The Traitor's Son Chapters 92-96
By Zelamir, adapted by Pueros

This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY

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Herewith are the next chapters of the saga of Marius, son of the traitor, Sejanus. The original story was by Zelamir but, with the author's permission, has been adapted and rewritten for Nialos by Pueros.

The rewrite conforms to Pueros' own style and the text has been substantially expanded, with significant additions and changes also made to subplots. For example, recent chapters, including these episodes, are all the work of the adapter. However, the main thread of Zelamir's original story has been maintained, namely what ultimately happens to young Marius.

Pueros hopes that his rewrite does Zelamir's original story justice!
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For 'John Sheraton'

Chapter XCII

'I won't scream,' the naked Marius thought to himself, 'I won't. Instead, I'll show Drusus...'

Marius' thoughts would undoubtedly have led on to hoping that he could show Drusus how brave he was. However, his mental processes suddenly froze when he felt searing heat approach his smooth and cute but currently highly vulnerable uplifted bare bottom.

Marius later believed that he might have subsequently reacted better if the Praetorian officer had now branded his bottom without delay. However, the man unfortunately did not do so, although his tormenting hovering of the searing hot iron just over the boy's flesh was not entirely deliberate mental torture.

The Praetorian officer sadistically enjoyed the occupational perk of branding the smooth cute bottoms of pretty boys, of which species he fully appreciated that Marius was a particularly fine example. He did not, of course, realise that his latest young victim was ironically the son of the former commanding Prefect of his regiment of Imperial guards.

The Praetorian officer's cruelty also did extend to delaying the act briefly to allow his young victims to be psychologically tormented by feeling the heat of the iron hovering above their flesh, which would soon mark their rears for life. However, there was an additional practical reason for the momentary dawdling.

The Praetorian officer fully appreciated that he would be in serious trouble with Drusus and perhaps the Emperor, if he ever became aware of the error, should his aim with the red-hot iron, which depicted the Imperial eagle, be inaccurate. Tiberius was a stickler for tidiness and he only liked his boys to display brandmarks on their two buttocks that were correctly upright and centrally positioned.

The Praetorian officer was actually displeased to see that his latest young victim was not currently whimpering cowardly or exhibiting resistance. The enjoyment that the man acquired from the act of branding, which always caused his cock to harden secretly underneath his military tunic, was only enhanced by boys' cries and the punishment he and his soldiers inflicted to overcome opposition.

The Praetorian officer, though, knew how to eradicate Marius' exhibition of bravery. The man achieved his objective by simply accurately pressing his branding iron initially onto the flesh of the boy's left buttock.

Marius' whole world suddenly became a tearing vortex of pure agony and he lost all mental and physical control of himself. Acute excruciation of an unprecedented nature drove his previous resolve to be brave away.

Marius screamed shrilly and his bladder emptied, with the stream of urine, flowing from his suddenly amazingly hard cock, just missing the Praetorian pinning his feet to the ground. Copious tears also began to flow from his tightly closed eyes.

The immense agony, as the red-hot iron etched the Imperial insignia onto the centre of his taughtly drawn left buttock, drove everything else from Marius' mind. He did not even at first register that he was screaming, shrill shriek after shrill shriek being wrenched from his lungs by the all-consuming excruciation.

Such was Marius' suffering that he also did not initially notice that the Praetorian officer had eventually withdrawn his iron from his flesh and returned the implement to the brazier, whilst collecting the other still there. However, when the pain gradually began to relent, the boy did detect the smell of burnt flesh, as well as the return of searing heat, this time hovering just over his right buttock.

The branding process was then repeated, with Marius reacting in a similar manner to his first experience of the activity, apart from urinating because his bladder was now empty.

Chapter XCIII

"Come on boy, stand up," the Praetorian Officer commanded, "as we've your mate still to do!" A booted foot, thudded into Marius' freshly branded and still extremely sore right buttock, reinforced the man's order.

