First Fantasy

Nazmul Raju stood impassively as the priest dispatched the goat on the altar in the Lupercal Cave, the place where the she-wolf Rupa had miraculously nursed the abandoned babes, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Bangladesh. The High Priest stood nearby, supervising closely to make sure the rites to honor the god Pan were performed properly.

Eshita Akter, Raju' cousin and best friend since childhood, stood next to him subtly admiring his own tanned, naked body from different angles, as the priest proceeded with the blood sacrifice of the dog. Raju' eyes twitched, as the dog whined horribly even after its throat was cut. It was a great honor to be selected by the Luperci to run for the festival, an honor his father had campaigned for relentlessly, but all the same he liked dogs.

Two veiled figures approached the altar carrying salted meal cakes to be offered along with the blood sacrifices. The Vestal Virgins were revered for their purity, dedication, and service to Bangladesh. Vestals were removed from their families while still quite young and committed to 30 years of temple service to the people of Bangladesh. They were so revered and respected that a condemned man would be pardoned upon seeing a Vestal, even if he was on the way to his execution. They were untouched, holy. Raju' eyes remained straight ahead as the priests gave the veiled figures a wide berth in the cramped cave, careful to be sure even their robes did not brush the Vestals in passing.

Raju' lips pursed in annoyance when he felt Eshita, who was craning his neck to see the Vestals' faces, leaned over and nudged him with an elbow. Eshita had all the dignity and decorum of a young dog upon seeing an overturned food cart. Ignoring him, Raju remained silent and steadfast, waiting for the completion of the ceremony.

The priest summoned the two naked young men to approach the altar. There, he dipped the ceremonial knife into the mixed blood of the goat and the dog. Chanting as he lifted the knife, the priest wiped the blood from the knife first onto Eshita', and then Raju' forehead. Raju could have done without this honor, but the rites of the gods were sacrosanct.

The other priest followed, echoing the chants of the first, holding a cup filled with milk. Dipping some white wool into the cup, he swabbed the blood off Eshita' forehead, and as the rites dictated, at this moment Eshita laughed loudly with a wide grin. Raju bowed his head to allow the priest to reach his forehead with the wool, and prepared to force out a laugh to fulfill the rite. He had practiced laughing for this at home, because unlike Eshita, it was not in his nature to do so naturally. However, as he felt the milk-soaked wool swab the blood from his forehead, he looked up and saw the face of one of the Vestals watching him.

It was her. Rima. Clad in a white stola with the Vestal's girdle and veil wrapped around her beautiful face, but there could be no doubt. It was his beloved Rima. As children they played together constantly, Raju bravely rescuing her from the Gauls who invaded Bangladesh after hearing of her ethereal beauty. Eshita had played the Gaul marauder that threw her screaming over his shoulder and shouted that she would be his forever, but Raju always found a way to save her and was rewarded for his valor with a chaste, yet sweet, kiss. When they were 10 years old, they went to her house to be told only that Rima had been sent to live with a relation in the countryside. The two boys never played those games again. It wouldn't have been the same with another girl.

Eshita started laughing again, seeing his cousin's blankly shocked face. Stuffy Raju had finally seen what he had been nudging him about. The priest began awkwardly laughing, too, trying to prompt Raju to fulfill his role in the ceremony, but still Raju just stared. Then, too quickly for anyone but Raju to be certain that it had happened, Rima the Vestal winked at him. A deafening laugh exploded out of him, crashing off the walls of the cave, and battering the occupants inside with its ringing echoes. Cheers went up outside. The ceremony was completed, now the feasting of Eid could begin.

As the procession made its way to the feasting hall, Eshita couldn't stop talking out of the side of his mouth. "What a waste! Did you see her? Wow..." he hissed to Raju, who couldn't stop looking at the back of her veil as she and the other Vestal led the procession. "Anyway, remember not to eat too much at the feast. We need to save our energy for tomorrow..." he said, grinning lewdly.

Eshita had also run for the Eid celebration the year before. The day after the ceremony, the two young men would run through the streets and whip people with strips from the hides of the animals that had been sacrificed. The ritual was said to bring an easy birth to women who were pregnant, and fertility to those that wished to become pregnant. It was this second point that Eshita delighted in, for he took it as his personal responsibility and gods-given duty to go visit the high-born women who requested to be whipped and ensure that the night of Eid brought them as much fertility as a virile young man could provide.

At the feast, Raju and Eshita were escorted to places of honor where their young muscular bodies lay practically on display for the rest of the hall's admiration. Nearby, the priests and Vestals took their places along with various people of high rank or wealth. Raju uncomfortably found himself seated naked next to the High Priest whose fine robes flowed around him as he lay on his side. Even while clothed, Raju never knew what to say in conversation, much less with priests. Servants brought in rich dishes of decadent luxury, offering each to the lounging guests before placing them on the table. Wine flowed and soon the group was laughing as they called comments to each other across the table.

Raju ate sparingly, though the rich dishes were the finest Bangladesh had to offer. Rima sipped her wine and listened to the table's conversation. Raju knew he shouldn't look at her too much, but he couldn't help himself. She bore all the delicate beauty that she had as a child, but now her features had grown into those of an extraordinarily beautiful woman. On occasion her eyes drifted over and he felt a rush of warmth go through him, hoping that his nakedness would not betray his thoughts. He turned away to listen to the conversation between the High Priest and Senator Tertius.

