Far From Home
Italy 75 b.c
It was summer in the hills of Italy. The sun was shining brightly like it always did and the sheep were calm and happy. Father was off in Rome for a few days selling some crops that we'd grown, leaving me, mother, and my two sisters alone. I was the oldest of my two sisters. Niobe was two years younger than me and Antonia was my junior by five years.
I was outside picking some olives from a few trees that we have in our fields. Olives are prized and catch a good price, so father took most of them to Rome with him. He left about a bushel for the house. We'd use it to make oil and mom would sometimes pickle them so they would last longer. Pickled green olives were my favorite and I would nibble on them between work every chance I got. My sisters would do the same and mother always yelled at us for it.
"Chelsea, what have I told you about eating all the olives? They're meant for hard times." I shrugged at mother while I was working on getting more olives.
"Working is hard times. I get hungry and olives are a quick eat. Besides, it's not like we have to worry about eating. We've got plenty of olives for all of us. And I'm gathering more as we speak."
"That's not the point, Chelsea. You're the oldest, you should know better. And no man will want to marry a woman that eats her family out of house and home."
"I'm not eating the family out of house and home. And I'm not the only one who eats those olives either. I've seen you pick at them from time to time after butchering a chicken or a sheep."
"Don't backtalk me Chelsea. Stop eating all the damn olives and I won't have a reason to yell at you anymore." Then mom left me to my work and my two sisters were laughing together while shaving a sheep.
I never listened to those two whenever they laughed. I was older than them and that made me more valuable to the family. I was sure to remind them of that every chance I got. Mom went back into the house and started getting dinner ready. We never had much for dinner when dad was away. We had plenty of fruit in our fields at our disposal so we usually just ate a bunch of that after a whole days work. But mom had a special way she liked her fruit. She always liked to bake it. And seeing as we have an irritable oven, she always starts dinner early so we would always have at least a few good cooked fruit. We'd eat the ones that weren't fully cooked too, but mom prefers cooked fruit.
When mom went inside and I was finished gathering all the olives I could fit in the basket, I went to our fig tree and helped myself to a few that had fallen to the ground. That was another food I really loved were figs. They hurt my lips when I ate them for some reason, but I didn't care. I loved them. After a few figs, I took the bushel of olives into the house where mom was still working on dinner. Later in the night when dinner was ready, we all sat together at the table and ate our fruit together. Whenever we were just eating fruit, we never bothered with forks and knives. Dad had a conniption fit whenever we did that, so it wasn't something we did when he was home.
After dinner, my sisters and I helped mom clean the house and all the dishes that she used for dinner. Mom was always complaining about having to do house work when there was so much other work that needed to be done and that she wanted help around the house. Dad always promised he'd buy her a slave, but he's yet to do so. Mom got on his case about it all the time. He promised to have a slave for mom when he got back, but I didn't think he would. Slaves were a little more expensive than we could afford.
My sisters and I went to bed shortly after we finished cleaning around the house. We all shared a big bed in our two room house while mom and dad had a room to themselves. We always got on each other's nerves at night. I don't care what Antonia says, she snores like a bear. And Niobe tossed and turned like she was still awake. More times than I care for, I've woken up to Niobe being right on top of me with her morning breath in my nose. And no matter how many times I've hurled her off me, she never ceases to do it.
I woke up to that very thing in the morning. Niobe was on top of me, sound asleep, while Antonia was snoring in my ear. I rolled my eyes and pushed Niobe off me, waking her violently with a screech. That screech woke up Antonia just as violently and she slapped me as a reflex.
"What happened?! What's going on?!" Antonia screamed.
"Nothing happened, Antonia. Niobe was on top of me and I pushed her off." Niobe shook her head and brushed dust off herself.
"Damn it, Chelsea, what's wrong with you?! You do this every morning!"
"Yes I do, Niobe. Do you see a pattern there?" Niobe gave me a dirty look and I did the same to her. Then mother came out of her room and was immediately yelling at us.
"Do you think you three can wake up quietly for once?!" We all looked guilty a moment while mother pulled out some honey and bread. "Gods, rioters are quieter than you three."
"Sorry, mother." We all said in unison. Mom rolled her eyes and handed us each a piece of honeyed bread.
"Don't say sorry. Just do what I tell you. Now eat your breakfast and get to work." We all nodded and ate our breakfast quickly before going outside to tend to the animals.
Niobe went to handle the chores with the chickens while Antonia and I milked the goats and cows for the morning. Mother walked further out where father brewed his wine and checked on that. Father liked making his own wine and we had the grapes available for it. He always bought wine for the time in between when our home made wine was ready, but it wasn't as good as father's wine. I liked what he did to it. He added fruit like figs to give it more flavor and I loved that.
She came back, the wine not ready. Then she gathered a lamb and slaughtered it behind the house to prepare it for dinner. It'd been five days, and that was usually how long dad was gone, so she was preparing for dad to be home soon. I don't know how mom does it. Just listening to that poor animal when she killed it made me sick. I hated killing off the animals. I liked most of them and they were nothing but sweet, especially the lamps and pigs. The rooster I could do without, but that was about it. That rooster got on my nerves, crowing all through the day and making noise through the night. I've thrown more rocks at that damn bird than I can count.
Late in the afternoon around the time mom was almost done with dinner, father came home with a cart empty of the fruit but filled with spoils from his trip. As I guessed, there was no slave like he'd promised, but I wasn't mad. I just laughed when mom got mad at dad for it while giving him a kiss and welcoming him home. When dinner was ready, we all sat at the table and took our share of food. When we all had our food, father started talking to mom.
"By the way, Atia, I talked to Catian on my way here. You know, that drover that lives down the road from us?" Mom nodded.
"And what did he have to say?" Father then looked at me. I didn't think of it until he spoke.
"He spoke to me about Chelsea actually." Mom smiled a little.
"Did he? And what did he have to say about her?"
"He complimented her on growing well. He saw you girls working the other day evidently and was impressed by Chelsea. And his son is close to her age." I stopped eating when dad said that last part.
"Father, what are you getting at?" Mom and dad both laughed a little before dad went on.
"Catian wants you and his son Catus to marry. He's but a few months older than you, so age is no issue. I wanted to talk to all of you before I said yes or no to them." Mother smiled, but I wasn't sure what reaction to make.
"That's wonderful to hear Chelseus. I think it's a great idea. It's not decent for Chelsea to be eighteen and still not married." Dad nodded.
"I agree, Atia." Then he looked at me again. "So what do you say, Chelsea? Should I go to their home tomorrow and let them know you accept?"
Once again, I was quiet. I knew who Catus was, but I hardly ever saw him. I think I'd seen him five times in my whole life and in the times we did meet, we barely said a word to each other. The only thing I knew about him was that his father was a drover and he had a creepy fascination with bugs. I'd seen him mess around with those things all day just enjoying himself while I'd sit around listening to the adults talk.
"I don't know, father. He seems kind of weird." Father laughed a little.
