This story is set in the Roman Empire, and therefore, obviously it is not true. If you're not meant nor allowed to be here - and you know who you are - skedaddle!
I started out to write a stroke story, and somewhere along the line discovered I liked creative writing. Therefore, what started out as a stroke story with scant plot, became a short story with some - but not a lot - of sex in it. Acquiescing to request, I've put a rather stimulating bit in this part, however. (My jockeys were a bit damp after writing it, at least.)
Also, even though I neglected to say it in the first three submissions, this story is my work. If you use it somewhere and put your name on it, and I find out, I'll box your ears! Otherwise, enjoy!
THREE PIECES OF GOLD ~ a short story by R. Cameron Reece Part 4
chapter eight
Agda was uncharacteristically mysterious and enigmatic today, Giovanni thought. She hadn't been herself since Lee had left, after getting his hand re-bandaged, and her approval to carry on with it in its injured state. Moreover, she was full of questions. Some made sense, and followed on the heels of other logical questions. Some seemed to have no relation to anything at all.
"So Gio, how many brothers and sisters did you leave behind when you came to live with Aelius?"
"None, I was an only child. I was the only boy in my neighbourhood that didn't have any siblings. Sometimes late at night I would hear my pater and mater fighting over this, after they thought I was fast asleep. This was before I even understood where babies come from. There were some bitter arguments over this issue. My pater always blamed my mater. He said he ought to flog her with goat skins until she got with child. She, in turn, said it was his fault; she had been to a midwife who said Mama's womanly parts were fine. He must have been shooting empty seed." In any other circumstances, Giovanni would have been embarrassed to talk about such things, especially with a woman. With Agda though, it was different. "Papa always had the last word, however. Usually my mater would have an eye, first red, then a deep purple, and finally a sickly yellow the days after an argument as testament to who "settled" the disagreement."
"Was your old home far from here?" Agda continued with her questions.
"My pater's bakery is not too far from the south gate of the city wall. It seemed far when we walked here those many days ago, but I guess it's really not so great a distance."
"Did you have your heart set on some sweet girl in your neighbourhood?" Agda continued to pump Giovanni for information.
Gio fidgeted. "No, not really."
"Mmm," Agda spoke as if she were merely confirming a fact, not gleaning information. "Can you whistle, Gio."
"Yes." Some questions didn't seem to need more than a one-word answer.
"Do you know how to handle a horse?" Agda asked him.
"I've never ridden a horse, but I'm not afraid of them," Gio was quick to defend his bravery. "I know a little about grooming them, just from seeing the horse traders at the market."
"Do you have any hair under your arms yet? Or any, noticeable on your lip?" she prodded. Gio frowned at the question. What could that possibly have to do with anything? He didn't answer right away.
"Well?" she prompted. "You don't look as if you have too much of anything on your lip at least, and cheeks're still smooth as a baby's bottom. Mind you, my eyes are not what they used to be." She peered intently at his face, her near-sightedness causing her to squint. Her close scrutiny was making him uncomfortable. Agda seemed to have a reason for everything she did, still ....
"Umm, no, not on my face, not under my arms. Why?" he finally responded.
Agda continued as if Giovanni had not spoken. "Good then, that's a few problems we won't have to deal with for several months, maybe even a couple of years. Mind you don't spill that. It's hard to find in Roma," she said, indicating the leaves he was handling that was part of today's lesson. "By then you'll know enough to take care of those kinds of problems on your own, with what you've learned here."
What kind of problems she meant, Gio could not imagine. She turned a challenging stare at him. "IF you pay attention that is." Her countenance did not bring fear and trembling the way it might have had she given him that same look the first day he met her. Giovanni had not known Agda long, but already he was learning that while sometimes she was gruff, she had a kind heart.
Throughout this question period, they had been working on some kind of paste whose main ingredient was poison ivy. Giovanni did not need an herb witch to tell him to handle this carefully. Several other things, including some congealed chicken fat, went into the medium-sized mortar. He ground the pestle into the mix, mashing the ingredients. The resultant pulp had a surprisingly pleasant fragrance, and was light green, the colour of grass caught under a rock, hidden from adequate sunlight. He was ever so thankful this task didn't require a roaring fire, to make the already-hot weather more unbearable.
