The Traitor's Son Chapter 31
By Zelamir, adapted by Pueros

This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY

Chapter XXXI

The dining room in Scyrax's resplendent residence was a large pillared chamber, with walls frescoed by pictures of feasting and lewd pederastic revelry. Low tables were ranked in a horseshoe shape down three sides of the room and couches were set round their outer edge, leaving the centre, which possessed an obscene mosaic, free for the acrobats, jugglers, dancers and other entertainers.

Scyrax and Maccius shared a couch placed at the head of the range of tables. Marius sat miserably on the floor beside them, trembling at the thought of the cane soon cutting his tender bottom.

Maccius had agreed to Scyrax's suggestion that, if he had to beat Marius' delectable bottom, the deed should not be done for nothing other than the youth's own pleasure. The delight gained in caning the boy's lustrous posterior was instead to be shared by the more than twenty guests at the fat merchant's birthday party, as part of the evening's varied entertainment.

The guests essentially comprised those of Scyrax's most important business associates who shared his sexual tastes. They were all therefore sadistic pederasts.

On either side of Scyrax and Maccius, these guests lolled on their couches, chatting and laughing, whilst some of their host's young slaves served them many courses of fine food. All of the attendant boys, even the oldest but with one exception, only wore minuscule white thongs for the occasion.

The dishes included black and white olives, dormice sprinkled with honey and poppy seeds, hot sausages in beds of damsons and pomegranate seeds, meats cooked in double sauces, slices of the most delicious ham, oysters and mussels seasoned in fish sauce. Other young slaves also hurried round carrying pitchers, out of which they poured sparkling Falernian or still Spanish red wine, sometimes served over heated honey.

For their efforts, the serving boys were regularly discussed by the guests, with the various beautiful attributes of the scantily-clad young males being invariably the subject of conversations. They were also frequently fondled and pinched by the adults, which caused some of them to drop food or spill wine. Naturally, Felix, who had been allowed to attend by his master, albeit whilst only seated on a stool as befitted a slave, made a note of such errors. The perpetrators would, of course, be asked to lie across the flogging bench on the next evening in order to atone for their careless mistakes.

Each couch was also allotted an additional serving boy to attend to other miscellaneous chores for those occupying the divans. Dictys, now wearing a skimpy tight white thong rather than his more normal brief tunic, which nicely outlined the shape of the underlying genitalia, had been allocated to Scyrax and Maccius.

Dictys had already been told by Sulis that poor Marius was to receive his first beating. The kind and considerate youth therefore took every opportunity that he dared to try to bring some comfort to the younger boy, who was sitting so clearly miserably nearby.

When serving Scyrax or Maccius with the likes of a napkin, Dictys often manoeuvred so that his bare thigh brushed against Marius' shoulder to encourage the younger boy to look up at him so that he could try to console him with one of his disarming smiles. When sitting at rest on the floor, the youth also surreptitiously stretched out a hand to the 11 year-old, under the cover of the couch, to touch him for a similar purpose and indicate that he was not altogether alone, with no one caring for him.

Marius, who was now aware how Dictys risked his own hide in making these gestures, small though they were, was deeply grateful for his kindness. However, given that his bottom would still soon be flogged, the boy could not help but remain miserable and scared.

A group of hired musicians were currently playing at the far end of the room. The sound of lyres and flutes, together with the deeper tones of cornets, combined with the chatter of the guests to create an almost deafening din. However, there was suddenly a clash of cymbals and all was quickly silent.

A tall heavily built man, stripped to the waist and wearing only baggy striped trousers gathered at the ankle, then strode into the dining room. He was leading by his hand a lithe and attractive dark-skinned 13 year-old boy, whose body was oiled and who was wearing only a tiny triangle of white cloth between his legs.

The man bowed low to Scyrax. An assistant subsequently ran in and gave him a long ladder, which he held firmly upright, with one end resting on the obscene mosaic floor, and signalled the boy to climb. Whilst the child did so, the helper set about the floor around a dozen deadly three-sided iron spikes, which he rested on their bases, with their sharp tips pointing menacingly upwards.

When the boy reached the top of the ladder, he caught hold of the top rung with both hands and began to raise his legs upwards. He was soon standing on his hands, whilst the oil lamps, illuminating Scyrax's dining room, glistening on his dark oiled torso and limbs and his sole tiny garment fell downwards to reveal very pleasant hairless genitalia displaying signs of arousal.

