Roman Enslavement

notes: flamma-fire. Yes, it\'s another cliffhanger. I\'m sorry, people, but that was just where it had to stop. I believe that the next chapter is going to be the final one, and be of good cheer--I\'m STILL going to have that happy ending.

Roman Enslavement, Part 21

\"It was worth it. It was worth it. I\'m an unholy mess, but it was worth it!\" Mozelle muttered. She tried not to make a mess, she she still dripped all the way down the hall. She giggled softly to herself. *Ooo, the LOOK on her face! I bet little ol\' Celeste would have been a girlie-girl in my time. Wouldn\'t have worn jeans unless they cost eighty bucks. She\'d have had a standing appointment with the hairdresser and nail techs. She would\'ve spent more on a pair of dress shoes than I did on my first car.*

Malanda was busy garnishing a plate of poached quail eggs when Mozelle entered the kitchen. She glanced up and went back to her task, then her head jerked back up. //Mozelle! What on earth...?//

Mozelle picked her sodden tunic away from her legs. //\"One of the guests got a bit clumsy.\"// She giggled again. //\"You should see her. It shows up worse against white.//

Mandala clutched her head. //\"Girl! Spilling the food on a guest? WHEN will you learn to be a proper slave.\"// ozelozelle\'s expression stiffened. \"Never.\" She stalked off down the side hall toward the bathing room.

Malanda bit her lip, regretting her hasty words. *Poor child. Of course she hasn\'t learned her place yet, she\'s so new to it. But she must learn to accept it, she MUST! It could mean her life if she doesn\'t.*

Mozelle got her second tunic from Lupus\'s room and went on to the bathing chamber, still fuming. //\"Crap. You\'d think that a slave would UNDERSTAND.\"// She sighed, letting go of her resentment toward Malanda. //\"She means well, but she told me she was born into slavery. She\'s never known anything else, so it\'s not likely she could understand my mindset. I guess I\'m the only one in Rome right now who was raised in a society where there\'s no slavery.//

In the bathing room she stripped off the soggy tunic, letting it plop to the tiled floor, then got some soap. She stepped into the pool and gave herself a quick, but thorough wash. She dried sketchily, putting on her fresh tunic over still damp skin. She bent to pick up the soiled garment, preparing to take it out to the garden to wash it, but she hesitated. //\"Damn it, I\'m not walking all that way when I have soap and perfectly good water right here.\"//

Mozelle went to the shelf that held the bath supplies and examined them. The soft, almost liquid soap would be messy. It was a little slimy before you worked up some foam, and she just didn\'t feel like dealing with the unpleasantness. *Celsus was out there, and with him staring at me, my skin feels slimy enough. I\'ll use the hard soap instead.*

The hard soap was in a solid lump about the size of a brick. There was a small knife provided, and Mozelle shaved off a good handful. She knelt and dunked the tunic, stretched it out on the tiles, then began to rub the crumbling flakes into the material, working up a lather.

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

It wasn\'t hard to trace the slave\'s path. Celsus had only to follow the splatters of wine and bits of fruit along the passage. He passed the woman Lucien had bought at his son\'s manhood party. She gave him a curious glance, wondering why a guest would be wandering about in the private part of the house, but she said nothing. It wasn\'t her place, after all, but it WAS interesting. She couldn\'t help but wonder if the family would find some trinket missing after the party.

Celsus ignored the slave--she wasn\'t the one he was interested in. The trail led him to the kitchen, and he paused outside, peering in. There was another slave, a plump woman, busily feeding the fire that glowed beneath a bubbling pot. Beyond the kitchen he could see a small room, apparently the children\'s room, but the wine trail didn\'t go there. He studied the drops and realized that they came back to the door. *She doubled back here. I didn\'t pass her, so she must have turned off somewhere along the hall.*

He went back up the hall, and noticed something he had missed before--the trail turned off into a side room. He paused outside the door and cautiously peered in. He didn\'t want to alert his prey to his presence too quickly.

She was there. The woman knelt beside the bathing pool, scrubbing her soiled tunic. Luckily her back was to him, and Celsus took a moment to admire how white her thighs were below the short hem of her tunic. He thought for a moment, then slipped off his sandals and padded cautiously into the room.

Mozelle dipped the tunic in the pool, rinsing it thoroughly. She pulled it out and began to try to wring the water from the sodden cloth. \"Damn itty bitty hands,\" she muttered. \"What I need is a clothes roller. Screw that, what I need is a Whirlpool washer with a spin cycle.\"

She didn\'t hear him enter. The first clue she had was the shadow that fell over her. Mozelle assumed it was either Lupus or Ren com come to scold her, and she really wasn\'t in the mood, so she ignored the presence.

