The small kingdom had been occupied by the Warlord's forces for over a month, with the bulk of his army laying siege to the castle of the king. In the cramped war-room at the top of the keep, the king and his staff had been listening intently to the Warlord's terms for surrender as received by the vizier.
"...and the final term of the surrender should be clear, I want the king's balls." The old nobleman finished reading and coughed. Looking at the king, he said, "Frankly Sire, I do not understand that last part."
A hush fell over the room, the military leadership looking furtively at each other, they knew what it meant.
Then the king laughed nervously, "It must be some sort of mistake, perhaps you read it wrong?"
"Sire," one of the older generals spoke up, "this is no mistake. The Warlord has conquered all of our neighbors to the South and in each case, the reigning king was relieved of his stones. No one knows what the Warlord does with them, but by castrating the king he ensures docile obedience to his rule. There was a rumor that one ruler, of a kingdom in the West, refused and every man and boy in that land was crucified, emasculated, and left to bleed to death. All of the women were taken to the Warlord's domain as slaves."
The men assembled in the room were collectively surprised at the king's composure over this revelation. "So be it," he declared gravely, "I either offer this barbarian my cods willingly or he will decimate and destroy our kingdom and take them anyway. At least this way I get to keep my phallus and our lives."
At one hour before sundown the next day a small, open cart drawn by a donkey and led by one of the Warlord's soldiers appeared at the keep. The king appeared, dressed only in a very brief breechclout. He climbed into the cart for the trip to the Warlord's tent as his noblemen watched in sadness. His people had lined the short road from the keep to the main gate, but each of them cast their eyes to the ground, refusing to give obeisance to the humiliation delivered to their monarch, who they loved dearly.
The loincloth did not bother the king at all, in spite of the fact that it hid nothing. He was often seen competing in public contests of strength and physicality. At thirty summers of age, the young king was the picture of health, his chiseled physique a marvel to the women of his kingdom and a source of respect, and in some cases jealousy, by the men. He stood eighteen hands tall and was slightly under fourteen stone. His short-cropped dark hair and short beard framed a face with the most piercing blue eyes one could imagine on a man--some said that they were too much like those of a wolf to be normal.
As the cart cleared the main gate the soldiers of the Warlord, unlike the loyal subjects of the king, had gathered to mock and jeer the young ruler as the cart made its way towards the center of the encampment where the Warlord waited.
"Hey your highness! You'll be walking funny after today!"
"Should we start calling you Queen?"
"Hey Your Royal Highness, you won't miss those tiny bollocks!"
...and so on until the cart drew up to the huge tent pitched at the center of the camp. The soldier leading the donkey pulled the opening flap up to allow the king to enter, the two massive eunuchs guarding the entrance stiff and silent as they leaned on huge scimitars. The king blinked as he entered the tent, his eyes adjusting to the dimmer light within. A thick carpet led from where he had entered to a large platform with a huge carved throne. On that throne was the largest man the king had ever seen. He was easily 21 hands tall, even judging from his sitting position, rippling with muscle, his upper torso framed by a gold harness that tightly wrapped the furrows of his musculature.
His huge nipples pierced with gold rings as were his ears, with bracelets made of iron and worked with gold on his arms and wrists. His head was clean-shaven and almost seemed polished in the flickering light of the braziers that lit the tent. His white beard was thick and long, twisted and braided as it separated underneath his heavy, square-jawed chin. His entire chest was covered with a snowy-white carpet of fur and the king marveled at the deep furrows of the Warlords abdomen given his age, which was hard for him to fathom. The Warlord wore a thick sword belt with only a large, intricately worked silver codpiece at his crotch, his legs as thick and sinewy as tree trunks spread wide and planted in calf-length boots.
The throne was surrounded by beautiful women in delicate, breezy and revealing skirts, their chests bare with their ample bosoms exposed. They fawned over their master, their gold jewelry tinkling as they moved, but upon seeing the king they surreptitiously sized up the newcomer, their eyes giving quick glances to the large pouch formed by his loincloth.
"Come here" the Warlord bellowed, "and kneel at my feet!"
The king moved forward and then dropped to his knees in front of his conqueror.
"Don't you think," the king said suggestively from his kneeling position, looking up directly into the dark, brooding eyes of the Warlord, "that you should dismiss your ladies? For our privacy of course."
"WHAT?!" the Warlord screamed, rising to his feet and instinctively reaching for his sword, his women moving away in all directions. "How DARE you presume...wait, perhaps I should dismiss them," his voice lowering, thoughtful, less menacing, as he glared at the king.
"Leave us," he commanded suddenly, sitting back into his chair as his women quickly exited the tent.
"Now then, stand-up and pull off that cloth!"
The king obeyed, rising slowly, and even more slowly unravelling the breechclout, casually tossing it to the side as he stood, legs spread before the Warlord.
Now the Warlord had his huge broadsword in hand and reached it forward, the wide tip touching gently at the base of the young kings sack, his ample balls separated to each side of the point.
"A shame, really, to relieve you of these beautiful orbs."
"Yes, I would agree!" the king nodded, feeling his bag draw up at the coldness of the steels touch.
"I will tell you when to speak, pup!" the Warlord yelled, snapping the tip of the sword up sharply, tapping the base of the king's jewel-bag and causing him to double-over from the pain. As the king regained his composure, he stood once again, stiffly.
"Look over at yonder frame," the Warlord said as he replaced his sword in a stand by the throne and pointed towards one side of the tent. The king, looking to where the Warlord gestured, could not control his mouth from dropping open. A large, intricately carved wood frame stood, with thick threads woven into a loose matrix of squares and in almost all of the squares, easily twenty of them, he saw hanging small, wrinkled leather pouches, like coin purses. Each of them varying in shades of tan, brown and some quite dark, all covered with a sparse sprinkling of coarse hair. He knew immediately what they were and a hard pit formed in the depths of his bowel.
Seeing his discomfort, the Warlord bellowed a huge laugh. "Yes boy, soon your sack will join those of your brothers in rule."
The young king gulped involuntarily, his hands instinctively moving together to protect his privates.
"Hands at your sides, boy!" the Warlord roared and the king snapped to a soldiers position of attention.
"Yes, Sire!"
The Warlord smiled. "Perhaps, boy, you are wondering what I plan to do with your stones after I remove your purse for mounting on my display?"
"Yes, Sire, that had crossed my mind," the young king admitted, thinking back to what his generals had said.
Again the huge man bellowed a laugh. "One of my wives is a consummate cook. She will coat them in a spiced batter of ground dried peas and then fry them until they are brown and crisp. Then the two of us will dine on them, perhaps with some fava beans and tomato. I also have a very tasty wine that pairs well with the salty flavor of king balls!"