He said "I have no name but Cretus, but I know Nubia is only your slave name. Can you tell me who you are really?"
I kissed him and told him. He kissed me, spoke my name and said "I love you." In Latin, of course, the only language he knew. Then he pushed in.
It hurt, but not as much as I feared and not for long. I suppose I had become used to being hurt. The he was in me and moving slowly. I felt I was wet as if I had been pleasuring myself. My cunt felt stretched but just right for the first time. I held him tightly, and it was so different to being used by those Roman swine. I did not try to be quiet, but encouraged him in my own language, telling him to take me as a woman, to fill me up, to give me his seed, and that I loved him. He would not know the words, but I knew he would understand the meaning.
I felt happier than I could ever remember, and as his seed came into me I felt the moment of joy. I shouted out the name of the true mother goddess in that moment of fulfilment.
We were both still locked together in wonder, and crying a little when Luna came back. She had some clothing, a water skin and some bags, which turned out to contain a loaf and some olives, a bottle of wine, dried fruit and a little money. There were also some good sandals. She gave each of us a pouch containing a wet cloth, which she said we should use to wipe our eyes when needed outside.
We quickly washed and dried, then covered ourselves with expensive clothes, with a cloth over our nose and mouth, and just our eyes showing. Then from the happiest moment of my life, I went into one of the worst times.
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CHAPTER 6
We mainly had to go downhill, through streets filled with dust and ash, and dust blowing in our faces. In some places the wind had blown the dust into piles which made it hard to progress. And our eyes! They were filling with stinging dust with every step, and the mouth cloths were getting clogged. We had to keep stopping to wipe our eyes and close them for a little while. We had to use some of the precious water to wring out the wiping cloths, and we had not gone far. There were very few other people about, struggling like us. We saw some other part-collapsed buildings and some dead bodies, including a couple that looked as if they had been stabbed, and I think one or two that had just been overcome by the dust and exertion.
There was a dead soldier. Cretus pulled the body over to discover that the sword and purse were missing, but spotted a spear hidden in the dust, which he took. He showed it to Luna and said "The blind beggars!"
She understood immediately, but they had to explain it to me. Apparently these beggars sometimes travel in groups of three, the first testing the ground with a stick and the others following holding on to the girdle of the one in front. They take it in turns. So this is what we did.
Luna got some bandages from her bag and she and I blindfolded ourselves. Cretus took the lead, partially looking, partially feeling with the spear, followed by Luna and then me. We took short steps and agreed we would change every hundred paces. It was terrible stumbling along hardly able to breathe, but gave my eyes some relief till it was my turn.
I let go of Luna's girdle and the spear was placed in my hand. I waited till she said she was ready at the back. Opening my eyes only a little and for a moment, I took a step, then another, feeling and leaning on the spear, and wiping my face with my other hand. Even so, I fell over twice before Cretus behind said "stop". I had forgotten to count. So we went on for what seemed like eternity.
Luna was leading, and suddenly stopped. We heard voices, and Cretus and I raised our blindfolds. Sheltering in a partially ruined house were some slaves with cloths around their heads. Then one said "Patrician bastards! Let's kill them!" In our fine clothes, they had taken us for citizens, and could not tell men from women, we were so wrapped up. They may have been waiting to rob people.
Cretus shook the spear and shouted "I have killed my master and I will kill you!"
One laughed and said "Salute, brother! Go and kill some more!"
As we got down near the harbour, the air began to clear because of the wind from the sea. We did not have to walk as blind beggars, and had to wipe our eyes less often.
On the beach we were able to wash ourselves a little in the sea, and shake out some of the dust from our clothes. Obviously it would be ideal to take a boat, but this was not going to be easy. The boats were guarded by soldiers, while many people, generally looking like slaves, huddled at the foot of the mountain slope. There were two bodies on the beach laid out with a spear pinning them to the ground, to show that the soldiers were serious. Luna said we should try to buy passage. She had a little money she had earned over the years, and asked Cretus if he had anything. He said he did not. I said I had a few bronze coins from Sextus, and gave her the purse. To our surprise it was mostly silver, quite a few denarii.
