Price of Love- Slave!GreecexRoman!Reader part 11

It was raining in Rome. Or at least you assumed it was. You could hear the pounding of the drops as they hit the streets. Water dripped through the cracks which now seemed almost bigger than they used to be. When the rain had started you were sure you had been pretty delusional. Three days and your brain had already started to shut down. But once the first drop of water hit your cheek you felt revived, and searched for a puddle to suck up. Usually you'd never consider drinking water out of a puddle, but a person dying from thirst really isn't picky.

You felt almost completely revived after you drank several puddles of water. The problem now was that you were feeling your hunger. Really feeling it. Before you had been too out of it and thirsty to truly notice how hungry and tired you felt.

Back when you were small you remembered some of the physicians telling your father you would be prone to sickness. Apparently they weren't wrong. You were pretty sure you had developed a fever. Not a bad one, but a fever all the same. Who knows, you may not have to suffer through dying from hunger or thirst.

You shivered and sneezed. After you had drank your fill of puddle water you had found the driest corner in the shed and huddled there, but it seemed a new leak bad sprung above you, and the dripping water left cold little trails down your face, arms, and shoulders.

You sighed. At least the gray light was seeping through the cracks fairly well. You glanced up and immediately your eyes locked onto the corner-most side of the board above your head. Somehow over the five dozen or so times you went around the shed you had never even considered looking at the roof. Now you realized the board above you was actually rotted, or at least rotting. Maybe this was your shot.

Stretching as far as you could, you placed your palm against the loose board and pushed as hard as you could. The thick board was surprisingly light, most likely from the rot, and the light, thick piece of wood was also soaked through. You jumped and put as much power behind your shoving as you could. It took seven times but you finally got it. The board thumped up from its place and bounced up and down, letting more light in than you had seen since you'd been locked up. The instant spray of rain and the soft gray light made you close your eyes and you tried to protect your face with your arms. You hadn't realized that it was raining that hard.

Once your eyes adjusted to having light again you looked up through the hole. It wasn't a big hole, even after you managed to unattach the rest of the board it was small. You had always been skinny though, and being starved for three days hadn't helped anything. You could count all your bones and you felt more frail than you ever had before. But somehow, the thought of getting free pushed you on, if not for yourself for Heracles. You felt as if you absolutely had to save him, no matter what.

You pulled the mostly rotted board down into the shed with you. If you were going to get through that hole you had to have some kind of step, even a small one would help. And that board was the only possible thing. At first you were worried it wouldn't hold your weight, so you sat it on its end and tried putting pressure on it. It held up, so you tried it repeatedly, resting a little more of your weight on it every time. Finally you decided you couldn't wait any longer. Whether or not it could hold your weight it was your only chance and you had to take it.

You carefully propped the board against the wall. Bracing yourself against the rain you took a deep breath and stepped up onto the edge of he board, suddenly glad for your small size. Balancing on the edge of the board made it suddenly feel much smaller, only allowing your toes room to stand. It was absolutely necessary that you didn't take anymore time than you had to, and you were thankful for renewed energy. You had heard soldiers speaking of this before, about the burst of extra energy and extra strength that came with fear or excitement before or during a battle. You had never realized it was possible with you, but you were extremely thankful for it.

You gripped the side of the hole and pulled. You had never realized you were so weak. It took a bit of struggling but you finally managed to get your elbow up, and then your entire other arm, pushing and pulling your head through as well. Panic formed a knot in your throat when the board toppled out from under your feet and you were left hanging. It was a good thing you had reached over the edge and got a good grip on the side, otherwise you would have fallen back in for sure, and you didn't know if you had the strength to attempt this again.

Your feet thumped uselessly against the wall as you tried desperately to get some sort of grip. With a yell you finally managed to pull the rest of the top half of your body out of the hole, and you laid across the roof, taking a moment to try and catch your breath. You didn't think you had ever attempted something so physical before, and you felt proud of yourself, especially since you were far from your top condition.

Finally you mustered the will power to scramble the rest of the way onto the roof and sat there, breathing hard and relishing the cool rain for a while.

