that I leave and never return, nor speak a word of what had happened to anyone. Even my closest friend was not told, though I'm certain he suspected. There...were many reasons to suspect."

Thi'usa stared at him in silence. "Should I ask further...? Or is it too difficult?"

Ameni sighed. He stood and, taking the broom, started sweeping anew.

"No...I was the one who began this, so I should complete it. I could easily have made a man a cuckold and lived without much guilt, so long as I loved truly. This was the least of my troubles." He made a pained face. "I speak as if I were the one most wounded by what happened. This wasn't so, by any means."

Thi'usa's look softened. "I believe I begin to understand." He paused, as if waiting for Ameni's approval to continue. "This 'reason to suspect' you spoke of...this woman. She bore your pup, did she not?"

Ameni's sweeping died until his broom was still. He still stared at the floor, though he wasn't seeing it anymore.

"She did...from what I heard, in whispers. But as no one else could have known of it in more than whispers..." He let out his breath and closed his eyes. "I wonder often if I should have convinced her to leave him, after all, and come with me. No matter what was said by others."

Thi'usa let go of his broom so it clattered to the floor in a puff of dust. "Oh...Ameni-mate. Your pup." He gained the same look that Ameni had had. "Please do not tell me--? That he...?"

Ameni settled his broom against the wall. He didn't meet the Moru's eyes.

"I heard in whispers that as soon as it...I do not know if it was male or female...was born, he strangled it to death and gave it a shameful burial in the desert. Without so much as the ritual of embalming. Its mother wept in private but was forced to go on in public as if it had never been born. It may as well have not been, with the way its life ended. My child will wander eternally in Amenti because I was too cowardly to follow through with what I believed in."

He heard a shuffling sound, then felt Thi'usa's hand wrap around his own. A moment later the Moru was embracing him, and Ameni put his arms around Thi'usa as well, burying his face against his neck. He took in the scent of the Moru's fur, his eyes still shut tight.

"You cannot blame yourself, Ameni. If anything you should blame the way of your people. They doomed your pup before it even had the chance to thrive."

"I realize this...yet I was not compelled to follow this way. I did so out of self-safety. If I had truly acted for her, I would have done something more..."

"I can never give you comfort on this, Ameni-friend, but I can tell you that things are not fair. Innocents die, and evil ones live on. I realize this will not help you. But we have all felt this pain. We have all wished we had done something much differently. This pain is not yours alone to bear. This will not bring your pup back, nor give it life in the afterworld, nor even make this horrid act meaningful. But the burden upon your shoulders should not be as heavy as you believe it to be. I bear it also, beside you; and Nehekhi-Master, and Tai'ihet and Ki'amit, and all of us. At the very least, though it is paltry consolation, you are not alone."

It was a while before Ameni could bring himself to speak again. They simply stood and held each other for a time; when he felt his reason returning, he stepped back, rubbing at his eyes although no tears had fallen. He swallowed a hardness that had risen in his throat and peered up at Thi'usa, who still looked him over as if to make certain he was all right.

"I have yet to know what makes you hurt such inside, Thi'usa. Did something similar happen to you? Did you lose someone you cared for?"

Thi'usa took a step back and pulled away. He hugged himself instead. "No, not quite," he replied. "I am afraid my hurt is not as easy to explain as yours is, Ameni-friend...not that I in any way belittle your pain."

"I realize that you don't. But I'm still curious. I can tell that the look in your eyes is one earned from loss. What did you lose? That hurt so much?"

Thi'usa looked at the floor. "I lost myself," he said quietly.

Ameni stared at him. Thi'usa slightly lifted one wing.

"Our kinds are so different as to make it difficult to explain, and to understand...you have seen the difference between Kana and Moru by now, what it means to be one, or the other."

Ameni nodded. "Kana are masters; Moru are slaves. I know that you were once Kana." He paused. "Do you mean you feel that you lost yourself, when you became Moru? I realize that the change must be terribly dramatic..."

"It is more than just a change, Ameni-friend...when a Kana becomes Moru...it is indeed as if he loses himself. I had an entire life, much as you had; I had friends, comrades; I had mates and pups; I served in the army; I trained and fought well. Yet it is one little thing...one little thing that changes all of that. Makes it go away, almost as if it had never existed. I am fortunate, I suppose." He lifted his wing again, fanning it to display the tears at the bottom. "My comrades stopped them from flaying both of my wings...this is what they do, when one becomes Moru. Our wings determine who we are. Our lappets, those, also, are usually flayed. This removes our status. This removes our rank. They exist in the past, yet now, they never existed. A Kana who allows himself to become Moru can never have been a true Kana in the first place."

