All's fair in love and war [M]

[Chevi]

He was losing this battle and he knew it. It was his word... against his own word, and she had no reason to believe him now, when she already believed the worst. Lucius gritted his teeth, watching her struggle.

"You could be lying now. You're telling me that protecting me, not doing your duty in my punishment is more important to you than what would happen if they found out you'd lied?"

She really did not know him. And it was his fault.

"You're a liar!" 

The blade cut deep into her wrist. Lucius sprang up, throwing himself on the bed and grabbing her hand, trying to twist the knife away before she did any more harm to herself. Before the injury, he could have easily done it, but now he was off balance, and only using his left hand.

@Sara

[Sara]

She never expected it to hurt so much. In her naive, young head she just assumed it would be instant - that a big black wave would overcome her and she'd drift away. That's not what happened - and it wouldn't happen because despite the pain, the cut wasn't deep enough to do the damage it needed to. Not that she knew that. She screamed louder as Lucius threw himself on the bed and managed to get the knife away from her. 

She was sobbing and bleeding and a mess and surprisingly unafraid. "You can't even let me have this." She choked, breathlessly and tried to wrestle her arm away from him, to let it bleed. "Please just let me go, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this..." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia struggled, but he managed to take the knife away from her. She did not cut deep enough for a serious injury, but she was bleeding, and crying. Lucius let her go; holding her would have done the exact same thing he did not want to do. He slid back off the bed, kneeling on the floor, catching his breath. Dammit. His word was not enough. She had lost everything, and whatever he promised, she only saw what she wanted to see in his what he had said. 

So, because he was out of all other options, Lucius did something he rarely ever had done before.

He invoked the gods.

The knife was sharp enough, it cut through the bandages on his injured arm, and blood dripped down onto the charred floor.

"Ovinia, look at me." he looked up at her as she still sat crumpled on the bed. "I swear by the lares of this house, and the spirits of your ancestors, and the gods of Dis invoked by blood, that I will not hurt you. I do not want to hurt you. And I will protect you as long as I am able."

@Sara

[Sara]

She felt a wave of relief, no matter how short lived, as he rolled from the bed and sunk onto the charred floor. She was wracked with sobs and shaking. She just wanted it to be over. She heard metal clanking and wondered if he'd finish her himself; maybe he'd had a change of heart and do for her what she was unable to do herself. 

But no. She saw him through tear-filled eyes raise the knife to his own arm and cut. She choked, confused and then she heard his invocation. She didn't understand. It felt like a mess. She had seen him with his own lares, and she knew that no matter how un-pious somebody might seem, the invocation he was doing was no laughing matter. It was real. She didn't understand. 

It was an act. He was not lying. The weight of it hit her like a ton of bricks from a building site and she crumpled further, feeling wretched, feeling like a fool and feeling so, so stupid. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She felt herself say although the words sounded like somebody else was speaking them. She was still crying, but more at herself rather than out of terror or anguish. She felt so stupid. She felt like such a coward. "I...I'm so scared." she managed and placed her hand over the wound on her wrist to stem the bleeding as she sobbed, "If it's not you then it's o-one of your guests. If it's not them then I-I have to let  them touch me, I have to hear them talk about me...I just...I can't..." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Damn, it hurt. Getting cut was never a pleasant experience, but in his desperation to prove that he meant his promise, Lucius had disregarded the fact that knife cuts hurt. The gods and spirits made him pay the price for his oath. He grimaced and dropped the knife.

Still, it seemed to have worked. Ovinia did not look angry, just... miserable.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I...I'm so scared." 

"I'm sorry." he knew she was scared. But he could not imagine how much, because there was a world between his life and hers.

"If it's not you then it's o-one of your guests. If it's not them then I-I have to let  them touch me, I have to hear them talk about me...I just...I can't..." 

He shifted, leaning against the side of what was left of the bed. He reached up his left hand to touch hers. The other arm... well, at least they did not summon the damn medicus for nothing. "We'll figure it out. I promise. But please don't hurt yourself. You deserve... you don't deserve that."

@Sara

[Sara]

She should have pulled away her hand but found it oddly...comforting. She moved to grip his index finger with her own, blood smeared hand and let out a sob. 