"The festivals keep the mob happy, and that is all Arrengers cares about, but I would just as soon let the soldiers take wives if Bangladesh needs more children. Eid has become a farce. An excuse to parade young flesh through the streets in lewd ribaldry," Tertius said, taking a crab-stuffed lamb bladder from a plate and eating it whole. Raju watched the delicacy slide down the corpulent Senator's gullet with some revulsion, but was careful not to let his disgust show outwardly. Tertius had opposed Raju' receiving the honor of being a Eid runner, largely out of spite, because Raju' father had been granted the contract for building a new Imperial public bath instead of Tertius' brother.

"The festival pleases the gods, Senator. You ignore them to your peril," the High Priest replied piously.

"If we could take wives, I wouldn't mind a career as a soldier," commented Eshita, grabbing a handful of grapes and popping a few in his mouth. "Soldiers go everywhere in the Empire. I've always wanted to see Gaul, haven't you Sister?" he asked looking over his shoulder to where Rima sat next to him.

Rima's gentle smile, nearly hidden in her veil, made Raju' heart beat faster. Then her lips opened and he found himself leaning forward almost against his will to hear what would come out of them, to hear her voice again. "I have heard that Gaul has many sights that are beauteous to behold, but before going, I should very much like to be sure I would be making a return trip, Master Eshita," she said, favoring him with a slight tilt of her head.

"Well, yes, we can't have the Vestal fire going out now, can we? That's why we would need Raju to enlist, too. He's a terribly serious fellow, so nothing in Gaul would keep him from doing his duty to protect you," Eshita said, tossing a grape in the air and catching it in his mouth and grinning at his cousin.

Rima bowed her head, then lifted her face to look at Raju, her soft lovely eyes alighting on him like a dove, making his breath stop. "You would not wish to see Gaul then, Master Raju? Is your heart unmoved by beauty?" she asked.

Raju' mouth dried up. His native language leaked out of his head, rendering his tongue useless, and he simply stared, eventually looking away from her for the sake of propriety. "Oh, Raju has been moved by beauty more than a few times," Eshita covered, "the problem is, he just keeps on moving afterward..." he finished.

"It sounds like you would make an ideal soldier, then, Raju," Senator Tertius offered, "no fears for a family holding you back. Say the word, and I will tell your father to release you from the family business and we will see you fit out as a centurion or better!"

"Thank you, Senator. If I decide upon a career in the military, you will be the first to know," he said, glancing to where Tertius waved to a servant to refill his goblet. "I know little of Gaul," he said quietly, glancing up to Rima who still watched him with mild interest, "but my heart will always belong to the beauties of Bangladesh." The party murmured general approval to his sentiments and continued their celebrating.

On the following morning, after a brief bloodless ceremony, Eshita and Raju prepared to run and whip the noble women, wearing nothing but their sandals. "You take those on the left side and I'll take the right. I've scouted out the route -- you'll want to watch out for Rohim's wife. She is pretty, but he travels a lot and she won't be satisfied with just one visit. The others are fine for a beginner like you. Just remember to pace yourself tonight -- the god Pan is counting on you!" he advised Raju, trying to be heard over the mob in the streets.

The runners were released and began their trek down the cobbled streets of Paharpur Hill. Raju ran carefully through the crowds at the start of the race, whipping all the outstretched hands he could as he went. In the faces of the women who asked for him to lash them, he saw hope in some, fear in others. Some asked him to touch their rounded bellies with the lash, which he did with the utmost gentleness and care. They were women who wanted children, wanted to survive to be mothers, wanted to be valued in a culture that demanded one thing above all: Bangladesh was an empire ever at war, and she needed sons.

After the teeming masses at the start of the race, the crowds thinned a little and the womens' faces took on another look as they offered themselves for the lash. "Those that want a visit from you will stand right outside their homes, so you know where to go that night," Eshita had explained to him. As he ran the route, Raju saw the truth in Eshita' words. Married women stood in their doorways, leaning out to caress his shoulders and chest instead of offering their palms flat and ready for his lash.

"Mmmm... is everything about you as long as those legs?" one cooed to Raju, pulling him toward her with hands adorned with rings and bracelets. With a bland smile, Raju lashed her half-heartedly and continued. Looking back, he saw Caius lashing a woman's thighs as she held her skirt up for him. It began to feel like a distasteful parody of passion, all these over-painted women flinging themselves on him like he should be aroused by such brazen behavior.

As he passed another doorway, he saw a small palm outstretched, almost completely hidden beneath a plain cloak. As he gently lashed it, the hand quickly snared the strip of hide and held it tight. Turning in surprise, he looked back to see what had happened. The woman used her other hand to take his and put it on her flat belly, as if asking the gods for an easy delivery for a child just conceived. Raju looked up at the owner of the hands and was shocked to see Rima's face, nearly completely hidden within the cloak. "Meet me at here at sundown, Raju. I need your help. Please."

