Chapter 8

This happened in the last chapter: During a party at Hadrian's house, Jack defended Sam from a guest molesting her, and was whipped as a punishment. The other slaves have tended to his wounds and left him in Sam's care.

Glossary: Domini: plural form of dominus.

.

A couple of slaves had helped Jack to his straw mattress later in the night but he was now conscious and very much in pain. Any move was tearing apart the wounds that had already started to dry. Sam was doing her best but she was feeling helpless, offering water and drying the sweat from his temples.

"Get some sleep Carter. I'm not going anywhere soon"

"I wish I could do more Sir. I wish I had my first-aid kit. I wish I could take you home to Janet"

"I know you do Major. Get some rest"

"I'm so sorry"

"Please, don't. There was nothing you could do!"

"Still... I'm sorry"

"Look... I'll have to go to the latrine... Can you help me up?"

"Are you sure it's wise? I could certainly find a chamber pot..."

"I'd rather... use the latrine... please?"

"Sir... OK, fine... Try and roll to the side, slowly. There, give me your hand"

"Hold on a minute.." Jack said, pale as death and dizzy from the pain "Wouldn't want to pass out on you... OK"

They managed to get him up and walking. Although he had to lean heavily on her, they made it to the end of the corridor and Sam insisted that he sat down if he wanted her to leave him alone in the room. Although not happy to be bossed around by his second, he could acknowledge that her demands were reasonable so he humored her. As soon as he was settled, she left him alone, waiting outside the door, until she heard him grunt:

"Oh god! Shit! Carter!"

She rushed inside and found him collapsed on the floor. He had tried to stand up on his own and nearly passed out from the pain, managing to hit his head and hurt himself again in the fall.

"What do you think you're doing Sir?! Why didn't you call me?" she cried, trying to help him up. But he passed out again and she let him rest on the floor to get help "Proud, stubborn male..." she muttered on her way. She found Horatius but he couldn't help her carry the Colonel with his bad foot. He pointed her to Priam who was coming back from the young domini's bedroom where he had served them a late snack. Priam was strong and nice, he helped Jack back to bed and offered to wash him up to allow Sam to grab some food and drink, since none of them had had time for that yet that evening. She also took some time to use the latrine and freshen up before she returned.

"How is he?" she asked when she saw the Colonel still unconscious.

"I dressed the new cut on his forehead. I think he is sleeping now, but you are in for a rough night. This was a harsh punishment, and we have to pray Hera that his wounds don't get infected"

"What if they do?"

"Then Jason could die"

He returned to serve the guests still partying in the triclinium, leaving Sam terrorized in their little cell.

.

She had managed to catch some shut-eye during the night, but most of it was spent drying sweat from the Colonel's face, applying more goo on his back and listening to his breathing and whimpering. She didn't understand what he was saying, she suspected he was talking Arabic, or maybe Iraki. Sometimes he seemed to beg for mercy, other times he would shout the same word over and over, probably "no" or "stop", she supposed. He had never told her a thing about his time as POW in Irak, but she had no doubt that he had been whipped there too. In the morning, she was exhausted but surprised to see dawn without Daphne waking them up. Then she realized that everybody would sleep late that day since the last guests had only left an hour or two ago.

When she woke up again, it was late. She could hear some activity going on in the kitchen, and appreciated that Daphne had let her sleep longer, acknowledging that her duty for the day would be to take care of the Colonel. She turned to see to him, and found the man soaking in his own sweat, burning with fever. Scared, she ran to Hephaestus, who sent for Kheiron. The old one-eyed man was acting as a physician on the domain, which was why Dominus Hadrian had gratified him with the famous centaur's name. Sam had not met him yet because he had been working at the temple until recently. She had barely gotten a quick glimpse of him when he was walking into young Dona Diana's room a few days ago.

"His fever is high but he is sweating, which drives the Fire away from the body. This is a good thing" Kheiron said softly. "It is cleansing Jason's body from the Evil spirits trying to invade him. If the Fire wins, the fever will stop after a couple of days. If the Evil wins, Fire will continue and consume him"

"How can we make sure that the Fire wins?" Sam wanted to know. The old man smiled gently at her.

"Offer to Hera" he said with a little twinkle in his eye. Sam couldn't prevent her eyes from rolling and Kheiron had all the answers he needed. He could see that although she was clever and educated, she doubted Hera's might, which was a paradox in Herapolis, since any clever and educated person would be called to the temple and be allowed to serve Hera as a privilege. "You will continue to dress and smear his wounds. In addition, you should make sure his head is not burnt by the Fire. The Fire is good for the body, but it would cook his head up and damage him. Wet his hair with fresh water and sponge the sweat as often as you can. I will return in the afternoon" he said, scrambling to his feet.