"Okay, Chelsea, how about this. You two can spend the day together tomorrow and see how you like each other. If by the end of the day, you absolutely despise him, then I won't give the boy your hand in marriage. But if otherwise, please say you'll consider it." I looked at dad for a moment and he gave me a puppy dog face. It won me over and I sighed.
"Fine. I'll give him a chance." Then dad grinned wider.
"That's all I ask, pumpkin."
When that was that, father talked to mother about other things regarding his recent trip to Rome. Evidently, there was talk of Rome about soldiers coming back from Gaul. They'd been up there taking land for noblemen or something along those lines. There were tribal people in Gaul, but that was certainly nothing that Rome couldn't handle.
The next morning, dad had be dress nicely and we all went down the road were the drover family was. Catian was thrilled to see us all and greeted us openly. His wife stayed by his side and was demure and welcomed us more calmly. Catus was standing next to his mother looking like he felt awkward. I see his parents had the same conversation with him last night as my father had with me. I could already tell this wasn't going to go as well as I would like.
"Please, Chelseus, come inside. We have lots to talk about." Then he looked at Catus. "Catus, show Chelsea around for a bit while we all talk. And you be polite." Catus nodded and walked over to me while the rest went inside. When we were alone, he smiled awkwardly at me.
"I'm guessing there's not much you would find interesting." I shook my head.
"If you've seen one farm, you've seen them all."
"I know what you mean. So what should we do for the rest of the day?" I shrugged.
"It's up to you. You're the one that supposed to keep me entertained, am I right?" He chuckled and nodded.
"I guess so. I hear you like figs. We have fig trees nearby." I smiled and nodded.
"That sounds like something nice. Why don't we settle with talking for a bit."
"Alright. That works for me."
The conversation didn't get less awkward after that. As soon as we sat under the fig tree, we stared in the opposite direction of the other and didn't say anything. I just took off my sash and sun bathed while he looked at his house waiting for the day to be over. He shared a few figs under the tree, but our conversation was limited. He asked me why I ate figs if they made my lips hurt and I just told him because I like them, simple as that. I did learn that his mother makes him eat a tablespoon of olive oil every morning.
"Why on earth does your mother make you do that?" He shrugged.
"She says that if I eat it every morning several minutes before breakfast, it boosts my metabolism and makes me more useful whenever I'm working in the fields."
"That's odd. My mom just gives us bread and honey for breakfast and we're on our own for food until dinner. I'm always nibbling on figs and olives." He scrunched his nose.
"You like olives? I hate olives. They taste so funky."
"That's why I like them." He kept giving me a weird look, but he eventually shrugged and changed the subject.
"So…….What else do you want to talk about?" I shrugged.
"I don't know." We went silent again and I looked around for something that might be entertaining. When I didn't find anything, I stood up and started to walk. "I'm going to walk around." Then he stood up.
"I'll come with you." I shook my head.
"No, no, you stay here. I think I'd rather be alone right now."
"I can't. My parents told us to stay together. If anything happens to you, I'll be the one in trouble." I sighed and nodded.
"If you insist."
So we walked around his farm, still barely talking. By the time we got back, we knew no more about each other than we had when we started. It wasn't going to work. There was no spark between us. I only hoped father wouldn't be mad about it. We walked around until I saw my mother come out and call for us to come in to have dinner. While our fathers had been talking, our moms made dinner with some chicken from his farm.
During dinner, our fathers continued to speak pleasantly and were already planning for me and Catus to get married before we'd even agreed with it. Through dinner, they never bothered to ask. They'd already decided the wedding would be as soon as my family could provide a proper dowry and his family could find a good priest that was close by. When we were done with dinner and said our goodbyes, my family and I left to go back to our house.
"So, Chelsea, what did you think of Catus?"
"I wasn't impressed. It was hard to talk to him."
"Oh, honey, don't worry about that. Your mother and I didn't start off on the right foot." Then he took mother's hand and smiled at her and she smiled back. "But we fell in love in the end. Believe me, Chelsea, I would never allow that boy to marry you if I didn't have faith that he was good enough for you."
"I know, but I would like for the man I marry to already love me. Not learn to love me."
"I know, pumpkin. But it's not decent for a woman your age not to be married. Heavens, Chelsea, you're twenty already. You should've been married by now. But I take the blame for not finding you a suitable husband sooner. But Catus is your age and he's a good kid. I know because I've spoken with him on several occasions."
"It's not that I'm worried about. Just because he's nice doesn't mean we'll get along." Father sighed.
"Chelsea, there aren't many suitable men in this area. Our options are really slim. And I want to keep you close to home and I know Catus will do just that. Please at least give him a chance. Give the marriage a few years and see how it goes, and if it doesn't go well, you can always get a divorce." I sighed and didn't argue any further.
We all went straight to bed when we got home. My sisters and I were asleep in no time and we woke up to the same routine of me pushing Niobe off of me and Antonia waking up violently from Niobe's startled shriek. That woke up mother and father and earned us the same lecture we seemed to get just about every morning. If I could get away from mornings like this, maybe getting married wouldn't be so bad after all.
Once my sisters and I all had our breakfast, we went out to go do our chores. One of my chores for the day was to walk to the house of the old woman that lived up the road from us and get some cheese. She was the woman that all the people living around her went to whenever they needed sheep and goat products of any kind. She made butter, milk, cheese, anything we needed. I had the money in hand and reached her shop in ten minutes and left as soon as I had all that I needed.
One my way home, I started hearing horses in the background. I glanced over my shoulder, knew them to be Roman soldiers, and went about my business once I knew who they were. But as I was walking, I felt someone grab the belt of my dress and pull me up until I was sitting on his lap. Then he made his horse speed up to a full run.
"What are you doing?!"
"Quiet. You're coming with us to Rome." My eyes widened.
"I will not! I'm not some tawdry foreigner you can take as you please. I'm an Italian citizen and I demand that you let me go!" When he answered me, he raised his voice to a yell.
"You may be an Italian citizen, but you're not a Roman citizen, so you won't demand of me to do anything. And I'm sad to say that in my travels away from home, I didn't get to acquire as many valuables as I would've liked. But a pretty thing like you should catch a nice price."
The moment he was done, I slapped him as hard as I could and jumped off the horse and made a mad dash for my house. But the horses were faster and the followed after me. He grabbed a hold of my arm and draped me on my stomach over his lap. When I was there, he grabbed a tight hold of my hair and I yelped from the grip.
"If you slap me again, this trip will be very unpleasant. It's a long three days. Either you be a good girl and make this easy on yourself or you be difficult and get beaten whenever you give me trouble. Is that clear?"
I didn't answer him. I tried struggling and getting away from him, but nothing I did seemed to work. He got my answer from that, so he pulled me into a sitting position on his lap and he punched me, knocking me out instantly. When I came to, it was to water being splashed in my face. I woke up screaming and stopped when I saw the soldier that had taken me standing before me with a look of professionalism and another man in fine quality robes standing next to him.
"I told you she wasn't dead. She was just out for a bit." Then he grabbed a hold of my wrist and made me stand before the other man. "So how much do you suppose I can get for her? She's pretty and she already speaks Latin, so that should fetch a fine price, right?"