He didn\'t go. Finally she sighed heavily and said, //\"Yes, I know I should have taken it outside.\"//

//\"It might have been more comfortable for you. I expect this tile will be much colder and harder than grass.//

She jerked around to find Celsus grinning down at her. Mozelle froze, then tried to relax and look unperturbed. *Show no fear--it only encourages the animal.* //\"Is the party over and you lost your way?\"// She pointed. //\"The exit is back there.\"//

//\"Well, I see that your grasp of our language has improved, even if your sense of your place hasn\'t. No, I\'ve come to sample a different sort of hospitality.\"//

//\"You have to be joking, and it\'s not funny,\"// she said flatly.

//\"No. I expressed an interest and Lupus, ever the good host, told me I had a free hand with you. Now, be a good little slave and take off that tunic. You won\'t need it for awhile.\"//

Mozelle stood up slowly. //\"I don\'t believe you.\"//

He frowned slightly. //\"Are you calling me a liar?\"//

//\"Yes,\"// she said baldly.

//\"And why WOULDN\'T he offer you to me? Are you so special to him?\"//

She felt a flare of pain, but said simply, //\"Because he doesn\'t like you. At all.\"//

Celsus shrugged. //\"Perhaps so, and he might be a bit angry, but it will be no matter. After all, who will miss one cup of wine from an already breached cask?\"// He reached for her.

//\"I would!\"// She was still holding her sopping tunic, and she slapped it across his face--hard.

The heavy, wet material stung as it struck him, and he had a brief feeling of suffocation and blindness as the tunic plastered itself over his face. Mozelle seized the opportunity and darted for the door, sure that if she could get to other people he wouldn\'t dare press the assault.

Celsus clawed the fabric down with one hand, cursing, and grabbed at the fleeing girl with the other. He caught her tunic at the neckline and jerked back. The material, not as sturdy as that usually worn by slaves, ripped, but the force of the action spun her back so that she fell against him.

He wrapped his arms around her and began to drag her further into the room, away from possible escape. //\"Oh, this is going to be a pleasure, slut! You won\'t walk or sit comfortably for a week when I\'m through with you!\"//

//\"Braggart!\"// She scratched at him, laying a line of raw stripes down his neck.

Celsus slapped her sharply. //\"You\'re going to pay for that! When I\'m through with you I\'m going to beat you senseless. No official will condemn me after you marked me like this.\"//

Celsus shoved her against the wall, pinning her there with his body. Mozelle paled in revulsion when she felt a hard nudge at her hip, and realized that he was already erect. Her struggles were exciting him. //\"Let me go or I\'ll scream the house down,\"// she threatened. He responded by slamming his hand across her mouth, effectively gagging her. *Smart, Mozelle! Go on and warn him.*

Venus and Discordia appeared. Venus threw up her hands in anger when she saw what was happening. //The swine! That\'s a perversion of what should be the sweetest act in the world!\"// She raised her hand and started to form a powerball, prepared to send Celsus to Pluto\'s realm.

Discordia, laid a restraining hand on her arm. \"Wait, Love. You know we are admonished not to meddle with the mortals unless it is in our immediate sphere of responsibility. Let them alone.\" Discordia chuckled. \"Besides, she\'s doing well on her own. She certainly isn\'t like one of those swooning milksops in the front room.\"//

Celsus was trying to work Mozelle\'s tunic up over her hips, but it was difficult when the wench squirmed so, and he had only one free hand.

Mozelle kicked at him, unable to do much with her bare feet. In her mind she was screaming. *This is NOT going to happen!* She bit Celsus as hard as she could, her teeth sinking into the soft pad of his palm till she tasted blood. He swore, jerking his hand away instinctively. Mozelle, remembering some advice she\'d read in a self-defense article (\'People may ignore screams of help or rape. Instead yell...\' took a deep breath and screamed, \"Flamma! Flammaflammaflamma!\"

Celsus gave her an astonished look, but didn\'t stop what he was doing. She brought her knee up, but he was pressed so closely that it only reached his thigh instead of its intended target--his crotch. Again he swore. He grabbed her throat with both hands and shook her, bouncing her head off the wall.

There were footsteps and raised voices in the hall, but they weren\'t coming quickly enou Her Her head was starting to swim, and it was very possible that the enraged man would choke the life out of her before anyone arrived. Mozelle threw her arms out, and her hand fell on the shelf that held the bathing supplies. She fumbled over wash cloths and the hard bar of soap, and then her hand brushed something cold and hard. Desperate, she clutched it and swung at her attacker.

Celsus let go, and she drank in a great, whooping gasp of air, her head immediately clearing. He staggered back from her a pace or two, gazing at her in utter astonishment. The small soap knife was driven into his left shoulder, blood blossoming from the imbedded point to stain his tunic. He touched it and drew his hands away. Looking down, he saw the blood smearing his hands. Then he looked at her again and whispered, //\"You STABBED me.\"//

Her voice shaky, she said, \"Big fucking surprise.\"

He fainted.

