Flail of the Pharoah (27 page)

This did nothing to reassure Charmian and when she found herself alone with the Pharaoh her face was flushed with shame and fear. Once she had witnessed an elder of her tribe in the throes of a heart attack and now, with her wildly irregular heartbeat, she feared she might be about to undergo a similar experience.

But the Pharaoh spoke kindly to her. ‘Don’t look so worried, my dear, we shall work all this out between us. Whatever happens we must obey the will of the gods, and there have been signs of late. You had a vision of Lord Anubis, did you not?’

Again she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

‘The queen has had a similar dream, and so have I. The high priest believes this is a sign from the god that we should start a new cult, dedicated to strict discipline. I would preside as Lord Set, my namesake, while the queen would play her part as Lady Nut. Prince Neshi might take on the mantle of Anubis, while you could represent his mother, the adulterous Nephthys. Thus Anubis would revenge the wicked mother who abandoned him at birth. The old histories of the gods would be re-enacted every new moon in the temple. The name of this new cult would be The Fellowship of the Flail.’

Charmian was stunned. Instead of being banished or sentenced to death for her presumption, it looked as though she were being invited to join a secret society!

‘Even now Tut-Tut is explaining all this to Queen Mira, and expects to receive her consent,’ Seti continued. ‘But what do you say, Charmian? Could you give yourself in ritual submission to my son? If so, your reward shall be to succeed my wife as queen, when the prince ascends to my throne.’

It was more than Charmian had dared hope, and even now she feared the king was only saying this to trick her. He saw her hesitation and took her by the hand.

‘If you will join us, I believe your most heartfelt desires will be fulfilled, my dear. I saw how you submitted to me the other night, and I felt a new surge of power. But my true desire is not to subjugate you, but my own wife. I believe she feels the same way. It is more fitting if my son should discipline you in our rituals. Thus the fellowship shall be maintained, passing from age to age through all the generations and ensuring that the land of Egypt retains the favour of the gods.’

Charmian was speechless, scarcely able to take in the news. But directly there was the sound of footsteps and Mira and Tut-Tut reappeared, this time accompanied by Prince Neshi. He gave Charmian a broad smile and she blushed. The thought that he might take her to wife was sheer bliss; but the idea of having a strict disciplinarian as a husband was even more exciting. Could it really come to pass, as the king had described?

‘So now each of us knows what the gods have planned for us, and for the Throne of Egypt,’ Seti said, embracing them all with open arms. ‘If there is any one of you who wishes to withdraw speak now, or forever submit to the Rule of the Flail.’

For a moment the fate of the royal house of Egypt hung in the balance, but as the seconds passed it was decided. There was deep silence in the Pharaoh’s audience chamber – the silence of assent.

Queen Mira could not have imagined a more satisfactory outcome. Her little talk with Tut-Tut had convinced her that this was the clear solution to the dark cloud of confusion that had fallen upon them all. In fact it was so neat, so perfect, that the high priest had not needed to work hard to persuade her that this was, indeed, the will of the gods.

She had gone at once to find her son and sound him out. Prince Neshi was, predictably, gambling at dogs and jackals again but that had only increased her determination to rope him into this grand plan. He would not spend another day in idleness. Instead he must agree to the betrothal and then to find more fitting employment for a crown prince. Hunting, war strategy, religion and diplomacy should be his preoccupation from now on. And the reward for his compliance would be the monthly opportunity to exert his male power over a beautiful submissive female. Mira explained all this to him succinctly and then awaited his reply, and he did not hesitate.

‘Mother, I would consider it a great honour to be included in this fraternity, along with my father, the high priest and other nobles.’ His eyes sparkled with undisguised lust. ‘And as for Charmian, I never dreamed that my father would give up his most beautiful concubine to be my wife. When shall my dream come true?’

‘As soon as possible,’ the queen replied, smiling. ‘But first come to see your father and your bride-to-be. Then we shall all of us sit down together and discuss the rituals and offices of the new cult.’

