Col and Andri: The Summer Queen

Encounter in the Forest

On the second day of Andri and Col’s journey from the Ruithin College, they and their companions encountered a group of travellers also heading to Yrys. A gruff Chieftain led them. Col eyed the new party with some suspicion; he was naturally protective of Andri, but they seemed harmless enough. Cadwyr made a point of conversing with the Chieftain, vetting him out, Col suspected. The new party had six retainers—four guards, a mature woman and a mature man wearing an eye patch and sporting a bright red plaid cloak.

“What are you staring at, Col?” asked Andri, moving up alongside him.

“There are two young people in the newcomers’ party; young women, as far as I can tell, both dressed in breeches and carrying swords like warriors. They handle their horses well.”

“Unusual hair colour,” Andri responded with interest. Both young people had long dark gold hair, rippling in fine waves, loose but adorned with braids and ribbons.

The mature woman saw Andri watching and abruptly called to the young people. One of them turned her horse and rode over to the woman. But Cadwyr hailed Andri and beckoned him over to meet the Chieftain.

“Andri, this is Aeron ap Galen, a Chieftain in Ar Mynydd, the mountain fastnesses above the sea. He is here with his cousin, sister, and two children, named Tegan and Gwenllaeth.”

“Would your father be the Galen Swiftmind celebrated in song about overcoming the Northern Sea Raiders in the Sarsen Estuary?” asked Andri politely.

“Well,” exclaimed Aeron, “The lad knows his music! Yes, it is he. Are you the Bard Emrys’ apprentice?”

“The ‘lad’ is a second-year bardic apprentice to our Master of Music, Evyn Daraou, and is here at the invitation of King Cyndyllan,” Cadwyr informed Aeron with a gentle rebuke.

Aeron looked at Andri with interest. “You must have talent to attract our King’s attention. Is it your harping?” His gaze was open and friendly, and if there was any double meaning in his words, Andri did not detect it.

“No, alas, Chieftain Aeron. My harping is a poor second to my voice. Perhaps Emrys and I can entertain your party when we stop for the night.”

“I’d look forward to that.”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully enough, for which Andri was thankful. Though if brigands had been present, the increased size of their party was enough to give them pause. When they reached the next hostel, room enough was found for everyone by making accommodations for some of the guards in the stables. Col saw to the horses and approached Andri.

“You settle in and keep me a place at a table. I need to stretch my legs a little before I come in.”

“Do you want some company?” asked Andri.

“No need, my lover. I will have you all night. One of our priests was asking for you anyway.”

“Very well. Stay armed and aware. I’d say ‘don’t go alone,’ but I know you’d just hit me.”

Col laughed, “Don’t worry. I’ll charm any strangers I meet!”

“That’s what I am afraid of. You Wanderers can charm the breeches off just about anyone,” replied Andri. “You did with me!”

In response, Col just leaned in and kissed him.

*    *    *

The sun hung low in the sky, and the late spring forest was pleasant and cool. Col followed a deer track, pausing to examine medicinal plants he recognized. He found a patch of mushrooms, a brown choice edible. He took his scarf from his neck to use as a pouch and gathered them. While he was doing so, he heard someone singing in a low voice. Looking up, he saw one of Chieftain Aeron’s twins seated on a fallen tree nearby, with a basket of winter apples next to her. Col finished picking his mushrooms and approached the singer, hailing her softly from a short distance away to not alarm her. The young person stood up quickly but did not retreat or present any threatening stance.

“My name is Col,” he called. “I am horsemaster for the party from the Ruithin College. And you are Tegan or Gwenllaeth. I can’t tell.

“Can you not?” came a soft but decidedly masculine voice.

“Forgive me,” said Col. “With your long hair and striking similarity to your sister, I thought—“

“You thought I was a girl. Oh, don’t worry, people mistake us all the time. I’m Tegan. My sister is Gwenllaeth.”

Up close, Col could tell that Tegan was male. His cheekbones were a little sharper; his nose more aquiline, but there was an androgynous quality to his beauty, for beautiful he was. No one could hold a candle to his Andri in Col’s eyes. Col thought his lover quite gorgeous, with his mix of developing manliness and vulnerability, but Tegan was decidedly attractive.

