The Holy Fountain

≈ Ch. 33: SEAL OF MANHOOD ≈

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Who's Who in this chapter

Shay (a naïve and good-hearted 18-y.o. monk) meets again his father Master Conroy, after their dramatic breakup; then, he brings a small gift to Cassian (a horribly disfigured monk who unjustly spent 20 years in an infamous prison), but the real gift he ends up giving to the hurt man is much greater.

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~ An unexpected visit ~

Shay felt a bit weird, walking again along the dusty roads of his native village, after more than one year. As a matter of fact, since he entered the Asylum, he didn’t feel the need to go out, as he had found his home and his life with the other monks. Only one year had gone by since his father left him at the Asylum, but Shay had changed a lot in that year, and now even the most familiar places seemed different to his eyes. He stopped in front of a worn-out wooden door, with a hand-painted sign over it reading “Lether-Werk” and sighed, as that was the last place he wanted to go; but he soldiered on and entered the ample workshop.

The familiar whiff of leather, grease and glue welcomed him, and for a moment his mind went back to his childhood, making a faint smile appear on his face. But the smile quickly faded when Master Conroy turned around and exclaimed, with surprise: “Shay! I… I didn’t expect you to come…!”

“Neither did I.” – Shay curtly replied – “This is the last place in the world I wanted to come to. And you are the last man in the world I wanted to meet.”

Shay’s father stepped back, as if Shay had slapped him in the face. He didn’t forget how painful and humiliating had been Shay’s last words, when they met at the Commonweal’s Benison: out of rage, Shay had stated that they were dead to each other, that they weren’t father and son any more… Shay had even mocked his father’s masculinity, right after smearing his own manly seed over the man’s clothes.

A dull rage raised in Master Conroy, who reacted shouting: “If so, why the fuck have you come here?”

“Because… Because you’re a master in your craft” – Shay replied, uneasy, but with a sparkle of respect in his eyes – “No one can work the leather like you do, they don’t call you ‘Master’ for nothing. I know well the magic your hands can do: I used to stare at you working for hours, when I was a child. You could turn a shapeless, dirty piece of leather into a magnificent hat, a pair of breeches, a fire-drawn wristband… Look!” – Shay added, slightly opening his blouse – “The necklace you made for me when I was a child is still as beautiful as the day you gave it to me.”

Master Conroy’s rage melted like snow in the sun, and he looked at Shay with affection: “You still wear it… Yeah, I’ve always been good at working with thin leather cords. Look at this” – the man added, taking something from a drawer – “I think you will recognize it…”

Shay opened his eyes wide, looking at the elaborate leather cock cage that the monks used at the Asylum… and that Shay himself, recently, had been forced to wear. “Did you make them?” – he asked, looking at his father with surprise.

“All of them, including the spiked ones” – Conroy confirmed, and then blushed – “And… and the leather phalluses, too, including the big ceremonial one on display in the Chapter Hall. The late Uncle Rufus, before Roderick came here, asked me to make them.”

It took a moment for Shay to understand the meaning of that revelation. “So, you knew about the monks’… lifestyle, when you brought me there! You knew it, and you left me there! True, I settled very well at the Asylum, the monks helped me understand my true nature, but… I was a virgin straight boy when you put me in their hands! Why?? Why, father??”

Master Conroy weighed his words and then replied: “Because I hoped that you would’ve found you true self, there. And apparently, you did. On your birthday, when I brought that girl, Rosie, to the Asylum  [1], I dearly hoped that you would’ve found her irresistible, but you clearly told me that you have a natural preference for men. Yeah, I made a fuss in front of Roderick, but deep inside I already knew about your… sexual inclinations.”

Shay gasped and breathed: “You knew??”

“Your mother, may she rest in peace, told me. A mother knows her child better than anyone and understands things that not even the child himself knows. Before dying, she made me promise to bring you to the Asylum. Your mother was an exceptional woman, and when she passed away, half of my heart died with her.”

“But the other half apparently worked very well, if you married that Marcie after only one year!” – Shay huffed, still suffering for his father’s hurried second marriage.

