The Traitor's Son Chapters 33 -34
By Zelamir, adapted by Pueros

This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY


Chapter XXXIII

In response to Scyrax's command, the naked Dictys had taken
the still quietly sobbing and similarly nude Marius by the
hand and led him from the dining hall. Neither therefore
subsequently heard their master's next order to fetch Nisus
so that the man could castrate the young slave as a main
element of his birthday party's entertainment.

Neither also had any inkling about Scyrax's wicked plan.
Consequently, Dictys would not learn about Nisus' fate until
he returned to the dining hall, which he could only do after
he had washed himself. His very handsome body was still
besmirched from the sweat and urine that had despoiled his
form whilst he held Marius in place so the younger boy could
be caned by the sadistic Maccius. His master only liked to
be served by pristine slaves.

As Dictys and Marius left the dining hall, Sulis had stepped
forward from where he had been lurking in the shadows. He
had dangerously taken an unauthorised break from his kitchen
dishwashing duties to spy on events at the party.

"Shouldn't you be washing dishes?" Dictys asked of Sulis,
who had been appalled to observe his new friend, Marius,
being beaten. In answer to the question, the boy now simply
blushed silently.

"I thought so," Dictys responded, without needing a verbal
reply, "and you'd better not let Scyrax or Felix see you
shirking or it'll be the cane for you again!" Sulis' blush
immediately disappeared in fright, as the youth reminded him
of the possible consequences of temporarily abandoning his
dishwashing. The boy's pretty face instead became ashen in
hue and, still without saying a word, he turned, intending
to run back to the kitchen to resume his duties there.
However, he was prevented from doing so by a shout of
"Wait!"

Fortunately for Sulis, the shout emanated from Dictys' rosy
lips. "Instead of washing dishes," the youth went on to
suggest, "you can help me by washing Marius here. I also
need to bathe but quickly, as Scyrax will want me to return
rapidly in a clean state to attend to him and Maccius. Your
aid will help speed the process."

"Poor Marius lost control of his bladder whilst I held him
for his caning," Dictys advised, "and so both of us need to
bathe. Afterwards, fetch a cloth soaked in cold water and
lay it on his bottom to help take the bruising out. Also,
don't come back here again. If you're spotted, you could be
severely punished yourself and I don't want to find myself
attending to your bum again!"

After handing Marius over to Sulis, Dictys rushed off to the
slave's bathing amenity, knowing that if he accompanied the
younger boys, one of whom could barely walk because of his
recent caning, he would take much longer to reach his
objective. The youth wanted to wash himself as quickly as
possible and hurry back into the noise and glare of the
dining hall. Scyrax was not a man who liked to be kept
waiting for service.

Now guided by Sulis' hand, Marius stumbled slowly along the
ever narrower and darker passageways that eventually led to
the slaveboys' dormitory. As he did so, he was conscious of
little beyond the burning pain, which emanated from the
rather raw bleeding flesh of his bottom but somehow appeared
to sear his whole body.

As the two boys advanced, Sulis was for once silent. He had
been thoroughly shocked by the sight of his new friend's
lacerated bottom, which was in a far worse state than his
own had been after his recent caning.

Before Sulis eventually managed to guide Marius to the
slaveboys' baths, they discovered Dictys rushing along a
corridor from the other direction towards them, having
successfully accomplished the rapid re-cleansing of his body
in order to return to the dining hall. The still naked youth
did not dally on seeing the youngsters but instead rushed
past them in his hurry to resume his duties, although he did
give the pair a comforting smile as he proceeded.

Little did Marius and Sulis know that the occasion would
prove to be the last time that they would ever see Dictys'
handsome smiling face in the house of Scyrax.

Chapter XXXIV

The subsequent night was a long one for Marius. The cold
water-soaked rag placed gently on his damaged bottom by
Sulis had brought only momentary relief from the burning
agony suffered by his flagellated buttocks. He therefore
spent the night lying face down on his dormitory mattress,
slumbering fitfully and whenever awake trying to suppress
his pained whimpering so as not to disturb the other boys
sleeping around him.

Sulis woke at dawn. The boy discovered that Marius' tearful
blue eyes were already open and looking at him.

Sulis could not then resist the temptation to rise and check
whether the cold rag had helped to draw some of the bruising
from Marius' bottom. He therefore subsequently gently lifted
the cloth from his new friend's ravaged rear.