The man looked at me with thoughtfulness. He grabbed my chin and turned my head to see every angle, circled around me, patted me down, and looked at my face again, looking at my teeth, eyes, ears, and so on. When he was done, he looked thoughtful a little longer, then he finally said something.
"She is pretty, but that doesn't determine an asking price. Consumers are more interested in a slave's ability to do what they're told. People generally prefer not to have to train their slaves to be loyal."
"Just smack her a bit and she stays quiet." The other man nodded sarcastically.
"Yes, I can see that. But she's no good to an owner passed out, now is she? Slaves can't generally perform their duties when asleep."
"Just don't hit her hard enough to knock her out and she'll be fine." The other man was about to speak, but I interrupted.
"Sir, this is a big misunderstanding. I'm Italian, same as you and I don't belong here." Before I could further my point, the salesman slapped me across the face and I placed my hands over the spot and stared at him wide eyed.
"Your history is of no importance to me. You're in a slave market now and are to be sold, so I suggest you act accordingly. If you interrupt me again, you'll be whipped for your impudence. Am I clear?"
I was shaking now and I felt tears stinging my eyes. No one was going to listen to me. Eventually, I nodded my head and began to think about what might happen to me. Would they make me a house slave? A field slave? Or worse, a sex slave? I had no idea what would happen to me.
"I can't guarantee you'll get what you're hoping for, but if Lady Zitia likes her, you will get a nice price, I can assure you that."
"Who's Lady Zitia?"
"She's the woman that owns that brothel near the coliseum. It's a really high end place. Only higher class can be pleased by her whores."
"Sounds good. What do I have to do to get Lady Zitia to notice her?"
"Pretty her up. That's all. We can put her up there naked if you wish." The soldier smiled and nodded.
"If that'll increase my chances of getting a good price for her, I'm up for anything." The salesman nodded and wrote things down.
"That won't be necessary. I'm the one who you want to look at her and I'm here." We all looked towards the voice and saw a large woman with a bright red wig and a blue silk dress coming towards us. The salesman smiled and welcomed the approaching woman with open arms and a peck on each cheek.
"Zitia, my favorite customer. It's a pleasure to see you again."
"It's a pleasure to see you too, Romulus. So what's this new girl you want me to see?" The soldier that brought me here took a step back while the salesman, Romulus, led Lady Zitia to me.
"This is her, Zitia. I inspected her myself and she seems worthy." Lady Zitia walked over to me and inspected me the way Romulus had and was done in half the time. When she was done, she looked at the soldier.
"How much are you asking for her?" The soldier stayed businesslike when he stated his price.
"700 Gerri." When the soldier said that, Lady Zitia laughed out loud.
"You won't be selling her to me with an asking price like that. She's a beauty and I'm sure men would pay handsomely to fuck her, but she's not worth that much. She's not the only pretty piece of ass on these grounds in case you forgot." They were arguing. That was a good thing. She wouldn't buy me if she wasn't willing to pay the price. Romulus stepped in.
"Maybe 700 Gerri is a bit much, but perhaps we could come to a compromise. I'm sure she'll be well to your standards. I've never steered you wrong before." Lady Zitia smiled at Romulus before looking at the soldier again.
"You're lucky Romulus is taking your side, soldier. How about this? I'll give you 300 Gerri. That's a fair asking price and more than I usually pay for these slaves." The soldier looked reluctant at first.
"500." Lady Zitia shrugged.
"Good luck selling her."
"Wait!" Lady Zitia stopped for the soldier and he started looking a little more willing.
"350. Take it or leave it." They were all silent a moment. Then the soldier sighed and nodded his head. "Perfect." Then she turned to Romulus. "Wrap her up so I can take her home, Romulus, while me and the soldier handle the money details." Romulus nodded.
"Of course, Lady Zitia. I'm sure this girl will be your most profitable girl yet." Lady Zitia laughed.
"You say that about all the whores I buy." They shared a laugh together before Lady Zitia and the soldier went off to the side for the money transaction. Romulus came over to me and cleaned off my face a bit, ignoring what I could feel was a black eye.
Once Lady Zitia was done with the soldier, she snapped her fingers and two other men took a hold of my arms and led me with them to follow Lady Zitia. She took her spot on a little bed and the three slaves on each side lifted the bed and carried her where she wanted to go with me following closely behind. I looked around the city as we walked along. Everything was so big and epic. I felt humbled in this city. But I was far more concerned with the current circumstances to appreciate the beauty of Rome.
As we were walking, we went through a large open area that was surrounded by shops and children running around playing together. In the distance on a large stone stump was an elderly man reading off flat stones telling everyone the news of the day and anything important that needed to be addressed.
We walked through Rome for at least twenty minutes before we got anywhere near the coliseum. When I saw it, I was breathless. I could hear screams and applause coming from the fortress and tried to picture it. Father always told me and my sisters that one day he'd take us to the coliseum so we could see what it's like. I started crying when I thought about my family, knowing that I would never see them again. I went from the daughter of a drover and farmer to a slave with one sweep of a man's hand.
When we finally arrived where we were going, Lady Zitia got off her little moving bed and walked in. The two men holding me dragged me close behind her. She took a seat at a little desk and looked at the men holding me.
"Take her to the back and get her appropriately dressed. I'll be there in a minute to properly price her."
The men both bowed their heads and took me with them up a set of stairs and to a room that was to the left. They opened the door and threw me in there and closed the door behind them. I was the only one in the room and there were candles lit and a couch with throw pillows all over it. I waited five minutes before the door to the room opened again and Lady Zitia walked in.
"Alright, let's see what we've got here." She was mumbling more to herself than to me. Then she grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. "First things first. Have you ever coupled before?"
"I'm sorry?" She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Have you ever coupled, fucked, had sex, been penetrated, use your imagination and answer the damn question." I was shaking and I shook my head trying one last time to talk my way out of this.
"Please, Lady Zitia, you don't understand. I don't belong here. My father is a drover in Northern Italy. I'm not a slave girl, I'm of Italian blood. Please let me go."
"I said answer the god damn question!" I took a step back from her tone of voice. She looked really annoyed and didn't seem to have the patience for me. Reluctantly, I shook my head. "No, you've never coupled or no, you're not a virgin."
"No, I've never coupled." Then Lady Zitia smiled.
"Good. I haven't had a virgin in a while. I can charge extra for your first time." As she spoke, more tears were starting to flow. She saw them and closed the distance between us and roughly wiped away the tears. "I'll have none of that. You're a whore 'til the day you die, so get used to it. Understood?"
"Please let me go home." Then she slapped me and I covered the spot with my hands and kept my head to the side as I cried.
"Dracian." When she called the name, a man walked into the room.
"Yes Lady Zitia?"
"Give this girl five whips for being impudent." Dracian nodded his head and I stared at her wide eyed as she walked out of the room, then reached for something and threw it at Dracian before closing the door. In his hands was a whip. Once he had it, he unrolled the whip and looked at me.
"Off with it."
"What?"
