Slave Girl: Chapter 30 (Patreon)

I look at Ignatius puzzled.  My Roman sensibilities could grasp having an issue with Rosa’s Amazon half, but the demon part of her?  While they weren’t generally loved they had been a part of the Empire as long as there had been an Empire.

“A shame?”  I say.  “Why?  What’s wrong with demons?”

“Oh son, I’ve not yet told you about Satan.  Lucifer.”  His eyes lock onto mine.  “The serpent in God’s glorious garden.”

The mention of a serpent has me thinking of Rosa’s long snaky tongue.

“The Greeks taught us that the angels and demons that walk among us were proto-humans, created to inhabit Olympus and Hades respectively.  That they were cast too pure for free will and without free will their worship was hollow.  So humans were created to inhabit the Earth, an alloy of above and below cooled in the mud of the mortal world.”

“I have heard this.”  I say.

“The Greeks lied to us Quintus!”  Ignatius leans in, a fervent fire flickering in his dark eyes.  “In the time of Moses God sent angels, true angels, down from heaven to ready the world for the coming of His son.  Like a farmer tilling and enriching their soil before the seeding.  Do you understand Quintus?”

“Yes.”  I say.  “They wanted us to be ready for Jesus.”

“Very good!”  He smiles.  “You are a very bright young man. The angels came as messengers of God, giving us prophecies and signs toward our eventual salvation.  They were beings of heaven, but they were not perfect for only God is perfect.  A few succumbed to the temptations of wine and flesh and their offspring were the genesis of those who walk among us now that we call angels.”

“But Rosa isn’t an angel.”

“No Quintus, Rosa is no angel.  If only she were.”  He says grimly.  “It would be so much easier.”

I was enthralled by his wise words and his glowing gaze.  The forest around me melts into the distance as I focus on the light in his eyes.  I yearned to hear more from this great man.  I wanted him to teach me the truth.  “Easier?”

“With angels roaming the world the evil one, a fallen angel himself, was able to appear as one of them to the people of the time.  As true angels beget mortal ones so the Devil sewed demons from his foul seed.”

“Devil?”

“Evil incarnate.  Through trickery and domination he leads man into sin and away from the love of God.  He wants man trapped in the false goods of wealth, earthly power, and bodily delights.”  He says.  “He is a great red scaled beast with black horns and a tongue of hellfire and a wickedly barbed tale.”

The creature conjured in my imagination is more fearsome than any monster I’d ever heard of.  “The Devil frightens me Ignatius!”

“As he should!”  Ignatius says.  “He leads good men off the path that in their heart they know to be right.”

“He does?”

“Yes he does, and so does she.”  He points to my slave.  “Satan’s blood runs through her veins.  His evil is in her.”

“But…she…isn’t evil.”

“She is a deceiver.”  He says.

I think back to how effortlessly she had told Gaius half truths.

“Demons, like their master Satan, have a will to dominate.”  He says.

I think back to her binding me and how quickly she had me kissing her feet and calling her my Lady and obeying her every command.

“With the tongue of a serpent she will prey on your goodness.  She will use your honor and sympathies to burrow her way into your heart.”

I don’t want to think these thoughts!  I don’t like them.  I don’t want to think about Rosa like this.  Yet as I look into Ignatius’ intense glowing gaze I cannot help but recall how she clung to me and called for me.  She spoke of how she needed me.  How she brought out every protective instinct inside of me.  How she made me brave, but…perhaps this new courage was misplaced.  Was it foolishness instead?  Would it lead me into doom?

“With the cruel empty heart of a fiend she will prey on your weakness as well.”  He presses.  “Any flaw exploited to find a way to worm into your soul.”

Had she sensed my fear?  My fear of being out alone for the first time?  My fear of women?  She held me and soothed me and told me we were going home.  She assuaged every anxiety I had, almost too well. Was the home she spoke of hell?

“With Satan’s help she will show you false miracles.”

False miracles?  Had it really been Silvanus that summoned those Pegasi?

“She will beguile you Quintus.  She wants your soul.  She will lead you down the road of temptation into sin.”

I remember the ways she touched me that no other woman had, even though she knew we could not marry.  I remember the wicked sexual pleasures she had brought out in me.  I remember my unmanly mewling as she took control of me and made me cum for her.

“She will make you do and say things no virtuous man would and convince you it is holy.”

The things I had already said!  The things we’d already done!  What would mother and father think of me?

“Or has she already captured you?  Perhaps your soul is lost?”

“No.”  I whisper.

“Good!”  He says.  “That’s good Quintus.  Hold onto your soul.  Give it to Jesus, not the Devil.”

“She…she isn’t…evil.”  I stammer as I wilt under his heavy gaze.

“She can be saved Quin.  She can be exorcised and brought into God’s love.”

“Yes!  I want to save her!”

“Of course you do son.  You are a good man.  Like your father before you who waits for you in heaven.”

“Dad?”

“He wants you to do the right thing Quintus.  Your father watches you from heaven at Jesus’ side.  He sees you even now.”

“Dad!  What…what do I have to do?”

“I will help you my son.  You won’t be alone.”

“Help?  How?  How can we help her?”

“Her horns will be torn from her head never to return as they represent a crown of evil.”

“Her…horns?”