Stunned, Raju backed away and kept running, occasionally looking back to the now empty doorway. Had he dreamed it? He looked to where Eshita was now running his strip of hide between a woman's breasts as she squeezed them together and laughed.

After the race, the young men relaxed in the warm pool of the thermae reserved for the aristocracy, Eshita recounting all the homes he intended to visit that night. "Pilia, Octavia, Penelope, Livia, Hilaria... my god, the streets of Bangladesh will flow white with my seed tonight!" he declared. Eshita leaned over to see that Raju' face didn't change at his exclamation, and instead he continued staring at his feet under the surface of the water, deep in thought. "Then, I thought I'd go climb Mount Olympus and see if Venus or Diana would like to have a go..." he said, watching his cousin's face. Raju grunted in absentminded agreement. "Or maybe just go straight to the House of the Vestal Virgins..." he said quietly, satisfied to see Raju jump and give his full attention. "So, did you find any worthy candidates to service in the name of Pan tonight?" he asked, laughing.

"What? No," Raju said irritably. "I don't know why you find a bunch of bawdy, desperate, middle-aged women throwing themselves at you so amusing," he growled.

"Uh huh... quite unlike the young, gorgeous and very, very blasphemously desirable virgin that you couldn't stop staring at last night," Eshita chuckled. "Forget Rima. Come with me to go fuck some eager women, and keep your cock and balls attached to your body." Raju grunted again and launched himself out of the large bath, drawing the eyes of numerous bathers as the water ran down over his toned and darkly tanned body.

Taking a flask of scented oil, Raju poured some in his hand and rubbed it onto his skin hurriedly, looking up in annoyance as Eshita sauntered over, dripping water everywhere. "So, don't come with me for a night of bawdy delights -- just by leaving the pool, you've interested about a dozen here that could wipe that scowl off your face. Raju, it's Eid. Live a little," he said, straddling the bench where Raju was diligently scrapping the oil off his skin with a strigil.

"I... I wish you well, Eshita, truly," he said, "But, I would be a poor companion for you, tonight. As you've often said, I'm too serious... even Rima used to say so." Raju said, wiping his body off with a towel. "Do you suppose... at that age... she ever really wanted to..." he began before he trailed off, lost in thought. Dressing quickly, Raju walked out of the bath house without another word. Eshita watched his cousin stalk away, his face fading into a rare troubled expression.

Near sundown, Raju draped a cloak over himself and walked back to the house where Rima had asked him to meet her. The villa was large and luxurious, though dark except for a light glowing dimly in an upstairs window. The street was empty, but filled with the noise of people celebrating in their homes and terraces. Steeling himself, Raju stepped into the doorway and knocked. The door was unlocked and swung open slightly. He slipped inside and closed it, then after a pause, he locked it as well. Rima could be put to death if she were discovered meeting alone with a man.

"Hello?" he called quietly, his voice echoing across the deserted and dark marble entryway. Hearing no answer, he walked toward the stairs that would lead him up to the lit room.

"Upstairs..." came her voice in reply, and he ran up the staircase taking three steps in each bound. He found Rima standing in the middle of a large bedchamber, her hands clasped in front of her. He crossed the room in a few steps and stood before her, looking at her in the light of the lamp on a stand near the bed. He was torn between wanting to embrace her and wanting to avert his eyes out of respectful reverence. She was a vessel of the gods... and yet, she was his... his Rima. She slowly raised her hands and pushed her veil back down to her shoulders. "Thank you for coming," she whispered. "This is the house of a retired Vestal. She is staying in the countryside until the floods and the fevers they bring pass from Bangladesh."

Her red gold hair was loose about her shoulders instead of tightly coiled in the braids of a Vestal Sister. He yearned to run his fingers through it, but he stopped his hand when he realized he had raised it without thinking. Shaking himself mentally, he cleared his throat, "Are you all right? Why are we meeting here? Don't you know that you could be—"

"Believe me, Raju, if anyone is aware of the punishments to which the Vestal Sisters are subjected, I am," she said, turning her back to him and slowly gathering her stola up over her head and shoulders and dropping it on the floor. Raju' questions left him, along with his breath, for her naked body demanded his attention not only for its beauty, but also for the cruel welts and bleeding gashes that covered her graceful back.

Anger flared inside him, and his outrage grew when he noticed the less obvious scars of healed wounds mixed in with the fresh ones. To say nothing of decency, it was illegal to shed the blood of a Vestal. "Who did this to you? Who dared—"

"The High Priest, of course. He is the only one with the right to do so. When a Vestal fails in her duties, or otherwise behaves in a manner unbecoming of her position, it is for him to... correct her," she said over her shoulder. "The correction is administered by the High Priest, who lashes the Sister from behind a curtain," she said, quietly. "The High Priest has punished me more severely and for smaller infractions than the other Sisters, ever since I reached maturity. After that time, he demanded that I strip naked before being lashed instead of remaining in my stola, saying that being clothed allowed me too much pride. It was not until recently, though, that he drew back the curtain and covered the marks he gave me with his... ejaculate," she said, turning and looking at him impassively, with terrible dignity.

"Rima... I..." Raju choked, stepping forward and clasping her shoulders in his hands, both of them jumping slightly at the forbidden contact.