“You have beautiful hair. Many maidens would envy it of you.”

“Thanks. I keep it long so my sister and I can become each other, so to speak, when the need arises. Unless you are up close, we are hard to tell apart. Although she has more curves, so we generally wear loose tunics.

“Do you drive your father to distraction?” Col asked with his customary forthrightness.

“Frequently,” replied Tegan with a frankness Col appreciated. “Actually, he doesn’t like to come into my chambers alone because he says I remind him too much of our mother, more than Gwenllaeth.”

“That must be hard.”

“I play a Demon’s part sometimes. It’s another reason I keep my hair long. I know it attracts him.” Then he flushed. “Forgive me; I’m being indiscreet. I shouldn’t be disclosing personal facts to a stranger.”

“You’re doing so because I’m a stranger. You need not fear me. I don’t blab. It’s one of the things Andri, my partner, likes about me.”

“The blond young man? I saw you two talking together. You have a connection between you that I can tell just by seeing it. I envy you.”

“You have no partner or friend?”

“Only my sister, and to be honest, I don’t want sex with her . . . or any woman, for that matter.” Tegan looked down at the ground, plainly troubled.

“There will be someone for you. It just might take a while.” Col felt a sense of compassion and empathy for the young man.

“Did you know there would be a man for you?”

“No, I wasn’t thinking in terms of men. I just wanted to meet a few willing Wanderer girls at one of our Gatherings. But then I met Andri and his teachers, and things . . . just changed.”

“I’ve always been aware that I was different from the other boys in our Holding.”

Col looked at him, gauging Tegan’s apparent loneliness. “If I kiss you, will it bother you?”

Tegan returned Col’s gaze wide-eyed. “I was just about to ask you the same thing! You must be clairvoyant.”

“It runs in my family,” Col replied in all seriousness.

Tegan stepped closer to him. Col framed the youth’s face in his hands and stared into the grey eyes. Slowly their mouths merged, and Col tasted Tegan’s lips. His mouth tasted of the apples he had been eating. Col ventured his tongue and probed the young man’s. Their kiss became suddenly deep, and there was passion in it.

Col drew back. Tegan was trembling, so he kissed him again. They stood there in the clearing, sunbeams tracking low through the trees and the light all green and gold. They exchanged kisses until Col felt his cock stirring, becoming hard. He very much wanted to take the next step: introducing Tegan to the erotic power of cocksucking. He imagined Tegan’s mouth on his cock; pulling him in, sucking him in long, slow takes. He tentatively reached out, touched Tegan through his breeches, and found, unsurprisingly, that the young man was just as hard as he was himself. Tegan moaned.

Col knew it could go two ways from here. He chose the more difficult way and stepped back. Tegan uttered a protest, and tears started in his eyes. But Col hushed him.

“Tegan, it’s alright. I have no intention of just leaving you like this: aroused and unfulfilled. But I want to talk to Andri and tell him about us if you give me leave. We will slip out later tonight and meet here in this glade if he is agreeable. There will be a moon to light the way. Can you find it again?”

“Yes. Please talk to your—lover. I was just getting my hopes up.”

“Forgive me, but are you a virgin?”

“I fooled around with a friend when we were children. We would escape into the woods and masturbate together. But no one has ever had sex with me. My Father’s guards look at me, and I can see their desire, but Father would kill them if they tried. I suppose parents get like that with their offspring.

“Mine didn’t. He sent me to go find Andri again with his blessing, and my Grandmother gave hers. But we Wanderers are different, I think.”

“I should be so lucky. Well, tonight, then? Don’t let me down. I’m counting on you!”

“I’ll do my best. Come, let’s walk back together. You lead. I want to make sure you know the way.”

*    *    *

The monks gratefully accepted the mushrooms and duly added them to the stew pot. Col grabbed a cup of ale and sought out his lover. He found him seated with Kireg and Neifion, the two priests from the Ruithin College. He greeted them respectfully before turning to Andri.

“Perhaps you can come and look over your horse, Kalo, with me. His left hind leg seems a bit tender. You might ask for some distilled spirits from our hosts so we can rub it down.”

“With your permission, Reverences, may we continue our discussion later? I still think that the ash tree mentioned in the song was meant to reference the Hero’s resilience and fighting prowess.”