The boy next raised one hand from the topmost rung. He also spread his legs and reached out his arm, balancing himself in a single palm-grip. The man sank to his knees and, holding the bottom the ladder, subsequently began slowly to stand upright once more.

The assistant then started to intersperse blazing torches on the floor amongst the fearsome spikes. There was now complete silence in the dining room, apart from the laboured breathing of the man as he exerted his full strength to lift the ladder.

The man was soon upright, with the ladder held at waist level. He next began to raise his hands.

Slowly and with much clear exertion, the man eventually brought his hands to shoulder level, whilst the lovely body of the boy above, who was still attached to the ladder with only one hand, wobbled fractionally and dangerously. The adult then paused.

After composing himself and gaining fresh energy, the man subsequently, with a single smooth movement, raised his hands so that they were extended above his head. He then again paused.

The cymbals clashed once more shortly afterwards and the man immediately removed one hand from the ladder. Above him, the inverted boy brought his legs together and started to rotate his body by shifting his grip from palm to palm.

The cymbals next began to clash with increasing frequency as the boy turned more quickly. The guests simultaneously started to take up the beat, thumping their hands or goblets on the tables beside their couches.

Suddenly, the boy bent double, returning his feet to the topmost rung of the ladder. He then immediately released his grip and straightened, balanced for an instant on his soles, whilst his only skimpy garment again hid his genitalia from view.

The boy next performed an amazing back somersault and landed on the obscene mosaic on both feet, somehow unscathed amidst the iron spikes and blazing torches. The guests rewarded him by stamping and shouting their appreciation.

The man and boy bowed low in acknowledgement. However, their performance was not yet over.

The assistant ran in and handed the man a blazing hoop and a long supple pleated crop. Holding out the fiery ring at arm's length from his body, he subsequently snapped a command to the boy, reinforcing his order with a cut of his leather implement of chastisement across the child's bare thigh. This cruel action was not, of course, necessary to ensure obedience but was what he knew that the adult spectators present liked to see.

Despite the nearby presence of the iron spikes and blazing torches, the boy now performed a series of forward and backward flips through the blazing hoop. He was encouraged to go faster and faster by continued sharp cuts from the crop, which produced the inevitable red marks on his flesh as a symbol of their true nastiness.

There was again now silence in the dining room, except for the snap of the crop against naked flesh and the slap of the boy's bare feet on the mosaic floor. Marius, who rather prided himself on his own athletic flips, watched fascinated, with his own troubles momentarily forgotten.

Marius believed that he could do the flips just as well as the boy artiste but perhaps not so fast. However, he had so far never been encouraged to increase velocity by a man wielding a crop.

Suddenly, the man shouted and lifted the hoop above his head to indicate the conclusion of his act. The boy now stood panting nearby, with his body slick with sweat and marked with red stripes.

The dining room immediately echoed with applause and cheering. The musicians added to the noise with blasts on their cornets and clashing of cymbals.

Scyrax beckoned the man and boy to him. He threw a purse to the adult and showed signs of wishing to have the attractive child join him on the couch. However, Maccius objected.

Scyrax therefore instead popped a sweetmeat into boy's mouth and pinched his bare bottom and allowed the grinning man, who was happy with another successful public performance and early receipt of his fee, to back away with the child, with both bowing as they did so. The adult artiste would subsequently tend to the 13 year-old's cane wounds, as the young body had to be perfect again for the next show in one week's time, and reward him for his skill by subsequently sodomising him.

A further blast of the cornets now announced the arrival of the next food course. Four of Scyrax's slaveboys carried a silver gilt table into the centre of the room. They were followed by another quartet, carrying a stretcher, on which rested the enormous platter that Marius and Sulis had been polishing earlier in the day.

On the platter lay a whole roasted wild boar, surrounded by a dozen similarly cooked piglets. The cook followed, carrying a carving knife with a blade as long as that of a sword.

The cook subsequently slit open the belly of the boar and dozens of blood sausages rolled out, mixed with whole roasted blackbirds and thrushes. Serving boys were subsequently soon again hurrying about, bearing plates piled with the fresh meat or replenishing wine goblets.

When all the guests had been served, the musicians began to play again and a large crowd of delectable boys, aged between 11 and 13, entered and began a slow lascivious dance, which encouraged their short tunics to rise occasionally to show intriguing glimpses of what was underneath. Then, a single chord was struck on the lyre.

The boys, who were a hired troupe, immediately froze, as if in terror. A number of oil lamps were then extinguished to darken the scene.