Just as he slumped to the floor the first people came into the room. Rentic was first, with Mandala not far behind, since the kitchen had been the closest room. They both stopped short, gazing at the scene before them. Mozelle, agitated, her tunic ripped, stood near the crumpled form of Celsus. A knife was stuck in his shoulder, and blood was beginning to puddle on the floor.

Mozelle heard the voice of Lady Dramilla, and closed her eyes for a moment. This would be just the excuse she\'d be looking for to get rid of the troublesome slave. //\"What is going on? I smell no smoke--I do not believe...// Her voice trailed off. //\"By all the gods! What have you done, slave?\"//

\"Defended myself,\" she said quietly.

Dramilla took no notice, gesturing to Rentic. //\"Check him, Rentic. I pray to Fortuna that he is not dead. We are all ruined if a slave of our house killed a citizen.\"//

Rentic bent to examine the young man, then looked at his mistress. //\"He lives, Mistress, and is not likely to die any time soon. He\'s only fainted.\"// There was the faintest trace of scorn in Rentic\'s voice. //\"The wound is not grievous. It may leave a scar, but nothing vital was pierced, and the blood can be easily stopped. A few stitches from a healer and a poultice, and he will be fine.\"//

They all heard the sound of a group of girls approaching, and Dramilla hurried to the door in an attempt to head them off. //\"It was a false alarm, young ladies. Nothing to worry about. Go back to the front room and have a bit more wine, and I will be there when...\"//

A small blonde girl pushed her way up to Dramilla. //\"But lady, I am worried! There was the call of fire, and my brother is nowhere to be found. I am afraid he may have been injured, or...\" She looked past her hostess, saw her brother on the ground, and screamed. Unlike her brother, she did not faint.

Instead her eyes focused on the slave woman standing near his body. There was blood on her hand. Celeste pointed, screaming, //\"MURDERESS! She has killed Celsus!\"//

//\"He\'s not dead!\"// Mozelle snapped. \"I wasn\'t that lucky.\"

Dischordia chortled. \"I don\'t know why I didn\'t like this woman.\"

Celsus came around, his eyes opening slowly. He quickly assessed the situation, then gave Mozelle a mournful look. //\"If you did not desire to bed me, all you needed to do was say so.\"//

Her mouth dropped open at such a blatant lie, and she looked to the others to be sure they had noted it. She began to worry when everyone but a tearful Malanda returned hard stares. //\"That\'s a lie. He tried to rape me, and when I fought back he tried to strangle me.\"//

Dramilla, her voice hard, said, //\"There can be no possible excuse for injuring a citizen like this. Besides, a slave cannot be raped.\"//

Mozelle dropped back against the wall, stunned by the callous injustice of this statement. She couldn\'t find words to protest, at least no words that would penetrate the established concept of right to property that the Romans held. Angry, she pointed to the bruises forming on her neck. //\"What about this? I\'m not allowed to try to save my own life?\"//

Dramilla looked at her coldly, and at last said, //\"Not if it endangers a free man.\"//

Mozelle slowly slid down to sit on the floor. \"The world,\" she said quietly, \"is mad, and the lunatics are in charge of the asylum.\"

Lupus had been calming the girls who had remained in the front room, and had finally found his way to the source of the commotion. Rentic was just pulling the knife from Celsus\'s wound when he arrived. He stared at the tableau, stunned. Rentic helped the injured man up and supported him toward the door, saying, //\"I will take you to Master Lupus\'s room--it is the closest, and a healer will be called.\"//

//\"No!// Celsus protested. //\"I can\'t stay in this house another minute while that slave is here. My home is not far. Call for a litter to take me home, and my family physician will see to me. Sister, help me.\"

Celeste slipped under his arm to support him. As she left she glared at Dramilla. \"You will hear more of this, my lady. My father will demand retribution for this foul attack on an innocent man...\"// Behind her, Mozelle began to laugh weakly. //\"And I advice you to keep close watch on that slave, lest you all be murdered. But it should not be long. I have no doubt that my father will seek her execution.\"//

Lupus went over to stand by Mozelle. He squatted beside the giggling woman, concerned. While the girls were whispering together about what sort of Fury could attack and near kill a man and then laugh, he knew that Mozelle was close to hysteria. //\"Mozelle,\"// he said gently, //\"What happened?\"//

She stopped laughing and sighed wearily. //\"You know very well what happened. Celsus is not one to take no for an answer.\"// She looked at him sadly. //\"Of course, neither are you. You\'re just gentler about it.\"// She cocked her head, studying him consideringly. //\"I wonder what would have happened if I\'d fought you?\"// She touched the red mark on her cheek.