The temple was a forbidding place at the best of times but at the next full moon, with the ethereal light silvering the statue of Isis from a slit window and the tall, carved pillars lit only by flickering flames, the House of the Gods took on an eerie, numinous atmosphere. To the small band of worshippers gathered before the sacrificial altar it seemed as though the images were truly inhabited by the spirits of the Mighty Ones. Lord Anubis looked on with keen amber eyes; Queen Isis had glinting eyes of lapis lazuli; the Ladies Nut and Nephthys gazed across the aisle at each other, and the great Lord of All, Amon-Ra himself, officiated from his heavenly throne with a dark, impassive gaze.

The inauguration ceremony of the Fellowship of the Flail was about to begin.

The Pharaoh, crown prince and high priest stood in tandem before the altar, where three females were lying prostrate and naked. The first lady’s faithful servant, Iras, had joined Queen Mira and Princess Charmian, who vowed to submit to her spiritual master, Tut-Tut. Thus they represented the three ages of womankind: the queen being the eldest, Iras the next in age and young Charmian the youngest, each beautiful in their own way although Charmian’s fair flesh and golden hair stood out amongst them in pale, shining glory.

A cloud of apprehension seemed to hang over the three females, along with the heady lotus incense that befuddled the senses and numbed the body. By contrast, the posture of the three men showed that they felt alert and strong, at the height of their male power. The men were in their finest ritual robes, specially created for this new cult. Their arms and legs were bare but encircled by gold bands each bearing a holy amulet. They wore short tunics of pure white linen and pectoral jewels of gold and brilliants, but it was their magnificent golden crowns and masks that would have drawn the eyes of any observers. Except there were no observers to this most holy and secret of temple rites. Only those participating knew how close each of them came to the Divine.

Music drifted in faint strains from players in an adjacent gallery, whose eyes had been shaded and ears stopped lest they should catch even a fragment of the secret sights and sounds coming from the temple. All doors were secured with guards, their senses equally blocked, so that none might intrude upon the sacred ceremony with their mundane profanity.

At last the chief player in the sacred rite, the Pharaoh himself, stood forward and raised his right arm as a signal to the gods that the inauguration ceremony was about to begin.

‘Hear ye, Gods of Egypt and the World, as we prepare to honour and obey the Divine Will. We dedicate this cult to thee, Lord Anubis, and ask for thy blessing on the royal house of Egypt…’

So began the words that would echo down the ages in that sacred place.

After the prayers to the gods the climax of the ritual approached. Tut-Tut raised on high the wooden box, like a miniature sarcophagus painted with sacred symbols, and then opened the lid. He offered it first to King Seti, next to Prince Neshi, then replaced it on the side altar and helped himself, so that each man was possessed of a ceremonial flail, with a gold handle and gilded leather thongs strung with faience beads. Then began the solemn recitation of the Sins of the Goddesses.

Still lying facedown on the cold stone of the altar, the three females felt their pulses race as they knew the time of their atonement was at hand. Their bodies had been massaged with holy oil and all around them wafted the strong perfumes that clouded the mind and subdued the flesh. Yet they felt a strong sense of sisterhood as they lay side by side, like children in a bed, sharing the same feelings of trepidation and awe.

One by one their holy names were called, echoing through the dark caverns and chambers like a solemn knelling of bells. Then each heard a rustling movement as the men approached.

‘In the name of Lord Anubis, we chastise thee!’ came the chorus of strong male voices. Then a rush of air as the thongs of three flails fell in unison upon three pairs of rotund female buttocks with a resounding crack.

The cry was repeated, and then the second blow fell. Along with the inevitable pain came a sudden surging of religious joy in the bosoms of the three females as they subjected themselves to the holy punishment. Their imaginations went to work, elevating their masters to the status of gods, turning the crack of the flail into the sound of the divine thunder that heralds the blessed inundation, experiencing the torment of their flesh as a delicious prelude to the divine rapture that would surely follow.

