Zelamir

adapted by Pueros

The Traitor's Son

Chapters 71-79

Chapter LXXI

Marius' bare bottom was covered in striped bruises of various darkening hues after his curvaceous buttocks had been the recent recipients of a harsh, accurate and comprehensive beating. The boy was not consoled by the fact that the person who had delivered the flogging with a hard leather crop was similarly suffering next to him.

The old man had not beaten Marius and Narcissus himself because the boys had actually proved correct in their assumption that he was no longer physically capably of flogging them severely. The aged customer had instead supervised them in hitting each other but not before he had first encouraged them to masturbate each other to orgasm, much to the further delight of the many spectators.

"As you like masturbating each other so much, boys," the old man had announced, which was actually incorrect because the original activity between them had been one-way, "you can do so now but with your Master's permission and in front of us all." "The last to orgasm," the aged customer had subsequently added to please the other clientele even more, "will endure extra chastisement. However, that doesn't mean that you can under-perform in respect of rubbing the other's cock because I'll notice and your punishment will increase still further!"

By now Marius and Narcissus had already shed their minuscule thongs as commanded to stand completely naked on the dais, with their hands at their sides, fully knowing that hiding their genitals from view was forbidden. In instinctive reaction to the old man's latest instruction, they subsequently could not prevent their eyes immediately straying to the other boy's groin and the subject of their imminent challenge.

Marius' cock had remained unruly and erect. However, Narcissus' originally flaccid penis was also perversely now beginning to grow in apparent eager anticipation at being imminently masturbated.

"Stand close to each other and grip the other's cock!" the old man next instructed not long afterwards. After the deeply humiliated Marius and Narcissus had reluctantly complied, the aged customer then ordered "Rub!"

Both Marius and Narcissus immediately obeyed with proficiency, being wary of the threat of extra punishment if they proved indolent in their task. The resultant effect was temporarily but powerfully and rather quickly to change the boys' perspective of their current predicament.

Despite accompanying raucous laughter and ribald commentary from the spectators, the boys' immense shame at their public nudity and indulgence in mutual masturbation, plus their intense fear of an imminent beating, were rapidly overwhelmed by the lovely experience of swiftly approaching climax. Another pulsing orgasmic darkness soon again descended on Marius' young mind, just as he felt ejaculate splash onto his nude form. The younger boy did not see Narcissus actually spurt his semen because by now he had closed his eyes in acute ecstasy, nor did he hear the loud cheering and obscene remarks from the watching crowd because he was mentally too preoccupied with his sadly too brief pleasure.

Marius' mind did, however, eventually recover from the highly enjoyable sexual high achieved to discover that his hand had instinctively released Narcissus' ecstatic cock in order to grip his own. The older boy had also done the same.

Marius additionally heard the old man advise the spectators "Well, although Cycnus didn't cum, presumably because he's too young, his cockhead did ooze some clear fluid at about the same time as Narcissus ejaculated rather copiously. The boys' other reactions suggested simultaneous orgasms, so I declare a draw!"

Marius and Narcissus naturally hoped that climaxing simultaneously would earn no extra chastisement. However, the boys' aspirations were quickly dashed with the old man's next announcement.

The old man announced "We were intending that each boy would flog the other's bottom alternately twelve times with the hard leather crop now held in Fabius' hands, with the loser in the masturbation race earning another dozen." This declaration immediately tempted both Marius and Narcissus to glance at their master, who was indeed now carrying the mentioned implement, which had been well used over the years, having beaten many young prostitutes, mainly at clients' hands.

"However," the old man continued to the consternation of Marius and Narcissus, "as the masturbation race was tied, we'll divide the extra punishment in two. Both boys will therefore receive eighteen blows of the crop across their bare bottoms from each other." "If either of them inflicts a weak or inaccurate hit in my judgement," the aged customer worryingly added, "he'll have to repeat the strike and receive an extra one himself."

"I have a gold coin," the old man went on to inform, "which I shall now toss. If the obverse side with the Emperor's head is later uppermost, I decree that Cycnus will receive the first blow. However, if the reverse wins, Narcissus will receive the privilege!" The younger boy was not to know at the time but his current fate being linked to Tiberius was premonitory.

As the coin subsequently flew into the air, Marius' now very troubled mind did not really care what side of the gold coin would be uppermost when the money landed back into the old man's palm. The boy's mental processes were instead only focused on the fact that his bottom was to be imminently badly beaten again, on this occasion six more times than Scyrax had permitted Maccius.

Marius remembered the acute agony caused to his body by Maccius' cruel beating and was certainly not looking forward to an even longer repetition. The boy also wondered how, amidst his flogging at Narcissus' hands and the resultant excruciation, he could manage to inflict similar on the older boy with the necessary force and accuracy required to avoid further punishment.

Marius sincerely believed that such a feat was beyond him. The boy therefore worried that his own torment could prove endless.

"Ah, our illustrious Emperor Tiberius peers back at me," the old man next announced after completely the tossing of his gold coin, "and therefore Cycnus will first receive a blow from the crop across his cute bottom." Facing towards the nominated initial young victim, the aged customer subsequently commanded "So, boy, assume the necessary position. Turn round, place your feet wide apart and bend over to grab either your shins or ankles, whichever of those appears to provide you with the better stability."

"Stability will be important, Cycnus," the old man went on to advise, "because, if you lose your balance and fall in reaction to a blow from the crop, you'll receive another. The same will happen if you do not then stand up, turn to face Narcissus and thank him for the hit, whilst simultaneously enumerating the strike."

"Let me give you an example," the old man helpfully continued, "of what I mean, Cycnus. After each blow successfully endured, you will stand to turn to face the other boy and say to him, before receiving the crop from him, 'Thank for the first hit, Narcissus!'"

"You will then accept the crop, Cycnus," the old man concluded, "and Narcissus will adopt your former bent-over posture to receive his just punishment in accordance with the same rules. Now, do you both understand what is required?"

The old man then glanced from boy to boy to await his answer. Both Marius and Narcissus managed in reply to squeak a nervous "Yes... Sir!"

"Then Cycnus," the old man finally commanded, "adopt the necessary position." Marius reluctantly complied to the accompaniment of chortling from the spectators. Despite his trepidation, the boy recognised from experience that Maccius' chuckling had been the loudest.

As Marius later recovered in pain in the brothel dormitory, he thankfully recalled that he had somehow failed to keep his balance only in respect of two early blows from the crop, which had been rather effectively handled by Narcissus, despite the 14 year-old's own anguish. Fear had also helped to ensure that the younger boy, despite his personal mounting excruciation and tears, reciprocated quite forcefully and accurately, in line with the areas of the buttocks suggested as targets by the old man.

Marius was also just penalised three times because the old man was dissatisfied with certain blows that the younger boy had delivered on the older's bottom. He therefore only received a trio of extra hits for such alleged incompetence. However, Narcissus, of course, suffered likewise because the original strikes to his increasingly anguished buttocks had to be repeated.

Narcissus fortunately proved more competent at retaining positional stability and delivering blows, perhaps because he was maturer, being three years older, and more accustomed to being beaten. He was not penalised at all for losing balance and he and Marius were only punished extra for one hit that dissatisfied the old man.

Consequently, Marius' bottom received 24 blows from the crop, whilst Narcissus' was hit 22 times. The younger boy's punishment therefore did not thankfully prove endless but nevertheless the number of strokes inflicted were twice as many as delivered by Maccius in Scyrax's house.

One difference on this occasion was, of course, that Marius was not imminently being sent to the slave market for hopefully lucrative sale. This time, the boy's buttocks could be damaged more severely for the profitable entertainment of the patrons of the 'House of Ganymede', as he would be allowed more time to recover and anyway did not have to be repaired fully before returning to duty. Many clients liked sodomising the bottom of a young prostitute, which was still bearing the fading stripes of a recent comprehensive beating.

