Inca 2 : Scourge of the Sun 14

[ismenin]

A Pic from the Inti Raymi ceremony.


Good morning, my dears! The sun shines and I've just eaten my porridge. Flushed with the success of these two great occurrences I post the next part of my story for you.




Thanks to ladysunrope for beta


Part 14 - Indecision



"You are very right, Lord." Amaru said, decisively. "Which way shall we head?"

Lizhe stood for a few moments in thought, and his words, when he spoke, struck Dom's very soul with deepest dread,

"I do not know," he said, wearily - "you choose."


"Lizhe?" Dom asked, softly, trying hard to keep the fear from his voice. "What do you mean - has not Viracocha told you which way to take next?"

Lizhe shook his head, his eyes fixed on some point ahead that no-one could see. "No, Dom, he has not. He has said that from now on I must find my own way, and not rely upon him for guidance. I do not know the way."

Dom saw Will's mouth twist in thought. "Let us get out of this valley onto yon rocks at the foot of the mountains. It may be the bees will not scent us - or whatever it is they do t' track us - from above them. Then we may sit in comfort and make plans."

No-one had an alternative to offer, so they set off for the outcrop of grey basalt nestling into the side of the tall mountain. After they had gone about a mile, Lizhe stopped. "Dom," he said, quietly, but with fear apparent in his even tones, "I cannot see."

Dom turned to his lover in horror, to find Lizhe's eyes so swollen they were merely tight slits in his face. Amaru, who had been striding ahead with Will, slewed around and saw his God's state.

Amaru and Will hurried to Dom's side. "His eyes need to be bathed again. Lizhe, do you think you can go on if Dom takes your arm on one side and mine on the other? The quicker we get there, the faster you may be attended to." Will glanced at Amaru who said he carried plenty of water for the purpose.

Lizhe nodded. "But I would feel far steadier upon my feet if I held on to you, Will!" He managed a short laugh as he spoke, but Dom was glad Lizhe could not see the expression on his friends' faces, which, he was certain, would have driven any thought of laughter - assumed or otherwise - from Lizhe's voice.

Securely holding the arms of his lover and his friend, Lizhe strode forward with a bold step, but Dom, his mind full of Viracocha's prophecy, was not even considering where he was treading, so it was he who stumbled over a small tussock of grass, and not Lizhe.

They reached the rocks in another hour. Dom dug deep inside the front of his soutaine and glanced at the watch suspended on a gold chain about his neck. He saw it had been over an hour since Lizhe had admitted his state, but since then he had not uttered a word.

Amaru quickly scaled the rocks and depositing his pack, then pulled Lizhe up them, holding tight to his hands, with Will and Dom guiding from behind him. There was a flat rock sheltered from the sun by an overhang, which was an ideal spot to tend to Lizhe's hurts.

Amaru had pulled out a large silver goblet from his pack, and Dom stared at it, wondering how many other heavy objects Amaru carried within it, besides the golden cups.

Dom was handed the vessel filled with water, but his hand proved too unsteady for the task, so Will took over, chatting amiably to Lizhe as he bathed each eye in turn. Lizhe smiled and thanked his friend, but said nothing further.

Amaru decided it was time to eat, and dug from the ubiquitous pack some small cheeses and a bag of tomatoes. To Will's stupefied gasp he remarked he had brought them from the island, and although he had picked the tomatoes when they were green, they should still be edible although a trifle soft; however, there was nothing amiss with the cheeses, which they ate with relish. All except Lizhe, who merely nibbled at his and ate half of a tomato.

Dom took the cheese from him and wrapped it in a cloth in case Lizhe should fancy it later instead of the cuy they had been given - although how these were to be cooked halfway up a mountain he had not the remotest guess.

They had not moved far since they stopped at the rock, but they continued walking until the sun was low in the sky, and Amaru had pointed out that if they wished to eat they had better stop whilst there was light still by which to see.

Dom could see the man was immediately annoyed with himself for mentioning the fact, but told him later, when they had drawn aside to piss, that it was not possible to refrain from mentioning such things, which were so common in ordinary speech, and that Lizhe had not seemed upset by the remark.