“You may well be right, young man. I look forward to a later discussion,” said Kireg, a dark-bearded priest.

Col almost hurried Andri out after begging a small bottle of distilled spirits from their hosts.

“What’s the big rush?” Andri asked him as they entered the stable.

“Kalo’s hind leg is tender, but I brought you here to talk.”

Andri watched as his partner felt the horse’s leg. “It’s a little hot,” Col said, applying the spirits and rubbing the leg briskly.

“Waste of good liquor,” commented Andri.

“Nothing is wasted where your horse is concerned. Give Kalo some hay to eat while I work, and I will tell you of my adventure.”

“Something happened while you were in the forest?”

“I’ll say so. I met one of Aeron’s twins: Tegan.”

“Ooh . . . did she say something to bother you? Come on to you?”

“She is a he. A pretty lonely young man with some father issues. I have his permission to tell you this.”

“I would never have guessed! But then I haven’t spoken to him yet.”

“Well, you may get to speak to him tonight. We kissed.”

Andri raised both eyebrows and gave Col a pointed look. “Tell me.”

Col told him, sparing nothing, including the level of his own arousal. “So I suggested we meet tonight in the forest and maybe do a little teaching. Pass on our skills. What do you think?”

“I thought I was the soft one. But Brynnan and Geraint taught us the sexual arts. I remember how we learned to suck each other’s cocks. A whole, wonderful, new world opened up for us,” mused Andri, smiling at the memory.

“But will this affect your mission? What if Gwenllaeth, his sister, partakes in the Summer Night’s dance for the Choosing?” said Col.

“I am leaving that to the will of the Forest Gods, as Cadwyr advised. I just hope they speak to me clearly. I was never good at communing with spirits, unlike Brynnan, and even you, Col. As for tonight, I will go. You know I will follow you anywhere, lover!”

*    *    *

After the evening meal of a venison stew, flavoured with Col’s mushrooms, and a session where Emrys played his harp for the company as Andri sang with him, the two young men made their excuses and left the hall. Col saw their Ruithin friend, Cadwyr, across the room, who gave him an enquiring look. With some effort, Col engaged him in mind speech, a talent that both he and the priest shared.

‘We are going into the wood,’ he sent to Cadwyr. ‘Andri and I just want to be alone together.’ Col formed both words and images of what he wished to convey and was pleased that Cadwyr had no difficulty understanding.

‘Then enjoy yourselves. If you encounter trouble, call me mind-to-mind,’ Cadwyr concluded their exchange.

Col and Andri walked to the edge of the woods until they found the deer trail. The rising moon bathed the forest in patterns of light and dark. An owl hooted nearby in the trees, its ghostly call enhancing the night, and the earth smelled rich with the perfume of blossoms and trees.

“Did you see Tegan?” asked Andri.

“No. I think he must have already left. If he doesn’t turn up, you and I will enjoy ourselves. I am bathed and ready for some fun. The forest is better than a small alcove in a busy hall for loving.”

Col and Andri brushed through a thicket of tall ferns and entered the glade. Tegan was there, a shape in the moonlight, seated on the fallen tree. Col felt a leap of desire in his loins: he couldn’t help it as he recalled their earlier kisses.

“You came! I really hoped you would.” Tegan arose and approached Andri. “I’ve wanted to meet you. I envy you and Col your partnership. “

Andri took the young man’s hand in a warm clasp. “Let’s sit down and get to know one another.”

Col spread a blanket on the ground beside the fallen tree, and the three sat so that their backs were against it, with Tegan between Andri and Col.

“My father’s guards tried to follow me, but I escaped them easily. Is there a danger of us being disturbed, do you think?”

“Highly unlikely,” replied Col, shedding his cloak. “I am sensitive to the presence of both people and spirits. We would have a warning if someone approached. Just relax. Here, let me help you with your cloak. The night is warm.”

Tegan turned to Andri. “I heard you singing with your bard. I felt as if I travelled to a different time and lived the songs with you. You have an incredible voice.”

“Thank you. Now let me ask you if you would like us to suck you or if you want to do the sucking. I suggest we start with that. Both Col and I were taught by a master in the sexual arts; Geraint, an old Warrior and great-hearted man. I think you would enjoy what we have to show you.”

