The Patrician Pt. 02

Chapter 5

White stallions pulled Agrippina's carriage which shook from the pot holes in Marissa's road.

She wore a purple veil and a white tunic with a wide purple streak down the hem.

Her kinky red hair bounced around her shoulders and her blue eyes shone through their slightly wrinkled lids as they surveyed the burnt vines or Marissa's olive grove.

Marissa stood at the stairwell and greeted Agrippina as she got out of the carriage with the help of the servants she brought with her.

Something was tied to the top of the carriage, and a few of Agrippina's slaves were undoing the lashings, and dragged Juno into view.

Marissa could see she was naked and sun burnt.

Agrippina said, "Marissa! I have brought back something that I believe belongs to you!"

Marissa said, "Oh! I am happy to have my property returned. Thank you!"

Agrippina said, "It seems my investment has been wrecked here. I take it you cannot pay me."

Marissa said, "That is true. I will have to give up my land to you. Though there will still be acres which you do not have rights to. The Prefect will have that though."

Agrippina said, "I shall buy it up for whatever you owe the Prefect."

Marissa said, "I suppose I'll have to move to the city, and you'll have more land."

Agrippina said, "I am here to make a deal with you Marissa. I saw the fire from my balcony, and was horrified that it might spread to my groves. I gave you a few days to get your business in order before I came here."

Marissa said, "Your consideration is appreciated. What deal were you hoping to strike?"

Agrippina said, "I was hoping you would stay in your house and govern this grove for me. I would own everything, and your oil would be rent, but I don't wish to see you deprived of your lifestyle."

Marissa asked, "You are so kind."

Agrippina said, "Thank you. I know you would've paid me if times weren't so terrible."

Marissa said, "I have been so rude not to offer you any wine."

Agrippina said, "Thank you."

They walked into the house as Marissa's task mistresses took Juno away.

Marissa said, "Temis, can you fetch us a bottle and some glasses?"

Agrippina said, "I carry my own pewter cup with me. I don't mean to be rude, but I cannot afford to keep buying new tasters from all of debtors trying to poison me -- not that I accuse you Marissa."

Marissa said, "One must treat all the same so that none feel accused."

Agrippina said, "I am glad you understand."

Marissa asked, "Are many of your creditors defaulting?"

Agrippina said, "Yes. Times are tough in this drought. You were the only one who had any fruit in the area. It is a shame it all got burned."

Marissa said, "I was able to harvest most of the oil. I have a thousand gallons."

Temis arrived with the wine, uncorked it and poured into both glasses.

Agrippina said, "Well, I am willing to forgive whatever debt I can so long as I do not end up broke. My lands are barren as well. I fear if I don't get an income from my creditors, the Prefect will demand in kind payments, and those are always expensive compared to giving gold."

Marissa said, "Yes. I will have to sit with the Prefect as well. I believe I owe her twenty-thousand kianas."

Agrippina said, "I owe at least ten times that. I've depleted all of my money in lending, so I will be losing some land as well."

Marissa said, "Perhaps my estate will do."

Agrippina said, "Let's not talk so dower. This is good wine by the way! Pewter doesn't add much of a taste and it is much lighter than silver -- which I will likely be melting to pay the taxes."

Marissa said, "I will be doing the same. I have no reason to weigh myself down with more possessions than I need for a bare life. It's not like I'll be hosting any dinners!"

Agrippina said, "I will invite you to mine."

They clinked glasses, and Agrippina's cup left a small scar in Marissa's glass.

Marissa said, "How many plantations do you own now?"

Agrippina said, "What do you mean?"

Marissa said, "Well, since you lent your fortune, you must have a lot of land."

Agrippina said, "Oh yes. I think after your estate, I should have the entire valley."

Marissa said, "And we are your tenants now."

Agrippina said, "I wouldn't look at it like that, Marissa. Your name gives you your station. Not land."

Marissa said, "I know my slaves put oil on my crops, but I still don't know which one lit the fire. I also don't know why they would resent me so."

Agrippina said, "Perhaps that one I brought back thought she would have a chance at freedom."

Marissa said, "No. She was kept in the labor pool. There is no way she got out in the night to start the fire."

Agrippina said, "Very well. Perhaps you should interrogate her."

Marissa said, "I will have her begging for death later."

Agrippina said, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Marissa said, "No. Can I interest you in some of my olives? I still have some fresh ones."

Agrippina said, "No, I ate a big breakfast."

Marissa said, "Well, it was good of you to stop by."

Agrippina said, "I am glad I did, and I am glad you do not resent me. I have to consolidate my land to survive this cruel drought Demeter afflicts us with."

Marissa said, "And I must become your tenant."

