Chapter 10
This happened in the last chapter: The ritual to heal Jack became much more interesting when the priestess produced a wand with amazing properties. Jack's back was nearly healed and although he had a rough twelve hours after that, he was much better already.
Glossary: Paidagogos: pedagogue, teacher.
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After Jack had healed completely, Orpheus the paidagogos had wanted to take the young domini to the hills to teach them about insects and different types of vegetation. Such an expedition outside the domain implied that a guard or a servant would escort them for protection against slave hunters, and to carry their pic nic bags. It was a light duty and, as a convalescent, Jack had been assigned to the task. He had made friend with both teacher and pupils. An innate talent for leadership combined with his goofy personality made him a natural target for children's affection. Boreas and Zephyrus, respectively nine and seven, were no exception, and since that day on the hills, they had insisted that Jason would be the servant watching over them at night, together with their paidagogos. Sam was surprised to realize how frustrated she was at finding herself alone in their cell at night. Not that it made any difference between her and the Colonel, but.. She had grown accustomed to have him at her side, to sometimes wake up curled up against him with his arms around her, or hers around him. They were not supposed to, it just happened as they slept and they had learned to enjoy it without addressing it aloud. It was all they could share but it was theirs nonetheless. They were friends. They were what was left of their former lives. They belonged together. Furthermore, they were supposed to be married so Sam felt she was legitimate in her wish to have him by her side at night. Of course, neither of them had a say in the duties they were assigned to, but that didn't prevent Sam from counting the days left before the traditional hunt, since the young domini would follow their elders and her CO would be free to return to their quarters at night.
The hunt was a big event in Hadrian's family. Half of the household was leaving for the plains inland, following large animals that, from the other servants' descriptions, were looking roughly like aurochs or maybe buffaloes. The large animals were nomadic grazer who periodically wandered through the Eastern districts, that were only a couple of days from Herapolis. Rich families from the city used to organize hunting parties every year, the grazers' meat being praised and favored over the usual goat or mutton. However, Dominus Hadrian had decided that he had become too old and that his son Orion could lead the hunt in his place this year. He had never been very fond of hunting anyway, and he wanted to spend undisturbed time on his latest project. He had a deadline coming and couldn't possibly be delayed. Sam had been informed that she was to accompany him to the temple since Io, his usual assistant, had asked and obtained to join the hunting party. Sam was excited by the news! Not only would she at last leave the domain and use her skills with technology, but she hoped she would also be able to see Daniel. Furthermore, she was secretly looking forward to sleep with the Colonel by her side again.
Therefore, she was totally pissed and aggravated when Hephaestus told her that she was to take Callisto's place by Dona Agatha's bed for the whole duration of the hunt. The young wife of Dominus Orion was a nice and clever woman, and Sam usually enjoyed her company, but she couldn't understand why a grown-up woman would need two servants by her bed every night instead of sleeping with her husband. She had been very puzzled when she had realized that couples didn't share a bed, not even a room, but visited each other for an hour or two before returning to their own quarters for the rest of the night. And that every member of the family had at least two personal servants at their disposal all hours of the day and night, every day of their lives. So there she was, listening to the light snoring of Penelope and the tossing and turning from Dona Agatha's bed, wishing she was on her own straw mattress at the Colonel's side. In the end she stood up and approached the bed.
"Does my dona wish to drink some wine?" she asked softly. Dona Agatha turned toward her and smiled.
"Yes. I can't sleep. I supposed I'm worried to know my husband will be gone for so long" the young woman sighed. Sam smiled reassuringly as she filled a cup with a third wine and two thirds water. Drinking pure wine was seen as barbaric. Drinking pure water was considered unhealthy.
"I'm sure he is enjoying himself and will return safely to you before you know it"
"I suppose you are right Atalante" Dona Agatha sighed again. "I just miss him so much, you know? We have only been wed for a few cycles, and it is a little strange to be here without him now"
"Did you move to this house...domus... after your wedding?" Sam wanted to know.
"Yes. It is customary for the bride to come and live in her husband's family, especially when he is the first son and heir. More rarely, a husband would live at his bride's family if he has many brothers and she has none" Agatha explained.
"Don't you miss your family?"
"Oh I do! But they live in Herapolis, I can visit them as often as I wish to. And I love my husband's family, really. But still, I feel alone and out of place in his absence" the young woman bravely answered.
"I can understand that. Maybe you should try and get some sleep now" Sam advised, removing the empty cup from the night stand.
"Would you like to share my bed Atalante?" Agatha suddenly asked, as if it was the most natural request in the world.
"Er... I... Er.. I'd rather sleep on my own straw mattress, if that's fine with you Dona. Good night"
"Good night Atalante" Dona Agatha replied as she lied down, clearly disappointed but not insisting. Rather disturbed, Sam returned to her place, wondering what had just happened.
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"Sir, may I ask you something?"
