This is the sixteenth instalment of a story which will include descriptions of men physically abusing boys. If you do not enjoy such stories or are under eighteen please do not read it.
The story will include some deaths but it is not a snuff story. The deaths will not be described in a provocative way and are included only for story or character development.
I write because I enjoy doing so. You are at perfectly at liberty to copy or post this story. If you do so I would be glad however if you would acknowledge my authorship.
I would be glad to receive any comments (pleasant if possible) or suggestions you care to make. Please send them to zelamir@hotmail. com. I will reply to any messages I receive other than those complaining that this story include descriptions of young boys being physically abused. That is what it is about.
You have been warned.
The man was very strong. Without rising he pulled Marius towards him and forced him down till he was squatting on the ground by his feet.
"Marius, you naughty boy. Running away just as we were beginning to have fun. Thank you Sir for catching our friend we'll look after him for you now."
Maccius was panting slightly and giggling with excitement. He reached out for the boy and Marius cringed away.
"The boy stays here" the man said quietly.
"He's mine," Maccius protested. "I had him first and I want him back. Give him to me or we'll take him from you."
Maccius's friend and many of the men who had joined in chasing Marius muttered menacingly. One or two of the men though began to fade away into the background.
"Stay where you are boy," the man said releasing his hold of Marius's wrist. He stood up. His movements were unhurried but smooth and controlled. Looking up at him from where he crouched Marius saw that he was, although only of medium height, powerfully built with broad shoulders and a general air of physical competence. His tunic was plain and simply cut but spotlessly clean and made of the finest cloth. The belt he ware was of well oiled hide and was fastened by heavy silver clasp. There was a suggestion of the army in his dress and in the way he carried himself.
"You can try," the man replied.
The crowd backing Maccius stirred uneasily. Maccius's pulled at his sleeve and whispered urgently, nodding at the man's drinking companion, a fat middle aged individual with a face marked by dissipation and self indulgence. He had remained seated and was observing the scene with an amused smile on his face as though he was in no way involved in the unfolding drama.
"Titus Priscus are you sure," Maccius exclaimed. He might not recognise the man who stood facing him who had been engaged until recently in fighting on the Empire's Northern border and therefore had no recognised position in fashionable Roman life although he was the Emperor's nephew and putative heir.. However the name of the man holding the office of the Emperor's Master of Ceremonies, the man charged with organising the Emperor's entertainments on the island of Capri and providing an unceasing supply of fresh boys for the old despots lusts, was naturally immediately familiar to him.
"Well Marius sweety," he continued, "you seem to have found yourself important friends for tonight. But we'll be back tomorrow to see you dance over the flames and if you survive we'll teach you what how it feels to burn but perhaps not your nipple next time. Perhaps somewhere even more tender. Think about it darling," turning on his heel he minced off.
"I don't think Drusus involving yourself in a drunken brawl in a house of ill repute would necessarily be the best way of making a good impression on your Uncle immediately on your return from the wars," Titus remarked gently.
"Well what would be a good way of endearing myself to the old lecher - apart from loosing about fifteen years and turning myself into a common tart like this little slut here."
"Oh what is it fellow?" he snapped at Fabius who alerted by one of the ushers to the presence of important guests had appeared bowing and smiling at their able.
"Excuse me lord. I just came to see that you had everything you wished. You may order what you like Lords and it will be an honour to provide it to you free. I will take that brat away and have him soundly whipped for his impertinence forcing himself on your hignesses' attention. We have many prettier and younger boys than him much more worthy of your attention than him.. If you would permit me to send a selection to you I would be honoured to do so..."
"We will keep this boy and we want nothing further," Drusus cut him short and then added. "No, on second thoughts bring me a pitcher of cold drinking water, a mug, half a white loaf and a goats cheese."
"A pitcher of drinking water, a half loaf of white bread and a goats cheese Lord," Fabius said uncertainly. "You don't want some Falernian. We have some of the best in Rome ..."
"No I do not want wine. If I did I would have asked for it. I want as I have already said drinking water, white bread and goats cheese. Perhaps you would have it sent here now and be good enough to leave us to our discussions."