The thunder was very loud, and the rain was intense. Occasional bursts of lightning lit the sky, and you shivered. It was hard to see far down the road, the heavy rain creating a gray blanket and hiding things ahead from sight. But you'd rested long enough. Swallowing, you looked down at the ground. It wasn't that far. The shed was only a bit taller than you. But it seemed so much bigger from the top. You squeezed your eyes closed and pushed off the edge. You hit the ground hard, and your legs took the full impact. You sat on the ground, trembling uncontrollably and coughing every now and then. Your body felt weak but you had to keep going. So, after a minute, you forced yourself to your feet and walked as fast as you could down the street and towards Marcus' villa.

The wind blew your stringy wet hair and your pathetically dirty toga around you wildly. The whole world seemed to be packed up and huddled away somewhere safely dry and happy. Well, maybe not happy but close enough.  It was getting late (and you assumed that if it hasn't been pretty dark already it would be getting dark too) so that probably had something to do with the complete absence of life as well.

By the time you reached Marcus' villa  the rain had lightened a bit and all the extra energy seemed to have disappeared. You stopped at the gate and looked up. It suddenly seemed much taller than it did when it was open and welcoming you in. You sighed, wondering exactly how you were supposed to get in. Walking slowly and being careful to observe everything, you made your way around the villa, stopping to look up at windows every now and then. As would be expected, there were no signs of life.

"What are you doing?" a sharp, small, male voice called to you.

You looked up and gasped quietly. Lovino was sitting in the window, lower body as wet as your own, and staring down at you with furrowed brows.

"Wait a minute! You're that girl! The one that papa likes!" he paused for a second and stared at you. "You're the one that likes that slave..." His voice had been so quiet you nearly hadn't heard the last part over the sounds of the rain.

"You're here to get that slave aren't you?"

It was your turn to stare at him now. "H...How did you...?"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. It's obvious."

You weren't sure what was so obvious, but you suddenly knew what your only hope would be. "Lovino, please help me."

He frowned down at you, crossing his arms. "Why would I help you?"

You stood silently. Why should he help you? If you were going to save Heracles you had to have Lovino's help, and if you were going to get his help you had to have a convincing reason. The issue was that you didn't know Lovino well enough to come up with something convincing. You had one chance, and anything you said would be a complete guess.

"Your father!" you cried desperately. "I know he doesn't treat you as well as your brother. You could do it to spite him!"

Lovino looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, but if he catches me he'd probably kill me."

"Please Lovino! I need you. I can't do this without you!" you were in full out begging mode now.

He sighed heavily and pulled his legs back inside the room. "Fine," he muttered and your heart almost leapt for joy. "Go to the gate and I'll meet you there.

It took a much shorter time going back around to the front than it had for you to get to Lovino's window and you stood impatiently waiting for the boy. After what felt like hours he appeared in the courtyard, glanced around warily, and crept quietly to the gate. In his hand was a large metal ring with a few keys on it. He looked at it for a minute then chose a key and quietly stuck it in the lock. You winced as the key turned with a creak. Why did things always seem so much louder when you were trying to be quiet? With another creak he opened it enough for you to squeeze through.

Lovino looked you up and down. "You look terrible."

"Thank you," you said dryly.


Greece's POV


Heracles sighed, staring at the door before he dropped his gaze to the ground in front of him. His back ached terribly. His forehead was still tender. And his newest injury seemed to be eating at his entire body. He supposed he should have realized that today would be the next punishment day. His back had just began to heal too.

Flaying. A terrible nasty punishment no living being deserved.  Actually, it was a death penalty. Heracles well remembered the story of Marsyas, a satyr who was flayed for challenging Apollo. A gruesome death to say the least, be it a deity or a mortal who suffers it.

Heracles wasn't sure if he were lucky or not though. Marcus had been considering how he wanted to kill Heracles, and finally decided to experiment with flaying. Heracles had seen people flayed before. Nightmarish didn't begin to describe it. His wasn't bad though. Marcus had just been experimenting. He didn't want Heracles to die just yet. So he had left Heracles a thin layer of skin instead of the normal exposed muscle. He didn't want his precious torture-e to die. He hadn't had his fill of fun yet.