"You did not allow this," Ameni said in puzzlement. "You said you had been wounded."

"Yes, but...what Kana gets himself wounded in such a manner as to become a slave? Such things are not often considered accidents, Ameni-human; when we are crippled it is because of our own foolishness. Perhaps they merely proved that day that I was not the Kana I thought I was." He shrugged. "I can only guess at what it has felt like for you, changing your life so much to be like us. Though this is the only comparison I can think of. Imagine this feeling, only among your own people. They suddenly do not consider you one of them anymore, yet you are forced to remain among them. To most, you are less than nothing. Your very name is nothing but an insult. Moru! They yell this in the streets. When they tug on a slave's collar, or pull on a child's ear, or kick a Sha that is too slow to move. Suddenly, you are not yourself anymore but instead you are fit to struggle under heavy loads and splash through mud and urine in the street."

Ameni stood silent. "I believe I understand," he murmured after a while. "I know that I can never fully comprehend the feeling...but I believe I do understand it. Among my people, to lose one's name is considered one of the worst things that can happen. Without it, in the afterlife you are no longer yourself; you did not exist. This is what I dreaded for my child. I fear it will happen to me, someday. That's in the next life, and not this one...but I do think I understand."

"So you see, Ameni-human." Thi'usa took his hands. "You do understand...I truly think you do. You are likely the first human to ever do so. I know how most of your kind think of us, but we are not so different, in some ways. We fear the same fate, at least. It is just that my people sometimes realize it during this lifetime rather than the next. You are lucky, Ameni-friend; you have had to change yourself, here, but you have never lost yourself."

Ameni nodded. He squeezed Thi'usa's hands in return. "I know...and I do feel fortunate. I was very fortunate that Nehekhi-Master found me. You said that your people do not tend to believe in accidents; perhaps this was not an accident, either."

Thi'usa's face lit up. "Yes! I agree! Nehekhi-Master was meant to find you. I am very glad that you saw this, Ameni! That you decided to come to be with us. I know it must have been so difficult for you to make that decision. I have never grown to know any humans but you, yet I know already that you are the wisest among them."

Ameni flushed. "I wouldn't go this far," he murmured in protest, but Thi'usa just shook his hands and smiled.

"I would, quite easily so. You are the only human, after all, who was wise enough to look openly upon us! And now I may look openly upon you. You may think it is I who have been teaching you all this time, when it's the other way around. I am glad we had this talk today, Ameni; I did not wish to at first, but you've taught me much yet again. You are a good Moru."

"You are a good Moru, Thi'usa," Ameni said, hoping it did not sound like an insult. To his relief, Thi'usa didn't take it as such, merely beaming and reaching for his fallen broom. Ameni reached for his as well and they resumed their duties almost as if there had been no discussion in the first place.

* * * * *

Days grew easier for Nehekhi as well, as he had fewer things to do, and fewer questions to answer from his fellow Kana. His lieutenants had grown good at dodging the numerous inquiries and rebuffing curious visitors at the door, and for the time being, General Djiu seemed to be satisfied with the situation. He still occasionally asked after Nehekhi's human, but with a detached air, as Nehekhi assumed he must be lost in thought about their next raid, whenever it should come. Weather in the desert had been unpredictable lately, so the captain felt slight relief that there would be no raids for a while. Djiu merely kept himself preoccupied with his mates, though Nehekhi could swear there were odd things going on in his personal quarters from time to time.

He walked slowly down one of Djiu's hallways today, having just excused himself from attending a meeting of some of the captains which the general himself had missed, apparently for more important matters. He yawned and stretched his wings and rubbed his eyes and dreamily thought about his Moru. For a change it finally didn't seem so unbelievable that he might get to spend time with them tonight, undisturbed. He thought of Ameni and felt an ache. The poor human must be lonely lately, without his master's attentions to keep him preoccupied.

"Captain! You excuse yourself so soon? Just like that?"