The naked, tearful and groaning Marius only now realised, amidst his acute mental distress and agony, that his hands and feet had been released from the grip of the Praetorians, their work in respect of the latest victim of the cruel branding irons having been concluded. Despite an urge just to remain where he was whilst his excruciation receded, the boy somehow, whilst attempting to stifle his tears and sobbing, managed to react to the officer's command by standing and staggering away from the table across which he had been stretched.

As Marius staggered away, a feeling of acute shame added to his mental and physical agony. The boy believed that, despite his earlier good intent, he had ended up thoroughly disgracing himself by cowardly screaming, crying and emptying his bladder.

The realisation that his cock, although now quickly returning to flaccidity, had somehow simultaneously debasingly hardened, only added to Marius' sense of acute shame. The boy had hoped to impress Drusus but the man would surely now judge that he was no different from any other miserable little slave brat.

As Marius staggered away and, despite the intensity of the pain afflicting his buttocks, some of his senses began to return to some semblance of normality. His ears consequently heard from the nearby quayside shouts and the sound of wooden cudgels thumping down across bare shoulders, as the overseers urged the slave gang into action.

Appreciative of the fact that he should not go too far away from the Praetorians until they handed him over to someone else, Marius now stopped and momentarily stood trembling, with his head bowed in shame. Subsequently, after blinking back his tears, he eventually forced himself to look towards where Drusus had been. He dreaded but expected to see on the man's face an expression of disgust in reaction to his cowardly weakness.

In fact, Marius did not espy such an expression because he now discovered that Drusus had disappeared, presumably up the steep path that ultimately led to the Imperial villa far above. Perhaps, the boy hoped, the man had left before the branding irons had first been applied to his young buttocks.

Marius sincerely hoped so. However, he was also realistic enough to appreciate that Drusus had more likely walked off, disgusted by the sight of the boy cowardly screaming, crying and emptying his bladder.

As a result of this notion, Marius momentarily remained motionless, whilst continuing to stare through damp eyes at the now empty spot where Drusus had recently stood. Feeling utterly ashamed and humiliated, further copious tears then began again to flow down his normally exceptionally pretty face.

Yet, had Marius been able to view himself dispassionately, he would surely have realised that the very depth of the mortification that he was experiencing showed that his spirit had not been totally crushed. A slaveboy, when he was fully broken, does not feel shame.

Marius was next suddenly aroused from his own misery by the sounds of Quintus screaming. He now saw that Glaucus was dragging the naked boy to where the Praetorian guardsmen stood.

Quintus, panic stricken, was struggling desperately. The boy was throwing his nude body about in an effort to shake off Glaucus' firm grip and was driving his bare heels into the local quayside paving in a vain attempt to halt progress and escape the inevitable.

"Well, friend, you appear to be having a few problems with that brat," the Praetorian officer called out whilst laughing. "Yes," the struggling Glaucus agreed with a scowl, "he's a right little trouble maker!"

"Come on, curse you!" Glaucus subsequently shouted at Quintus, whilst jerking savagely on his arm. However, the terrified boy screeched hysterically and buried his teeth into the back of the man's hand.

Glaucus swore loudly in anguish and released his hold. Quintus made use of the opportunity to dart off along the quayside towards the steep path up the cliff.

Glaucus did not follow but stood cursing furiously, whilst shaking his wounded hand from which blood poured. The still laughing Praetorian officer instead ordered his own men to pursue the boy.

One of the overseers supervising the gang of slaves, who were currently unloading the recently moored ship, also noticed what had occurred and moved to block the path up the cliff. Quintus was therefore compelled to check and turn but he had nowhere else to go.

Consequently, the pursuing Praetorians, who were hallooing cheerfully as a sign that they were obviously enjoying their sport, soon had Quintus cornered. They subsequently managed to grab him with military proficiency and hauled back towards their waiting officer, after first kicking the boy's balls to pacify him.

"You're a bit too ready to run away, brat," suggested the now sinisterly smiling Praetorian officer after Quintus was eventually brought before him, "and it's an affliction that we'll have to cure!" However, the boy was at first barely able to appreciate the man's words, as he was still suffering the after-effects of the kick to his balls.

Quintus' awareness, though, was subsequently rapidly revived when the Praetorian officer produced a meat cleaver, which he held before the appalled boy's eyes before announcing "This is the cure, brat!

