"Four asses," the merchant said while holding out his grimy hand.
"Four?" Consus demanded indignantly.
"Four or clear off," the man said with a glare, a tongue playing at the gap in his teeth, "I'll not have your stink in my shop!"
Consus glared back for a moment and then counted out the four bronze coins all the while shielding the leather pouch and its contents from the man's predatory gaze.
"Here, then!" Consus spat and threw the coins onto the counter, the man sweeping them away in an instant before shoving a half loaf of bread and clay cup of watery wine back.
"It'll be more vinegar than wine," Marcus commented as he followed Consus out of the shop and into the bustle of people crowding the street, "Or piss."
Consus snorted in amusement and bit off a piece of the stale bread before moistening it with a sip of the wine. He tried to hide his grimace, the wine indeed more vinegar than not and quickly swallowed.
"It shouldn't have been more'n two asses!" Consus complained while the two brothers walked along the cobbled street.
"And?" Marcus shot back, "Look around you! The town is filled to bursting with every unwashed sod, illiterate heathen, and backwater rube come to see the games, the merchants can charge what they please!"
"I think he recognized us as a couple of unwashed, illiterate, backwater rubes," Consus complained and washed down another swallow of stale bread and wine, "Where's the damned inn!"
Marcus paused and glanced up and down the crowded street, the whitewashed buildings lining both sides of the street two and in some cases three stories tall.
"It's..." Marcus began before glancing around some more, "It should be that way, towards the Great Sea and to the left."
Marcus began walking again, Consus hurrying to keep up while dodging the people moving in the opposite direction. As confused as he was, he wasn't even sure what direction the ocean lay in and was content to let Marcus lead the way. Marcus took the next left and after two more blocks a right, the foot traffic easing considerably as the street became narrow and shadowed.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Consus asked after several minutes, the few passersby eyeing them suspiciously.
"What, you've a better way?" Marcus snapped.
Consus finished the last of his bread and wine before tossing the clay cup aside, the sound of the cup shattering causing both to jump while Marcus gave him a glare. A few minutes later they came to a small courtyard at the intersection of several alleys, a fountain burbling in a pool of bright daylight as the water cascaded over the brim of a large stone basin. Marcus came to an abrupt halt and then elbowed Consus sharply.
"Look there," Marcus whispered.
Consus glanced towards where Marcus was leering and then did a quick doubletake, three women sitting on the raised stone lip around the pool of the basin talking and laughing amongst themselves. The women's stola were bunched around their waists, chests bared while they dipped sponges into the water of the pool to moisten their necks, breasts, arms and stomachs.
Of the three Consus had eyes for only one, a woman with the blush of youth to her skin, long, gleaming reddish gold hair braided in a crown around her head with a fishtail that hung down to the center of her slim back, high, firm breasts tipped by deep red areolas and nipples with high cheekbones that framed her oval face and upturned button nose.
The woman was Venus made flesh, her slender neck bent as she tilted her head to the side and laughed with her companions, her hand squeezing the sponge in her hand so that sparkling threads of water ran down between her breasts.
"Come on!" Marcus said and elbowed Consus again before stepping out of the shadows of the alley and into the sun.
"Marcus!" Consus hissed.
"Hello ladies!" Marcus called out loudly while walking towards the fountain, "Such a lovely day to discover such lovely ladies at their ease!"
Consus hesitated for another moment and then followed Marcus out, his gate more reserved and hesitant that Marcus's bold strides. All three women cried out in surprise while the two younger women, including the one Consus had noted tried to quickly cover themselves with their stola. The oldest of the three, a woman with gray streaks in her brown hair stood and turned to glare at Marcus without making any effort to cover herself.
"What's this?" she demanded, "A stray dog wandering into our home!"
"Stray dog?" Marcus said in amusement while he strolled over to the woman, Consus following a little slower while casting glances and the woman with the reddish hair, "Careful, Mother, some stray dogs may bite!"
"I've yet to find one that couldn't be sent scurrying with its tail between its legs with a swift kick to the ass!" the woman shot back while she thrust out her bare breasts towards Marcus.
"Peace, Mother," Marcus laughed, "A simple question and my brother and I shall be on our way."
The woman glared at Consus and then glanced form him to the woman he was still looking at.