A lute subsequently began to play a tune, which was simple but somehow also sinister. From the back of the large dining room, a satyr appeared, with cloven feet, goat-like legs, and body covered with a matted coat of black shaggy hair, out of which a monstrous phallus rose. There were tiny horns sprouting from his forehead.

This first satyr was soon joined by eight others, and they all advanced quickly upon the cowering boys. Meanwhile, the musicians struck up a wild tune of wailing flutes and crowing cornets, as the children apparently attempted to avoid the clutches of their brutish pursuers.

Clothes were soon being torn from young bodies, as the satyrs subsequently tried to catch their young prey. The boys, seemingly desperate to escape, flung themselves on their knees before the guests, begging to be taken onto their couches.

The invariably laughing guests gave protection to those young dancers they fancied, whilst kicking those they did not into the hands of the semi-human beasts. There was soon not a couch, except that of Scyrax and Maccius, that did not have at least one apparently fearfully trembling naked boy clinging to an occupant for protection.

The rest of the boys, having nowhere else to run, were ultimately overpowered by the monsters and dragged away, wailing and screaming. The previously extinguished oil lamps were then re-lit and once more the guests applauded wildly.

On this occasion, the guests also called out their thanks to Scyrax for his generosity, as well as for the ingenious manner in which he had allocated to them their boys for the night. Many of them subsequently spent time kissing away the supposed terrors of their now naked young prizes.

Serving boys singing sweetly brought in the next course. Plates piled high with various types of fruit and elaborate cakes, many soaked in honey, were proffered to the guests.

Noticeably absent from the servers, at least to Marius, was Sulis. The former boy was later to discover that the latter had been allocated to duties involving the washing of dishes.

Maccius, who now was lying on his couch with his head resting on Scyrax's chest, looked up into the fat man's face and whispered quietly to him. The obese and ugly merchant smiled fondly down at the youth before nibbling his ear and kissing him hard on the lips.

"You will be good to me later, won't you Maccius?" Scyrax subsequently asked, whilst referring to his desire to have sex with the youth. "Of course, my dear!" the 16 year-old answered, whilst fluttering his eyelashes.

"Then, you will have the reward I promised," Scyrax confirmed. The fat man therefore commanded "Dictys fetch my cane!"

The face of Marius, who was listening, immediately turned deathly pale, as he appreciated what the command heralded. The boy's buttocks also instinctively clenched at the prospect of what was about to be inflicted on them.

Dictys reluctantly but dutifully departed and was soon back, holding his master's well-used favourite cane, which had over the years chastised the bottoms of many boys, as well as other parts of their anatomies. As the youth returned, he shot a pitying look at Marius before proffering the rod to Scyrax.

The cane was a formidable implement, being well designed to strike terror into the heart of any unhappy child who might be subject to its cruel discipline. The rod was long, springy and finely tapered so that the tip was likely to curl round a boy's upraised bottom to bite deep into his buttock's defenceless flanks.

After allowing Maccius to move his head away from his lap, Scyrax swung his feet to the floor from his couch and, with his customary difficulty, stood up. He next took the cane from Dictys and waved it experimentally.

The hiss of the cane, as Scyrax waved it about, sounded menacingly in Marius' terrified mind. However, the noise was pleasanter to the ears of the fat man's guests, who all liked to see a boy being beaten.

Conversation and lewd activity amongst the guests, including that involving their new boy toys, therefore again ceased. All attention was instead focused on Scyrax and what he proposed to do with his cane.

"Here you are, Maccius," Scyrax eventually announced, whilst cheerfully handing his cane to his young friend. "Show me and everyone how good a boy beater you are," the fat man subsequently requested of the smiling youth.

Turning his attention to a certain terrified boy, Scyrax then commanded "Stand up, Mariullus, turn round to face my guests, remove your loincloth, spread your legs, bend over and hold your shins to present your bum nicely for Maccius to cane!" The 11 year-old reluctantly began to comply, realising that disobedience or hesitation would lead to worse punishment.

Marius had been the only one of Scyrax's slaveboys not to be attired just in a thong at the party. His master had decided not to require him to redress because the boy would instead soon be naked.

Marius was aware that many eyes were now focusing on him, and not just those of the lecherous adults present. The naked boys now sharing couches with the libidinous guests and the young slaves still serving food and drink were also looking at him in intrigued fascination.