"Take off the dress. Unless you don't mind me whipping you through your clothes. But I can promise you it goes by a lot faster without them. These things get caught in fabric and it only makes the blow hurt worse."
I didn't respond. I was too scared to say a word to answer him. He didn't give me a chance to try and recover myself before he walked over to me, forced me to turn around, and pushed me against the wall. I heard something make a whistling sound, then that sounds cracked and the sting on my back was horrible. I screamed at the first lash and screamed with each one that came after it. As he said, it took a long time to get through all five lashes because the spurs kept getting caught in my dress. It made them scratch my skin even more.
When the fifth lash was done, I heard him leave the room and I fell to the floor crying and in pain. A minute later, I heard the door open again and I looked over to see Lady Zitia again with her same little plaque and a pencil to carve through the wax on the plaque. I was shaking as she came over to me and forced me to my feet again. She ignored my yelp of pain from the force.
"Now that that's over with, let's get back to business. The sooner I sell your services to someone, the sooner I can start making money off you, so expect your first customer sometime today or tomorrow at latest. We serve only the wealthiest of consumers, so it's natural that we would only offer the finest women available. And if you get pregnant, you're to tell me immediately. Is that clear?"
"What happens if I'm pregnant?" I backed away after asking, not wanting to get slapped. Instead, she answered without looking up from her plaque.
"We get rid of it. I'm close friends with a woman that lives not far from here that's been a big help to me over the years. She gives me little elixirs that kill the baby and leave the mother in good health. As long as you don't drink too much of it, the baby's the only thing we'll be rid of." Then the door to the room opened and the man from before popped his head in and Lady Zitia looked over her shoulder at him.
"We have a customer, Lady Zitia. They're requesting to deal with you." Lady Zitia sighed.
"Why the hell can't you take care of him?"
"He said that he wants to speak with you and not a lowly slave." Lady Zitia rolled her eyes.
"Did you tell him you're not a slave, but my employee?" He nodded.
"Yes ma'am. He still wants to do business with you."
"Fine." Lady Zitia looked me over a few times, then smirked. "Get her in proper dress, Dracian. I think I might try and sell her." Dracian nodded.
"Yes ma'am." Dracian walked over to me and took me by the wrist to lead me to another room that was filled with chests. He walked over to one and opened it to take out a sheer dress. Then he threw it at me and I looked at it, being able to see right through it.
"You can't be serious."
"Dead serious. And don't give me lip or I'll have it on good authority to whip you again. Lady Zitia likes me, so if I decide to beat one of her slaves around, she won't care. Hell, she even let's me play with her whores if she's in a good mood when I ask. So I suggest you stay on my good side. Now put that on so we can get you downstairs."
He stood there and watched me, waiting for me to change out of my old clothes. I stood there holding the dress without doing anything until he made a move to come near me. I backed away and started changing so he wouldn't hurt me. When I was dressed, I felt dirty and common. It was an awful feeling.
"That's better. Now let's go. Lady Zitia's eager to get you started."
Once I was dressed, Dracian took my hand and led me down the stairs until we reached an archway that led into another room. He left me at the entrance and walked over to Lady Zitia and told her I was here. Lady Zitia smiled, nodded her head and shooed Dracian away before giving her attention back to the man she was speaking to.
"Good news. I have someone that we got just today. She's very pretty and I can promise that you won't be disappointed with her. I will have to charge extra since this'll be the first time she's ever coupled, but that's a small price to pay."
There was silence for a moment in the room. I leaned in so I could see the man in question. When I saw him, he looked thoughtful and he was old as dirt. His hair was grey, and his eyes were old and tired. I shuddered at the site of him. After thinking a moment, he nodded his head.
"Let me see her." Lady Zitia bowed her head.
"Certainly, sir." Then she looked towards us and clapped her hands. Dracian nudged me to go forward and I walked into the room slowly with Dracian behind me making sure I went.
"This is her?" The man asked. Lady Zitia nodded.
"Yes, this is her. Is she to your liking?"
"She's a pretty thing. You said she's a virgin, correct?"
"Yes, sir, that's what I said." The old man smirked and nodded approvingly.
"I haven't had a virgin in a while. How much is she?" I felt my stomach sink and I felt sink and was getting dizzy.
"1500." The man's eyes widened.
"You weren't lying when you said you were charging extra." Lady Zitia shook her head.
"Nothing but the finest sir, and you don't find first time whores every day. If it's more than you're willing to pay, I can simply bring out one of the others." The old man shook his head.
"That's quite alright. She's worth it. 1500 you said, right?"
"Indeed I did." Then she looked at me and Dracian, me staring wide eyed and feeling sick to my stomach. "Find a room for her and get her ready if you please, Dracian." Dracian bowed his head.
"Of course, ma'am." Then Dracian led me with him out of that room and back up the stairs to another room that had a bed draped in pillows and fine sheets with lit candles and a large mural of a couple in an awkward looking erotic position. "Wait up here for him." I turned to look at Dracian.
"How long will this take?"
"I don't know. Lady Zitia charges by the woman and extra per hour. The man has to pay 1500 Gerri and pays another 100 Gerri for every hour he's here. One time, we had a man that was here for a solid seven hours with four whores. She made 4700 Gerri from one person. That was a good day."
That did it. I lost any control and I felt food that wasn't there start forcing its way up my throat. Dracian groaned and rolled his eyes while nothing but water came from me and I fell to my knees losing all my strength. It was just water, but he still looked annoyed.
"Try not to do that in front of the costumer. They're all here to live a fantasy and fantasies don't get sick." Dracian shut the door behind him, leaving me alone again. I sat on the bed staring at my hands and feeling sick. I tried to breath, hoping it would make this seem a little less stressful. But nothing I did worked.
I waited a few minutes for the old man to get to the room I was in. When he did, I avoided eye contact with him. I wondered if not looking at him would make this less sickening for me or make it easier to pretend this wasn't happening. But he kneeled before me and forced me to look at him by putting his finger under my chin and lifting my face.
"Don't be nervous. It only hurts for a minute and never again after that." I couldn't understand how this man could tolerate talking at a time like this. I didn't answer him nor see the need to. "Now take off the dress and get on your hands and knees." That got my attention. I knew no one else had listened to me and he wouldn't either, but I still didn't want to take this without a fight.
"No." He'd been taking off the first layer of his robes when he looked at me with a surprised expression.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I won't do it. Lady Zitia can't make me and neither can you. So I suggest you go downstairs and ask for your money back, because you're not receiving anything from me." He looked at me with the same surprised expression before he started laughing. I scooted away from him while he laughed.
"You've got some nerve saying that to me, little girl." Despite the cruelness of what he was saying, he kept laughing anyway. "But since you're new, I won't get mad at you. Just do what I told you and I won't tell Lady Zitia about this. Though if I did, I'd probably get a hefty discount or better yet, a refund."
"Tell her. I don't care." He laughed again.