"Very good Lord. Very good," and Fabius backed away bowing deeply and muttering to himself in an unbelieving voice, "a pitcher of cold water some bread and some goats cheese."
"Well if I don't endear myself to my uncle by getting into fights in brothels about pretty little boy whores how do I do so. I would be glad of your advice. Although considering what he gets up to in Capri I would have thought he would have found such behaviour on my part more sympathetic than otherwise. It would seem to indicate that we, he and I, have similar tastes."
"The first thing you would be wise to do Lord," Titus said mildly, "is to stop sneering at the old man's tastes. You never know who maybe listening or who will pass your remarks on and they would and indeed have in the past caused him great offence."
"Titus there's only you and I here and you will not tell on me 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."
"That's as may be Lord but there's always people about," and Titus nodded meaningfully at Marius crouched on the floor beside Drusus's chair.
"The boy! Who'd take any notice of a little brute like that. A common tart."
"Your Uncle trusts no one. He has spies everywhere. Almost certainly he has spies here and others following you. This boy will not be one but he could easily be approached by one now he has seen by us and asked what we spoke about today."
Marius listening to all this felt no resentment at the way Drusus spoke of him. He knew what he was and he knew that Drusus when he spoke of him as a slut and a whore spoke no more than the truth. Still he resolved in his heart that every spy in the Emperor's pay could cross question him about what had been said and he would not tell. They could whip him and tear his flesh with their heated pincers he would not betray the man who had saved him from Maccius and his friend. He did not dare to say this for a slave does not speak unless spoken to but he tried to convey his devotion by resting his head against the man's thigh. Drusus dropped his hand on the boy's head and idly ruffled his hair as he listened to Titus talk.
"The old man is ill now and failing. You are his obvious heir and you have only to survive to achieve that prize but you have enemies and you have spoken too frankly about his pleasures and he resents this. He destroyed your elder brother because he suspected him of plotting against him. He will do the same to you if you give him grounds for similar suspicions. You must above all guard your tongue. Do not criticise him - you will not have to remain silent for long. Then you must not only do nothing which will give him grounds for thinking you are disloyal, you must take action to show that you are loyal."
"How do I do that Titus. I am loyal. I may think the man an evil old pervert but I do not plot against him. What's the point, he will be gone soon...... "
"Oh what is it fellow now," Drusus snapped suddenly interrupting himself. Fabius had appeared with a silver salver and was standing by the table bowing deeply.
"The ewer of water you ordered Lord together with the bread and cheese." Fabius had felt that he should serve such distinguished visitors to his establishment himself and what is more while indulging the Emperor's heirs eccentricities by bringing to him the plebeian foods he had ordered he had taken it upon himself to show his respect by seeing that all the utensils, tray, ewer, drinking cup, plates and knife were of finely wrought silver.
"Oh good - give it to the boy," Drusus remarked carelessly.
"The boy Lord?" Fabius said startled.
"Yes man, the boy. You do not think I would touch such stuff myself. The brat's no doubt thirsty after his performance over the flames and he's sure to be hungry as well. Show me a boy who is not. Give it to him and be off. I have private matters to discuss."
With a face of thunder Fabius bent forward and thrust the tray at Marius. The boy took it from him and without troubling to use the silver cup lifted the ewer to his lips gratefully gulping the cold water down. His immediate thirst slaked he started on the bread and cheese with a will. He knew he was going to be in trouble when this great Lord had gone. Fabius would be able to take out his frustrations on his bottom and shoulders but for the moment he was content to enjoy his good fortune. Drusus watched him for a moment a half smile on his face and then he turned back to Titus.
"Well my friend," he said to the older man, "what have you to suggest."
"You must Lord," the other replied speaking carefully, "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."
"What behave like the old man himself did in the reign of Augustus and banish myself to Rhodes?"
"I do not think Sir that would be sufficient. He was suspected of plotting even when he was there. No, I think you should go to an island but not to Rhodes. There is only one place where you can live which will give you a chance of convincing your Uncle you harbour no plans against him.."