"A simple question?" the woman demanded while glaring again at Consus, "That one's eyes say plainly what he would question!"
The woman Consus had been staring at glanced up in confusion before making eye contact with him, her eyes as clear and blue as the water of the fountain. She stared, a blush filling her cheeks before finally glancing away.
"Peace, Mother, I beg!" Marcus again said with a laugh, "We only seek the way to Via Portus!"
The old woman glared between Marcus and Consus for a moment.
"More Germani vermin come to soil our town?" she demanded.
"Germani?" Marcus demanded, "We hail from Pons Drusi!"
"Aye, Germani as I said," the woman shot back, "Just listen to the noises you make, more like grunts of swine at their slop than Latin!"
Marcus burst into laughter, Consus glancing up to catch the eye of the woman he had originally noticed staring back at him before she glanced quickly away.
"Via Portus, Mother," Marcus pleaded while wiping tears away from his eyes, "Show mercy and point the way!"
"My eyes tell me your brother seeks the Via Meretrix!" the woman cackled, "Since he speaks no proper Latin, tell him my servant girl isn't to be taken by the likes of you two!"
"What?" Consus asked in confusion.
"Ah, so the stray dog does bark!" the woman shot back.
Marcus had also noticed Consus's gaze and gave him a glare before turning back to the woman.
"Mother, this one is your servant girl?" Marcus asked.
"Iulia," the woman snapped and gestured for her to stand, "And she'll not be had by the hour!"
Iulia stood up hesitantly, her stola clutched in her hands covering her breasts while she stared down at the cobblestone street.
"And what of by the day?" Marcus asked, Consus and Iulia both jerking and looking at him in surprise, "Perhaps a silver denarii to show us along our way and to warm our beds tonight, to return none the worse with tomorrows sunrise."
"And with a Germani gift in her belly for me to feed and put up with its mewling!" the woman scoffed, "A fool I am not, boy!"
"Two denarii," Marcus offered, the third woman quickly standing up.
"Mother, you can't let them take Iulia!"
"Shut up, Cassia," the old woman snapped while eyeing Marcus suspiciously.
Cassia took a stumbling step back with a hurt and shocked look as she glanced from her mother to Iulia who's face had drained of all color.
"Phryne herself could claim no more than two!" Marcus insisted and even plucked out two silver denarii from his belt pouch to hold up before the old woman.
The woman licked her lips while she stared at the coins between Marcus's fingertips, Iulia taking a fearful step back while Cassia glared.
"Twenty aureus!" Consus blurted, "Twenty aureus and the woman is mine!"
The old woman and Marcus both spun to stare at him in shock before Marcus let out a bellow of a laugh.
"He jests, Mother!" Marcus said with a laugh, "He's grown lightheaded with all the blood swelling his manhood!"
"Thirty aureus!" Consus shouted and strode over to reach out a hand towards Iulia who flinched away from him.
"Consus!" Marcus shouted.
"Done!" the old woman declared with a gleeful grin, "Ninnius is an Argentari and is only a block away!
"Come, Iulia!" the woman crowed and pulled her stola up to cover herself before marching away.
"What are you thinking!" Marchus hissed and glared from him to Iulia who was still looking resolutely at the ground.
"Iulia!" the woman snapped causing Iulia to jerk and flinch away from Consus, "You're still mine until I've gold in my palm and will still lay upside your head if you don't listen!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Iulia replied in a soft soprano that caused Consus's heart to race.
Iulia hurried over to follow the woman while Cassis stared after them in mute shock.
"Are you really this big of a fool?" Marcus hissed when they both began to follow the woman and Iulia through another narrow alley, "Think, damn you! It'll cost fewer asses than your wine and bread to get your dick wet!"
"I'll not tell you how to husband your money," Consus snapped back.
The woman had reached a wooden door set in an alcove of the alley and had been banging on it with one hand while holding a visibly trembling Iulia by the arm with the other. A short, stooped man finally yanked the door open and glared at the four of them for a moment.
"Fausta!" the old man spat, "What are you banging on about!"
"This one wishes to purchase Iulia," Fausta declared with a grin, "Thirty aureus!"
"Thir..." the old man chocked and had to cough for several moments before he caught his breath again, "Thirty aureus... this is true?"