They said their goodbyes, and when Agrippina's carriage drove out of sight, Marissa said to Temis, "I have to get to the Prefect. There is no doubt she burned my grove. I was the only one with fruiting vines, and that bitch couldn't stand that I would survive this year!"

Temis said, "But what proof do we have? We can beat a confession from Juno, but Juno and Hera are slaves. Their testimony only counts if it is against their mistress."

Marissa said, "You're right, but there has to be something I can prove! It's the truth isn't it?"

Temis said, "Sometimes it is easier to strike gold than to know what is true."

Marissa said, "She had the gall to hire my slaves is what infuriates me! I can't prove her slaves came in and burned my groves! I can't describe any of them as evidence. All I have are the two bitches responsible, and no one will believe what they have to say!"

Temis said, "We do have motive. Your land is fruitful despite the drought. Who wouldn't want to have it? When the new trees come in, the fire will have made the ground fertile. Even now she will be able to sell that oil for much more than a hundred kianas, and when times get better, she will have more money coming in than some banks keep under vault!"

Marissa said, "But motive is not enough. I have proof of a crime and motive, but I don't have a way to prove any of it."

Temis said, "Talk with the Prefect about your tax situation. Then you can make a case against her."

Marissa said, "If I make a claim like that against a fellow patrician, and it is found false, I will be enslaved to her for slander!"

Temis said, "Then we must get evidence that it was she who made it happen. We need to find out when Hera and Juno made contact and with who. Perhaps one of Agrippina's slaves."

Marissa said, "Torture them both until their stories match, and we have a description of their contact."

Temis bowed her head and left her mistress.

Marissa thought, "I cannot let that bitch just get away with this! I will prove my case to the Prefect, and I will save my lands, keep my slaves, and even take a piece of her scrub just to spite her!"

Marissa fantasized about raping her and cutting Agrippina's throat just at climax. She thought about having her set up on a post so that she would slowly slide down from her anus and be impaled in full view of a crowd of jeering plebs. She stewed in her hate for a half hour when Temis returned with her findings.

She said, "Mistress, Hera and Juno both gave me a description of the one they met with. Their accounts matched! I didn't even have to torture them. We are in luck because the slave Agrippina sent had a very distinguishing mark -- a scarred right eye. In fact that eye is white while the other is brown."

Marissa said, "Very well, I can get the Prefect to question her."

Marissa put Temis in charge of the household and left for the outskirts of Castellia, where the Governor's house was and where Marissa could find the Prefect.

The Governor's house was large, and the road which lead to it was paved in cobblestone, and there was a grand entrance where people cued up for business. There were pleb lines where bread was being distributed, and then there were lines for soldiers receiving their pay.

Marissa got in the line for the higher class people. The equestrians wore tunics with a few thin purple bands denoting their rank, and ahead of them were patricians who wore the thick stripe.

Marissa cut in front of an equestrian who gave her an annoyed look, but said nothing to her. The line ran fast since most were paying tax, and it was but a matter for the clerk to wight the money and make a note next to the name in a ledger.

When it was Marissa's turn she said, "I would like to have an audience with the Prefect."

The clerk said, "You're from the Valley aren't you."

Marissa said, "I take it there are many of us on about the drought."

The clerk said, "Yes. The prefect is meeting with them all at once. You can just drop in."

Marissa said, "Very well."

The clerk called for a guard who was dressed in bronze armor displaying the features of a fit body and breasts. She had red plumage on top of her brass helmet which only covered her scalp, leaving the ears unprotected.

The guard picked up her oval shield and said to Marissa, "Right this way mistress."

Marissa followed the soldier into the manor, and down halls flanked by painted statutes of the goddesses and marble pillars.

There was an auditorium. She saw people she recognized from the Valley. A grape planter named Maxilla spoke saying how unfair it was that she would be dispossessed by Agrippina who would become senator of the province. She accused the Prefect of colluding with the woman to advance politically.

The others whispered into each others' ears.

Marissa sat on a bench and looked over to see Agrippina sitting alone. They looked at one another. She smiled at Marissa as though to say she knew why she was there.

Marissa did not stir as she waited her turn to speak.

The prefect, a younger woman with long blond hair falling down over her brass armor and purple tunic said, "That's enough Maxilla! If you wish to make this accusation against me formally, then I shall call the Governess so you can do so! But beware, when she finds me innocent and you guilty of slander, I shall own you as a slave! And I wouldn't think twice about having noble blood bred into my pleasure servants!"

Maxilla huffed and sat down.

When silence held the room to the Prefect's satisfaction she raised her hand to Marissa and said, "I see I am not done with you people! What is your complaint?"

Marissa stood up and said, "My complaint probably very similar to the ones you have heard already, but I make no accusation against you your majesty."

The Prefect said, "So Sunna roasted your crops to raisins this year as well, and you are to be made a tenant of Agrippina's?"

