Skaia (35 page)

Thaddeus exhaled loudly. “Don’t feel bad, Skaia. Neither does anyone else.” After a pause, he resumed, going directly to Skaia’s concern. “Glaucus and his group were headed first to Macedon. That is not where Pompey is, or where Caesar will go. Glaucus will be safe.”

Skaia sighed softly. That was all he really wanted to know. “Thank you, Master.”

“
Was that information worth twenty lashes to you?” Thaddeus asked mockingly.

Skaia looked down, disappointed. Somehow, he had forgotten the punishment when Thaddeus had continued to talk so openly. “Yes, Master,” he whispered.

Thaddeus smiled at the answer. “And why is that?”

Without any hesitation, Skaia replied, “After what I heard from those other slaves, I worried for my young master, sir.”

Thaddeus was taken aback that Skaia would be this stupid. Especially after what they’d shared this morning. He was furious. “
Who
is your master, Skaia?” Thaddeus’ voice was low, the threat hanging heavily in the air. His smile had disappeared entirely.

“
You, sir,” Skaia answered quickly. “You are my master, sir.”
Oh, Belenus. I am such a fool.

“
Do not forget it again,” Thaddeus said harshly. “Until Glaucus comes home, you are
mine
.”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Bathe me.”

As Skaia washed him, Thaddeus seemed to let go of his anger and relax again, sprawling lazily in the water. Skaia, in turn, breathed more calmly as his hands performed the now familiar ritual. When Thaddeus turned to his stomach, resting his head on his crossed arms and presenting his backside for washing, Skaia heard him moan softly as his sides were caressed carefully with the sponge.

Without thinking, Skaia questioned his master again, this time about the papers he’d read—wanting to know what one of the crops was. Quickly realizing his foolishness, Skaia grew quiet and waited for Thaddeus to express his anger.

To his surprise, and great relief, Thaddeus answered him. Without warnings or threats. Still, Skaia only thanked him softly and became quiet again, thinking he’d been stupid to risk further punishment.

He was even more surprised when Thaddeus took the cloth from his hand and started washing
his
back. He trembled when Thaddeus told him to kneel, but the cloth only moved between his buttocks gently and then stopped.

“
I’ll dry myself,” Thaddeus said. “Stay here and finish your bath.” After he stepped from the pool, he looked back. “Just promise me you won’t try to drown yourself again.”

The tone was light and Skaia smiled up at him. “I won’t, Master. It doesn’t work very well.”

Thaddeus grinned and sat on the bench to dry his hair. He watched the boy wash and handed him a towel when he climbed from the pool.

Skaia dried his body quickly, and then noticed Thaddeus was still wet below the waist. Foregoing his own hair, he knelt at Thaddeus’ feet and worked his way up the hard, muscular legs. When he got to Thaddeus’ crotch, he was very careful, only rubbing lightly with the towel.

“
Afraid to touch me?” Thaddeus asked in amusement.

There was only the briefest pause. “Yes, Master.”

“
Why?”

Skaia stared down at the floor, and sank back on his heels. He knew he blushed—he could feel the heat spreading across his chest. “I… I’m afraid you will want me, sir.”

“
You’re very confident of your appeal,” Thaddeus snorted.

Skaia shook his head quickly. “No, Master, I’m not. I’m sorry, sir.”

Thaddeus turned and walked towards the bedroom, irrationally hurt by that last exchange. He’d been good to the stupid boy, treating him almost as he had Thane. And he thought Skaia had responded. Had been sure of it this morning. He cursed himself as he pulled on his robe and reminded himself that Glaucus was all that mattered. And that his son’s attachment to the damn slave must be destroyed.

Skaia watched him go, then pulled on his breechcloth, and put out the lamps. Picking up his tunic, he followed after his master.

Thaddeus was sitting at his desk again, and Skaia approached nervously, twisting his tunic in his hands. After a few moments Thaddeus looked up and snapped at him. “What the fuck do you want now?”

Almost collapsing under the force of the words, Skaia struggled to speak. “I… I only want to know if you will whip me now, sir.”

Thaddeus sighed softly and reclined in his chair. “Have you eaten?”

“
No, Master. There wasn’t time after… after I left the garden, sir.”

And he wouldn’t eat now if he was to be punished.
Thaddeus shook his head. “No, I will not whip you tonight. Go to the kitchen and eat.” He smiled as Skaia pulled on his tunic. “Be prepared to pay for my leniency when you return.”

Skaia bowed. “Yes, Master. Thank you, Master.”

On the way to the kitchen, he wondered what sort of payment would be required. And how awful it would be to pay it.

Castor was surprised to see Skaia in the kitchen so late, but he happily put together a plate of food. “Did you have a pleasant day with Paulinus?” he asked as they sat down.

“
You should not talk to me, sir,” Skaia told him.