"Let me tell you something, little girl. When you're a slave, there's no room for pride. You may've had pride when you were living at home, but that doesn't work here. You're not a person anymore. You're a thing, an object, something for my amusement and any other man that's willing to pay a lot of money for you. And if you keep that attitude, most of your costumers will beat you senseless and rap you to boot. So here's how it'll go. You either do as I say without argument and I won't tell Lady Zitia about this, or you can keep arguing with me, be raped because I intend to have you either way, and get a lashing from Dracian later for being so rude to a costumer. So tell me, girl, which would you rather have? And choose wisely, because it's the last choice you'll ever have."
I was quiet and staring at the old man for a few minutes, stunned into silence. All I needed to do was move and I could feel the memory of being whipped. I didn't want that again, especially after having it done once already today. But then I would be giving up and letting this man take advantage of me. It would be like me admitting that I was no longer a human being. So I ignored the pain in my back and tried not to think about what was to come and looked at the old man with as serious and hard a face as I could muster. I could try and fight him off as best I could and I would be proud of the last choice I made the last time I had it.
"I said no." He laughed a little again and shook his head.
"That was a very stupid choice, little girl. Very stupid, indeed."
I fought him off for as long as I could. There wasn't anything I could use to defend myself against him except my own two hands. I punched him away from me and bit his wrists when he grabbed onto me. I bit into his wrist and pushed him away when I tasted blood. He yelled in pain and grabbed one of the sheets and tore it as fast as he could to cover the wound. But the blood was flowing too quickly and the exertion was only making him bleed more. Before I knew it, the door to the room flew open, Dracian in the doorway, and the old man fell to the ground.
"What the fuck did you do?!" He ran to the old man and wrapped his wrist in the sheets, tearing them the rest of the way.
"He attacked me."
"That's no fucking excuse! Do you have any idea what this could lead to?! Lady Zitia's really proud of this place and worked hard to get it on its feet! This'll only bring bad publicity and she'll lose costumers and a whore that she paid good money for!" Then Lady Zitia came in, saw what I'd done, then started screaming herself.
"You stupid girl! This man could die because of you! Do you know how that'll make me look?!"
"I don't care! I'm not your whore and I won't be treated like one!" Lady Zitia yelled at me, then backhanded me right across my face, sending me flying to the ground. Then she looked at Dracian.
"You tell Broly to go get a doctor now! When he's off, I want you to come back and give this little bitch as many lashings as it takes. I don't want you to stop until she doesn't have a back anymore! Now go!"
Dracian nodded in a panicked manner, then ran out of the room and yelled at someone to get a doctor. A bunch of other women came to the room, some more clothed than others, and they all gasped and looked at me when they saw what I'd done. I tried bringing myself to my feet, but Lady Zitia kicked me down again, then looked at the other women.
"What are you all looking at?! Get back to your rooms!" All the women that had been at the door scattered and ran back to their rooms as ordered. I assumed those were the other whores that lived here.
Lady Zitia left after Dracian came back with the whip in hand. Lady Zitia repeated her orders to Dracian and slammed the door shut, letting us all know how mad about this she was. When she was gone, Dracian forced me to my feet and against the wall and started whipping me. It hurt even worse than before since the whip was hitting against fresh wounds. I counted twenty lashes before he stopped and I saw my back in a mirror. It was covered in blood. I couldn't even see my back anymore, just red. When he was done, he came to me and dragged me with him again.
"Now take a shower and clean off that blood. And clean your face too."
Then he threw me into another room that was steamy and already had some other women in there talking. They looked at me and some of them made faces while others laughed to themselves. One of them, a brunette with an odd, heavy accent that was sitting on the ledge of the tub. She looked at me with an odd smirk that was mixed with a look of pity.
"We've wanted to do that to him for years." Another woman who was sitting right next to her and was redheaded nodded in agreement.
"We hated him." Then a woman with black hair turned in the tube to look at me.
"It's a shame that you had to get whipped though. That'll take forever to heel." That same woman than pulled herself out of the tub and, without bothering to cover herself, walked over to me and took a gentle hold of my hand. "Some hot water will only help. There's one that's not occupied, so you can use that one."
The woman led me to a tub that was next to the one all the other women were in. When I was standing in front of it, she let go of me and went back to the tub with the others and they all went about their business. I sighed and took off my dress and stepped into the hot water. I inched in, knowing the water would be excruciating. And when my back started touching the water, the stinging began and I scrunched my eyes and grinded my teeth to keep from screaming.
It was a few minutes, but the pain did eventually go away. The water was turning red because of the cuts and it made me feel sick again. The woman from earlier told me to stay in the water for a few minutes before trying to get out. The cuts needed time to clot. I sat in the tub patiently waiting for the blood to stop flowing. Five minutes later, I was finally able to come out of the tub and the redhead from earlier came to me and covered my wounds with cloth and alcohol.
"I'm not sure whether to call you brave or stupid." I smiled at her heavy accent. I wasn't sure what it was.
"So where are you from?"
"Me? I don't know. I came here when I was little. They killed my mother, father, sister, and they took me. What about you? You don't sound like you're from out of Italy."
"I'm not. I'm from Northern Italy."
"Wow. An Italian becomes a slave. I never thought I'd see the day. Then again, you're not Roman, so it doesn't really count to them I guess." I shook my head.
"Evidently not. I've tried talking, but no one listens to me." All the women in the bathroom laughed and snickered to themselves, even the redhead helping me.
"Of course not. You're a slave now, no matter what your previous history. But I suggest you start behaving. You keep this up and they'll cut through your whole torso with that whip." I sighed.
"So what, I just give up? I'm not a thing, I'm a human being."
"We all are. But they don't see it that way. And truthfully, getting whipped isn't worth it. So believe me, you'll be better off if you stop fighting it." I didn't answer her. I didn't want to admit she was right. "I never asked what your name is."
"Chelsea." The redhead stepped in front of me when she was done dressing my cuts and smiled.
"I'm Gail." Then she pointed at the brunette that had first spoken to me. "That's Celeba." Then the black haired girl. "That's Foe." I looked at Gail with a strange expression.
"Foe?" Gail nodded.
"Unique, I know." I looked at Foe and she smiled.
"I've wanted to change it for years." I laughed a little at her joke and she just smiled in return.
Gail introduced me to all the women and told me how long they'd been here and some of their stories. When we left the bathroom and walked around a bit, she introduced me to a few of the male whores and introduced me to everyone else later in the night when most weren't working.
We found out the next day that I didn't kill the old man. He lost a lot of blood and was unconscious for a long time, but he came to in the morning thanks to a good doctor and an offering of a white rabbit. Lady Zitia was still furious me, and she didn't give me another customer for a whole week. I wasn't sure how that was punishing me, but I didn't argue with it and went with the flow. But after seven days with nothing, Lady Zitia made me come down with a few other whores and showed us off to another customer. This one was younger, but still was much older than me.
"Now this one is still a virgin, so she's certainly a rare catch." The man laughed a little.
"Isn't that the one that attacked old Julian?" Lady Zitia stiffened and reluctantly nodded.
"But she's gotten a good beating for that little mishap."
"Hardly a mishap. Julian nearly died."
"I know. If she's not to your liking, we've got several other selections from you to choose one." The man grinned at me and shook his head.