Nehekhi's hackles rose. He made himself stop and turn around to face Captain Siktu with some measure of civility, though he had to grind his teeth to keep from snarling. The other Kana slowed to a stop, but Nehekhi continued walking, so he was forced to accompany him.

"The meeting had grown stale. As most tend to do. Did you hear any new discussions of importance raised this night?"

"What is boring and what is not is hardly the prime concern," Siktu said shortly. "You are meant to attend when we captains convene. If you refuse, you hardly do your rank any justice."

Nehekhi's nostrils flared. "If you have just insulted my rank, then you would do well to insult yourself, also. I remember meetings when you did not even bother to show up."

Siktu frowned. "I spoke of you, not me. Do not change the subject. Where are you going? Back to that Moru of yours? I can hardly think of why he holds your interest so, the filthy thing..."

"For your information, Lord Siktu, he is perhaps as clean as any of us." He ignored the face Siktu made. "Perhaps the smell you imagine to come from him comes from a somewhat closer source. Have you checked the soles of your sandals yet? Perhaps you stepped in something."

Siktu actually halted to lift his foot and examine it as Nehekhi continued, concealing a smirk that crept up his face. Siktu scowled and caught up with him again, glaring at him.

"Hardly a worthwhile joke! I imagine you gain such a base sense of humor from that HUMAN! If I were a gossipmonger, I should say that..."

He trailed off, and Nehekhi didn't take the chance to cut him off, as odd sounds had arisen from one of the rooms off to their left. Their step slowed as they passed the door leading to General Djiu's quarters, and the sounds grew more obvious.

Creak--creak--creak. "Oh--oh--oh! Scream for me--scream for me, human! Oh! Oh!" Grunt. Pant. Pant. Slap. Whimper. "Yell my name! Yell my name, human! Do it! Do it! Oh! Oh! DO IT!" Slap. A female voice, crying out, "L-Lord Djiu!" in a high-pitched, pained tone. "Oh--oh--yes! Yes! That's it! Say my name, human--say it! I am your master! I am your master!" Creak--creak--creak--creak. Pant. Pant. Pant. "That's it--that's it! Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes! You are tight! You are tight! Make me come! Make me come! Oh--oh--oh--yes! Yes!" Creak--creak. Slap. Whimper. Grunt. Grunt. Grunt. Pant. Pant. Pant. Slap. Grunt. Grunt. Pant. Pant. Creak--creak--creak--"Oh! Oh yes! Oh yes! Make me come! Make me come, human! MAKE ME COME--!!"

"L-L-LORD DJIU--!"

Creak! GRUNT! "OOOHHHHHHHH..." Nehekhi and Siktu stood in the hallway, nostrils flared and eyes wide in shock when the sound of their general groaning filled the air. A thick musk wafted from underneath the door and they took a step back, muzzles wrinkling at the acrid odor. "Ooohhhhh, gods," Djiu's voice moaned from within. "Yes, that was good...my rod is satisfied this night...but not quite good enough. Oh, my sweet Moru. Were that you were truly human, and kneeling before me, I would be most fulfilled...indeed. Mmmmmm. You are tight and pretty enough. If you bore bare skin instead of fur...perhaps I can arrange something. Perhaps. But for now, oohhh...come, here, come forward...get to your feet, little one...come, come over here with me now...that's it...good...now place yourself against this column...hug it tight...good, good! You are a good Moru to your master...I will please you in turn, this time...just spread yourself for me...that's it...a little further, do not be shy...ah, just perfect. Yes, you are a sweet little thing...are you not...hold tightly, here I come now...here I come...aaahhhhhh...good little human...good..."

Panting noises filled the air, quickly replaced by yet more whimpers and quick grunting. Nehekhi tried to get images of the big general humping his young mate against the column out of his head. From the look on Siktu's face, he could tell the other captain was having similar disturbing thoughts. Siktu shook his head abruptly and for once Nehekhi did not object when they both walked briskly away from the door lest they overhear more unpleasantness.

"Forget not being a gossipmonger," he growled. "I believe I can say with CERTAINTY that you are the one responsible for this turn of events! Before you came back this was all some sick fantasy of our general's. Now you have him forcing his Moru to pretend they are HUMAN! How many of the disgusting things will he have to drag back here before you are convinced of how filthy they are?"

"I am responsible for nothing," Nehekhi snapped, although in truth, he couldn't be certain. "You are the one who appears to be most disturbed by something which disturbs others very little! It is not unusual to play sexgames with one's mates. I will not even bother to GUESS some of the despicable things you most likely do behind closed doors!"