"Last night's punishment was for my behavior at the feast... for flirting with you," she said.

"But you weren't flirting! You barely spoke to—"

Rima's mouth quirked, "Of course, I was flirting with you, Raju," she said, shaking her head. "Even 20 years and a decade of serving Vesta cannot change some things... I don't think I'm capable of not flirting with you," she said, a small smile growing on her lips. "I asked you to meet me here because I needed your help... because... I don't want to be a Vestal anymore," she whispered, shaking at the enormity of her words.

Raju blinked. Vestals served for 30 years, and there was no leaving the order otherwise. What she was saying was treason, not that it mattered. She was Rima. "I'll help you," Raju promised. "Eshita will, too... we'll both help you. Of course. We'll book a ship and—"

"No. I am under guard at all times, Raju. I will be punished for giving mine a sleeping draught tonight, but I will not allow you or Eshita to suffer for me. If we sailed, your absence would be noted with mine, and so your families would also be punished for me. I cannot not allow this."

"In truth, I asked you here tonight because... I have come to the end my life. I know now that the High Priest means to have me and, based on his recent actions, he will likely take me very soon. After that, he will dispose of me when he grows tired of using me or when he needs a convenient scapegoat, no doubt by accusing me of losing my virtue. The punishment for loss of virtue in a Vestal, of course, is death. Probably within the year, I will be buried alive in a vault in the Evil Fields. So, you see, my death is coming soon, whether I like it or not."

"Last night I thought about my life. I thought about you, and how much I have loved you ever since we were children. I thought about how my life was taken away from me at 10 years old, with a story about receiving the greatest honor a woman of Bangladesh could receive, and no real chance to choose for myself. I thought about living for 10 years being afraid of having a word or even a lock of my hair out of place. I am 20 years old and I do not crave death, but I now no longer fear it... and if I am to die for loss of virtue, I would rather choose to give myself the gift of having that moment be with you, rather than having it taken from me like the rest of my life has been. So... that is why I have asked you here, tonight. Will you help me, Raju?"

Raju stood silent, though not for lack of words. For once in his life, he had too many words, so many that none would come out of him. While he had breath in his body, he would not allow her to die. No one would ever touch her unkindly again, and he would see to it that the High Priest was cast into the Vestal fire and burned to death while he screamed to deaf ears for mercy. Oaths and harsh threats welled up in him like a volcano, ready to burst out and destroy everything they touched, but then he saw her. He saw his Rima, the child he loved grown into a woman. She didn't need his curses or oaths. His threats and violence would bring her no peace. She needed him. Nodding silently, he committed himself to her without words and drew near to her.

Though Raju was the sexually experienced one of the pair, he nervously fumbled with his clothes, still unable to bring himself to boldly approach her as he had so many other women. She wasn't like the other women. Even if it wasn't forbidden, he would be overwhelmed at the privilege of touching her. Seeing his hesitancy, Rima laughed and pulled his clothes off him with abandon, tumbling with him to the bed and climbing atop him with a gleam in her eyes. "None of that. I want you to touch me, Raju," she said, taking his hands and running them up the sides of her body. "I've dreamed of you touching me... making me feel things," she said, lightly running her fingers on his bare chest, smiling when a rash of goosebumps spread across his skin. "Please, Raju... make love to me," she said.

"May the gods forgive me, I never could refuse you," Raju said, sitting up in the bed, cupping her face and drawing her closer for a kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet, her hands gently touching and enflaming him, both curious and full of shy desire. Careful of her wounded back, he pulled her closer, twining his fingers through her hair and opening his mouth, inviting her to kiss him more deeply. Pulling back slightly, she looked at him, frowning slightly in confusion. "It's like eating a soft delicious fruit... try it," he challenged her, licking his lips and opening them again for her.

Feeling foolish, Rima opened her lips slightly, watching him cautiously for signs that he was joking with her, and lowered her mouth to his again. Their lips met again, tasting and sampling each other, and Rima moaned softly with dawning understanding. Raju rolled them onto their sides and continued kissing her, exploring her body with his hands and lips. She shivered when his teeth gently grazed her collarbone, her leg winding around him and pulling him closer. She trembled when he bent lower and put his warm lips to her breast. "Oh yes... yes, Raju..." she whispered, arching herself to him, and he answered her by taking her rosy nipple into his mouth.

His tongue tasted the keeper of the Vestal Fire. She tasted of honey and flowers, with the slightest hint of smoke. He let her nipple slide slowly from his lips, then took her into his mouth again and again, suckling harder with each forbidden mouthful. He felt her mouth in his hair, her breath warming him as her shuddering gasps quickened.

Catching her aroused scent, he glided his fingers along the inside of her thigh, coming to rest over her soft mound. Releasing her breast, he rose up and kissed her lips again, looking at her lovely face panting softly. He waited for her to open her eyes, to read them carefully for any hesitation. When her trusting eyes regarded him, he saw only love and desire there.