Giovanni lapsed momentarily into his dream world. After all, now much mental acuity did it require to be skilled at the repetitive motions required to operate a pestle? More than he accorded, apparently, for as he was trying to puzzle out why hair under his arms would be problematic for him - indeed, he had been waiting impatiently for that exact time to arrive for a couple of years now - and why Agda so infuriatingly ignored his questions, he suddenly felt a sharp tingling sensation on the back of his hand.
"Vulcan's fire," cursed. He looked down to see he had splashed a dollop of the green paste on his hand.
"That's why we leave the wool gathering to the young farm maidens," Agda said dryly. "It would appear that you have already discovered the principle characteristic of today's task. This is a paste that will remove skin. Usually it is for dead skin; bunions, calluses, putrefied wounds and the like, but occasionally it is used on apprentices who are less than attentive. Wash it off quickly. It won't do too much harm on your skin for that short length of time.
"It has another use if diluted," Agda's voice took on a more serious tone, " And you would do well to remember this. It removes body hair."
Hair again! Giovanni screamed in his mind. He was beginning to get exasperated at Agda's seeming fixation, today, on hair. "What could possibly be so important about the hair I have or don't have on my body?!" he squawked, voice full of petulance.
"Primo," Agda's voice was low and ominous, "you forget your place ... boy. And secondus, do you think I don't know what goes on in your heart. Romans may have turned a blind eye to Nero and his proclivities, but people will not turn a blind eye to you and Aelius once you're a grown man. Have a thought for the future, child!"
Giovanni stood there, head bowed in shame. This month he seemed to do nothing but get the chariot before the horse. The truth was, he hadn't much considered the future. Two full moons ago, he had been a baker's son, with nothing in his future save wheat. Pre-ordained, monotonous existence did not require too much forethought. Now, it appeared, this was yet one more thing in his life that required re-evaluation.
"Please forgive me, teacher. I was short-tempered and acted as a spoiled child," Gio said, tears welling up in his eyes. Neptune's bollocks, he cursed silently. This was the second time he had cried, like some little girl, in recent days.
Agda's words had given him pause for thought. Was that what he was, Lee's eromenos? In theory, he knew what this was, but did that apply to him? And Agda was right, now that he thought about it; all the eromenoi that he could think of were young. No, age didn't matter per se, it was the passage into true manhood that decreed the end of the relationship of the young man and his erastes. And, a young boy was truly a man when he sprouted those first dark hairs on his face. He remembered, now that he thought about it, when that had occurred with his older cousin, Petronius. How cocky he had gotten once he had become "a real man". Of course! That was what all the fuss was about his hair.
Recognition dawned on his face. He hadn't thought much of the future, but one thing he did know for sure. In the few short weeks that he had known Lee, he had grown inseparably attached to him. Was it love? He didn't know, but he couldn't imagine a future that didn't include Lee, whether Gio had a beard or not.
Agda's face softened once again. "Do not worry about your future with Aelius, Gio," she reassured him. I have seen the way he looks at you, and his heart is very much in the same place as yours. Love has a certain look you know, and I see that look between you and Aelius. The course of your love with him will not always be easy but with a little ingenuity, and forethought, you can avoid some of the pitfalls society may try to throw your way." * * * That evening, they spent time relaxing in the public baths. Since he was frugal with his money, Giovanni was pleasantly surprised that Aelius spent money to go to more expensive bathhouses. The bathhouse Gio used while growing up was a noisy, rowdy place, always overcrowded. Aelius's choice, however, had marbled tubs and floors, was quiet and relaxing. They obviously used something to scent the water, here, and a pleasant smell engulfed the premises. Giovanni's mouth was no longer agape with the novelty of the experience but his enjoyment hadn't diminished.
That night, Agda's concern about how much hair he may or may not have was the last thing on Giovanni's mind. Lee pulled Gio to him, hugging him from behind, and began to nuzzle his neck, blowing in his ear, making Gio shiver with pleasure. His hand slipped under Gio's tunic, finding his prick there, already slick under its hood. Gio whimpered, enjoying Lee's hand as it slowly worked its way, from the crown, fully down to the base. His foreskin retracted with each the downward stroke, releasing pre-cum to moisten Lee's hand on its journey.
"It would appear you're very happy to see me," teased Lee. "I like what I'm feeling; a hard man is good to find!"