“
No, I shouldn’t,” Castor agreed. “But we talk all the time when it’s safe. Speaking with Gotus is far more dangerous than talking to me. Besides, we’re the only ones still up now. If you don’t tell Thaddeus, he won’t know.”

Skaia looked up from his plate, and managed a small smile. “I won’t tell him, sir. The day was very nice. It was wonderful to be outside.” He began to eat, discovering he was hungry. The quality of the food was much inferior to what the masters ate, but, there was fruit only a little old, and, at least for the moment, the stale bread dipped in olive oil was delicious.

Castor thought Skaia looked better than he had in some time. His wet hair had already begun to curl and there was a glow to his skin. His mood seemed good. “Has Thaddeus told you anything about Glaucus?”

Skaia swallowed and wondered how Castor could know. “Master Thaddeus… he said Glaucus should be safe because he is in a different part of Greece than Pompey and Caesar. Why do you ask, Castor?  Do you know something?”

Castor shrugged. “I only hear gossip in the markets. Today, I heard that Mark Anthony will join Caesar within the month. If that happens, the rebellion will be over very soon, and the danger will be past.”

Rebellion.
After what Thaddeus said, he wondered who Castor thought was rebelling. “I only hope Glaucus will be safe, sir,” he said carefully.

“
As do we all, Skaia.”

Returning to Thaddeus’ rooms, Skaia wondered what would happen now.
Will Thaddeus demand to have sex?
Beneath the dread, Skaia also recognized a certain anticipation, even excitement. He hoped, if Thaddeus wanted him, that the master would force him—to remove any responsibility on his part.
So Glaucus will not blame me…
But perhaps Thaddeus would already be asleep. And as he opened the door leading to his master’s rooms, he was no longer sure what he hoped for.

Thaddeus looked up from his desk when Skaia entered. “Come here, slave,” he said darkly. He had been unable to get the thoughts of the boy at the stables out of his mind. Nor the thought of Skaia wet and naked in the bath. He wondered now how much Skaia could take without protesting. How he would look with his hole open and dripping… “Take off your clothes.”

The commands were abrupt, cold, and Skaia immediately felt his fear build. He was sure now that Thaddeus meant to beat him after all, but he did not hesitate to obey. Twenty lashes was more than enough. He didn’t want to add to the total. Still, he pulled the tunic over his head slowly and took the time necessary to fold it, looking up at Thaddeus as he untied the knot in his breechcloth. The master’s eyes were expressionless, but no less frightening for it. Skaia very much did not want the breechcloth to drop… But it did.

“
Now turn around, bend over, and grasp your ankles,” Thaddeus commanded.

Something new…
Skaia managed to control himself enough to obey. As soon as he was holding his ankles, he felt Thaddeus’ hands along his sides. Not hurtful. Gentle.

“
I lied in the bathing chamber,” Thaddeus said very quietly. “You really are very lovely. Of course I want you.” He handled Skaia’s scrotum, drawn up tightly in fear, massaging it gently until it dropped just a little. He picked up the jar of cream he’d placed on his desk earlier and turned back to Skaia. “Hold your cheeks open for me.”

Skaia had no idea what was happening, but now he was almost terrified. “Master, please… no.”

Thaddeus’s hand stroked the boy’s buttocks gently. His voice remained soft. “You don’t want to anger me with stupid disobedience, Skaia. If you force me, I
will
whip you. All thirty lashes.”

The fear was palpable now as Skaia moved his hands from his ankles to his buttocks, and pulled them apart. “More,” Thaddeus said. “I want to see your hole.” Skaia pulled harder, though he was thoroughly humiliated, both by what Thaddeus demanded of him, and his own complicity in allowing it. When he felt a finger enter him, he forced himself to remain silent and still.

But Thaddeus crooked his finger deliberately until Skaia moaned in pain. “Such pretty noises,” Thaddeus almost whispered. “Don’t hold them back, Skaia. I want to hear them,” he said softly as he twisted his finger again. “The stable boy did not make them.” When Thaddeus finally withdrew his finger from the tight puckered opening, he watched in fascination as it closed. And as Skaia started to straighten, Thaddeus’ voice was slightly louder. “I did not tell you to move, did I?  Resume the position.”

Skaia obeyed him, wishing desperately he did not have to. This time there was more than one finger, and the intrusion itself was painful. “Please, Master,” he begged. “You hurt me.”

“
Do I?” Thaddeus deliberately moved his embedded fingers once more, and Skaia gasped at the sharp pain he caused. But when Thaddeus removed them Skaia did not move, holding himself rigid as Thaddeus scooped a glob of cream from the jar and inserted his fingers once more, this time rubbing the thick mixture inside Skaia’s body and around his opening, pushing against the constricting muscles. “Relax for me. Make it easier on yourself. That boy this afternoon was much better at this than you.”

How could anyone endure this?
Skaia wondered, but he did his best to obey. He fought hard against the pain, and kept silent, as Thaddeus spread his fingers and pushed harder and deeper. Finally, though, he could not help but groan.