A Slave Girl's Story

When Timon woke, I was propped on one elbow watching him. "I must prepare your morning meal. And if a visitor should come, they would not expect to find us -"

He nodded, and I slid from the bed and walked through the arch into the kitchen. Amsi had sent a slave at first light with more food, and I coaxed the fire under the oven into life, sliding a tray of pastries in to warm. When I returned to Timon, he was sitting on one of the couches, already dressed, and I joined him to eat, pouring fruit juice for us to drink. "There is wine still for tonight," I observed.

"I have my audience with Pharaoh," he confided. "But afterwards..."

I smiled, leaning over to rest my head against his shoulder, and he slid his arm around me. Moments later I sat bolt upright at the sound of a repeated handclap. "Someone is here."

"What is the protocol?" Timon queried.

"I will go to see who it is, then they will enter - I will walk behind, or whatever is appropriate to the rank of the visitor."

I got up and walked to the top of the steps, then hurriedly dropped to the floor with my face pressed to the ground. "My lady."

The visitor walked past me, and I turned, following on knees and elbows. Timon was standing, feet slightly apart like a soldier at ease, and he gave a deep bow, then straightened. "Rome greets you, my lady. By what name or title may I serve you?"

Her face registered obvious approval. "I am Menesamun, High Priestess of the Goddess Isis."

Timon bowed again. "A worthy Mistress indeed, whom my people reverence in her aspect as Minerva."

He indicated one of the couches. "Will my lady sit, to explain what service may be offered to the Goddess?"

I had returned to my feet, standing at a distance with my hands folded, my head bowed. Menesamun glanced at me, shaking her head, and Timon hastened to reassure her. "My lady need not be concerned. The girl is sworn to me, and has given most solemn proofs. You may test her yourself if you wish."

"Very well," nodded the priestess. "All here know that you represent your Emperor to Pharaoh. But there is much you will need to understand - conspiracy, secrets within secrets."

She glanced at me again. "More than this - the gods themselves are at work, and those of us who serve them must use our powers accordingly."

For the first time since I'd known him, I sensed that Timon was unsure how to respond. A soldier he was, certainly, with no lack of courage, but magic was something different entirely. I wished I could have anticipated this, given him some idea of how things worked here, but...

Menesamun smiled wryly at Timon's inadequately-concealed expression. "Do not worry. You must do what you know, and in the arena of Maat, I will tell you what is necessary."

She raised one eyebrow, so briefly that I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me. "What I ask of you, you will not find difficult."

Timon seemed to be mesmerised as she loosened the belt of her robe, then let it fall open, revealing creamy skin, heavy breasts with dark-ringed nipples. "Must I make it any more obvious?" she queried.

He glanced towards the bed, and I felt a now-familiar thrill as I knew he was thinking of the passion he and I had shared the previous night. Menesamun shook her head. "The couch will meet our needs."

She lay back, one leg outstretched, her other foot resting on the floor, parting her thighs. "Tell me, Roman, does a man from your country know how to worship a woman with his tongue?"

I wondered what she meant, but Timon didn't hesitate, sinking to his knees before her. She nodded approvingly as he bent his head between her thighs, then relaxed, leaning her head back on the armrest.

I watched in half-shocked fascination as his tongue began to touch her most intimate place, and I felt an echo in my own body, wondering how it would feel to have Timon between my thighs, his tonguetip exploring...

Menesamun's face betrayed her increasing pleasure, but also an ecstasy more than physical, and she stretched out her arms, the names of the gods on her moist lips. I felt the strangeness of magic begin to pervade the room, and almost unconsciously I moved my hands in response, lifting the hem of my garment and letting my fingers start to touch the place between my thighs...

My own pleasure distracted me, but in some corner of my mind I was aware that Menesamun's utterances were becoming less coherent, until she gasped aloud. "Oh - oh - it comes -" she managed, then her hips surged upwards, her thighs clenching around Timon's neck.

She relaxed, letting her thighs part again, and I heard her whispered instruction to Timon. "Enter me."

He hesitated briefly. "My lady - I have already in this last few hours known a woman's body, and have performed no cleansing rite..."

Menesamun chuckled softly. "No matter. In this, all women are one, so I am only accepting that which is myself. Come."

He obeyed, covering her body with his own, and she breathed out slowly. "The joining takes place."