‘Behold, the chastened goddesses!’ came the cry after three lashes of the flail, and the females began to relax. Their bottoms were smarting but their souls were satisfied and, beyond the fierce heat of their pain, another energy was awakening. This was the serpent energy of life itself, which brought fertile swelling and moisture to the body in readiness for the primal act of worship.

The three men unfastened their belts and cast off their tunics. Like the females they represented three generations: the high priest being the eldest, then the Pharaoh and his son. Father and son were alike in fitness, their oiled bodies being perfect in their musculature as a result of daily exercise and massage. Only Tut-Tut stood out, his pale flabby body attesting to many hours at prayer in the temple, and feasting upon the choice delicacies brought as offerings to the gods.

The high priest stood out in another way, too. Whilst Seti and Neshi both sported a burgeoning erection, a loincloth hung flat over the place where Tut-Tut’s tackle had once swung. But in its place he strapped on an extra long and thick dildo of oiled leather with which to service the queen’s attendant.

‘Behold, we honour the chastened goddesses with an act of holy union!’ Seti declared.

Holy oil was used to anoint the men’s cocks, although it was scarcely needed. As soon as the three men entered their females in unison it was obvious they were already excited enough to grease the passage of their partner’s phallus. The protocol required the females to be entered from behind, facedown, so that they remained submissive throughout the ritual flagellation and copulation.

Soon the men were riding firmly, treating them like bucking camels as they writhed and wriggled their pelvises to gain maximum sensation from the act. The still air of the temple, redolent of incense, was now filled with the sweet music of love: the sighs and moans from the sensually aroused females accompanied by the deeper groans and grunts of the men. There was something especially satisfying about three couples striving towards the same end, making the occasion very special for them all.

This extra stimulation had enlarged the royal erections to such a degree that they equalled the outsized dildo, and all three females were soon pulsating with extreme passion.

‘The Lord Anubis has come unto me!’ Queen Mira exclaimed in her erotic religious fervour, and soon the other two were echoing her words, crying out in ecstasy as the ‘god’ brought them to the brink of orgasm and then, tantalisingly, slowed down, leaving them at melting point. Both Neshi and Tut-Tut were taking their cue from the Pharaoh, the most experienced lover, and he was demonstrating how to tease and pace a woman in order to increase her ultimate pleasure.

However, it was no more possible to hold back the flood forever than it was to contain the inundation of the Nile. The queen was the first to come, in a flurry of excited cries that instantly brought Charmian to orgasm. Iras, taken by surprise, was a few seconds behind but when her climax was upon her it was the most gratifying of all, since she had not experienced the sexual act for many a long year. The delight with which she now greeted her climax suggested that she would not brook such deprivation in future.

The Pharaoh gently increased the pace of his thrusting once the wild pulsations of his wife’s pussy had ceased. His own fulfilment was yet to come, and he would induce at least one more climax out of his woman before he gave in to the pressure of his seed, longing to be spilt. He could tell his companions were eager to finish the job, so he would not prolong it further than they could bear.

The females began making appreciative cries as the pace increased once more, the men’s thick reeds caressing their lotus buds in the swampy terrain of their cunnies. The incense was working on their minds, filling their heads with vivid sensuous images: Mira imagined she was wallowing in warm mud on the banks of the Nile, like a sacred crocodile; Charmian could see herself lying on a bed of roses with their scent filling her nostrils and their delicate petals kissing her skin all over; Iras dreamed she was in the warm sea where once, years ago, she had been swimming, with little fish touching her breasts and stomach gently with their fins. The tactile visions intensified and their bodies responded with a second thrilling climax, this time triggering their lovers’ consummation as well.

All three men discharged their seed with a loud cry, and the females felt the warm liquid fountain inside them, enhancing their climax. The tight caresses of the female’s buttocks made the men shudder, and their long moment of pleasure seemed eternal, infinite. The thrusting discharge marked the ultimate homage to the gods and at that point each of them felt a deep sense of religious awe, a finer sensibility that made their act of love more pure and holy, transcending the animal couplings of their lowly subjects.