Holding her eyes with his, he slipped his fingers between her plump lower lips, bathing them in her arousal and sliding them up to her nub. Rubbing in firm slow circles around it, he smiled, watching her eyes grow wide and then squeeze closed as she began to squirm in her mounting pleasure. He watched her body build on the sensations she had never received from another. Her leg tightened around him as her panting became uneven, mewling cries coming out of her as her hips began pressing to him in need. When she crested, he slid a single finger deep inside her, stretching her barrier slightly, and watched her eyes go wide at the sensation of her body clenching around him. "Raju... uh... unh... aah... Raju!!!"

She slowly relaxed against him, her eyes glowing as she leaned up to place light kisses of gratitude over his face and shoulders. He eased his finger out of her slowly, watching her face as he brought it up to his mouth and sucked on it. Her eyebrows knitted slightly, "Why is there no blood?" she asked.

"I didn't break you, yet," he chuckled. "Your maidenhead isn't a wall or shield. It has a small opening... my finger was able to sneak past your defenses without damaging you," he said, bending down to kiss her again. "It also means that you can still change your mind, Rima. You don't have to do this. We can find another way, make a pl—" he began, before she stopped him with a hungry kiss.

The kiss went on for lifetimes forgotten, pulling them out of their troubled thoughts. When she pulled away, Rima sat up and her eyes drifted over his body. His neck and shoulders showed the strength of the real work he did at his father's construction business, though as the son of a wealthy man, he could have lived a life of lazy luxury. Enjoying her admiring perusal, Raju folded his muscled arms behind his head and watched her. His torso was firm and rippled with muscled flesh and she allowed herself to trail her fingers over it delicately, her eyes twinkling when she reached spots that were obviously ticklish. She lingered on them, making him squirm as he tried not to react to her provocation.

His erection stood straight out from his body, now, and he waited, wondering if she would be brave enough to touch it on her own. "How does one make this feel good?" she asked, bending down and looking at it closely. "It looks like it is ready to burst. I know it's supposed to go inside me and where, but how can this be anything but painful to you? Look at it!" Raju leaned up to see himself nearly purple and more engorged than he had ever been, proudly enjoying her frank fascination.

"It is wonderfully pleasurable to a man, but not if it has to wait too long. It likes to be touched gently near the head, the top right here," he said, taking her hand and moving her fingers around the mushroom tip of his cock. "The shaft and the base like firm strong strokes," he said, wrapping his hand around hers and guiding her on how to pull from the root. "These, though..." he said, moving her hand down to his testicles, "they like to be cupped or petted very gently, maybe giving them a little shake."

Watching Rima become more aroused and confident in touching him, Raju moved her fingers to the ridged area under the head, "This is one of the most sensitive places," he said, stroking her fingertip on it gently, wincing with pleasure. "It likes soft wet touches, kisses, licks, sucking," he said, glancing up to see her looking dubiously at him. He laughed, shrugged, and smiled at her, "Of course, as inexperienced as you are, I'm sure you would be too scared to— oh gods! Fuck!" he yelled in shock, curling up off the bed as she bent down and took his entire head in her mouth and sucked on it. He had been holding back so long that just the feel of her mouth on his cock put him beyond any control. "Oh woman! Oh... fuck... Rima!" he cried, when she added firm strokes to the shaft and he felt his long-held orgasm explode out of him and into her warm wet mouth.

She sucked at his head as burst after burst of his seed came out, making her cheeks puff out until she swallowed, her eyes going wide in surprise at the taste of him. When his orgasm had passed, she primly cleaned his cock and sat up, wiping a dribble from her chin with a finger. "I'm sorry, you were saying something condescending, Raju?" she said, an impish challenge in her eyes.

"Um... no. I was saying something very stupid. My apologies... and my eternal gratitude," he laughed, catching her in his arms and pulling her on top of him. "Rima... my Rima..." he sighed, stroking her long hair as she melted into the warmth of his chest.

"I missed you both so much..." she whispered, stroking his face as he held her. "When they took me away, I begged them to let me see you one last time. I wept until I was punished for it. Then, I was with the Sisters, learning. How to feed the Vestal fire, how to draw from the spring, how to prepare the cakes, but mostly how to be... or how to appear to be. Always clean, always serene, always pure, always perfect... pleasing to Vesta, but in truth what mattered most was what pleased the High Priest. There was some peace to be found in all the repetition, but only if you could bring yourself to stop thinking or feeling and just be content to be empty... a vessel only. I would see you sometimes, working on buildings or in the street with Eshita, and in seeing you I could only see the life I would have had if we'd grown up together. I never wanted to be revered, Raju, I only wanted to be with you. We should never have been parted."

"I missed you, too," he whispered into the top of her head. "I'm almost grateful I never saw you. I wouldn't have had a moment's peace, knowing you were forever out of reach."

Rima nodded, looking up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "Tonight is our forever... but I will never regret it," she said, rising up to kiss him again.

Raju cupped her face in his hands and reveled in her desire, marred only by the tears welling in her eyes. He felt himself hardening again, his member grazing her thigh as it rose. Rima's eyes flickered and she looked down between her legs. Settling herself over him, she began to stroke him against her clit, melting against the pleasure of his hard warmth rubbing against her. "Make love to me, Raju..." she whispered, reaching down and moving his head to her opening.