Siktu's wings flared. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"I dare, because you are the one who continues to come to me just to pester! If you wish your habits of nesakh'ai not to be revealed for all to hear, I suggest you cease following me! And then you shall have very little to worry about, indeed!"

"You are nothing but a human-loving dungpile, Nehekhi-Kana!" Siktu yelled as Nehekhi continued down the hallway without him. "You will regret all of this! Truly! You will regret you ever brought that accursed human back with you!"

"I will believe this when you are dead and rotting in the Duat," Nehekhi muttered, rounding the corner and vanishing from sight.

* * * * *

"Wake up, Moru-human. Are you good for anything other than sleep?"

Ameni blinked and lifted his head when something nudged against his shoulder. The nudge came again before he could protest, and he heard Thi'usa's voice speaking up.

"You do not have to be so impatient! He's already awake, just give him a chance to open his eyes!"

Someone above Ameni snorted. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around himself. When he saw Thi'usa beside him he frowned in puzzlement. The Moru nodded upward, and Ameni glanced up to see a Kana lieutenant carrying a spear. The Kana made a face and poked Ameni's foot.

"Come on, get up. The master wants to see you. Hurry it up."

"Nehekhi-Master?" Ameni echoed in surprise. He hurried to gather himself together when the Kana sighed impatiently. It was best never to keep one's master waiting; besides, he had been wondering when Nehekhi would next call him.

Thi'usa tugged on his arm before he could get to his feet, and Ameni cast a glance back at him. The Moru gave him a brief smile.

"You see? I told you over and over. He was merely busy, not shunning us. You are fortunate to be the first one called."

Ameni flushed. "Fortunate?"

"Of course. After so long without, who does he call firstly but you? Go on now before he decides that someone else would be quicker!"

Ameni's face grew redder but he managed to wave at Thi'usa before accompanying the waiting lieutenant from the room. Thi'usa sat and watched them go. Just as the door shut, taking away the last bright band of light with it, Tai'ihet, nearby, sat up with a murmur, rubbing at her own eyes.

"Thi'usa-mate?" she asked in Moru. "What was all of that?"

"Hush," Thi'usa said. "It was nothing. Nehekhi-Master simply wishes to...speak with Ameni-human, is all."

"The Kana are nosy. They should leave Master alone. Too long they've kept him from us; he must grow tired of answering their questions day after day. I'm starting to miss him."

"Starting? You are very patient then."

"You would have me be impatient? I would keep you awake every night with my whining. I have not even bothered to tell you. I ache so badly lately, one would think I am trying to push out a pup. Is this impatient enough for you?"

Thi'usa blinked, then started laughing. "You must learn to speak up, then! So you feel as if you have been pushing out another pup, eh? Perhaps I could do a little something to possibly make that true in the near future?"

"You have never been subtle. I may be just as coarse as you are! It is the only way to get my point across!"

Thi'usa laughed again and crawled toward Tai'ihet on hands and knees. "You needn't be coarse; I simply said you must learn to speak up. But I would be lying if I did not admit I find it interesting when you are coarse. I should only ask you why you've hidden that from me for so long. Do you save it for another, perhaps?"

"Oh, now you are just babbling, Thi'usa-silly. Be silent and make yourself useful for once!"

"I am inclined to do so more than just once," Thi'usa chuckled, lowering himself over Tai'ihet's body, tail flicking from side to side as he pulled up his kilt and her dress and spread her thighs and moved his hips forward in anticipation. He gave a heavy grunt and began to move, and Tai'ihet shut her eyes and smiled.

* * * * *

Ameni knelt upon Nehekhi's bed, hands clenching into the fabrics, rocking rapidly as his master thrust into him, heaving hard against him so the wooden frame creaked. Upon entering the room, Ameni had not even had to ask that this was what they would be occupied doing the rest of the night; their hands had been upon each other, shedding clothes, immediately after the door had shut. They had first coupled standing up, the much bigger Kana pressing Ameni's back to the wall, Ameni's legs wrapped around his waist, as he grunted and rutted and clenched the human's buttocks tightly. Some time before climax, he had lowered his smaller mate and they had completed the act the proper way, Ameni now facing the wall, and Nehekhi pinning him to it as their hips moved in quick tandem. The entire time Ameni moaned deliriously, tipping his head from side to side and shivering in pleasure, much to the Kana's delight; after he had depleted himself against the wall, leaving a wet stain upon the mudbrick, Nehekhi had easily carried him back to the bed, where they had commenced licking and fondling one another to excitement again. And so now Nehekhi took Ameni as was truly proper, dwarfing him with his rapidly moving mass as the human knelt and panted and quivered. Ameni's eyes were shut tight and his teeth gritted but he still managed to yell out as they neared orgasm.