"Thank you Kheiron" she said sincerely. The wise man watched her intently for a few seconds before he softly stated: "You love him but you are not his mate. How is this possible?" Sam's eyes widened in surprise at the bold statement, then fear seized her. How did this man know such things? Would he tell on them? Would they be returned to the slave market because they had lied?

"You need not worry, I am only curious as why you would wish others to believe something that is not true, especially something of such nature" he said, leaving Sam dumbfounded and worried.

.

Sam had done her best to keep the fever down with sponge baths and keeping the Colonel's hair wet, but it kept rising and she was scared he wouldn't survive. The last time Kheiron had visited, he hadn't said a word and left with a frown on his face. Now, Dominus Hadrian himself was standing at the door and Sam knew it could only be a very bad sign if their owner himself was in the slaves quarters. She felt all blood leave her face when she realized the Colonel was most certainly going to die. Hephaestus gently showed her out of the little cell, lifted her straw mattress against the wall to create more room and left the cell himself to give space to Kheiron and Hadrian. Both men were devising quietly above Jack's body and Sam couldn't hear their words. They were nodding gravely as they spoke, then, Hadrian made a sign to Hephaestus who promptly left. Hadrian walked to Sam and said:

"Jason is very ill. There is only one hope left, but if it is Hera's will, he will live" Then, feeling he had given her hope again, he walked past her, followed by Kheiron, leaving Sam sick with worries.

.

A couple of hours later, the three men returned, leading a tall woman Sam recognized from the slave market as the Priestess of Hera. In a blue outfit, a man was following her, carrying her bags. A man Sam would have recognized anywhere.

"Daniel! Daniel! Oh my god it's you!" she cried.

"Sam! It is so good to see you! I didn't expect to find you here! I've wondered for days what had happened to you! You OK?"

"I am, thanks. We were very lucky to be bought by this family really"

"We? You mean Jack's here with you?"

"Yes, he is! Unfortunately he is the one you are here for. I'm afraid he doesn't have long to live" Sam said, worry tightening her throat as she stepped aside for Daniel to have a look in the little room full of people.

"Is it Jack lying there?" Daniel whispered suddenly scared. He knew they had been called in for a slave dying from infected wounds. "What happened?"

"He was whipped Daniel! It was awful..." she said in a strangled voice before tears started to roll down her cheeks. Daniel took her in his arms and it was all she needed to finally let herself sob her worries and frustration in her friend's chest. When she regained control of herself, she continued "sorry.." she smiled. "After the first night, he was burning with fever. I tried to keep it down but it kept rising and his wounds got infected. And now they called the priestess because he is going to die"

"Oh no, no Sam, the priestess will not take his last words and absolute all his sins to assure him a place in Heaven. She will try to heal him with something more powerful than traditional medicine. You see, the temple is a wonderful place, they have all kinds of texts and technologies there, it's incredible!" Despite her worry, Sam had to smile. Daniel was just being his own self and it was nice to get that figment of her old life back. "I wish you could see it Sam, really!" he continued.

"Linus! I need the little black bag and the red cloth" the priestess called sternly. She had grown accustomed to her servant's enthusiasm but she wished he could contain it and behave as a dignified servant of Hera when they were visiting important citizens of Herapolis.

"Yes Vesta" Daniel immediately answered, hurrying to present the items. He gave her the little bag to open while he was unfolding the red cloth. He was about to cover the sick body with it, as he had learned, when he remembered that the body was his best friend's. Jack was lying on his belly, his back exposed for all to see the angry marks left by the whip and Daniel felt sick at the sight. How could anyone want to torture a man to such a state? Some of the wounds were still bleeding lightly, most of them turning black and blue but healing and causing no worry Three or four deeper cuts were clearly infected, oozing pus. The man himself was delirious with fever.

"Linus. The cloth" the priestess scolded.

"Yes Vesta. Sorry" Daniel apologized as he complied. He covered his friend's wounds, careful not to hurt him although the poor man was whimpering softly. Daniel stepped back to let the priestess begin her ritual. At the last moment, he remembered the censers he was supposed to fill and light. He was clearly disturbed by Jack's state. Sam had said they had been lucky with their owner, but Jack had been beaten so badly, how could this be anything lucky? He would have to try and get some time to talk to her, he thought while stuffing the censer with the essence the priestess had selected for this particular ritual. Reaching in the bag, he produced a little device resembling a pencil, and lighted the censers with it. A thin silver smoke was soon puffing from the device's chimney so Daniel placed it in front of Jack's face and the priestess began reciting incantations, annoying Sam no end from disappointment and frustration at seeing that the promised "powerful medicine" was no more than smoke and incantations that primitive tribes had been fooling themselves with since the beginning of times. Her last hope at saving the Colonel had been reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye. And Daniel was playing along, waving smoke under their friend's unconscious nose and repeating the priestess's words, his eyes closed in a deep concentration. She so wanted to slap him!