Voice of Experience

Aemelia leads me into the house. The interior was neither extravagant nor plain, tasteful with a definite Greek flare to it. The walls showed paintings of Greek heroes among scenes of warfare and battle. Honestly it was exactly what I was expecting based on my brief encounter with the owner. She brings me through entryway and main hall into the dining room where three lounging couches sat around a low table face each other.

“He will bring her here.” She says. “Could you take the extra klinai and bring it with.”

“Yeah, of course.” Not that I needed the extra incentive, but I was ordered to help her by my Lady. I lift the couch frame and hold it as Aemelia adjusts the other two, keeping up friendly conversation the whole time, then produces a few pillows and padded mats to lay out on the couches. It was easy to notice which one was to be Peisandros’ as his cushions were trimmed with red and gold, the ones for my Lady downright plain in comparison. A host’s privilege I suppose but I found myself wishing I had something special to lay out for Rosa. Once the room was prepared we move on.

She has me store the extra couch in a side room then we move on to the kitchen. A **** was already there resting on a stool but Aemelia immediately dismisses the woman. “The Master and I are hosting. Light the dining lanterns then tell the others we do not wish to be disturbed.” An immediate look of understanding comes over the ****. She gives me a quick once over then bows and hurries out of the room. The four of us would have the villa to ourselves it seems.

“Do you prepare and serve for your Lady?” She asks me.

“Yes.” I answer without even thinking about the question. It seemed the proper answer. I may be new to this world but I wanted to show Aemelia that I belonged.

She looks at me with open admiration. “You serve her outside the bed chambers. That is wonderful. She really found a good one with you.” She says. “Most Italian boys like the kink but not the life. Sir calls them ‘bedroom boys’, they’re commitment directly linked to the hardness of their manhoods.” She chuckles. “He says he hasn’t seen a proper boy since he left Corinth.”

“I am a proper boy.” I say with pride, wanting to make sure I put Rosa in the best possible light. “My Lady would accept no less.”

“Indeed.” She opens a low cupboard and I am surprised to feel a wave of cool air wash over my feet. The cupboard definitely had a bit of magic about it, perhaps it was lined with those magical tesserae that Gaius dealt in. What a great use for them. From here she pulls cheese, fresh grapes, and salted meat and sets these onto the counter. Motioning to the holder on the wall she says. “Knives are there. I’ll get you a platter.”

“I think…I think my Lady was only staying for a beer.”

“They will be drinking and talking. They will want a snack with their beverage.”

“Yeah, good point.” It would be a bit rude to refuse such hospitality and it wasn’t like Rosa couldn’t use an extra meal right now.

Keeping up the cordial chat Aemelia gets platters for each of us. I choose one of the knives and she takes another. With the food on the counter between us Aemelia begins preparing her tray. I follow her lead and do the same on my side.

“So, how did you meet?” She asks. “How did you reveal yourselves?”

As we work I give Aemelia a very rough version of our story thus far. She is fascinated by every little detail, wanting more than I was willing to say just yet. I keep things vague but reveal small things about Rosa and I’s private life. Along the way it slowly dawns on me that I was talking to this person who I had just met, a woman no less, about topics that not too long ago I never would have had the nerve to even broach. Having Rosa as my Lady had put me much more at ease with members of the opposite sex. I had found the woman of my dreams, other women now just weren’t as intimidating as they once were.

“Not even two weeks!? My goodness, you are new.” She says once my brief recount is over. “And to buy your own Lady at a **** market…wow. And such a Lady! That is something else.”

“It has been quite an experience.”

Perhaps hearing nerves in my voice she assures me. “Don’t worry Quintus. Listen to your Lady, she’ll train you right.”

“I know.” I build up my courage to talk plainly with this woman, not sure if or when I’d ever get a chance to talk to someone like this again. “How long did your training take?”

“Training never really ends.” She says. “But my Sir collared me after four months.”

“Four months!”

“He is very exacting. He is an experienced Sir with very high standards. He has had three girls before me.” She explains. “Every pair is different though. There are some common practices, but each pair must find their own particular way. Some are collared within days, some years.”

