Stations of the Tower - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The ten temptations. He had heard and read of them often, but had never given them more than a passing thought. He knew that they would test him to the very core of his being. He had gone without food, drink, or clothes for two days. As he walked up the east stair, he came to the first. A fountain stood in s small courtyard between him and the way onward. There his father sat, drinking from a cup with the cool, clear water. He beckoned his soon over and held the golden chalice out to him, filled as full as it could be with water so cold that it chilled the breath to steam.

"Come, my son, sit and drink with me. It is a hot day, even for this city, and I know you thirst." Sither shook his head, circling past his father to continue on towards the palace. The first was perhaps his hardest. For his thirst was like a wild thing within him. But he could not stop. Not here.

Through the door was the banquet hall, and there he could smell the second temptation before he could see it, a grand feast. Meat and wine, tubers and fruit, a feast fit for a wedding, one would say. And it was this thought that drove him past it, around it, onward. He had to reach Ki'a and wed, then all the food and drink in the palace were his for his pleasure.

The third was next, and it was easy enough to spot. All of his clothes had been brought down from his room, laid out for him to see. In his mind, the temptations were getting easier. Nothing could be more tempting to him than the water his father offered. His thirst and hunger gnawed, and he didn't spare the third temptation a passing glance as he continued on. He was tempted with riches, horses, a bath, and a grand hunt next. They came, and they went as he progressed, thinking these had been placed wrong, what could be more tempting still than the water his father had offered him. Then he knew. He opened the next door and a grand harem was laid out. Nubile, naked women in little more than piercings and veils called to him. And his body, bare for them to see, reacted. They were lovely, drinking water and wine, honey mead and nectar. And he knew, if he married Ki'a, never again would he be allowed to partake of these pleasures. They would be lost to him evermore.

A husband's first duty was to his bride. And not to his slaves. And these women were trained from youth to seduce, and they were good at what they did. They shed what little covered their nakedness and came to him, on hands and knees, with what was desirable to a man exposed for him to see, to touch. A hand caressed his erect manhood and he felt himself giving in. He hadn't flinched when he passed the fountain, though his thoughts of it had come to him often, driving him mad with thirst and need. But here. Here he could satisfy his deepest carnal desires. Here he could drink from the breast of a pleasure girl if he so chose, and none would deny him that it was his right.

Then he saw her... the others were exotic, pale of hair and skin, or bronzed as no local girl could ever be. Or darker of skin, with chocolate dark skin and hair, with big, dark eyes and feral, feminine curves that tempted men into war, and seduced them into peace. But this girl. She was from the valley. Her skin and hair were dark, and her eyes were a piercing blue. He thought she was Ki'a for a moment. Then realized what he was thinking. He had nearly thrown away what he felt for Ki'a for a few pleasurable hours in this harem flesh-pile. He pushed them all away angrily and continued on. He was going to marry this day.

But they did not let him go that easily. Hands clutched at him, mouths sought him out, kissing, tasting, suckling. But he pushed them all away. And he made the door. Once through, he slammed it and leaned against it, eyes closed, gaining his composure for a moment. When he opened his eyes he saw where he was. His mothers sitting room. And he was naked and aroused from his trek through the harem.

"Mother!." Hishands went to cover him and she chckled, looking up at him over the lip of her book.

"why so jumpy, my son? What did you expect? Easy tests? There will be none more tiring than these by far when you are Elder prince. What is the test of a room full of pleasure girls compared with sending men off to war. But set this aside, for one year, wait, court her more and relax. You can enjoy all the time in that room that you like and you will have time to feel out the relationship with this, Ki'a was it?" she asked, pronouncing it Keeya rather than Kaya, which was proper. "She'll still be there in a years time. And you can enjoy all the things a young man in your..." She looked down at his hands still covering his manhood. "state... should be enjoying." He felt a hot flush as he realized what she was hinting at. Angry now, he stormed out of the room, hands at his sides, heading for the door that would take him up the tower and to the cloud room at the top, where he could wed Ki'a and be happy with her, the damn temptations past.

As he started climbing, he tried to remember. Had he been through all ten? He couldn't remember. He kept going and going, and to pass time, he counted steps. His legs were getting tired and his breathing became hot and labored. A stitch grew in his side and he wanted to slow, or stop. Anything to rest. His thirst came back in spades and he found himself sucking on his finger to produce some moisture to sate his thirst, to take the edge off, at least. It helped some.

About halfway up, a sound that he knew from years of hearing it came to his ears. It was the lift. Oh what he'd give for a ride in the lift! His legs were like lead and he had lost count twenty minutes ago, somewhere in the ten thousands. As he rounded a corner, he came to see his parents, and Ki'as' parents waiting at the door to the lift.

"Son! You have passed the ten temptations, come, ride the lift to the top, there is no need to walk all the way. You made it almost half that's plenty. So come, lets get you up to the top, there's a wedding!" His mother and Ki'as' parents were there as well, smiling and nodding, his mother in the high collared dark gray cloak that was her sign of station. He almost stopped. But then realization struck. He was in the tenth temptation right now. If he stopped, he would have to start the whole thing over.

So he kept on. It took him another hour to reach the top of the tower, and there they all were, His parents and hers. But there was no sign of Ki'a. He knew she would be within, if she had passed her own trials. Which she had to have, he would have been told if she hadn't. Wouldn't he? It didn't matter at this point. He would marry her if he had to steal her away to a chapel in the city and elope by night. But then his father opened the door, and within he saw Ki'a, kneeling on a pallet by the altar, waiting patiently for him. She was as bare as that day in the room where he had proposed to her. Different only by the tattoo on her arm. He smiled. And he went in.

Continued in Chapter 5