The wooden benches were hard. This should come as no surprise. A novice monk’s life is one of duty and obedience, not luxury. The space between the rows was narrow, and when your legs were long and strong like Brother Hal’s, this added even more discomfort. He had spent the morning in prayerful contemplation, but now was time for the novices’ weekly instruction from their divine Abbot. Deep down, Hal doubted whether the Abbot was as committed to his holy vows as he really should be. But he suppressed these feelings as well he could as seditious - and quite probably blasphemous.
Hal found the Abbot rather pompous and rather over-fond of his own voice. Still, he reckoned he could manage to put up with him for the one time a week he was summoned with the others to listen to the sermon. Over the past few weeks, the Abbot had taken The Seven Deadly Sins as his treatise, and this week, they had arrived at the vexed topic of -
“Lust!” The Abbot’s moist lower lip quivered as he uttered the word. “A daily battle that you young men must fight against. For be assured, Satan will tempt you with forbidden fruit, as surely as he did Eve. The Lord will be at your side, but you must be strong and find salvation in prayer, lest you fall to sin.”
Hal nodded. The struggle to keep his mind wandering from lustful thoughts was, for him, a daily one. He listened intently as the Abbot went on.
“Here in the safe confines of our monastery, you might think yourselves safe from such wickedness. But I fear I must tell you, that even in our Eden-like paradise, we may find a serpent lurking in the most unexpected of places…”
A sudden knock came at the door of the school room.
“Ah,” said the Abbot, with a knowing twinkle in his eye. “Our visitor arrives right on cue. Enter!”
The assembled novices turned to see the newcomer. Hal was puzzled to see the short, blond gardener with whom he had spoken only a day or two previously.
“Brother Ralf told me you wished to see me, your Worship,” said Will, flushing slightly in the gaze of the many quizzical faces turned to him.
“I did indeed, young man,” said the Abbot, darkly. “Come here, to the front of the classroom.”
Will did as he was told, noting the raised eyebrows and smirks on the faces of some of the more supercilious young monks. He spotted Hal’s good-looking face and risked a half-smile.
“Well, my boys,” said the Abbot. “What do we see, before us, do we think? Hmm?”
A few of the novices looked at one another but said nothing.
“The gardening lad?” offered one, nervously, as if it were a trick question.
“Indeed. Indeed,” confirmed the Abbot, nodding vigorously. “This is indeed all he seems to be: a simple, none-too-bright young yokel. Nothing remarkable at all, one might think, no?”
His pupils asserted their agreement.
“Take off your shirt, boy,” ordered the Abbot.
Will hesitated but did as he was told, tugging the linen blouse over his head to reveal his smooth, well-muscled chest.
The Abbot rested his hand on Will’s breast.
“The lad’s torso is hardened and muscled from his physical labour, wouldn’t you agree? He seems quite ordinary, yes? Well, you would be wrong…”
And, quick as a flash, the fat old man grabbed at Will’s hessian trousers and tugged them to the floor.
Unexpected laughter erupted from the assembled students as Will’s nudity was exposed for them all to see. And a stunned Will could only stand and gawp at them. Then, the laughter started to die away, to be replaced by a kind of bewilderment. Hal leaned forward, his surprise supplanted by curiosity. What was the weird metal protrusion hanging from the lad’s crotch?!
“It is a chastity device!” declared the Abbot in answer to their unspoken question. And he delivered a swiping blow at Will’s dangling, steel-encased prick, sending it swinging from side to side like a peculiar pendulum.
“Do you see, my friends? This creature - so outwardly modest and unassuming. So ordinary and hum-drum! The truth is that he harbours such lusts and perversions within him, that his previous master had no choice but to fit him with this constricting cage. His penis can never achieve its full erection, and if it is tempted to try, it will cause severe pain to the boy. This foul nymph is truly a creature of Satan! For lust drives his every thought!”
The Abbot’s face was ruddy with passion as he ranted. Spittle flew from his sensuous mouth and landed on Will’s naked flesh. He paused to draw breath and silence descended upon the schoolroom.
Brother Nathaniel - a wiry young man whose hair was already receding - raised his hand. “Your Holiness?” he asked.