"The city, the emperor, your friends would disagree with that." She let out a hollow, pained sounding laugh as her sobs became sniffles and she let her head roll back against the wall. This room had once been painted with the most beautiful frescoes of flowers and posies. Now the walls were black and dark with ash and soot. It fitted. 

"What do we do?" she swallowed and glanced down at him, eyes red and raw. She didn't trust  him implicitly, but she saw his own blood snake down his arm...she certainly trusted him more than she did yesterday. "How do I live my life as your slave, knowing that's all I'm ever going to be? How do you keep going?" She dropped her hand and lightly skirted her fingers over his injured shoulder.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"The city, the emperor, your friends would disagree with that." 

"They are not my friends." Not the ones that stood for... things like that, anyway. They were people of his own social circles he had to put up with, by tried to avoid as much as possible. Not that it mattered much. At least Ovinia accepted his touch now. They were both bloodied and weary.

"What do we do? How do I live my life as your slave, knowing that's all I'm ever going to be? How do you keep going?"

Lucius sighed as she touched his shoulder. He knew what she meant. 

"It wasn't a battle injury, you know." he said quietly, looking a this bandages that were slowly turning darker red. "There was fighting in the streets, there was chaos, they even armed the vigiles... A lot of people, they just... wanted to get away. Be safe, in the middle of all of it. A lot of the insulae caught fire. I... I joined the vigiles to help people. I gave up my title, my name, my family, because I thought... that I could help more." he shook his head. "We were supposed to go door to door and find rebels. But this one insula, it was burning, and there were still people inside. Children, too. In the chaos, no one really paid any attention anymore, not to them, not to us... I ordered my men to help. We went in. It must have been built worse than I'd thought... the whole thing came down." He winced, remembering it in vivid detail. It still haunted his dreams. "I didn't get injured in noble battle, whatever the fuck that means. My arm was crushed when the roof came down. I somehow managed to get out, and they found me... they just made assumptions."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia listened, her breathing slowly, her heartbeat settling as he spoke. She'd never even considered it could have been anything other than a wound inflicted on him. She'd suspected a sword or an axe or maybe trampled down by a horse. Not...that. She didn't interrupt him though, she was quiet and still and let him say his peace. She noted he didn't look up at her...was he...embearassed? She blinked, utterly confused. 

"Why would what happened be a bad thing?" She asked, her voice scratchy from the crying, sounding hoarse. She knew that didn't make her sense - her mind felt addled, like mushed fruit. Maybe her wrist was bleeding more than she thought. "I- I mean, why is that less noble than what they assumed? You tried to do good - you were doing your job I..." She frowned. She knew there were things in the male sphere she would never understand; wartime heroics undoubtedly amongst them. "I think what you did, how you were injured was braver than pulling innocent...rebel families out of houses and executing them." She swallowed. "Why don't you say what really happened?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Her question made sense. Lucius didn't quite know the answers, either. He had not told anyone else that story before. Ovinia was not the only one confused and tired.

"I don't know what happened if I did tell someone." he sighed "The vigiles... when I joined, I thought I'd work my way up, and help change things for the better. And then suddenly... I was a war hero. Those people at the party..." he frowned "They respect me for what they think I did, like they never respeced me for... doing the other thing. I thought maybe I can use that. But I am not sure I like the person it makes me." He looked up at Ovinia. "And I am not sure at all that anyone was doing the right thing in the war. Or since. I'm sorry for what they... what we've done to you."

@Sara

[Sara]

It made sense, in a logical sort of way. But he looked bone tired and...exhausted. Whether that was the energy of this morning, the party last night, the pain in his arm or the fatigue of having to keep up a pretence, she didn't know. She merely nodded her head silently in passive understanding. 

"Everybody should apologise to everybody." She gave him a weary, tired, painfully sad smile. "You should apologise for keeping me as your slave and what you did, my father should apologise for dragging his family into the conflict and leaving us to our fates when he left this plane. I should apologise for..." So many things, "To my own slaves. I never understand. I...thought their loves were comfortable. That being a slave was more freeing than my own life." She choked, upset, at the thought. How many pretty young house slaves had been forced into the beds of her brothers or her father or visitors? Probably  too many to count. She remembered the whippings and the beatings and the fear in their eyes.

