Marcellus began to get accustomed to his life as Glaucus' slave. It could not be said that he was happy with the situation, but there wasn't anything to do, unless he tried to escape. Of that, he had listened to the reports of others, and was not optimistic. Most of the slaves who attempted escape, had been killed on the spot. Those who were not, were "damaged" in some way. A good many suffered the "loss of their swords." The procedure was dangerous, and many did not survive. Those who did survive became weak, fat, and essentially , useless. In times of famine, they were the first ones to be denied rations. He would see Demos occasionally, but in passing. Ahmad was teaching both Marcellus and Eric the intricacies of shopping in Rome, for which Glaucus' slaves were responsible. They would get their orders from the steward in the morning, and out they'd go. There was always "something extra" that Ahmad was able to use if he found something of particular interest, or something new or rare. Demos was much more of a house slave: he could play the lute, and Portius, his Master, enjoyed his singing and playing. Occasionally, however, he would be sent with another slave to take care of the shopping. When their paths did cross, there would be an exchange of glances, and a smile. One time, Demos smiled reluctantly, and Marcellus saw the wound over his eye. He knew it had come from Portius, and he wanted to grab his sword, and slay the bastard. Except he had no sword, except the one at the academy, Portius was always guarded by many more warriors than he could handle, and getting permission to leave Glaucus' compound, would be difficult.
Glaucus called for him most nights. Glaucus enjoyed binding Marcellus tightly, and then toying with his pectorals until Marcellus begged for sword. And now that the bath slaves had done sufficient work on Marcellus' feet so that the calluses and bunions were gone, they were soft... and ticklish. The nights that Marcellus saw the bed equipped with restraints at the four corners meant that foot work was in the near future. One friend of Glaucus brought him back an instrument that looked a bit like a six pointed star, at the end of a small stick. He would run this, up and down, on Marcellus' feet. Sometimes he would gag him first, sometimes not. It always succeeded in giving Marcellus an erection.
One morning , after an especially rigorous night of sex with Glaucus - one where he used not only his own sword, but the artificial one that was 3 inches longer, and had used the crab claw device on his pecs, Glaucus whispered into his ear "Good morning, my slave. Today, I have a surprise for you. "
"What would that be My Lord?" Glaucus rolled Marcellus to his back, so that he could see his face. He ran his hand over the man's torso. "You will spend some time with Demos today." Marcellus' eyes grew wide. "Please do not joke on this My Lord. Seeing him at Market breaks my heart."
"Now, now, Marcellus. At some point, you WILL have to accept you are no longer a couple, and your time together is dependent on Portius and myself. Today there is a slave market. Our armies have brought back handsome prisoners from the Northern campaign. Blonds - much more robust than Demos - and also some of their retainers, from Crimea - they will remind you of Ahmad when you see them. Portius and I plan to attend, and he will bring Demos, and I will bring you. " Then Glaucus smiled. "If your behavior is appropriate, it may please us to watch the two of you at play.
"You mean you would give us time, but you and Portius would watch." Glaucus smiled more broadly. "We may even participate."
Marcellus turned this over in his mind. To have time with Demos! It was a gift. But to be in a situation where he might very well be watching Demos taken by another man, or Demos see him taken by Glaucus.
"ARISE Marcellus. Prepare yourself. There is the gymnasium for you, then the academy. The auction will take place half between the mid day hour and supper. I will come and fetch you from the academy myself today."
"Yes My Lord. It will be a privilege to be seen in the streets with you." Glaucus smiled. He was wise enough to know that Marcellus was lying , but he was learning the appropriate forms of flattery necessary to be a bed slave in Rome.
"AVE MARCELLUS" called out Clodius. "I had feared you may be late, because of today's market. " "SALVE CLODIUS," they gave each other the Materan greeting. "Indeed, Glaucus has informed me we are going, but he did not dwell on it."
Clodius observed Marcellus from a short distance. "I do believe that our time here is working. You were never a man who was fat, but I do think that some of the fat you put on after being introduced to our Roman food is gone. " "Thank you Clodius. I , too, have felt a leanness and a strength returning to my muscles as the fatigue left." "I wonder, Marcellus, if you feel you are ready to compete against other slaves." "Compete? What sort of competition?" "Well, there are regular challenges in all sports: javelin, discus, running, wrestling. They happen every moon rising plus half. We've just missed one, but if you were to compete, we would begin preparing you now. " He paused. "Normally, you would not be given a choice: I would check with Glaucus, and if he approved it, you would begin training; however, as a fellow Materan, I offer you the chance to accept or not." Marcellus' mind began to spin. "May I let you know by the end of the week". "That will work, Marcellus. Now, speaking of work, to the medicine ball. I want to see some SERIOUS work with it, before we begin sprints.
