To Love Again

by Bertrice Small

  "What have you in mind?" Phocas asked him, his curiosity provoked by his brother's particularly excitable state regarding the girl, Cailin.

  "Are we not famous the length and breadth of the empire for our entertainments?" Jovian said.

  "Absolutely!" Phocas agreed.

  "Our living tableaux have no equal. Am I correct?"

  "You are correct, brother dear," Phocas answered.

  "What if we took a living tableau a giant step further?" Jovian suggested. "What if, instead of a tableau, we staged a playlet of delicious depravity so decadent that all of Constantinople would want to view it- and would pay handsomely for the privilege. No one, brother dear, would be allowed to view this playlet at first but our regular clients. They, of course, would talk about it, intriguing their friends, and their friends' friends.

  "Only those personally recommended by our clients would be permitted to enter here to view our little entertainment. Soon we would have so many requests for entry that we could charge whatever the traffic would bear, and thus make our fortunes. No one has ever before done anything such as I propose to you. Others will, naturally, copy us, but they will not be able to maintain the level of genius and imagination as we can. Cailin will be the centerpiece of the performance."

  Phocas could fully appreciate his brother's plan. It was absolutely brilliant. "What will you call your playlet, and how will it be performed, Jovian?" he asked his sibling, fascinated.

  " 'The Virgin and the Barbarians!' Is that not marvelous?" Jovian chortled, most pleased with himself and his cleverness. "The scene will open with our own little Cailin seated before a loom, modest and innocent in white, her hair unbound, weaving a tapestry. Suddenly the door to her chamber bursts open! Three magnificent naked barbarians enter, swords in hand, their intent quite plain. The frightened maiden leaps up, but alack! They are upon her, rending her garments asunder as she shrieks her protest! They violate her, and the curtain descends to the cheers of our audience."

  "Boring," Phocas said dryly.

  "Boring?" Jovian looked offended. "I cannot believe you would say such a thing to me. There is nothing boring about the scene I have described to you."

  "Violation of a virgin is an ordinary topic of living tableau," Phocas answered, disappointed. "If that is all there is to it, Jovian, then it is boring."

  "The gods!" Jovian exclaimed. "It is all so clear to me that I have not explained it in detail to you. Our virgin is violated by three barbarians, Phocas. Three!"

  "Indeed were it one or three, it is boring," his brother repeated.

  "All three of them at one time?" Jovian slyly elucidated.

  Phocas's brown eyes grew wide. "Impossible!" he said breathlessly.

  "Not at all," his brother answered, "but it must be choreographed most carefully, as one would choreograph a temple dance. It is not, however, impossible, dear brother. Oh, no! Not at all; and nothing like it has ever been presented here in Byzantium. Does not the church itself constantly decry the wickedness of man's nature? There will be riots before our gates in an effort to see the performance. This girl will make us our fortunes. We shall retire to that island in the Black Sea that we bought several years ago and have not seen since."

  "But will the girl cooperate?" Phocas asked. "You are, after all, expecting a great deal of an unsophisticated little provincial."

  "She will cooperate, brother dear. She is very intelligent for a woman, and because she is a pagan, she has no foolish qualms. Since she is not a virgin, she has no respectability to lose in this. Do you know what she asked me? What her future held after her youth and beauty had fled. Of course I told her she might eventually purchase her freedom if she were clever, and I believe she certainly is. With the proper training, Cailin will be the greatest courtesan this city has ever known."

  "Have you decided upon the men involved?" Phocas said, now all business. "And how often shall we schedule this spectacle?"

  "Only twice weekly," his brother replied. "The girl's physical well-being must be protected, and the unique nature of the performance involved considered. Better our clientele be left begging for more than our little playlet become too ordinary too quickly. As for the men, I saw just the trio I will need at Isaac Stauracius's private slave market two days ago."

  "What if they are already sold?"

  "They will not be," Jovian said. "I thought I might want them then, although I wasn't certain. I gave Isaac five gold solidi to hold them for me. I was to tell him by tomorrow, but I shall go today. They are quite magnificent, Phocas dear. Brothers, all identical in features and form down to the last detail. Big, blond Northmen. They have but one tiny flaw. It is not visible to the eye, but Isaac wanted me to know. They are dumb. The fool who captured them had their tongues torn out. A pity, really. They seem intelligent, and hear quite well."

