Lady Death, Or, The Major's Lust

By Ah-Layva

THE YEAR 1795 IN THE AGE OF SAIL
Written by a fan of the Patrick O'Brien and Horatio Hornblower novels and every sea story ever filmed.
A tale of one redcoat army officer, Major Philip Charrington, young, titled, nobly-born, who entertains an all-consuming attraction for two bluecoat lieutenants of His Majesty's Naval Forces - Addison Spence and Francis Quinn, both as attached to one another as to their naval careers - while receiving transport on the frigate Relentless as they return from joint action off the coast of France.
After the stress of battle, the young major fears he is losing his reason as he is battered by three forces he does not understand: nightmares of his dead soldiers, a feeling of attraction to another man (a desire that is quite new to him), and the appearance of a spectral vision in the sky of Lady Death, the sailor's curse, the siren of the sea, who torments Philip with forebodings of death, taunting him to leap overboard to his perdition.
As his mind unravels and he barely keeps himself together, Philip reaches out to the one man he feels can keep him on a steady course during their voyage home – Third Lieutenant Addison Spence. Even as his wife back on the home front gives in to magick which threatens to cause irreparable damage to both their lives.
This 37,000 word novella features two explicit and extensive male/male sex scenes with reasonably elegant language, including a m/m/m coupling. The reader can be assured that the m/m sex scenes are rendered with respect for the characters involved, and that a reader who enjoys m/m slash fiction will be satisfied with the conclusion of the tale. Note: there are NO male/female sex scenes in this story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ah-Layva
• Release date: Oct 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301033447

Ah-Layva

Ah-Layva is a multi-published author who writes and reads across many genres, publishing tales that touch the heart. Do you like the cover photo of my book? It shows my comely Major Charrington as his portrait would appear hanging on the wall of Charrington Manor alongside those of his illustrious noble ancestors. Some readers might look at the cover photo and think it's Lady Death. Hmm, that is a fine thought. Since the spectral vision might logically be comprised of parts of Philip's physical and spiritual essences, why shouldn't Lady Death look a bit like him, too? Cheers to all!

Book preview

Lady Death, Or, The Major’s Lust

Historical male/male Romance set in the Age of Sail, with Dark Fiction/Horror elements, anguished lust, and one of His Majesty’s redcoat officers unraveling at the seams.

By AH-LAYVA

Copyright 2012 by Ah-Layva Author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission, except for a brief excerpt for review purposes. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

SMASHWORDS EDITION 2012

THE YEAR 1795 IN THE AGE OF SAIL

Written by a fan of the Patrick O'Brien and Horatio Hornblower novels and every sea story ever filmed.

A tale of one redcoat army officer, Major Philip Charrington, young, titled, nobly-born, who entertains an all-consuming attraction for two bluecoat lieutenants of His Majesty's Naval Forces - Addison Spence and Francis Quinn, both as attached to one another as to their naval careers - while receiving transport on the frigate Relentless as they return from joint action off the coast of France.

After the stress of battle, the young major fears he is losing his reason as he is battered by three forces he does not understand: nightmares of his dead soldiers, a feeling of attraction to another man (a desire that is quite new to him), and the appearance of a spectral vision in the sky of Lady Death, the sailor's curse, the siren of the sea, who torments Philip with forebodings of death, taunting him to leap overboard to his perdition.

As his mind unravels and he barely keeps himself together, Philip reaches out to the one man he feels can keep him on a steady course during their voyage home – Third Lieutenant Addison Spence. Even as his wife back on the home front gives in to magick which threatens to cause irreparable damage to both their lives.

This 37,000 word novella features two explicit and extensive male/male sex scenes with reasonably elegant language, including a m/m/m coupling. The reader can be assured that the m/m sex scenes are rendered with respect for the characters involved, and that a reader who enjoys m/m slash fiction will be satisfied with the conclusion of the tale. Note: there are NO male/female sex scenes in this story.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

EPILOGUE

CONTACT INFO

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PART ONE

1795, in the Age of Sail, on board HMS Relentless in the English Channel

I lost half a dozen men in the foray. I saw them last night in my dreams.

Major Philip Charrington, redcoat, spoke in confidence to the bluecoated navy officer who lounged with him in company at the long officer’s table in the now-empty wardroom. It was rare to find a moment of privacy on board a crowded vessel and the major vowed to take advantage of it for all it was worth. All other officers who might have joined them were either engaged in shipboard duties or else slept in the miniscule private cabins that lined both sides of the great room. Nevertheless Philip kept his voice low, out of caution.

Best to be cautious, especially when admitting to a personal failure of nerve. For wasn’t that what nightmares were in their basest form, an attempt by haunting memories to drive men mad?

Lieutenant Addison Spence spoke in subdued tones also. Fortunately for Philip, the navy man was a sympathetic listener. Spence was perhaps the only man on the blasted ship, Philip thought, who might possibly understand his concerns. They were near in age to one another, perhaps five years apart, Philip being elder at age twenty-six. One officer wore a uniform frock coat of scarlet, representing His Majesty’s infantry forces. The other wore a naval uniform coat of blue. This ship was Spence’s home base, where he served as third lieutenant. Philip and the men of his company were their guests as the Relentless returned from action off the coast of France.