We talked to some of the slaves and they said that boats were mainly waiting till the weather improved. Some had cargo to deliver, some to collect, and some were waiting to fish. Some smaller rowing boats had been stolen by runaway slaves until the soldiers took charge. We did not know what to do, so found a place among the other fugitives. We shared half a loaf and some olives from the supplies we had brought, with a little wine and water. We buried our purses a little, and sat on them to rest, with our bags and waterskin behind us against some rocks. Luna said that I should try to sleep, and she and Cretus would take it in turns to stay awake. She made a little tent from a silk scarf to protect my face from the dust. I was exhausted and was quickly asleep.
When I awoke, they were both asleep and someone was sliding the spear out of Cretus' hand. I called out, but they ran away. The bag with food was also gone. With daylight some food sellers came round charging outrageous prices, but we decided to keep our money for now. All we could think of was waiting for death from the dust, or if it went away, going back to the house and farm to see what could be salvaged, now our owners were accidentally dead. Presumably we would belong to one of the brothers.
At about noon, I was hailed, and there was Sextus with a good size bag and a dagger in his belt. He sat down and gratefully accepted some water.
"I think Vulcan is angry," he said, rather cheerfully. "I don't know what it is, but I am sure the mountain will kill us if we stay here. I'm going to try to get us out. He gave us the bag and the dagger, and went along towards the boats.
We had seen people approach before and be turned away. Slaves were knocked down with a stick. One or two citizens with their slaves were firmly turned away by the captain, no matter how much they protested. Sextus went and spoke to a soldier and was allowed to speak to an officer. I guess him being an old soldier may have helped, or perhaps he knew someone. He was then allowed on board one of the cargo ships. After about an hour he returned to us, and said he had persuaded the captain to sail and take us. From his loot bag he took a couple of brooches and told me and Luna to pin them inside our tunics. I hid my purse inside my loincloth. He also got two purses which he put inside his belt pouch, and put the dagger inside the big bag. He warned us that he did not know if the officer could be trusted or was just waiting to arrest us.
As it happened we were allowed on board without difficulty, and Sextus gave the officer a smart salute. The sailors began to get ready to leave, and the captain questioned us about what had happened and what things were like up in the town. He was evidently satisfied and gave the order to depart. As the wind was toward the shore, this was done by rowers in the lifeboat towing us out. Seeing this, people started running towards the ship, many of them waving items of jewellery. They were cut down without hesitation by the soldiers, but more pressed forward, causing the soldiers to move back. As we moved away we could see people in the water trying to get to us, but without success.
It seems that the captain was known to Sextus because he often collected goods from the business, which is why he was waiting. Having been told that the Dominus was dead and the town covered in dust, there was no reason to wait. The sailor he had sent to the town a couple of days ago was unlikely to return, but Sextus and Cretus could do some of the work as part payment for passage. Of course, I suspected that Sextus had traded something else as well.
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CHAPTER 7
Sextus and Cretus had taken their places on the oars, so there was just me, Luna, the captain and the steersman on the deck. As we moved away I began to see there was a great cloud rising from the mountain and spreading out like a mushroom. I could also see what seemed to be fires high up in the mountain. Sextus was right - there was something terribly wrong: the mountain god must be very angry.
As we pushed past the end of the bay, the sailors were able to bring in the boat and unfurl a sail. The wind was apparently not a good direction, so we had to zig-zag to move away. Finally we were far enough out to unfurl the main sail. However, we were still having to move back and forth to make distance, and moved pitifully slowly.
As it grew dark a new terror appeared. What at first seemed to be hail was in fact small stones. I picked one up off the deck and it was too hot to hold. Some of the stones were actually floating on the water, which was magic I could not understand. We could see what seemed to be larger stones falling in the distance. As the number increased, the captain and steersman put cushions on their heads and told us to go below. I do not know what the sailors did, but I could hear the impact of stones on the deck and in the open hold, and understood that we were running for our lives.