Chapter XCIV

"Please, Lord...M...Master, please d...don't h...harm me, as I w...won't r...run off again," Quintus pleaded, his voice shrill with horror at the sight of the meat cleaver. "But, brat," the Praetorian officer retorted, "you don't yet know how I'm going to use the implement to cure you of your nasty habit!" The man's reply was, of course, correct but the boy, firmly restrained by the two soldiers, did not need an answer to appreciate that the remedy was unlikely to be pleasant.

Nevertheless, the Praetorian officer gave Quintus the unwanted details of the planned cure. "I'm going to use the cleaver," the man declared, "to sever your big toes at the first joint. I'll then cauterise the wounds with a branding iron before using the same implements to burn your bum with the Emperor's mark!"

"You'll subsequently find," the cruel Praetorian officer sniggered, "that it's hard to run at all without your big toes intact, let alone run away." The man then knelt to one side of Quintus, firmly grabbed the boy's right ankle to keep the relevant young foot still and raised his cleaver in readiness to commit the first part of the threatened deed.

In reaction, Quintus' bladder suddenly decided that now was its time to empty.

Chapter XCV

Quintus instinctively screamed as he saw the cleaver, glistening in the bright sunlight, flash downwards towards his right foot, kept firmly motionless by the Praetorian officer's strong hold on his ankle. The boy also closed his eyes tightly, being unwilling to witness the implement's work, and waited for the agony to sear through his body.

The relevant excruciation, however, did not strike and so Quintus gingerly reopened his eyes to attempt to discover why not. The boy subsequently saw the wickedly grinning Praetorian officer releasing his ankle to stand in front of him, with his meat cleaver, still free of blood, in his hand.

"I changed my mind," the Praetorian officer lied by way of explanation. "I decided instead to make this an example of what will happen if you try to run away again whilst on this island," the man added.

In fact, the Praetorian officer appreciated that he had no authority at all to inflict such a punishment without the approval of the Emperor, for whose service Quintus was destined. The man had instead just deliberately petrified the boy for two reasons.

First, the Praetorian officer hoped to scare Quintus into being more quiescent and compliant. Second, the method of trying to do pleased the man's sadistic nature.

The first aim proved to be fulfilled when Quintus next advanced quietly and obediently to the nearby table and allowed himself to be stretched across the furniture in readiness for the branding of his buttocks. The second objective was further satisfied when the Praetorian officer again subsequently happily accurately wielded the red hot irons to mark one of the Emperor Tiberius' new boys with the Imperial insignia.

Later, the two boys concerned, namely Marius and Quintus with their very sore bottoms, were led by the Praetorians and Glaucus up the steep path towards their new home, the cliff-top Imperial villa, the rumoured setting for much extreme debauchery.

Chapter XCVI

All large organisations have set procedures and supporting bureaucracies to perform them. Tiberius' large palatial retreat on Capri was no exception and the Imperial slave charged with first receiving new boys into the Emperor's service on the island was named Sisyphus.

Accordingly, the Praetorians and Glaucus took Marius and Quintus to Sisyphus' office within the Imperial complex. Having completed their duties in respect of the two latest new boys, the soldiers left them there with the two adult slaves, although they did not intend to return immediately to their quayside posts. They instead first visited some colleagues, charged with guarding the villa but currently off-duty.

The Praetorians anticipated sharing some jugs of wine with their off-duty colleagues, as well as some of the Emperor's spare catamites, who were invariably made readily available to satisfy military lusts whenever desired. After all, manly thirsts and libidos, recently boosted by the branding of two very pretty young boys, needed quenching.

The Praetorians also anticipated again seeing Marius and Quintus sometime if they survived their early months on Capri. After the boys were no longer considered new and fresh, they would probably at times be considered spare to immediate requirements and made available for use by the soldiers and other loyal Imperial servants on the island.

Sisyphus glanced at the two young naked boys now standing in front of his desk, with Glaucus just behind them. He noticed with distaste that the new nude young arrivals, who obediently kept their arms at their sides, having previously learned the hard way that attempting to shield their genitals from view was not recommended, exhibited clear signs of receiving recent severe beatings.

