The Traitor's Son Chapters 28-30
By Zelamir, adapted by Pueros

This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY

Chapter XXVIII

"I'm sorry," Sulis squeaked in reply to Dictys' answer as to why he had received another twelve strokes from Scyrax's cane. "You're forgiven," the youth responded, whilst lowering his tunic, standing, turning to face the younger boy again and displaying a comforting smile, "but only if you apply some of this salve to my bottom too!"

Dictys' disarming smile encouraged Sulis to cheer up and reply, perhaps rather too eagerly, "Of course I'll do that!" "Excellent," the youth subsequently commented, with suspicious equal enthusiasm, before suggesting "but I think Mariullus' bottom should be the first recipient of the salve. After all, that's what our Master has sent me here to do!"

"So Mariullus, please stand up," Dictys then requested in line with his proposal, "and remove your loincloth." The boy complied, albeit reluctantly because he recalled his anguish when Scyrax had introduced ointment to his sore anus on the previous day.

The fact that Marius was stripping naked before others was notably no longer significant in his young mind. The boy's obedience even subsequently became enthusiastic when Dictys smilingly reassured "Don't worry, as the salve is different from what our Master used on you and is very soothing."

Consequently, Marius quickly found himself presenting his bare bottom too to Dictys. The boy's own small cock also soon became hard, as the youth subsequently gently worked the soothing salve into the soreness created where Crastus' plug had cruelly chafed his bumcrack and rectum.

"I'm sorry I can't lie you in my lap whilst I do this," Dictys commented, as he bent over and proceeded with his delicate task, "but I'm afraid that my own bum's too sore to sit on at the moment." "That's all right," Marius replied, as he felt the youth's cool salve-covered finger carefully probing inside him.

Not long before, Marius would have felt deeply ashamed to be treated in this intimate manner and to be seen naked with an erection. However, all pride and modesty had been stripped from him by recent events and he had become somewhat inured to such humiliation. Despite his secret prominent background, the boy now sadly considered himself to be humiliatingly no different from any of the other pretty young slaves who served and suffered in the house of Scyrax and were destined for similar servitude elsewhere, possibly losing their balls along the way.

In fact, as Marius was to discover, boys in a state of erotic excitement were commonplace in Scyrax's abode. One of the fat man's cruellest tyrannies was to forbid them, at the very time that many were approaching, were passing through or had just completed pubescence to become highly sexually charged, any relief for their natural urges except at his acquiescence.

Scyrax's household was consequently a hotbed of suppressed sexuality, as many extremely frustrated boys looked at their invariably beautiful companions and dreamt erotic thoughts, which they were forbidden to practise unless selected to satisfy their Master's lecherous lusts and permitted relief as a reward, which was rarely granted.

Chapter XXIX

Marius had by now lived in the heavily sexually charged atmosphere of Scyrax's house for a few weeks. Being a precious virgin, the boy had been excused erotic service for his Master and would not be instructed in the relevant techniques until he had been trained in all other aspects of domestic service.

Marius had also somehow so far not incurred any adult displeasure and so had not yet been caned or suffered other punishment. The boy had achieved this feat by cleverly absorbing instruction quickly and well and fulfilling his subsequent duties efficiently and without error. He had additionally succeeded in maintaining a low profile as far as the dreaded Felix was concerned.

Marius had consequently so far found life in Scyrax's household not to be too personally distressing. The chores tended to be long and tedious but relatively light, whilst the food was plentiful if plain. Apart from those summoned to Scyrax's sexual service, the slaveboys were also permitted a good night's sleep, which might only be interrupted if their bottoms or other parts of their gorgeous anatomies hurt or slumber was made fitful by unrequited sexual desires.

Well exercised, fed and rested, Marius' exceptional body therefore gradually filled out to its previously perfect shape and proportions, whilst his golden hair and creamy skin recovered their healthy glow. As the boy's condition improved in this way, so did his energy and gregarious spirits, helped by his burgeoning friendships with Sulis and Dictys.

