The Lycian Prince 46

Having questioned Anthonius and secured the truthful answer as to what the former Prince had now become, rewarding the whore appropriately, Ceionius redressed to leave the private entertainment chamber. As he put his clothing back on, the 16 years old complimented the 14 years old “I like the way the eagles on your body seem to have bred since we last met. You’re now displaying them all over, even on your hands and feet. Perhaps, you’ll have even more when next we meet!” However, the two were never to meet again for, when Ceionius returned to Rome to compete in the next Imperial boy games, Anthonius had long left the city.

Meanwhile, Sura found himself back in a cell in the dungeons of the Imperial palace, adjacent to one occupied by Sebastian, although the boy was unaware of this. The naked eunuch was terrified because he had experienced the horrors of his branding within the dungeon confines and wondered what was now lined up for him. He had to wait, huddled in a corner of his small cold unfurnished prison, until the morning to find out.

Perversely, it had been Sura’s brandmarks that had saved the young eunuch’s life, at least for now. The boy’s other physical features could not be clearly discerned from the Coliseum’s Imperial box because of the distance but the ten brands burnt onto his smooth skin had been quickly recognised. His gaoler was later questioned as to how he could have allowed such clearly designated Imperial property to be endangered in the arena. He had survived by telling the truth for he had genuinely believed that the boy was a discarded Imperial chattel, sent to his death for secretly being a Christian. Perversely, Sebastian’s arrest had been the result of coincidence for Casperius just happened to be at the villa inspecting the accommodation allocated to the Lycian royal females when the Praetorian captain unexpectedly arrived on his own more devious mission.

The man who had branded Sura came to collect the petrified boy. He took him to the torture chamber and chained the lad in much the same way as he had previously, spreadeagled and off the ground. He left the tremulous youngster in that situation for an hour before returning with Casperius. The major domo walked round the boy, re-acquainting himself with the results of the neat gelding and branding, and noticing that the lad had seemed to have lost weight. “No-one been feeding you for a few days?” he eventually remarked rhetorically, with a smirk, before continuing “Now, Sura, you’re to tell me who helped you to desert your post at the palace. I know that you would not have done so on your own. So, who was it?” The young eunuch remained silent.

Whilst he waited for the answer that did not come, Casperius played with Sura’s pretty penis, now sadly destined to remain permanently small and flaccid. The major domo, unhappy with the silence, decided to create a little noise and pinched the young soft defenceless cock viciously and elicited the required cry of anguish from the boy. “Now, Sura, stop being naughty,” the cruel man commanded, “tell me who it was. Look around at all the accoutrements we have to secure the truth from you eventually. Be sensible and avoid us having to spend the time and trouble of using them on your very nice body.” The young eunuch did look at the wide variety of torture items and shivered but still kept quiet.

“Well, I think the first thing we’ll do,” declared Casperius, as he continued to fondle Sura’s penis, “is to cut off this useless piece of equipment. You don’t really want your cock anymore, do you? The pathetic remains of your scrotum can be removed too to tidy things up. My friend here will then cauterise the wound before he continues your questioning using some of his pleasant tools. However, you could always give me the name of the person who helped you. It would save us the bother of all this messy nastiness!” The brave boy just nodded negatively.

Casperius stood back to allow the torturer access to Sura’s already damaged loins. The man had a very sharp knife in his right hand and he rested the blade against the base of the boy’s penis, which he pulled painfully downwards with his left. “One last chance,” announced the major domo, “give me the name now!”

(To be continued in Chapter 47 – ‘Answers’)