"Oh...Master...oh..."

"Dear little Ameni-human...dear little mate..."

"Master...oh...oh gods...yes...yes..."

"Dear mate...mmph...little one...my one..."

"Pl...please Master...please...come in me...deeper...please...deeper...oh..."

"You enjoy, little Ameni-mate? Mmph. I enjoy...enjoy you very much..."

"Oh...dear gods...oh no...please...yes...yes..."

Rocking faster, thrusting harder. Ameni threw back his head and shouted huskily, desirously.

"Oh--yes--yes, Master! Yes! Please--come in me--come in me--please--oh gods, please--please come in me--hard--deep--oh gods--yes--yes--please Master--yes--yes--yes!--oh gods!--oh my gods!--"

"Dear Ameni-mate!--dear one--little one--so good--so tight--so firm--so good--!"

"--oh gods--oh gods--OH GODS!--OH MASTER!--YES!--YES!--YES!!--OOOHHHHH!!"

Nehekhi-Master grunted heavily. Ameni arched and groaned and sprayed his seed across the bed with a final shiver of delight.

Later, they lay on their sides upon the damp sheets, fingers gently playing and trailing across each other's skin, giggling softly like two young lovers who have just discovered their most pleasurable areas. The Kana, Nehekhi, was large and imposing, his member alone about ten inches long, and thick. Ameni, the human, was much smaller and frailer, yet the Kana had found he could tolerate his girth pretty well. They had first met when the Apsiu, desperate with need, had threatened to couple with Ameni by force. The human had instead complied...and they had traveled together, and now they lived under the same roof, Ameni as Nehekhi's slave. Yet rather than despise each other...they loved each other very much...and made the most of their times making love.

Now they rested. Nehekhi smiled lazily and trailed his fingers through the hair between Ameni's legs, lightly pulling and massaging. Ameni, in turn, touched his head to his master's breast, tongue playing around his nipples. The Kana sighed happily and held his little mate to him.

"Dear mate...I apologize for how long I left you waiting. But I hope my troubles with the general are over, for now. I also hope this evening of loveplay leaves you satisfied?"

"Yes, dear Master...most definitely so." Ameni nestled close to him. "I am full of your magnificent seed."

"It is only too bad you may not bear me any children." The Kana smiled a bit regretfully and winked. "Ah well. Sometimes we must sacrifice for that which we love."

"Too true, dear Master...how do your children? The last I saw them was a few days ago."

"They are well. Tough little boys. The moment they are hurt and fall down, they get back up again. They make me very proud."

"Who is their mother?"

"Oh...they have different mothers. They are dead." Nehekhi's smile faded and his eyes grew sad. "They were lovely Moru...each of them. The last died as she gave birth to my son." He paused, then drew his hands away from his lover. "I only wish she had lived to see him; she too would be proud, as am I."

"I'm sorry, Master."

"No, you could not have known...and I do not regret anything that has happened. I loved them all, and this they knew." He drew Ameni to him again and began to slowly kiss his neck.

"Dear Master," Ameni said, deciding he might as well ask what other questions had been bothering him, as long as he had his master's attention. What he and Thi'usa had talked about in the kitchens still weighed on him. "You told me that you knew Thi'usa, since before he became Moru..."

"Yes, I did...I knew him as a warrior...indeed I knew him for many years...perhaps since we were boys..."

"The two of you are very close..."

"Yes, we are...I treasure him. It is a shame they had to make him Moru, for a mere wound...but it is our custom...I am only glad I gained custody of him, so those others could not harm him..."

"How long..." Ameni's voice trailed off; he shut his eyes, feeling the rough wet tongue work along his cheek. "How long...have you loved each other?"