“Don’t tell her” – Conroy replied – “but it would take ten Marcies to make your mother. After her death I felt like drowning and Marcie saved me. Do you know why I chose her? Because she’s a widow, too, she knew what I was feeling. We are together because she doesn’t stop me from going on mourning your mother, as much as I don’t stop her from mourning her late husband.”

A meaningful silence fell in the workshop, and for a long moment father and son looked intensely at each other. Then Master Conroy took a deep breath and said, disconsolate: “I know I’ve not been much of a father, Shay… I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Forgive me, son, if you can.”

Shay shook his head, feeling his eyes getting wet, and ran to hug his father: “Don’t say so! What… what I told you at the Benison is not true! You’re still my hero, daddy!”

The man chocked a sob into Shay’s shoulder and said with trembling voice: “You never called me like that…”

“Because you never called me ‘son’… until now” – Shay replied, holding his father tighter.

“Well… I guess you didn’t come here to make me whine like a schoolgirl, did you?” – Conroy said after a while, parting with his son and trying to regain his composure – “What do you need me to make?”

“A leather eye-patch. For the man you saw coming out of my room at the Benison. It’s a gift, can you make it without him coming here? Do you remember his features?”

“How can I forget! He scared me shitless, with his missing eye and that horrible scar on his face! Did… well… did he make love to you?”

“Father…” – Shay replied, cautious – “Why do you want to know things that make you feel bad? Does it really make any difference, knowing what we did at the Benison?”

“You’re right, you’re right, I shouldn’t have asked in the first place. Don’t ask, don’t tell.” – Conroy said, suddenly going all business – “Let’s see if these hands can still do their… magic, as you said. I will make a very special eye-patch for him, that hopefully will cover most of those horrible…”

“…imperfections” – Shay interrupted his father, who smiled tenderly: “You’re a beautiful soul, just like your mother. Alright, so mote it be, let’s start working! Want to lend a hand, son?”

“May I? Really?” – Shay beamed, and quickly rolled up his sleeves and started working with his father, side to side.

 

~ Nightmares and violence ~

When Shay went back to the Asylum, bringing the new eye-patch that his father had made, was dinner time already; he rushed taking his seat at the large dining table, excited to meet Cassian and give him his gift, but Cassian wasn’t there.

“Why Cassian isn’t having dinner with us?” – Shay asked to Ewan, who stiffened, but dissimulated his uneasiness: “He’s been nervous and irritable all day, he went to bed early”.

Shay failed to notice Ewan’s curt tone and quickly ate his meal, anxious to go to Cassian, and soon he was standing behind the closed door of the Blessing Stall that still served as bedroom for Cassian. He softly knocked, and when he didn’t get any response, he silently entered the room.

Cassian was fast asleep in his bed, and Shay stood still for a while, admiring his features in the dim flickering light of the oil lamp. Cassian’s head was turned on a side, his ugly scar was hidden, and Shay realized for the first time how handsome Cassian was. The man’s serene expression, the manly features of his face, the toned body barely covered by the bedsheets made Shay’s heart throb; he knelt near the bed, took a long close look at Cassian’s face, and then cautiously placed a hand on his cheek, giving him a tender caress.

Everything happened too quickly for Shay to really understand: Cassian opened his only eye wide and screamed “NO!! Leave me alone!!”, and a lightning-fast, powerful punch landed on Shay’s face, sending him sprawled to the floor, unconscious.

When Shay came to, he heard Cassian’s anxious voice calling him: “Shay… Shay…! Holy Spring, what I’ve done… Wake up, boy… I’m so sorry!!”

The first thing Shay saw when he opened his eyes was Cassian bent on one knee next to him… or better, his eyes focused on Cassian’s hefty member, dangling low between his thighs, beautiful and enticing. Almost by itself, Shay’s hand moved and caressed that powerful piece of manhood, and gently cupped the big, plump balls, reverently rolling them between his fingers. If ever existed an icon of masculinity, that was Cassian’s manhood, in Shay’s clouded mind.