In his current agony, Marius had been largely oblivious to the spectators' resumed raucous laughter and ribald commentary, as well as cruel cheering, that lasted throughout the entertainment, which he and Narcissus were providing for the brothel's crowd of watching clients. His lack of observation had continued when he and the older boy were later returned by the escorting Felicia to their dormitory, in a very slow and rather dizzily staggering manner.

Marius was therefore spared the shame of hearing Maccius loudly sneer to Scyrax "Look, despite his earlier orgasm, the little slut's erection has returned during his flogging. What a true whore!"

Felicia had subsequently commanded the two still agonised and tearstained boys to lie face-down on adjacent straw mattresses, whilst she applied effective and expensive herbal salve to their colourfully very sore and bruised bottoms. She considered the cost of the remedy to be worthwhile if such ointment, as it usually did, enabled her young prostitutes to return to productive duty more quickly.

As Narcissus recuperated on his mattress, he appreciated that he had occasionally received similar bad beatings in the past. Such sad experiences were simply part of the life of a young prostitute in the 'House of Ganymede'. However, he had never been required previously to flog another boy simultaneously.

Narcissus' secret sadistic ambition had, of course, been to beat another boy someday. However, his recent experience, which had proved very humiliating and painful for both himself and Marius, or 'Cycnus' as he knew the younger boy, was not what he had in mind. He had found the experience most distressfully unpleasant.

The hours passed in the dormitory and Marius and Narcissus continued to recuperate face-down on their straw mattresses. Whilst doing so, they began to whisper to each other between bouts of fitful sleep, which were usually interrupted by yet more painful pangs affecting their nude bodies, disturbing nightmares featuring their recent punishment or the noises inherent in a still busy brothel.

For the trouble that Narcissus had caused, he felt obliged to offer to Marius his apologies, which were accepted. The boys subsequently talked a lot about their feelings whilst punishing each other and realised that, despite the age differential, they had virtually experienced the same emotions of humiliation, shame and pain. They also recalled that they had reacted similarly too, with loud anguished yelps as blows had hit, which interrupted ongoing sobs and tears.

"I should have shown more bravery than you, though, Cycnus," Narcissus once commented during this whispered conversation, "because I'm older and more accustomed to being humiliated and punished. I instead acted cowardly!"

"No you didn't, Narcissus," Marius maturely retorted, "because no one can become accustomed to such humiliations and punishments. You're just human like me and will in such circumstances react in the same way!"

Narcissus was somehow comforted by Marius' words. However, such succour did not last for long, although not because of the pain still searing his body.

Narcissus' returned discomfort was caused by the smirking Major Domo, who suddenly appeared in the dormitory and made straight for the recuperating pair. The man subsequently looked down at the older boy.

"The offer of your body in return for remaining silent about what you and Cycnus were up to was tempting, Narcissus" the Major Domo then told the older boy, "but I felt on reflection that I could not betray our Mistress' trust and so I informed on you. However, you're now only suffering the first result. The second is that, because of your lack of self-discipline, Felicia is reconsidering your continued presence in the 'House of Ganymede'. She's thinking of soon selling you on to a lower-class brothel for whatever price she can achieve."

"The third, Narcissus," the Major Domo added, "is that she's rewarded me for my loyalty in informing on you, despite your tempting offer, by allowing me to have you whenever I want whilst you're still here. After you've recovered from your beating and before you're eventually sold, you can therefore look forward to pleasuring me regularly!"

Having delivered this alarming message, the Major Domo left the dormitory with as much suddenness as he had arrived and soon afterwards Marius heard sobbing return to the normally very pretty face of a now inconsolable Narcissus.

Chapter LXXII

Nevertheless, Marius found deeply distressing the sudden disappearance of Narcissus from the 'House of Ganymede'. The event had occurred about four weeks after they had been humiliatingly compelled to beat each other publicly, during which period the older boy had been forced to service the very happy Major Domo sexually on many occasions.

No announcement was made about the long-serving Narcissus' departure, or any attempt allowed to permit him first to say farewells to anyone. After all, he and his fellow young prostitutes were not human beings but instead commodities to be traded however and whenever their owners' decreed.

Marius made discreet enquiries about Narcissus' fate amongst his fellow young prostitutes. However, this action produced little information.

One young prostitute did advise that he had seen Narcissus leave the 'House of Ganymede' one morning with the adult German slave but he had at the time thought little of this because the pair could have been going anywhere, such as to an external client. However, the fact that the older boy had not been seen since suggested to Marius that he had been sold, either at slave market or directly to a customer or, as the Major Domo had hinted four weeks earlier, to a lower class of brothel.

Marius appreciated that Narcissus had his faults. The younger boy had perceptively recognised the selfish and sadistic streak in the older boy, which had sometimes caused him to inform Felicia about other prostitutes' misdemeanours, which invariably led to their punishment. However, he could understand such an attitude.

After all, Narcissus' background might have been very unpleasant, causing mental scarring. Certainly, his lengthy service in the 'House of Ganymede', despite being an up- market boy brothel, would have encompassed many disagreeable happenings, even if he had become accustomed and begun to enjoy some of the sex.

Selfishness could also arise from being a slave. Many of such servile status sought only to live as pleasantly as possible from day to day, even at the expense of others, knowing that their existences could alter in a moment at the whim of their masters.

Even if slaves had nice masters, the death of the latter could change their circumstances dramatically. The heirs, if there were any, could be far nastier or sell them on to other owners who were or gave them functions that were distinctly worse than previously occupied.

Despite Narcissus' faults, Marius had come to like him and consider him a budding friend, especially after their mutual punishment. They had subsequently noticeably become talkatively close when circumstances permitted.

Narcissus had also never treated Marius less than helpfully, apart from when they had been forced to beat each other. The two boys had additionally shared a lot together, albeit, as that punishment proved, not always enjoyably.

Despite his curiosity and unhappiness in relation to Narcissus' sudden disappearance from the 'House of Ganymede', Marius, of course, dared not enquire about the older boy's fate either with Fabius or Felicia or the Major Domo and the other adult slaves. He rightly feared being slapped or being subjected to even worse for speaking without permission and being too nosy about the brothel's affairs.

Consequently, Marius just had to accept the presumption that Narcissus had been sold and the younger boy began to wonder whether he would ever discover the fate of the older or whether they would ever meet again. Such solemn considerations also caused him to shed privately a few more tears when resting on his dormitory mattress because they additionally often brought other sombre thoughts.

For example, Marius wondered what Pannychis and Sulis were now enduring, or whether Dictys and Nisus had been recaptured and crucified or sent to be the fodder of the beasts in the arena yet.

Chapter LXXIII

As well as Marius' twelfth birthday, which, of course, passed unknown to anyone but the boy himself, the months gradually brought a reduction in the young prostitute's status within the 'House of Ganymede'. From being an extremely desirable virgin and subsequent very attractive and favoured fresh face and body in the brothel, frequent use by many clients for a comprehensive range of sexual services had eventually made him increasingly less popular.

Marius still had regular clients, who were particularly attracted to his features and maintained sexual proficiency, even if these attributes were becoming less novel. Nevertheless, the overall number of customers seeking his services markedly declined, as patrons were tempted away to newer and fresher boys, who arrived regularly in the 'House of Ganymede'.

Fabius and Felicia fully appreciated that a high turnover of young prostitutes in such a high-class boy brothel as the 'House of Ganymede' was essential to keep their patrons content. Marius was aware of this policy from noticing many examples of newcomers and out-goers, with Narcissus an obvious example of the latter, and so he wondered how long he too would last before being sold on.

Marius did not relish the idea of being moved on to a lower class of brothel. He correctly believed that life there would be even worse than in the 'House of Ganymede', where he was at least accommodated and fed well. The boy therefore hoped that he would instead be bought by one of the nicer of his regular clients, as occasionally occurred, although he dare not mention his wish to any of them.

By now, Marius was an accomplished boy prostitute and knew it, maintaining a good level of service for both good and bad clients. His young mind experienced a mix of emotions about such recognition of what he had become.

Marius was ashamed that his current role in life was prostitution. However, the boy believed that performing such a function was better than being raped and strangled like his older brother and sister, even if only for the fact that the situation might somehow afford him the opportunity eventually to secure revenge and retrieve a much more honourable status.

