Marcus marched in with three other men, one was bound with his hands behind his back, his body beaten and battered. Miranda swallowed the food in her mouth, it felt like an immovable lump in her throat, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip. Caesar sat back in his chair and watched the newcomers.

"My brothers, Loyal Centurions," he began, "I bring before you tonight's entertainment." He gestured towards the bound man. "This soldier is part of a group of men within the legion who assist in the escape attempts of slaves who belong rightfully to the Legion, and thus to me. He is a traitor to the Legion and will be punished tonight. Let he be an example to all men who have treason in their hearts. I am not to be crossed." Caesar took up his glass of wine and took a sip.

He waved a hand towards Marcus, "You may begin." Beside him Miranda and Jessica both stiffened.

Marcus was quick with the first strike; he grabbed the unfortunate soldier's left ear and sliced it off in one quick motion. He threw the ear to the floor in front of the man who looked at it before realising where it had come from. His eyes went wide and he surged forward trying to retrieve his severed ear, the other two guards who had accompanied the 'guest' of honour grabbed his shoulders and held him in place while Marcus took the other ear.

Jessica's breathing became ragged with shock, and Miranda found herself breathing fast and shallow as Marcus proceeded to remove fingers and toes. The man screamed,

"Mercy, Caesar! I beg of you, Mercy!" he screamed, the blood from where his ears once stood flowed down his neck and shoulders and had stained his singlet a deep crimson. He sat in a pool of his own blood, and Miranda knew that it wouldn't be long before he lost consciousness.

Caesar looked to Marcus and nodded, Marcus stepped beside the man and slashed open his belly. As his intestines spilled out over his knees and onto the floor Jessica quickly stood up with ah hand to her mouth and beat a hasty retreat to Caesar's room, where she could be heard being violently ill.

Miranda made to get up just as quickly, but Caesar grabbed her arm and held her in place beside him. She was forced to watch the man's dying moments as the Centurions laughed at his misfortune. She forced herself to calm by taking deep breaths, the trembling began to slowly subside, Caesar held onto her arm, he knew she wanted to go and comfort Jessica and get as far away from the scene of violence and death as she possibly could. He held her there, allowing her torture to continue for a few moments longer. He leaned in to her ear.

"Let this be a lesson to you as well, don't ever try to run, or I will find you and make you watch as others suffer for your sin." She nodded, and lowered her head. "Yes, Master, I understand." She felt him release her arm and brush the side of her face. "Good, go see to her, I will have your company tonight, and I don't want my room reeking of vomit." Miranda arose from his side and bowed to her master before she went to Jessica's side.

Jessica shook with her head over the bucket strands of her hair had vomit through them from her retching. She continued to bring up bile for a half an hour before her nerves calmed down, Miranda took her out to clean up, taking the waste bucket with them.

"Miranda," Jessica said softly as Miranda rinsed her hair, "I'm pregnant." Miranda stopped from raising the bucket of clean water to rinse her friend's hair again. "Are you sure?" she asked. Jessica nodded, "Yes, we've been here four months, and I'm now late by one month." Miranda took in this information, "Have you been feeling sick in the mornings?" she asked Jessica, who nodded, "Yes, but I've been able so far to hold it in, but tonight…"

Miranda wiped the girl's face clean with a cloth, "Tonight was quite a shock for both of us, I've seen a lot from when I was a nurse, but that was brutal, you almost had competition for the bucket."

Jessica looked out to the far shore of the river, "I've got to get away from here; we both do. They will take my baby away." Miranda shook her head, "But its Caesar's baby…" she paused at the look that Jessica gave her, "Isn't it?" Jessica lowered her head, "I don't know." She said softly,

"Jessica…" Miranda said bewildered, "who else's could this baby be?" she whispered to the girl.

"Antonius, one of his guards raped me three times when Caesar was with you, he said it was in my best interests to be quiet about it, he doesn't know I'm pregnant, you are the only one who does." She began to cry, Miranda held her.

"We'll figure out a way to get away from here, to escape and get to the NCR, the front lines are almost back at the Colorado River, Caesar will be moving the camp there soon, if you can hold out for a couple more weeks, we'll get a plan organised, we now know that there is a group that can help us, we just need to figure out how to get to them." Miranda told her.

"I already have a contact for them. One of the slaves gave me a name tonight, and said they would put in a word for us to them." Jessica said quietly, wiping her eyes and sniffling. Miranda nodded, "All right, just be careful." She warned, "If Caesar finds out, what happened to that soldier there will be nothing in comparison to what he would do to us if we were caught." The two women returned to Caesar's tent. Caesar ignored Jessica, who went and sat beside his throne. He beckoned Miranda to his side and placed an arm around her middle as he spoke with his Centurions. He was showing her off, the tattoo that he had placed upon her breast showed clearly with the cut of the dress that she wore.

As the evening wore on, Jessica went to a quieter part of the tent complex and rested. As the last of Caesar's guests departed, Caesar sent her to his quarters. She entered the darkened tent and lit the lanterns on the table. She heard him come in and move towards her. She made a decision, one she hoped would spare Jessica from further attentions from him, at least for a while, at the price of her own dignity, and she would help her friend in any way she could.

She stayed still while his hands again roamed her body. She turned in his arms and placed her own around his torso. When he kissed her, she responded to him, she forced passion into her actions. He was pleasantly surprised by this, and quickly stripped off her clothes, she stood naked before him.

She placed a hand on his chest and guided him to a chair. She stripped off his armour and under garments and bade him to sit on the chair. She straddled him and allowed him his pleasure with her, responding to his touch as a lover would, she moaned as he entered her, allowing him to know he finally had the power of pleasure or pain over her, giving him total dominance and control, and letting him know he had finally won.

He ravaged her throughout the night, his passions came in waves and she responded until he collapsed exhausted from their efforts, before he closed his eyes to sleep, she took his hand and kissed it,

"Hail Caesar, My Lord and Master." She whispered as she lay in his arms. She saw him smile with victory as he closed his eyes to sleep.