by Evans, Casey
Early one evening while Lucius was working on his studies up in his room, his father showed up unexpectedly.
“Hello father,” he said getting up from his desk and stretching his legs.
“Hello son, how are your studies going?”
He knew his father had no interest in his studies so he was curious as to why he should visit him here tonight.
“They’re fine father. Now I really am quite busy so-”
“Relax Lucius. You work too hard. A lad your age and with your means should take time out to enjoy life.”
“I’ll do my enjoying life when summer break arrives, but for now I really must-”
“You’ll take a break tonight. I am sending someone up to keep you company in the baths so please present yourself in fifteen minutes.”
Lucius knew there was no point arguing with his father when he was in this mood so he closed his books and went to the baths wondering which slave his father had tasked with the duty of distracting him. No one was there when he arrived so he took off his toga and walked into the steaming waters. He had to admit, it actually did feel pretty good.
“Ah there you are.” It was his father again.
“What?” He asked without turning around to face him.
“No don’t be so cross. I think you’re going to like who I have chosen for your company.”
“I doubt that,” he began as he turned around. He stopped mid-sentence. Standing there at his father’s side was Petronia wearing a simple tunic and looking as radiant as ever. Still…
His father smiled wickedly. “Isn’t this what you have wanted all along? Well you can finally have her.”
He clapped his hands twice and another slave appeared. He turned to her. “You are to see to it that she,” he pointed to Petronia, “gives him a good time.”
“Yes Dominus,” she replied.
This was not what he wanted to have happen. If anything ever happened he wanted it to be of his own free will and hers as well; not because his father commanded it. He didn’t even know if he thought about her that way. By the look on her face she was not pleased about his father’s latest idea.
Now he turned to Petronia. “Well, take off your tunic. Show the boy what he’s getting.”
Lucius turned bright red as Petronia looked down in shame and began to undo her tunic. When she just stood there trying to cover herself up and Lucius wouldn’t even look at her Gaius decided he was going to have to get the party started. To Lucius’ horror, his father walked up behind her and opened up his toga. Petronia bent over grabbing her ankles as his father entered her repeatedly. This was, Lucius thought, quite possibly the worst night of his life. This wasn’t supposed to turn him on, or get him to get interested in the party. It was all just a way his father was punishing him for all the time he had spent with Petronia when she was healing. For the first time he realized what kind of man his father was, and he swore he would be nothing like him.
* * * * *
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
The Decision
* * * * *
On good days when Petronia was still confined to the physician’s quarters she would contemplate what she had witnessed the day Primo had taken her. She could deny it no longer. Something weird was going on in the House of Tiberius. She had been perfectly willing to write off her previous encounters with the beasts as due to wine, exhaustion, a spell, whatever, but she could not erase what she had watched before being taken. The question was, what should she do with the information? She was pretty sure Dominus didn’t know she knew about their shape shifting abilities, but Primo definitely knew she was aware of the secret of Gaius Gracchus Tiberius. There had to be away to use that information to gain status, maybe even freedom. Problem was, she was pretty sure if Dominus knew what she had seen and figured out, he would kill her instantly to silence her. That was the only smart thing to do under the circumstances. There had to be a way to protect herself and leverage that information to gain power and maybe even freedom. Not for the last time she wondered if she had made the wrong choice when she decided to side with House of Tiberius against the slave revolt. Thanks to her dozens of slaves had been put to death along with her only friend in the world, Albinia. She also figured it was a matter of time before Primo used her knowledge against her as well. If he threatened her, she would be forced to barter sex for silence; a choice she was pretty sure she would choose any time.
She was disturbed by rumors that Dominus, who held the title of Lanista was interested in politics and may consider selling his villa, Ludis included and move to Rome. There were even nastier rumors of Primo somehow gaining his freedom, or just becoming a Lanista so that Dominus could be freed up to pursue politics. Most thought he wouldn’t completely give up the Ludis as it was a consistent moneymaker for him and it offered a measure of prestige. Nastier rumors said that somehow Primus masterminded the death of the Lanista’s son in order to remove him from the possibility of one day becoming Lanista in place of Dominus. Primus was a slave, but he walked around like he was king. It wasn’t all in his head either. He did have more freedoms than even Petronia and the best gladiators did, and it was the gladiators that always had the most privileges.
Every so often her thoughts strayed to Lucius. He was becoming a handsome young man. Not that she had any interest in him. She shuddered when she thought about the incident in the bath house. In the end Dominus hadn’t forced his son to have sex with her, but he had made Lucius watch as he had his way with her. That was about the most humiliating thing she had ever been subject too. Whenever she saw Lucius she found she could not meet his gaze, and the chances for that were plenty. He was always around now that it was summer and he was through with his studies for the next couple months.