Conversely to his shame, Marius also could not help but take some pride in servicing his nicer clients well. The boy's daily routine was considerably boosted when the occasional considerate customer afforded him some praise or left a tip in thanks, even if the gift was only a morsel of food from his dinner table.

Marius additionally had to confess shamefully that, on an ever-increasing number of occasions, he was enjoying the sex involved in his work. Although the boy did not yet ejaculate semen, more and more clear liquid oozed from his cock whenever he climaxed, which was becoming more frequent and pleasurable. Such orgasms resulted either from clients' direct attentions, such as performing fellatio on or masturbating his penis, or from delicious tickling of his prostate through the more considerate acts of sodomy.

Marius' enjoyment was assisted by the fact that his rear orifice had become so flexible through use that only a particularly large or ruthless invader caused hurt rather than pleasure. His own still-smooth genitals had also noticeably increased pleasantly in size and he correctly believed that such a development was not just attributable to the natural growth of a pubescent boy like him. He rightly thought that the number of times that his sexual organs had been played with by the hands and mouths of many men was an additional important contributory factor.

There were, of course, still unpleasant experiences. Marius had never learnt to enjoy performing fellatio and swallowing the resultant product, although, like Narcissus and many other young prostitutes in the 'House of Ganymede' before him, fear of punishment and a strange sense of professionalism encouraged the boy to perform the deed competently.

Some of the unpleasant experiences were, of course, also deliberately manufactured by clients because many of them were not only pederasts but also sadists. Quite a number of customers would try to sodomise Marius as harshly and hurtfully as possible and, even if they failed to achieve their aim because of the readiness of his rear orifice now to accept such attempted maltreatment, the boy would often guilefully play along by faking pained moans.

Other cruel clients would try in effect to sodomise Marius' mouth and throat rather than passively accept fellatio. Such attempts generally did succeed in causing the boy genuine distress, sometimes including bad bruising to his oral orifice. Swallowing semen in such circumstances was additionally difficult and the young prostitute was consequently beaten on several occasions by supposedly dissatisfied customers, who had complained to Felicia about him spilling their precious ejaculate. However, the patrons concerned had invariably sadistically wanted him to be clumsy in order to set up the punishment scenario.

The worst experiences of all for Marius occurred when coming across clients who were as intensely sadistic as Maccius. Although such customers were fortunately few in number, the times spent with them by the boy always lingered long in his memory.

Marius could recall one client who hired young prostitutes just to beat them, although fortunately the customer concerned liked to do so to a particular boy only once. His victims often wondered how the man gained his sexual gratification because he never did so in their presence, not even by masturbating himself.

Another especially cruel client did masturbate himself, over the prone naked bodies of his hired young prostitutes. However, as Marius could testify as a reliable witness, the customer did so only after affixing extremely severe and therefore very painful wooden pegs to some of his juvenile victims' most tender and vulnerable body parts, such as their nipples and genitals. The man invariably flicked these small but nasty implements whilst stroking his own cock to climax and enjoying the clear simultaneous agony experienced by the boys.

Yet another cruel client liked using even more painful implements. In Marius' recall, the dildos involved were invariably black, presumably to contrast nicely with the flesh of a white boy such as him, and generally bigger than most of the cocks that he was now accustomed to receiving in his rectum.

The sadistic implements therefore did hurt Marius when being wielded ruthlessly by the client, although generally not as much as the customer thought because the boy was now astute enough to fake much of his distress. As the young prostitute fully appreciated, to do otherwise was only to invite harsher treatment, perhaps from an even bigger dildo.

The exception to this scenario was when the customer, who appeared to prefer cheaper wooden dildos to those made from expensive ivory, used a large implement mottled with little nodules. The latter might have been small but the agony they induced in Marius' rectum was quite genuine, as suggested by the blood inevitably spilt as a result of the wicked device's use.

Coincidentally, Marius happened to be lying on his front on a bed in one of the boy brothel's alcoves, servicing the client who liked dildos, when elsewhere Fabius and Felicia were discussing the boy's future. The customer had just rammed a large black wooden dildo fully into the young prostitute, whilst simultaneously spilling the product of his own masturbation over his victim's bottom, when the 12 year-old's owners reached a conclusion about his immediate future.

Felicia had just commented to Fabius about a forthcoming major festival in Rome. "As usual," she remarked, "lots of provincials will be coming to the city for the festivities, with many men conveniently leaving their families at home. I want to attract as many as possible of the rich pederasts amongst them to visit our establishment. We'll therefore not only have to advertise but also provide exceptional entertainment above the norm in order to tempt the custom."

"I've decided to use Cycnus for the purpose," Felicia went on to advise, whilst as common confronting her husband with a fait accompli, reinforcing where the real power in the 'House of Ganymede' resided. "The brat's not only an exceptionally pretty and proficient whore," she explained, "but also proving very good at acrobatics."

"For advertising purposes," Felicia informed, "we'll send him out naked, under the usual supervision of our German slave, round the places where the revellers will mainly congregate and at the busiest periods. We'll have a sign dangling from the boy's neck promoting the 'House of Ganymede'. Anyone who wants to fondle the brat will be allowed to do so briefly but, if they want any more, they'll have to book some time with him here."

"With Cycnus' popularity for ordinary sex amongst our regular customers declining, however," Felicia related, whilst deliberately not complimenting her husband on the fact that the boy had amazingly recouped his original enormous purchase price many times over, "I recently decided that the time's right to make him multi-skilled. I consequently instructed the Major Domo to assess what he'd be like for the acrobatics' team."

"The Major Domo has just reported back," Felicia continued, "that Cycnus has excellent natural talent, sufficiently so to be an exciting act on his own. However, you know how indifferent much of our clientele is towards acrobatics."

"I've therefore concluded," Felicia informed, "that any act given by Cycnus should encompass danger to excite our clientele, and not just any old hazard but genuine life- threatening peril, which will also be advertised on the sign round his neck when he parades naked through Rome!"

Chapter LXIV

As a free boy, Marius had possessed a natural agility and physical confidence that now, as a young slave prostitute, was to serve him well, assisted by long hours of practice and occasional vigorous applications of a light stinging whip by his trainer for any lapses in concentration or skill. The boy so developed and honed his acrobatics' expertise that he was soon proficiently performing a short but hectic public tumbling act on his own.

Wearing only the customary minuscule black thong, Marius would undertake a routine of cartwheels, back-flips and handstands, invariably, given the late evening scheduling of his act, as torchlight glistened on his oiled and sweating body. Uncommonly for an acrobatics' act, many clients' eyes amongst the crowded array of reclining customers frequenting the 'House of Ganymede' at the brothel's busiest time would be focused on the energetic and skilful action. Such attention was testament to the fact that, despite the recent reduction in usage of the boy's body for direct sex, his exceptionally lovely form, whilst being paraded in a hectic burnished whirl of activity, was still of some interest to the majority of patrons.

Nevertheless, as usual, no appreciative applause or other sign of praise for Marius' act ever emerged at the conclusion of his performance. Rewarding in such a manner a young slave prostitute for his skills was simply never considered by any of the clients. However, the boy inevitably subsequently left the brothel's entertainment area with a contented sense of achievement at a job well done.

Marius' contentment would have been far less if he had known what Fabius and Felicia, and his acrobatics' trainer, had planned for him. The boy's tumbling was essentially actually just preliminary preparation for a much more spectacular act, one that would be life-threatening if performed inadequately.

Marius' instruction was soon expanded to include tumbling whilst delicately balanced on a long but very narrow horizontal wooden bar, suspended at each end on very heavy and sturdy metal supports. Urged on by his trainer, and motivated by frequent applications of the man's light whip across his bare bottom following any lapses in concentration or skill, the boy quickly exhibited a great sense of balance and gained proficiency in this activity too. He only very rarely fell off and then generally only when attempting something different or particularly spectacular.