"I like a challenge. I'll take her. But let me take in a sword just in case." Lady Zitia nodded her head and I felt sick again.
"Of course, master. Anything you like." Then she looked at me.
"Go get ready." I was still a moment and shaking. She didn't tolerate it and nodded her head at Dracian to come and grab me. Dracian pulled me with him to a room upstairs and threw me in.
"Please don't screw this up this time. If you do, Lady Zitia will just give you to the dogs" Dracian closed the door behind him and left me alone in a room again.
I waited a few minutes and sat on the bed trying to keep my food down. I wasn't sure what I would do. My back couldn't handle another lashing, but I didn't want to give up just yet. And this man was far more able bodied. He could easily stand up to me, so hand to hand fighting was out of the case. And he was bringing in a sword that he would no doubt have by his side at all times. When the door opened, I looked up and saw the man from earlier with that sword in question on his hip. When the door was closed, he kept grinning at me.
"You're one of the feisty ones, huh? I like feisty." I was shaking, I knew it. As he walked closer, and crawled further away from him and he took off his robes before following me.
"No." My voice was weak this time as I spoke and he laughed and grabbed my ankle and pulled me to him until he was on top and had a firm grip on both my wrists in his one hand.
"Do you really want to do that? Arguing won't make me stop. It'll just make me angry."
I didn't say anything else. There was nothing I could say. When I didn't answer him, he grinned wider and took that as a sign that I was finally being submissive and got to his business. I didn't move a muscle the whole time. He would move me around, force me to sit up in a certain position and he would make my body move the way he wanted, but it was all him forcing me.
When he penetrated me, I screamed out from the pain of it. He ignored me and went on like nothing was wrong. It hurt for most of the coupling until the pain was at long last gone. But even when the pain was gone, I still felt like I was hurting. I felt gross and unclean and defiled. I wanted so badly for it to be over, but it wasn't over soon enough. When he was finally done, he threw me onto the bed, got dressed, and walked out, leaving me there on the floor.
"So did you have fun?" I looked up at saw that Dracian had come to the room and he was smirking. I didn't answer him. When my silence was too much for him, he walked over to me and kneeled down. "He wasn't thrilled. He said you were too limp and weren't really into it."
I still didn't answer him. I didn't care what that man thought about it. I realized I didn't care about anything. Not right now, anyway. I'd given up and gave into fear for my life. I was sick and angry with myself for it.
"Ignoring me isn't going to make it go away, you know. It's a problem and it has to be fixed with the utmost speed. And if you'd be a little more interactive, I'd be happy to help you with that."
"Go fuck yourself, you pig." It barely registered in my mind that I'd said that. I was hardly aware of what was going on around me. I didn't even care that Dracian looked at me with a look of death.
"I have you for that." Then he grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled me up to a sitting position.
I didn't fight him or participate in any way. I didn't even scream or even wince when he smacked my back. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. I just laid there and moved where he forced me to move without even making a sound. When an hour went by and he couldn't get me to react the way he wanted, he lost his patience, finished with me, and left me in the room.
I'd become so distant since coming to the brothel that I lost all interest in anything. I never talked to anyone at the brothel, not even Gail, who was so kind to me when I first came here. I pretty much just stayed in a corner to myself until Lady Zitia demanded I join the line to be looked at. It was strange for the men to look at us like a line of animals. I suppose that's all we were to them.
A month went by and I noticed something very troubling. My womanly cycles were late. Really late. As ordered from the beginning, I went to Lady Zitia and told her that I suspected I was pregnant. She only sighed like it was something she dealt with all the time and looked in the corner.
"Dracian. Take Chelsea to Tiberia and tell her she needs some abortion elixir." Dracian nodded.
"Yes, ma'am." That said, he pushed me with him out of the brothel and held my hand down the street. It was so strange for him to hold my hand. It seemed intimate and it made me uncomfortable. "So you're knocked up, I see."
"It looks that way."
"Do you think it's mine?" I shrugged. I couldn't believe how calm I was being. I was yelling at myself to feel something, but I couldn't.
"I don't know. I've been with so many men just this month, it's hard to say." He nodded.
"True. I wouldn't want it anyway. If I don't want a wife, why would I want kids, am I right?" He laughed a little at his own joke and I only forced a smile. "I don't see the point in having just one, you know. There's no spice or excitement in just one."
"I guess working at a brothel works well to that desire."
"It does. I just wish you girls didn't get pregnant. Imagine the money Lady Zitia would save if she didn't bother with the elixirs. I happen to know that some men have a fetish for pregnant women, but then she thinks that's tacky and doesn't want that in her brothel."
"What would she even do with the babies?"
"Same thing most of the other brothels do. Throw it in the sewers and wish it a safe journey." I finally felt a sting of something then. That was the most horrible thing I'd ever heard. I was eager to abort this child now. At least it's death would be quick and painless this way as opposed to slow from drowning in fesses infested sewers.
"Does that happen a lot?" Dracian shrugged.
"I'm not really sure how often it happens. I never tried keeping track of that crap."
"Aren't you the one that takes the girls to get abortions?"
"Most of the time. If she trusts them enough, she'll send them off to do it themselves. Of course, she doesn't trust you enough, hence the reason I'm coming with you." I sighed.
"Whatever makes her feel comfortable." I looked at me and smirked.
"She's a lot happier with you now. She was scared she'd have to get rid of you and wasted 350 Gerri on you that she wouldn't get back. But you've been very good lately and she's thrilled about it. Now if only you were more responsive."
"I'm as responsive as they need."
"Sitting there doing nothing isn't being responsive. The reason men will come to brothels is because they don't want to work for sex for once. And that's what you're making them do, work." I shrugged.
"And yet they keep picking me."
"But you haven't had any call-backs. No one who's come to the brothel before and had you and coming back is asking for you again. Normally, we'll have men that will have a usual girl. Like Foe. She's Prefect Tibirian's favorite. He mixes it up sometimes, but he prefers to have Foe. He's actually gotten buddy, buddy with her since he started using her. We've even had circumstances where a customer will like a whore so much that he buys her from the brothel. They have to pay three times as much, but Lady Zitia doesn't mind. She just goes to the market the next day and gets a new girl."
"Is that why she got me?" Dracian nodded.
"Yep. We had a whore named Fidelle that had Council Titius Edevus for a regular. His wife recently passed away and he didn't want to feel lonely, so he bought Fidelle and took her home. Think of it like buying a dog."
"How wonderful." My voice was sarcastic and Dracian laughed at my tone.
"Don't be so solon, Chelsea. It's not as bad as it sounds. Chances are if they're willing to pay up to 5000 Gerri for you, they care enough about you to treat you well."
"I thought we were all 1000." Dracian shook his head.
"You are. But that's because of what you did to the Senator and because you tend to be unresponsive. Lady Zitia will increase the price of you when people started being more satisfied by you."
"Can't wait." He laughed lightly at my sarcastic tone again and shook his head.
"Just remember something, Chelsea. I enjoy your sarcasm, but not everyone will. Until you know the client well enough, it's best to shut up and spread your legs."
