Brides of Rome: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins (The Vesta Shadows Book 1) by Debra May Macleod

Author:Debra May Macleod [Macleod, Debra May]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Domus Media
Published: 2015-08-05T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI

MILITIAE SPECIES AMOR EST

(LOVE IS A KIND OF WAR)

ROME 36 - 33 BCE

“Juno’s tits,” Livia swore under her breath. Her blood had come yet again. Every month, her cycle was as certain and predictable as the moon’s.

She had been trying to conceive a child with Octavian for nearly three years: after all, Caesar needed a male heir. It used to be that her husband would ask every month, “Are you with child?” But no more. Now he didn’t even bother to ask. Now he knew that his wife’s womb was as barren as salted Carthage.

The slave named Medousa handed her the menstrual wool to absorb her flow and she pushed it between her legs. The cramps were coming so she allowed the slave to wind a heated wrap around her middle before falling back on her bed with a pained groan.

“Medousa, tell me something.”

“Yes, Domina?”

“Has Caesar been taking you more lately?”

“Yes, Domina.”

“Oh. I thought as much.”

Medousa placed a pillow under Livia’s head. The two of them had developed a somewhat unique dynamic over the past couple of years, largely due to the fact that Medousa was still considered the property of the Vestalis Maxima Pomponia.

The ownership issue didn’t really affect day to day life: Medousa was a slave in the house of Caesar and was expected to do anything asked of her, which included satisfying Caesar’s sexual needs; however, it did mean that she often escaped the harsher treatment Livia doled out to other house slaves.

Medousa had discovered early on that Livia was the type of mistress who would beat her slaves halfway to Hades just for the exercise; however, Caesar frowned on such behavior. He often spoke publically against the unnecessary or excessive abuse of slaves.

Nonetheless, Livia was known to shred a back or two when he was away.

Livia yanked a blanket over her legs. “When you are coupling with him,” she asked Medousa, “what does he have you do? Is there anything...unusual? Anything that might surprise me to know about?”

Medousa sat on the edge of the bed. It was an informality that would have had another slave whipped in the courtyard.

“The first time he took me, he believed I was a virgin,” she began. “He had a fantasy that I was Rhea Silvia and he was Mars. Lately, he has been having that fantasy again. I use a blood-soaked sponge and when he penetrates me. I act like it hurts and the blood comes. It seems to give him much pleasure, Domina.”

Livia furrowed her brow, but she wasn’t angry. She was thinking.

“Is it just me, Medousa, or does Caesar at times look at his sister with desire?”

“I have not noticed that, Domina. But he does seem to be drawn to purity and virtue. I think that is why he asks Lady Octavia to dress the way she does. She has so many white stolas in her wardrobe that I sometimes think I’m back at the temple.”

Livia snorted. The slave had a mouth on her, but at least it was a useful mouth.

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