“You don’t seem too badly injured…” – Cassian chuckled, and stood up, helping Shay on his feet – “Come, let’s lay on the bed for a moment. Forgive me, Shay. For twenty years I had to fight for my life, at the Blackthorne Dungeons, day and night, especially at night, and I acted out of pure instinct.”

“I’m alright, don’t worry” – Shay lied, as his cheekbone hurt very much; he lied on the bed, next to Cassian, and placed his head on the vast expanse of his hairy chest. He stood silent for a short while, and then said, thoughtfully: “I’m glad you could protect yourself, back then. Your body doesn’t bear any sign of abuse…”

Cassian frowned: “It wasn’t my physical prowess to ward them off. After they first tortured me, disfiguring my face, the head of the Guards took… a liking on me; he didn’t really care of my face, he only lusted after my body, and ordered that no matter what they did to me, no visible sign had to spoil my body. And then I had to exert my Temperance countless times, to sate the sexual greed of that ugly man, he seemed not to ever have enough of my manly member.”

“At least, they didn’t torture you anymore…” – Shay cautiously said, trying to find, at the very least, something positive in the nightmare Cassian had to live.

“All the prisoners were tortured, and I was no exception. Only, they were forbidden to leave visible marks on my body” – Cassian gravely replied, and when Shay shot him a questioning glance, he lowered his eyes, shamefully, and said: “There is one place in a man’s body that is always hidden to the view… They made me pray I was dead…”

“Your… man hole?” – Shay exclaimed in a chocked sob – “Did they torture you there?? What… What did they do to you?”

“My sweet Shay” – Cassian replied, shaking his head – “I won’t spoil your beautiful innocence telling you how deep an abyss of evil and cruelty men can fall into. Don’t ask me. All you have to know is that I survived, though… though my depths can’t enjoy anymore the blessing of the Holy Fountain. It’s not because I feel pain or something, when someone makes love to me: I just don’t feel… anything at all. I’ve always been more inclined to give my blessing, rather than receive it, but nevertheless, feeling a Cousin’s vigorous member filling me with its essence is something I terribly miss.”

 

~ Last-ditch effort ~

Visualizing Cassian engaged in hot sex with a manly Cousin sent a shiver of excitement through Shay's body, and his youthful cock leapt under his short habit. Cassian chuckled and commented: “Your personal Fountain seems eager to prove me wrong. But I’ve tried, and I already know the result. Nothing. Like drinking a glass of water. Don’t think that I wouldn’t like feeling your stiff, warm rod explore my depths, I’d really like it, but…”

“Let me try…” – Shay breathed, his cock now rock hard – “Please. Maybe this time will be different!”

Cassian looked straight into Shay’s eyes, thoughtfully, and then said: “Alright, I will let you try, if you so desire. But you have to promise one thing: you won’t look at my hole. Believe me, it’s not a pretty sight, and many an ardent manhood deflated before piercing my flesh. I don’t want your beautiful, bright gaze to be clouded by disgust. Take away your habit, my sweet boy, and let me feel again, hopefully, the man I once used to be.”

Shay hurriedly took off his robe and let it fall to the floor. He rose on his knees, between Cassian’s muscular thighs, and confidently showed off his chiseled, toned body, along with his stiff, throbbing member. Cassian’s gaze wandered on Shay’s almost hairless body, that still showed a hint of childish smoothness, but was that of a man under every respect. The innocent eagerness that lit up Shay’s eyes fueled Cassian’s libido, and his heavy cock slowly rose up to a magnificent erection, thick and hard, slightly curved to the right.

Shay extended a hand to the oil lamp nearby and took some oil to make his own cock slick, and used more oil to gently grease Cassian’s hole. As promised, he didn’t look, but the usually velvety inner linings of a man felt under his finger rough and irregular. However, Cassian didn’t flinch nor showed any discomfort, so Shay went on pushing his fingers into the tight opening, until he felt it was loose and slick enough.

