Roman Enslavement

Roman Enslavement, Part 20

//\"Discordia?\"//

//\"WHAT?\"//

//\"Don\'t snap my head off, girl!\"// Venus crossed her arms over her spectacular bosom. She even allowed herself a frown (but a brief one, since they caused wrinkles).

//\"Look,\"// snapped the red-headed Goddess of Chaos, //\"I\'m orchestrating something complicated, here.\"// She pointed. //\"That cat has to walk between THAT man\'s legs at exactly the right moment so that he trips and the tray of custard tarts lands on that bridal couple that\'s coming down the street. It has to hit BOTH of them, so that the groom will be temporarily blinded by the goo, grab out for support, and rip his bride\'s dress half off her, giving most of Rome a good look at her tits before even HE gets to see them.\"//

//\"As much as I favor the public display of tits, we need to talk--NOW.\"// Discordia sneered and started shooing the cat toward the baker, who was paying more attention to the approaching wedding procession than he was to where he was going. //\"Cordy, Jupiter finally got to my petition.\"//

That got her attention. The cat veered off toward a fish stall (an act that normally would have pleased Chaos, but she had her eyes on bigger disasters), the baker continued on to his stand, and the newly wedded couple never knew what a close call they\'d had. // \"And?\"//

The aura of confidence did not fade, but there wasn\'t as much triumph in her voice as there should have been. //\"He\'s considering it.\"//

//\"Ha. Maybe I can still get that tray of tarts on the mother-of-the-bride.\"// She started off.

Venus did something that would have given the boldest man in the world pause--she red oed out and grabbed the back of Discordia\'s robe, jerking her to a stop. The Chaos Goddess rounded on her, face pale and pinched, eyes flashing. //\"Yes, I know what you can do to me. But you know what I can do to YOU, so just calm down and listen to me.\"//

//\"Honestly,\"// grumbled Discordia. //\"When I\'m TRYING to do my job, I get interrupted! Look, Vee, you know how he is. If he didn\'t make a snap judgement it could be decades before he does. Why are you bothering me?\"//

//\"I was hoping against hope to talk a little sense into you. Things are thickening on the Mozelle and Lupus front. His parents are plotting to get him married.\"//

Now Discordia smiled. //\"Oooo, lots of good opportunities in weddings,\"// she flicked a glance at the receding wedded couple, //\"and marriage in general.\"//

//\"That\'s not the point. What\'s going to happen to that poor mortal woman if her master gets married?\"//

//\"Now that\'s an interesting question.\"// Discordia leaned a hip against a fruit stand, casually knocking down a display of apples (one that had taken the vendor an hour to erect). //\"What are the major possibilities? He moves into his own household, bringing her along, and she has to serve her lover\'s publicly acknowledged wife, maybe with a bastard kid sitting on her hip.\"// She snickered. //\"The bride moves into HIS home for awhile, and she and the mother-in-law gang up on her. They sell her, probably to someone who isn\'t going to be as careful of her feelings.\"// Her eyes widened in delighted anticipation. //\"Maybe they\'ll send her back to Tinactus on consignment! I bet if she had to go on the public auction block after whatever he did to her she\'d snap!\"//

//\"You know, some of the philosophers think that Chaos is totally random and can\'t be considered either good or bad, but I could tell them--you are EVIL.\"//

//\"This is my job.\"//

//\"Has it ever occurred to you that occasionally something GOOD could come out of the confusion?\"//

Discordia blinked, looking surprised. Then her expression got thoughtful. //\"That WOULD keep the mortals off balance.\"//

//\"C\'mon, send her back. If you wait and Jupiter ORDERS you, you might be in trouble. You know how much he enjoys meting out punishment.\"//

Discordia winced. Yes, she could remember a few instances that would make even a god or goddess think twice. But she was one of the most stubborn of the immortals, and she said, //\"I\'m not sending her back till she apologizes.\"//

//\"Apologizes for sleeping on the mislabeled altar of a goddess she doesn\'t believe in, and probably had never heard of till she got dropped here?\"//

//\"Yes.\"//

//\"Cordy, isn\'t that a teeny bit unreasonable? Di Discordia stared at her. //\"Oh, right. Pardon me. Reason and logic aren\'t exactly your strong suit, are they?\"//

//\"Keep it up.\"// The vendor had the apple pyramid almost rebuilt. Discordia pulled one out of the bottom of the pile. She took a bite as the apples tumbled once again to the street and the vendor\'s colorful epithets filled the air. //\"You\'re winning me over with your tactful flattery.\"//

//\"Sarcasm is NOT attractive.\"//

\"I\'m not trying to seduce you. That\'s my final word, Vee. She apologizes, I send her home. Otherwise she can stay here till her grandkids are visiting her grave to lay flowers. Now if you\'ll pardon me...\" She threw the half eaten apple, nailing a passing mercenary in the back of the head. He turned around and belted the citizen who was behind him. The man\'s wife cracked the mercenary over the head with the loaf of bread she was carrying. It crumbled, and the ever present pack of street urchins and dogs began to fight for it while the woman\'s eldest child kicked the mercenary and the youngest bit his knee. Someone grabbed the custard tarts from the baker\'s stand and started flinging them. In seconds the marketplace was in an uproar. Discordia nodded in satisfaction and flashed off.