Although Marius was unaware of the close attention, Scyrax, from whom little escaped his notice, happily observed the rapid improvement in the boy's physical and mental condition. The fat man approved the alluring cheerful grin that often formed on the 11 year-old's beautiful face. He also liked the pert well-rounded bottom, which was regularly revealed from under the young slave's tiny rear loincloth flap whenever he energetically scurried to complete an errand or had to bend over to fulfil a chore. He especially welcomed the sight of the almost continuous bulge displayed at the front of the child's sole garment, which was clear evidence that the cock underneath was in a virtually constant state of arousal.

Scyrax suspected correctly that Marius' constant arousal was caused by three factors. First, the boy was on the cusp of the sexual awakening that was pubescence, and his body was beginning to react accordingly. Second, the sparsely-clad young slave appeared to enjoy being clearly admiringly ogled by others, as frequently happened. Third, the child also seemed to like the sight of his beautiful companions.

Nobody knew better than Scyrax how much the sight of a stiff cock enhanced a boy's value on the auction block. When the owner was a young blonde virgin of exceptional beauty, the fat man appreciated that the price that he should obtain for such marvellous fresh goods should be equally exceptional.

The perceptive Scyrax had also noticed other exceptional qualities in Marius in contrast to most of the other young slaves, who generally emanated from very humble domestic or foreign backgrounds. The boy spoke rather refined Latin in contrast to the coarser accents of many of his companions and was exceedingly well-mannered.

Scyrax had also suspected that Marius was literate, numerate and, from overhearing him speak to Sulis about Virgil's 'Aeneid' when they were brushing a floor together, well- versed in literature, which were very rare attributes amongst his young slaves. The fat man had confirmed his suspicions by the simple expediency of furtively testing the boy through ensuring that he was once given chores in the kitchen requiring the reading and writing of labels and weighing of ingredients and other calculations. He had additionally encouraged his cook to chat simultaneously about books and his servant had later reported back that the 11 year-old's knowledge of the subject was far superior to his own, and had passed the other trials superbly.

Scyrax's discovery that Marius spoke and probably could read and write good Greek as well was, however, accidental. The doctor he employed to check the welfare of his slaveboys on a regular basis had being shocked to find the young Roman politely addressing him in his own language.

To Scyrax, such attributes initially suggested that Crastus might have for some reason underplayed the quality of Marius' origins during the sale negotiations. The fat man judged that the boy's clearly superior education, which further increased his market value, might indicate that his provenance was greater than just being the son of an ordinary family fallen on hard times that had sold the child to pay off debts.

On the other hand, why would Crastus have undervalued Marius' origins, which only meant that he would obtain a lower price for the boy? Scyrax's mind consequently began to surmise that the 11 year-old's parents were probably once just free servants to some rich patrician, to whose own son theirs had been a companion and therefore, as was common, would have shared his private tuition. Something disastrous must have subsequently happened to cause them to lose their positions, which then led to desperate impoverishment.

Scyrax pondered quizzing Marius about his background but his conviction that the second scenario in his mind was the only plausible explanation for the boy's excellent education became overwhelming and he therefore did not bother to check his theory. His busy schedule also helped his attitude, as new slaveboys were constantly being acquired, whilst others were being regularly sent to market.

Scyrax's attention was additionally diverted by preparations for an imminent party that he was hosting to celebrate his birthday. Having satisfied his own mind about the reason for Marius' excellent education, which could be passed on to prospective purchasers in order to enhance his value, the fat man therefore gave the issue no further consideration.

Marius was therefore fortunately spared potentially dangerous questioning by Scyrax about his origins. If the fat man had trapped the boy into revealing the truth, he would undoubtedly not have taken any chances but would have had the 11 year-old quietly raped and strangled, although he himself would probably not have performed these acts. He knew a certain young patrician who would instead love to perpetrate the deeds.

Before subsequently disposing of Marius' dead body, Scyrax would also undoubtedly have blackmailed Crastus into not only repaying the boy's price but also donating a fee on top for him to remain silent about the other man's treachery against the Emperor. The fat merchant was, after all, good at his business.

Chapter XXX

Despite his superficial cheerfulness, Marius continued to live in Scyrax's household in constant fear of the cane and the lash. The boy was unlikely ever to forget witnessing the punishments inflicted on his first day in the fat man's house and there were daily reminders at the evening audiences of all the young slaves with their sadistic master, held just before he dined.