With a bit of hesitation, Shay eased his cock into Cassian’s depths and couldn’t restrain a loud moan, as the rough skin of the man’s hole caused an intense and unexpected surge of pleasure. Shay looked down at Cassian, hoping to see him feel the same pleasure, but the seasoned monk didn’t change his expression, nor responded in any way to Shay’s penetration. His cock, at least, was still hard and throbbing, and this comforted Shay.

At first, the fuck was cautious and extremely caring, as Shay wasn’t sure that after suffering such terrible tortures, Cassian really didn’t feel any pain being penetrated; but then he realized that Cassian wasn’t actually feeling anything down there, so he paced up his thrusts, pulling his cock almost out and then shoving it in, all the way, making his hips bounce on the man’s muscular buttocks.

When, again, Cassian didn’t respond in any way, Shay’s fuck became powerful, rough, while beads of sweat appeared on his concentrated face. He just couldn’t accept that Cassian couldn’t feel anymore the sheer pleasure that Shay himself felt every time Ewan or another Cousin fucked him!  Shay had learned well, since he joined the Asylum, that being loved by a man is not just a matter of sexual stimulation, it’s the mind-blowing pleasure of feeling joined to another man, it’s being washed by his love, his tenderness and his ardor; and the idea that Cassian couldn’t feel anymore those profound, heart-warming feelings made Shay feel sad.

If a bystander would’ve seen Shay fuck Cassian in that moment, would’ve thought that he was raping or hurting the man, but the truth was that Shay was desperately trying to make Cassian feel again a man, make him feel complete and let him enjoy again the sweetness of man-love. Each wreaking thrust of his loins were a desperate offer of love.

But the frantic fuck was only making Shay quickly climb to the peak of his own pleasure, and soon he found himself on the verge of the orgasm.

That was when, under Shay’s attentive gaze, Cassian softly moaned and rolled his only eye, suddenly won by an unexpected surge of pleasure reviving those depths that he thought dead forever. “Ohh… Shay… I feel it… I feel it…!” – he moaned; and Shay instantly knew that, no matter what, it was not time for him to surrender to his climax: he had to resist, and go on fucking Cassian with relentless force, giving him again and again that forgotten pleasure rising from his tortured insides like a Phoenix rises from its ashes. Without slowing down his powerful thrusts, Shay recoiled a bit and curled his fingers around Cassian’s mighty member, and started stroking it with firm determination.

“I’m not giving up, I will make him cum!” – Shay thought, and realized that he had actually spoken those words aloud, when Cassian replied: “Yes, my wonderful young man, you’re making me… ooohh… you’re making me cum… NNNNGGHHH!!!”

Cassian’s cock started pulsing into Shay’s hand, and a geyser of man juice erupted from the bloated head. That was way too much for Shay to bear, and with a guttural groan he let his own cock exploded into Cassian’s fiery depths. Cassian smiled in ecstasy and shot at Shay a watery glance: “I feel it…! I feel the warmth of your seed! OOOHH!! I feel your Fountain bathe me…!”

 

~ Seal of manhood ~

Long moments of ecstatic pleasure made both of them moan loud, and then, slowly, they came back down to Earth, covered in sweat and breathing hard. They looked intensely into each other’s eyes for a long while, speechless, and then Cassian’s mouth widened into an admired grin: “Holy Spring, I didn’t make you such a stud! Man, did you give it to me!”

Shay beamed with well-deserved pride, but shyly replied: “I was not sure I could resist enough to let you be the first to cum… I was about to give up like a million times…”

“But you didn’t.” – Cassian replied, seriously – “And do you know how we call that, here? Temperance. You’ve given a tremendous proof of your Temperance, boy. No, wait, you’re anything but a boy, you’re a man with the capital ‘M’. Forgive me, but when you’re sixty-four, anyone looks like a boy to your eyes…”

Shay’s eyes widened: “Sixty-four?? Are you sixty-four years of age??”

“Eh, apparently fighting for my dear life every given day kept me vigorous and young-looking” – Cassian chuckled – “but it’s not a method I would recommend to anyone!”