Venus sighed, surveying the pandemonium, but despite her frustration and anger she couldn\'t repress a smile. The sight of that now thoroughly bewildered mercenary, face covered in goopy yellow custard while screaming women and children hung off him, pummeling and biting, WAS pretty funny. She\'d have to direct Mars\'s attention to that family. She thought there had to be several potential warriors there.

But there was no time to stay and enjoy the show. Dramilla was having her \'get together\' today, and SOMEONE needed to be there to monitor it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mozelle had been delegated the task of peeling the peaches that had been briefly dipped in boiling water. The skins had loosened, and slipped off fairly easily. Unfortunately the denuded peaches proved to be VERY slippery, and Mozelle had to do a juggling act several times to keep from dropping one. Malanda, usually so patient, scolded, //\"Stop playing with them! I need to set them to macerate in wine, and if you don\'t hurry there won\'t beugh ugh time before the guests arrive!\"//

One of the slightly slimy golden globes squirted out of Mozelle\'s fingers, but luckily it landed with a plop in the bowl. //\"Done.\"//

//\"Here, let me have those. If I let you pit and slice them they\'ll probably find a finger in the fruit.\"//

Mozelle blinked. \"What bug crawled up YOUR butt?\" When Malanda, quickly slicing fruit, frowned in confusion, Mozelle thought for a moment, then said, //\"Tunic in twist?\"//

Malanda hesitated, then sighed. //\"I\'m sorry, Mozelle. I didn\'t mean to snap. It\'s just that this is very important.\"//

//\"What important?\"// \"It\'s a hen party.\" She rapidly pinched her thumb and forefinger together several times, imitating the rapidly working beak of a cackling hen. \"Yadda yadda yadda.\"

The household, at least the ones who dealt with Mozelle on a daily basis, had become very astute at understanding her peculiar way of expressing herself. Malanda said, \"VERY important. Could be Master Lupus find wife here.\"

She regretted saying it immediately. Mozelle\'s expression stiffened. She grabbed up the bunch of mint intended to go in the peaches marinade and began to chop it almost viciously. Trying to soothe tomanoman\'s feelings, she laid a hand gently on her shoulder. \"Mozelle, Lupus MUST marry.\"

\"Why?\"

Malanda was taken aback by the bald question, and she didn\'t really know how to answer it. People just got married--that was how it was, at least if you weren\'t one of the poor rabble. You got married for political reasons, financial reasons, social reasons, and, if you were very lucky, for love. It was different for slaves. Slaves couldn\'t legally be married, as they were considered property instead of persons. The masters had the legal right to dictate their slaves\' lives. Many households forbade their slaves intimate relationships, feeling that their energy and attention should be focused solely on their duties. If you fell in love with a slave from another household, if you wanted to be together, there was the daunting task of finding time when neither of you were needed by your owners, especially since there was a curfew for slaves. Then there was always the chance that your lover would be sold away, or turned over to another slave for procreation purposes.

Mda wda was well aware that her and Rentic\'s situation was a rarity. They were, to all intents and purposes, an old married couple, but they had no security but to trust in their owners\' integrity. While Malanda often regretted that they had never had children, a tiny voice in the back of her mind reminded her that at least she\'d never had to worry about having a child snatched from her arms and sold.

Malanda sighed. \"Is custom.\"

\"Oh, well, now that you\'ve laid out such a stunningly logical argument...\" Mozelle trailed off. \"Sarcasm is wasted when the victim doesn\'t understand enough of the language to catch the nuances. It\'s not your fault, Malanda, but I am NOT going to cheer up and be excited because they\'re parading the local blue blood breeding stock in front of the resident stallion. Me? Bitter? No, not much.\"

Malanda understood no more than a word or two of Mozelle\'s speech, but the girl\'s tone was clear enough--she was hurt and angry. She\'d been forced into a position she hadn\'t wanted and now even that was being threatened.

As she spoke Mozelle had continued to chop, and the mint was in danger of going from minced to liquefied. Malanda gripped her wrist, stopping her, and she could feel the tenseness of the other woman\'s body. Mozelle wouldn\'t look at her, and the color was high in her cheeks. Malanda took the knife and said quietly, \"Go. Play with Gaius. Hold Patenic.\" Malanda knew that it was with the children that Mozelle had made the strongest bond. Gaius still wasn\'t entirely accepting of the reality of slavery, and Patenic... Patenic was still an innocent who loved with his whole heart.