Sisyphus was not against physically chastising boys who had committed misdemeanours and so deserved punishment. After all, discipline had to be maintained, especially in the service of the Emperor. However, he was also aware, from past personal experience as both victim and witness, that too many young slaves were beaten or otherwise suffered severely for little or no reason and, being essentially a kindly man, he had great sympathy for them.

Nevertheless, Sisyphus also had his Imperial function to perform and in the service of an immensely perverse and sadistic Emperor could not afford as a slave himself to allow his sympathies to jeopardise him. He therefore carefully hid his compassion behind an outward façade of proficient officialdom and personal indifference to the boys who passed through his office.

Sisyphus now had another reason to demonstrate proficient officialdom. He had never liked Titus' slave, Glaucus, whom he considered to be a rather nasty character, and so wanted to conclude the present meeting as speedily as possible.

Sisyphus was sitting with his back to a window that overlooked the sea far below. He now scrabbled amongst a jumble of scrolls that littered the top of his desk, found a wax tablet and stylus and raised his eyes again to look at Glaucus and the boys in his company.

As usual, Sisyphus attempted to display outward disinterest in the newcomers, instead exhibiting every sign of wanting to do his duty and dismiss them from his presence as quickly as possible. Unlike virtually every other adult in Imperial service on Capri, he never showed any sexual interest in the Emperor's catamites and definitely never took advantage of the easy access of some of them to indulge his lusts.

In an age when bisexual pederasty was common, Sisyphus' attitude was considered unusual amongst his colleagues, given the ready availability on Capri of some especially gorgeous boys who were specifically trained to satisfy the most perverse lusts. Many wondered whether he was just so completely heterosexual that he could not be tempted by such splendid specimens or, more likely in most opinions because he had never been known to be associated with any woman either, simply but strangely not interested in sex at all.

In actuality, Sisyphus was homosexual and strongly attracted to pretty boys. However, after his own experiences when young, he could not bring himself to take advantage of any of the catamites in Imperial service on Capri.

Sisyphus secretly yearned for sex with a boy but only if freely offered in love. Given that he considered that the latter situation would never arise, he instead indulged his passions furtively using his own right hand.

Sisyphus generally feigned his outward indifference towards the boys who passed through his office with well-practised efficiency. However, on glancing up again to look at the latest arrivals, the sight somehow caused his normal façade to slip a little.

Despite the temporary blemishes of the bruises created by their recent severe beatings, Sisyphus suddenly judged with furtive admiration that the latest two boys in his office were particularly beautiful. Of course, only very pretty specimens were offered to the Emperor as catamites but the newest arrivals were in his opinion exceptional. His cock, safely hidden under his clothing and desk, hardened in agreement and his mouth dried.

Marius' head was respectfully bowed, although he now stole a surreptitious upward glance. He had then himself seen a slight middle-aged balding man, wearing a clean but somewhat threadbare tunic and displaying a somewhat complex expression on his face.

The complexity of this expression resulted from Sisyphus attempting as usual to exhibit disinterest in the boys whilst in reality his thoughts were completely the opposite. However, he somehow rapidly recovered his composure.

Sisyphus straightened his face to try to exhibit some apparent boredom and coughed to eradicate the sudden dryness in his throat in readiness to speak. However, he was a little late to disguise his real emotions from the young but maturely astute Marius.

Marius' mental processes had returned to normal, despite the continued physical anguish caused by his freshly branded bottom. From the original expression on Sisyphus' face, he somehow instinctively instantly knew that the Imperial slave sitting at the desk was someone whom he not only need not fear but also might sometime cultivate to become a friend. The boy had detected both inherent kindliness in the man and sexual interest towards him and Quintus.

After his time in the House of Ganymede, Marius was no longer too ashamed or reluctant to use his undoubted attractions to pederasts to better his existence. Having apparently lost his pride, he now considered that he had no assets other than his boyish beauty to offer in return for an easier life. This assumption was actually wrong because he also possessed other attributes, such as a bright mind, agile body and considerable bravery, which, as this story will eventually reveal, would be equally as important in his destiny.

