Chapter 4

I had a terrible nightmare. We were at sea again, and I had offended Neptune! The sea was churning and the boat I was on rocked and heaved! There was sea water flying everywhere. I tasted salt. I don’t think I’d ever tasted something in a dream before. The sails and mast blew away and the small ship was tossed like a cork!

A wave the size of the world lifted the boat higher and higher, and it tilted down toward the Kraken! A huge, slimy tentacle wrapped around my arm and a smaller one slipped into my ear! Suction cups and tentacles covered my face! I was suffocating in the slimy beast! Drowning!

I heard a loud bark. I woke and something slimy really was all over my face! I did taste sea water! Suction cups DID stick to me! I screamed in terror, pulling tentacles off myself! Most of the household woke up in the chaos. Two servants ran in carrying candles. They laughed as I finished removing the octopus from my face.

My dog Tyranus happily barked and ran around the room. He had miraculously survived the ordeal at sea, but dropped an octopus on me in my sleep! I wasn’t sure if I was glad to see him or furious. I led him to the tent where the children slept and he ran to Een and Dana. They cried with happiness and disappeared beneath a mound of fur as he jumped on them.

We made it to the markets of Ghent in the early afternoon three days later. The soldiers and servants set up tents, fed the horses and children, and made our camp south of the city before dinner. The city had the biggest market for two hundred leagues. Merchants from distant lands sold spices, fabrics, furs, and other exotic goods. They came from as far as Athens in Greece, Helsinki far to the north, and Dakar in West Africa.

I saw one of Pullo’s servants selling excess items from the legion. A parrot on the table next to him said, “No, the belt! The belt! Faster!”

The man laughed, saying; “The Legatus doesn’t want the parrot meeting his family. Only two denari? Any other parrot will cost you at least five.”

I chuckled with him. “Maybe some other time.”

He told me the legion was camped a league east of town. The cooks and supply officer bought half the cows in the city, half the chickens, and most of the pigs. There would be a feast the next day, and they would leave for Rome the day after that.

I walked past a merchant selling spices. “Pepper and cinnamon, all the way from Yunnan! I have the only supply in all of Belgica!” I was surprised that the price was only extremely high, instead of absurd. He wanted six gold aureus for a pouch the size of an apple, instead of the ten he charged when I was on the way to Caledonia. Still, it would be cheaper to eat silver instead. Later in Rome, I bought what the cooks needed for a third that price.

I stopped at the slave market and saw nine children for sale, only thirty denari each. I bought them all. It was doubtful anyone else would. One slave caught and held my rapt attention. She was an Oriental woman with long dark hair and sloped GREEN eyes! They had a sadness and deep wisdom, for one so pretty. So mystical, so intriguing!

Her high cheekbones, small nose, and pink lips made her face outrageously attractive. Her skin was light as chalk! She stood nude in the slave pen and the shape of her body was marvelous! Her cream-colored and perfectly round breasts would be slightly more than a handful, and her shapely ass was lovely!

I pointed to her and offered a thousand. The slave trader shook his head and explained, “The merchant I got her from took a whole year to get Koh Yee all the way here! She’s a virgin, too! The auction is at sundown. Come back then, with a LOT more money.”

I decided I’d pay, definitely. Three other slave women were attractive but not nearly a match for her. I bought two large breasted blonde Nordics, Olla and Geeb, for three hundred each. For the sake of variety, I paid four hundred for a dark black one, Omda.

I thought some sport would lift people’s spirits at our camp, so I started a contest. I offered a ten denari prize for the strongest soldier, ten for the strongest free servant, and five each for the strongest male and female slaves.

They would try to lift a large bucket of stones with one hand five times, and each round, more weight was added. My bodyguard Krato won for the soldiers. Poz was the strongest male slave, and Geeb was the strongest female. People made bets, cheered, and enjoyed watching. The winners were all very happy.

I met with Pullo and collected my share for the slaves they sold. Luckily, he gave it to me in gold. Counting the stash hidden in my shrine, I had thirty-five thousand denari!

I asked him, “Legate, may I speak to you as a friend, instead of as soldiers?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

I rested a hand on his shoulder in a brotherly fashion. “Pullo, without a doubt, you’re the toughest, crustiest, meanest old bastard I’ve ever met. I’m giving you a gift that suits your personality.” I was a little surprised that he smiled.

Since she won the strength contest, I called, “Geeb, come here.” She carried in a cane and belt, per Pullo’s rules. I asked, “She’s nice looking, right?”

He agreed, “Not bad. Not bad at all!” He fondled one of her massive breasts through her plain beige tunic, and did the almost unthinkable. He smiled for the second time in a day! I said, “She can do special things you might like. Enjoy her.” I motioned for her to start. She hit his ass hard enough to put a crack in the cane on the first try.

I evacuated the area for safety as he exclaimed, “YES! MORE!”

I emptied my shrine and put the coins in bags. I had four soldiers load them in a wagon, as four more stood guard. The auction was beginning as I arrived. “Who will pay twenty-three hundred? Twenty-five? Twenty-eight?”

It went on and on. “Fifty-eight hundred? Six thousand? Six thousand three hundred?”

Of the nine men who were bidding at the start, only two others than me were left. The last of my competitors were the spice merchant and the city’s Patrician.