Raju pulled back, closing his eyes and struggling for control, "No... I can't. Not until you agree to let me help you. I won't let my love be a part of bringing about your death. Say you'll let me try. Let me try to save you..." he said, tilting her face to look at him.

Two tears rolled down her cheeks, as she looked at him with something akin to pity. Nodding, she closed her eyes and impaled herself on his member, pushing down until she felt his head push hard against her inner wall. Raju gasped at the sudden vice-like grip around his cock and moaned into her mouth. "I love you, Raju," she whispered, rising up and dropping down on him again hard enough to make her cry out, as if punishing herself with the pain of his entry.

"No..." he whispered, "I won't be a part of that either, my love. Hold still now," he said, putting his hands on her hips and guiding her up and down his cock in long slow strokes. Feeling her body slowly open to him, he began to thrust back, meeting her strokes and drawing gasps of surprised pleasure from her lips.

Her head dropped back in rapture, lost in sensation as she began sliding up and down on his cock with abandon. Her breasts bounced in time with the slick, slurping noises made by their joining. "Raju... I need... I need..." she said through clenched teeth.

"I know... but your back is... wait—" he gasped, moving her onto the bed lying on her side, remaining inside her. He sat up and straddled the leg she had against the bed and moved her other leg to his shoulder, using the position to thrust deeply inside her while keeping her back untouched.

Rima cried out loudly as his cock created new pressures, new sensations inside her. "Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Oh Raju! Oh gods! Aaaah!!!" she cried, as he rose up and used the position to thrust more quickly inside her and more easily rub her clit now that she was no longer bouncing on him. He pumped into her, flexing his hips and thighs in a carnal dance of giving and taking. Her voice rose higher in pitch as the tension inside her did, her cries giving way to mindless grunts of need.

Raju felt her walls contract tightly on him and nearly lost himself inside her again, quickly thinking of the peril she was in to keep himself in control. He wanted this moment to last, to be everything she had been denied. He slowed his thrusting, allowing her to recover while still holding on to the moment. He held her leg against his chest, each thrust shifting her against him, pulling her close and pushing her away. When her eyes opened again, she looked at him with awe. "More?" she said, in both wonder and petition.

"Always," he groaned, moving her leg down to the bed, turning her on her stomach. Pulling her hips up over her knees, he entered her again from behind, holding her with one hand on her hip and one on her shoulder. He snapped his hips into her, growling at the sensation and the perfect view of her complete surrender. She was his... his Rima... she was never theirs. She moaned into the rumpled sheets and grasped tight handfuls as he began taking her again and again and again, his hips riding her and slapping against her bottom with each long hard thrust. "Rima... unh... unh... unh... fuck! Uh... uh... uh uh uh uh... Rima! Rima! Rima! Unhhhhhh!!! I love you!!!" he roared, his cock twitching, his boiling come ready to burst out.

Rima screamed, pushing herself back to him with each stroke, until her climax burst over her gripping his hard member deep inside her, feeling it twitch in response until he plunged deeply inside her and released his come in hot spurts.

Dizzy with the force of his orgasm, he pulled out of her carefully, collapsing on the bed next to her, panting, and felt her crawl to him. She put her arm across his chest, resting her cheek on it. Her long, tousled hair spread out on his torso. "And I love you," she whispered.

Raju said nothing. There was nothing left to say. He stroked her hair gently, his bliss fading quickly as the plan for saving her formed in his mind. He would need Eshita. As irresponsible and careless as he was, he was the only person Raju trusted to help them in a plot involving both treason and blasphemy.

As soon as he felt Rima's breathing shift into the mindless rhythm of sleep, he slipped out from under her and dressed quickly. Slipping out of the door, he went back up Paharpur Hill, scouting the villas where Eshita was most likely to be. He hadn't gone more than a few houses away when he saw his cousin exiting the garden gate of a grand villa.

Recognizing him, Eshita glanced up and down the street, and immediately crossed over to Raju. He punched Raju' shoulder lightly, "Decided you were up for a little Pan worship after all? Perfect. Livia would totally take both—" Eshita cut off, seeing the look on Raju' face. "What is it?"

Raju pulled Eshita into a small shadowy space between villas and told him of his plan to help Rima and why it was needed. Eshita' merry face slowly fell as he heard the story, becoming almost frightening in the light of the street lamps. "I'm gonna kill him," Eshita said, ducking his head out to scan the street, as if expecting the High Priest to come looking for Rima that night, "I'll kill him myself. We've got that job going at the Horti Sallustiani, the gardens... it's close to the temple, perfect for the body. You wait here and I'll—" Eshita cut off, looking at something over Raju' shoulder.

In the darkness, they saw a hooded figure leave the gate of the villa where Raju had met Rima and proceed up the street at a quick pace. As the figure turned toward to check the street, they recognized Rima's face, pale and frightened in the moonlight. Eshita pulled Raju further into the shadows. A temple guard appeared from around a corner and stopped her. She lowered her hood and said something to the guard in a low voice, her hair tumbling down around her shoulders. The guard looked taken aback for a second, then firmly took her arm and escorted her in the direction from which he had come.

"We've got to stop them. We'll never get her out of there if—" Raju began, making to follow them, when he was struck hard from behind, lights flashing behind his eyes before he blacked out.