Shay giggled, nodding, but then he became serious: “So, you won’t send Randel to the Blackthorne Dungeons, will you?”

“What you mean?” – Cassian asked, and Shay explained: “When Randel was exposed and you confronted him, Uncle Roderick told us that religious crimes are punished in the Blackthorne Dungeons, and it was up to you to decide if that should’ve been Randel’s fate. Now, Cassian… I mean, Uncle… Great-Uncle Cassian, I’m not asking for anything and sure enough I won’t dare to tell you what to do, I’m just, well… I’m just… begging you not to send Randel there. I can’t think to the horrible things they would do to him there! He doesn’t deserve such a treatment, no human being does.”

Cassian looked at Shay seriously and then, after a long pause, he said gravely: “I will think about what you said. You all will soon have my decision, but I can grant you that your ardent plea didn’t go unnoticed. But you tonight discovered another part of me that was abused in a bestial way, and I had to suffer that much only because of Randel’s false accusations. They actually abused my mind, too, and tonight you had proof of that too, when I reacted like a wounded animal fighting for his life. I’m terribly sorry for hitting you so hard. How is your eye? Does it hurt? Tomorrow you’ll have a bad shiner…”

“I’m fine” – Shay replied, smiling, and this time he was sincere – “Now I’d better go have some sleep, I’m exhausted. Oh! I almost forgot the reason why I came here in the first place: I’ve brought you a gift! An eye-patch that will suit you perfectly. Only, you’ll have to find it yourself, as I threw it somewhere when… er… I fell down and it’s too dark to find it now.”

“I will soon lose count of the gifts you gave me… You gave me your respect and affection, on the day we first met; and tonight you gave me your youthful, ardent love. And now the eye-patch, that I’m sure will be beautiful and will help the monks to look at me without grimacing. And still, I want another thing from you, a promise. Tonight you gave me proof of your great Temperance, worth of an Older Cousin: promise you will undergo a Test.”

“I just became a Young Cousin” – Shay objected – “wouldn’t it too early to undergo a Trial to become an Older Cousin? Besides, I’m not that old, I’m just eighteen…”

“I didn’t mean a real Trial” – Cassian explained – “and you’re right, it would be too early for you to formally take vow of Temperance. But you can undergo a Test, to prove to the Cousinhood and yourself how far you’ve gone in the path to the Holy Fountain. Ask to Uncle Roderick or a Cousin, and they will tell you what a Test is.”

“I will.” – Shay smiled, but he then yawned and the hurting cheekbone made him flinch – “Tomorrow I’ll have some explanations to give, when they see my swollen face. Good night, er… Great-…”

“Cassian.” – the man said – “Just Cassian, when we’re alone. A mighty stud, a powerful man such as you doesn’t bow his head to anyone! Now go, Shay, see you tomorrow.”

Shay picked up his robe and went away, and there was a special spring in his steps. «A mighty stud, he said! A powerful man!» – he was thinking, with a wide smile, while opening the door to his cell.

When he stepped in, Ewan was already in bed, but he was not sleeping. He turned to look at Shay, saw him covered in sweat and, apparently, sperm, and grunted: “You had fun with your Cassian, I can tell…”

Shay’s smile died on his lips: “Ewan… Are you… angry with me for something?”

Ewan grunted again, rolled on the bed so to give his back to Shay and curtly said: “No. Good night, Shay.”

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In the next chapter: Ewan, in a rush of jealousy, sexually abuses Shay; then, feeling hurt and guilty, he will seek solitude in the underground Springs, where the gigantic and fatherly Gaynor will teach him an exquisite lesson in Submission.

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Footnotes and references:

[1] On Shay’s 18th birthday, Master Conroy brought a girl named Rosie to the Asylum, to let virgin Shay discover the joy of making love to a woman; but Shay found out, much to his own surprise, that man-love was much more pleasurable and engaging for him: apparently, he wasn’t as ‘straight’ as he thought. See Ch. 16.