The mountain was not difficult to traverse, for they were not climbing to its summit but merely crossing it until they found a safer passage, free from bees. Dom did not think Lizhe could suffer such another attack without the most serious consequences. Why he should think so, he did not know; a knot in his gut told him, and that was enough.

When it came time to eat, Dom discovered that Will was perfectly capable of making a good fire from mosses, and cooking the small animals on sticks built over and around it.

They spent the night in the open, lying side by side for warmth, Dom was very grateful for the blanket in his pack. However, it seemed that Amaru, so careful to bring gold and silver cups, had not thought to provide himself with a blanket, so Dom gave him his, and, settled in Lizhe's arms, was perfectly comfortable.

They were too close to the others for more than a few words of speech, for all needed to sleep after the vicissitudes of the day.

"I love thee, thou art the joy of my soul," Dom had whispered in the priestly tongue, and Lizhe had answered, his lips against Dom's neck, "and thou art my soul, always - my soul and my heart."


******

Dom sat alone in the cave they had found, his cheek resting on his knees, and Lizhe asleep beside him.

Will and Amaru had gone foraging upon the mountain, hoping to find creatures they could eat. Dom had indicated that he was not willing to leave Lizhe behind whilst he went with them, but that he would go if one of them cared to stay.

Both men refused with a shake of the head and went out into the morning sun.

It had been four days since the bees had attacked Lizhe, and still his eyes were swollen and he could not see.

Tears tracked continuously down his face from underneath the puffed lids, and Will had said that surely that was a good thing as it was keeping Lizhe's eyes from drying out.
Dom was not sure if this was so, but he agreed with his friend, unwilling to let Lizhe hear the concern he still felt.

Lizhe still had not woken when the two men returned. They carried nothing. There was no food to be found on the mountainside.

"We will have to go down from the mountain, Lord," Amaru said as Lizhe woke to the sound of voices. "We must eat - we cannot go on without food."

"Aye lad, there is truly nothing here but a little moss and a bit of scrubby grass. Are ye up tae it?"

Lizhe stood, and wiped his face with a scrap of cloth Amaru had provided. "I am well, but for my eyes, Will. We shall go. Do you lead the way, and we shall follow."

A quiet voice came from beside him. "Do I..."

Lizhe put up his hand. "Amaru, dear friend, I give you permission to do what has to be done upon this journey. It is folly for you to ask if you may touch me every time you must do so to help me."

Dom glanced at Will, who had forgotten - so easy was his friendship with the Inca God - that no person could touch him on pain of death, without his express permission.

Amaru blushed scarlet. "It is a great honour, Lord; I shall strive to be worthy of your trust." The big man looked at Dom, not sure what his reaction might be, but Dom smiled at him and called him to Lizhe's side, and together they went down to the flat ground, where there might be food - and the danger of bees.

They had been walking along through the grass, searching for food when Will gave a shout from ahead. "Potatoes!" and there was a small crop of them, just waiting, Will said - cheerfully digging around the roots and freeing the tubers - to be gathered.

In the evening they stopped under some tress and baked the potatoes in a fire. As they savoured them, Dom said, quietly, peeling the blackened skin off a potato for his love: "If the bees come, Lizhe will lie down and we will cover him with the blankets. They cannot bite him, then. The few nips they gave us are negligible - it is he who needs protecting."

Lizhe smiled. "Thank you, mi alma, that is a comfort to me."

Amaru looked puzzled. "What are these words you speak, Lord? What does it mean?"

It was Dom who spoke first. "I thought all your close family spoke Spanish, Lizhe. Why does Amaru not?"

Then before Lizhe could answer him, Dom said, "it means my soul, dear friend.

Amaru smiled. "It is right that he calls you so. If I may answer for God - I - we - were not with the family in the early days, for we dwelt at Cuzco. What they learned from Manuel was not available to us, we never spoke the Spanish.
I remember, when we returned to the Holy City, Villac offered to teach me the language - but my head was, by then, filled with other things. If you would capture a boy's mind to learn something, it must be started young."

Lizhe, who was enjoying another potato, nodded. "It is so. And not everyone, Dom, has your way with languages." Here he laughed, and a smile appeared on the three men's faces at the sound.

"I taught him our ancient priestly tongue, during the winter months, and he taught me En-glish. I was about to shock you with it, Will, when we had to leave."