The training that day was very exhausting. Marcellus was covered with sweat. Normally, he was fine and could simply go off to his academy. Today, though, was a very warm day, and he was sopping wet. He went to use the sitting bath, before heading to the swordsmanship.
"Ah. I see Glaucus new favorite has joined us." He heard a voice from another seat, and he looked up.
"My Lord. I apologize. I did not see you . Have I intruded in some way."
The man grinned wickedly. "Actually, your presence is a joy to me." He parted his loin cloth, and his sword rose. "I believe that Glaucus has probably trained you in the art of sword swallowing, slave. I suggest you demonstrate your talent."
Marcellus snorted defiantly. "I may be a slave, but I am GLAUCUS' slave. I do not serve as a heitera to others."
The man smiled. "You will swallow my sword, or I will tell Glaucus that you approached me. Also, I will report how Clodius is violating protocol. That may very well cost him 20 lashes.
Marcellus muttered. "So THIS is how Rome operates. "
"Very well My Lord" He approached and covered the man's sword with his mouth. He thought, again and again, of biting the sword right at the hilt, but if he did not succeed, there would be problems for him, and in any event, there would be problems for Clodius.
"OH, I shall have to report to others that Marcellus has more talents than we know of.." The man grinned, inhaled, and his seed filled Marcellus' mouth. " The man smiled. "I will tend to my own cleaning. I DO hope to see you again Marcellus."
Marcellus could not wash out his mouth fast enough. The encounter filled him with anger, and his training of his students was, to be honest, brutal that day. He said nothing to Glaucus when he met him after his teaching - a slave's word had no weight in this world and simply greeted him with "My Lord. I am ready to serve you."
Glaucus smiled. "I would be the second Lord you've served today, would I not be Marcellus?" The man reddened. "It is a gymnasium. Much happens that is , shall we say, inappropriate, and to ensure that nothing too far gone happens, Clodius has listening positions. He heard everything, and reported it to me while you were teaching. " Glaucus stopped and took a very firm stance. "Let me be clear, Marcellus, my slaves are MY SLAVES. NO ONE does anything to them, without my permission, just as I expect my slaves to obey me. You were put in an inescapable position." He sneered "Something I hope to do to you in due course; however, I have already spoken to the man, who's name, by the way, is Tracitus. He will not accost you again."
"Thank you My Lord. I did not know what to do". "You behaved well, Marcellus. The general in you undoubtedly wanted to cause harm." "Yes My Lord. That was the case." "However, you are no longer a general. You are a slave. And it is taking time to learn this. I appreciate that, and I will be patient. At some point, however, my patience will cease. I will let you know. For now, Marcellus, do not forget how a slave behaves with his Master." "Yes My Lord." Marcellus dropped his eyes and put his hands behind his back. Glaucus took his forearm, as he was wont to do. "Being seen with you makes every Roman jealous , Marcellus. I will admit, capturing you was one of my goals of this campaign. Helping the Republic was certainly in my heart, but having you as my slave, moved me... elsewhere." He laughed.
They were walking toward the arena where the auction was to happen. Marcellus' eyes were down, but he could see enough to know that Demos was not that far from him. He saw the beautiful boy's back, as he walked, again in proper slave position, with his owner's hand firmly on his buttocks, not his arm. Glaucus laughed. "Portius REALLY likes that young boy. I just wonder what happens when he gets too old for the man."
"Excuse me My Lord?" "Portius prefers his bed partners blond, and young. That is why he favors Demos so much. But 'young' is a relative term Marcellus. I think of you as young, but you are in your 30s. Demos has barely started sprouting face hair. When they need to shave, Portius loses interest."
"And what will happen to Demos My Lord?" Glaucus sighed "well, he IS a slave. He IS still relatively young, so there IS the brothel, or he will sell him to another, or offer him in sacrifice. It is the way."
Marcellus blood went cold. "My Lord, is there any way of knowing how long?" Glaucus squeezed Marcellus' arm. "It is soon. That is why he is interested in the auction today. "
'HAIL PORTIUS' Glaucus called out and the man stopped. Apparently, Demos did not know that he would be seeing Marcellus today, and he moved forward, before Portius grabbed him by the hair and pulled him back. 'BE STILL SLAVE." Glaucus whispered to Marcellus "advice you should take as well."
"I am told it is a particularly comely group of slaves," said Portius. "They were selected from the larger mass.
"Indeed, there was discussion today in the counsel, as to whether or not they should have their hair cut to have the possibility of pollution removed.
"I'm not in favor of that, Glaucus. I like my boy with a longer head of hair." He stroked Demos' hair. "A good wash, and a periodic disinfection, will do the trick."