“My Lady has high standards too.” I say a bit too defensively.

“I am sure she does.”

“She is very experienced.” I brag. “She is older than she looks.”

“You are a lucky boy.”

“Yes I am.”

“Her being a demon and a…um…”

“Amazon.” I say firmly.

“Yes. That doesn’t bother you?”

“No. I am a lucky boy. So lucky.” I found it difficult to talk about Rosa without breaking up a little. I couldn’t be more proud to be hers. “My Lady is special.”

“Indeed.”

With that Aemelia does the finishing touches on her platter. It looked like something out of a painting. The cheese and meat sliced perfectly and laid out in neat layers. Half of the bunch of grapes forming a central symmetrical mound. She takes a small round pan bread and slices it in half and puts this along with a tiny bowl of oil to fill the other half of the platter. I look down in front of me. I wasn’t even done slicing the cheese. Instead of nice slim slices mine was crumbled and uneven. I could clean a trout as easy as walking but I was far from an experienced hand in the kitchen. I focus harder and try to do better as Aemelia makes a few small adjustments to hers then takes a seat on the stool.

“Tell me of your Lady. What does she like? When she allows herself to do anything she wants, what is it she does?”

“Well.” I think back. “Play. She is playful. There is a lot of joy and laughter with Rosa. I’ve…never smiled so much.”

“Ohhh! That sounds wonderful.” Aemelia grins wide. “A kind heart is so important. Is she hard or gentle?”

“Very gentle mostly.” My heart swells with pride as I talk of my Lady. “She is nurturing. She holds me and pets me and says the nicest things to me. She says I am precious and…cute and…beautiful.” I chuckle. “If you can believe that.”

“I do.” She says. “And you best start believing it too if you’re going to be her boy.”

I let out a huff as my first slice of the meat is crooked. I am used to slicing a bit and stuffing it in my mouth. I never gave any consideration to how my food actually looked before.

“Quintus, tell me, have you figured out the secret yet?”

I look at her. “Secret?”

“The secret of control.”

“My Lady is in control.” I state the obvious.

“Mmm, yeahhhh, but…is she though?” Aemelia says. “If it isn’t too personal, may I ask about your first real act of true submission?”

I search my memory, but I don’t have to search for long. Rosa and I are in that stable all those days ago. It is dark. Rosa is sound asleep. Nobody can see me. I remember the shame yet the irresistible need to bow down and kiss my Lady’s foot. I remember how good it felt to allow myself to do that. I recount the memory to Aemelia.

“Your Lady made you do that?”

“No.” I confess. “That was me.”

“It is always you. That’s the secret.” She laughs then motions toward the door. “We give them their power and we can take it back again. They cannot take from us anything we don’t willingly give them.” She says. “They may do things beyond our control but that isn’t the same as them holding control. They earn their place just as much as we do.”

“I…never thought about that.”

“It is important.” She says. “You would have figured it out eventually, but it’s good you know.”

“Yeah.”

“Does your Lady look after you well? Your needs are being met? She knows what you like and don’t like?”

“She looks after me really good.” I reply, after a moment’s hesitation I add. “I…I like the ropes. She’s good with ropes.”

“Ohhh, yes.” Just the way she said that told me she knew exactly what I was talking about. It was so strange opening up like this with another kindred spirit. “Bondage is a favorite of mine as well.”

“She is so good. I’ve never seen anybody handle a rope so well.” I say. “She bought me a special rope. Do you want to see it?”

“Yes! Show me as you leave.” She says genuinely. “I suspect she will buy you more if you’re a good boy.”

“I am a good boy.” I say, my voice very subtly shifting softer. “For her I am a good boy.”

“I wish there were time for her to show us her rope work.” Aemelia pines. “My Sir prefers shackles and chains and the like. Rope is so cozy and pretty looking though. I wish I could see.”

I imagine Rosa tying me up in front of this couple, giving them a display of her prowess with me as the willing model. The thought is both terrifying and exciting. “We must be moving on soon.”

