TIME MACHINE CHAPTER SIXTEEN
To Ethan's amazement, Caesar and Cleopatra fell into each others' arms laughing.
"You win, my Emperor! You said that Ethan the Saxon would be faithful to his lady even at the point of death, and I said he would betray her to save his own skin!"
Cleopatra handed Caesar a huge ring.
So you terrorised me for a bet? Thanks a bunch, thought Ethan, and then, glaring at Cleopatra for a moment, he thought:
"Asp's coming to get you, babe."
He was sorry as soon as he'd thought it but it was too late to un-think it.
"One of my senators commented that the Saxons seemed like a group of milksops and I wanted to prove him wrong. Thanks to you, I have, and tomorrow you shall enjoy a completely different kind of entertainment at my expense" Caesar told Ethan.
"Now go back and keep your pretty little lady warm before I change my mind about taking her from you" he teased, and Ethan, bowing quickly, hurried off to Jess, who was unhappy.
Ethan soon comforted her and reassured her that they would try to leave Rome as soon as possible.
There was no such harmony in the next room, where Ethelfritha was haranguing Cal.
"I'm not deserting the others to stay here, it's far too violent." Cal stood his ground.
"Miseryguts. It's good for Morpeth too, he loves his little garden. And that Ben's a real wuss, fainting like that. I could tell he was gay as soon as I saw him, the great twerp-"
"If you use the word 'gay' as an insult again, the engagement's off" Cal snapped at her. Which shut her up.
The next night's entertainment, at an Ampitheatre, pleased them all, even the bloodthirsty Ethelfritha.
It was called 'When did you last see your Granny' and the chief actor was a clever young man called Tobias De Silvanus.
It was the story of a foolish young man who can never see his lady friends alone because his grandmother is constantly spying on them. She is abducted by comical pirates led by Jacqus Sparrus. After many comical misadventures on the way to save Granny, who is being trained as a warrior by the pirates, our young hero stumbles home in despair, only to find Granny waiting for him with a stout whip.
Afterwards they went to an inn and during the banter and drinking, Cal noticed Ethelfritha had slipped away to talk to a muscular but stupid-looking young man.
"Marcus Catullus" their host for the evening, Dolabella, informed them, "He likes all… er… aspects of love, if you get my meaning."
He smiled at them, but particularly at Ben and Dylan, as he continued:
"Homosexuality is not punished here, but we do encourage discretion about it."
Ben and Dylan immediately felt more relaxed. They had wondered what would happen to them if they were caught being extra friendly with each other. Rita and Connie were giving each other secret smiles, and the others realised the situation.
Ethelfritha came over, with a sweeter smile than any of them could have thought possible.
"Caleb, darling, I have a headache. Marcus here is going to escort me home."
When they arrived back at the villa there was a note from Ethelfritha:
"Caleb, I don't belong to you, so I'm going to live with Marcus. I want to stay in Rome."
Cal almost did a cartwheel for joy. Then he saw the end of the note.
"By the way, we've taken Morpeth with us."
Everybody would miss the little dragon.
The next day they were walking through the market square, after a breakfast of figs and honey. Connie had the 'swag bag' full of precious stones to trade, and the key to the machine on her. Suddenly they heard a hearbreaking squealing above the babble of a crowd of people.
They hurried to the scene, Ben running before the others.
Morpeth was being tortured by the crowd. His wings were broken and he had lost his sense of balance.
As Ben pushed through, a stone hit Morpeth on the side of the head and he collapsed, squealing piteously.
"Get out of the way before the Emperor is told of this!" Ben yelled.
Already there were nervous mutterings of 'The Saxons… the Emperor's new friends… we're in the sh*t…" and the crowd dispersed, all but one small boy who was crying in genuine remorse.
As Dylan and the others caught up with Ben, he was cradling Morpeth, stroking him tenderly. Morpeth was having difficulty keeping his eyes open and finally collapsed on his side in Ben's arms, squeaking faintly. It looked as if the little creature was dying.
"That bitch and her brainless stud must have abandoned him. I wish I could get hold of her, I'd choke her and risk the consequences" Connie wept.
"This is my fault, I should have kept a closer watch on her" Cal sighed.
"You were tricked into becoming her fiancé, Cal" Ben reassured him.