"We're all sorry." She sniffed and wiped her eyes, but forgot there was blood on her hands and ended up smearing it on her face. "Thank you." She swallowed and gave him a look of meaning, "For this...for telling me..." She gestured to his arm. "I...can be an actress," She gave him a weak, wavering smile. "I can play the part of the down trodden, abused slave. If you need me to." 

 

TAG: @Chevi 

[Chevi]

There was a feeling of a weight being lifted as the worst was over now. Ovinia even smiled a little, despite the pain in her words.

"To my own slaves. I never understand. I...thought their loves were comfortable. That being a slave was more freeing than my own life."

"I've been there" he smiled a little. Back when he was young, at the villa, he thought the slaves working the fields and orchards were the lucky ones. "Patricians, eh?"

"We're all sorry. Thank you. For this...for telling me... I...can be an actress. I can play the part of the down trodden, abused slave. If you need me to." 

He smiled back at her, weary as he was, and managed to struggle back to his feet. "Just sleep in the damn room you made so much fuss about." he chuckled, offering her a hand. "I'll send Marius for a litter. We should not march out of here like this." They both looked like they had been attacked by the Furies. Enough scandal for one day.

@Sara

[Sara]

A month later 

Things had...settled, after the dramatics at her ruined domus. Life took on a sort of monotony that was comforting, if she ignored her own itch to get back out into the city; she helped Lucius with his exercises with the rigour of an actual medicus, she portioned out the opium and the strong, unwatered wine with precision until the doses of both were half what they were when she arrived. She slept in her little box room - but now it was appointed with drapes that she'd purloined from other, spare rooms in the place and storage boxes she had rifled through. The servants, likewise, had started to ease off. Whether that was because they were afraid after her theatrics and the scar on her wrist, or they had genuinely come to not mind her, she didn't know. But it was comfortable. She played the part he needed her too  in public; the down beaten slave that knew her place, but she enjoyed the freedoms he offered her when in private. Including the ability to speak her mind. 

It was how she had come to be outside, unescorted. She had badgered and badgered and badgered her dominus that she needed to visit the eastern medicus and the markets and assured him she was neither going to run nor get herself into trouble. Finally, a week after she'd raised it, he had relented and she was walking home now; arms laden and smile on her face. Not that one could really see it - concealed under the new veil he had bought her. But somebody clearly had seen it, and seen her. She didn't notice the heavy footsteps following her until she turned the corner that led onto the street of the domus. She saw them out of the corner of her eye. Three men, eyes lingering on her. She hurried her steps, and they did too. She crossed the street. So did they. She felt her heart hammer a frantic rhythm against her ribs and tried to speed up. You're being ridiculous, she told herself. She wasn't being ridiculous. 

She ducked into the side street that led to the slave's entrance of the domus, fingers jangling the keys, trying to find the right one. She didn't see the punch coming until she felt a stinging pain shoot across her cheek and she slammed into the wall. 

"Found you, bitch." She choked and let out a blood curdling scream. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

It took Lucius a while to decide on letting Ovinia leave the house alone. He didn't think anymore that she would run away, but she was also not entirely safe in the city while she had the kind of sudden anger that could get her into trouble. But she asked and begged and promised to take care of herself, so eventually, he relented. Over the course of the past month, they had lived in a kind of normalcy, and he decided he could trust her.

Lucius was spending the day at home, trying to wade through some letters. The servants were in the gardens out running some errands in their down time. It was quiet all around... until a scream rang out in the street. 

Lucius jumped up, running to the front door to see what was happening. The voice... Looking out into the street he could not see anyone. What was going on...?

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia had to decide what to shield; her face or her body and she chose the former, after the punch that left her crumbled against the wall. The blows, however, did not stop. She screamed again through gritted teeth and felt something crack in her midsection. The pain was unlike anything she'd felt before - worse than the cuts inflicted on her by the madman all those years ago and her own hand last month. She was bleeding, but didn't know where from and struggling to breathe. 