Lupus gave her a pained look. //\"I would never hurt you, you must know that.\"//

//\"Yes, well, remind me to look up the definition of \'hurt\' the next time I find a Latin/English dictionary. Perhaps it means something different to you than it does to me.\"//

Lady Dramilla turned to her guests. //\"Nothing I can say can express the sorrow I feel that you have witnessed such an act in my home. Please, ladies, I think it best that we end the festivities now. Please, go home, and know that this will be taken care of.\"// They left, murmuring together. When they were out of sight, Dramilla allowed her continence to fall into a scowl. The gossip would be spreading as fast as they could whisper. By tomorrow all of Rome would know that they could not even prevent a slave from endangering a guest in their home.

//\"Lupus, put that thing in the shed outside, and be sure that you bar the door securely. She can wait there till judgment is passed. We must wait on word from the Malums. They may claim the right to kill her themselves.\"//

//\"But mother, she should see a healer, to be sure she isn\'t injured, and she was only defending herself. This isn\'t the first time that Celsus...\"//

Lady Dramilla raised her voice, and act so rare that it halted Lupus\'s defense. //\"SHE ALMOST KILLED HIM!\"//

//\"She didn\'t!\"// he protested. //\"Not really. The wound is hardly serious, and when you consider that he must have been choking her...\"//

//\"ENOUGH!\"// Lady Dramilla made a visible effort to calm herself. //\"Lupus I cannot credit that you are so besotted by this creature that you do not see what a danger she is to all of us.\"//

//\"Mother,\"// he said quietly, //\"You bought her to protect Gaius and Patenic. Would you deny her the right to protect herself?\"//

His mother was silent for a moment, then avoided the question. //\"What if she decides to do the same to you the next time you try to bed her? What would it have hurt for her to let Celsus have his way and be done with it? He would have lost interest quickly.\"// Mozelle listened silently, shaking her head in disbelief, wondering what Dramilla\'s reaction would be if she suggested the same course of action to her in case a man attacked her. //\"And it isn\'t just a physical danger, Lupus. This could very well ruin us socially. It could hurt your father\'s business. She has to be taken care of in whatever way the Malum\'s demand. Now, stop arguing and lock her away. I need to go and lie down. I have the most ferocious headache.\"//

Lupus sighed, and took Mozelle\'s hand, leading her from the room. As they walked he said, //\"Oh, Mozelle. Why didn\'t you call for me? I would have stopped him.\"//

//\"I DID scream. I wasn\'t waiting around for a warrior to come and save me--it could have been too late.\"//

//\"But STABBING him.\"//

\"If I had a gun I would have shot him. If I had a club, I would have bashed him over the head. If I had a semi I would have run him down, then backed over him. I had a knife. I stabbed him. It worked.\"

They had reached a small shed in the back garden. Once it had held tools, but now it was a sort of playhouse for Gaius, containing a small table and chair. The door stood open, and Mozelle could see the brackets set on either side of the doorframe, and the stout board leaning against the wall. She stopped, round-eyed. When Lupus tugged at her hand she said, //\"Wait a minute. You REALLY intend to lock me in there? You\'re going to lock me up and then hand me over to whatever that vicious, lying bastard decides to do with me?\"//

//\"Mozelle, I have no choice. The law deals very harshly with slaves who injure a free citizen. I\'ll do what I can. I\'ll plead for you. I have a little property of my own. I\'ll offer that in exchange for mercy. It may not be so bad.\"// He didn\'t sound very convincing. //\"It might only be a public flogging, as an example to other slaves, or perhaps a branding.\"//

\"Oh.\" She nodded slowly. //\"Well, then, what am I arguing about? If it\'s only a branding...\"//

He wasn\'t expecting it. She tripped him, jerking her hand free as he fell, and ran. She didn\'t get far. She was trying to hop up high enough to grab the top of the wall when he caught her. He dragged her back to the shed while she struggled, silently but ferociously.

For the first time since he was a child, Lupus wanted to cry. Couldn\'t she understand how reluctant he was to do this? He had already prayed to every God he knew for her to be spared death. That was all he felt able to do. He could not sensibly ask that she escape all punishment. That just wasn\'t possible in his world.

He shoved her into the shed, wincing in sympathy as she stumbled against the table. Then he slammed the door and held it shut against her pushing and pounding as he dropped the bar into place. He stood back and listened to the drumming of her fists, his chest tight. *She\'s only a slave,* he told himself. *I can find a hundred like her at the auctions.* He closed his eyes in pain. *I lie to myself. She isn\'t just a slave, and there are none like her.* His voice hoarse with unshed tears he said, //\"Mozelle, I\'m sorry. I\'ll do what I can. Try to understand.\"//

The pounding stopped, then he heard her voice, faint and hopeless. //\"YOU try to understand. This is my LIFE, Lupus.\"// Her voice fell to a whisper, as if begging someone, anyone to understand. \"This is my life.\"