White Collar Roman Slavefic AU Part Three
Part Three
Peter looked at his small gaggle of clients and chose one at random. They had all been slaves of his whom he had freed, or they were businessmen who had borrowed from him, or sons of friends, or ex-soldiers from the Second.
“Blake - you’ve always wanted to rise in the ranks!” Peter smiled and slipped off his broad-striped clothes, handing them to his minion.
“Yes Boss!” Blake stepped forward happily and took the money and clothes offered by his Patron, offering his own good-quality but plebeian clothes in exchange.
“What are you going to do?” Jones asked querulously.
Peter had a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his face as he said, “I’m going to meet with an old friend.” Then he started handing out instructions.
The brothel was even worse than Peter had expected. It cost a fortune, the plaster was peeling from the walls, the wine was so awful even Peter could tell, and there was musty smell of sweat and despair about the place that was not covered by the sweet, sickly perfume.
It took some time and Peter had to see a few pretty boys, who primped and preened in front of him, before he was finally shown to Neal’s room. Normally, he gathered, the boys were brought out to meet and entice the client, but once Peter was in Neal’s room, it was clear why this hadn’t happened this time. A long, thin but strong chain was attached to the wall and Neal’s ankle.
“You!” Neal started in surprise, getting up slowly from the filthy bed.
“Me!” Peter agreed with a smile.
Neal looked disappointed, but he came forward with a plastered-on smile and held out his hands to begin the session. “How I please Master?” he asked in appallingly accented Latin.
“You can cut that out for a start” Peter cried out in British, stepping backwards. “Sit down and relax. I’m not here for that. I came to talk.”
“Talk?” Neal was surprised. “Not even your man wanted to talk!”
“Jones? No, he’s not talkative and his British isn’t as good as mine. Runs more to ‘another beer please’ rather than intense philosophical discussion.”
“He let me sleep!” Neal said wistfully.
“I’m going to have a look at you,” Peter announced and wasn’t surprised when Neal winced a little, although he tried to cover it. “Don’t panic. I’m here to help. Now, I gather the ankle chain isn’t normal, so you’ve tried to run away.”
“Yes, but they caught me,” Neal shrugged as though it didn’t matter, although it clearly did.
“Why did you run? You must know that Walker has men everywhere ready to catch you!” Peter admonished.
“I had to get away - you wouldn’t understand,” Neal glowered.
“Ah... girlfriend?” Peter guessed and was amused by Neal’s surprise. “I made all my clients spy on my wife before I asked for her hand in case she was interested in someone else!” He confided.
“Romantic!” Neal teased. “Kate... she’s special.” Neal saw Peter’s face go carefully blank, and carried on, “Oh, no, not like that! She’s... she’s like my sister!”
“Your partner in crime?”
Neal grinned beatifically, dimples flashing, “Yeah!”
“So you ran away to find her?” Neal nodded, “and?”
“She’s gone. I know she’s free, but... someone’s got her. She’s in danger,” Neal told Peter with some agitation.
“Neal, I’m going to buy you. I tried directly, but Walker denied me just because he can, so I’ll try another way. I am a Senator and I will do all I can to help you find your Kate. Who is she?”
“Trader like me,” Neal said with a shy smile.
“But not an ‘honest’ trader?” Peter guessed. “You pretended to be a trader... when I was stationed in Britain, there were many Celts who sold artefacts to Romans, pretending that they had belonged to Boudicca - I bet you were one of those!”
Neal grinned, “Romans are so obsessed with history because they don’t have as much of it as the Greeks. Dress up a few coins or dust up some jewellery and then tell them that ‘Boudicca awarded it to me!’ and they’ll buy anything!”
“Why? Why risk everything like that?” Peter asked.
“I have never been the warrior type, so I had to make my own way in life. I’m too pretty though,” Neal admitted sadly, “People always want to own me, and when they can’t, they try to ruin me. That’s why I’m here.” Neal pulled frustratedly at the chain and then winced again.
“Predicament you can’t talk your way out of, huh?” Peter guessed. He pulled back Neal’s flimsy clothing and saw the truth on his new friend’s back. There were plenty of recent marks of beating and whipping and Peter couldn’t help pulling Neal into his arms, offering him clumsy comfort.
Neal clung at the warmth being offered and allowed himself a brief fantasy of belonging to this man.
“Tell me the truth, Neal. What has been done to you?”
“Oh, everything!” Neal said off-handedly.
“Your back tells me that you have been whipped many times. By clients?”
“Yeah, for fun. And by the Master here, for running and when I didn’t perform well,” Neal admitted, no longer bothering to fight. There was something about Peter that made Neal instinctively want to own up to the truth.
“You have been beaten too,” Peter stated, seeing the bruises on his torso and pretty much everywhere but the slave’s face and limbs. “And restrained,” he continued examining the bruises around Neal’s wrists and ankles.
“Yeah,” Neal agreed, “You Romans are sick!”
“Yeah, ‘cos it would never happen in Britain!” Peter commented sarcastically. “I’m trying to work out how best to help you, Neal.”
“Just... just get me out of here!” Neal was close to begging, but he controlled himself and made his expression return to ‘blank’ and ‘charming’. “Please?”
“I will own you, Neal,” Peter warned. “You will be my slave, but... how old are you?”
“Twenty-six!” Neal admitted, “Why?”
“Then I will own you for four years. The law says that in four years time I can free you. During that time you will work for me and I will do all I can to help you to find Kate,” Peter assured him. “I will not allow anything like this to happen to you again and you will be safe. Can you stay with me?”
Neal was quiet for a long moment. “I... I can’t promise not to try to run away... but I promise I won’t lie to you, I will be loyal to you, but I will look for Kate.”
Peter nodded. “I have work to do and questions to ask you...” He looked quizzically at the slave, “Why did you go back and help that guy in the water? The day we met?”
Neal thought back and then lowered his eyes as he remembered.
“What if he couldn’t swim? Those boats are dangerous, they bash against the quay and... I couldn’t let him die because of me.”
“You could have got away, but you went back to help one of your pursuers. That’s why I like you, Neal,” Peter told him. “Now, tell me about this place and where the secrets are kept.”
Neal grimaced, and then he grinned cheekily, “But surely we can have some fun first? You are attracted to me, aren’t you?”
Oh Gods, yes! Peter was attracted, but he pushed Neal away and said, “Talk!”
Part Four