“I’d like you both to suck my cock. I am curious to see what magic you can perform. My imagination on the subject is limited. Two of the men in my Father’s holding have a relationship where they like to suck each other in less than private spaces. I have watched them now and then, and there doesn’t seem to be much to their play. It’s generally over very quickly.”

“Then we’ll just have to show you. Enough talk, my friend,” said Col. “Let us kiss once more, and you can kiss Andri in turn.”

Col matched his words to action and took Tegan in a close embrace. After several deep kisses, the young Wanderer felt inspired to pull off his shirt, then he helped Tegan remove his upper clothing. Tegan’s skin was fair, much lighter than Col’s. His body was slender and supple, but firm musculature sculpted him also. His chest was hairless and smooth, sporting nipples that became erect as Andri joined in and stroked Tegan’s body. Tegan turned to Andri and kissed him, the three of them taking turns touching and kissing.

Again, Col could feel the young man’s erection through his breeches. He unlaced them and exposed the boy’s cock. It was hard: the flesh pale, smooth, and the shaft lengthy with a good girth. Col’s hand just barely closed around it.

Tegan moaned at having his cock stroked lightly. “This is so good,” he murmured.

“Just wait and see what happens next!” Col’s voice had an enticing and wicked inflection. He bent and licked the head of Tegan’s shaft, tasting the honey-sweet precum gathering at the tip. He flickered his tongue over the head. Then Andri joined in and moved so he could lick the shaft while Col concentrated on the head. Both young men took it slowly: Tegan was excited, but Col didn’t want him to cum straight away, although he knew this first orgasm wouldn’t take long. He just hoped Tegan was ‘up’ for more.

Andri moved down to work on the testicles, swallowing each one in his mouth, sucking and pulling at it, swirling his tongue around the firm balls. Tegan had sparse pubic hair, and what there was gleamed pale gold in the moonlight. It made licking his balls that much easier.

Col took the cock in his mouth, swallowing the shaft as far as possible, then consciously relaxing his throat muscles to accept the entire length. As he sucked deeply up and down on the throbbing cock, Tegan cried out softly.

“I’m going to cum very soon. I can’t help it!”

Andri’s response was to push a finger in Tegan’s ass and massage his prostate. The boy’s response was immediate.

“I’m cumming; may the Forest God help me!”

Gripping the shaft, Col withdrew the cock from his mouth as Tegan ejaculated. He watched the first spurts of cum, then plunged his mouth over the cock again, sucking and swallowing. Tegan cried out again, lost in waves of ecstasy. His testicles were drawn up tightly, and his cock spasmed, causing his entire body to jerk helplessly.

Andri took Tegan’s mouth, mercilessly kissing and tongue-fucking him as the orgasm continued, then gradually died away.

Tegan seemed dazed. His eyes were unfocused, and he slumped back against the tree.
“I saw stars! Oh, by all the Spirits of the Wild Places, I have never cum like that before. I never imagined it could be like that. Is this what you and Andri experience every time?”

Col answered, “Pretty well. We tend to get wholly absorbed in each other, and each time is like a journey with a wonderful ending, whether it’s ass-fucking or sucking each other or just masturbating together. I think love, and not just sex, makes a difference with us.”

“I’d like to watch you and Andri together. I also think I can go again soon. My cock is speaking to me.”

“What’s it saying?” said Andri with curiosity.

“More . . . more . . .” said Tegan.

The three laughed.

“More it is,” Andri agreed. “Col, let’s strip. I want us to suck each other, then perhaps we can use this tree when we fuck.

Col obliged, spreading his cloak alongside their blanket, so there was more room. He took Andri in his arms, and the two of them kissed warmly and eagerly, their hunger for one another rising like a tide. Meanwhile, Tegan leaned forward to the two prone lovers and touched their cocks; Andri’s pale, substantial one and Col’s thick, dusky cock.

Col leaned into Andri to suck him, and Andri maneuvered to suck Col’s in turn. Then the young horsemaster stood up and pulled his lover to his feet.

“Let me take you. I’m hungry to fuck your sweet ass.”

Andri put his cloak over the rough tree bark and leaned over it, exposing his ass. The tree was large: its upper branches held the trunk off the ground, making it a perfect height for fucking.