"Loved?" Nehekhi raised his head to look at him. "We...we have loved a long time. At least, I have." He nuzzled again. "I loved Thi'usa when he was still a Kana, fresh in the army. You should have seen him. He was most magnificent. Ah, the days I longed after him at night...whenever I took a female from the stables back to my bed--even though this was against rules--" he chuckled "--I often thought of Thi'usa while I made love to her. Perhaps he is what kept me going all those years."

"But..."

"But we never...'consummated' our desires. I did not know if he even felt the same way for me as I did for him. I never asked or told him. I feared what he might say. For you see, back then he was slightly higher in rank than I. To ask him to mate, well, it might not have been a good idea if I had done it, and judged him incorrectly."

"So how did you..."

"Well...when he was wounded...and branded a Moru...I bid highest on him and won. I was so relieved to gain him for myself. Those others would most likely have beaten him to death or humiliated him for sport." He paused and met Ameni's eyes. "There are many of us who would claim not to have a drop of sen'akha within them who would nonetheless rape a defenseless Moru, especially to dishonor him."

Ameni nodded, and though it was not related, he thought of the day he had seen an "upstanding" Kana drag a young child into his house, the horrid sex-sounds he had heard emitting from his rooms for hours afterward, the slapping flesh and the crying and heated grunting...and he shivered with disgust at the memory. Hopefully such actions were not condoned by the majority of the Kana.

"And so," Nehekhi continued, "I bought Thi'usa from his captors, and had him brought back to my house." A pause, then a slight smile. "He...was most afraid. Though he knew me...he probably believed I intended to kill him for dishonoring the Kana, for becoming a Moru. I still remember the sight of him. They had flayed only one of his wings, for some reason; perhaps they merely had not had the time to do the other one. He knelt upon the floor in my main hall...I had had him brought there, then dismissed my lieutenants...his wrists tied behind his back. He looked so afraid. His eyes met mine, but there was such a terror in them..."

Ameni lay still, listening.

"And so I went up before him and looked down at him. And still he met my eyes. He knew me. I was certain. And...I still longed for him. But I did not know how he felt. I had to find out.

"So...I loosened my loincloth and lifted my kilt above my knees, exposing myself before him. His eyes, they were filled with terror now. He must have expected me to force him into hakh'tua. For you see, though it is not spoken of, occasionally a Kana will force the enemy to service him orally, to prove his dominance over the enemy. The same way we do with our females. But there are very few who would admit to doing this, vile practice that it is. I would never force one into hakh'tua. Even when I threatened to rape you, I did not mean it. I would not have been able to carry it out.

"He did not know this, however...my body was so full of desire for him that my rod rose just looking at him cowering there, he was mine--I could do anything with him that I wished. I must have been magnificent. I feel as if I were bigger then than ever. You should have seen my rod, so pink and smooth, my purple tip so hot and throbbing--ah--it makes me hard thinking of it right now.

"But he, he was frightened...and I think he felt he had no choice--for almost immediately, after sizing me up, he came forward...and he placed his mouth around me. Ahhhhhhh...he was most skilled, for a male. Yes...mmm...I shall have to call him later, and ask him to pleasure me again...we have not done that in a long time. But anyway...he began to suck at me...my eyes wanted to close, but I kept them open, to see him, to see his reaction...and though his own eyes were closed, I could tell, tell by his motions and by the moans he gave, that he...liked it. Force? He may have believed so. Yet he also enjoyed doing it. He was so very, very fine.

"Eventually I could not take any more of it. I pulled myself from him. I could tell he was disappointed. But he was also afraid again, of what I would do. Would I take offense at his act? Would I kill him anyway? I do not know which he thought I would do, but I planned on none of them. Oh gods, I wanted him so badly. He had only fanned the fires hotter. I pulled away from him and put my hand on his shoulder, kneeling down behind him--he must have been so confused--until I pushed him over so his head touched the floor, and pulled up his kilt in back...oh, gods...his behind...it was most glorious."

"I know..." Ameni murmured, remembering Thi'usa's creamy golden fur, the beautiful golden ringlets around his sheath, his long silky tail...

"I believe he was afraid again," Nehekhi said softly. He stroked Ameni's cheek as he spoke, an absent look on his face. "He was tied and bound, and his master, his master wished to couple with him. I believe he thought I would force him, make it hard, make it painful. Well..." and he chuckled "...I cannot say that I didn't make it hard. And I do believe it was painful. I could tell--he was iat'ah, at least back there."