Gio twisted in his lover's arms, and embraced Aelius tightly. "A day without sex with you is like a day without sunshine," Gio smiled. "My love, my champion." He reached under Lee's tunic, caressing his tight muscular buttocks, fingers dancing in Lee's valley. Gio moved his hand upwards. He never tired of rubbing his hands over Lee's muscular back, tracing his rippling muscles. He ground his crotch into Lee's, looking up into his eyes.
Lee slowly lowered them, to the floor, removing their tunics in the process. His tongue started at Gio's bellybutton, darting in and out, making him squirm. Slowly he licked his tongue up Gio's stomach, where evidence of abdominal definition had recently started to appear. Reaching Gio's pectorals, he bit softly on his right nipple, making it erect. Gio gasped, his stomach muscles tightening with appreciation. Lee's tongue made its way back down to Gio's belly button, where it once again started upwards, this time stopping at the teen's left nipple, where tongue and teeth once again brought Gio's other nipple to hardness.
"Oh fuck, Lee!" Gio was hoarse with stimulation. "Don't stop, don't ... oh, by the god's ... oh, OH! LEE!" Gio's ecstasy prevented more coherent speech.
"You like that, huh. You want me to stop? No? You want me to lick my tongue all over your body? You want me to tongue your prick? Lick your balls?" Lee had come to learn that Gio was almost as turned on by his suggestive talk as his oral stimulation. Gio grunted his ascent, writhing on the mat. He tongued the velvet skin of Gio's pisello from the base up to the tip, stopping to stimulate the sensitive area just below Gio's helmet. The length of Gio's erect phallus had pulled the foreskin back enough to reveal his piss slit. His steely-hard prick was topped with a dusky purple head, peaking out through its covering. Aelius engulfed Gio's crown, enjoying the heady flavour of cock cheese, thankful the baths hadn't removed it all. He continued stroking the base of Gio's prick with his right hand. The tip of Lee's tongue found its way into Gio's piss slit, but not for long. Gio's turned-on body was wriggling all over the mat, too much for delicate tongue work.
Lee's hands reached under Gio's thighs, lifting, spreading his legs open, exposing his hole. In the beginning, he was very shy to give Aelius access to his most private part, feeling vulnerable. Lee's abilities with his tongue quickly changed his mind. Using his teeth, Lee tugged on Gio's ball sack, not painfully, but just enough to send another electric ripple through Gio's abdomen. Lee laved his sac, coating it thoroughly in saliva, and then blew on it. The air was a cool contrast to the heat of their passion, and Gio let out a high whimper of pleasure at this unexpected sensation. Swooping down, Lee quickly engulfed Gio's entire sac. It appeared that the gods had tipped the balance in favour of the boy's rather prodigious pisello, as his balls were tiny grapes and Lee could take them both in his mouth at the same time. He pushed and prodded them with his tongue, taking Gio closer to his climax. It was never a concern for him to stave off his lover's orgasm to lengthen his passion, for Gio's youth allowed him multiple orgasms, without a lot of recovery time between. And, hard or not, Gio never lost his ardor to continue their love-making. Anchored as he was, by his genitals, Gio's shoulders were still rolling, head snapping from side to side, eyes closed, mouth agape. Lee's lips made a strong pucker and he pulled backward. Gio's balls popped out, one after the other, sending a jolt each time through his body that radiated outwards from his balls, like ripples from a rock tossed in a pond. Gio's verbal mantra continued, incoherent, his thinking brain incapacitated by his erogenous centers.
Lee's hand once again started to rapidly stroke Gio's iron phallus. Gio's abdominals gave a lurch, raising his head up. Grabbing Lee's head in both hands, his tongue penetrated Lee's mouth, their tongues vying for supremacy in Lee's orifice. Gio rubbed his tongue along Lee's top teeth, inside his lip, sending a tingle this time through Aelius. A pearl drop of honey formed at the tip of Lee's prick and slowly tore itself away, falling to the mat. The hand jerking Gio's cock was just too much, and he once again fell back on the mat, groaning. Alternating between his hand and his mouth, Lee took his young lover over the edge. He had come to realize just how much he enjoyed the taste of Gio's boy juice and swallowed it greedily. Saving only the last spurt, he frotted his chest the length of Gio's body, giving the teen one last jolt of pleasure, and kissed the boy deeply, allowing Gio to taste some of his own cum.