Marius saw nothing sinister or frightening in his act, especially as he had quickly learnt how to fall off the horizontal bar without hurting himself, apart from feeling the trainer's light whip sting his bare bottom for his errors. The boy considered the new dimension to his performance to be simply an enhancement of the entertainment.

A regular pride in his act also emerged, especially after Marius skilfully managed to conclude each training session with a successful back-flip from the horizontal bar to stand on his feet on the floor. Such achievement was accomplished despite his body aching from fatigue and his flesh smarting from the frequent flicks of his coach's stinging light whip. The boy would even grin and wriggle in delight if the man or other onlookers praised him.

Marius was to give his first public performance of his revised act on the evening of the first day of the latest of Rome's many festivals, when the city was crowded with not only its own populace but also provincials flooding in to enjoy the celebrations. The boy's initial inkling that there might be something more to the entertainment that he was to provide than he was currently aware came when, after morning ablutions, he was summoned to see Felicia.

The freshly washed and groomed Marius was greeted by the smiling and seated Felicia with the words "Ah, Cycnus, our star tonight. I'm really looking forward to watching your new act and I want to make sure that many others want to do so too. Remove your thong!"

Marius had by now stood naked before Felicia on too many occasions to be concerned or embarrassed by her command to strip naked in front of her. Consequently, the boy quickly complied with her order and lowered and stepped out of his minuscule thong to reveal, as was common in such situations, a little cock that was already semi-erect.

"I see that you're feeling lively again today, Cycnus," Felicia commented in reaction to noticing Marius' still expanding cock, "which is good because it's what our clients like." As with stripping, the boy was now too inured to such remarks to be concerned or embarrassed. However, what the woman said and did next would radically change that situation.

Felicia picked up from the floor at the side of her chair a small square piece of wood, light in both colour and weight and with edges about a foot long, which was suspended from a short piece of cord, attached through holes drilled into two corners. The woman subsequently happily showed Marius the previously hidden writing on one side of what was obviously a sign.

The wording declared in Latin:-

Marius was a highly intelligent boy and immediately perceived correctly in horror who would shortly be wearing the sign and in what state and where. The boy realised that he would soon be paraded round the streets of Rome whilst naked and sporting the advertisement.

If such a realisation was not bad enough, Marius also began to worry seriously about the phrases on the sign suggesting that his acrobatics act tonight would be 'very dangerous' and 'death-defying'.

Chapter LXXV

Marius was, of course, unable to question Felicia about the worrying phrases because to do so would be to break two of the boy brothel's main prohibitions, namely that he should not speak without permission or enquire about or query his owners' plans for him. As a young slave, the boy's duty was instead just to accept whatever fate, or rather his master and mistress, had schemed for him.

Consequently, as the naked Marius subsequently left the 'House of Ganymede' under the usual supervision of the burly German adult slave and whilst sporting the demeaning sign dangling from his neck, he remained unaware what the worrying phrases implied. However, such ignorance was quickly forgotten for now, as he rapidly encountered the teeming narrow streets and wider avenues of festival-time Rome when completely nude and advertising his place of work, a boy brothel.

Marius' acute shame and discomfort was not helped by the fact that his bare body had again been effeminately decorated with makeup, with kohl rimming his eyes, rouge on his lips and cheeks and gilding on his nipples. The boy's naked form had also been oiled once more so that he glistened under the overhead sun, whilst his golden hair was adorned by a flowery laurel.

Marius' humiliation was compounded by the maintenance of an erection, which wobbled as he walked behind the German slave. The latter guided him at a distance by a long chain linked to an iron slave-collar, similar to the type that had been originally used to lead him and two other new acquisitions from the slave-market to the 'House of Ganymede'. The boy's hands were also unusually tightly manacled behind his back.

The reason for the unusual distance at which the German slave guided Marius by the linking chain, and for the manacled hands, quickly became apparent. Any festival-attending passers-by, who looked like prospective new customers for the 'House of Ganymede' and who wanted to fondle the naked boy, would be allowed briefly to do so without inhibition.

The German slave would temporarily stop if any such prospective customers showed interest in Marius and stand at a distance whilst they intimately visually and manually examined the boy. Meanwhile, the manacling of the young prostitute's hands prevented him from interfering by instinctively attempting to protect any of his private parts

Few Romans of the Patrician or Equestrian classes would want to be seen intimately inspecting a boy prostitute in such a public manner, as they had their family reputations to consider. However, wealth was not just confined to those of such status. There were rich Plebeians too, as well as both resident and visiting foreigners.

Even rich Plebeians, and some foreigners, often had coarser attitudes to those of the Roman Patrician and Equestrian classes and were therefore not averse to examining intimately some of the young goods that the 'House of Ganymede' had on offer. Their crudity sometimes extended to ribald comments when proceeding with their brief inspections.

Marius' face inevitably blushed intensely whenever his progress through the teeming thoroughfares of Rome was temporary stopped to allow such prospective customers briefly to examine him. The very public nature of the intimate inspections, when his aroused genitals and cute curvaceous bottom were invariably the main objects of attention, compounded his disgrace, especially when other people stopped to watch and shout contemptuous insults.

The fact that many other boys, including slaves, as well as girls and women, took time to observe Marius' debasing predicament and often express their own rude scorn greatly added to his unhappiness. However, as was unfortunately common, the boy's cock proved resiliently different, remaining defiantly hard in apparent enjoyment of his shame, even frequently tingling and being brought close to climax when being fondled.

When Marius eventually saw the 'House of Ganymede' again, after being led naked for many hours round Rome's busiest festival-time thoroughfares, he had never previously been so pleased to be entering the boy brothel. However, his appreciation of the event was to be short-lived.

Chapter XLVI

Marius was, as usual before a performance, both excited and nervous, more so on this occasion because he was about to make his public debut on the horizontal bar. The boy's thrill arose from the genuine enjoyment and stimulation that his agile and sleek young body gained from acrobatic activity, particularly when indulged faultlessly, and his uneasiness from concern that he might make mistakes, which would not only be embarrassing but also undoubtedly lead to derision and punishment.

Marius was still naked, as he was now to perform in the nude. Such a situation was due to considerations of not only aesthetics but also safety. Disaster could result if his customary thong somehow slipped during his imminent hectic and precarious act.

Marius was still decorated with makeup and his naked body glistening with applied oil. However, since his recent humiliating appearance in the thoroughfares of Rome, such adornment, plus his grooming, had been carefully refreshed. The boy's hands were additionally coated with a special resin that gave them extra grip

Marius heard the relevant piece of music from the boy flautist that should herald his arrival in the entertainment area and, despite his nerves, he immediately ran into the public arena towards the waiting horizontal bar. The boy's trainer was, as usual, standing alongside the apparatus, at one end whilst holding a whip in his hand.

Unusually, however, the trainer's whip was not light but heavy, designed not just to sting without much damage but instead to inflict a much more serious blow. Equally peculiarly, the man also held a small lit oil lamp in his other hand. However, Marius was too preoccupied with his imminent act to pay too much notice to such subtle differences in his coach's equipment, or the fact that the Major Domo, with a similar brutal scourge, occupied a position at the other end of the horizontal bar. The boy just presumed that such deployment was meant to aid effect rather than be of any practical use.

The 'House of Ganymede' was exceptionally crowded on this night. Marius was not too presumptive to assume that all of the extra clients had been drawn to the brothel by his earlier nude advertising stint. Many of the provincials present would be past customers at festival-time, whilst others would have been enticed to the establishment by acquaintances who knew of the place.

What Marius did not know was that some of the extra clients had been lured to the 'House of Ganymede' on hearing the news of the precise act that they boy was about to give, of which the actual young performer was still unaware, albeit not for much longer. Some of these customers were also not there just to view a successful activity because many wanted to witness disastrous failure.

Marius ran to the end of the horizontal bar where his trainer was stationed. In apparent response to a raising of the man's sinister whip, which the boy presumed was also for effect rather than genuine menace, the young prostitute subsequently took a deep breath, issued a short silent prayer to the gods and launched himself into the air with his arms raised.