"We've been looking for two months," One of the men sneered, "Did you forget about me?" Ovinia choked. She knew the voice but in the pain, she couldn't place it. A hand came to her chin and forced it up. She blinked through tear filled eyes. Decimus. She choked. "W-why?" Was all she could muster. At least they had stopped kicking and hitting. "Your fucking father," He sneered - a look she'd never seen on his face, "I lost everything with his treason, everything!" He kicked her and she screamed out again in pain; "HELP ME!" before another blow to her chest rendered her speechless and breathless. She felt hands tug at her tunica and choked, trying to scream but no sound came out.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Maybe he had imagined the scream? Or maybe it had come from farther away? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the street. But his gut was telling him something was wrong. It was just... wrong.

The next cry for help was louder. He also realized, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, whose voice it was.

"Ovinia!"

He should not have let her go out alone, after all. 

He rounded the corner from the outside, coming to the alley just to see three men attacking her. There was blood, and kicks and blows, like they were trying to beat her to death right there.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled at them. The fact that he was unarmed and also one-handed did not even register in his mind for the moment as he marched towards them.

@Sara

[Sara]

Decimus whipped his head around at the voice but all Ovinia could do was desperately try and claw air into her lungs. She was winded and having never been before, didn't understand. Her ribs burned and ached at the sensation as she tried to push herself up. A sandalled foot came down on her back to keep her where she was in the dirt of the street. 

"This doesn't concern you," Decimus sneered, his fingers flexing at his side. Had Ovinia been looking, she would have noted the way he glanced at Lucius' lame arm. "We're dealing with a traitor. Leave us be, citizen." Nobody moved for a moment and Ovinia's breath started to settle. She knew the voice. She just couldn't turn her head to see him. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia was down, and they were still kicking her. The sigh made his blood boil. Three men, against one girl. Assholes, whatever they thought their motives were.

"This doesn't concern you,"

"Oh fuck yes it does."

"We're dealing with a traitor. Leave us be, citizen." 

"First off, that is tribune for you." he spat, glaring at the man. "Second, that girl was a gift to me by the Emperor. And if you touch her again, I will make you cry."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia finally managed to manipulate her head round to see the scene in front of her as the sandalled foot released her from the ground. She could see that the two men Decimus was with were edging backwards, clearly intent on making a run for it. Her once friend was standing his ground though, fingers twitching. Ovinia shot Lucius a pleading look. She knew he couldn't win and then they'd both be dead. But she didn't want to die either; last month she had, last month she would have prayed for something like this, but now...she swallowed and tried to back herself closer to the wall. 

"Do you know what her father did to us?" Decimus choked, furious, "We put everything behind him and he left us in the fucking dirt. I'm a fucking pleb now," Having lost his equite status, "We can't get him and her brothers are in the fucking mines," Ovinia choked. She had no idea where they were and the thought made her already trembling body heave, "But she's here and she deserves more punishment than a cripple like you can dish out." Decimus spat at Lucius and as if to prove his point, kicked her across the face. Her world span and threatened darkness. She managed to let out a feeble scream of; "Marius!" as she tried to blink the stars away.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Do you know what her father did to us? We put everything behind him and he left us in the fucking dirt. I'm a fucking pleb now,"

Oh. This was personal. The man had been on the wrong side of the rebellion, and lost everything. Except his freedom, apparently, because he was running around assaulting women. 

"We can't get him and her brothers are in the fucking mines. But she's here and she deserves more punishment than a cripple like you can dish out." 

Even after being kicked, Ovinia cried out for Marius. She was either clever, or she really did not trust Lucius could win this. He didn't trust that either, but he did not care. The moment the man kicked out, he was moving. He had been in plenty of fist fights as a vigile. His left arm was not that well trained, but at least one did not usually expect a punch from their right. His fist caught the man across the jaw, and before he could recover, Lucius barreled into him. He couldn't use his right arm much, but hitting upwards, he managed to jam his shoulder into the man's ribs enough to make him stumble.

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia managed to protest with a weak; "No!" Before Lucius acted, but he hadn't headed it and she was in fit state to intervene. Her vision was blurred, dim and her head was bounding as if somebody would not stop stamping on it. She saw the other two hesitate and tried to call out again. Her voice was hoarse and she felt like she was running out of air. And time. "M-MARIUS!" 