Lee slowly broke the kiss and turned the teen over onto his stomach. Gio spread his legs, anticipating what was coming. Lee reached under his legs, pulling his prick back. He once again tongued the erogenous spot under his helmet. Recently sated, Gio simply laid there, enjoying the sensation, moaning softly. Aelius took his ball sac, encircling it with his left thumb and forefinger. Gently tugging, he used his right hand to reach under Gio's cock, and stroke backwards, as it were. Even in this position, Gio's prick started to fill again with blood.
Grasping a cheek in each hand, Aelius spread Gio's cleft, revealing his pink rose. Almost bereft of hairs, it twitched from the exposure. Lee wasted no time. He nuzzled the hole, probing it with his tongue. Although cleansed at the baths, Gio's nether regions emitted an aphrodisiac Lee could not resist. Several minutes went by as he feasted of Gio, tongue probing, loosening, wetting. Gio's pleasure was exquisite, but he knew it was all a prelude.
Such was Lee's stimulation, a steady supply of pre-cum oozed from the hood of his pisello. Giovanni readily got up on all fours as Aelius pulled him up and back. Supporting his own weight on his arms, Lee covered Gio. His iron shaft had no problem finding its way, and it sank slowly into its home. Gio felt a fullness, but virtually no pain; Lee's tongue had done its job well. Aelius was not a selfish lover, but this was his time, now. He slowing started the fuck, his speed increasing with his stimulation. Each time his cock penetrated all the way to its base, Lee felt the warm, moist glove take his closer. With a guttural cry, he pulled Gio upright, and came with one last savage thrust. As the blackness cleared from his eyes, he looked over his lover's shoulder and saw that some time, during his enjoyment of Gio's ass, the boy had come a second time.
chapter nine
Giovanni straightened his tunic for at least the tenth time and looked critically down at his sandals, making certain there was as little dust on them as possible as they walked. Even though he'd been looking forward to this day ever since he had heard the tales of how Lee gained his freedom, and Agda's family ties to 'her', he was nervous. She was a Vestal Virgin, one among the few most revered women in the Roman empire!
It was all well and good for Aelius to downplay the importance of meeting her; they were friends of sorts. He understood Agda's blas‚ attitude as well. How much awe could you inspire - even if you were the emperor of all the Roman Empire - in someone who'd cleaned your dirty bottom as an infant. However, this was his first audience with Tryphaena, and he nervously hoped he would not embarrass himself or his two companions. He once again tugged on the bottom edge of his tunic.
"Gio! For pity's sake, quit fidgeting, would you." There was amused exasperation in Agda's voice. "If it makes it easier for you, think of her as my niece, not a servant of Vesta. You haven't ever gotten tongue tied before in the presence of a young lady that I know of, like the way many other boys would."
Aelius chuckled and put forth his two bits, teasing Gio more. "Yes, now if Vesta had chosen handsome, young men as her servants, I might have had to keep you on a tight rein. He winked at Agda. "But I don't think the danger of me losing his heart to Tryphaena is too great," he said to her.
Giovanni blushed, but grinned. He didn't especially like being teased, but it was from two people he loved, so it wasn't so bad. Further, it distracted him from the jitters he was suffering. Just as Lee was speaking, they passed under the arch of Titus and looked down into the Forum Romanum, teeming with people and activity. From here it was a mere 100 steps and they would be at Tryphaena's residence.
They were stopped at the gates to the residence of the Vestal Virgins as a matter of course, until the soldier took a second glance at those he challenged. "Beg your pardon, m'lady," he said to Agda. And with a great deal of awe in his voice he greeted Aelius, "Sir, Aelius, sir. And this is ... ?" He glanced at Giovanni.
"This is my servant, Giovanni," Aelius said blandly, the ever-present public facade in place.
"Is her grace expecting you? Come right in," the soldier said, as Agda nodded her head.
Giovanni hoped he didn't appear to be too much of a country lout, even though he had grown up in the city all his life, as he gawked at his surroundings. At one point he brought his mouth closed with a snap when he suddenly realized it had been open in amazement. To say he was impressed by the residence of these servants of Vesta, was an understatement. He was being afforded a sight many Romans lived and died never having seen. Still he was not sure he liked it exactly.
The first thing he noticed was the beautiful mosaic on the floor. It covered the entire floor of the room they were in. With hues of reds, oranges, rusts, with a smattering of blue and yellow, hundreds of thousands of tiny stone fragments, polished smooth and shiny, coalesced to form a picture of a hearth fire on the floor. He wondered at the many hours of work that went into making a mosaic on this grand a scale.