Marius, who remained lying quietly and compliantly as Sulis
proceeded, next heard his new friend draw his breath in
sharply. "That bastard, Maccius, really did beat you badly,
Mariullus," the slightly younger boy then commented in awed
tones.

"Remain still, while I bathe, dress and then go try to find
some ointment," Sulis added, rather needlessly as Marius had
no wish to embark on any movement that would worsen his
distress. There was then a general bustle in the long
dormitory, as Scyrax's other slaveboys roused themselves to
prepare for another day in the service of their master.

A number of the slaveboys paused to inspect Marius' ravaged
bottom on their way to the adjacent baths. Some even knelt
beside him, speaking in low voices as their fingers lightly
touched in curiosity the livid welts that ribbed his flesh.
However, their sympathy for the young victim of the previous
night's caning was mixed equally with grudging fearful
respect for the youth, the sadistic Maccius, who had
inflicted such a vigorous and severe thrashing.

Eventually, the dormitory became empty and silent, after the
other slaveboys had washed, groomed, dressed and gone for
breakfast. The quiet and his own personal exhaustion now
finally brought some more relief to Marius because he fell
asleep, only to be roused by a loud wailing.

The wailing was unmistakably a cry of distress but not of a
sort that Marius could recognise. He did realise that the
shrieking was certainly not the blubbering of a freshly
caned boy, a sound common enough in the house of Scyrax to
be one with which he was therefore now very familiar.

Marius did not immediately know but the wailing was actually
not a cry of physical pain at all but of spiritual distress.
The shrieking was that of creature bereft, raging against
the cruelty and injustice of life.

Marius somehow heaved himself painfully to his knees and
stared about him. At that same moment, Sulis, attired in
just the usual tiny thong, appeared, moving in a strange
stumbling run, his knuckles pressed to his weeping eyes. The
boy was bawling his misery to the world with all the
strength and volume that his young lungs could muster.

Marius, forgetful of his own injuries in his concern for the
misery of Sulis, scrambled to his feet and stumbled towards
him. Soon afterwards, his arms were full of howling boy.

Marius stood looking down at the top of the slightly smaller
boy's head, feeling his face, wet with tears, pressed
against his own bare chest. He had never seen Sulis in such
a state before and wondered what the cause could be.

Sulis, of course, cried when he was beaten, as what child
did not? However, like boys in general, he was a resilient
little youngster and when his bottom was not freshly striped
he was generally cheerful and lively.

Marius glanced further down Sulis' rear. He soon confirmed
that his new friend displayed no signs of a fresh beating.

Marius naturally wanted to ask Sulis what was wrong.
However, he somehow sensed that the slightly younger boy was
not yet ready to answer.

The pair therefore just stood as they were, although Marius
tightened his hugging of Sulis in an attempted act of
comfort. He subsequently allowed his younger friend to
continue his weeping and howling of his misery to the world,
with his tearful head still pressing against the older boy's
bare chest.

Even at this caring and rather solemn moment, though,
Marius' body both betrayed and shamed him. The feel of the
younger boy's cool and silky skin pressing against his own
somehow excited him and his cock jumped to attention.

Sulis, however, appeared oblivious or uncaring of this
development and instead gradually calmed to allow the reason
for his acute distress to emerge slowly from his stuttering
rosy lips, frequently interrupted by renewed bouts of
sobbing. On hearing the news, Marius was equally shocked and
unhappy but, being slightly more mature and less closely
attached to the youth concerned, managed to avoid
degenerating into tearful wailing too.

Sulis advised that he appreciated that he should have gone
to Felix to ask for the ointment he wanted for Marius'
bottom but the eunuch secretary was a very cruel man,
renowned for taking delight in hurting boys. Consequently,
he had instead looked for Dictys.

Sulis suggested in explanation that he considered Dictys to
be good, kind and brave, and someone who would do anything
he could to help him. However, Marius also astutely
perceived that there were other reasons for his new friend's
affection for the youth and why he regularly sought him out
in such circumstances.

Dictys had clearly demonstrated in the past, before the
advent of Marius into the house of Scyrax, that he was the
only person in the whole of the world who really cared for
Sulis. As a result, the younger boy had developed a loving
crush for the youth, who to him was not only a paternal
figure but also a hero.

The perceptive Marius was additionally sure that Dictys was
attracted both to the personality and body of Sulis too.
However, in the house of Scyrax, such emotions had to remain
passive and go unrequited.