“Yes, Nathaniel?”
“If this creature is indeed a dangerous succubus, why do we harbour him here in a Holy place?”
The students leaned forward to hear the Abbot’s explanation.
“A pertinent question,” he replied, nodding gravely. “I keep him here so that the danger his lust poses can be kept from the poor peasants and farmers hereabouts. Whilst he is contained here in the monastery, the threat he poses can be mitigated. But we must be ever vigilant, my friends. He is a permanent reminder of how evil may lurk in the most mundane places…”
Night fell and in his basic little bunk, Will marvelled anew at his capacity to feel shame. Even now, after everything he had been through, the experience of being stripped naked by the slobbering Abbot for the amused gaze of the young novice monks had distressed him considerably. Truly it was nothing compared to some of the deeply personal invasions he had been subjected to in the past year: the spankings, the purges, the bondage, every orifice used and abused for the sexual gratification of others. Maybe the past few weeks of normality had lulled him into a false sense of security: that a new, simpler chapter had opened in this unusual life of his. But it seemed - thanks to the Abbot and his dubious motives - that this was not to be. Or maybe he was more upset that the tall, handsome Brother Hal had witnessed his humiliation. Had he dared to hope that Hal might turn out to be a friend to him in this friendless universe? This now seemed unlikely after the Abbot’s hysterical castigation of his morals and character.
He pondered the Abbot’s diatribe. He did not truly think he was the hellish incubus that he had been portrayed as, sent to torment the righteous monks around him. Indeed, he had long ago abandoned any thought of God coming to his rescue, and was now quite content in the notion of a godless universe. However, he could not deny that he had started to think about Brother Hal in ways that were not in any way virtuous. His fantasies both excited and distressed him - in no small part because the infernal steel cage still prevented him from wanking - and he cursed Alexander de Courcey for unearthing this dark side of his nature, and for tutoring him in its illicit delights.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He had avoided all company for the rest of the day. He could not even look the friendly Brother Ralf in the eye, for fear he would have heard of his ordeal in the schoolroom and judge him accordingly.
Will’s eyes sprang open at the sound of the creaking door. His time in the castle dormitory and in the bandits’ encampment had left him alert to the slightest sound.
“Who’s there?” he hissed, fearing instantly that the villainous Ebony had returned to claim him as his prize. Tantalising seconds passed as the intruder made his way to Will’s bedside. Will curled his right hand into a fist. If Ebony intended to steal him away once more, he would not go without a fight.
“I hope you don’t mind my coming to your bedside but I was troubled and I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to see that you were all right.”
In an instant, Will unclenched his fist as he recognised the warm, rich tones of Brother Hal. A sliver of moonlight illuminated the room and bathed Hal’s handsome face in its silvery light. Will felt his heart beat quicken as the novice monk rested his hand gently on Will’s naked shoulder.
“Yes,” Will stammered. “Thank you. I’m fine. I’m fine.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
An awkward silence hung between the two young men.
“I would like to ask you something,” whispered Hal, “but if you do not wish to answer, you must say.”
“Alright. Ask.”
“That thing you wear. Is it true what the Holy Father said? Is it a punishment or do you wear it of your own free will?”
“Why should I want to wear something like that?!”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe as some kind of penance. You know, like some monks wear hair shirts under their habits.”
Will shook his head ruefully. “No, I made a powerful enemy when I served at the castle. And the chastity cage was his revenge on me.”
Hal hesitated. “May I - may I see it again?”
Will’s breathing quickened at the prospect of exposing the humiliating cock cage to the handsome young novice. “Why?”
“Call it curiosity…”
Now it was Will’s turn to hesitate, but he quickly made up his mind, and rolled the rough blanket down to his thighs.
Fascinated, Hal brought his face level with Will’s crotch.
“May I touch it?” he inquired gently.
Will mumbled his acquiescence, and then gritted his teeth as he felt the tender touch of the monk, as he delicately lifted the steel device, Will’s penis trapped within, - first this way, then that. Will felt the familiar sensation of blood rushing to his groin, and the equally familiar stab of pain from the tight constriction of the cruel cage. He gritted his teeth.