Col pulled a bottle of lubricant from the bag he had brought. He winked at Teagan.

“We prefer to use lubricant over spit. Much more slippery and makes fucking feel so good.”

Tegan was intrigued. “You always carry it with you? What happens if you are travelling and you run out?”

“In winter, it’s a bugger; I grant you, but I make my own from succulent-leaved plants and lichens at other times of the year. One plant gives a lubricant that tingles. I like that.”

He poured the lotion into his hand and slathered it all over his cock, stroking it in, after which he put some on Andri’s ass. He worked his lover’s rectum with his fingers. Andri, bent over the broad girth of the tree trunk, gripped a branch and grunted, his passion rising.

“Are you ready for me?” Col asked him.

“You know I am. I want to be fucked by you, to feel that wonderful cock inside me . . .”

Col pushed his cock in through the tight passage. He called Tegan to stand beside him, then, as he began to pump his cock back and forth, he kissed Tegan simultaneously.

Being so close and involved while Col was fucking his lover excited the young man. “I wish it was me being fucked in the ass. You two are so hot together.”

“Time enough for that later. Let’s not rush things tonight,” grunted Col.

So Tegan continued to embrace and kiss Col as the young horsemaster fucked Andri until his climax approached. As he shot his load into Andri’s ass, Tegan reached and gripped his balls gently. When Col pulled out and finished ejaculating on Andri’s butt, their new young friend rubbed his hand in the cum, then touched Col’s spasming cock.

‘I want to suck on Andri. May I?’ Tegan said plaintively.

“I’d like that,” the young singer replied, getting up and leaning his back against the tree trunk. He stood, legs apart, bracing himself with his hands on the tree as Tegan knelt before him. Andri’s cock was fully hard after being fucked, and Tegan regarded it with wonder, touching and stroking it.

“I’ve never sucked another’s cock before,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ll do a poor job compared with you two.”

“Oh, Tegan, it’s not a contest. Just do what you enjoy, and listen to any cues my body gives you!” Andri told him.

Tegan bent to his task. He closed his mouth over the cock and began sucking. Andri sighed and gave Tegan only simple suggestions, commenting and encouraging him. Knowing that it was the young man’s first time sucking cock heightened Andri’s arousal. Desire built up to an unbearable pitch, and he ejaculated. Tegan bravely swallowed.

The three rested after playing with Tegan and sucking him until he had come once more. Col brought out a flask of wine and some flatcakes.

“Good,” I’m thirsty!” Andri said, reaching for the flask.

Col held the flask tighter. “Ah! First, we thank the Forest Spirits. Particularly for this fallen tree that has served us so well.”

Tegan said, “Please allow me.”

He put a cake on the tree trunk and poured wine over it, uttering words that were barely heard. He made a sign with his hand. Suddenly, a chill in the air pervaded the clearing, the temperature dropping rapidly.

“Uh-oh! The Spirits answer, Andri!” exclaimed Col.

“I feel it. We have felt this before . . .” his lover replied.

Tegan stood straight and faced the clearing. The air shimmered, brighter than the moonlight, and a form emerged. An odour of musk and pine reached them, emanating from the being. It gradually became man-shaped but taller than human. He was dressed in deerskins, and his head was garlanded with leaves. The being stared at Tegan for a long while before touching his face, at which point the young man collapsed. The creature then looked at Col and Andri.

Col heard words in his mind: “Your bodily sacrifices are accepted. We will meet again.”

With that, he faded, and the air warmed again. The forest had been dead silent while the encounter happened, but a breeze now started up and whispered its way among the trees. The owl hooted again, and some animal crashed its way through the brush.

The two young men knelt beside Tegan. Just as Col felt for the pulse in his neck, Tegan opened his eyes.

“The Lord of the Wood himself came for us! I did call on him when I ejaculated the first time. He heard!” There was wonder in his eyes.

Andri shivered. “I heard words in my mind, too! What does it all mean?”

“It means we ride towards an event that may become beyond our control. The Powers are involved. When you choose, Andri, be aware and choose wisely,” said Col quietly to his partner.

As he helped Tegan to his feet, Col wondered what they were getting into.

*    *    *

To be continued . . .