Mozelle relinquished the knife. Without a word she walked into the children\'s room, went to the bed where Patenic was lying on his back, staring up at the clouds painted on the ceiling and kicking her legs. Tessa and Gaius watched as she picked up the baby, sat on the bed, and buried her face against the infant\'s neck.

Gaius watched for a moment, then went and sat close beside her, putting his arm around her waist. \"Mozelle, you lose flower?\"

Her voice was muffled. \"No, baby. My sanity, maybe. My dignity, possibly. But no flower.\" She looked up at him. She wasn\'t crying, but her eyes were moist. \"And not myde ode or self esteem, hon. Never that.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rentic had spent most of the previous day arranging and cleaning the room where Dramilla was to hold her gathering. It was to be less formal than Lupus\'s manhood party, and he had removed one or two of the low tables and provided chairs as well as the sofas. In deference to the ladies who would be present there were bowls of fresh flowers, their scent supplemented by small pots of perfume hidden in strategic places.

Malanda, with Cassia\'s help, had prepared an array of foods that were considered refined and dainty enough for well born young ladies--fruits that had been adulterated from their natural state by soaking in wine or poaching in syrup, delicate cakes, tiny candies... Mozelle had surveyed it all and snorted. In a gruff, bossy voice she said, \"Ah do declahr, Miz Scahlett! You-all CAIN\'T go gobblin\' like a fiel\' hand in front of society!\" She snorted again and said in her no voi voice, \"I\'m surprised all your post-pubescent girls aren\'t diabetic or anemic.\"

The gathering was scheduled for mid-morning, and the girls and their mothers began to arrive promptly. Everyone knew what this was all about. There weren\'t all that many eligible, respectable single men, and the competition was quiet, but fierce. Lupus--young, presentable, healthy, and of a fine old family, was a catch.

Lupus waited in the room with his mother. He was looking forward to the party now, but he was worried about Mozelle. She was standing near the door that led back into the house, waiting to be sent to bring in the refreshments, and she was watching the proceedings with a slightly acid, cynical expression. She\'d been sullen and quiet since the night before. He had instructed her to give him a manicure before the guests arrived, and he felt no twinge when she scraped the pick under his nato cto clean them, or used the file to smooth them. But her knuckles had been white, her head bent so that their eyes never met, and she muttered to herself. He thought he caught something like \"classic torture method, something sharp under the nails, asking me to tart him up for those tarts...\"

None of the room\'s occupants noticed the beautiful woman standing in the corner, or the pretty, but hard woman who appeared a moment later. Venus frowned. //\"Discordia, don\'t you dare start anything here! I\'m serious.\"//

The women started to arrive, and Lupus made his mother proud by greeting each nerivarival with charm. He was a little disappointed by the amount of pointless giggling, but he supposed that couldn\'t be helped. Most of them would be no more than fifteen or sixteen, and unused to the company of any man fathfather or brother. Yes, things seemed to be going well enough till the Malums arrived. Rentic brought in Lydia Malum and her daughter Celeste--and her son Celsus. The bright smile Lupus had been wearing slipped. It didn\'t disappear entirely, but it went crooked, and it didn\'t reach his eyes.

Lydia bent to kiss Dramilla on the cheek. \"So kind of you to invite us, my dear friend! I do hope you don\'t mind that I brought Celsus.\" She bent closer and whispered, //\"I\'m hoping that he\'ll settle on someone. He\'s of an age to marry, but no one has caught his fancy yet.\"//

Dramilla smiled graciously, privately cursing guests who brought unexpected extras. Still, there should be enough food, and she was confident that her son could outshine his friend. //\"Of course he\'s welcome, dear.\"// She turned a more genuine smile on Celeste. //\"I haven\'t seen you for ages, Celeste. My, you\'ve grown into a young lady.\"//

*\'Lady\' is not the term I\'d use,* thought Mozelle. *I didn\'t know they had INVENTED bleaching back here. *I\'ve seen more natural hair on Barbie dolls. My time--hey, nothing unusual. Heck, it would be a teenybopper souvenier of a trip to the mall, but now? I think that\'s probably more familiar among the PROFESSIONAL \'ladies\'.*

Celeste Malum was a very thin, but fairly pretty, young woman, but her hair WAS the color of a Screaming Yellow Zonker, and probably just as natural. Her eyes were the same pale blue as her brother\'s, like milk poured over sapphires, and they quickly ran over Lupus in a distinctly UN-virginal way. The smile she gave him was demure, though.

