The Red Sash (Eromenos, #2) (2024)

In this short historical, Tamasin is a wealthy property owner and is spending time at his seaside estate in the company of three young bed-slaves. As one catamite is the custom, Tamasin’s three is beyond expected and thus he must leave them all behind when he ventures to rejoin his wife and children soon. He is loathe to do so as he cares for each man deeply and equally, if differently. When a devastating earthquake and tidal wave hit the harbor city, Tamasin’s bed-slaves show that only one of the three truly loves his master.

Vivid and lush prose set the backdrop to this story quickly, establishing Tamasin as a wealthy but indulgent master of the house with affection and care for those in his employ. His musings and desire for each of his bed slaves show his tender feelings, desiring the men without needing to assert his ownership of them. Each man brings out a different need within Tamasin, yet he wonders if any of them truly care for him or truly desire him. Although he could easily be an unsympathetic character as a wealthy merchant with numerous slaves, a wife, children and property; his care for his people and hints of insecurity show a charm and warmth to his personality.

Each of the three men has wildly different personalities and offer unique desires and needs for their owner. Urrit, the foreigner schooled in the art of sex and offering elaborate rituals and formal rules to passion. His skills and abilities far superior to the other slaves, yet he withholds his real emotions and desires behind the façade. Semoy is the newest and most hesitant. Originally bought as a laborer, yet Tamasin couldn’t deny his hunger for the young man. Semoy is cautious and uncertain, his mind still balking at men loving men in spite of his body reacting with vigor. Finally, Elagan is the oldest of the bed-slaves with his open adoration and desire for his owner without revealing his true feelings. His imagination and need for rough, dirty sex perhaps hiding deeper injuries and emotions.

When the earthquake hits and the dust is finally settling, Tamasin realizes that two of his bed-slaves have run off and to his surprise, one remains offering his love, devotion, and companionship to the older man. This is a particularly moving scene with the complexity of emotions from Tamasin as a benevolent owner, but an owner nonetheless and the eventual fate of the red sash which had played so prominently amongst the young men and their competition.

Although a short tale, the combination of well developed characters, an interesting setting, and an engaging story all worked to offer a unique and delightful tale of an owner and the complex relationships he has with his slaves. The rich lyrical nature of the writing added to the depth of the story and quickly drew me in from the beginning. As this is a new writer to me, I was thoroughly satisfied with this story as it’s the perfect length, pacing and a quick introduction to a wonderful new style and voice. For new and familiar readers, this is sure to entice and delight on every level.

This is a short story but it is very well built and plotted, so much that it gives you the idea to be longer. At the beginning of the book a wealthy man, Tamasin, presents himself and his bed slaves to the readers. Tamasin is a merchant of some sort, probably no more in the primis of his adult age, he has a wife and three sons, so he has fulfilled his "social" duties and now he can enjoy some privileges of his own; every years he spent the hot months in his villa with some servants and above all with his three bed slaves, Urrit, Elagan and Semoy. The three men, young and handsome, are different in looks, behavior and also origins.

Elagan was the oldest of the three and he was still there when Tamasin bought the house; he is a strong man, with a strong will, but he is "used" to be a slave; he questions his master, but more as a play than a real need to contrast him. Urrit was raised in his homeland to be a sex slaves, and always for him is centered around his "skills"; he has never considered any other life for him and so he is almost detached about it, freedom is not something he missed since he has never had it. And then Semoy; Semoy was not taught in the art to be a sex slaves, and he had very bad experience with men in the past; he arrived in Tamasin's possession not to be a bed slave, but Tamasin was fascinated by this young and shy man; probably he didn't do him a favor to choose him for that role, probably Semoy would have preferred to work with his hands doing an hard work, rather than being pampered and waiting for the nights when the Master chooses to make him wear the Red Sash, the sign that he is the chosen for the day. Of the three Semoy is the one that probably, even if unwilling, gives to Tamasin the most sincere response during their encounters, and it's clear that Tamasin favors him among the other. But Tamasin has duties, his family and his business, he can't neglect and at the end of the summer he has to come back to them.

I like as the author describes Tamasin, he comes out like almost a pater familias, a man who cares for his bed slaves like a man would care for a most cherished property, but he is not selfish or indifferent; it was not an easy task, since Tamasin's character was not an easy one. Tamasin has not regrets for what he is doing, there is not concept of sin or unright behavior; having hom*osexual relationship or possessing slaves is an ordinary thing, and so Tamasin doesn't question it in his mind; but Tamasin wonders if his slaves are happy, if he is not imposing them something they don't like: this is the good side of Tamasin, since, as before, it's not his due to wonder it, a slave is a property and as a property someone could believe he has not feeling. Urrit, for example, is a bit like that, he was stripped of his personal conception of pleasure, sex is not more something that has to bring pleasure to him, but only to his Master; probably now Urrit finds "his" pleasure in something else, but no more in sex.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VLXN5G/?...

It was not a bad story but it was a short parable on which lover to trust. The plot is about a master and his slaves, who are competing for the position of his favorite, well two are competing the third one is content with his place. It's this content to be used as a pleasure slave which makes me dislike the book(besides the wife and the children). There is no really great building romance, it's more about which slave provide the most gratification for the master and which one stays with him.

An Evocative Tale

This short story is well-written and evocative, bringing to mind an ancient Greek island as the setting. The descriptions are rich and colorful. Yes, there is eroticism, but it also has the feel of an instructive fable. There is a master and three bed-slaves, then disaster strikes. Which of the boys will remain faithful to his master?