At the evening audiences, a procession of sobbing boys was invariably forced to expiate faults, regardless of how trivial, by lying across the flogging bench. However, Nisus had not yet been returned to suffer his threatened castration. Rumours abounded amongst the young slaves that the wounds from his whipping had become infected, which appeared to be substantiated by the regular disappearance into the cellar where he was confined of Scyrax's hired Greek doctor.

Giton was also no longer visible. Rumours concerning him suggested that Scyrax had fulfilled his promise to sell the beautiful blonde virgin 'for what you can fetch as, what you are, a common little whore'. The whispers indicated that the 12 year-old had been sold to a boy brothel.

The excruciating wielding of cane and lash at the daily audiences with Scyrax represented by far the worst part of the daily routine. Marius feared such punishments but he had a natural cheery optimism and resilience that generally allowed him to enjoy the current moment, whatever personal terrors haunted him deep down, and most of the rest of his daytime schedule was not too bad.

Marius continued to do all he could to ensure that his name was not among those read out by Felix from his dreaded punishment roll and, by the day of Scyrax's birthday party, he was still succeeding. However, the boy was sadly now to discover that neither obedience nor efficient performance of his duties were necessarily sufficient to ensure a young slave's bottom remained unmarked.

For over a week, the main excited topic of conversation amongst Scyrax's slaveboys had concerned the party. They gossiped about the number and identity of the guests invited, the volume and intricacy of the courses of food that the cook was proposing to prepare and the acrobats, jugglers, dancers and other artistes, who would provide the entertainment.

For two days, Marius and Sulis had been helping two other slaveboys to polish those parts of Scyrax's rich collection of silver objects that were to be used at the party. The work had been very boring and stressful to their fingers, as the young slaves only used friction from a dry cloth to clean plentiful sets of plates, cutlery, goblets, ewers and candlesticks, all of which had to be burnished to mirror- like brightness.

Now, at noon of the day on which the party was to be held, all the silver had been polished except for a single gigantic platter. The enormous dish had an engraving of Niobe grieving for her six murdered sons and the same number of slaughtered daughters in the centre, chased in gold. Round her lay the unclothed bodies of her twelve dead children, all equally beautiful and portrayed in elegant but rather erotic detail. To one side stood the fearsome figures of the twin deities, Apollo and Artemis, with their swords dripping with the gore of the innocents, examining their homicidal handiwork with obvious satisfaction.

Marius and Sulis had carried the platter into the courtyard and the shade of the pergola, where they knelt beside the enormous dish, whispering quietly as they polished. They squatted in the special way prescribed for slaveboys in the house of Scyrax, namely with knees wide apart, feet pushed together behind them and bottoms pressed down to the ground so that their groins, currently covered by respectively a loincloth and thong, were exposed to full view.

Sulis was happily chattering to Marius, as he was increasingly prone to do, about Dictys. He described, with clear pride, how the youth clearly fancied him and, with obvious admiration, some of the kind and often clever or brave actions the 16 year-old had occasionally undertaken to help him.

The sound of the footsteps of two older people was then suddenly heard nearby behind him and so Sulis immediately fell silent. The boy instead bent assiduously over his work.

Scyrax did not mind his young slaves quietly talking whilst performing their duties, as long as their conversation did not affect their efficiency. However, Felix frequently suggested that such chatter had indeed caused inefficiencies in order to condemn the boys to punishment. Not knowing who was nearby, Sulis had therefore decided not to take the chance that one person might be the dreaded secretary and so he had stopped his chattering.

The footsteps also stopped. A sweet cloying scent began to pervade the air.

"What a lovely little boy," a high rather effeminate voice was then heard to say, "whom I haven't seen before. Where have you been hiding him, Scyrax, you naughty man?"

Marius did not recognise the voice and so stole a glance upwards. He saw the familiar bulk of Scyrax and, standing adjacent to him, a slim elegantly dressed youth with sleek blonde hair and a pale cold face, whose pallor had been enhanced by rouge carefully applied to the cheekbones.

