A/N - This is short, but needs to be a stand-alone outtake, as you will see. I'll be posting again later today.
Trigger warning: implied abuse
Outtake: Caesula
Volaterrae
50 C.E.
Eduardus is seventeen the first time he is summoned to his mistress' chamber. He stands just outside the door with bowed head, wondering why his master's wife has sent for him, for it's very late at night, and Antoninus would not approve. Yet he has no choice, so he gathers his resolve and enters the room.
Caesula stands in the center of the room, facing the door, her arms outstretched to the sides. A girl Eduardus doesn't recognize runs a sponge over her mistress' nude body, rivulets of water soaking into the the towels at their feet. The girl is also naked, and her face is streaked with tears. Eduardus keeps his eyes trained on the floor, and his stomach churns with apprehension.
Her ablutions complete, Caesula dons a garment of sheerest fabric and seats herself at at small table, her attendant kneeling at her feet. "Come here, Eduardus."
He stands before of her, his heart beginning to pound. "Remove your tunic," she lazily commands.
Swallowing, he does as she bids, stripping to the cloth which covers his hips. She reaches out a slender arm and pulls at the closure, and that garment, too, falls to the floor.
"You will speak of this to no one," she says, her eyes glinting, "or your sister will be the one who suffers."
Heart pounding, he nods his understanding, and her answering smile makes the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. She rises, and Edward sees for the first time that she holds a whip in her hand. She circles him slowly, her eyes hungrily taking him in, and he suppresses a shudder of disgust as he feels her nails rake across his naked flesh. Her breath is hot against his ear as she whispers, "Place your hands against the wall."
~oOo~
It is well after midnight when he returns to his room, but his younger sister is awake and waiting for him. She runs to hug him, but he hisses and flinches away. His sister steps back, hands over her mouth, and stares at him in dismay. "Oh, Eduardus!" she whispers tearfully, "what has she done to you?"
"Nothing that will not heal with time," he replies wearily. "Pippa, you should not have waited up for me. Go to bed." He goes to the wash basin and splashes water on his face.
"But Eduardus…"
"Go to bed, Pippa!" his voice is harsher than he intended, and tears spring to his sister's eyes. Instantly repentant, he sighs and takes her hand. "Sweetheart…please do not worry about me. I will be fine. But now I want nothing more than to sleep." She nods her head, looking down and sniffling.
"I will see you tomorrow," he says, and kisses her on the forehead.
When he is alone in his chamber, Eduardus painfully removes his tunic, which has adhered to the raw welts on his back as they dried. He folds the garment with shaking hands and hides it under his bed, then douses the light. He sits on his bed and stares into the darkness, trying not to think of the things he has been forced to do…the things that have been done to him. Rushing to the window, he hangs his head out and heaves bile onto the ground below. He rinses his mouth at the basin.
Caesula had been pleased. Before sending him away, she had placed a lingering kiss against his mouth and assured him that henceforth, she would be seeking him out regularly. He sinks onto the mattress and curls up on his side, arms wrapped protectively over his head. The bed shakes as dry sobs wrack his body, far into the night.
A/N: Caesula = feminine version of the name Caeso. Possibly derived from the verb caedere (to cut). Another possibility is that the name is associated with the festival of Lupercalia, in which young women and girls were lashed with leather thongs in order to promote fertility. The word "caesius," (blue-grey) could also refer to eye color.