After standing in the required position, Marius' trembling hands ventured to the side of his white loincloth, where a little knot on the waistband kept the skimpy garment in place. The boy's shaking fingers subsequently reluctantly pulled at the bow and soon his sole covering was falling onto the mosaic floor below.

Marius immediately heard loud satisfied murmurs coming from most of the nearby couches, as many lustful pederasts indicated their delight at seeing the exceptionally beautiful boy's completely naked form. For these lasciviously sadistic men, the sight was made even pleasanter by the fact that the young slave was not only clearly petrified about what was imminently to happen to him but also incongruously erect.

Marius had earlier again detected tingling in his groin. The evidence for this phenomenon was originally a little bulge in the front of his loincloth and, with the skimpy garment shed, was now visible for all to see, as his small but nice cock stood proudly horizontal.

After Marius had spread his legs and bent over as instructed, he heard Scyrax commenting, after also happily noticing the boy's erection and to laughter from all around, "I see, Maccius, that, judging from the brat's hard cock, he's really looking forward to what you're about to do!" The 11 year-old's pretty but currently clearly scared face had already reddened in response to having to strip naked in front of so many obviously interested spectators but the hue of humiliation now deepened in reaction to his master's insulting but somehow true remark.

Scryax next asked, whilst beginning to feel Marius' seriously endangered young buttocks, which were now nicely positioned for the imminent painful attentions of the rod, "Have you ever been caned before, brat?" The boy nervously answered "N….N….No….Master!"

"I thought not," Scyrax advised, whilst still running his fingers across Marius' bottom, "as I always seem to be able to tell when a brat's being beaten for the first time. You must have been a good boy previously to avoid such punishment!"

Marius was unsure whether to respond to the latter comment. He was also tempted to remind his master that he had remained a good boy and was only now being beaten to satisfy Maccius' sadism. However, he was prevented from saying anything further when the fat man again began to address the cruel youth.

"So, dear Maccius," Scyrax suggested, "the brat's virgin bum hasn't been hit previously and is therefore currently unaccustomed to the anguish and marking induced by a decent caning. Consequently, you'll be introducing the slut to a completely new experience, namely the agony of a good beating across his backside."

"I therefore recommend," Scyrax continued, "that, in order to ensure that the introduction is memorable for both of you, you proceed carefully and slowly. Aim each blow as if it was targeted to hit beyond where the brat's bum actually is and pause between each strike to re-compose yourself and allow the slut to appreciate his agony fully before more is induced."

Maccius was, in fact, no stranger to beating boys, in both in his own household and that of Scyrax. The young patrician's immediate family might have fallen on hard times. However, generous loans from rallying fellow members of the upper classes, generally awarded by relatives or in return for political or commercial favours, still enabled them, like many in similar predicaments, to have a decent home with servants, although both were mortgaged to the maximum. The fat merchant had also often let the youth flog a miscreant juvenile slave, although usually one who had erred in serving their dinners and never before in such public circumstances without justification.

Scyrax was, to Maccius, obviously offering him the benefit of his advice and extensive experience partly to show off but also more helpfully to ensure that the youth did not forget in the public circumstances how to deliver a good thrashing. In this situation, the young patrician was prepared to listen acquiescently to the recommendations, even though he believed them unnecessary, because the reward, namely the imminent ability to cane the delectable Marius, outweighed his suppressed impatient annoyance.

"Also try to aim your blows," Scyrax added, "at slightly different parts of the brat's bottom to ensure full coverage, leaving the area around the crease of his bum for last." Marius now felt the fat man's fingers move across the relevant part of his flesh, namely his uppermost thighs, indicating the area to be attacked.

"Blows here will hurt most and longest," Scyrax advised, with accuracy gained from long experience of inflicting canings on boys. "You can give the brat eight cuts, Maccius," the fat man subsequently announced to Marius' horror, "comprising six on his rump and a couple in this crease. I'm sorry that I can't let you inflict more but, if I did, he'd never recover in time to be sold at market next week!"

"I suppose eight will have to do, then," Maccius responded, with disappointment apparent in his voice, "but that'll mean that I mightn't be as nice to you later as I would have been if I could have hit the brat more, say a dozen times!" Not wanting to lose out on having sex with the youth later, Scyrax subsequently quickly conceded the additional four strokes.

Scyrax was rewarded with a comment from Maccius that "You're a lovely dear man!" The youth also obsequiously kissed the fat merchant in gratitude.

