The cold fingers were again on his person, reminding Cyprianus about his dreams. They touched and caressed, awakening all sorts of alluring desires. When he opened his eyes those fingers were still there, despite the thought they would disappear when he opened his eyes, as happened in many of his dreams. This time he was not so lucky. This was no dream. He tried to move away but found himself unable to do so. He was restrained, just like in his dreams. Panic set in when he realized the dreams were real this time. The first thing his blurry vision came to focus on, was a flame-haired beauty stroking her fingers over his bare chest, just like in the dream. His throat was dry and he was weak so all he could do was part his lips repeatedly like a fish out of water gasping for air. They had laid him in a bed and the fire’s glow heated the room, from somewhere in the corner of his vision but it was nothing compared to the fire in this woman’s hair.

Wave upon wave of red cascading down around the thin and beautiful face, features like that of a siren, she was so beautiful. As his eyes scanned the immediate area, he found it to be filled with luxury, just like his own palace back in Rome, the greatest empire. Few could afford luxury like this but he would not let that stop the panic curling into every limb.

“You’re awake... I’m afraid Livius is still recovering.” The young woman nodded to the form tied up beside Cyprianus and adrenaline filled him when he saw his brother beside him, a cloth being stroked across his almost bloodlessly pale face. Naturally, Cyprianus began to find his way out of the thick sleep that they had forced him into. The elder of the two brothers began to jerk and squirm against his ties. “Shhh shhh” She hushed him in a tender voice as if there was no need to be struggling but he struggled all the more. Being tied up like this normally had that effect on humans. “Calm, my young one. You’ll have him in your arms soon enough... for the rest of eternity.” That didn’t sound very promising and

Cyprianus felt his body turn cold at her softly spoken words, supposed said to calm him down rather than rally him up again.

Cyprianus’s eyes flashed back to the woman, a frown set with concern and anger settling on his features. What did she mean by her words; for the rest of eternity? Her voice resembled that of a snake if a snake had such a thing as a voice and he felt like he was staring straight at Medusa. Medusa had been pretty once. One of the most beautiful in all the land, rumor had it. This beauty invoked anger from one goddess and she eventually turned Medusa into a monster. There was a whole story behind this, but recalling the story was rather the furthest thing from Cyprianus’s mind right then. All he wanted was for this to end.

A servant came closer; he could tell she was thus from the garments she wore. The basin she had was filled with steaming water and a cloth was dipped into the water causing the flame-haired beauty to move from her spot beside Cyprianus so the cleaning of his form could begin. It was like a ritual, almost. Were they to be sacrificed to some God? The moment the cloth touched his skin, he felt bliss and his eyes drifted shut in pure pleasure.