Sulis broke down again at this point but eventually
recovered and went on with his tearful story. He had looked
everywhere about the house for Dictys and in the end he had
gone to the dining hall to see if the youth was helping to
clean the place up after the party.

Being one of the senior slaveboys, Dictys' normal duties did
not normally involve such menial work. However, the dining
hall was often in a terrible mess after one of Scyrax's
parties and it would be characteristic of the considerate
youth to turn up to help.

Here the narrative was interrupted again by another bout of
voluminous crying, as Sulis stuttered his remembrances of
the many virtues and kindnesses of his hero. However, with a
couple of loud sniffles, he eventually again continued with
the main storyline.

The dining hall had been in a particularly awful mess, with
broken plates, spilt food and wine and vomit on the floor. A
team of slaveboys was employed in cleaning up the
comprehensive disarray but Dictys was nowhere to be seen.

Sulis therefore asked one of the other slaveboys where
Dictys was and the answer he obtained had initiated his
current distress. However, Marius had to wait awhile to hear
details because his new friend dissolved into more tears
before his voice became able to relate the reply that he had
received.

The full horror of Sulis' story then finally emerged. On the
previous night, the still naked but washed Dictys had
returned to the dining hall to discover Nisus being dragged
into the room by some of Scyrax's adult slaves. The men were
all eunuchs and were very pleased that the very handsome 15
year-old was about to become one of their own kind.

For his role at the party, Nisus had been dressed in a clean
brief tight-fitting white tunic, extending to just below his
groin, with matching minuscule loincloth underwear. Scyrax
had wanted to present his imminent young victim initially to
his guests in his normal attire, as if castrating one of his
slaveboys for party entertainment was commonplace.

The adult slaves had already placed a sturdy low wooden
table in the middle of the dining hall, to which they
anticipated tying a naked Nisus face-up and spreadeagled to
await the loss of his balls to Scyrax's knife. The first
part of this process now went relatively smoothly, as the
eunuchs managed to remove first the boy's tunic and then his
loincloth, despite his desperate struggles and to the
delight of most spectators.

Despite the serious danger of his position, Nisus' revealed
cock proved to be erect, again much to the delight of most
spectators. Such penile hardness was actually a symptom more
of the recent denial of sexual relief afforded to his raging
young hormones, which had caused him to be in his current
desperate predicament in the first place, than any perverse
excitement over his situation.

Whilst the newly returned and appalled Dictys watched, the
eunuchs subsequently made moves to bind the still
fruitlessly struggling Nisus to the waiting table. Their
efforts were accompanied by laughter from Scyrax and his
guests, especially Maccius, who were amused at the boy's
useless attempts to avoid his fate.

Dictys, however, was not amused, just horrified at what was
about to be inflicted before him on Nisus, which was obvious
from the sentence passed on the boy weeks earlier and the
current arrangements, including the knife in Scyrax's hand.
The brave youth therefore suddenly decided that he could not
watch idly but instead had to attempt to stop his master's
clear intent.

Despite the clear danger to himself in taking such action,
Dictys rushed to Scyrax and fell to his knees before the
surprised man, being unafraid and instead rather accustomed
to debasing himself in such a manner. "Please, Master," the
youth then begged, "please don't castrate Nisus. Punish him
in some other way, like whipping him again, but don't
destroy his masculinity!"

The guests in the dining hall, who were perversely looking
forward to seeing a pretty boy lose his balls, were
naturally displeased about Dictys' action in case Scyrax
decided to respect the entreaty and cancel the proposed
entertainment. The eunuchs present were also unhappy at the
possible prospect of the 15 year-old not becoming one of
their number after all. All worried that the fat host might
have deliberately orchestrated the youth's action because in
cruel jest he never really had any intention of gelding one
of his valuable young slaves.

Scyrax, however, quickly demonstrated how unfounded such
worries were because, apart perhaps from Maccius, his
outrage at Dictys' unprecedented act of insubordination was
the greatest in the dining hall. The fat man revealed his
attitude when his face turned purple in fury and he lashed a
hand violently at the youth's face.

The violent smack caused Dictys to fall to his side on the
floor, where Scyrax subsequently began to kick him harshly.
At the same time, the fat man angrily shouted "How dare you
be so impertinent to question my decisions by begging for
the salvation of Nisus' miscreant balls!"