They entered the arena. There would be a period to inspect the slaves before the auction began. There were perhaps 50 different slaves. Different ages, different body types. Most were blond, but not all. "Hmmmm." Portius approached one of the younger ones. He raised his head and signalled to him to open his mouth. When the boy refused, he smacked him. "INSOLENCE. It needs to be beaten out of them." The boy recovered, and opened his mouth. Portius made a face. "Bad teeth. He'll smell in bed. He moved on, looking around. There were handsome men, just none that seemed to appeal to him. He kept on standing Demos next to ones he favored. Finally, he saw one: longer hair, and looking sullen. His nipple showed that he HAD in fact been owned before, as the Northerners did ring their slaves.
"Hmmm. This one is cute. That is not shaving: he has no body hair, and the chin... smooth. " He looked at the boy's blue eyes. "YOUR NAME, SLAVE." "My name is Ulrich My Lord." He never raised his eyes. "You speak our language. " "Yes My Lord. I was a student before I was captured in a raid on the further northern territories. My parents thought that learning it would do me well." "And indeed it may. Your parents?" Ulrich paused. He had to catch his breath. "My mother was sold in another auction. My father is here. " He signalled with his head, to a man that Glaucus was inspecting: he could have been the blond version of Marcellus.
"Your name is what, SLAVE?" Glaucus asked the older man, who bit his lip and refused to answer. Marcellus looked on. "I would suggest you answer, my friend. My Master is strict, and he knows how to make a man talk. I speak of experience." The grizzly blond man looked at Marcellus. "I have no time for you slave."
Then it happened. The move for which Glaucus was famous. He took each of the man's nipples in his fingers and began twisting. First, there was no reaction, then the man recoiled. His breathing changed, and the whole auditorium turned to his moans. Ulrich yelled "FATHER." but was stopped from advancing. Glaucus simply increased the pressure. "I have asked only for your name, SLAVE. That should not be too hard."
"I am Franz My Lord. Franz. Please may I be relieved of this torment."
Glaucus smiled. "What do you think, Marcellus? Do you think that relief from being my bed slave is something you would like?"
Marcellus had to consider this. Yes, the thought of being a slave bothered him immensely. But he had come to enjoy the evenings with Glaucus. The sex was brutal, but he found himself becoming erect in the cage during each session. Now, a new slave? It meant less time with Glaucus. "As My Lord wishes. My Lord's pleasure is mine." Glaucus was happy with the answer.
"Portius, let us talk. It seems that we already own a betrothed couple," and they laughed. Perhaps.... Portius grinned. "The young ones always sell for more. " "I will equalize the expenditure, Portius," Glaucus rolled his eyes.
The auction began, and Franz was up on the block early. The slave master always kept the objectively more desirable ones for last. Glaucus was, in fact, the only buyer to bid on Franz. As the man was bound, and a temporary collar was placed on him, an idea crossed Glaucus' mind, and he passed the lead rope to Marcellus.
"You will bring him to the compound. Hand him over to the steward. Then return. " He smiled. "I remember my promise to you."
Bidding on Ulrich was much more competitive, and he sold for a price three times his father. Portius was beaming, as he stood between his new slave and Demos. "In the middle of two blonds. What BLISS."
"I am glad you have a new toy, Portius. When Marcellus returns..."
"Ah yes, we have promised the slaves an evening together. " He looked at Demos. "Have you anything to say."
"Thank you My Lord. Your kindness overwhelms me." Portius laughed. "His insincerity... that is why I love blonds, Glaucus. They color with every lie. "
Marcellus had returned by now. "Franz is now with the steward My Lord. He is being taught his duties."
EXCELLENT. Now, let us walk to Portius' home. That is where the two of you will spend the evening.
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When they arrived at Portius' home, he and Glaucus had dinner, while they allowed Marcellus and Demos to eat in private.
"What should we have them do? They are ours for the evening, you know" Portius smiled.
"When they were at my compound, they seemed to do all right by themselves, but.... he leaned forward and made a suggestion. 'BRILLIANT"
After the meal, they brought Marcellus and Demos to the large room that was Portius' bedroom. Demos knew it well.
"We have decided that the two of you shall enjoy each other in different ways. In the first of these, you shall be bound." Portius spoke, as he took Demos' delicate wrists and tied them. Glaucus did the same with Marcellus. They then positioned them, such that their individual faces were buried in each other's crotches.
"Now, we will release the cages." As they were unlocked, both men's cocks sprang forward. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's see some action with your mouths." Demos, of course, had sucked Marcellus many times, and took to it immediately. Marcellus, now trained with sword swallowing, had to reconcile that he was going to swallow his bottom's sword. He did, and Demos moaned. How did Marcellus get so good at this? He shouldn't have thought about it: he knew.
