Florence Love- Part 3- JASkehan
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Florence Love-3
The ride back was somber and silent. An unopened bottle of wine was waiting for us in our quarters. Ferdinand summoned his secretary to join us. I sat silent as they shared the wine and discussed the events at the dinner. The secretary, whose name was Silvio, offered various reasons why the cleric had attempted to insult the Grand Duke. He did not mention the duke's sexual habits. He stated that there was much unrest in the city. Some suspected that the clergy was stirring up trouble . Others blame the high price of bread as a result of the poor harvest in the autumn. Many blame the poor quality of the fish in the market.
Ferdinand appeared to be tired and announced that he would deal with the problem in the morning. Silvio left and we retired to the sleeping room to find our faithful footman there waiting for us. " Your Grace ", he began, "one of the tasters in the kitchen and one of the cook's assistants died last night. The physicians believe they were poisoned."
Ferdinand sat silently for a few minutes. "In the morning, early, take one of the tasters you trust and go to my estates outside of the city. I want you to personally to select the foods and wine for my household. Test it on one of the stray dogs. When you return take the meat and the fowl to the poorest part of the city and give it to the people. Let it be known that I will have no meat, no fish, and no bread on my table as long as my people suffer. We will have simple meals and you will watch their preparation carefully. My meals will be shared with my secretary and my household chaplain. Also, set your spies at the archbishop's palace to discover what his kitchen prepares for the good clerics. Lent is fast approaching and I will degree that the citizens will strictly observe it, all of the citizens. I suspect that the good clerics will not abstain and the citizens should know this.", he commanded the footman to do this in secret and as quickly as possible. I saw the wisdom and cunning of Ferdinand for the first time.
The one thing that was not given up for lent was our sexual pleasure. Each night and sometimes in the afternoon Ferdinand would come to the bed chamber and make love to me. Sometimes I simply service him; other times he entered me and deposited his seed. Regardless he always made surei too was satisfied in my needs. Once I asked him "Why am I the one still here?" His reply was a simple kiss and the words "because I love you. You have asked nothing of me when you could have anything of value." At that moment I knew that I was truly his. In my happiness I never thought of asking him for anything.
I shared in the simple meals, but often eating alone in the sleeping room while Ferdinand ate with his two guests. For me, thinking back on the past, even these simple meal were a luxury. Over the next few days Ferdinand's confidence returned. His mood was lighter. Word spread of the indulgent meals served at the archbishop's palace. People in large numbers began to not attend services in the city's churches, going instead to the chapels of the mendicant monks. The monks shared food with the people and the people brought offering of their meager food to the monks.
The decline in church attendance, and with it revenues, alarmed the archbishop. He ordered the mendicant monks to close their chapels to outsiders. In an act of defiance Ferdinand lead a large group of loyal nobles and citizens to each chapel offering prayers and foods from our own kitchens. The people saw this as an act of humility on his part.
The archbishop was furious. He railed against the sinful life that Ferdinand was leading, keeping a street boy, a former prostitute, in his household. His rantings only made the people grew more restless. His intemperate words angered the people. A strong guard was ordered by Ferdinand to be placed on the archbishop's palace for his own protection. Fearing for his safety at seeing the guard, the archbishop fled with his staff of clerics to his country estates. He appealed to the pope in Rome for assistance in punishing this evil sinner.
Ferdinand had foreseen this turn of events and had dispatched a delegation of respected civil officials to Rome with complaints against the archbishop. The Pope's reaction was silence. As he could ill afford to cause the Grand Duke from such an illustrious family to become his enemy.
The plea for help from the archbishop was received after the delegation from Florence had presented its own case against the archbishop. The Pope did not respond to ether. In a fashion typical for the church, it was simply announced that the matter was under consideration. When the archbishop sent another request for help to the papal household he was told that the first request had been misplaced as the papal court moved out of the city. The third request by the archbishop met with an even vaguer reply that someone was looking into the situation.