Sunna had nothing to do with my crops failing. They were burned by my slaves."

The Prefect said, "Is that so? We shall have the culprits crucified if you've brought them with you."

Marissa said, "No. I have come alone. Unlike the others, I have a formal accusation to submit against Agrippina, and I am willing to risk my freedom to do so."

The Prefect laughed and said, "Well go on! I want to hear this!"

Marissa said, "I have confessions from my slaves which establishes their motive for burning my crop was to flee to Agrippina to get manumission from her."

The Prefect said, "Your slaves prove only that they've wronged you. I cannot take the word of a slave -- especially one owned by an accuser."

Marissa said, "May I approach?"

The Prefect motioned with her hand.

Marissa walked up to her bench and she whispered, "I know which slave she sent to make the deal with my slaves. She has a scare on her right eye which is white while the other is brown."

The Prefect looked at Marissa with surprise.

Agrippina's mood transformed from amused to outraged when she saw the shift in the Prefect's countenance, and she rose up and said, "What secrecy is this? Prefect! Let me know what has you so pale!"

The Prefect said, "By the power vested in my by the Empress, I shall keep you both cloistered in Castellia, and a portion of your properties taken in for questioning."

Agrippina said, "Marissa! What treachery have you spilled into the Prefect's ear?"

Then she strode up to the railing and said to the Prefect, "Listen little girl! I am going to be elected senator! I will have influence to ruin you if you take my slaves and imprison me in this filthy place!"

The Prefect said, "I have the authority of the Empress, and you woman, are not yet a senator, and even if you were, I have a duty to the Empress and the People to make you answer to the Law if what Marissa says is true.."

Agrippina said, "This slander will not go unpunished Marissa! I will fuck your ass until my dick gets sore and my balls are raisins! I will keep you bound up when I am not using you! I will make you wish for your life to end!"

Marissa said, "Prefect, where shall I be cloistered?"

Chapter 6

Marissa sat on the bed of the inn the prefect assigned to cloister her in and Agrippina was kept in the room across from her own. A guard stood in the hall and allowed no one in or out except the Prefect who entered Marissa's room.

Marissa stood and bowed her head slightly.

The Prefect nodded and said, "Give me a list of slaves or other people who you think will uphold these charges you have brought. They are on flimsy ground, so I warn you, there will be a time for the trial to rescind your accusation as a misunderstanding. After that, it will be slander if you lose."

Marissa said, "I understand Prefect. Bring My slave Hera and Juno. They are responsible for burning my groves."

The Prefect said, "I have sent soldiers to search Agrippina's estate and to bring any slaves of hers which fit your description."

Marissa said, "Will it be enough?"

The Prefect said, "The testimony of slaves is flimsy, but if my women find one with a scar, I will be inclined to believe you are not lying, but Agrippina's guilt will still be hard to prove to me. Even if we get a slave with a scarred right eye who admits to meeting with your slaves and implicates Agrippina told her to do so, we still have to find more evidence to convict her."

Marissa said, "Where else would Agrippina's slaves get their orders but from her?"

The Prefect said, "Innocence of a patrician is assumed until all logically possible explanations point to her guilt. The word of a slave, even against her own mistress, is smoke -- most of the time."

A day passed as the slaves were arraigned.

The guard said, "Marissa Tiberia Selena and Maria Graccusa Agrippina, you shall follow me to the court where evidence has been collected, and will be examined."

The three walked down the street. Neither Marissa or Agrippina looked at the other, nor did they speak, but passers by stopped and stepped aside not because of the regal dress or the guard, but because their hatred for one another emanated like a toxic gas or the stench of plague.

The guards presented both woman's ledgers.

They also brought charred soil and plants from Marissa's plantation, and some of her oil.

The Prefect said, "The fresh oil and charred plants tell me that you did indeed have a fruitful harvest and that someone burned down your crop. The tragedy is evident to me at least.

"I also see in your ledgers that Marissa's debt is substantial. She would virtually give up her whole estate to the defendant, giving her the motive to slander."

Then she opened a scroll and said, "Bring the slave, Juno."

Guards brought Juno to the middle of the room and the prefect asked her if she was who she said she was under pain of glossectomy. She quivered at the threat of losing her tongue, but affirmed her identity.

The Prefect asked, "Juno, did you spill oil on your mistress's crops?"

Juno said, "Please! Don't hurt me!"

The Prefect said, "I just want to know the truth Juno. Your mistress has to release you into our custody for punishment, and that is up to her to do, not me. Tell me the truth."

Juno said, "I did."

The Prefect said, "Was this an accident?"

Juno looked at Marissa and then at the Prefect and said, "No."

The Prefect said, "You do understand that if your mistress does give you over to me, you have accepted responsibility for treason, and I can have you crucified."