So Heracles' left arm had been transformed into a bloody mess then bandaged just as his back had been. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like if Marcus had gone deeper, if he had robbed him of all his skin from all of his body. He'd had to struggle to regain his senses even after his wounds had been treated and he was left alone in his cell. Marcus may have been trying to keep him alive but Heracles didn't think his body could take much more damage. Bandaged or not.

The sound of keys in the lock didn't convince him to look up. It was either the slave girl coming to give him food or Marcus coming to gloat. Footsteps headed towards him quickly, soft footsteps. Not Marcus then.

"H-Heracles are you alright?" Heracles eyes widened and he looked up quickly. It was _____. Her voice sounded a bit raspy, and she looked as if she had been in some trouble herself, but she was there.

"We aren't dead... are we?" Heracles was pretty sure he hadn't died, and he couldn't think of any reason she'd be dead, but he couldn't think of any way she would be there either.

She smiled a bit. "No, not yet at least." He smiled back.

"Hate to disturb you two," Lovino hissed with a look on his face that said he didn't care at all, "But we really need to go." The boy glanced down the hall nervously, looking very jittery.

"Can you stand?" _____ asked gently.

Heracles grunted and nodded, slowly pushing himself up with his right arm, groaning and grinding his teeth the entire way. _____ did her best to help, her own trembling hands trying to help pull him to his feet, being careful to avoid touching his bloodied bandages. Heracles was almost amazed at how little strength she had. He'd never noticed before.

Lovino lead the way down the hall, his light footsteps practically at a run. Heracles was glad Marcus hadn't done anything to his lower body. It was hard enough to move as it was. He was beginning to feel like he might pass out. But it was his one chance to live and there was no way he would give it up.

The courtyard was just in view when Lovino suddenly stopped. He began backing up. He turned around, his eyes round and full of fear, even in the darkness. "Hide! Now!" he said, in a loud whisper that was as frightened as his face.

But it was too late. Heracles and _____ gasped in unison as a large dark shadow walked down the hall towards them. They had been so close to freedom, and yet so very, terribly far.

Marcus' shadow stopped behind a terrified and trembling Lovino, who turned quickly and stared up at his father. He barely had time to look up at his father before Marcus backhanded him across his face, sending the boy into the wall then onto the ground.


Reader's POV


"Disobedient little fool! I'll deal with you properly later." Marcus muttered angrily to Lovino's still form. You hoped Lovino didn't get seriously injured by his "loving" father.

Heracles moved in front of you slowly, and Marcus and him seemed to engage in a glaring war.

Suddenly Marcus burst out laughing, and your eyes locked onto him, hatred building in you. "Do you really think you could win in a fight? Your back and arm is useless, you can barely move. And yet you still dare to face me. What a fool you are. I thought you were supposed to be an educated Greek. You are nothing but a slave. Worthless, stupid, rebellious. I suppose I should have just killed you to begin with."

Heracles gritted his teeth but said nothing. "And you, my pretty little wife to be. Why do you want to be with such trash? He could give you nothing. But when you marry me I'll give you everything."

"I'll never marry you!" you yelled, looking Marcus right in the eyes.

"Yes you will. I've made a deal with your stepmother and she will convince your father to give you to me. You'll be mine whether you want to be or not," his teeth gleamed in the darkness as he smiled cruelly at you.

"My father wants me to be happy! My father loves me! If it wasn't my will he would never make me marry you, and that pig of a woman could never convince him otherwise!"

Heracles moaned quietly, squeezing his eyes shut and biting his lip. Sped up blood flow was increasing the pain in his entire body.

That seemed to give Marcus an idea. "If you will marry me I won't kill him. I wouldn't mind you having a slave for your pleasure."

The idea horrified you. And it was even worse because you were actually beginning to consider it. From your current position you could see no other options. You couldn't escape, you couldn't go back to your villa, not with Heracles. He belonged to Marcus. The whole situation seemed utterly hopeless.