Meanwhile the city settled into lent and preparations for Easter. Our household suffered no more deaths by poison. Ferdinand spent more time out among the people. I was at his side for many of these occasions and for all audiences with nobles and civic officials. Gifts and small tokens began to arrive slowly for me from those who now saw me as having some influence with Ferdinand. I returned all of them with a note of thanks but suggesting that the poor of the city were in greater need than I. Later I told Ferdinand of my reactions. He took me in his arms ,saying "I know I made the right choice at that party. You had the look of an honest boy who was about to become a man who had come upon hard times."
Our own life became more regulated and at the same time more passionate. Ferdinand made love to me often, some days coming to our chambers in the middle of the day for a few moments of passion. He was a strong and vigorous lover with an appetite that seemed greater than a normal man. I eagerly awaited each of these sessions and responded in kind. Ferdinand's ever eager tool found a willing receptacle in my body. He unlocked feelings in me that I did not know I had. As the time went on I began to think that the word "love" would be spoken too often. I know that my own feelings for Ferdinand had deepened. He never ceased to shower me with gifts and his affection. It was this affection that I appreciated the most. The jewels, fine robes, meant nothing to me as much as a simple touch as he passed me.
Easter arrived but the archbishop did not return to the city for the celebrations. Instead he requested that the abbot of one of the mendicant houses conduct the services in his place. The archbishop claimed that gout prevented him from traveling back to the city. No one was fooled by this. Our own household prepared for the occasion with a proper degree of humility.
The secretary and household chaplain continued to share some meals with Ferdinand, often including me. I had been in the palace for four months now, longer than any other of Ferdinand's boys. People in the palace noticed that he no longer went out seeking his pleasure among the rent boys of the city. My own position was elevated when it was announced that I was given the post of gentleman of the bed chamber with a stipend from the Grand Duke's own purse. In my new position I was to attend Ferdinand at meetings of his council.
The archbishop was mollified for a short time by the Pope with an additional, meaningless title. But the Pope still refused to condemn Ferdinand. The persistent protestations of the archbishop were received with mild distain by the officials of the papal court. At one point the Pope sent a monk to the archbishop with a personal message. He warned the archbishop that the Pope would not interfere in any conflict between the Grand Duke and the cleric. The pope, he was told, could ill afford to lose the support of the Grand Duke, his family, or his troops.
Having failed to get help from the Pope, the archbishop then turned to those nobles of the city whom he knew to be either in sympathy with his own views. These men of noble families held their own personal grudges against Ferdinand and his family. Hopefully they would willingly join the archbishop's efforts to remove Ferdinand, using his lack of moral character and its influence on the morals of the people of the city as an excuse for removing him.
Ferdinand soon got word of this disloyalty and took immediate action to counter it. He brought his weak willed cousin, his potential replacement, to live in the Grand Duke's own palace. Here his actions and contacts could more easily be monitored. He also introduced his cousin into the pleasures to be derived from the rent boys of the city. The cousin was soon so enraptured of the pleasure of the flesh that he lost all interest in political affairs.
To the plotting nobles he let it be known that the rich estates granted to them by his father and grandfather were with the provision that they were to be loyal to his family. If they demonstrated disloyalty those estates would revert to Ferdinand to be given to more worthy citizens. The plotting nobles quickly left the city to go to their estates to avoid any conflict that might be considered disloyal to the ruling house.
During the conflicts Leo became even more important to Ferdinand. Often he was used to convey messages to the general populace. He was set up as an example to the people of the justice of Ferdinand's rule. Even a common man could achieve position in the Grand Duke's court. Of course, at night Leo continued to share the bed of Ferdinand. He provided solace to the ruler whenever he needed it. Their love making and passion for each other grew in the times of troubles. Gradually Leo managed to utter the word "Love' to Ferdinand.