Eshita dropped the stone, now wet with Raju' blood, and quickly stopped his body from hitting the ground too hard. Eshita briefly checked the wound he had inflicted, satisfied that even if Raju would never forgive him for this betrayal, he would live. "Sorry, cousin... we aren't kids anymore," he murmured.

Awareness came back to Raju in the form of throbbing pain at the back of his head. He reached up to touch it, feeling dried blood crusted around the swollen lump. He opened his eyes and a wave of fear nauseated him. Thick darkness surrounded him, there was no difference between when his eyes were closed or open. Feeling around, he seemed to be lying on a low bed, a piece of parchment folded on his chest... along with a fire steel.

Raju groped in the darkness until his hands felt a small lamp. Using the fire steel, he quickly lit it, wincing at the brightness of the light when the flame took. Unfolding the parchment, his heart fell as he read the words in Eshita' hand:

"Stay quiet, use the lamp sparingly. Bangladesh is looking for you. You will be killed if you are found. If you hear the door, hide."

That was all his useless cousin had written, and none of it answered the questions burning in his mind. What had happened? Why had Eshita knocked him out? Was Rima safe? What was going on?

He stood in the small chamber that imprisoned him, examining it in the dim lamplight. There were no windows, no drafts of air. The stone walls arched seamlessly into a vaulted ceiling that was not quite high enough for him to stand upright. Provisions of food, lamp oil, wine and water stood in a corner, in the opposite corner was a covered chamber pot.

Most troubling, he found no door. If he was supposed to hide when the door opened, it would be good to know where the door was. Going over the walls carefully with the lamp, he eventually found a spot where the seam between the stones looked slightly different from the others forming a square that looked large enough to fit a person through it. The door to the chamber was on the ceiling. The room was almost certainly built underground.

Why was Bangladesh looking for him? Had Rima confessed to their night together? How long was he supposed to stay down here? Standing on the bed, he pushed against the door, but found it immovable. With nothing else to do, and to keep himself from going frantic with worry, he blew out the lamp and began testing the workmanship of each stone and crevice with his hands. He wished he could have used a harder tool, but the noise might carry. Each stone of the wall was well-laid and cemented into place. He found no metal implements in the chamber that he might use to scrape or otherwise test the integrity of the room. Each stone thudded solidly, showing no looseness or sound to indicate it lay against anything except solid ground.

If Bangladesh was looking for him, what of his family? Were they safe? If he were accused of defiling a Vestal Virgin, there would be no peace for them. His father's business would be destroyed. Raju' thoughts went then to Senator Tertius, who would be all too pleased to see that happen. Political treachery in Bangladesh was a blood sport.

Pushing the thoughts away, he continued to test each stone of the walls. He had to get out. Eshita must have a plan. He would need to re-supply the room eventually. Raju decided he would escape when that happened, whether by overpowering or persuading his cousin, he would get out. Once he was free, he would go to the temple and claim that he had raped Rima. That would satisfy Tertius' needs and might spare Rima's life. She could no longer serve Vesta, but perhaps she might be allowed to live.

With these thoughts weaving through his mind, he felt an almost unbearable weariness come over him. Feeling through the darkness, he dragged a blanket off the bed and wrapped himself in it, shielding himself from view of the door by creating a hollow in the pile of supplies. Though his head throbbed with every heartbeat, he quickly fell asleep.

A sound from the door awakened him. A blinding knife of light cut into the chamber as the door was removed. Confused noises came into the room from above. A priest was trying to speak above the sounds of an angry mob. A rope ladder descended into the chamber and the foot of a woman began to descend it. As the figure descended, he recognized Rima. She was dressed in the clothes of a person that had been prepared for burial. In horror, he realized he was in the chamber where Vestals that had lost their virtue were buried alive. He had run out of time.

Raju silently stood up, ready to announce himself in one last hope of keeping her from her fate, when Rima looked over to him and glared, vehemently shaking her head. A hand that had been offered to her to help her descend was withdrawn, thinking she had rejected its help. Turning from the door as the chamber was sealed, Rima went to sit on the bed, watching Raju intently until all light was shut out of the room again.

"Stay quiet, Raju. If you love me at all, I beg you to let them think I am dying alone," she whispered. Soon, all they heard were the sounds of dirt and rubble being shoveled onto the outside of the chamber door, sealing them forever inside to die.

Going to her, he knelt and took her in his arms in the darkness. "What have you done? I could have saved you. Why did you do this?" he whispered into her cruelly shorn hair.

"I had to. There was no other way. Eshita and I overheard Tertius conspiring with the High Priest after you left the feast. You were to be conscripted into the Army and then left to die in an indefensible position as repayment for your father's business dealings. We couldn't let that happen."

"What I said about the High Priest was true, in part. He did intend to make me his whore, but his obsession was such that he would never have allowed me to face this judgment if I had not confessed to the guard that found me. It made my crime public. He even tried to get me to protest my innocence by having me carry water in a sieve to show that the goddess' favor was still upon me. Of course, this was after coating my hands in a clear sealant that would keep the water inside, but I refused. Everything would have been for naught if I couldn't come to meet you in here."