He wiped his face again, and Will, to take their minds off their predicament asked to hear the Inca to say something in his newly acquired language.

Lizhe thought for a moment, then said,

"Thou art my herte's desire, my lové's loy -
come, cover me with kisses, bring me joye;
for thy swete lips on mine are soft like damask rose,
and I would taste thy love when from thy fount it flows..."

He stopped abruptly, aware that this was not a suitable piece for any ears other than his love's.

Dom, could Lizhe have seen him, was blushing, but Amaru wiped his face with a hand suddenly trembling, for although he did not understand the words, Lizhe's voice was filled with love, and a yearning which could not be disguised.

Will coughed loudly, and asked Amaru if he'd care to take a walk in the light of the lowering sun, and Amaru, by no means a fool, leapt to his feet and followed Will into the trees.

"I need you, Dom. I need your body and your comfort - come to me..."

And Dom took Lizhe in his arms, and kissed him under the trees, there, where no man could see them. Quickly Dom removed their clothing and saw how hard Lizhe was for him, how swollen and wet his lips for kissing.

With a small cry he lay at Lizhe's side and ran his hands over the pale skin. Lizhe trembled beneath his hands and his lips sought Dom's, nibbling upon them and laving them with his tongue, his breathing charged with emotion.

Lizhe's arms drew Dom close, and as their bodies touched, Lizhe gasped as if the air had been drawn out of his chest by the force of his feelings. Dom smiled, knowing that Lizhe could not see his face. Tonight Lizhe would take him, hard and quick, not slowly and languorously as it had been that last time upon the island. Lizhe was always careful not to needlessly hurt Dom, but Dom liked it best when his lover became masterful and brought out the cane. However, since his beating, Lizhe had been most gentle with him...until tonight.

With a sharp cry, Dom turned on his back, drawing Lizhe on top of him.

"You are my lord, all that I am is yours to do with as you will..." he gasped,
as Lizhe lifted one of Dom's legs over his shoulder, and Dom moved forward winding his other round Lizhe's waist.

There was no time for preparation. Dom breathed in as Lizhe breached him. He knew he was tight, but without oil, the pressure all but took his breath away. Still it did not hurt him, as Lizhe bent and touched Dom's rigid cock with his lips, and drove further in.

Dom's body was a mass of sensations - the fullness, the stretching, the darting pleasure when Lizhe reached, inside him, the place that drove sense from his mind and reduced him to a quivering mass.

"Lizhe!" he gasped, and his lover leaned over to kiss him, still keeping the rhythm that would bring them both to shattering completion.

"My herte's loy!" Lizhe breathed, taking Dom's nipples in his fingers and pinching them hard, as he knew Dom needed this.

That was all it took - Dom had no need of more. He came hard as Lizhe pinched again, and tried to muffle the sound of his ecstasy in case he was heard, biting his hand to prevent himself from screaming.

Lizhe gave two more thrusts, stifled his cry of completion in his throat and collapsed on Dom's chest, panting from the exertion. They kissed again, their lips gentle on each other's mouth, all passions sated, they sank into love, and touched each other with joyful hands, whispering and breathing love onto dampened skin.

Several minutes later a cough was heard nearby. It was a soft sound, for they were very much aware that sound carried further in the night, when there was little to muffle it.

Dom hastily cleaned their bodies with the rag Lizhe used to wipe the tears from his face, and when the two men appeared once more at the fireside, the lovers were found leaning against each other, under the tree.

Lizhe asked Amaru for another piece of cloth, and to Dom's dismay the man removed the soiled piece from Dom's nerveless grasp, and, tucking it in his belt, said he would wash it in the stream in the morning.

Lizhe seemed not to find this behaviour unusual, but both Dom and Will caught each other's eye and suppressed a laugh. Amaru was not a servant, after all - he was a prince of the blood royal - and Dom had never expected Will to do such things when they had been lovers, even though he was a servant. Will shrugged, and grinned again at Dom, and they settled down for the night, warm and comfortably fed.

They ate the remaining potatoes in the morning, Lizhe evincing a desire for some meat, if any small animals were to be found on their journey. He said there might be cuy at least, and tomatoes as well as potatoes and bread-fruit to be found.