“Does it hurt?” asked Hal.
“When my dick wants to get hard, yes.”
“And does it now?” Hal breathed in the barest whisper.
Will shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
Hal let go of the steel cylinder and sat beside Will on the bed. Tentatively, he reached out and touched his cheek.
“You are very handsome, Will,” he observed with a frown.
Will averted his eyes, both frightened and excited by where this might lead. “Aren’t you worried I’ve been sent to tempt you, like the Abbot said?” he mumbled.
“The Holy Father says that you are sent by Satan.”
“I don’t think there is such a thing as Satan. There are just men. Good and bad. Or men who sometimes do good things and sometimes do bad things. And I don’t think there is a God either. Does that shock you?”
“I suppose it does. A little. And I suppose it is the sort of thing that a wicked demon might say. One that had been sent to tempt me.”
Silence descended in the dormitory. Will held his breath, wondering where on earth this discussion might lead. Eventually Hal spoke.
“Get dressed,” he said. “And follow me.”
They were bound for the forge.
As the rest of the monastery slumbered, Hal explained with hushed brevity that he was not unskilled in the trade of the blacksmith.
Will stood, barefoot and shivering in the forge as Hal worked to fashion a lock picking device that might finally free his tortured genitals from their long captivity. It was a bizarre activity, which entailed Hal having to examine Will’s crotch from every possible angle. Hal apologised frequently for this intimate familiarity but Will assured him if he could only rid him of the chastity cage, he would be forever in his debt.
“I think it will fit. At least I hope so,” said the monk after a good half hour’s work at the forge. “You will permit me to try?”
“I’ve never been so ready!”
“I’ve never been so ready!”
Will held his breath, barely daring to hope that the makeshift key might work. Hal uttered a half-apology, half-exclamation as his left palm inadvertently brushed Will’s naked bollocks. He turned the pick first one way, then the other, and Will was reminded of the time Ebony had offered him the hope of freedom, only to dash it cruelly by imprisoning him once again.
A third click, and a wild hope leapt in Will’s breast as the cock cage became free and clattered to the ground. Tears sprang to his eyes.
“Oh, thank you, Hal! Thank you!” he cried, impetuously flinging his arms around the taller youth and clutching him close in a grateful embrace.
Hal chuckled gently as Will clung to him. “My sacred vows oblige me to aid all those in need. And you looked as if you were very much in need, my friend,”
Will joined in the laughter as he rested his head on Hal’s broad chest, as they sought refuge in the humour and warmth of each other.
Suddenly Will became aware of a familiar swelling at his groin. It was inevitable he supposed, that after so many months of denial, his prick would waste no time in making the most of its liberation. Soon it was straining to attention, and Will realised, with some embarrassment, that it was pushing itself firmly into Hal’s thigh. Any hope Will may have had that the folds of Hal’s robe might prevent the taller youth from noticing the pressure of his hard cock quickly dissipated as Hal looked down with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m so sorry,” mumbled Will. “It’s been so long. I don’t know how… It doesn’t mean… I should go.”
His cheeks flushed with shame, he grabbed his hessian trousers and stumbling over them, he fled from the heat of the forge. He raced back to his pallet, and, his chest heaving, he flung himself onto his bed. Had his nature truly been so altered by his experiences at the castle and at the hands of the perverted Alexander Courcey changed him forever? He tried to expel all such thoughts from his mind and tried to conjure images of the minx-like Jane with her pert breasts. But all he could see were the deep, soulful eyes of Brother Hal: the straight nose, the charming smile and square jaw. His cock began to twitch, and it was hopeless to try and deny the months of pent-up sexual frustration that were now free to vent. His fist encircled his cock-head and a mere three pumping motions, combined with the image of Hal’s long-limbed frame, caused a spasming orgasm which seemed to last forever. A veritable fountain of suppressed cum erupted from his tender boycock, and the shuddering gasp of ecstasy shook his whole body. The relief was tangible, and his balls ached with their long yearned for release. He fell asleep, the large damp patch of his cum drying guiltily beside him on his bed.