"Sure Carter" They were lying on the bank of the river, watching the other slaves bathing and one of the women giving a massage to another.
"When you are sleeping in one of the family's room... Have you ever... Have you noticed..." But she could not make herself to say the words out aloud and felt herself blushing already.
"What?"
"Like.. You know... they are not really big on intimacy...?"
"You mean did they ever have sex while I was there?"
"Yeah, that.." Sam whispered, suddenly feeling that discussing this subject with her handsome CO was particularly awkward.
"Well yeah, they did. They don't seem to care if anyone is watching. I don't know if it is because we don't count as, you know, slaves, or if it would be the same with anyone"
"Did they ever... invite you to join them?" Sam was burning with embarrassment! Jack flinched at her question.
"They asked you?"
"I... I'm not really sure, I think so... Dona Agatha asked if I wanted to share her bed"
"Wow! So she likes women does she? Isn't she married to... what's his name?"
"Orion" Sam supplied. "I don't think they have any rules about which gender they have sex with actually, I remember that Antiquity on Earth was quite free in that regard too"
"So what'd you say?"
"Excuse me?" Sam couldn't believe her ears. Did he really believe that she would...?
"Yeah, what did you say to Dona Agatha?"
"I said I preferred to sleep on my own of course!"
"And she was OK with that?
"To be honest, she seemed disappointed but thankfully, she didn't insist" Yeah I bet, Jack thought. He knew he would be if she had refused to join him... He suddenly had a vision of himself in bed with Dona Agatha and the beautiful woman at his side. Afraid that it would be written all over his face, he was unable to look her in the eyes "Good... good to know they... won't force you into something you don't want" he stammered. Boy was he glad that he had the good idea to sit up after her first question. Had he still be lying down he would have been very embarrassed by now. "Carter would you mind if we go... I go swimming a little now?"
He got awkwardly up, hoping she wouldn't look at what he was trying to concealing with his hand and hurried to the cold water.
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The hunt party had returned that afternoon and the slaves had been busy the whole evening. The evening meal had been a feast with fresh roasted meat, but the rest of the game had to be prepared to dry, smoke or salt before insects would ruin it, and the whole household had been required to help. Between the extra work and the excitement of having the whole family back home, everyone was exhausted when they were finally done but with the surge of energy still in the air it was difficult to fall asleep.
Penelope had caught a cold and her snoring had become so loud that she had been sent away the night before, which meant that, although Callisto was back, Sam was still sleeping in Dona Agatha's room that night. And she found it both very embarrassing, and very embarrassing. The first one was because a short half-hour after the last torch had been put out, Dominus Orion had visited his wife and they were having hot sex a short seven feet away from Sam. The second one was because, although she found the situation terribly awkward, she was also painfully aroused and couldn't do a thing about it. Callisto, whose straw mattress was just aside Sam's, was not sleeping either, but she didn't make any effort to conceal it. She was openly watching the couple, who were too busy to notice anything but would if they happened to look in the direction of their slaves.
Heavy breathing was followed by grunts and moans, soon turning into strangled screams, and Sam was ready to bolt out of the room, her core throbbing and a shine of sweat covering her body. She shut her eyes as tight as she could and did her best to shut the sounds out, but the young lovers were coming down from they climax, kissing between breaths, chatting and laughing softly. Sam tried to ease the tension in her body, which by now was tense like a bow. She focused on breathing the way Teal'c had shown her when he kelno'reemed and after a while, she was confident she would finally manage to relax enough to fall asleep eventually. That's when she heard the couple of lovers hissing again, clearly intent on having another round at it. Sam turned her head sharply to assess the situation, aggravated to see that Orion and Agatha were indeed embracing and kissing again. The sheet had long ago fallen on the floor and there was nothing to keep their frolics private.
Suddenly feeling herself blush furiously, Sam realized she had been staring, and the couple had stopped moving, staring back at her with gentle smiles. They exchanged a look then, and addressed their slave:
"Would you like to join us Atalante?" Dominus Orion asked.
"What?! Oh! No! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. Please... Don't mind me.." she apologized, awfully embarrassed.
"No?" he asked again. "What about you Callisto?" Astonished, Sam turned to watch her companion, who was blushing slightly but got up and joined the couple on the bed.
"Of course Atalante will not join us Orion, how foolish of us" Agatha laughed. "She would rather mate with Jason! Go and join him, we will do without you for the rest of the night, don't worry. Go!" she encouraged. Still completely stunned, Sam got up and retreated toward the door, unable to say a word even to thank the young dona. She couldn't keep her eyes from the trio, fascinated by the way Orion was directing Callisto's mouth to Agatha's breast while he himself fondled with the servant's backside and licked his way toward his wife's core, making her moan loudly in expectation. Things were getting hot pretty quickly and Sam felt her whole body throb again with arousal. She nearly changed her mind to join the trisome but she managed to tear her eyes from the scene and grab the handle to pull the door open and escape.