Marcus held his hand out towards you. "_____, come to me."

A loud crash startled everyone present, and Marcus' eyes were wide for a moment before they flickered shut and he crumpled unceremoniously to the floor. You stared, not entirely sure of what happened for a moment. Then your eyes wandered up from Marcus and you saw Lovino standing there, holding the rim of a broken clay pot and breathing hard and everything clicked. Lovino, after being hit by his father, had gotten up or crawled away and found a pot while everyone's attention was on Marcus, and then, after sneaking up behind him, he stretched to his full length and broke the pot over Marcus' head, knocking him out.

Both you and Heracles stared at Lovino feeling somewhat astounded. Lovino frowned angrily and crossed his arms. "The jerk shouldn't have hit me. Are we going or not?"

You looked up at Heracles and he gave you a look that would have gone with a shrug. You started moving forward again, this time a bit faster. Lovino unlocked the gate and stepped outside, holding it open for you. You silently stepped into the night, letting out a sigh of relief. You'd been holding your breath for some time now. But you were surprised when Lovino followed you out and locked the gate, then threw the keys back over. You looked at him curiously.

He glared back. "I can't stay you know. Papa will have me killed for what I did, or at least sold into slavery. I'd rather die out here than in there." And with that he left, the rainy night quickly swallowing his small form.

"Wait!" you cried. His shadow paused. "Thank you Lovino," you said softly. Without a reply he continued and was quickly completely out of sight. Heracles' eyes remained grimly on the spot where the boy had disappeared. You suddenly realized how selfish you had been to ask Lovino to do what he did. He had risked everything just to help you, and he'd lost everything. If he was ever caught Marcus would apply the most fearsome of disciplines. Most likely he would kill him. Disobedience to authority was not welcome in Rome, not to mention he stole from Marcus and attacked him. No matter what, it was clear that Lovino could never come home again.

You were just beginning to feel terribly guilty when Heracles' right hand landing on your shoulder made you jump slightly. "We should go." You nodded but didn't move. He looked in the direction Lovino had gone and sighed. "He made his choice, it's not your fault."

You just sighed again. Maybe it wasn't. But whether or not it was, you knew you needed to get moving. So you took Heracles' hand (being careful to make sure it wasn't his left one) and started walking down the street. It was very slow going. You had forgotten just how weak and hungry you were after being in Marcus' villa, and Heracles was clearly in a lot of pain.


>~time skip~<


After what felt like hours of walking you stopped. Both of you were breathing hard, and you knew that if you went much farther without rest at least one of you would collapse. It was still night and there was no one out. That suited you fine. Maybe you could take shelter under someone's roof or something, and you could be gone before they ever noticed you.

A quick look over the area revealed a small, open building that greatly resembled a barn. It also showed that you had no idea where you were. Inside the barn-like room there was a fairly large hand-drawn cart filled with tall, closed, brown bags.

You pulled Heracles to the cart and pulled out a few of the bags. "Climb in," you said, motioning to the hollow area. He looked at it dubiously, then gently lowered himself onto the cart, and began the arduous and slow process of maneuvering himself as far in as he could. You grunted as you pulled one of the heavy bags back onto the cart. Your plan was to sit this one across the other ones, and then repeat the process once or twice to make a little roof type thing just in case someone came to check on the cart before you had a chance to leave. It took a lot of struggling on your part, but you finally managed to get three bags placed safely (and sturdily) over the little cavity. Heracles watched you the whole time with a guilty look on his face, but both you and him realized with the wounds on his back he wouldn't be able to even attempt to lift one of those bags. Finally you crawled in and pulled a bag in front of you. Now you had a complete sanctuary, tight, but you really didn't mind being up against Heracles. You squished yourself up against him, the two of you barely fitting between the bags. You knew it was at least somewhat painful for him, so you were careful to keep as much weight off of him as possible.

You had Heracles, and though you knew you still had a lot to get through to escape from the city, you couldn't help but feel that everything would somehow work out now. Completely exhausted, but with a hopeful heart, you fell asleep immediately, and slept peacefully for the first time in three days.