Maccius simultaneously stood up from the couch, which he had
been sharing with Scyrax, and yelled encouragement to his
obese paramour by suggesting "Kick the brat's own balls to
pulp!" "I think I will!" the still enraged fat man replied.
However, Dictys decided not to give him the opportunity.

Grabbing Scyrax's kicking leg, Dictys pulled and brought the
fat man tumbling to the floor next to him in a loud crash.
Jumping nimbly to his feet after grasping his master's spilt
knife, the youth then approached the eunuchs restraining
Nisus and, using the blade as a threat, ordered them to
release their grip on the boy, which they immediately did.

"Come with me," Dictys subsequently suggested to Nisus, who
did not hesitate to obey. The two naked young slaves then
ran rapidly from the dining hall.

Dictys' rebellious action had been so surprising and quick
that no one else in the dining hall had the calmness or
speed of mind to prevent him and Nisus escaping from the
room. The facts that no guest or servant was armed like the
youth or, most being inherently cowardly, desired anyway to
confront such an obviously dangerous young slave aided the
lack of resistance to what had happened.

Such passive attitudes were also boosted by a realisation
that surely two naked young slaves, armed only with a knife,
could not remain at liberty for long, even if they managed
to escape the house of Scyrax, which was walled on the
perimeter like a mini-fortress. There was additionally some
quiet sadistic pleasure at the thought that, once
recaptured, the punishments for the pair would be extreme.

Regardless of market value because examples needed to be
made to deter others, recaptured escaped slaves were
generally beaten and tortured and inevitably later executed,
either by crucifixion or being fed to wild beasts in the
amphitheatre. Such a gruesome fate surely now awaited both
Dictys and Nisus.

The shocked Maccius had eventually rushed forward to try to
help the equally stunned and now moaning Scyrax to regain
his feet. However, four eunuchs slaves were also eventually
needed to achieve the feat of raising the fat man.

As the eunuch slaves subsequently brushed and straightened
with their hands their master's dishevelled robes, Scyrax
loudly ordered his adult servants to conduct a search for
the young escapees. He also confirmed to his guests his
intent of what he proposed to do with Dictys and Nisus once
they were recaptured. "As part of their penance," he
declared, "I'll have their whole genitals cut off before
having them publicly crucified!"

"Oooh," a calming Maccius then asked, realising that the
situation promised happy times for him, "can I help torture
them?" "I rather fancy seriously hurting and slicing off the
genitals of two such pretty but naughty boys," he added,
"and I promise, my dear Scyrax, that I'll be especially nice
to you in return!"

Scyrax, also now calming, could not resist such a promise.
"Of course you can help, my sweet Maccius," he answered,
"and, in fact, you can take the lead in torturing the
bastards. I rather look forward to watching you!"

The thought of what Maccius might do to the similarly aged
Dictys caused Sulis to dissolve into tears again, once more
interrupting his recounting to Marius of what had happened
on the previous night. The slightly older boy therefore just
continued patiently to stand and hold his younger friend
close until the child calmed, whilst his cock remained
shamelessly stiff.

Marius was naturally eager to discover whether Dictys and
Nisus had been recaptured. He could not believe that they
could possibly escape the house of Scyrax or, if they did,
spend long in their naked state in the adjacent streets of
Rome without being quickly apprehended.

Marius too was now near to tears but he realised, with all
the maturity and responsibility that an 11 year-old could
feel for a friend twelve months younger than himself, that
he must not give way to his own unhappiness at what had
happened. His current job was to comfort Sulis and he could
not do that if he too was crying.

"What is this abominable noise? Why are you two sluts idling
your time away here? Why aren't you now both working?" These
three consecutive questions were suddenly uttered from the
dormitory doorway. Neither Marius nor Sulis had to look to
see who was making the enquiries, as the rather effeminate
vocal tones in which they were related easily revealed the
identity of the person concerned.

Nevertheless, both boys looked towards the dormitory doorway
to confirm that the dreaded Felix was standing there. The
eunuch had entered the room unheard and was now thoroughly
enjoying discovering two supposedly idling boys.

Felix's enjoyment stemmed from the fact that he gained
immense pleasure in identifying and persecuting for painful
chastisement boys of Scyrax's household. Being a eunuch, the
thrill he gained from his successes was not sexual but
instead entirely due to pure undiluted sadism.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Marius answered in panic, whilst he
released his tender grip on new friend and his cock quickly
returned in fright to flaccidity, "but Sulis is upset about
what happened last night and I was just trying to comfort
him." However, as soon as he had spoken these words, the boy
recognised that he had made a mistake.