Marius also launched himself at the horizontal bar and, after a spectacular high side-summersault by his gleaming well-oiled body and limbs, his feet subsequently successfully landed on the end of the apparatus, with some early unsteadiness of balance quickly remedied, which earned an admiring gasp from the crowd of spectators. This noise was then repeated even more loudly, with the boy also uttering such a sound but not in approval from him but in horror.

The trainer had stooped and touched the burning wick of his oil lamp on the marble floor. As the man had subsequently quickly stepped backwards, a sheet of flames had immediately leapt upwards.

In terror, Marius felt heat from the flames beginning to scorch his bare legs. The boy then noticed that the floor beneath the horizontal bar and for a considerable area around him, which had been secretly and invisibly to him coated with highly inflammable oil, appeared to be alight.

Marius turned, intending to jump off the end of the horizontal bar but he now observed his trainer standing there, with his heavy whip raised menacingly in his hand. The boy twisted round but he saw that the Major Domo was similarly barring his way with readied scourge in the other direction.

Marius subsequently briefly hesitated, as he attempted to decide what to do. A rapid decision was then aided when his sweet rosy lips were stimulated into uttering a loud pained howl after his trainer flicked him on the side of one bare thigh with the tip of his cruel whip.

"Come on, boy, ignore the flames and dance on the bar like you've been taught," the trainer next shouted, whilst lifting his whip in readiness to strike again, "for your success in doing so will be the only way you'll survive!" Marius realised that another blow of the scourge, landing squarely across his shoulders, would knock him off balance. Whilst he might be able to recover his footing after just one, the boy also recognised that more cuts delivered in the same manner would sometime inevitably send him tumbling from the horizontal bar into the flames below him.

These flames had fallen back somewhat from the first vigorous upwards blaze. They were now burning with a steady glow but the heat they gave out was still considerable and Marius appreciated that he would not survive a fall into them without being horribly burnt or killed.

Marius also knew that no one would come to rescue him from his current terror and the prospect of his horrible injury or death, rolling and screaming in agony among the flames. The boy's current extremely precarious situation simply served to entertain the brothel's clients, whilst forming an exciting hors- d'oeuvre to the pleasures of their nights ahead.

"Dance," the trainer shouted again in urgent command, whilst once more flicking his whip painfully at Marius' vulnerable flank, "for my next strike, if needed, will be much harder and could send you to your doom!" His order was immediately echoed by the increasingly impatient spectators.

"Dance," shouted many clients, some whilst beating wine cups and jugs on their tables, "dance, dance!" At the same time, the trainer drew his whip back behind his head, threatening the promised potentially fatal blow.

Marius therefore repeated his earlier actions, but with even greater sincerity. The boy took a deep breath, issued a short silent prayer to the gods and launched himself into the air with his arms raised, albeit this time not at the horizontal bar but on it.

Despite Marius' terror, he somehow managed to complete a forward summersault on the horizontal bar, earning another loud gasp from the spectators, who also continued their repetitive chant of 'Dance, dance, dance……..!" In reaction to this early success and to the confidence gained, as well as to the prolonged verbal encouragement from clients, not all of whom wanted to see him survive, and the menacingly raised whips of the trainer and Major Domo, the boy was stimulated into next attempting a perilous back-flip.

Further success and increased confidence subsequently brought an amazing series of other flips, cartwheels and handstands to the accompaniment of appreciative chants and roars from the crowd of spectators. Marius' remarkable accomplishment was attained despite the intense heat from the flames below and around him, which not only frightened him intensely but also caused his body and limbs, including most dangerously his hands, to sweat profusely.

As Marius' highly energetic and thankfully so-far skilful routine proceeded remorselessly to continued loud chants and roars, his blood thundered in his head, whilst sweat poured off his naked body and his arms and legs eventually began to ache with increasing exhaustion. The boy's world had become narrowed to the horizontal bar on which he stood, by virtue of either his hands or feet, the square of flames beneath and the threatening whips that drove him on.

Marius was also tiring fast, as his 'dance' on the horizontal bar was exceedingly hectic and fatiguing. The boy knew he could not go on much longer, as the strength was rapidly waning from his young arms and legs.

Marius had, because of his increasing tiredness, almost missed his footing once. The boy realised that such potentially fatal incidents would only become more common because of his weariness and that sometime soon he would not have the strength to recover the situation, and then the flames below would claim him.

Fortunately, Marius now heard the crack of the trainer's whip. The boy appreciated, from his instruction and the facts that the scourge had not simultaneously been aimed at his naked body and the wielder had stepped away from the end of the horizontal bar, that he was being allowed to conclude his act.

Marius needed no second invitation and, with another spectacular summersault leapt off the end of the horizontal bar to land in safety and successfully motionless on his feet close to his trainer. The end of his act was met with a mixture of cheers and groans from the crowd of spectators.

Some spectators had unusually been so impressed with an acrobatics' act, particularly Marius' display of exceptional bravery and skill, that they broke convention by cheering and even applauding. However, other more cruel clients groaned and jeered in disappointment that they had been robbed of the pleasure of watching the boy roast.

"Gentleman," Fabius, who had walked forward from the perimeter to the centre of the entertainment area, subsequently shouted over the din, "as you can see, Cycnus lives to perform again. Surely, you must come once more tomorrow to see if he survives a second night whilst performing an even longer act!"

Fabius subsequently turned away from the spectators to glance with a smirk at the exhausted and profusely sweating Marius. The boy displayed clear understandable fear in his sensuous blue eyes for he appreciated that he had somehow survived his debut public performance amidst the appallingly dangerous flames but for how long would his luck last?

It appeared to Marius that his owners now not only considered him entirely dispensable but also were additionally happily ready to see his act soon conclude spectacularly, albeit permanently and horribly for him.

Chapter LXXVII

Despite his current exhausted and shocked state, Marius' duties for the evening were, of course, not yet over. The naked boy knew that he now had to parade himself amongst the crowd of spectators, who were relining or sitting on their couches, and offer himself to any client who wanted sex with him.

Although Marius was not as popular as he had once been with regulars, there were many new clients in the 'House of Ganymede' that night to whom he would be a nice fresh boy. Even those who had already enjoyed him on a frequent basis and had become tired of him might seek to become intimately reacquainted with him for one more time, stimulated by the bravery and skill that he had just displayed on the horizontal bar. After all, the young prostitute might not be so lucky on the next day.

Marius reluctantly advanced towards the waiting throng, and the many clearly lecherous eyes scanning his lovely naked but currently sweaty body. However, the boy was not now to discover how his popularity as a sex partner had suddenly been boosted by his recent highly dangerous acrobatics act. The reason for this development began when he discerned an all too familiar menacing voice. As adult slaves extinguished the already dying flames behind him with large heavy cloths, he heard someone sinisterly referring to him.

"Look, darling, it's little Mariullus," the ominous voice said, "who was one of the boys of my friend, Scyrax. I've always enjoyed having some fun with him."

Marius had inadvertently headed straight for a couch upon which Maccius was reclining, adjacent to a divan occupied by a young man whom the boy had never seen before. This other person shared the evil youth's epicene blond hair and cold reptilian eyes.

The main consolation in the humiliating and often anguishing life that Marius had led over recent months was the fact that he had not encountered Maccius again since the day on which the evil youth had enjoyed sex with him and subsequently tortured him with a needle. The boy had constantly dreaded a re-enactment.

Marius had also considered Maccius' failure to reappear as odd, given that the evil youth obviously thoroughly enjoyed humiliating and hurting him. The boy to learn the reason later, from an unexpected source.

Maccius had, in fact, been travelling with Scyrax, who had decided to go to Germania, where he had heard about a failed tribal uprising against Roman rule and many resultant captives. The prospect of cheaply acquiring many local blond blue-eyed boys without having to deal with expensive middlemen had spurred the fat merchant into such unusual but potentially very lucrative action.

Scyrax was not to be disappointed with his expedition. He brought back to Rome many exceedingly pretty examples of freshly enslaved Germanian boyhood, who were currently being trained for their new roles in life in the harsh environment of his house.