Now that it was summer and the weather was nice, there was an ever increasing number of days the Arena was open. Dominus had stepped up his purchases and they now had nearly three dozen gladiators, including a new gladiatrix whom Petronia had yet to spar with. It was nearing a long day of training in the Ludis when Doctore called her aside to inform her that in two days she would be fighting in the Primus on Saturday. That was big news indeed. Only the most important fights happened in the Primus. When she asked who her opponent was going to be, she received the shock of her life; it was to be Primo. He outrage was justified. To pit her against a man who was not even considered a gladiator was a huge insult, and in front of so many. But the bad news didn’t stop there. She was to throw the fight; to let him win. She had objected with such vehemence that Doctore had to march her into one of the cells to finish their conversation. She still remembered it word for word.
“I have to lose?” She asked, not sure she had heard him right.
“And make it look good. You make him out to be a fool Saturday and you will surely be executed, and not in a nice way.”
“What have I done to deserve this humiliation? Couldn’t someone else do it?”
“You’ve done nothing Gladiatrix. Dominus is preparing Primo for his new role in the Villa so his public perception of him must grow so that his name is on the people’s lips when he walks into the arena.”
“Dominus asks too much of me,” she had complained bitterly.
“He asks nothing slave, he demands, and you’d do well to put a good face on it!”
Petronia had complained and argued as much as she felt she could get away with without getting in trouble, but when Doctore left he was clearly displeased. Shortly after the training day had ended, Petronia was told to report to Dominus, and she was pretty sure it had to do with her attitude about the upcoming battle. She took as much time as she could safely take before presenting herself to her Dominus.
She fully expected to be reprimanded for her objections, but what he had called her up to discuss she could not have dreamed of in a thousand years.
“I am considering giving your hand in marriage to my assistant, Primo,” he began without preamble. “He has asked for permission to wed, and I thought I would first ge
t your feelings on the matter.”
Petronia could scarcely conceal her horror on the idea. She wanted to raise her strongest objection but wondered if that might invite more trouble. Clearly Dominus had a high opinion of Primo else he would not be even entertaining the thought of arranging the marriage.
He read her expression accurately and spoke again before she could even find her tongue. “Clearly you are not fond of the arrangement. On one hand I would like to keep my Gladiatrix happy, but Primo is a very useful man who has proven his loyalty over and over.”
“And I have not?” Petronia blurted out. “Was it not I that returned you son to you after our caravan was set upon by escaped slaves? Did I not inform you of the revolt and fight against my fellow slaves with Dominus’ guards”
“No one questions your loyalty, least of all me, and that is the reason I am asking your opinion, but I am in need of Primo’s services and what better way to secure those services than with the gift of marriage to the one he has expressed love for?”
“He doesn’t love me!” Petronia spat. “He only wishes to own me.”
“And he may yet, even if I were not considering giving your hand to him. It occurred to me that in that event, you would retain more power and freedom as his wife than as his slave. You have to at least see that!”
She didn’t see it. All she could see was that evil pig of a man raping her night after night and she expected to enjoy it. She would rather die.
“Clearly you do not see the sense of it. He has asked for you tonight so I want you to go to him and I will give you my decision on the matter in the morning.”
Petronia was in shock as she walked down the hall towards Primo’s private quarters. She was so bewildered she did not even see Lucius until she had nearly run into him.
He took one look at her and knew she must have received some terrible news. With unexpected familiarity he took one of her hands in his. “What troubles you so?” He asked, genuinely concerned.
She knew she should keep quiet about the new developments but she could not. On the verge of tears Petronia told Lucius of his father’s plans for her and her suspicions that Primo was going to be made Lanista. Lucius was enraged! He had been expecting to take up that mantle ever since his wicked older brother had been killed. To lose it to that evil Primo was too much to bear. And even worse, he was to marry Petronia.
“Not while I’m alive!” He swore under his breath as he hurried to his father’s chambers. Petronia waited until he had disappeared into Dominus chambers before putting her ear to the door to listen in. It wasn’t hard to hear, Lucius was shouting the entire time.
“Your interest in this slave girl is unhealthy!” His father reprimanded. “I don’t know what you’ve got in mind, but she will never be anything more to you than just some slave with an attitude problem.”
“She is your most loyal slave and your best gladiator and you would do well to remember that,” the boy had yelled.
“Do not forget who is Lanista here Lucius. I have half a mind to sell her to another Lanista. The Praetor’s cousin is a Lanista and he showed interest in Petronia. Were it not for Primo’s interest I would probably make the sale.”
“How can you expect your gladiators to be loyal to you if you’re not loyal to them?”
“They’re my slaves Lucius, I don’t need their loyalty. You would do well to remember that!”
“You say you don’t need their loyalty, but if not for Petronia’s loyalty the slave revolt would have been successful. You would be well to remember that, father!”
“I could have you whipped, son or no son, so don’t push me!”
Petronia listened for as long as she dared before returning to her cell. Could things get any worse she wondered to herself?
“Hello Dove.”
Petronia jumped at the sound of Primo’s voice. She had forgotten she was supposed to be with him tonight. She groaned as the guards let him into her cell.