He shouted to the small boy:
"You, come over here!"
The little boy ran over and, seeing the look on Ben's face, immediately raised his arms to shield himself from a beating. A look passed between Ben and the others, they'd seen that action before now and then in the ED from victims of violence.
"I'm not going to harm you. I want you to run to the best surgeon in Rome, and tell him that the Saxon's little creature has been harmed. Tell him we can pay well. Will you do that?"
The little boy nodded earnestly.
"And I'm not to be beaten?"
"You need to learn from what you've seen today, so no, you won't be beaten. But hurry now!"
The boy sped off.
Ben turned to Connie.
"Sorry for taking over there."
She patted his arm.
"Ben, I wish I'd thought of that. Poor little Morpeth."
Rita kept stroking Morpeth's head with gentle fingers. Then the little boy ran up with a man who bowed to them.
"Greetings, my friends. I am Iainus, keeper of the Emperors' menagerie. Lucius here came looking for a doctor, but I thought I could be of better service. May I…? Oh yes, a fine little specimen.
Iainus held Morpeth so carefully that everybody felt more hopeful.
"This is for you, for being so fast" Connie told the little boy, Lucius, and gave him another coin.
"The gentleman has already paid me" said Lucius shyly.
"I know. That's for hurrying back so quickly."
"And I'm really not to be beaten?"
"Are you beaten often, Lucius?"
The little boy looked as if he wanted to say more, then bowed and ran away.
Nobody slept much that night; Connie and Rita lay in each others' arms, finding comfort in each other. Dylan soothed Ben, and Ethan and Jess made love slowly and passionately. Nobody, even Ethan, felt like breakfast until they saw Iainus sitting at Caesar's table.
"Good morning, your little creature is doing well."
"But I thought he was dying!" gasped Ben.
"It seemed that way, but dragons are strong, even the babies. Morpeth will be fine once his wing heals, and I've put a soothing ointment on his head."
Suddenly everybody felt like eating again. Especially Ethan.
They stood by the small enclosure that Iainus had made for Morpeth. The little dragon slept quite peacefully on a bed of fresh straw.
Connie handed over a large pile of gold coins.
"No, my lady, no charge. But I do have to ask all of you to make a choice about Morpeth."
Hearts sank again. Would the little dragon have to be put to sleep?
Iainus, however, had something completely different in mind.
"You are travellers from a foreign country, and must be nobility because of your choice to wear your own style of clothing instead of togas.
Ethan wanted to say that they didn't wear togas because they looked like nighties, but wisely kept that to himself.
"Morpeth needs a safe environment where he can run, and eventually fly. Soon he will start to breathe fire. That could become destructive without the right surveillance. I have a fine garden in my own menagerie, and I know all about these little creatures. Would you sell him to me?"
Connie held up her hand.
"We would gladly give him to you, but is everybody else agreed that we give Morpeth to Iainus to save his future?"
"I'll miss him so much, but just want him to be happy" Ben said.
Despite a few heartstrings being tugged, the vote for Morpeth to be given to Iainus and his expert care was unanimous.
Ben put his hand out to Morpeth, who recognising someone he knew and liked, raised a lazy paw.
"See you, Morpeth, you little star."
"See you around kid" Cal said, trying to sound nonchalant. Then he bawled out his eyes for fifteen minutes.
Now you may well be thinking, if there were menageries that housed dragons, how is it that they became extinct? Alas, the Roman Empire after Caesar became too decadent, and the dragons didn't like it, and one by one they flew away and took off to unknown regions. The drunken Romans destroyed all record of their existence.
The travellers had already made up their minds to leave Rome, having seen too much cruelty despite the kindness of Caesar and Iainus.
Alas, that plan was thwarted by a cruel twist of fate.
As the travellers walked through the market, two drunks, Asbo and Raucus, pushed their way through the crowds, intent on petty theft. While the travellers were looking at some pottery, Asbo reached for the bag down Connie's cleavage, fumbled inside it and grabbed something.
Alas, it was the key to the machine. Everybody, including a couple of guards, gave chase, but Asbo was quicker. He ran across the bridge, and flung the key into the deep waters of the river Tiber, where it sank.
Rita began to cry. They were all stranded in Ancient Rome whether they liked it or not.
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