  "Go and fetch them, then," Phocas replied. "Do not let Isaac cheat you, Jovian. After all, he does not know how we are going to utilize these young men. Their physical defect should certainly lower the price he will ask appreciably. But wait! What of their male organs? They are large? No matter how beautiful these creatures, they must have big manhoods. How can you be certain of that without Isaac suspecting something of the use to which we will put this trio?"

  Jovian looked drolly at his elder sibling. "Phocas, my dear brother, you wound me deeply. When did I ever purchase any male slave for this house that I did not inspect their attributes most thoroughly first? At rest the manhoods of these three hang limply at least six inches. Aroused they will lengthen to eight, if I am not mistaken, and I rarely am."

  "Your pardon, brother," Phocas said with a brief smile.

  With an answering smile and a bow, Jovian departed his brother's presence. Calling to his favorite body slave, and current lover, to come and join him, he walked swiftly through the gates of Villa Maxima and out into the street.

  Chapter 8

  Cailin had always believed that the home in which she had grown up was luxurious, but life at Villa Maxima was a revelation to her. No windows despoiled the outside walls of the building facing the street. One entered through bronze gates that led by way of a narrow passage into a large, sunny, open courtyard. The flooring in the courtyard was designed of square blocks of black and white marble. Great pots were set about the perimeter of the space. They were planted with small trees and pink damask rosebushes. There were always attractive slaves on duty within the courtyard to welcome visitors and to direct them up the two wide white marble steps onto the colonnaded portico, and through it into the atrium of the villa.

  The atrium was magnificent. It had a high, curved, vaulted ceiling divided into sunken panels that were carved and decorated in red and blue, and gilded with gold. The walls were decorated with panels of white marble, and the baseboards were overlaid in silver. The entry to the atrium had two squared columns and four rounded pillars in red and white marble, all topped with gilded cornices. Above the entry were three long, narrow, latticed windows.

  The doors leading from the atrium were of solid bronze, and the door posts sheathed in green marble, carved and decorated with gold and ivory. The floor was of marble tiles of various, contrasting shades of green and white arranged in geometrical patterns. In the recessed wall niches set about the room were marvelous marble sculptures of naked men and women, singly, or in pairs, or groups, all in erotic poses calculated to titillate the viewer. There were marble tubs filled with brightly colored flowers, and several marble benches where clients sat waiting admittance as their identities and credit were checked.

  What little of the rest of the villa that Cailin saw in her first weeks in Constantinople was equally magnificent. The walls were all paneled, and centered upon them, painted pictures in frames. The subject of most of these paintings was erotic in nature. The ceilings were all paneled, and decorated with raised stucco work which was gilded or set with ivory. Doors were paneled and carved with colorful mosaic thresholds. The floors were either of marble of various hues, or mosaic pictures
made of pieces so tiny that they appeared to be painted. The floor of the main chamber where the entertainments took place had the story of Leda and Jupiter illustrated in exquisitely colored pieces of mosaic that gave a jeweled effect.

  The furniture found at Villa Maxima was typical of a wealthy household. Couches were everywhere, and they were ornately ornamental in design. Wonderfully grained woods were used for the legs and the arms, which were often carved. Tortoiseshell, ivory, ebony, jewels, and precious metals were used to decorate them. The couch coverings were of the finest fabrics available, embroidered in both gold and silver threads as well as sewn with jewels.

  The tables were equally beautiful, the best being made from African cedar. Some had bases of marble, others of gold or silver, and yet others of gilded woods. There were chests for storage, some simple and others of elegant design. The candelabra were of bronze, silver, and gold, as were the lamps, both on the tables and hanging. There was nothing that could be considered lacking in grace or beauty about the villa and its furnishings.

