Red November Ch. 02

"Being a mere book-keeper is not the kind of life I'd choose freely."

His uncle's face took on a conspiratorial look. "So you crave colour in your life, do you? And you have no objection to acting the girl? If that's so there is an alternative for an attractive lad such as you." He pointed at the scene beyond the window. "Across that expanse of water sits the Turkish coast, and I've done business there many times. The Young Turks have recently deposed their sultan ..."

He sighed to betray a tinge of regret, "...Hah! Scarcely any kings left. No Habsburgs or Romanovs, not even a Kaiser or a Sultan. At least one knew where one stood in the scheme of things when there was a Tsar. More than one does with this bullying socialist lot wanting to foster themselves on us now, anyway. Sadly, pulling down monarchies seems to be a trend at the moment. "But no attempt to construct a modern democracy will have any immediate effect on the traditions of the sitar's and provincial governors in Turkey."

Konni dabbed the corners of his mouth with a linen napkin. "You seem to have a plan. What sort of thing are you suggesting, Uncle Sergei?"

"Plenty of people will go astray during the kind of chaotic exodus we have no option but to conduct here. You too can go astray if you wish. Tomorrow I can either put you on a steamship bound for Constantinople and an ink-pot in your uncle's sweat-shop, or I can find you a place on a schooner sailing to Trebizon where a pretty thing like you will be found a useful place in a rich man's harem."

Konni was astounded. It was unthinkable that he, son of well bred nobility should be considered for such a fate. To be put on the block and auctioned off to the highest bidder as a chattel. It was outrageous to even suggest he should spend the remainder of his youth as a concubine in the house of some anonymous rich man, forever scantily clad and available to be used like a girl. Yet the prospect did have some attraction.

He didn't reply immediately. He went and stood by his uncle's side, very conscious of the man's eau de Cologne as he gazed out through the window at the ships in the harbour. "It's... it's an unusual solution," he mumbled at last.

"Not so unusual for me. The times in which we live are full of uncertainty and have displaced many people. In the cellar of this house I have half a dozen other boys like you, all prepared to make the journey. They are unsophisticated peasants of course, while you are intelligent and refined as well as beautiful. You are certain to be acquired for one of the best households where you'll be swathed in aromatic oils, fussed over and pampered and will lead the life of a self-indulgent oriental princess."

Konni stiffened. His uncle's hand had slipped behind and he felt an impertinent, indecent caress to his bottom. Beneath his silk robe he was wearing precisely nothing, and the inquisitive groping quickly established that as a fact. "I usually have a trial run with all the lads I send to Turkey. If you're agreeable perhaps we could..."

What to do? thought Konni. It could be fatal for him to remain in his homeland, but he had the choice of taking a low paid menial job in Greece or serving as a girlish slut in the orient. Sons of boyars had never been asked to make such choices in the past, and even a good education wasn't much help when it came to making the decision. Whatever he agreed to at that moment would affect his entire life. What to do?