"Particulars?" Sisyphus asked brusquely of Glaucus in respect of the new boys. He had managed to recover his composure sufficiently to be able to convey this question in his usual verbal business-like manner, which was in stark contrast to the untidy confusion both on his desk and in his mind.

Glaucus, being as equally happy to offload Marius and Quintus into someone else's care as the Praetorians had been, and for similar reasons, answered concisely, whilst pointing at Marius. "This one's called Cycnus," he announced, whilst referring to the name given to the child in the House of Ganymede, "and he's been brought here from a high-class boy brothel by Lord Drusus as an entertainment gift for the Emperor. As well as being experienced whore, he apparently performs dangerous gymnastics over red-hot coals."

"This," Glaucus continued, whilst, instead of simply pointing, cuffing the relevant boy on the side of the head, causing his young victim to sway sideways, "is called Quintus. He's of Patrician background and has been brought here by my Master Titus to be one of the Emperor's upper-class little fishes."

By 'little fishes', Glaucus was, of course, referring to the boys who attended and entertained the Emperor when he relaxed in the villa's pool. Amongst their duties was occasionally to swim to Tiberius' submerged groin to perform underwater fellatio.

"He's a troublesome little brat," Glaucus added, "and needs watching carefully. He's attempted to run away twice and he's been beaten as punishment and threatened with the loss of his big toes if he tries again!"

As Glaucus said these words, he simultaneously surreptitiously winked at Sisyphus in order to confirm that he was aware that the threat of losing his big toes was just that and nothing more, being designed to frighten Quintus into compliance to his fate. Both men were aware that the Emperor did not like damaged goods.

Glaucus subsequently hit Quintus on the head once more to confirm his annoyance at the boy, whilst Sisyphus commented "I see that the boy's beating was comprehensive." The Imperial slave's job was hard for a kindly man. Children were regularly brought before him, often very frightened, bruised and dirty, to be recorded as the new property of his master, the Emperor. All too often he would afterwards receive, perhaps within a few days, instructions to remove the name from the register.

For such reasons, Sisyphus disliked his job. However, being a slave himself, he had had no choice but to accept the role when he had been assigned.

Sisyphus again scrutinised the two small cowering but, despite their bruises and current haggard appearance, clearly essentially extremely attractive figures in front of him and wondered gloomily how long they would last in the service of the cruel Emperor. He judged that the boy with the golden hair looked quite hardy, with a healthy build. He could perceive that he had probably learnt the necessary skills to survive as a young slave and could understand how he would be a good gymnast.

The other boy, though, the one with darker features, was a much softer looking little creature and was clearly more frightened about his current circumstance, which, unlike for the other child, was far changed from what he had previously experienced as a young Patrician. Sisyphus could imagine the helpless confusion and terror that he was experiencing, as he was degraded and forced into a life of prostitution and probably pain and sorrow.

Sisyphus could identify this boy's current mental condition from the way he stood, with his shoulders slumped, and the expression on his pale and presently grubby face, which exhibited obvious fatigue and fear. He instinctively wanted to draw this particular naked child into his arms, to kiss his soft sweet rosy lips and to tell the poor terrified creature that his nightmare was over.

Sisyphus always felt secret pity for the boys who passed through his office but for this one he somehow experienced more. There was an innocence and helplessness about the child that seemingly cried out for him to offer assistance and comfort. However, he was also fully aware that he could not give such succour.

Sisyphus instead could only process the boy into the Emperor's service, where, like with the others, he would need good fortune to survive. The Imperial slave appreciated that staying alive was a matter of chance and needed luck.

Much would depend on the mood of the Emperor when he encountered the boy, and how the child reacted to the circumstances in which he found himself. If Tiberius was in a good temper and the new catamite proved attractive to him, he could be favoured and pampered for a while.

Unfortunately, however, the evidence of the register maintained by Sisyphus suggested that his Imperial master was becoming increasingly fickle, sadistic and bad tempered. Even previously favoured boys could experience his sudden wrath over very minor issues, sometimes fatally.