"Iat'ah?" The meaning of the word briefly slipped Ameni's memory.

"Yes, dear little one...unplowed...untouched...'virgin,' as I believe your people say it. He had been with females, but not with a male, such as myself. And so...since I had not prepared him...it hurt. I know, for he cried out as soon as I entered him. But oh gods...he felt so very good inside...he started to cry immediately, believing himself defiled and humiliated, only as soon as I took his shoulders and began to move, slowly, so slowly, rocking within him, moaning my pleasure, his moans began to join mine, as he must have realized I did this not to humiliate him, but to bring myself--and him--pleasure...the most intense pleasure...

"Do your people ever say that that which you must wait for the longest, then tastes the sweetest? This was so...very much so." His eyes fluttered shut at the thought. "Ah, I had so desired him, and now he was mine...and not only that...but he desired me, too. He began to let out the throatiest cries...at first I thought I still hurt him...until he began to speak to me.

"'Kind Master,' he said; 'dear kind Master...please take me.' Much the same as you were saying, dear Ameni-mate. 'Please claim this lowly Moru. My body, my sex is yours.' I think he had not known the desire was there until this moment, with me inside him. He knelt with his head down and his arms still behind his back...and oh gods did I enjoy him. Though I pushed hard and fast, and we coupled for only a few moments before I came within him. The pressure was that great...

"Afterwards I cut the bonds holding his arms behind him and the first thing he did with them was turn around and embrace me to him tightly. He is smaller than I am; I picked him up; I carried him with ease. 'Dear kindest Master,' he murmured to me, all the way to my rooms. 'You are kind to me...' By the time we reached my quarters, I was so hot for him all over again that I immediately tossed him over the bed and held him down and took him. And he just cried out again. And...when we were done with that, we held each other, much as the two of us are doing now, and kissed, and touched and spoke...I told him finally how I had loved him for so long...and he told me that he, too, had loved me...and we finally knew...and we were true lovers, though we had long loved from afar.

"Thi'usa...Thi'usa began to cry then. Long and long he cried. I held him. He had been so ashamed and afraid, ashamed of now being Moru, afraid of being killed...and yes, when I had pulled up my kilt, he had expected force and pain...yet now he knew the truth, and was so relieved and happy...and grateful. He was so grateful that I had rescued him, taken him in, and now loved him...

"After this we retreated to my pool and I showed him such pleasure as I am certain he has never known...and we mated until the sun rose, when we exhaustedly went to sleep. We have loved one another deeply ever since..."

Nehekhi looked at Ameni and smiled, still brushing his fingers against his face. Ameni sighed and pressed his mouth to the hollow of his master's throat. "This is a most wonderful story, Nehekhi-Master...you truly are kind to your Moru, myself included." He paused. "Lord...did you mean what you said...that you never would have hurt me, if you had felt you had the choice?" He lifted his head to meet Nehekhi's eyes, and the Kana's own eyes softened. He touched his claws to Ameni's cheek.

"Yes, I mean this. Every word, little one. I am sorry to this day that I ever felt I needed to force you. I hope you understand. I have changed since then, and I love you dearly."

"I know...dear Master." Ameni gave a smile. With his curiosity about Thi'usa satisfied, he felt another need stirring, and rolled to the side, sprawling upon the bed with a coy look. "Now that we have talked...I feel I am not quite full of your sap...do you believe you could honor me, one last time, dear Master?"

Nehekhi-Master grinned with lust and rose to his knees again. "Do not worry, little one...I am as full of sap as you could ever need." He pressed his hands to Ameni's shoulders, and the human's smile grew, his muscles going lax as the Kana ponderously climbed over him, tail flicking and wings fanning. "Lie back," Nehekhi grunted huskily, rubbing at his swelling sheath, "like that, yes, that's it...and please open your mouth, dear one...allow me to position myself...yes, that's it, here I come...here I come...mmm...oh yes...aaaahhhhhhhh..."

Nehekhi shut his eyes and tipped his head back with a sigh while his dear lover grasped his thighs and made love to him with his mouth. And while Ameni was the one giving, the Kana did remember to reach behind him and stroke Ameni's own hardness so the two of them rocked slowly, moaning with desire. It had indeed been a glorious eve in the master's bed.

Continue:

"Part 6: Hesitation" 


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