  Cailin had been assigned a charming little room with a mosaic floor whose center decoration was of Jupiter seducing Europa. About the walls, frescoes showed young lovers being encouraged and bedeviled by a host of amusing, little winged cupids. There was a single bed, a lovely little decorated wooden chest, and a small round table to furnish the space, which had but one window looking out over the hills of the city to the sea beyond. The room was sunny most of the day, and the light gave it a cheerful outlook that made Cailin feel comfortable for the first time in almost a year. It was not a bad place to begin her new life.

  For almost two weeks that life was uncomplicated and pampered. She was fed more food than she had ever before eaten. She was bathed and massaged three times daily. Her feet and her hands were attended to, the nails pared, her skin creamed to soften it. She was made to rest continuously, until she thought she would die of boredom, for Cailin was not used to being idle. She saw no one but Jovian and the few servants who attended to her. In the evenings she could hear laughter, music, and merriment from elsewhere in Villa Maxima, but her chamber was very isolated from the rest of the house.

  One day Jovian came and took her in a highly decorated-and to Cailin's taste-flamboyant litter to tour the city. He was a font of fascinating facts and general information. A town had been founded a thousand years before by the Greeks on this very site, Cailin learned. Located at the junction of the east-west trade routes, the town had always flourished, even if it was not particularly distinguished. Then, just over a hundred years ago, the emperor Constantine the Great had decided to leave Rome, and chose for his new capital the town of Byzantium. Constantine, the first emperor to embrace Christianity, consecrated the city on the fourth day of November in the year a.d. 328. The city, renamed Constantinople in his honor, was formally dedicated on May 11, 330, with much pomp and ceremony. Already building and renovation was then in progress.

  Constantine and his successors were always building, and little remained now of the original Greek town. Constantinople currently had a university of higher learning; its own circus; eight public and one hundred fifty-three private baths; fifty-two porticos; five granaries; four large public halls for the government, the senate, and the courts of justice; eight aqueducts that conveyed the city's water; fourteen churches, including the magnificent St. Sophia; and fourteen palaces for the nobility. There were close to five thousand wealthy and upper-middle-class homes, not to mention several thousand houses and apartments sheltering the plebian classes, the shopkeepers, the artisans, the humble.

  The city had been built on trade, and trade prospered there. Since it was set where the land routes from Asia and Europe met, Constantinople's markets were filled with goods of all kinds. There was porcelain from Cathay, ivory from Africa, amber from the Baltic, precious stones of every kind found on the earth; silks, damask, aloes, balsam, cinnamon and ginger, sugar, musk, salt, oil, grains, wax, furs, wood, wines, and of course, slaves.

  That afternoon, they traveled the length of the city to the Golden Gate, and then back along the Mese past the forums of Constantine and of Theodosius. They skirted the Hippodrome and moved on past the Great Palace. As they were carried by the great church of St. Erine, Jovian said, "I have not yet chosen a priest for you, Cailin. I must remember to do so."

  "Do not bother," she told him. "I do not think I could be a Christian. It seems a difficult faith, I fear."

  "Why do you say that?" he asked her, curious.

  "I have been speaking to your servants, and they tell me that to be a Christian you must forgive your enemies. I do not think I can forgive mine, Jovian. My enemy has cost me my family, my husband, and my child. I do not even know if that child was a son or a daughter. I have been taken from the land I love best, enslaved and generally terrorized. We Britons are a hardy race, which is probably why I have survived all of this, but I am angry, and I am embittered. Given the opportunity to take my revenge upon Antonia Porcius, I would gladly do so! I cannot forgive her for what she has done to me, or taken from me."

  "Your fate is now here," Jovian told her quietly, and reaching out, he took her hand in his, squeezing it to comfort her.

  Cailin's violet eyes surveyed him calmly. "I have learned to put my trust in no one, my lord. It is wiser, and I shall not be disappointed."

  How cold she is, he thought, wondering if her husband had ever been able to ignite passion in her. Yet she was exactly what he needed for his new entertainment; a perfect marble Venus. Beautiful. Untouchable. Icy. And heartless. She would be a sensation, and her performance would bring all of Constantinople to its knees in their admiration. "Tomorrow," he said, "you will begin your training. You will be taught to do certain things that may at first frighten you or seem repugnant to you, but you can believe me, Cailin, when I tell you that I will not allow you to be injured in any way. In this one instance you may put your trust in me. I have too great an investment in you to allow you to come to harm, my dear. Oh, yes. You may trust Jovian Maxima, but no other."