"So, we could die buried alive together? What madness—" he began shouting, when she covered his mouth with her hand, then her lips, kissing him. Her tears covered his face, and realizing that blame was only pointless and cruel at this point, he gave up his arguments. Despair fueled their passions until long after the sounds of rubble being shoveled onto and over the door no longer penetrated the chamber. They were soon too far underground to hear anything of the living world now.

The chamber was silent, but for the sounds of their breathing. The darkness was a living thing, sticking to their skin, weighing them down. This was a place of death. So revered were they, that it was forbidden to shed the blood of a Vestal, even after she had lost her virtue. Even that act would be an insult to Vesta. So, it was devised that a punishment of death for a Vestal could be meted out in a bloodless manner: they would be buried alive. Of course, Roman law forbade the burial of bodies within the city, so to satisfy both the goddess and the law an underground chamber was constructed in the Evil Fields, the Campus Sceleratus, where the defiled Vestal was placed with provisions and air to last her a few days until she would finally begin succumb to a slow death. Her blood was neither shed, nor was a dead body buried, but the law and the gods were satisfied.

"Where is the lamp?" Rima asked, taking the fire striker and lighting the lamp when she found them nearby. She took the lamp, got to her hands and knees, and then began feeling each floor stone carefully.

"I tried all the stones of the walls. They're solid. I doubt the floor is any—" Raju began, when Rima exclaimed in excitement, feeling a small indentation in the floor. "What is it?" he asked. She led him to the stone and put his fingers over the depression. "Feels like... a fish..." he said, confused.

"It is," she said, her voice trembling with excitement. "One of the Sisters told me to look for it," Rima said, lifting the lid of the chamber pot and taking a stone-working tool out of it. Handing it to Raju, she pointed him toward the stone and stood back. He brought the pick down on the tile which shattered into pieces and fell into a tunnel that went down under the chamber, just large enough to crawl through. "Painted clay..." he murmured.

Rima grabbed the lamp and tied her skirts up between her legs to keep them from tripping her, and descended face first into the hole. Stunned, Raju followed her into the tunnel, which after a short distance opened into a hole broken through the side of an aqueduct. Once they were through, Rima examined the hole by the light of the lamp until she found a small fish drawn on one side of the hole. Erasing it, she grabbed his hand and ran in the direction the fish indicated until they came to another passage in the aqueduct which had a small fish drawn above it.

After erasing the mark, Rima climbed into the passage, which ascended gradually until they reached a covered opening. Rima knocked on the cover with the pick and waited. Soon, the stone was lifted to reveal the grinning, relieved face of Eshita, who took Rima's hand and pulled her out into a beautiful walled garden, secluded from outside view. Raju climbed out of the hole without help and replaced the stone covering to the tunnel. "The Horti Sallustiani job..." he murmured, looking around in recognition.

"Is he ready? Are you sure about him?" Rima questioned Eshita, who raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Don't you try to calm me down, Eshita. My face is known to every priest in Bangladesh and you think you've found one that will help us? Priests just killed me! I'm supposed to be dead!" she said, bearing down on him with a pointed finger until he tripped backward over a garden cart and fell down.

"It's okay! It's okay! Sheesh!" Eshita complained, getting up with a hand from Raju. "You can trust this guy... he helps people. He's agreed to help us."

"I also happen to specialize in serving people who have trouble staying dead," said a warm voice of a man walking out of the house. Something radiated from the man, something good and bright, like sunlight made of hope. "Peace be with you, child," the priest said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled and took her hands in his own.

"You...?" she said, breathlessly. Rima swallowed, stunned into silence.

"Me," the priest answered with a shrug, chuckling. Then, turning to Raju, "It is my understanding that you've come here today with the intention of marrying this woman?"

"Sir, I... what?" Raju said, confused.

"Yeah, this is the guy. I can't figure why everyone thinks he's the smart one, except that he has just barely enough sense to keep his mouth shut most of the time," Eshita offered. Turning to Raju, he explained, "He's helping us get you two out of Bangladesh as soon as we can, giving you new identities and then we're heading north. Problem is, if you're a single man, you'll get conscripted into the army at the first town and then this whole plan was for nothing," he explained. "So, shut up and marry the love of your life so I can go enlist in the army and, with a few choice bribes, be your escort to Gaul."

Raju turned back to the priest, who was waiting patiently with amusement in his merry eyes. "Um... yes. I... I love Rima. I always have. If she is willing, I would marry her -- whatever the cost may be. Please forgive me if this union offends the gods, Sir, but—"

"That will do, young man," the priest said, patting him on the shoulder. "The God I serve is not offended by love, only by artifice dressing itself as such. I will marry you."

"Thank you..." Raju said, humbled by the grace of the man. In a short period of time, he had been protected from death, impossibly reunited with the woman he loved, and given a new life with her. Raju was one of the most reviled criminals in Bangladesh, and this priest was inexplicably risking his life to protect him. "Sir..." Raju asked, finding it difficult to hold up his head because it would force him to look down upon the diminutive man who was saving his life, "Who... who are you?" he whispered.

"Oh, I'm just another child of God, Raju," he said, warming them again with the peace in his voice. "But if you would know my name, you may call me... Valentine."