Maccius had also not been disappointed with the expedition. As Scyrax had bought so many virgin boys so cheaply, the fat merchant had felt able to gift one very choice specimen to the evil youth.

Consequently, the boy concerned had barely survived the long journey to Rome, albeit not because of the discomfort and hazards of the trip. Maccius had instead thoroughly enjoyed painfully deflowering the child and subsequently regularly beating and torturing him.

The boy was still alive and was now a slave serving Maccius in particular in the household of the evil youth's patrician parents. However, for how long his survival would last was indeterminable.

"Mariullus, sweetest," Maccius shouted, "come to us, dear child. I've been so looking forward to seeing you again!"

On observing Marius' horrified hesitation in obeying, and clear signs that the boy was about to go anywhere except towards Maccius' couch, the evil youth added "Now, you mustn't run away, sweetest. I'm sure that you can have so much fun with my friend and me!"

Marius looked round desperately for an escape route but saw Fabius standing nearby, watching him. The boy fully appreciated that a young prostitute who refused the overtures of a client was certain to be soundly flogged.

Consequently, Marius reluctantly approached Maccius' couch in dread. "Sweetest," the evil youth subsequently commanded once the boy had arrived beside him and whilst patting the empty surface of the divan by him, "do come and sit here."

Marius complied with continued reluctance and dread, whilst Maccius went on to comment "We saw your performance on the horizontal bar, sweetest. The act was so exciting. You were so brave and so determined not to fall in the flames and be burnt."

"I have to confess, though," Maccius advised, "that I was just a little disappointed that you didn't fall, sweetest. I'm sure that you'd scream so melodiously and you'd look so pretty throwing yourself about amidst the flames whilst you burnt. Still, there's always tomorrow and we'll absolutely have to be here to see what happens."

"Do you think you'll survive tomorrow, sweetest?" Maccius subsequently cruelly asked but Marius did not reply. The boy not only did not want to play along with the evil youth's verbal teasing but also genuinely did not know the answer to the question. However, given that Fabius had announced that his next performance on the horizontal bar would be longer than his first, he was worryingly pessimistic.

"Well, you seem to have mislaid your ability to speak, sweetest," Maccius next remarked. Addressing his friend, the evil youth subsequently declared "Mariullus has lost his tongue. We must do something to help him recover it."

Returning to questioning Marius, Maccius proceeded to enquire, whilst tenderly stroking the boy's bare back, "Have you any idea, sweetest, how much the burning of your delicate flesh will hurt when you do eventually fall into the flames?" However, the young prostitute, whose skin had erupted in goosepimples as a result of the evil youth's creepy touch, again did not respond.

"Ah, the sweet child still will not reply," Maccius therefore commented to his friend, "perhaps because he doesn't know the answer. I therefore think that together we should find out!"

"Darling," Maccius then requested of his friend, "please hold my little Mariullus still. I want to show him how much fire hurts."

"Let's see," Maccius sadistically and sinisterly added, "how much the boy enjoys the flame from the oil-lamp on our table when applied to one of those lovely little rosy nipples of his!"

Chapter LXXVIII

After Maccius' friend compliantly rose and stood up from his couch in order to grip Marius, the evil youth leant forward to pick up the oil lamp from the table in front of their couches. However, in reaction, the appalled boy instinctively twisted away from the hands holding him, aided by the fact that his naked body was still sweaty and well-oiled.

Marius subsequently fled from the scene, heedless of the consequences of displeasing some clients. The boy considered a beating in penance better than having his nipples tortured by a hot flame.

As Marius fled, he could hear Maccius screaming behind him "Stop that boy. Stop him now!"

Marius next saw a clearly displeased Fabius and two adult slaves moving forward to intercept him. Other men, patrons of the boy brothel, stood up ready to join in the hunt for fun.

Marius knew he did not have a chance of escape but he believed that he had to run whilst he could, as he could not think of alternative action to delay being tortured by the flame of the oil-lamp. The boy therefore desperately twisted and turned about the great hall, dodging around couches and slipping under tables whilst the growing mob bayed at his heels.

Marius' elusiveness could not, of course, last and actually came to an end when, whilst attempting to dart past some couches on which two men were reclining, taking no part in the chase, one of them suddenly reached out and caught him by the wrist. The boy pulled desperately against his capture but this time there was no escape.

"Please, Sir," Marius begged, whilst panting and tearful, and as the chasing mob closed in, "please let me go. "I don't think I shall," the very well-dressed young man concerned responded in a highly refined accent, whilst demonstrating his strength by gathering the helpless naked boy close towards him.

Without rising, the man pulled Marius towards him and forced him down onto the floor to squat at his feet. By this time, the chasing mob had finally caught up with the frightened panicky boy.

"Mariullus, you're a very naughty boy," Maccius, who was at the head of the mob, subsequently commented, "for running away like that, just as we were beginning to have fun." The evil youth then addressed the young prostitute's still reclining captor.

"Thank you, Sir," Maccius said, "for catching our little friend. Please hand him to me and I'll personally supervise his penance for being so naughty!"

Maccius was simultaneously panting slightly as a result of his recent running, as well as giggling in excitement at the prospect of what he imminently proposed to do to Marius. The evil youth also reached out for the still squatting boy, who cringed away from his hands.

Maccius' attempt to retrieve Marius was, however, halted when the young man declared quietly but confidently "The boy stays here with me!" "But he's mine," the evil youth protested, "for I had him first and I want him back. Give him to me or we'll simply take him from you!"

Maccius' friend, plus several of the men, who had joined in chasing Marius, also muttered menacingly. However, a greater number began discreetly to fade away into the background.

"Stay where you are, boy," the young man commanded authoritatively, whilst standing and releasing his hold on the still squatting Marius. The latter was, of course, now happy to comply.

The young man's movements as he stood were unhurried but controlled and smooth. Looking up at him from where he crouched, Marius noticed that he was, although only of medium height, powerfully built with broad shoulders and a general air of mental assurance and physical competence.

The young man's tunic was relatively plain and simply cut but was also spotlessly clean and made of the finest and undoubtedly very expensive cloth. The belt that he wore was of well-oiled hide and was fastened by a heavy silver clasp.

There was a suggestion of the army in the young man's dress and decorum. Marius also thought that he detected an air of the highest ranks of the nobility about him.

"You can try to take the boy from me," the young man replied to Maccius' threat, "but I assure you that you'll deeply regret your attempt!" The evil youth initially believed that this promise related to having to fight to retrieve Marius but suddenly he perceptively realised that there was something even more sinister behind the threat.

Maccius' fears proved well-founded when his friend tugged at the sleeve of his own tunic and whispered to him urgently, whilst the backing crowd dissipated further. The cause was not recognition of the young man by anyone who had remained in support of the evil youth but identification of his older companion.

Whilst whispering, Maccius' friend had nodded towards the young man's drinking companion, a fat middle aged individual with a face marked by great dissipation and self-indulgence. He had remained reclining on his own couch, apparently observing the scene with an innocent amused smile on his face, as though he was in no way involved in the unfolding drama but was highly amused by the incident.

Maccius finally recognised the young man's older companion. "Titus Caesonius Priscus," the evil youth requested with increasing nervousness evident in his voice, as his earlier confidence in his rights began to wane considerably, "please ask your friend to give the boy up to me!"

Maccius might not have recognised the young man who was confronting him but did know Titus Caesonius Priscus, holder of the office of Imperial Master of Ceremonies. This role included the post of 'Comptroller of Pleasures', namely organising the Emperor Tiberius' entertainments on the island of Capri, which necessitated an unceasing supply of fresh boys to satisfy the old despot's still voraciously sadistic pederastic lusts.

"I don't think I shall," Titus coolly replied, echoing the earlier answer that the young man had given to Marius when the boy had begged to be released from his grip. "You see, Maccius," the old rake continued in explanation, "I have no authority whatsoever over Drusus Julius Caesar, nephew and heir apparent to our illustrious Emperor Tiberius and just back from victoriously fighting rebel tribes on the Germanian border."