  "You have an investment of four folles, my lord." She laughed. " 'Tis hardly a great amount, as you yourself explained to me."

  "Ahh, but remember that having cleaned you up, I told you that your worth had increased to ten solidi. Once you are trained, your worth will be a hundred times that, Cailin."

  She was fascinated by what he was saying. She had absolutely no idea what her training was going to involve. She had no idea exactly what went on at Villa Maxima during those long evenings when the enticing noises from the main part of the villa teased at her sleepy ears. All she knew about brothels was that bodies were sold for a night's pleasure. There was obviously a good deal more, if her instincts proved correct.

  The next morning she was brought by the slave girl Isis to an interior room where Jovian awaited her with several others. All of them but Jovian, resplendent in a red and silver dalmatica, were naked. There was a beautiful dark-haired woman of Cailin's height, and three tall young men with long golden locks. For a moment it was as if a hand had clutched at her heart, Cailin thought upon seeing them. Although there was nothing in the trio other than their size and coloring to remind her of Wulf, it was more than enough. For a moment she was angry at Jovian, but then she realized he could not know, so she steeled herself for whatever was to come because it meant the first step along her road to freedom.

  Yesterday, discussing her anger with Jovian, Cailin had suddenly known that what she desperately wanted was to return to Britain, no matter how far away it was or how difficult the journey. The realization of such a dream was impossible without gold and power behind her. She knew not if Wulf was dead or alive. Even if he lived, he might not want her back. But her father's lands were hers, and there was that faceless, sexless child, too, who belonged to her. She wanted them back, and she wanted her revenge on Antonia Porcius. Only by becoming famous here in Constantinople did she have the slightest chance of returning to Britain and foiling Antonia's evil scheme. In her innoce
nce, Cailin vowed she would do whatever she had to do to attain her goal.

  "This is Casia," Jovian said, introducing the dark-haired woman. "She has been with us for two years and is most popular with the gentlemen. I have asked her to join us because she will demonstrate what I have in mind for you. Remove Cailin's tunica for her, Isis, and then you may leave us."

  Cailin swallowed her apprehension at being nude before strangers. No one else was embarrassed. It was obviously a normal procedure in circumstances such as these. The obvious admiration for her in the blue eyes of the male trio was flattering. "Who are they?" she asked Jovian.

  "Your fellow players," he said smoothly, and then asked her, "How did you and your husband make love, my dear? The positions you assumed, I mean," he further explained. Then he continued, answering his own question, "You lay upon your back, I surmise, and he rode you?"

  Cailin nodded, swallowing silently. She was suddenly cold.

  Casia put her arm about her. "Do not be frightened," she said in kindly tones. "No one is going to hurt you, Cailin. You are really very fortunate to have been chosen by Jovian for this entertainment."

  "Surely you are not fearful?" Jovian fussed at her. "I told you that in this one matter you could trust me. It is simply the unknown that distresses you. Very well then, let us demystify your fears. Your fellow players cannot speak, although they hear. I have decided to call them Apollo, Castor, and Pollux. The physician tells me you are healthy in all respects, and more than ready to receive a man's homage. These three are to be your lovers."

  "They are slaves as I am," Cailin said. "Where is the profit in that my lord? How can I earn my freedom lying with slaves?"

  Jovian chuckled. She might be afraid, but she had not lost sight of all he had told her. "Your lovemaking shall be an entertainment for our clients, Cailin. Twice weekly you four shall perform a playlet of my devising." He then went on to explain what would be required of her: "I realize that you have never had a man enter through your temple of Sodom. That is why Casia is here today. It is a particular specialty of hers. If you see her carrying out this manner of lovemaking, you shall see there is nothing to be apprehensive about. Casia, take your position. Pollux and Castor, attend her. Now watch carefully, Cailin. You will be required to do what Casia does."