CHAPTER ONE:
The Prank
"He's going to be so mad," Emden pointed out as they quietly moved down the hallway towards the bedroom door at the far end.
Jove rolled his eyes. Emden was always so worried about consequences. He was always the sensible one. Jove wished his partner in crime would lighten up and enjoy the moment otherwise this wasn't going to be nearly as fun and hilarious as they were all expecting it to be.
The three men had meticulously planned out the attack. Jove, Emden and Dill had stayed up all night planning and preparing for the assault on the birthday boy, Thad. Thad was their good friend, the oldest of their group and the one they always looked to as their leader. But while he slept soundly in bed, Thad had turned twenty, and his friends had planned for him a birthday surprise.
They had all grown up in the monastery together. Ever since they were taken in by Father Gordon, the man charged with the care and tutorage of all the boys cast out from the Fortress of Ellahos after birth, and sent to this far corner of the nation to be raised.
Father Gordon had told them that they had all arrived together, bundled into one crate, with only a few blankets for comfort. Shipped off like animals from their mothers, who didn't want them, for no reason other than their gender.
Their crate had come with their papers; forms which gave Father Gordon information on each child, their name, date of birth, any health issues, and the identification number. Father Gordon had to tattoo their identification number and date of birth onto their right shoulder blades. Jove had been told that the identification number was how the women of Fort Ellahos could later identify who had mothered any particular man should they ever find themselves back inside the fortresses walls.
The men were all born within a few weeks of each other, with Dill being the youngest. He would not turn twenty for another 21 days.
They neared the door to Thad's room and paused, listening for any sound. All seemed quiet. Jove looked back at the other two and winked.
The plan was simple. Just a practical joke really. When a man turned twenty he was no longer protected by the Rule of Age. The Rule of Age protected all men under the age of twenty from any sexual advances by men who were over the age limit. This rule had existed for as long as men had lived separated from women, a taboo that was enforced strictly amongst the fully male population and punishable by death. Although it doesn't stop them from staring, Jove thought absently to himself.
Emden looked like he may object once again, but Dill was all eagerness. Dill always went along with Jove's plans. He was the perfect accomplice. Emden always had to think things through.
Emden was a rare specimen, and not only because he was an intellectual man living in a world full of barbarians. Emden was blond. It was a trait that had slowly bred itself out over the years. Jove could think of only a handful of blond men he'd met in his life. Emden seemed entirely unaware of the stares he attracted from men wherever he went. He was naturally paler as well, with milky white skin that was only lightly tanned from the days spent out in the fields tending to the farmstead on which the monastery existed.
By contrast, Jove and Dill were much more tanned, both with natural brown hair that let them blend into a crowd with ease. Jove kept his hair short, whilst Dill's was longer, the ends curling down around his ears and forehead.
A muffled sound came through the door and all three men tensed. What was that? He shared a look at the other two but they both seemed as confused as he was. Was Thad awake? If he was, then their plan would never work. They waited in strained silence, and again, the muffled sound came through the door.
Jove frowned. It sounded like Thad, but he wasn't talking. It sounded angry.
Jove raised a finger to his lips to signal the other two to keep quiet, then he slowly turned the door knob and peeked inside.
A sole candle beside the bed lit the scene before Jove. A scene that made his jaw drop.
Thad lay on the bed. He was completely naked, which was fairly normal. Most of them slept this way due to the heat. However apart from that nothing was normal at all. His wrists and ankles were bound to each of the bedposts and he'd been gagged. His cock was fully erect and was twitching as he struggled against his bonds.
"Thad!" Jove pushed the door fully open and rushed into the room, followed quickly by the other two.
The muffled sound was Thad trying to yell for help. He looked extremely pissed off, but his face was red from shame more than rage.
As Jove got closer he could see that string had been tied around Thad's cock, just below the head, and was attached via clothes pegs to both his nipples. What on Earth had happened?
Thad was beautiful by anyone's definition of the word. He was tall, with lean, sculpted muscle and had black hair. His jaw was strong and defined and his eyes usually held a confident, piercing gaze.
Jove had never seen anyone in such a messed up predicament before. Although he had heard of things like this happening, over in the nearby town. Things like this just didn't happen at the monastery.
Jove had seen his friend's naked before. Growing up the four of them had shared a bedroom. Individual rooms were only given once they got older, and so Jove had seen his friends sleep naked. However, he'd never seen Thad's erect penis before. It had to be at least twelve inches, and it was thick too. Thicker than Jove's own. His balls were clean shaven, as was the custom, and a small patch of black pubic hair stretched from above his shaft to near his navel.