"And that is?"
"Capri Sir." Seeing the expression on Drusus's face Titus hurried on. "Consider Sir if you are there you are under his eyes. You can do nothing without him knowing of it. He will not suspect you of plotting because he will know you are not doing so."
"But I hate the place. My Uncle has turned it into a vast brothel catering to his own cruel and diseased tastes."
"It will not be for long Sir. Truly it will not and it is your best chance. Indeed may be your only chance. He suspects you already. Unless you show him those suspicions are groundless he will kill you, just as he killed your brother and your father."
Drusus sat a moment his legs stuck out straight in front of him his eyes fixed gloomily on the floor. Then he spoke.
"Very well then. I will do as you suggest. And you may buy that boy for me as well. I will give him to my Uncle. It is the sort of gift he would appreciate."
"I thought you disapproved of his tastes," Titus remarked lightly.
"I do but this brat is not like the free boys you procure for his pleasures. This one is just a slave and will be no worse off with my Uncle than he will be here. In fact he'll probably be better of on Capri when you think that he has to perform over the flames again tomorrow and that that if he survives that the young man I quarrelled with will be after him once more."
"How much shall I pay for him Sir?"
"Whatever is necessary. But that shouldn't be too high a sum. Let our host know that if he is unreasonable I will tell a few of my father's old veterans to pay him a call. A fair price mind but no more than a fair price."
Drusus strode off leaving Titus to do the bargaining.
Marius sat on the fore deck of the stumpy sailing ship making the short passage from Naples to Capri. The last few days had been strange for him. He had been taken that night to Titus's town house and put into the charge of the steward. He had been shown a place to sleep. In the morning he had been given a white tunic which although short enough was considerably less revealing than the tiny strip of cloth that was the only clothing he had been allowed by Fabius. Over the next few days he had been fed regularly but no one seemed to know what to do with him Then suddenly one evening he had been bundled without any explanation onto the back of a cart. The next few days the cart with Fabius on it had trundled slowly southwards along the Via Latina. One morning he had woken to see the smoke rising from the top of Mount Vesuvius and that evening they had reached Naples. The cart had been taken to the docks and it's contents including Marius loaded on the ship.
Apart from ordering him to get up on the fore deck and telling him to keep out of the way nobody had spoken to him. He did not know where he was being taken nor what was going to be done to him. For some time Marius stood peering over the ship's rail watching the carts being unloaded on the quay side and the cargo brought on board.
Then the activity died down ad he settled himself on the deck only to be roused by the sound of shrill cries for help and men's voices cursing. Two burly slaves dragged another boy about the same age as Marius onto the fore deck His tunic was torn half off his shoulders and blood was running down his face. One of the men held him down while the other chained him by the ankle to a ring set in the deck while the boy kicked and screamed.
"Let the brat stay there." one of them said straightening himself and kicking the boy viciously in the ribs. "A night on the deck in the open will tame him."
The other laughed and they moved off together. The boy rolled over on his side curled into a ball and began to sob loudly. Marius crept over to him and touched one thin shaking shoulder. The boy jerked away from him and Marius his attempts at comforting his companion rejected returned to his place.
The ship sailed shortly afterwards. Once the sun had set the temperature fell sharply. Marius lay on the bare planks listening to the waves slapping against the side of the ship as she slid slowly through the water moved on by the lightest of winds. Above him the stars shone brightly with the cold unfeeling beauty of the heavens. From the opposite side of the deck he could hear the other boy sobbing steadily. He was cold and he assumed the other boy was as well. It would be warmer if they lay together he thought and more fun as well for he had learnt a good deal in the last few weeks. He crawled over to the other boy and wriggle up tight against his back.
"Get off," the boy said furiously driving his elbow into Marius's stomach. "How dare you touch me. Leave me alone. I'm not dirt like you, you filthy slave brat."
Marius didn't argue he simply moved away. It was a cold miserable night for both boys.
