Back when we were boys Euan had told me that Lord Ardmillan obtained the staff from the Temple of Athena on the Greek Island of Aegina. The Lord had then regaled us with stories of magical healing powers, telling us that when used in a fertility ritual, the Staff could cure whatever ails the user. From this, I gathered that the staff was used for a sexual rite. I was fascinated from that moment. It was the most potent artifact I had ever seen and holding it, I was sure I could feel some sort of power pulsing in the stone. I needed the Staff to belong to me more than any item I had ever seen. I needed to use it to heal me… of my sinful desire for men.
I dragged my eyes from the glistening Obsidian rod and looked left and right to see that other guests were as enamored by the Staff of Asklepios as I was, particularly Mr. Engles who twirled the tip of his waxed mustache and licked his feminine lips as he looked hungrily at the stone phallus. I reluctantly placed the Staff back on the velvet cushion and Euan closed the box.
Euan returned the Staff to the other room and locked the door when he left. He pocketed the key. After an hour all inquiries had been made and the collectors appeared satisfied with the information received.
“If you have all had your fill we should return to the house and the blessed warmth of the fire,” Euan suggested.
I could not have agreed more.
In The Dark
With copious amounts of Port wine and Whiskey in my belly, I was warm and fuzzy-headed. I retired to my bed and hoped to get a good night’s sleep so I would be ready for the auction the next day. The fire crackled in the hearth and did it’s best to heat the large bedchamber but the snow was falling thick outside and a gale swirled through the house making the old stone and timber building shriek and moan. My bedside candlelight danced and cast eerie shadows on the walls. Extra blankets had been provided on top of the eiderdown and Mrs. McKelvie had seen to it that the serving maid left a warming-pan beneath the covers. I removed it and left the hot copper pan on the hearthstone, and then I slid into the warm bed. I used a small graphite pencil to write some pertinent notes in my diary before I slept. I found it helped prevent me from allowing thoughts to run riot in my head as I chased sleep. I said my prayers, blessed myself, blew out the candle, and snuggled into the bed.
I lay there, inebriated and elated to have at last held the Staff of Asklepios once again. Over the years I’d spent many hours in the British Library pouring over documents and notes from the archeological digs on the Greek Island of Aegina. I had read some dozen translations of myths and legends that told of the Staff and its use in ritual healing through sexual penetration. Legend told that it could cure a long list of maladies of the mind, body, and spirit. I would pay anything to own it. I believed that if I owned it I could use it and live free of my longing for male affection.
I fell into a doze and had not been abed for more than ten minutes before I heard the latch on my door click. Then moments later I felt my eiderdown shift. Someone was getting into bed beside me!
“What the devil—“
“Hush, Ben! You’ll wake the whole damn house.” Euan whispered. I slumped back into my pillows. This is exactly what he used to do when we shared rooms at university. It was as if the rules of propriety and common sense did not apply to him. Euan always did what he wanted, and was confident that the other party shared his desires. This kind of behavior was fine for boys, but we were grown men of good station. Euan was a father and a Lord of the realm and I had chosen a life of denial. I lay there frigid with anger and frustration at his presumptuousness. I had not shared a bed in years and wanted to punch the blaggard and kick him out of the room. But I could not make a scene and wake the whole house for surely it would be my reputation in tatters and not the new Lord Ardmillan, who could excuse being discovered in my bed by saying it was drunken high-jinx. Euan shifted over and pressed his chilly body to my side. At once my anxiety heightened.
“Hmmm, nice and warm.” He groaned in an amorous way that made my guts curdle and my plums throb. Euan slid his hand beneath the covers, laid it on my chest. I tried not to breathe and let him know how my heart was thundering. He pressed his bearded face into the crook of my neck. The last time we had lain together was thirty years ago when he was a fresh-faced youth. I had not known the sensation