Scyrax next asked a quick question directed at Sulis. "For
whom are you upset, brat?" the eunuch secretary enquired.

Marius recognised the trap inherent in the question but was
too late to prevent Sulis blurting out "Dictys, Sir." Felix
was delighted by the answer but feigned anger.

Felix approached and grabbed Sulis by the arm and spun him
round. Swinging the thick leather strap, which he always
carried to the constant fear of all the young slaves in the
household, the eunuch then began to flog the boy.

"You're an ungrateful brat," Felix simultaneously screamed
shrilly, "as you choose to ignore your duty to Scyrax, who
out of the goodness of his heart feeds and houses you, to
spend time instead crying about a wicked rebellious slave.
For your lack of concern for your Master, whom Dictys
attacked last night, I'll give you something to really weep
about!"

The sound of hard leather painfully and pitilessly hitting
young tender flesh, accompanied by an anguished yelp from
the victim of the flogging, was followed by the announcement
from Felix "I'll teach you and make you squeal!" The eunuch
subsequently fulfilled his promise.

Whilst a helpless Marius looked on, leather continued to
crack harshly against young flesh. Sulis squealed, as he
twisted and leapt in Felix's firm grasp whilst vainly
attempting to evade the cuts that the eunuch mercilessly
rained upon his bare back and bottom.

Blow after blow slashed down across Sulis' tender rear until
Felix eventually became short of breath and stopped.
Panting, the eunuch now released the thoroughly thrashed
boy, who collapsed sobbing to his knees on the floor, his
fears for his hero, Dictys, temporally forgotten amidst his
own physical agony.

The horrified watching Marius felt very cowardly at not
intervening. However, he realised that there was really
nothing that he could do to help Sulis.

Any attempted intervention would undoubtedly incur Felix's
wrath and his own beating. However, more importantly in the
naturally brave boy's mind was the thought that any such
action might also induce the eunuch to thrash Sulis even
harder.

Marius' mental processes could also not forget the undoubted
terrible fate awaiting Dictys. He had also intervened to aid
a fellow slave, and now he faced torture, nullification and
crucifixion, along with the boy he had attempted to help.

"Off with you," Felix later shouted, whilst planting a kick
on Sulis' bare bottom, "and do something to earn your keep.
There's still plenty of cleaning to do after the party last
night. I'll also be reporting you to Scyrax, who'll
undoubtedly want you caned later for being more concerned
about the welfare of the wicked Dictys than that of your
kind master!"

"And you go too," Felix, turning towards the white-faced
Marius, commanded, "because you can't spend your day lazing
around just because you received your own thrashing from
Maccius last night. Move, or you'll have a taste of my strap
too!" However, despite the eunuch's threat, the boy
initially briefly hesitated to comply.

Such disobedient delay again caused Felix to raise his strap
menacingly. However, Marius had hesitated because he had not
performed his normal morning ablutions. He had also not
redressed in his usual loincloth. Consequently, before the
eunuch could strike, he therefore quickly asked "Do you want
me to bathe, groom and attire myself first, Sir?"

Felix was actually rather surprised to learn that Marius had
not yet bathed and groomed himself because, despite his
recent tears and harrowing night and apart from his
comprehensively beaten rear, his appearance looked pristine.
The eunuch also momentarily sadistically considered
rewarding the boy for his delay in performing his morning
ablutions with a few blows from his strap. However, two
considerations stayed his hand and caused him to lower his
leather implement.

First, after the type of serious beating that Marius' bottom
had endured on the previous night, Felix appreciated that
Scyrax customarily and, rather out of normal character,
generously excused his young slaves from at least the
following morning's duties. Consequently, the boy could be
expected to remain in his dormitory and not to indulge in
his ablutions until later.

Second, Felix remembered that Marius was scheduled to be
sold at the slave market within the week. Consequently,
Scyrax might not appreciate further injury being inflicted
on the boy's undoubtedly very valuable but already damaged
virginal form.

Nevertheless, Felix's sadism had encouraged him on this
occasion not to allow Marius to be excused work on this
morning. The eunuch also wickedly conceived a reason not to
allow the boy the modicum of modesty, provided by Scyrax's
choice of sparse clothing for his young slaves, whilst he
performed his menial chores.