The temperature rose quickly in the morning and soon Marius was happily warming himself in the sun's rays and feeling well enough to wonder if he could risk leaving the fore deck and seeing if he could find some thing to eat. The other boy had stopped crying at last and was sitting on the deck motionless his head resting on his knees.
Marius heard a footsteps approaching and he saw his Lord Drusus approaching, for he thought of the man who had saved him from the attentions of Maccius, as his Lord even though he was not quite clear in his own mind whose property he now was.
Drusus approached the fore deck his eyes fastened on the horizon ahead of the ship. He did not notice the boys seated on the deck but lent his elbows on the taffrail and stared ahead. He began to munch on an apple that he had been carrying. Marius stirred slightly and the man glanced down. His eyes rested on the hunched figure of the other boy and a look of distaste crossed his face then he saw Marius and his expression cleared.
"Well boy," he said gently, "we seem to keep meeting each other don't we."
Marius began to scramble to his feet but Drusus gestured to him to remain still.
"I came here," he continued to see if I could catch sight of Capri. Though why I should be eager to see the place I do not know."
He paused for a moment and then shrugged.
"You think I am free don't you boy. But I am not I am just as much a slave as you are and a slave to the same Master. I am just as much at the mercy of the Emperor as you are of your Master and they are one and the same person. And now I can see that filthy island that will be my prison for as long the old man lives. I tell you what boy if ever I leave that place it will be as Emperor myself and if I do I'll take you with me for luck. "
He lifted the apple to his mouth to take another bight and then looking down at Marius tossed the fruit to him.
"Have it boy. It'll be more of a treat for me than you.," and he turned on his heel and walked back to the poop deck leaving Marius who had not spoken once munching eagerly on the apple.
He looked over at the huddled shape of the other boy. With his knees pulled up to his chin the hem of his tunic had slipped down his thighs showing a band of paler skin. Marius noticed this and knew it was evidence that the boy was indeed free. Slave brats like himself allowed little or no clothing were tanned nut brown from head to toe.
Marius hesitated but better nature prevailed.
"Would you like some?" he asked tentatively.
"I don't take presents from slave brats. When my Father finds me he'll have you beaten for insolence," was all the reply he received.
Marius shrugged but having learnt from bitter experience to be a thrifty careful boy he did not throw the core away but placed it in the shade of the taffrail for later use if required.
Then he dozed catching up on his sleep. He was roused by the sound of shod feet approaching. He had come, like all slave boys to recognise this as a danger signal and he sat very still and quiet trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Drusus's friend Titus appeared accompanied by two slaves. Marius recognised them as the same two thugs that had manhandled the other boy the previous night. Titus made his way up the companion way and then stood panting slightly from the effort. He had obviously only just finished his breakfast and he was patting his thick lips with a napkin. He dropped it on the deck and a small naked boy darted forward and snatched it up before scuttling back behind his owner.
"He gave you trouble last night?" Titus asked one of the men.
"Yes lord, screamed and fought all the way here."
"He doesn't look as if there's much fight in him now," Titus said stirring the boy contemptuously with his foot. "Unchain him and get him on his feet. I want to have a proper look at him."
The slave knelt down to unfasten the chain securing the boy's ankle to the deck. The chain fell away and at that moment the boy lashed out with his foot catching the man full in the face and tumbling him onto his back. The boy sprung to his feet and darted down into the well of the ship.
"Help me. Help me," he screamed. "I am a free boy. I have been kidnapped. Please help me."
One of the sailor who had been lounging on the deck stepped forward his arms spread wide.
"All right Lad," he said. "Come to me I'll see your all right."
The boy ran to him. The sailor grabbed him by the arm and began to drag him back towards Titus laughing heartily. The boy realising he had been betrayed began to struggle to get away kicking and shouting but he could not shake free of his captor.
The slave who had been kicked in the face was back on his feet blood streaming from his nose that seemed to have been knocked out of line. He started towards the boy his fists clenched.
"Stop," Titus commanded, "Just bring the boy here and hold his arms tight for me."
The two slaves held the child between them facing Titus. Each man held one thin wrist in one hand twisting the boy's arms and locking them forcing him forward with hands clamped on his elbows.