"In fact," Titus added, "Drusus Julius Caesar, nephew and heir apparent to our illustrious Emperor Tiberius, has considerable practical if not legal authority over me and I suggest everyone else in this establishment, and indeed the whole Empire, by virtue of his status. I also understand that you and your close friend, Scyrax, benefited considerably from the recent Germanian campaign in terms of acquiring fresh boys. You therefore appear to be being very greedy in asking for this particular delicious specimen to be handed over to you by the person most responsible for your windfall!"

Maccius' face turned white in fearful shock, as making an enemy of the putative next Roman Emperor was not a wise move. However, the evil youth somehow managed to overcome his momentary trauma to move quickly from a threatening attitude towards Drusus to an obsequious one.

"Please forgive me, Sir," Maccius fawningly requested of Drusus, "for not recognising you. Please also excuse my earlier attitude towards this boy but I was upset at his antics in refusing to serve me and instead running away. Of course you can retain him. I'll gain my pleasure with him at some other time, if he survives his nightly performances on the horizontal bar!"

Maccius subsequently glanced at Marius. "Well, sweetest," the evil youth commented to the boy, whose face displayed a slight grin of happiness at his narrow escape, "you seem to have found yourself some nice and very important friends for now. However, I'll be back tomorrow to see you dance over the flames and, if you survive, I'll demand of Fabius and Felicia that I be allowed to punish you for the trouble you've caused me tonight."

"You'll then learn how it feels to burn," Maccius sinisterly added, whilst wiping the smile off Marius' face, "although perhaps now your nipple won't be suffering but somewhere even more tender. Contemplate that lovely prospect, sweetest!"

Maccius returned to looking at Drusus, bowed respectfully and smiled insincerely before turning on his heel and walking away in chagrin. By now, the only other person who had remained at the scene was the alarmed Fabius, with even the evil youth's friend having already retreated quietly back to his couch. The brothel-keeper, like many others present, had not originally recognised the Emperor's most important nephew.

"I don't think, Lord," Titus remarked privately to Drusus, "that involving yourself in a drunken brawl in a house of ill repute immediately on your return from the Germanian campaign would necessarily be the best way of making a good impression on your uncle." "Well, I'm actually completely sober," the young man replied, "and anyway what would be a good way of endearing myself to the old lecher, apart from losing a number of years in age and turning myself into a common boy tart like this little whore here?"

Marius, who was still squatting for safety at Drusus' feet, overheard the insulting description of him but was not hurt by the comments. The boy was simply too grateful for his recent rescue from Maccius' perfidious clutches to be upset by the words, which anyway summed up correctly what he had become, although he believed that the term 'common' might not yet apply to him. After all, he still served in a superior brothel and had just proven himself to be an accomplished acrobat.

"Oh, what is it, fellow?" Drusus subsequently snapped, after noticing the still hovering Fabius. "Excuse me, Lord," the brothel-keeper answered obsequiously, "but I should like to add my apologies for the recent unsavoury incident. I'd also like to know whether you both have everything you wish. Please feel free to order anything else you want and it will be an honour to provide it to you free."

"Meanwhile, I'll take the cause of the recent trouble away," Fabius added, "and have him soundly whipped for his impertinence in forcing himself on your Lord. We have many equally pretty young boys who can serve you for free and be worthier of your attention than him. If you would permit me to send a selection of the finest to you, I should be honoured to do so!"

"No, we'll will keep this boy and want nothing further," Drusus answered before changing his mind. "On second thoughts," he corrected, "bring me a pitcher of cold drinking water, a mug, half a white loaf and a decent amount of goat's cheese."

"A pitcher of cold drinking water, a mug, half a white loaf and a decent amount of goat's cheese," Fabius repeated uncertainly. "But we have much better fare available, Lord," the brothel-keeper then advised, "including the best Falernian wine available in Rome. Would you not prefer some of these delicacies?"

"No, I do not want wine or delicacies," Drusus retorted, "because, if I did, I would have said. Please provide just what I've requested and perhaps you would have it delivered here now and be good enough to leave us to our discussions!"

"Very good, Lord," Fabius replied, as he backed quickly away, knowing when he was not wanted. He did so whilst respectfully bowing deeply and muttering to himself in an unbelieving voice "A pitcher of cold drinking water, a mug, half a white loaf and a decent amount of goat's cheese."

"Well," Drusus next commented to Titus, "if I can't endear myself to my uncle by having disputes in brothels about pretty little boy whores, how do I do so? I'd be glad of your advice, although, considering what the Emperor indulges in on Capri, I would have thought that he would have found such behaviour on my part to his liking than otherwise. My presence and actions here would surely seem to suggest to him that we, he and I, have similar tastes!"

"If I may be candid, Lord," Titus responded, "the first action that I would recommend is that you would be wise to stop showing disdain for Tiberius' sexual tastes. He has spies everywhere and you never know who might be listening. Your words could be reported back to the Emperor, offending him and landing you in trouble. Anyway, you do share his passion for pretty boys."

"I do indeed share Tiberius' taste for pretty boys," Drusus responded, "but I only want to make love to them. I definitely don't have the Emperor's blatant sadism."

"There's also only you and me here to overhear my words," Drusus continued, "and you will not report them back to Tiberius for the simple reason that you have decided that I am my uncle's most likely successor and have therefore cast in your lot with me. You will not betray me because it would not be in your own interests to do so."

"That's as may be, Lord," Titus suggested, whilst nodding with meaning at Marius, "but there may be people in a position to overhear whom you've neglected to consider." "The boy tart," Drusus replied, "but who'd take any notice of a little slut like that, a common whore?"

"Your Uncle trusts no one, Lord," Titus contested, "and, as I've said, has spies everywhere, almost certainly some of them here and others following you. This boy will not be one but he could easily be approached, now he has been seen in our company, and quizzed about what we spoke about today."

Marius, listening to all this conversation, still felt no resentment at the way Drusus described him. The boy well appreciated what he now was and he knew that the Emperor's nephew, when he referred to him as a tart, slut and whore, spoke no more than the truth.

In continued gratitude for his recent, albeit perhaps sadly only temporary, salvation from Maccius' wicked clutches, Marius also resolved in his heart that every spy in Tiberius' pay could cross-question him about what had been said between Drusus and Titus and he would not tell. They could whip him and sear his flesh with their heated pincers but he would not betray the young man who had saved him from the evil youth.

Marius, of course, did not dare to relate this undertaking to Drusus, for a slave does not speak unless addressed. However, whilst now sitting rather than squatting on the marble floor, the naked boy attempted to convey his devotion by discreetly resting his head against the young man's thigh.

In instinctive response, Drusus dropped his hand onto Marius' head and idly ruffled the boy's silky golden hair as he listened to Titus. "Tiberius is now old, ill and failing, Lord," the latter commented, apparently after accepting that the young prostitute was not a threat, "and you are his obvious heir. You have only to survive to ascend the throne but you have enemies and rivals who'll attempt to poison the Emperor's opinion of you. You've already spoken too often, openly and disparagingly about the nature of his pleasures and he resents your indiscreet insulting attitude."

"But I resent what he does to many of his boys," Drusus answered, "with his taste for acute sadism often actually maiming or even killing some of them. Most might only be slave chattels but the waste is appalling!"

"Well, Tiberius destroyed your elder brother, Lord," Titus replied, "because of similar attitudes towards him and suspicions that he was plotting against him. He'll do the same to you if you give him grounds to have the same concerns. You must therefore, above all, guard your tongue. Do not criticise him. You shouldn't have to remain silent for long. Meanwhile, do nothing that'll give him motive for thinking you are disloyal but instead take action to show the opposite!"

"And how," Drusus asked, "do I do that Titus? I am loyal. I may think that my uncle is an evil old pervert but I do not plot against him. After all, what's the point, as he will soon be gone?"