She spoke, rather than twittered, which was in her favor. As she gave her hand to Lupus she said, //\"I\'m so sorry that I couldn\'t attend your coming of age party, Lupus. Believe me, it wasn\'t from disinterest.\"//

//\"I was devastated, Celeste,\"// he said gallantly. There was a small noise behind him. //\"Oh, no, Mozelle! PLEASE don\'t act up now. If you offend the guests I\'ll HAVE to punish you.\"// But what might have been a snort changed into a cough. That was innocent enough that no one noticed. Well, almost no one.

Celsus\'s eyes, which had idly been roaming over the assembled girls, zeroed in on the woman at the door, and he smiled. She caught his glance and stiffened, looking away, which only made his smile broaden. He made a slight bow to Dramilla. //\"I know this is an imposition, my lady, and you are gracious indeed to accept me so readily. I thank you.\"//

Dramilla softened. Celsus had a reputation as a wild boy, but so far he struck her as a well-bred boy. She ed. ed. //\"You are welcome here, Celsus.\"//

Lydia made sure that she and Celeste took a sofa near Lupus, determined that her daughter should show up to an advantage among these others. Lupus was too polite to ignore the girl when she spoke to him, and gradually he found that she didn\'t seem so bad. She wasn\'t as obnoxious as her brother was, anyway. It never occured to him that women were jas cas capable of putting up a false front, and that they could court a man as well as he could court them.

Celeste was, indeed, pure--at least physically. She was shrewd enough to know that her virginity was her chief barganing chip in life, and once it was gone she had little chance of making a favorable match. Lupus would suit her well enough, so she set out to charm him.

When it was time for refreshments Cassia, Malanda, Mozelle, and Rentic brought in the food and began to circul Mo Mozelle had a bright, false smile, and Lupus winced when she bent down to Celeste, offering a bowl of fruit swimming in red wine. He heard her murmur, \"Better hurry, Blondie, or this just might slip a-l-l over that pretty, dainty tunic of yours.\"

Celeste frowned prettily and asked Lupus, //\"What is she saying?\"//

//\"She\'s offering you the fruit, Celeste.\"

Celeste pouted. //\"You should teacher her to speak only when she\'s spoken to. Just ing ing to a citizen is impertinent.\"//

//\"Lupus spoils her,\"// Celsus drawled. //\"He let her get away with assaulting two citizens who were doing no more than sporting with her.\"//

Celeste gasped, looking at Mozelle in horror, as if she expected to see horns sprouting from her forehead. //\"And you didn\'t BEAT her? Lupus, you mustn\'t be so irresponsible! Why, if one of OUR slaves acted in such a manner they would not be able to walk for a week.\"//

Mozelle\'s eyes narrowed, the smile becoming thinner, and she murmured, \"I BET you would.\" She bowed, beginning to step back, and the bowl started to slide from her hands.

Celeste squealed and jumped up. Mozelle had begun to right the bowel before the contents could slop out, tightening her grip, but the girl threw out her arms to ward off the spill, and instead caused it. The bowl flipped backward, and the majority of the contents went back onto Mozelle, soaking her from waist to toes. A few gouts splashed on the hem of Celeste\'s robe, and she danced away, trying to avoid the puddle running toward her slipper clad feet. In the process her foot came down on a peach slice. Her foot shot straight out, and she landed on her bottom right in the middle of the puddle.

Charm and demureness flew out the ow, ow, and humiliation and rage took their place. She screamed, //\"She did that purposefully!\"//

Celsus, looking highly amused, s //\ //\"Don\'t be ridiculous, Celeste. It was an accident--anyone could see that.\"//

Rentic took the empty bowl from the now blank faced Mozelle, hissing, \"Go! Clean self. Stay there, we finish.\"

She gave the fuming, splattered girl a bow and said apologetically, \"You never looked better, sweetheart,\" then left.

Venus looked to where Discordia was sitting on the floor, laughing and holding her sides. //\"Cordie...\"//

Discordia held up her hands, but it was a moment before she could catch her breath. //\"Was... wasn\'t me, Vee. If it was she\'d have been wearing the bowl over her head.\"// Discordia wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. //\"Okay, I will most DEFINITELY send her back if she apologizes. She\'s fed me enough energy and amused me enough to have earned a pardon.\"// Discordia blew her nose. //\"But Vee, that may not happen in time.\"//

//\"What do you mean?\"//

Discordia stood up, dusting herself off. //\"Something\'s about to happen.\"//

//\"But her owners are accepting it as an accident.\"//

//\"You don\'t think Dramilla really bought that, do you? Besides, considering what I noticed a minute ago while you were busy sniffing at my innocent enjoyment, I think Miss Mozelle is going to be doing something that can\'t possibly be interpretted as an accident.\"//

Suspicious, Venus said, //\"What? What did you notice?\"//

//\"Something that no one else in the room seems to have noticed, either. I noticed that light haired horny bastard Celsus follow her out of the room.\"//