“Her devil ears will be cut from her so that she can no longer hear Lucifer’s forked tongue.”

“Cut?”

“Her red eyes plucked so she cannot see Satan’s secret signals.”

“They…aren’t…red.”   Every word is a challenge to speak.

“Her wicked tongue shall be removed so she will never be tempted to speak Lucifer’s name.”

“…no…”  I whimper.  I try to shrink from him but I cannot move.

“We will build a fire, a great bonfire, and cast her into it.”

“Fire?”

“She will not burn but if the fire is hot enough it will purge Satan’s blood from her through cleansing pain.  She will renounce her dark master and submit to God’s  mercy.”

“Pain?”

“Pain is only temporary.  Salvation is forever.”  He leans closer, so close our noses nearly touch. I can actually feel heat coming from his illuminated eyes.  “She can be yours!  You can still marry her Quintus.  You can marry the woman you love.”

“Love?”

“Once purged she will be reborn!  A simple chastity cage so that neither of you succumb to the sin of Sodom and you can marry your beautiful slave girl with the blessing of the Lord upon you both.”  Ignatius says with fearsome passion.  “You can see your father again.  You can have your wife.  You will have eternal life.  Give yourself to Christ!”

In my mind I see Rosa in the fire.  Screaming.  Calling out for mercy.  Reaching for me.  Crying in agony just as she had when those slavers branded her with my symbol.  I can hear her scream!  The memory of Rosa’s agony cuts through it all.

“NO!!!”  I cry out.  As I shake my head it and pull away it is as if I was coming up for air from dark cold water.  The world around me comes back into focus.  I can hear Rosa’s music again and the smell of burning fish comes into my nose.  On my hands and knees I scramble back from the man.  From his eyes a golden light shines as bright as the fire beside him.  Was it magic or was it God!?  “No!  I won’t do that to Rosa!  I won’t hurt her!”

Hearing her name Rosa turns to look.  The music stops as she drops her flute and within seconds she is at my side.  Kneeling down at my side she looks at my terrified face and caresses my cheeks.  “Quin!  Gods, you’re so pale.  What’s wrong?  What happened?”

With a trembling hand I point to the man in manacles.  

Standing up Rosa turns to him.  Holding me to her hip like a protective mother she interposes herself and hisses.  “What are you telling him?  What nonsense have you told him?”  I cling to her leg, my head against her hip, as I struggle to collect myself.   “What have you done to my boy!?

“Your boy?”  Quintus stands and squares his shoulders.  The guise of the harmless old man sloughs away to reveal the palpable power of his imperious charisma.  “He’s not yours yet…DEMON!”  He spits the last word.  “Tell her my son.”

Across the clearing the soldiers are picking up their gear and heading our way.

“I…I won’t hurt her.”  I gasp each word.  “I won’t hurt her.  I won’t hurt her.”

“It is for her own good.”  Ignatius says.  “You will be saving her.”

“Leave!”  Rosa shouts.  “How dare you accept our food then do this!  I didn’t think that even a Christian could be so crass.  Leave here.  Leave us in peace.  Go to Rome and feed the Emperor’s lions you old fool.”

The soldiers do nothing to break this up.  Instead they file in behind the man in saffron robes clearly at the ready to his bidding.  He might have worn the shackles but a prisoner he was not.

“They follow you.”  Rosa says with dawning realization.  “You are their master.”

“I told you before, I am master of nothing.  They follow the Redeemer.”

“You’ve charmed them.  You’re an enchanter.”

“Ha!  No.  They have seen the truth…as Quin has.  Tell her Quintus.  Stand up to her.”

Rosa strokes my hair and continues to shield me.  One small slave girl standing against ten armed soldiers and Ignatius.  I continue holding her leg so that I would not swoon.  The longer I was out of Ignatius’ gaze the more I was feeling like myself again though…what he said made so much sense.  If only he didn’t ask me to hurt Rosa. I wanted so bad to listen to him.  I wanted all of the same things that he wanted for me.  I wanted to see my Dad again.  I wanted to feel God’s love.  I wanted…Rosa.  Ignatius could give me everything!

“Why go to Rome?”  Rosa continues.  “Why let them take you?  The Emporer will have wards to protect him, he won’t fall for your charms.”

“In killing me the Emperor will create thousands more just like me.  I will be a martyr for my Lord.  My name etched in history.  The church of Christ cannot be stopped.”  He says.  “Like these soldiers the Emperor will play his part just as God intends.”

“You’re mad!”

“Your time is short demon.  You and your kind will be erased from memory.  Demons, wizards, monsters and pagan gods, all of Satan’s servants, burned from history by God’s truth.”  

“There’s an old Alexandrian expression I think fits just this moment perfectly.”  Rosa says back.  “Fuck you asshole!”  She points to the road.  “Take your fucking brain dead soldiers and your fucking batshit crazy beliefs and get the fuck out of here!”  She then lets out a feral snarl and bares her tiny fangs.  “LEAVE MY BOY ALONE!”

At Rosa’s wild snarl the soldiers go for their swords until Ignatius raises his hands to stop them.  

“I’ve wasted enough words on you evil one.  Quintus!  Rise!”  He commands in a booming voice.  “Stand and face your demon.”

Chapter 31