Amaru said he had once as a child eaten fruit called banana and hoped that some of these may be found, as the trees and bushes around them grew profusely.

It proved to be so. Amaru whistled as he pointed upwards. "There are some" Bananas!" and he shinned, with astonishing skill for a tall man, up the tree, and soon two large bunches of the yellow fruit lay at their feet.

Lizhe felt the fruit as he could not see it, and when he went to bite it, Amaru told him the skin had to be peeled away first, and so it was that Lizhe enjoyed his first banana.

Will and Dom had both eaten the fruit before, and Will explained to Amaru and Lizhe that the plants had been brought to this land from a place far away, called Africa.

"...but who brought them here, and how they came to be planted so far inland and in such a deserted spot as this, I canna tell," Will said, shaking his head. "But I'm gey glad to taste one again," he said, grinning.

When they resumed their journey each man carried a large bunch of the fruit. Dom explained that they ripened quickly in the heat, but as there was no certainty that another group of trees would be found further on, they gathered as much as they could. Amaru put some green ones in his pack for when the yellow fruit should be consumed and they filled their water pouches and set forward.

The green grass thinned a little as they travelled, and Dom was happy to spot some cuy which they enjoyed that night, together with the bananas and tomatoes they found.

Dom looked at Lizhe carefully, the next morning. His eyes were still swollen shut and Dom despaired of ever seeing them again. However, he was careful not to let Lizhe know of his concern, merely bathing them when needed, and saying the swelling would go down soon.



So it proved. Within a week the swelling had subsided so much that Lizhe could see. It had not completely dissipated however, but all were thankful for the improvement, however small.

They journeyed on. One bright morning when Lizhe was in front with Amaru, searching for cuy, Will came to Dom's side and said in a low voice, "where are we headed, Dom? It seems we are ganging nowhere."

Dom shook his head. "I do not know, my friend. It seems to be Amaru who leads us, now, for Lizhe has said nothing of the matter since before the bees struck."

"Will ye let me ask him, tonight, then, if ye canna? I feel we are wasting our time wandering here, when there's a city to be found."

Dom agreed to this, and so, after they had eaten, Will gathered his courage and asked his question.

Lizhe seemed to shrink in the evening warmth. His face was pale with some suppressed fear. "I do not know, Will. I only know it does not feel ...I do not know. I am hoping that I will see something that will aid me, for God has, indeed, deserted me in this matter. He says nothing of it - nothing!

The last word was spoken in anger and the men thought it best to say no more. Soon after that, they went to sleep, and in the morning Lizhe seemed distant and abstracted, either not hearing their remarks to him, or ignoring them.

Later, Dom having drawn aside to relieve himself, came out of the trees to hear Lizhe's anguished whisper to Amaru. "Last night he spoke of Qoylurani again, cousin. It is certain - I shall never see..."

He stopped abruptly as Dom appeared, and Dom made no sign that he had overheard, merely asking Lizhe if he would like the last ripe banana he had in his pack.

Lizhe smiled at him, but it did not reach his eyes. "No, I thank you, my love. I do not feel hungry at this present." As he had eaten no food since the day before, Dom was concerned by this remark. However, he fell in beside Will and concentrated on gathering food.

They had no chance to hide. From around a thick group of trees a troop of Spanish soldiers appeared. The men raised their muskets at them, when they saw the travellers, but their leader shouted them down, spurring his horse towards them.

It was Sancho de Vega, the Spanish soldier whom they had met in the village when his captain died. He drew rein before them, and leaned down from his horse, greeting them with a smile.

"Well met, Fathers! I have told the Capitán General about you, and he said to bring you to him should I encounter you again. He is interested in your mission and would hear of your plans. We are headed for the encampment, now - will you be pleased to come with us?"

Despite the smile and the cordial tone, Dom was fully aware that this was not a request. Returning the smile, he said they would be delighted to meet the Captain General, and as the group moved forward, the men fell in behind the captain's horse - very aware of the soldiers and the loaded muskets at their backs. They may not be pointed at them at this present, but who knew what a day would bring?

"What, in the name of God, comes to us now?" Will muttered, in English, through gritted teeth.

It was Lizhe from behind him, who answered.

"God does not know," he whispered, his voice full of fear.