"Sir," the boy said realising further resistance was useless and ceasing to struggle, "please let me go. My father will pay you well if you return me to him I promise you."
"I am afraid Nisus you are mistaken there," Titus said softly. "Your Father was pleased to give you to me when I explained that by doing so he would gain the favour of the Emperor."
He smiled down into the boy's horror stricken face and continued.
"Yes he thought you were a small price to pay for so important an advantage. Now let me see what sort of play thing I have obtained for my Master the Emperor."
Titus caught hold of Nisus's tunic and with a sharp tug tore it from his body.
Nisus silenced for a moment by shock found his tongue.
"It's not true," he screamed. "You're a liar. My father would never do such ..."
He was silenced by Titus with a back handed slap across the mouth.
"Nisus you must learn to be respectful to your betters. A wise little slave boy guards his tongue."
"I'm not a slave boy. My father would never...."
Nisus's broke off in a shrill scream of pain. Marius could see from where he huddled to one side of the deck that Titus had taken the boy's small hairless balls between finger and thumb and was squeezing them unmercifully.
"Child, child," Titus said wearily, "you must learn not to argue. It's a slaves duty to obey not to argue. Do you understand."
"I'm not ...Oh no please... No... please."
"Do you understand boy?"
"Oh ... yes... I understand ... Please don't do it again... please..."
"Then tell me what you are. You are a slave. What are you?""
Hanging his head and Nisus muttered something and then screamed once again.
"No boy that won't do. It's not a secret. Say it loud so that we can all hear."
"I'm a slave."
"Now just to make sure you don't forget I'm going to beat you."
"My cane." Titus held out his hand and his little slave, who like a good boy had anticipated his master's wishes and had scampered off to get this instrument as soon as Nisus had made his dash for freedom gave it to him. The boy was grinning broadly and his tiny prick was erect. The cane always aroused him and he was happy that someone else other than himself was going to get a taste of it for a change.
"Hold the brat firm now," Titus commanded.
He laid the rod gently across Nisus bare chest measuring his distance.
"Please.. .Please.. I'll do anything... Please..." Nisus sobbed.
"Master you must call me Master," Titus almost whispered..
"Master please Master..."
"That's better boy. Much better but I must make sure you remember your lesson in future and the quickest and surest way to teach a slave brat is with the cane."
Titus lifted the rod high over his right shoulder paused for a moment smiling into the tear stained face of the terrified boy and then brought it hissing down across the child's thin chest. The fierce whistle of the cane as it descended was followed by the sharp crack of wood striking bare flesh and then a fraction of a second later by Nisus's shrill scream as the pain caused through his body. Titus paused watching the thin white line left by the cane fill with blood, turn red and then begin to deepen at it's edges as the bruising spread. A bead of blood began to form where the tip of the cane had nipped the boy on the outer edge of his left nipple. Then Titus set to work in earnest slashing the cane alternately right to left, left to right as the boy howled and bucked in the grasp of the two burly slaves. The tip of the cane, when it curled round the boy's rib cage, ripped the tightly drawn skin and drew blood.
At last Titus paused. Nisus stood before him still firmly held by the two men his head bowed, sobbing quietly. Titus took the boy's chin in his left hand and tipping his head back looked down into his face wet with tears and snot.
"Now the final part of your lesson boy," he said his voice thick with excitement.
"Hold him still now," he commanded his two slaves, "this takes skill."
He stepped back and laid the tip of the cane full across the centre of the boy's left nipple.
"Master No ... Please ..." Nisus sobbed sensing what was to come but his pleas were cut of by a shrill scream as the cane slashed down yet again, this time splitting his nipple open.
"Hold him steady now," Titus ordered again as the boy screaming hysterically writhed and fought in his captors' grasp.
Titus brought the cane back over his left shoulder. Paused and then with scientific precision repeated the process with Nisus's right nipple.
"Now chain him up again," he ordered turning away. "I don't want him jumping overboard and cheating the Emperor in that way."
.