"That's Mariullus," Scyrax announced, "whom I bought a few weeks ago in a terrible state. You would have turned your nose up at the brat then but, I must say, that the care and attention that I've since afforded him means that he's not too bad now. I propose to sell him next week and I'm sure that he'll earn me a nice profit!"

This was the first time that Marius learnt that he was to be sent next week to market. The boy immediately wondered why he was being sold before the likes of Sulis and other young slaves, who had been in Scyrax's house longer, but knew better than to ask the reason. He also felt some regret that he would soon be split from his new friends.

In fact, Marius' quick recovery from his earlier sufferings, his especially rapid and efficient absorption of all that he had been taught, his inherent good manners and his excellent education meant that he could be readied for market more speedily than most other young slaves. The boy also did not yet know that Scyrax had also decided to retain Sulis for now as a replacement for Dictys, whom the fat man proposed to sell soon too.

In Scyrax's opinion, the exceptional Marius was actually more beautiful than Sulis. However, the former boy, given his various impressive attributes, definitely possessed much greater market value, whilst the latter child of humbler origin was still highly attractive to the fat man's tastes.

Scyrax had therefore chosen to liquidise his most lucrative asset, Marius, whilst the boy remained a valuable virgin. The loss in later sending Sulis to market, having earlier deprived the boy of his innocence by deflowering him and subsequently having sex with him on a regular basis, would be less.

"You lucky man Scyrax," the effeminate youth next announced, "because the brat has a particularly lovely little bottom!" The 16 year-old patrician could see most of the delicious curvature in question under Marius' tiny rear loincloth flap because the kneeling boy was now dutifully stretching over the gigantic platter to polish the middle.

"It's a really provocative little bottom," the youth continued, to Marius' initial embarrassment and subsequent horror, "which is so smooth and tight, with such nice little dimples on either side. It's a bum that absolutely invites the cane. Please let me thrash the little darling!"

"Now, Maccius, I've told you that the brat's to be sold next week," Scyrax replied, "and I don't want to put him on the auction block with his rump raw. It'll spoil his price!" Marius, still somehow continuing to perform his polishing despite his horror at overhearing this worrying conversation, was naturally pleased with his master's initial protective attitude.

"That's typical of you Scyrax," Maccius complained in response, "as you don't seem to care about anything but money. You begrudge me this small little pleasure just because it'll knock a few sesterces off the price that you'll secure next week at market for the little whore!"

"But, Maccius, the brat's done nothing wrong," Scyrax protested unhappily. "That'll make beating him all the more fun," the youth immediately sulkily retorted, "but, if you won't let me, there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I don't know whether I'll bother to stay for your stupid party after this, as you obviously don't care about me like I thought you did. I'll just go home instead and thrash the bottom of one of my father's young slaves!"

"Wait, wait," Scyrax pleaded urgently, as Maccius turned to walk away, "whilst I reconsider the matter." Marius was naturally unhappy at his master's wavering but continued his polishing, whilst his endangered bottom remained stuck in the air.

"Well I suppose the auction is a week away," Scyrax subsequently commented, after considering the issue only very briefly and whilst indicating his abject surrender to his beloved Maccius' sadistic desires, "and young flesh heals quickly. Some prospective purchasers might also like a boy with a few marks of the cane on his bottom!"

"If I let you beat him, Maccius," the fat man next asked, whilst revealing the true motivation for his abject surrender, "will you be really nice to me tonight?" "Scyrax, you are an old dear," the youth obsequiously answered, "who's grumpy on the surface but so kind underneath."

"Of course, you lovely man," Maccius confirmed, "I'll be nice to you tonight!" The youth subsequently placed his arms round Scyrax's shoulders and lifted his face towards the much older and uglier version possessed by the fat merchant.

Maccius then kissed Scyrax hard on the lips and the incongruous pair stood for a moment embracing passionately. One of the fat man's hands simultaneously slipped up the back of the youth's thighs and, after lifting his short tunic, squeezed his bottom. However, they eventually broke apart and began to move off.

Scyrax glanced back and, catching Marius' fearful glance, crooked his finger at him. The appalled boy immediately compliantly rose to his feet and padded after his master and Maccius, with his throat suddenly dry with terror.

Sulis looked at Marius with pity before returning alone to complete the polishing of the enormous platter.

(To be continued)