“Come Dove, I have a special treat for you tonight. Call it a before the betrothal party. Well, not really a party. It’ll be just you and I and a….what shall we call it? A friend I guess.”
Petronia rose to follow him out when he stopped her. “Wait, I have something for you.”
He held up a leather collar. “I think it’ll look splendid on you Dove.” She stood there as he placed the collar around her neck, then attached a leash. “Now, down on your hands and knees puppy dog.”
She slowly squatted down but she wasn’t fast enough and a quick jerk on her leash brought her to her knees. The floor was cold and rough on her soft skin. By the time they had reached his quarters, both knees were bloody.
He led her over to the edge of the bed where he sat down and directed her to kneel between his legs.
“Go ahead, take it out.” He said, clearly indicating his cock. She started to fish around in his tunic when he stopped her. “Bad puppy. You can’t use your paws. Use your mouth.”
Petronia’s stomach rebelled as soon as her mouth got near the dirty material. He must have been wearing the same tunic for a month. It smelled of stale urine and feces and in order to free his manhood she had to root around with her face and mouth. More than once she swallowed bile that threatened to come spewing up in his lap. Finally she uncovered his cock, half hard in anticipation of being sucked. She had just taken the head of his nasty smelling cock in her mouth when she heard an ominous growl behind her. She started to turn her head but was rewarded with a jerk on her leash. Obviously she was not to turn around.
She returned her attention to his cock when she felt a great weight on her back, and there was a snarl in her ears. She could feel saliva dripping on the back of her neck just before powerful claws raked her tender flesh, tearing off her tunic. She cried out in pain as the beast pulled the rest of the material off her body then mounted her like a dog in heat. She tried to squirm away from the beast but it was too heavy, trapping her between its body and Primo’s thighs. The creatures growling became more and more guttural as it increased its thrusting. She cried out in pain as its huge cock bruised her tender flesh. Then a strange thing happened. Her body began to respond. Ripples of pleasure spread throughout her pussy up into her stomach and straight to her nipples which were rubbing against the rough fabric of Primo’s tunic. She began to suck his cock for all she was worth, then cried out in pleasure, pain, and disgust as she came to a climax. She was vaguely aware of the creature’s hot fluid spraying across her back as she swallowed Primo’s nasty load.
Finally Primo pushed her back away from him and tucked his flaccid cock back into his tunic. She felt the beast back away and she took that moment to turn her head before Primo saw her. She was not really too shocked when she saw the back of Dominus leaving Primo’s quarters.
* * * * *
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
The Primus
* * * * *
The day came far sooner than Petronia would have liked. For the first time in her life she didn’t have to prepare for the fight. She was, after all, going up against a man who was not technically a gladiator and she doubted if he was any good with a sword. She suspected the only thing the man excelled at had to do with his dick; and he really wasn’t any good at that either.
Just hours before she was scheduled to fight, Primo cornered her for a little chat, much to her displeasure.
* * *
Primo
* * *
“Hello Dove,” he began. Ever since the decision had been made to give her to him in marriage he had been calling her dove, and it disgusted her. How dare he name a fighting woman after such a pathetic creature? Perhaps she should give him a nickname as well. Maybe she would start calling him worm.
“I’m talking to you woman!”
“Oh…my apologies wor…Primo.”
“That’s better. You’re to put up a good fight, then when I tap my spear against my shield, that’s your signal to drop your guard and allow me to jab you. Don’t worry” he said mistaking her expres
sion. “It won’t be a mortal blow. You just drop your sword and signal surrender, and it will be over.”
“What makes you think I won’t kill you?”
He actually laughed at her. “Dove, your good, but not that good!”
Petronia could not believe the arrogance of the man. Just because he nearly had the run of the Villa it did not make him a good fighter; just an over confident one. He wouldn’t last two minutes if Petronia really wanted to kill him.
The contest went as she expected. The guy was pathetic! She had to try hard not to accidently kill him. On a couple occasions she nearly winged him and she was forced to do some really stupid moves to allow him to counter in a way that made him look like he could actually use a spear. It was like an epic game of cat and mouse in front of twenty thousand people screaming for blood. She was loathe to continue and wished for the hundredth time she could just lop off his head and be done with it. Instead she did the worst thing she could have done; she refused to submit.
* * *
Primo
* * *
Primo banged his spear once more on his shield signifying that Petronia was to throw the fight. Problem was, she wasn’t obeying him. Having given up on trying to make her submit, he circled around her looking for some type of opening in her defenses but there were none; at least none that a fighter of his low caliber would be able to exploit. He jabbed and slashed but he was useless against the curtain of steal she wove around herself.
He snarled with rage! She would submit to him; if not here, she would pay in his bed. Oh yes, she would pay. Primo was a man with brutal appetites and tonight she would find out just how far from normal Primo lived. Many had died trying to appease his desires and she would not be the last.
