"No!" Justin Gabras grasped Cailin's other arm in a bruising grip. He had already devised a wicked plan by which he might discredit her.
"Jovian!" Casia appealed to the master of the house.
"Jovian cannot help you, my dears," Gabras said. "What do you expect him to do for you? You came here of your own free will. I did not force you to come. Now you will stay, and amuse my guests."
"My lord Gabras," Cailin said pleadingly, "why do you do this thing? What have I ever done that you should hate my lord Aspar so?"
"I do not know Flavius Aspar well enough to hate him," was the cold reply, "but I am tired of hearing my wife Flacilla whine for revenge upon him for their loveless marriage. No, do not tell me that she loved him not. She says it often enough herself, but hate-and hers is very strong toward Aspar-is the other side of the love's coin, Cailin Drusus. Surely you know that. Flacilla's choler is such that I fear for my unborn child. I want that child! Until this moment I had not the power to give my wife what she claims to desire so dearly. Your foolishness at coming here has given me an opportunity I never expected to have." He smiled cruelly. "By this time tomorrow, Flacilla will have her revenge, and may rest easy, I think."
"Spare her," Casia said, "and I will personally entertain your guests in any fashion you desire! Just release Cailin, I beg you, my lord Gabras! Jovian, have you no say in any of this?"
"I cannot help you," Jovian said, and his eyes filled with tears. "He would kill me if I tried, would you not, my lord? Even if I dared to send for help, by the time Aspar got here, it would be too late. You should not have come here tonight, Casia, and you most assuredly should not have brought Cailin."
"Michael!" Justin Gabras called to the servant, who came quickly to his side. "Help me take our guests and lock them up until we are ready for them." He dragged Cailin into the atrium while she struggled in vain to escape his strong fingers.
"Let us go!" Casia cried as Michael pulled her along in their wake.
"And lock up the whore's litter bearers until we are of a mind to release her," Justin Gabras called out to Jovian.
"Lady, I apologize for this," Michael told Cailin as he pushed her into a sparsely furnished, windowless room behind Casia. He shut the door behind them, and they heard the lock turning noisily.
"Forgive me!" Casia said, flinging herself into Cailin's arms. "I am a fool to have ever suggested coming here! The gods help us both!"
"It is as much my fault as yours," Cailin said generously. "If I had let the matter of the Saxon rest instead of pursuing it, we would not be in this predicament. What do you think they mean to do?"
"It is obvious," Casia replied. "Gabras will give us to his gladiators. It matters not to me. I am a whore and used to taking a variety of men between my thighs, but you, my poor friend!" She began to cry, much to Cailin's astonishment, for Casia was not a woman given to tears.
"Do not cry," Cailin comforted her friend. Strangely, she felt nothing right now. Not even fear.
"Gabras will spread word of this incident all over Constantinople," Casia said, still sobbing. "Basilicus will never forgive me!"
"You love him!" Cailin was again surprised.
Casia nodded. "Aye, the gods help me, I do! He doesn't know, of course. He is not the kind of man one can confide such an emotion in, sadly. He will never accept being embarrassed by me. I will never see him again after tonight, I fear! I have ruined not just your life, but my own as well!"
"Perhaps we can escape," Cailin said hopefully.
Casia, her tears finished, looked at her friend and shook her head. "How? This room has no windows, and but one door, which is locked. They will come for us, and that will be the end of it. There is no escape, Cailin. Make up your mind to that right now."
Chapter 14
The two women did not have long to wait. Four male slaves arrived to escort them to the baths, where they were thoroughly washed and their bodies rubbed with fragrant oils. The bath attendants rubbed Cailin's auburn ringlets and Casia's thick, long blue-black hair until they were dry. Their hair was perfumed, Casia's first being braided into a single plait, and then floral wreaths were set atop their heads. No fresh garments were offered them, and the women realized it would be useless to even ask.