There was also a fresco on the wall that commanded his attention. It was of candles, too numerous to count. The artist definitely had been skilled, Giovanni decided. Each pinpoint of light seemed to shimmer and waver, just as the flame of a real candle in a draft.
The walls were made of marble, and polished to a sheen rivaling the floor's. However, except for the prominent fresco, they were bare. The few pieces of furniture that occupied the room were very simple, austere even. They were all a pale colour, matching the walls; variations of creams and whites. The overall effect was monochrome, the only relief coming from the floor and the fresco.
There was no mistaking the amount of money, however, it took to construct such a building. But it seemed to Giovanni like the builders had spent all the allotted money in building the house itself, without saving any for appointing it. He smiled to himself at the mental image coming to mind if the same thing had happened in Nero's Domus Aureus. He could just imagine the enormous palatial building, devoid of anything save the art of the wall.
As was the case before Giovanni met Agda, his apprehension was unfounded, he soon discovered. Lee was right; Tryphaena's voice was like music. She also had a certain no-nonsense practicality about her that must have come straight from Agda, Giovanni surmised. She was a study in contrasts to the plainness of her surroundings. Her features must have come from the other side of the family, though, Gio thought dryly. She didn't have Agda's big nose that was for sure! The eyes reminded him only a little of her aunt. She certainly was beautiful! Giovanni startled himself at his own notice of such a thing in girls. And she couldn't be too much different in age than him! Not very many minutes had passed before Gio, while not yet completely at ease in Tryphaena's presence, was not nervous at least.
"Etiamus was by a few days back," Tryphaena said. She never called him Pater. "Both he and his valet, mounted on steeds of the purest white. At first I thought he was simply trying to outdo us here, as a way to stroke his vain ego. Instead, he had something else completely up his sleeve. Our estate in Nola dear Aunt," said Tryphaena, her voice candied with sarcasm, "is now the one and only provider of the goddess's mounts."
"There's very little my esteemed frater cannot bring to pass if there's money in it for him and he's allowed a little time to scheme," Agda said disgustedly.
"Still," Aelius countered, "the fact that Vesta's mounts come from Nola is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as we ignore Etiamus's motivations. In fact it really is quite a coup. How did he manage to convince the elder sister, here?"
"Apparently," Tryphaena answered, "no one estate has ever had the sole responsibility of providing us with our white horses. Before now, it has always just been the good luck of a farmer to possess one of the proper caliber that he wanted to sell at the same time we required one. Now, my pater will guarantee their availability and quality for years to come."
"He'll certainly need more help back home, then," said Agda. "The amount he knows about breeding horses would barely fill an acorn shell, and when I left, his stable master, even then, was rather aged."
"I have some news of my own," Aelius said softly, changing the subject. Three heads turned as one, their attention now on him. Tryphaena was the first to speak.
"Out with it then. What is it? Auntie and Gio look as curious as me to hear it. Come on, tell us!"
"Did I mention how curious Tryphaena was as a little girl, Gio?" Agda teased her niece. "It appears she's not outgrown everything from her childhood." And then to Aelius, "Yes, out with it. What have you been hiding from me?"
"It's nothing big, really," Aelius demurred. "I've decided to stop fighting for the amusement of the people, that's all."
"Praise be to Diana!" Agda exclaimed. "I wondered just how many years it would take you to get some sense knocked into you at the same time you were getting the life knocked out of you."
"Oh Aelius, that's great!" Tryphaena seconded.
Gio beamed all over like a shiny, newly-stamped gold coin. Every day he parted company with Lee, he worried over his lover's safety, but no more! But what would Lee do now, then? A frown creased his brow as he considered this. Just as quickly, though, he banished it. This was great news; time for concern was later.
"It seems I have more of a reason for living these days," Aelius continued, putting his arm around Giovanni. "What's the point of finding happiness, if I can't appreciate it for a good long time." Gio beamed under the inferred praise, and Tryphaena's eyebrows shot up.
"It appears old Auntie here was correct in her suspicions, then," the virgin said. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "And, who am I to stand in the way of love and happiness." It was at this point that Gio was fully convinced he liked this Tryphaena, saviour of Lee, niece of Agda, servant of Vesta.
This story will wrap in the next submission. Your comments and constructive criticisms are welcome at caninkor@sasktel.net, the address listed above.