It was decided that it was time to clean the personal household of any person who might be possibly disloyal. The personal chaplain was the first to go. He was given a small pension and a parish assignment in the far off mountains. The secretary was sent far away as a special envoy to the court of the Turkish sultan. He was replaced by the young, handsome son of a noble family known to be personally loyal to Ferdinand. The chaplain was replaced by one of the mendicant monks. To further secure the friendship of the Pope rich gifts were sent to Rome to embellish the chapel of the Pope.
Ferdinand did not forget his now besotted cousin. He was installed in a suite of lavish rooms in the palace where he might entertain his many new found young lovers. He was also given his own personal body guards, men chosen for their fine bodies and willingness to join in the now frequent orgies that the cousin hosted. They also reported back to Ferdinand on the goings on in the rooms of the cousin. Much of this occurred at night so as not t o raise any notice outside of the palace.
It was now almost two years since Leo had been brought to the palace. Ferdinand had ceased to go into the streets to seek out his pleasures. Leo had become the willing focus of all of his needs.. There were no more late night visitors to the private apartments of the Grand Duke. Ferdinand's love making took on a new dimension. His vigor seemed now to be more passionate, more caring for Leo's pleasure. The love between the two deepened.
One night, after a very passionate love making session, Ferdinand reached into the table next to his bed. He pulled out a small box. He withdrew a silver ring set with a blue stone, a rare sapphire from the orient. He looked at Leo and said, "I may not be able to marry you, Leo, but let this ring remind you of my deep love for you." He put the ring on Leo's finger before giving him a passionate kiss. Leo was stunned at this profession of love.
The archbishop, seeing his now isolated position, had decided to finally capitulate to Ferdinand. He sent a very handsome young priest to plead his case. Seeing the priest, Ferdinand assigned a new task to Leo. He was to seduce the handsome man and introduce him into the pleasures of the flesh. Reluctantly Leo pursued the young man. He was successful on his very first attempt. The young priest, being only human, fell under Leo's spell. Leo introduced him to the pleasures of the flesh that the young man had long been denied. It was decided that now that the priest had been compromised his loyalty should be secured with a proper mate. Among the guard staff were a number of men willing to bed the handsome priest. Soon, he too was besotted with a soldier lover. The new soldier lover was selected not only for his looks but also for his formidable endowment and loyalty to the Grand Duke. At night the sounds coming from the chamber of the priest were not those normally associated with prayers. At night the soldier could often be seen entering the priest's rooms only to leave at dawn. The young priest was happy and contented. He told Leo and his new lover many of the secrets of the archbishop's household. It seems the archbishop had is own private vices.
Leo reported all of this back to his lover. It was decided between them that the young priest should be attached to the household of Ferdinand's cousin, as his private chaplain. He, in his new position, would gladly forgive the sins of the household and the cousin. Sins he shared. Secretly, the soldier lover of the priest reported all of the debauchery of the household to Ferdinand.
The archbishop, now seeing that he had been defeated and isolated in all of his efforts sent word the newly elected Pope and the Grand Duke that he wanted to resign his high office and return to the life of a simple priest. He pleaded that his own health prevented him from carrying out his duties to the fullest extent . His request was quickly granted.
The clergy of the city and the grand duke then sent a list of men to the Pope who were thought to be worthy of the now vacant high office. The candidates were also sent to Rome for personal interviews with the Pope, known for his own attraction to handsome young men among his own clergy. All of the candidates were younger sons of families with personal loyalty to Ferdinand. The Pope quickly selected a handsome young man to be the new archbishop.
The young man very quickly showed his own appreciation by sharing his bed with the Pope. His efforts were rewarded with a large personal pension from the Pope and a cardinal's hat before he left Rome for his new post.
Ok, part 4 is almost ready. Keep your kind words coming and perhaps we'll carry the story on for a few more parts. There's a lot our two lovers can do in the turbulent times ahead. Suggestions are welcomed.