“A shame.” She says. “Had you the time Sir would have asked that you and I entertain them. He enjoys watching me with others.”

“Oh!” I didn’t even know how to reply to that.

“He might have offered me to your Lady as well if she were willing.” She sighs longingly. “I would have loved to feel her ropes, among other things.”

A surge of jealousy swells inside of me. I’m not sure I could bear seeing Rosa with another. I was starting to think that this meeting had come far too early for me. As much as I enjoyed being Rosa’s boy for others to see I also felt way out of my depth too. I look over the fucking disaster of a platter in front of me I knew I hadn’t the skills for this part yet that is for sure.

Aemelia continues. “Are you looking after your Lady well?”

“When she is my Lady I do everything she says.”

“Hmm, that wasn’t quite the question.” She says. “You say she is playful, do you ever initiate play? Not necessarily with sex, just being playful. You say she enjoys nurturing you, do you ever go to her to be nurtured? Do you give her opportunities to correct you? Do you thank her for punishments? It is so important that a Sir or Lady understands how important they are. They need to be looked after too.”

“She is…important to me.”

“Of course she is.” She says warmly. “Do you love your Lady?”

My hands pause just before pouring the oil into the little bowl. There was only one answer I could give to that question. “Yes.”

“That is wonderful. Love isn’t always involved you know. For some it is just a need to be fulfilled.” She says. I wonder if that is how it was for Rosa. She had an affection for me but…who knows. “I love my Sir too. He promised me marriage and a child in the next year.”

“My Lady…does not wish to have children.” I say, careful to control the emotion in my voice. “And she cannot marry.”

“I suppose not. You two have a complicated arrangement.”

“Yes.” I take a breath and pour the oil. Looking over my platter compared to hers was an embarrassment. I wished I’d never said that I would prepare. Would my skills reflect poorly on my Lady? “Well, I wish you and your Sir luck on conceiving and your upcoming marriage.”

“Thank you.” She says. “It will be a great honor for me. I just wish I knew who the father was going to be.”

“Excuse me?”

“His spirit still has the fire but my Sir cannot sire a child since his last tour of duty. He may breed me with his eldest son but he is leaving me guessing right now. He is such a tease sometimes.” She chuckles. “Heck, if things go well today you or your Lady may end up being the father. He is not above such a thing. He would tease me unmerciful for getting pregnant with a stranger off the road.” There was a longing to her voice, the thought of getting teased unmercifully for such a thing did not phase her.

“Uhhhhh…”

“I doubt it though.” She winks.

“You two…have a complicated arrangement.” I echo her previous statement back to her.

“Indeed. Most of us do.” She laughs. “Don’t judge Quintus. Like I said, every pair is different.”

“Sorry, you’re right.”

“If you’re done we should get these to the dining hall.”

One last time I try to arrange the platter to make it look even half as good as Aemelia’s, but it was no use. Rough chunks of meat sat amongst crumbled lumps of cheese with the grapes jammed in among them. The more I tried to fix it the worse it got. At least the bread and oil looked okay. “I’m ready.”

Aemelia takes up her platter and I follow along with mine. We return to the dining hall. She puts hers on Peisandros’ side, turning it so that it displayed in the best possible way in the orange lantern light that filled the room. I put mine on Rosa’s side. Seeing the platters there taking up the center of the room makes me even more embarrassed by my work, worse yet the oil had spilled a bit onto the bread and cheese.

From beyond the open doorway we hear laughter and voices enter the villa from the back door. It was our dominants. Aemelia glances to the door then back at me. “If we don’t speak again, it has truly been a pleasure to speak with you Quintus.”

“Yeah. Same.” I nod to her. “Good to meet you Aemelia.”

With that Aemelia comes to stand to the right of the sofa on her side and lowers to her knees on the mosaic floor as she pulls the top half of her dress down to hang about her waist, her large breasts hanging heavy and exposed. She lowers right down into a perfect Bow position, arms stretched to the front and her forehead so low it touched the floor, as she awaits her Sir.

I stand there, unsure of what to do, as Peisandros and Rosa walk into the room.