The hesitation stopped and they ran to join Decimus, now stumbling from whatever blow Lucius had inflicted. She saw a flash of something. A knife. She choked. "K-knife..." She managed by way of warning though if anybody heard her, she didn't know.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

He managed to knock the wind out of the man and get some hits in before the other two joined in. Lucius stepped back, regaining his balance. Fighting three on one had not been something he wanted to do. No amount of training or experience - he had both - would balance that out.

"K-knife..."

One man slashed at him and Lucius moved back. Fighting was straightforward, in a way. It was familiar. And he had no qualms about hurting any of these men. But Ovinia had the right idea. Lucius took a deep breath, hoping his voice would carry more.

"MARIUS!"

All three came at him at once. He punched, kicked, and elbowed them, trying to avoid the knife, but it was a losing fight at best. Still, he felt some bones crack when he hit. "Ovinia get out of here!"

@Sara

[Sara]

She would get out of here. She would, but she could barley push herself to a sitting position and every bit of her body protested at even that motion. She felt her world spin and tried to choke to regain her balance and her breath. She blinked up, seeing Lucius struggle although he was doing and admirable job. "I can't...I-" She protested and managed to drag her legs out in front of her, kicking limply to try and unbalance one of the men. It worked, but she got a boot on her thigh for the effort and she screamed through her teeth.

That scream masked the sounds of heavy footsteps, bursting both through the slave door and round the corner. Marius was there along with several of the burlier household servants. Relief washed through her, although it did nothing to dilute the pain. 

"Sir." Marius said, clearly on edge and fingers itching. He didn't spare her a glance but she felt him step closer, almost in front of her. That was enough. 

Decimus pulled back and yanked the tunicas of the two men next to him, breathing hard, bloodied. He spat into the dirt next to her. "Enough...enough..." He knew he'd been bested and Decimus was nothing if not an expert manipulator, "We've got what we wanted." She could tell from his tone of voice that he'd got nowhere near what he wanted, "We'll go and we can be done with this..." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

There was blood in Lucius' mouth by the time the side door swung open, and Marius made an appearance with some of the other servants. The three attackers must have realized they were outnumbered now because they backed off. Lucius caught himself against the wall of the building, but refused to stop glaring at them.

"We've got what we wanted. We'll go and we can be done with this..." 

Lucius glanced at Ovinia. She had to know who they were. He really, really wanted to arrest all three of them, but he was not sure they could do so without more people getting hurt. Or... more hurt. He would just have to hunt them down later.

"Get the fuck out of here." he spat too. "And get the fuck out of this city for good, if you do not want to end up dead." He waited for them to make a run for it before he turned his attention to Ovinia, who was still on the ground. "Go fetch the medicus. She's hurt. Someone help carry her."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia squeezed her eyes shut as she heard retreating footsteps. They would never leave this city, she knew that and wondered if he did too. It didn't matter now though, she wasn't exactly going to be going out on a tour of the city any time soon. Not ever, if she could help it. She felt hands come to her side and flinched before releasing it was Marius himself, staring at her, white as a sheet. "You're okay." He said with uncharacteristic kindness. She cried out in pain as his hands went under her ribs and heaved her up. Her vision went at the motion, light finally dimming into darkness. 

When she woke, she had no idea how long she had been out but the pain was severe and everywhere. She couldn't think of one part of her body  that didn't burn with an ache unlike anything she'd felt before, but most of it was concentrated on her left side, her thigh and her face. Her throat and her mouth were dry and she tried to look around, gauging where she was. Her room - with the little lamp burning on the small table next to her. It was windowless in here so she had no sense of the time. Calling out her voice was a hoarse, scratchy sound. "H-hello?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

They had hurt her. They had really hurt her. When she passed out, Lucius thought she might be gone... and the thought terrified him, in a way that was unexpected. The medicus came and examined her. She had broken ribs, bruises, probably a break in her cheek, deep dark marks around her eye. The medicus said she would pull through. Likely.

Lucius was in a better shape, but not unhurt either. He had a bloody nose, a similarly black eye, and cuts and bruises. Still he refused to leave the small room, wedging a chair between the bed and the wall to watch over her. It was late at night now, with the lamp burning low, when she finally moved and made a sound.

"Ovinia?" Lucius pulled himself out of the chair where he had been slumped, and sat on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

@Sara