They were then escorted into a large airy room that opened onto the villa's beautiful gardens. Justin Gabras sat, now garbed in a short white tunic, upon a black marble chair. The gladiators were assembled before him. There were no other women in the room. At their entry, the men turned, their eyes avid with interest. The guards forced Casia and Cailin forward, and reaching out, Justin Gabras pulled both women into his lap, balancing them each upon a single knee. His hands reached up to fondle their breasts, pinching at the nipples.
"You have eaten well, my friends," he said to his guests, "and now I have a little treat for you. These two women are the most exclusive whores in Byzantium. They are pretty little rabbits, are they not? We are going to have a little game. We shall release these two little rabbits into the gardens, and then you, as randy a pack of dogs as I've ever seen, will chase after them. They will hide from you, will you not my beauties? But someone will find them, and whoever the lucky men are will have their pleasure of these women for this entire night. There are no losers in this game, however. The rest of you will have your choice of any other woman in the house after our game is over. What think you?"
The gladiators cheered Justin Gabras lustily.
"By the gods," the Hun said loudly, "you give us a difficult choice, my lord. Both of these women are real beauties!"
"Which do you favor?" Gabras asked him.
"I am not certain," the net man replied. He turned to his companion. "What about you, Wulf Ironfist? Which do you prefer?"
"The one I catch," the Saxon replied, and his eyes met Cailin's.
Casia quickly looked to her friend. Cailin was paler than she had ever seen her. Her great violet eyes mirrored both pain and shock. Is it he? Casia mouthed silently over the laughter that greeted the Saxon's remark, and Cailin nodded. If anyone catches Cailin, Casia thought, it must be the Saxon. She looked straight at the Hun and smiled her most seductive smile.
"Are you as good out of the ring as you are in it?" she purred suggestively. "If you are, then I shall be happy to be caught in your net."
To Casia's surprise, the Hun turned beet-red as his companions whooped with amusement. So he was shy. But her bold words had certainly made it plain to the others that he was her choice. None of the others would dare to come after her now, for shy though he might be, the Hun would want her. They would not confront him over a woman, she knew. She could see the puzzled way in which the Saxon was looking at Cailin. Now she must make certain of him.
"Cailin Drusus." She said her friend's name loudly. "Do you have a preference among these fine men? I think the Saxon would suit you admirably."
"I think he would," Cailin replied, having caught on to Casia's little game.
"So you are no better than the rest of them," Justin Gabras sneered. "Why is it that all women are born whores?" He did not see how pale the handsome gladiator had become, nor the tightening of the Saxon's lips and the flash of anger in the Saxon's eyes at his words.
Without waiting for an answer to his question, Justin Gabras dumped the two women from his lap. "Run into the garden and hide yourselves, my beauties. I will count to fifty, and then loose these lusty beasts on you. Go!”
The two women ran from the room, through the marble pillars, and out into the early evening twilight. When they had gone a ways together into the dimness, Casia stopped a moment and said, "Hide yourself well, Cailin, and do not come out unless you see the Saxon!" Then she was gone down a grassy path. Cailin fled to the depths of the gardens, finally climbing into the branches of a peach tree. It was unlikely that anyone would think to look for her up there.
"Fifty!" she heard Justin Gabras call out.
The gladiators began to thrash through the gardens, noisily seeking the two women. Within
a few minutes she heard the rough voice of the Hun crowing triumphantly, "I've caught a little rabbit, lads!" and Casia's coy shriek of false surprise. The hunt for Cailin grew more intense, but she felt safe amid the branches of the tree. She could even see some of the men below, looking under bushes, behind the fountains, and among the decorative statuary for her. They will never find me, she thought smugly, but then what? How could she escape Villa Maxima without her clothes, without a litter? Suddenly the branch upon which she was perched gave way, and Cailin fell with a cry to the grass below. Two men loomed forth from the darkness as she desperately scrambled to her feet. A bolt of pain tore through her right ankle, but she struggled to remain standing.
"Stay back!" she ordered the two men.
"Don't be afraid, lambkin," she heard one say, and then, "She is mine, Greek! Touch her, and I'll kill you!"