Many people present wondered why Scyrax was so infatuated with Maccius. After all, the youth was not overly attractive and the fat man had ready access to far prettier and compulsorily more compliant boys.

Most concluded that Scyrax's infatuation actually partly stemmed from the challenges that he encountered when encouraging the constantly teasing Maccius into his bed. The fact that the difficult-to-seduce youth was also of free patrician status, was amusing company and shared his sadistic pederastic tastes also appeared to be key factors, for the fat man, in the 16 year-old's allures.

After hearing his sentence, Marius' eyes began to fill with tears. The boy had done nothing to earn chastisement but nevertheless he was to be imminently beaten more comprehensively than any boy he had seen being punished at Scyrax's daily audiences with his young slaves, apart from Giton and Nisus.

Despite attempts to show bravery, Marius could not help his tears, as the thought of now suffering twelve cuts from the cane, twice as many as Sulis had endured, was just so appalling. However, despite his terror, the boy's cock, which was dangling between his splayed legs, remained mysteriously erect.

"Mariullus seems to be unhappy about something," Maccius subsequently commented with a giggle, as he now saw teardrops fall to the mosaic floor. "He'll cry a good deal louder when he feels the cane across his rump!" Scyrax replied harshly.

"Master," Marius suddenly sobbed, "please don't let me be beaten. I haven't done anything wrong!" The boy knew in his heart that there was no point in pleading, especially as he might now receive extra punishment for speaking without permission. However, he somehow just could not help himself from uttering his desperate entreaty.

"What's that got to do with it, brat?" Scyrax retorted, whilst laughingly referring to Marius' reminder that the boy had committed no offence worthy of punishment. "It is simply my wish that you should be beaten," the fat man added, "and that is the end of the issue!"

Scyrax subsequently rewarded Marius for his desperate entreaty by clouting him hard on the side of the head. Consequently, the boy staggered forward, lost his balance and fell to his knees.

"Hmmm, if a simple clout to your head makes you fall to knees, brat, what will the cane encourage your little cowardly body to do?" Scyrax subsequently queried, as he viewed the naked Marius sobbing whilst on his knees. "We could be here all night," the fat man then speculated, in jest rather than accurate complaint, "if I allow you to collapse every time that dear Maccius hits you!"

"I'll therefore make matters easy for you to retain your position," Scyrax announced, "as I'll instruct Dictys here to 'horse' you. Now stand up, brat!"

Scyrax bent over and took hold of Marius by the arm in order to help him to his feet. Having fulfilled his aim, the fat man commented to the boy, whilst ruffling his golden hair, "You see, I do care about my brats!"

"Dictys come here," Scyrax next commanded, whilst turning to the named youth, "and take your thong off. I don't want the garment soiled if Mariullus wets himself when Maccius is beating him!"

Dictys obediently but reluctantly stepped forward and removed his thong, immediately verifying what had been evident by the previous ballooning of the sparse attire. The youth's much bigger cock was as erect as the smaller version possessed by Marius.

Dictys was not too embarrassed by his nudity or his public display of arousal. The youth had been exhibited in such a manner before guests of his master on so many different occasions over the previous five years that he had almost become immune to the humiliation. However, a deeper redness to his handsome face did indicate that he was not entirely inured.

Dictys advanced to Marius' front and encouraged the still, kneeling, sobbing and incongruously erect boy to stand through whispering in his ear "Come, my brave little child, demonstrate to all these people that you're no coward. In fact, exhibit to them that, by your show of fortitude, you're better than any one of them, including the person who's permitted the beating and the one who's inflicting it!"

In whispering these words into Marius' ear, Dictys was naturally hoping not only to help the boy complete his ordeal as quickly as possible with at least some decorum but also that no one else would hear what he had said. Scyrax, Maccius and the other guests would have been outraged by the inference about them in his comments and the youth would consequently have suffered severely.

Fortunately, Dictys' brave whisper was not overheard. The youth's courageous gesture was also rewarded by similar from Marius.

Dictys turned his back and lent down so that Marius, who was aware of what Scyrax had meant by the verb 'horse', could reach his arms forward over his shoulders. The boy, despite his acute fears but encouraged by the youth's whispered words, subsequently plucked up enough courage to do so.

Taking a firm hold of the Marius trembling wrists, Nictys stood up, lifting the younger slave's feet clear of the mosaic floor in the process. As the youth's back was still bent, his new posture ensured that the younger boy's bottom was again nicely presented for imminent chastisement.