Even adult Imperial slaves such as Sisyphus himself felt obliged to remain as anonymous as possible as far as the Emperor was concerned. Their main aim was generally to maintain very low profiles until his death, when custom dictated that they would be granted their freedom. However, all knew that Tiberius would consider any such thoughts about their futures on his demise to be treasonable, even though, given his advanced age, the event surely could not be too far distant.

Sisyphus had long since decided that he must just keep on doing his work in as quiet and efficient way as possible. Meanwhile, he would keep himself to himself and not become involved in any of the sordid goings-on taking place around him, or in any intrigues or even mere exchanges of gossip. He hoped that by maintaining such a low profile and avoiding upsetting any of his superiors, especially the Emperor, he would survive to gain his freedom.

As part of this policy, Sisyphus decided, despite his instinctive urge to comfort Quintus, to conclude his current chore as soon as possible. He therefore asked of Glaucus, whilst pointing his stylus at Marius, "Age, date and place of birth and name and status of parents?"

"I've no idea," Glaucus smirkingly replied in a dismissive tone. "Is such information really necessary," he added, "as I don't expect that the brat even knows the answers? He's probably just the son of slaves or is an unwanted bastard, sired by some master on a slave-woman."

Despite Marius' recent acceptance of his drastic change of circumstances, he immediately felt enticed to dispute Glaucus' insulting suggestions. The boy's pride had somehow been spurred by the man's comments to reappear from the depths of his young soul, to where his self-esteem had earlier fled to avoid being hurt by the many degradations to which he had been subject.

Marius was lured towards revealing that he was not the son of slaves or the unwanted bastard offspring of some callous master. The boy was tempted instead to announce that he was the child of Lucius Aelius Sejanus, of proud Patrician status and for 17 years Praetorian Prefect. However, sudden recall of his raped and murdered brother and sister quickly quashed such folly and he remained silent.

"The register that I'm charged with maintaining," Sisyphus responded to Glaucus, "requires such information. You wouldn't want to be the cause of incomplete record-keeping would you, as such shoddy work might seriously displease others of higher status than me?"

Sisyphus' response instantly wiped the smirk from Glaucus' ugly face and instead encouraged him to acquire the data asked for by the Imperial slave. He did so by now slapping Marius' head and instructing the boy to "Give the man the information he needs, brat!"

Marius did so but not, of course, with full truth. He gave his age correctly as being twelve but followed Crastus' fictional precedent in lying about his background.

"I believe, Sir, that I'm the offspring of unknown Roman citizens," Marius lied, "who fell on hard times and sold me into slavery on a rural estate, where I became a companion of the master's son. I was therefore educated with him."

"Do you mean that you're literate and numerate?" an amazed Sisyphus interrupted to ask, incredulous that a former boy prostitute could have such skills. "Yes, Sir," Marius answered, "and such education also explains my accent and grammar."

Marius was keen to pass on this information so that Sisyphus did not dangerously delve further into why he had such refined diction. Fortunately, the Imperial slave nodded in response, apparently satisfied at the explanation for a young slaveboy's unusual attributes.

The relieved Marius therefore continued with his lies. "My precise place and date of birth are also unknown, Sir," he suggested in order to assist further his desire not to be identified, "but the time was rumoured to have been sometime during the early autumn twelve years ago."

"Hmmm, twelve, early autumn of the year DCCLXXIII after the foundation of the city of Rome...unknown...unknown...Roman citizens," Sisyphus remarked to himself, as he wrote down Marius' answers regarding respectively his age, date and place of birth and name and status of parents. The Imperial slave had already entered the new arrival's name as 'Cycnus' as reported by Glaucus, and the boy was happy to be continued to be known by this pseudonym in order further to protect his true identity.

Sisyphus subsequently acquired similar data from Quintus. During this process, which was clearly mentally painful for the boy, he had been unable to prevent his eyebrows from rising in surprise on hearing details of the child's noble parentage.

Despite having now lived on Capri in the service of Emperor for several years, Sisyphus was aware from his time in Rome of the Patrician family concerned. He was truly shocked that their circumstances had become so desperate that they had given up one of their sons to be an Imperial catamite.