"No woman is worth death, Wulf Ironfist," the man called Greek said, and he faded into the darkness.
"Are you really the most exclusive whore in Byzantium, Cailin Drusus?" Wulf asked her solemnly.
"No," she said softly, "but you had best treat me as if I were. Your host is my mortal enemy."
"Can you walk, or is your ankle seriously injured?"
"I twisted it when I fell from the tree," she answered, "but it is not broken. Nonetheless, you will have to carry me, and I will struggle to escape you. Justin Gabras would think it odd if I did not."
"Why?" he demanded.
"We will talk when we have found a private spot. Now quickly! Pick me up before someone else comes along and wonders why we are not already engaged in passion's battle."
He came to stand directly in front of her and reached out to touch her face. "Antonia said you were dead, and our child, too."
"I suspected she might have told you that," Cailin answered.
"I want to know what happened," he said.
"Wulf! Please!” she pleaded with him. "Not now! Gabras will soon come after us. He is a terrible and dangerous man."
There were so many questions swirling about in Wulf's head. How was it she was alive? And here in Byzantium? But he saw the genuine look of fear in her eyes. Reaching out, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She immediately began to beat at him with her little fists as he carried her through the garden and back to where the others waited.
"Put me down! Put me down, you great brute!" Cailin shrieked. The blood was going to her head and making her dizzy.
"So, our other little rabbit has been caught at last," she heard Gabras say, and then he came into her line of vision. "You have given us all quite a chase, my dear. Where was she?"
"In a tree," the Saxon answered. "I wouldn't have found her at all, but the branch upon which she was perched gave way."
"I want to see you take her," Justin Gabras said. "Here. Now!" A goblet of wine was clutched in his hand.
"My public performances are only in the ring," Wulf Ironfist said quietly.
"I want to see this woman humiliated," Gabras persisted.
He is dangerous, Wulf thought, and so he replied, "By morning I will have taken this woman in every way possible, and in some ways you have never even considered, my lord. If she is not dead, then she will be incapable of even crawling from the room where we will lie this night." He turned to Jovian Maxima. "I want a room with no windows so none may be disturbed by her cries. It is to be furnished with a good mattress, and I will want wine. Also a dog whip. Women frequently need to be schooled in their duties, and this woman is too free, I can tell. It is obvious to me she does not know her place, but she will learn it! We Saxons like our females docile, and subservient."
"By the gods!" Justin Gabras said, a genuine smile lighting his handsome features, "you are a man after my own heart. Give him what he wants, Jovian Maxima! The wench is in good hands."
A few moments later they were escorted to the same room where Cailin and Casia had earlier been imprisoned. Now, however, the room was newly furnished with a large, comfortable bed upon a dais, several low tables, a pitcher of wine and two goblets, two oil lamps burning sweet-scented oil, a tall floor lamp, and, set at the foot of the mattress, the whip that Wulf had requested.
Jovian, who had accompanied them personally, looked nervously at it, and Wulf grinned at him wickedly.
"Close the door," the Saxon said softly. "I wish to speak with you."
Jovian complied with the Saxon's request, but he looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"Just tell Gabras that I threatened you if we were not granted absolute privacy," Wulf told the man.
"What is it you want of me, gladiator?" Jovian asked him.
"Tell me the nature of the danger Cailin Drusus faces from Justin Gabras," Wulf demanded.
"He will use what has happened, what will happen this night, to discredit the lady Cailin before the imperial court and the patriarch, who will then forbid her marriage to General Flavius Aspar. This is what Gabras seeks. The rest the lady Cailin must tell you herself, if you are of a mind to listen to her."
"He is Wulf Ironfist, my husband," Cailin said quietly.
"The gods he is!" Jovian Maxima looked thunderstruck, and then he said, "This is the truth, my lady?"
"That is why I came, Jovian," she admitted. "When I saw him today in the ring, I was not certain. I had to be certain before I pledged my faith to Aspar. Wulf Ironfist and I must speak together now, and then I must remain in this room till the morning. When the dawn comes, however, I beg you to help me return to Villa Mare. And help Casia as well. If we are clever, we can keep this from Prince Basilicus. She loves him, you know."