The Masters permitted them to enjoy each other in this way for a good ten minutes. Portius smiled as he brought out two chains. "I found these in a bazaar in the Mid east. Normally, one would use a single chain, on one slave; however, since we have two..." He attached the claws of one chain to Marcellus' left nipple and Demos' right. The second chain, vice versa. "Now, my pretties." He and Glaucus began gently pulling them away from each other, stretching the chains and increasing the pain. 'PLEASE MY LORD PLEASE. DO NOT LET DEMOS BE HURT THIS WAY," Marcellus yelled.
"AH. The love. The concern. It does my heart good." Glaucus and Protius moved in and took off the clamps- then they played with their slaves' nipples . Marcellus, of course, suffered more from that.
"WHAT are you doing to us? PLEASE MY LORDS." Protius had an evil look on his face. "You must both learn, that you serve your Masters, NOT yourselves." He then untied Demos, and held him tightly, while Glaucus retied Marcellus to the bed, face up. He did not tie his ankles, but he spread Marcellus' legs. "KEEP THEM OPEN SLAVE."
"Yes My Lord."
Demos squirmed in Protius arms, and he felt the man getting erect. "What does My Lord wish of me?"
"Heh heh. Demos, I heard a rumor that you were asking for a shaving stone the other day. Is that true?" Demos blushed. "For my legs, My Lord." Protius smacked him. Marcellus tried to protest, but he was tied down. 'LEAVE HIM ALONE." 'SILENCE SLAVE." Glaucus smacked his uncaged sword. "And then, this morning, while I caressed your face... my fingers caught on stubble. " He licked Demos' ear. "My boy is becoming a man."
"My Lord, I am still your boy. "
Protius laughed "No, Demos. You are now my young man. That is why I have purchased Ulrich. We shall share him. As you become a man, you must learn to use your sword, not just those beautiful melons that are your ass."
Marcellus had figured out what they planned to do. He squirmed and struggled, but again, to no avail. Glaucus came over and took Marcellus' sword in his hand. "Let us see how large this becomes."
My lovely Demos, you have never been IN a man before have you?" "No My Lord. I have been receptive. Never active." "You will have witnesses to show you are a man. You will now take Marcellus."
"NO. I TAKE DEMOS. DEMOS IS MY BOY. HE IS NOT MY MAN." Glaucus and Protius looked at each other. "Yes, it is necessary." Glaucus pulled a large cloth out of his robes, and gagged Marcellus.
"TAKE HIS ASS DEMOS. Yours has been taken often enough that you will know how. "
"MMMPH MMMPH MMMPH" Marcellus squirmed. Demos was frozen but his sword began to grow. There was Marcellus, in front of him.
"Of course, you may choose not to, slave. In which case, I will keep Ulrich for myself, and we will dispatch you to the mines, where MEN work."
When Marcellus heard "to the mines," he calmed down. He looked at Demos and shook his head yes. Protius released Demos and he approached Marcellus. He mounted him and began to enter. His first tries were futile and the two men laughed at their slaves. Then, Protius came up behind Demos and stroked his nipples. His sword grew, and entered Marcellus. Marcellus moaned. Demos was not gifted, but he was still not used to being entered in this way. Demos was inexperienced, but Marcellus tried to guide him by signalling with his head: tossing it back to show he should push, and leaning forward to show he should pull back.
"Is it not the tradition for a father to bring his son to a brothel, and to make sure the act is consummated, the first time, Protius?" Glaucus looked at his friend. "So it is. Perhaps this is a way of making sure that my 'son' has grown up correctly," and he laughed.
Demos had begun to enjoy what he was doing, and he pushed, faster and faster. "OH MY MARCELLUS. I AM SORRY. I ... I.... " and Demos shot his semen into his lover. He sobbed as he did it.
'WHAT AN EXCELLENT SHOW. Demos, you are now a man. You will continue to be my bed slave, but you will have Ulrich as you wish, and as approved by me."
"As My Lord wishes."
Glaucus spoke "I believe they should be left to themselves for the night. May I use your guest room?"
Protius smiled. "It is already set up for you. And I have had your steward bring Eric for you."
"You are the host who considers everything, Protius."
"UNTIE YOUR FRIEND DEMOS."
"Yes my Lord."
Marcellus lay there, stunned, until Glaucus and Protius turned to leave. "You will have the evening together. Do as you will. I will introduce Ulrich to the joys of this home," said Protius. "
When they left, Demos hugged Marcellus. "I am Sorry, my lover. I AM SORRY. PLEASE PUNISH ME AS YOU WOULD." Marcellus hugged him. "There is no apology." He kissed him "Welcome to manhood Demos. When we are free, we will share roles."
"I don't want the role Marcellus. I want you on top of me. In me. " Marcellus stroked the young man's hair. "All things change, Demos. All things change."