"Isn't that what I already do?"
"That's all you do." Then Dracian dragged me off the street and between two buildings and pulled me in far enough that only the homeless could see us. "And you don't seem to listen to me when I try to get you to do otherwise."
"I'm a slow learner, I guess." He smirked at my response and shrugged, bringing his face closer to mine.
"I'll have fun teaching you at least." Then he kissed me. It was the same as any of them, cold and hungry with nothing behind it except empty lust.
I'd become used to this. It sickened me that I could tolerate this already and that I'd stopped fighting them. My back was almost completely healed by now from the whip, but the pain always remained in my mind and it made me scared to react and fight. So when Dracian kissed me, I simply closed my eyes and let him do what he wanted without a sound.
After a few minutes of forceful kisses and teeth and tongue, he forced my right leg to wrap around his hip and that hand stayed on my thigh. He forced my dress up to my waist and entered me and moved quickly in me. The coupling was over as quickly as it began. He moved for a few minutes and when he came, he was still a moment, then took his lips away from mine and readjusted our clothes. When everything was back in place, he looked at me and sighed.
"It would make me feel better if you'd at least pretend that I'm getting somewhere with you."
"Sorry, Dracian." He looked at me a moment before he rolled his eyes and took my hand again.
"I'll get you to soon enough. You'll at least be happy to know you won't be working for a few days. Tiberia recommends that women not have sex for at least a week after the abortion. She says your bodies need to heal or something." Simply out of curiosity, I asked.
"What happens if they do?" He stopped and looked at me.
"I don't know. You want to find out?" I shook my head.
"That's alright. I'll take her word for it." He smirked again and continued the way to Tiberia's shop and pulled me in front of him before we walked in. There was a little old woman standing behind the desk that scared me. She reminded me of a wrinkly scarecrow and she was boney like one too. When she saw Dracian, she smiled.
"Pregnant again?" Dracian nodded.
"Yep. She's late." Tiberia looked down my figure and smiled.
"Good. You caught it early. That'll make this much easier for you." She turned to a little shelf behind her and reached up for a small vile of something and turned back to us and handed it to me. "Put this in your drink. You must drink all of it or it won't work. You'll feel discomfort for a few hours afterwards, but as soon as you lose the baby, you'll feel fine. And remember, your body needs to heal, so you're to not work for at least seven days." I nodded my head.
"Yes ma'am." She smiled, then looked at Dracian.
"Five silver pieces." He nodded with a smile.
"As always." Dracian took a little purse from his belt and took out five silver pieces. When Tiberia had her money, we both walked out of the shop and walked back to the brothel. "Take that as soon as we get back. I'll even ask Lady Zitia to let you have it with wine. Drinking can only help the situation."
"Sure." He laughed a little again.
"Wow. That's the first time I've ever heard a whore not care about wine." I shrugged.
"It's not that special."
"That's the first time I've heard that from anyone." He laughed and turned to look at me. "If you'd rather have water, that's fine too. But trust me, you're going to want wine."
"Why?"
"Because. Whenever we do this, the whore feels a lot of pain in her abdomen. They compare it to period pains. And if you're far enough along, you actually see the aborted baby when it gets out of you. It's really sickening."
"Why do you care?" He shrugged.
"I'm just trying to be nice."
"Dracian, you've beaten me, you've raped me, and you've pretty much turned me into your ass-toy. I think we're past you bothering to be nice to me." He looked at me a moment and sighed.
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I can't occasionally be in a generous mood." Then he started walking us back again. Then a thought came into my head that I felt compelled to ask.
"How many of the whores do you think you've gotten pregnant?" He just shrugged.
"It's hard to say. I don't sleep with all of them. Just you, Celeba, and Betricia. You're the ones I like the most. And I'm not the only men you girls sleep with, so if one of you ends up pregnant, it could easily be mine or anyone else's."
"And it doesn't bother you that you might be letting me kill your kid?"
"I don't know it's my kid. It probably isn't. Besides, I hate kids. I just told you that not long ago." I sighed.
"I guess I should've figured."
"Don't worry about it, Chelsea. The minute you start caring about the little bastard, that's when you lose your mind. And no one likes a guilty looking whore." I forced my hand out of his then. I didn't want him touching me anymore.
He looked over to make sure I was still there and didn't react any further than to give me a face that was disapproving. I walked ahead of him and he followed after me keeping an eye on me as we went home. As soon as we got back, he got me a cup of wine and I poured the stuff in my drink. An hour after I took the elixir, I started feeling cramping that reminded me of my menstrual cycles. The pain lasted for about three hours and finally stopped an hour after I felt something pass. I didn't look. I knew what it was and I didn't want to see it. Knowing I had just killed my first child was one thing. Seeing it would've been too much for me to handle.
When it was all over, I went to one of the rooms and sat on the bed staring blankly. Sitting there in silence left me the freedom for my thoughts to go wild. All I thought about was what I'd just done. I was getting sick again and eventually, guilt consumed me and I couldn't stop myself from crying. I didn't look up when the door to the room opened and didn't even react when I felt someone hold onto me as I cried.
I didn't look up until I was out of tears and I stared wide eyed at Dracian. He looked annoyed if anything, but he was being calm and he was holding me securely and in a non-romantic way. I was so stunned by him doing this for me that I was still for a few seconds. When all I did was staring at him, he started petting my hair.
"I just thought you could use a shoulder to cry on. Better I find you like this than Lady Zitia."
"Thanks I guess." My voice was small and still mostly shocked that he was trying to comfort me.
"You guess? Is it that odd that someone like me would feel pity?"
"It's more odd that you feel pity for a lowly slave." He laughed a little to himself and shook his head.
"Well, if it's worth anything, you're sort of my favorite." My eyes widened more.
"Why?" He laughed again at my tone.
"Because I love a challenge."
"What challenge? You don't have to earn me or anything. Lady Zitia lets you have your way with us as you please." He shrugged.
"Yeah, but you're the one that never seems to respond to me. At least the others pretend to like it. You don't even bother. I'm sort of hoping to break you of that for the sake of Zitia's customers and for the sake of my own inflated ego."
"So you're comforting me because you're trying to get me to inflate your ego?"
"Sort of." I stared at him appalled for a minute, then just slapped him across the face and ran out of the room. I hoped I hit him hard enough that his face would sting for a few minutes.
I went to the bathroom and stepped into the hot tub. Foe and Celeba were there talking, but I didn't say anything to them when I got in. I just took off my dress, sat in the tub, and bit hard on my lip to stay dry eyed. I think they knew I was upset, though I think they just thought it was only because of getting rid of the baby. It's better they think that. They left me alone and let me grieve.
I stayed in the tub longer than I normally would. I didn't end up getting out until my skin started to prune really bad. When I stepped out of the tub and was dried off and dressed, I walked out and went to one of the rooms and tried going to bed. Later, I was joined by Foe, who took a spot next to me in bed.
"How are you feeling?" I shrugged.
"Not great." Foe rubbed my arm soothingly.