Jovian nodded. "Aye, and the prince loves Casia even as she loves him, but he cannot say it to her. He told me once when he was in his cups. When this night is over, I will tell her. It will give her comfort, I think. Now I must leave you both else Gabras become overly suspicious of why I linger here."
The door closed behind Jovian, and Wulf set the wooden bar into place, which would protect their privacy. Cailin's heart was beating very quickly. It was really Wulf! With shaking hands she poured two goblets of wine, sipping nervously at hers as he turned back to her and took up his own goblet.
He drained it swiftly and said bluntly, "So you are to be married. You have the look of a woman who has prospered, and one who is well-loved."
"And you who loved me for my lands left those lands quickly enough. You told me you had tired of fighting, but perhaps a gladiator earns more coin, and certainly he has better privileges than a mere soldier in the legions," Cailin countered. She had been mad to come, and madder still to believe there was anything left between them.
"How came you to Byzantium?" he asked her.
"In the hold of a slave galley out of Massilia, Wulf Ironfist," Cailin said harshly. "I was walked the length of Gaul to get there. Before that my time was spent in a drugged state in a slave pen in Londinium." She gulped at her wine. "I believe our child lives, but what Antonia did with it, I cannot say. Were you even interested enough to find out?"
"She said that both you and the child had perished in the ordeal of childbirth," he defended himself, and then went on to tell her of what had transpired when he had gone to Antonia's villa to bring her home.
"What of our bodies?" Cailin said angrily. "Did you not even ask to see our bodies?"
"She said she had cremated you both, and even gave me a container of ashes. I interred them with your family," he finished helplessly. "I thought you would want it that way."
The macabre humor of it struck Cailin, and she laughed. "I suspect what you interred was a container of wood, or charcoal ashes," she said, draining her cup and pouring herself more wine.
"How is it that you know Jovian Maxima?" he suddenly demanded.
"Because he bought me in the slave marketplace, and brought me here," she told him coolly. "Are you certain you wish to know more?"
She was not the same person, he realized, but then how could she be? He nodded slowly, then listened, his face alternating between an
ger, pain, and sympathy, as she told her tale. When she had finished, he was silent for a long moment, and then said, "Will we allow Antonia Porcius to destroy the happiness we had, Cailin Drusus?"
"Ohh, Wulf," she replied, "so much time has passed for us. I thought you would stay with the lands that were my family's. I believed you would have taken another wife by now, and had another child of your loins. How could I have ever believed that we would meet again here in Byzantium, or anywhere on this earth?" She sighed, and lowered her head to hide the tears that had sprung into her eyes from nowhere, it seemed.
"So you went on with your life?" he asked her, almost bitterly.
"What else was I to do?" she cried to him. "Aspar rescued me from this silken Hades, and freed me. He sheltered me, and loved me. He has offered me the protection of his name despite incredible odds. I have learned to love him, Wulf Ironfist!"
"And have you forgotten the love that we shared, Cailin Drusus?" he demanded fiercely. Reaching out, he pulled her roughly into his arms. "Have you forgotten what it once was like between us, lambkin?" His lips gently touched her brow. "When Antonia told me you and the child were dead, I was devastated. I could not believe it, and then she was handing me that damned container of ashes. I returned to our hall and buried them. I tried to go on with my life, but you were everywhere. Your very essence permeated the hall, the lands! And without you there was nothing. None of it meant anything to me without you, Cailin. One morning I awoke. I took my helmet, my shield, and my sword, and I left. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew that I must get away from your memory. I wandered the face of Gaul into Italy. In Capua I met some gladiators at a tavern. I enrolled in the school there, and once I began to fight, I quickly became a champion. I had no fear of death, you see. That fear is a gladiator's greatest enemy, but I did not feel it. Why should I? What did I have to lose that I had not already lost except my life, which was now worthless to me."
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