The sense of otherworldliness intensified, and as I continued to touch myself, I was unsurprised to see the sun in the sky seem to visibly move towards its zenith, then past, the shadows in the room lengthening. The couple on the couch seemed eternally joined, and I felt a stir of surprise as Menesamun whispered in Timon's ear and he responded by moving more urgently in her. A smile slowly spread itself across Menesamun's face, and her breath now came in soft gasps with each thrust. Again she whispered to Timon, then her arms stretched out, her head tilted back, and finally he yielded to his climax, thrusting urgently once, then again and again. She must have felt him release into her, and she cried out as any woman would, her hips shuddering. "Oh - oh - yessss..."

Her pleasure seemed to resonate, somehow to echo in my own body, and for a moment I felt a flash of jealousy, that she had taken from him - at least for a short while - what I might have hoped he would give me.

After a few moments Timon slid his body off hers, and she raised herself gracefully to her feet, closing her robe, securing the belt. "You have done well," she acknowledged. "The power our joining has generated, will be of great use, and I promise that you also will have the benefit of it."

She turned to leave, looking over her shoulder. "I will be present at your audience with Pharaoh. But give no sign of this." And then she was gone.

Timon took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair, looking at me. He got quickly to his feet and walked to the bathing pool, submerging himself fully in the warm water. When he surfaced, I was sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling my legs in the water. "The ways of the gods are strange," I observed.

He nodded, then closed his eyes, swaying slightly as though he was dizzy. When he glanced at me again, there was a look in his eyes, almost frightening in its intensity, and for a moment I felt the urge to flee. But his gaze held me, and I sat unmoving as he approached, pulling himself out of the water next to me. "Come with me," a voice - his, but somehow strange - urged me, and I complied, taking his hand and letting him lead me toward the bed. His fingers pulled at my garment, lifting it to press his face against my breasts, then he pushed his knee between my thighs, forcing them apart even more quickly than I could yield to him. My surprise turned to desire, quickly satisfied as his hardness entered me. He began to move insistently in me, blinking as though unable to focus on my face, and I felt again the strangeness of magic in the room even without the presence of Menesamun. This time, though, there was no timeless interval, and after only a few moments his face contorted as it had done the previous night, a loud groan tearing itself from his lips. I yielded to my own delight, feeling him spurting his warmth into me as though his release into the priestess had never happened, and I forgot all thoughts of jealousy - she had not robbed me, after all.

He sank onto my chest, breathing heavily, and I stroked his hair. "Has she bewitched you?" I murmured contentedly. "It is an enchantment for which women would pay a high price."

Timon's dazed, distant expression began to clear, replaced by his usual decisive look. He shook his head, obviously weighing the claims of magic against his own more rational standards, and his next words were a mystery. "She used her own body to drug me."

He sat up, wrapping his arms around me. "Dearest - I am sorry that her lingering magic overflowed onto you."

I tilted my face up to kiss him hard on the mouth. "As I said, such magic is not unwelcome, if used sparingly."

He nodded thoughtfully. "And if the priestess's promise is kept, we have perhaps gained a powerful ally..."

In the distance there was the regularly-spaced sound of a heavy bell being rung, and I started. "Timon - we must prepare you for your audience."

"But we have all day," he queried.

I looked at him, realising that he had no awareness of the strange distortion of time that I'd seen. "The priestess's enchantment must really have been a powerful one. It is the ninth hour - only three remain until you must appear before Pharaoh."

I got to my feet. "I will bring food - something more substantial than morning pastries."

I fetched food from the kitchen, and Timon ate hungrily. "Now, to get you ready," I urged when he'd finished.

I led him again to the bathing pool, and he submitted to being cleansed, the strigil coming into use this time. I found a cutthroat razor with which to shave him, revelling in the trust he must feel in me to let me so close with what could easily be a lethal weapon in my hand.

Timon's luggage had arrived earlier in the day, borne by two slaves, and I tugged and fussed at the line of his best tunic, finally stepping back, satisfied. "It is well."

There was a minor commotion at the foot of the steps, obviously Amsi arriving to take Timon for his audience, and Timon threw me a nod of farewell, making his way down the stairs. I watched the sedan chairs out of sight, then sat down on the edge of the pool, dangling my legs in the water again. Finally I slipped into the water, washing myself thoroughly then lying back on the reclining shelf. Despite Timon's passionate taking me a few minutes earlier, I still felt the stirring of desire, and I let my fingers slide between my thighs, my other hand starting to squeeze my breasts, roll each nipple in turn between finger and thumb. I moved my fingers more insistently on myself, and after only a few moments, the tension in my muscles turned to delicious release, and I shuddered, the water around me rippling in response...