"I know how you feel. Really, I do. I've killed so many that I don't even feel like a human being anymore."
"How many is that?" Foe sighed and I heard her start crying.
"Seven."
"Wow." Foe nodded.
"I know. I cried for days when I killed the first one. But after that, I couldn't cry about it anymore. And now, because of that, I feel even worse about it. It's like I'm not human anymore."
"At least she doesn't make us have the baby and kill it later. Dracian told me that some brothel owners do that." Foe nodded.
"Yeah, I know. But either way, it hurts. You're killing something that's your own flesh and blood and it tears you apart inside. I still lay in bed at night wondering what they would've been like if they'd lived. I've even named them all."
"That just makes you feel worse."
"I know. There isn't a day that goes by that I wish I could have them. All seven."
"Even if you don't know who the fathers are?"
"I know who the father usually is. Prefect Tibirian. He tries to keep me to himself for the most part. Sometimes, someone else will buy my services, but Lady Zitia made me really expensive, so it's not often."
"And he knows?" Foe nodded.
"Yeah, he knows. His wife doesn't know that he comes here, so me getting pregnant would get him in trouble. And his wife has too much influence for their marriage to end in divorce."
"If he doesn't want to get in trouble, then why does he risk it?" Foe sighed.
"Because he likes me better than his wife, plain and simple. And he likes talking to me about things that go wrong with his marriage. When he's here, if he picks any woman to sleep with that isn't me, it's because he doesn't want to talk and he wants it rough. He's never rough with me. He thinks I'm too delicate to have roughly."
"How sweet." Foe laughed under her breath at my sarcastic tone.
"He likes me, what else can I say? He tells me that he's planning to buy me one day. I don't know how true that is, but at least I know that if he did, I would be in good hands."
"That's good at least."
"Just try not to think about today. Don't be like me and sulk about it. You'll only make yourself miserable."
"Thanks, Foe, for everything. I know I don't usually really talk to any of you guys." She shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. You're adjusting to this and that takes a while. We never expected you to open up right away. Betricia still doesn't talk to anyone. She's been here for years and she still refuses to let anyone in or talk to them."
"How interesting that Dracian likes her so much." Foe shrugged.
"He usually goes to her when he wants someone that does what she's told, does it well, and shuts up. Celeba is the one he goes to when he's in the mood for something more animated."
"And he likes me because I'm a challenge."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't respond to him. He's trying to get me to at least pretend I'm enjoying myself and I simply refuse to." Foe sighed.
"Don't let Dracian bother you. He likes to think really highly of himself when he doesn't deserve to."
"I know. I figure if I'm not responsive, I'm not giving him the satisfaction." Foe giggled.
"You know what you should do?" I shrugged.
"I don't know. What?"
"Next time you have a client, you should be as animated with him as possible and be completely unresponsive whenever Dracian wants you. That'll piss him off something awful." I grinned at Foe's idea. That would be a great way to get back at him for what he said to me. Two could play the prick game.
"That's a great idea. I should." Foe and I laughed together a moment before we stopped talking for the night and tried to fall asleep.
Lady Zitia didn't give me any clients for the rest of the week via demands of Tiberia. But as soon as the designated seven days were up, Lady Zitia brought me down whenever we had a client and let them choose from the collection. I got two clients in one day that first time and I did as Foe suggested. I swallowed my pride and was as animated as possible and pretended I liked every minute, even if I didn't. No matter what they demanded, I did it with a bog, seductive smile on my face.
When they were done, both customers that I had that day told Lady Zitia great things about me and that they looked forward to enjoying me again. Lady Zitia was thrilled to death about this and even let me have decent food for dinner that night to reward me. After dinner, I went to the bathroom with the others and we all took our daily baths together. They teased for all the noise I made with my two clients, but I teased them back for doing the same. It was nice to talk to them all and to tease each other. It felt a little like having sisters again.
I always thought about my family, but I tried to keep that brief. If I thought about it too much, then I would get sad. I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. After the bath, we went to our own rooms for the night as Lady Zitia ordered. Normally, Dracian went home by this time, so I wasn't expecting him to come into my room as soon as I picked one.
"I hear you made two customers very happy today." He said with a big smirk. I gave him the same, apathetic expression as always and nodded.
"That's what I hear."
"Does this mean that you're finally listening to me?" I shrugged.
"I suppose." He grinned even wider and walked over to me.
"I'm surprised, actually. I half expected you to be a complete wreck for the next few months, what with getting rid of the baby and all. I know how emotional that shit can be for a woman."
"Nothing worth crying about." I almost chocked on those words, but I kept that to myself while he smiled.
"Glad to hear it." He walked over to me and took me in his arms.
His lips met mine and my eyes closed. I'd already prepared to do nothing, so that's exactly what I did. At first, he didn't notice me not putting anything into the kiss. It was just his mouth moving against mine. Then he started adding to the kiss by using his tongue and teeth. That's when I think he noticed I wasn't responding. I wasn't sure what the result would be of this whole thing, but no matter what it was, I would be satisfied because I was hitting below the belt.
When he kissed me for a few minutes and I still wasn't contributing at all, he became more aggressive and pushed me against the wall, trying to startle me. When that didn't work, he applied more pressure by resting as much of his weight on me as he could. All that did was suffocate me and make me tear my mouth away from his so I could breath.
"You're fucking with me aren't you?" I tried to fight a laugh and keep my face indifferent.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about." He pushed back and made me slam against the wall again and he walked away from me. "So that's the game you're playing, huh? You'll do for everyone but me. That's low, Chelsea."
"I'm sorry." His nose was twitching now. I suppose that was something he did when he was really mad.
"What are you trying to get back at me for? You're doing this for some reason."
"I'm not doing anything I don't usually do." His nose kept twitching, but then he smiled.
"And playing innocent to boot. How cute. You're not dealing with a newborn baby, Chelsea. I know how women tend to think and you're nothing special. I said or did something that pissed you off and now you're getting back at me by being great in bed with strangers but staying the same limp noodle with me." I finally smirked and I think it made him madder.
"Glad I'm easy." He took a deep, calming breath before responding.
"Dick move, Chelsea. Dick move."
"As long as it hit below the belt."
"Believe me, it does. I'm shocked that you have the balls to do that. I admire the courage, or stupidity, whichever it is. But you don't honestly think I'll take this laying down, do you?" I shook my head.
"I didn't think so, but I don't care about that. As long as I got the satisfaction of making you feel like less of a man." He laughed this time and his nose stopped twitching.
"I'll get the better of you, Chelsea, no matter what. But for now, just shut up and spread those legs like you're supposed to."
I backed away from him best I could when he approached me again and forced a kiss. And while he did what he wanted, he took every opportunity he could to hit me. He was sure not to mark me with a bruise. Lady Zitia hated it whenever we had bruises and preferred to avoid things like that. He forced any extra movement that he wanted from me, but I was as unresponsive with him as always. When he was done, he hit me one last time to vent, then plopped on the bed next to me.
"You'll crack one of these days, Chelsea. Just watch." I smiled to myself with my back facing him.
"Bring it, bitch."