"No," Felix said in reply to Marius' question about bathing,
grooming and dressing, "as you've already wasted enough
time. I also want you to remain naked, as a rear loincloth
flap might exacerbate the hurt to your bottom and interfere
with healing. So, proceed to your duties as you are,
immediately without further ado!"

Marius disliked this answer, although not in respect of his
ablutions, as Sulis had, after all, supervised his post-
party cleansing just before they went to bed in their
dormitory on the previous night. The boy was instead unhappy
at the notion of having to perform his chores whilst
humiliatingly naked when all of the other young slaves would
be attired in some way, even if only in minuscule thongs.

Nevertheless, Marius appreciated that he dared not disobey
Felix. Consequently, with his hands attempting to cover and
thereby defensively protect his still hurting bottom from
the eunuch's strap, he scuttled past the secretary as fast
as he could, given his hurt, to follow the already departed
sobbing Sulis.

As Marius did so, he recognised a truism about himself. He
was reduced once more to a frightened, naked little slave
brat, with his role as the comforter of Sulis lost, at least
for now.

Marius also sorrowfully wondered what was currently
happening to poor Dictys and Nisus, as surely both would
have been recaptured by now, probably very shortly after
attempting escape from the house of Scyrax. The boy shivered
at the terrible thoughts that subsequently invaded his mind
about the types of tortures that the young slaves might now
be suffering at the very cruel hands of Maccius.

Marius, who, despite his previous recent experiences of
being in such a humiliating state, was still rather
conscious and ashamed of his nudity, subsequently found
himself sent to the dining hall, where he joined Sulis and
the team of young slaves scrubbing the floor. For a time, he
and his new friend worked side-by-side on their hands and
knees in a silence broken only by the occasional loud
sniffle from the younger boy. The 10 year-old's mental pain,
emanating from his deep concern for Dictys, had been
exacerbated by the thought of being caned later, as well as
by the physical anguish induced recently by Felix's strap.

Marius was eager to ask Sulis for the latest news about
Dictys and Nisus. However, Felix had followed them to the
dining hall and he dared not talk whilst that particular
eunuch was around for fear of being beaten by his strap for
slacking.

In the event, though, Marius did not have to ask Sulis for
news of Dictys and Nisus. Scyrax instead appraised the boy
about the current situation regarding the young escapees.

Scyrax did so when passing through the dining hall with
Maccius. The obnoxious youth had obviously stayed the night
with the fat man to pay his price for the pleasure of caning
Marius.

"The bastards are definitely not in the house," Marius
overheard Scyrax inform Maccius, "as everywhere has been
comprehensively searched, including the basement, roof and
gardens." "But how could they escape from your residence,"
the obnoxious youth asked in incredulity, "as your perimeter
walls are so high and your gate is always guarded?"

"It appears," Scyrax answered angrily, "that my walls aren't
high enough." "But then surely two naked slaves should have
been easy to find amidst the local streets," Maccius
commented.

"You forget," Scyrax replied, with anger still evident in
his voice, "that it was night and the streets were dark. The
bastards appear to have disappeared into the shadows, from
where they've not yet emerged in daylight."

"Nevertheless," Scyrax continued, "I'm sure that the
bastards will be caught eventually. My adult servants, even
my cook, are scouring the streets for them, asking questions
of the locals and offering rewards for their recapture."

"I also know the tribune of the local vigiles," Scyrax
added, referring to the organisation that was the strange
combination of being Rome's firemen and police, "and I've
offered him a substantial reward if any of his cohort
recapture the bastards. Surely two naked brats can't remain
at liberty for long in such circumstances!"

Scyrax and Maccius then left the dining room but Marius had
gained the news that he wanted. He immediately wondered how
Dictys and Nisus had achieved the remarkable feats of not
only escaping from Scyrax's house but also subsequently
disappearing amidst Rome's crowded streets whilst naked and
despite the bounty on their heads. Surely their nudity alone
would make them stand out.

Marius also wondered whether Scyrax's belief in the
inevitable recapture of Dictys and Nisus was realistic. The
pair obviously possessed guile to evade their pursuers so
far.

Marius therefore next prayed to the gods that the guile of
Dictys and Nisus eventually proved Scyrax's belief to be
unfounded. The notion that the deities might actually grant
his wish even caused him to smile.

Meanwhile, the sniffles from Sulis, who was still scrubbing
the floor next to Marius, disappeared in apparent shared
optimism.

(To be continued)

  
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