Marius now hung against and felt the smooth skin of Nictys' back. However, the younger boy's still remarkably hard cock immediately experienced discomfort, as the undisciplined erection also pressed against the youth's flesh. He therefore instinctively wriggled so that his unruly penis pointed more easily upwards along the older slave's spine, whilst somehow becoming more rigid than ever.

Marius subsequently lay still, whilst fearfully and helplessly waiting for the moment when Maccius would sadistically bring the cane slicing down across the boy's defenceless bottom. The 11 year-old now knew that there was truly no chance of mercy or escape from the imminent agony to come.

Marius tensed, as he next felt one of Maccius' cruel hands, presumably not the one holding the vicious cane, lightly caress his bottom. "What a cute little bum," the terrified boy then heard the sadistic youth croon in his high effeminate voice, "you have, my pretty one. It's so smooth and tender and the skin is stretched so beautifully taught in readiness for the rod. It's terrible, isn't it my poor pet, to think that soon it'll be all ripped and bloody, and it's so unfair too. You've done nothing wrong, have you, my sweet?"

"You've been such a good obedient boy," Maccius sadistically continued, "but I'm still going to cane that delicious bottom of yours, just because I'll enjoy hurting you. I'll pleasure in scoring deep wheals across that sweet bum, whilst listening to you scream as I lay the stripes on, watching you writhe and kick, as the rod tears the hide from your rump. No wonder you're already crying, knowing what is to be done to you and why!"

On hearing these cruel comments, Nictys would have loved to have released Marius and turned to kick Maccius in the balls. However, the much nicer youth appreciated that he would be lucky to escape with nothing worse than the loss of his own testicles for perpetrating such a deed against his master's sadistic beloved. He therefore reluctantly just continued compliantly to hold the younger slave securely in place, knowing that such obedience was better for both their futures.

"A beautiful boy," Maccius proceeded to ramble, as he now slid his free hand up Marius' bare back, "who's such a lovely child, so ripe, so pretty and so vulnerable. Your poor darling!"

Marius then felt Maccius' breath against his shoulders and the youth's lips brush the side of his neck, just behind the ear, before he heard a whisper announce "I'm so sorry to do this to you, my poor cutie. However, I just enjoy hurting pretty little things like you!"

Marius could not tell whether the immediate comprehensive outbreak of goosepimples affecting all of his body was as a result of the close breathing, the lips brushing him, the whisper or the actual announcement. In fact, the boy gave little thought to the reason because Maccius next declared "Well, I suppose we may as well begin the fun now, mightn't we my poor pet, because otherwise the spectators will be becoming impatient!"

Maccius subsequently straightened and laid his cane gently across Marius' bottom, caressing the lovely curvature with the wicked rod, whilst carefully measuring his target. The youth was rewarded by the sight of boy's buttocks tensing in fearful anticipation of the excruciation to come.

Maccius subsequently raised his cane over his right shoulder. All chatter and laughter amongst the guests immediately ceased and was replaced by an expectant hush that befell the large ornate dining room, which was now only interrupted by the sound of Marius' fearful sobbing.

The watching Felix was perhaps the most disappointed man in the dining room. The couches had, in accordance with common practice, been placed in strict hierarchical order in line with the status of the guests lying on them.

Being a slave, Felix's stool had been positioned beyond the customary inverted-U formation of couches, at the end of one of the two flanks of divans occupied by increasingly less important guests. The secretary was therefore sitting to one side at the opposite extremity of the dining room to where his master and the host, Scyrax, was situated.

Felix therefore could observe Marius' head appearing above one of Nictys' shoulders, plus the boy's legs dangling between the youth's own splayed lower limbs, and Maccius' cane rise in the air before disappearing. However, from his perspective, the secretary could not actually see the rod hitting a young bottom, which he would have preferred to do.

All that Felix could observe, as a result of the slowly deliberate caning that Maccius now delivered to Marius' bottom, was the acute agony displayed on the boy's face and the temporary disappearance of his legs, as they momentarily kicked backwards in protest at what he had just excruciatingly suffered. Greater evidence for the young slave's current immense suffering actually emanated from his vociferous screaming and fruitlessly repetitive begging of "Please stop!"

Nevertheless, despite his disappointment at his view, Felix still happily smirked. The sight of the face of a particularly pretty boy enduring agony, and hearing the resultant shrieks and useless pleading, represented, to the secretary, truly magnificent party entertainment.

Felix also happily knew that even better cruel entertainment was soon to come.

(To be continued)