"Oh, what is it now, fellow?" Drusus interrupted his conversation with Titus to snap suddenly at the returning Fabius, who had reappeared carrying a silver salver and was standing by the table bowing deeply. The brothel-keeper personally serving guests was a very rare occurrence in the 'House of Ganymede'.

"I have brought a ewer of cold drinking water, a cup, half a white loaf and a decent amount of goat's cheese, as ordered, Lord," Fabius responded, with disbelief still evident in his voice. The brothel-keeper found difficult to accept that Tiberius' nephew and prospective next Emperor wanted such simple plebeian fare, for which he had taken steps to improve the presentation by serving the stuff using utensils of precious solid silver.

"Oh good, give it to the young tart here," Drusus casually commanded. "The boy, Lord?" the startled Fabius queried in intensified disbelief.

"Yes, man," Drusus impatiently confirmed, "to the boy. You don't think I would touch such stuff myself. The tart's no doubt thirsty after his performance over the flames and he's sure to be hungry as well. Show me a slave of his age who is not. So give your salver to him and be off. I have private matters to discuss!"

Fabius did his best to hide his incredulity and anger when he bent forward and thrust the salver at Marius. The boy took the tray from him and without troubling to use the silver cup provided lifted the ewer to his lips, gratefully gulping the cold water inside down his throat. With his immediate thirst slaked, he next started on the bread and cheese with eagerness.

Meanwhile, Marius fully appreciated that he was going to be in immense trouble when Drusus had gone. The clearly disgusted and now departing Fabius would undoubtedly salve his frustrations on the boy's back and bottom with a crop, and there was the prospect of another perilous performance on the horizontal bar to come, plus Maccius to face if he survived. However, for the moment the young prostitute was content to enjoy his good fortune.

Drusus briefly watched Marius gorge on his food, with a half-smile on his face, before returning his attention back to Titus. "Well, my friend," he now asked of the older man, "what do you suggest that I should do to display my loyalty to Tiberius?"

"I believe you must, Lord," Titus answered, "place yourself in a position where you cannot be suspected of plotting because it would be all but physically impossible for you to do so." "Do you mean," Drusus queried in return, "that I should behave like the old man himself did in the reign of Augustus and exile myself to Rhodes?"

"I do not believe, Lord," Titus replied, "that would be sufficient. Augustus unfairly suspected Tiberius of plotting against him even when he was on Rhodes. I do think that you should go to an island but not to that one. There is only one place where you can live that'll give you a chance of convincing your uncle that you harbour no plans against him."

"And where is that?" asked Drusus. "Capri, Lord," Titus responded.

Seeing the immediate expression of horror on Drusus' face, Titus hurried on with his explanation. "Consider, Lord," the older man said in clarification, "if you are there under his eyes. You can do nothing without him becoming aware. He will not suspect you of plotting because he will simply know that you are not doing so. Living there might also enable you to ingratiate yourself with him, thereby protecting yourself even more."

"But I hate the place," Drusus retorted, "because my uncle has turned Capri into a vast boy brothel catering for his own diseased sadistic tastes. I hate being witness to his perverse cruelty."

"It should not be for long, Lord," Titus suggested, "and such a manoeuvre in my opinion represents your best chance of surviving long enough to assume the throne. Indeed, such a move might be your only realistic opportunity to fend off Tiberius' suspicions and the nefarious schemes of your enemies and rivals. The Emperor has you in his sights already and, unless you show him that his worries are groundless, he will kill you, just as he killed your elder brother."

Drusus sat up for a moment on his couch, with his legs stuck out straight in front of him and his eyes fixed gloomily on the floor, whilst contemplating Titus' recommendation. He then made a decision.

"Very well, I shall do as you suggest," Drusus announced, whilst also now looking at Marius, "and you may buy this boy for me as well. I'll give him to my uncle on my arrival on Capri."

"The young tart's the sort of gift the old lecher would appreciate," Drusus remarked, "especially when dancing dangerously for him over red hot coals!"

Chapter LXXIX

"There'd be nothing more delicious for Tiberius," Drusus suggested, whilst gesturing to Marius, who was still sitting at his feet and listening, "than watching a pretty whore like this fall to an agonising fiery death. The fact that the boy was a gift from me should truly help to disguise my disgust."

"Only, Lord," Titus remarked, "if your face or overall behaviour do not give your own act away." "Well," Drusus replied, whilst managing a grim smile, "I'll therefore simply have to become a consummate actor whilst on Capri!"

"Anyway, I'll have less conscience for this young tart," Drusus confessed, "than for some other victims of Tiberius' sadism. This slut is just a slave and therefore dispensable, although I dislike the waste. The ones I really feel sorry for are the free boys, especially from the upper classes, whom you procure or others supply for the Emperor's perverse pleasures."

"Well, Lord," Titus commented in defence of his procurement activities, "the Emperor does enjoy variety. Having some sons from the upper classes, whose families seek his favour because they have fallen on very bad times, perhaps after somehow upsetting him, or are simply exceedingly ambitious, forming part of his large retinue of boy catamites pleases him enormously."

"Tiberius likes the contrast, Lord," Titus explained, "between these boys and the born slaves. The former sons of the upper classes often start their new lives by complaining snootily in their posh voices that they shouldn't be expected to perform such demeaning roles."

"They invariably complain that they're not slaves but Romans of the highest rank, Lord," Titus continued, "and therefore shouldn't be treated by Tiberius as mere catamites. However, most are inevitably soon cowed if not beaten into reluctant but compliant acceptance of their fate. The Emperor enjoys observing their moral and psychological collapse into obedient whores."

"Born slaves are accustomed to obedience and demeaning roles, Lord," Titus added nonchalantly, "but a boy of free background, after eventually accepting the ruination of his status, experiences much more mental trauma when serving Tiberius, particularly sexually. The Emperor thoroughly enjoys their deep personal discomfort, which has actually led some to suicide, normally by throwing themselves off Capri's tall coastal cliffs."

"Well, at least this boy," Drusus remarked, whilst referring to Marius and again ruffling his golden hair, "should not suffer similar suicidal trauma. He's just a slave, who'll probably be no worse off with my uncle than he would be here. In fact, he'll probably be better off on Capri when you consider that he's scheduled to perform over the flames again tomorrow and, if he survives, the youth I quarrelled with tonight will be after him once more."

"As you well know, Titus," Drusus continued, "my uncle's easily bored. I suppose that he'll only want to see this tart's death-defying act once and not repeatedly like the slut could probably expect here. The young whore's chances of survival, at least from dancing dangerously, should therefore be greater on Capri unless Tiberius decides to sabotage the boy's prospects, as he often does with other similar performers."

Marius, who had been listening to this conversation about him, remained remarkably unconcerned about what was being said about his status and prospects. After all, fate was apparently allowing him to escape the 'House of Ganymede' and Maccius' clutches and Drusus might be right in suggesting that he now stood a better chance of survival on Capri.

Marius was unfazed by the likely challenges ahead, even facing the man who had ordered the destruction of his family, namely the Emperor Tiberius. The boy recognised that the gods had enabled him to survive many anguishing difficulties so far. He now sincerely believed that the deities could not be so cruel that they were planning for him to meet his demise on Capri but instead, having allowed him to live until the present, surely had a far better destiny in mind for him.

"How much should I be prepared to pay for the boy, Lord?" asked Titus. "Whatever is necessary," Drusus answered, "but that shouldn't be too high a sum for two reasons."

"First," Drusus explained, "the boy appears now to be a dispensable item for the brothel's owners and so his value here must have diminished considerably of late. Second, advise our host that I'm prepared to pay a fair price but no more and he would displease me a lot if he proved unreasonable with his quotation. I'm somehow sure that he would not want to make the Emperor's senior nephew unhappy!"

Drusus subsequently stood up again from his couch and, having decided to make no further use of the amenities available in the 'House of Ganymede', including the sexual services of the many pretty boys offered to him by Fabius for free, he strode off and out of the brothel. His mind was too worried and focused on how to regain and retain his uncle's favour to continue to seek solace with the available young prostitutes.

Drusus left Titus behind to conduct the bargaining with Fabius for Marius' purchase.

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