I admit it to you, Philip declared between clenched teeth. I awoke in a sweat and felt a great – shall we say, oppression on my chest. Those men, calling out to me. I couldn’t breathe. They were suffocating me.

His listener leaned forward, eyes bright. But you woke up fast enough, didn’t you? The horror lasted but for seconds, right? When the major nodded, Spence slapped one hand on the table as if in victory. Good, you came to your senses. No more – ghosts, or whatever they were. All was well. The morning came, and you laughed about it.

Philip shivered. As you say. Spence made it all seem so clear when he put it that way. I’ve steadied my nerves since that hour. The dead men disappeared. I heard them cry out no more.

What a relief, to talk this over with another officer. And to come to the conclusion that all was well after all. It had been just days since the horrific battle. A man could be permitted one short lapse of nerves, could he not?

Spence fingered his square-cut jaw and drifted into a private reflection. Some of our lads claim to see ghosts walking the quarterdeck. I call it a trick of the light, myself. This ship harbors no ghosts. Not unless we bring them here ourselves.

You have wisdom beyond your years, Mister Spence. Philip quietly thanked the fates that Spence had spared time from his other duties to sit with him and discuss his deepest concerns. The man had a quality that could soothe any troubled spirit. There was something about him, a fineness in his manner that did not overwhelm. His tender heart combined with firmness of mind captivated Major Charrington in a way that surprised him by its very force.

It occurred to Philip that he had never felt so close to another man before, not even to his dear father, now deceased.

The navy man added, Milord, remember this. The Relentless can be a ship of nightmares if we lose grip on ourselves.

That won’t be me, sir. Philip was still congratulating himself that he wasn’t going mad. You’ve been very kind to an army man who hasn’t quite got his sea legs yet.

My pleasure, Milord. He didn’t dispute Philip’s comment about himself, for that would have been false praise. But he did slip in another ‘Milord’ to show his respect.

Spence addressed him so because the major was nobly-born, having succeeded his father as the new Earl of Charrington, about the same time Philip had been commissioned directly as a major in the infantry which was several years in the past. The earl’s title took precedence over his military rank and he was called Milord instead of Major.

As for Spence, Philip understood that the lieutenant came from humbler antecedents. He knew Spence had worked his way up from midshipman to lieutenant and now looked forward to a fine naval career, hopefully to gain command of his own ship someday, according to talk Philip had heard when visiting the Admiralty before embarking on this mission. Spence was easy to like and those in power seemed eager to give him favors. For his part, the lieutenant gave attentive ear to all and was respectful of those with superior position of rank and title. For instance, the man didn’t begrudge Philip himself his title. It didn’t stick in his throat when called Philip ‘Milord’. That was one reason Philip had dared to unburden himself to Spence because he felt, somehow, that he could trust the young naval officer, both to give advice and then keep his own counsel on the matter.

You lost men too, Mister Spence, he noted to keep the conversation going.

We did, Milord. Spence tapped long fingers on the tabletop, face somber. But I laid their memory to rest in my own way. He cast a probing glance at Philip as if considering whether to continue. Philip took heart that perhaps he found some quality in his manner that he did choose to go on. I look up at the stars at night. I wish the men godspeed. As they journey with the angels. I feel they’re up there. Looking down upon us.

Spence grinned a rueful smile. It doesn’t seem outlandish when I stand at the rail.

Touching. Damnation, sir. You’re a poet.

Only right here. Spence laid a mocking hand over his heart. Truly, Milord, it’s that simple. He lowered his voice to a whisper. We all find our own tricks to deal with it.

As we must. The major gave a self-deprecating smile. As for my good fellows, I prepared them to do their best. Now they’re in better hands.

That all sounded well and good, it occurred to Philip. He knew he should change the humor of their conversation to lighter subjects. But now that he had a man like Spence at his elbow, and the two were actually conversing in some depth, he realized it would be a very good time to bring up his other problem – the one that could send Spence running to Captain Bailey to report him as a lunatic. After all, what officer of the fleet would countenance a story that Lady Death was real?

But she was real, and he, Major Philip Charrington, had seen her face to face, the damnable Lady Death. The legend told by men who sail the sea was not a lie. The specter in the sky had first appeared to him when he’d set foot on this ship to voyage home. He’d thought he was seeing things – stress after the battle and all that. He blamed the long expanses of water that stretched out in every direction for causing a dizziness in his mind. He tried to blink her away, then drink her image away.

Nothing worked. She pursued him whenever he dared to venture on deck. When he hid himself below, she called out to him in a voice heard by Philip alone. She enticed him to leave his cabin and appear on deck and he found he could not refuse. Her demon song washed over him when he stood at the rails and gazed out to the distant horizon. He’d heard stories about men going mad from standing too long looking into the endless stretch of sea. He didn’t want to become one of those men, dying in the midst of life, but how in hades could he save himself from this additional torment, it being such a heavy burden on top of all the other stresses of his life.

Could he share this with Spence? Did he dare? The opportunity might never arise again. So Philip cleared his throat and looked the navy man directly in the face and spoke with a boldness he was surprised to find he still possessed.

Mister Spence, may I bring up a bit of fluff? Your sailors speak of a legend - Lady Death, is it? She’s supposed to be a ghost, or a siren of the sea, and she drives sailors mad, they say.