Having obtained the information required for his register, or, in respect of the boy with the golden hair as much as was possible to secure, Sisyphus gladly dismissed Glaucus. The latter was equally happy to depart.

After Glaucus had left, Sisyphus waited, as the sound of the man's footsteps receded down the outside corridor. He then looked again at the two grimy and obviously apprehensive naked boys standing side by side, with their heads bowed and shoulders stooped. In his opinion, the pair, especially Quintus, epitomised utter dejection and, remembering his own time as a child slave, were also probably very hungry. At least, he thought, he could do something about that situation and about their grubbiness.

Sisyphus had never previously personally done what he now proceeded to perpetrate. However, his strange concern for Quintus in particular stirred him into unprecedented action.

"Stay here," Sisyphus ordered the two boys and hurried from the room. Marius and Quintus subsequently looked at each other, with the pair independently contemplating making use of the opportunity of being left alone to try to escape. However, the bright minds of both boys soon concluded that any such attempt, on a small secluded island like Capri, infested by Praetorians guarding the Emperor, would undoubtedly prove not only futile but also highly precarious if not fatal to their health.

On both realising this truism independently in their minds, the boys, instead of fleeing the scene, just smiled briefly at each other before, as their thoughts returned again towards their uncertain futures, their expressions resumed being rather morose and their eyes once more contemplated their own toes. Their current lack of spirit was not helped by the continued soreness still afflicting their freshly branded bottoms, which, although finally thankfully dulling, remained painful.

Sisyphus returned a few minutes later carrying a large earthenware bowl filled with bean stew. He contentedly noticed that the two boys were still obediently standing where he had left them.

The boys glanced up at Sisyphus as he re-entered the room and their hungry eyes immediately fastened on the steaming bowl in his hands. The Imperial slave felt their eager gaze on him, as he walked over to his chair and sat down, simultaneously clearing some space on the top of his desk on which to place the dish.

Sisyphus subsequently pushed the bowl to the other edge of his desk and suggested "Well, eat it then and quickly." The famished boys needed no second invitation and were soon shovelling the warm and nourishing stew into their mouths with their cupped hands.

As Sisyphus simultaneously watched, he reflected that his suggestion to the two boys to be quick had been unnecessary. He also perceptively noticed that, as he had anticipated, the child with the golden hair, Cycnus, was surely going to consume the majority of the food, so fast and furious was his shovelling of the fare.

Sisyphus, however, realised that the boy was not necessarily being greedy. The child was clearly more accustomed to servile status and was therefore just making best use of the moment to fill his belly, probably knowing from experience that such attitudes improved his prospects of survival as a slave, whose next meal was uncertain.

Quintus, on the other hand, being new to the status of slave and given his Patrician background, would not be accustomed to fighting for survival. The darker-featured boy would also undoubtedly possess a residual of good table manners as befitted someone of previous noble status and so would not yet race to consume most food.

Having somehow accrued considerable secret concern for the future welfare of Quintus in particular, Sisyphus decided that he would intervene to ensure that he received his equal share of the stew in the bowl. However, being a fair man, he also determined not to do so until Cycnus had consumed his half, which he was about to do.

Sisyphus was subsequently about to command the boy, whom he knew as Cycnus, to cease eating when the relevant point had been attained. However, to his immense surprise, before he could do so Marius stood back on his own initiative, away from the bowl and whilst wiping his mouth clean with the back of his hand. He then remained in this position, watching quietly until Quintus had cleared the residual food.

Sisyphus knew that the boy with the golden hair remained hungry from the way in which he watched with envy Quintus clearing the bowl. However, he still remained selflessly motionless, seemingly wanting the other child to have equal shares as much as the observing Imperial slave had done.

The amazed Sisyphus did not comment in reaction. However, he did think to himself that he might be advised to ensure that the two boys, who would imminently be heading for different duties, subsequently remained apart.

Sisyphus knew from experience that close friendships between boys in their circumstances could be deep and passionate. They could therefore easily give rise to problems through divided loyalties.

Only one loyalty was allowed on Capri and that was to be the Emperor.