Juno fell to her knees and begged the Prefect not to do it.

The Prefect asked, "Do you still admit your intentions were to spill oil on your mistress's plants so that a guard would set them afire?"

Juno said, "Please mistress! Promise I won't be crucified!"

Marissa said, "Prefect I believe I can take a legal oath to affirm that for my slave."

The Prefect said, "You could, but it would invalidate the testimony."

Marissa said nothing and looked at the floor trying to figure out how to compel Juno to stick with the testimony.

Juno watched her mistress struggle to think and then she said, "I put the oil on the plants so Hera could burn them with a torch that night."

Marissa let out a sigh of surprise and relief.

The Prefect asked, "What drove you to do that Juno?"

Juno said, "We were promised freedom."

The Prefect asked, "Who promised you?"

Juno said, "A woman with a scar."

The Prefect asked, "Did you meet her?"

Juno said, "No. Hera did."

The Prefect thanked Juno for her testimony and motioned the guards to bring Hera.

The Prefect went through the same affirmation of identity and ownership and asked, "Hera, do you admit to meeting with a slave and setting your mistress's crops alight?"

Hera said, "I do."

The prefect warned her about crucifixion.

Hera said nothing.

The Prefect said, "I must have you affirm your statement or rescind it. You will not suffer for perjury if you admit you are lying now, but later, we will remove your tongue if what you say is untrue."

Hera said, "Please! I cannot take this pressure! I don't want to be crucified or lose my tongue! Mistress! Let me say nothing!"

The Prefect said, "She does not compel you to speak now. I do."

Hera said nothing and stared at the floor.

Marissa said, "Dammit Hera! I made you head of the task mistresses because of your service to me, and this is how you treat me? You burn down my crops and won't even admit it so that I can keep you?"

Hera said, "You made me a breeder to Aphrodite!"

Marissa said, "I could have had you crucified!"

The Prefect said, "Do not be belligerent to the witness Marissa! If this were a free woman, I'd have you whipped for contempt! "Now, slave! Enter a plea or I will have my guards bust your balls!"

Hera said, "Okay! I -- I did it! There was a woman who promised me freedom if I did it!"

The Prefect said, "Bring out Vesta."

The guards brought out a stout slave with straight auburn hair and a curvy body.

The Prefect asked Hera, "Is this who you spoke to?"

Hera looked at the slave and said, "Yes."

The Prefect said, "Very well. Guards, take Hera back. I am done questioning her at this time."

The guards did so and the Prefect went through the procedure of identifying Agrippina's slave who was named Vesta, and told her up front that she would she could be crucified if she were guilty of what Hera accused her of.

Vesta said, "It is a lie."

The Prefect warned her about the glossectomy and asked her to repeat her affirm or rescind her statement.

Vesta affirmed.

The Prefect asked, "Have you ever seen those two girls in your life?"

Vesta said, "No."

The Prefect asked, "Then how do they know about your scar?"

Vesta said nothing.

Agrippina said, "Perhaps she does not remember seeing them. She is memorable to others because of her eye, so it is easy for people to remember her, while it is difficult for her to remember others."

The Prefect said, "Well put Agrippina."

Agrippina curtsied.

The Prefect turned to Marissa and said, "I cannot make her confess except by one measure -- ordeal."

Agrippina said, "If you put her under torture, of course she will say what you want!"

The Prefect said, "No. She and one of Marissa's slaves will endure an ordeal. She who wins will prove the other a liar."

Marissa thought about the condition of her slaves. Juno had been sun burned and no doubt Aphrodite fucked Hera to a pulp.

She asked, "What is the ordeal?"

The Prefect said, "They will have their testicles pierced with hot needles. The one who takes the most wins."

Vesta said, "I confess! I met with Hera at a dinner Lady Marissa was holding for the Lupercalia!"

Agrippina said, "Silence! You filthy coward! I will pierce your testicles likewise if you don't shut up!"

The Prefect said, "So you disavow your previous statement? If so, I will have your tongue."

Vesta said, "Please! No!"

The Prefect said, "Shall you endure the ordeal, and keep your tongue, or shall you lose your tongue?"

Marissa said, "Prefect! Please this proves only which organ this slave cherishes above the other! She has implicated her mistress!"

Agrippina said, "Only because for fear of her balls!"

The Prefect said, "I will have order! Vesta, what shall it be?"

Vesta began to cry and said, "Please! Have mercy on me! I don't want to lose my tongue or suffer needles in my testicles! I don't have control over what I say! I just speak as you command me!"

The Prefect said, "Very well! I shall chose what best illuminates the situation! Guards make Marissa choose which slave she wishes to suffer the ordeal!"

The guards brought Hera and Juno to Marissa's feet and the Prefect told them what was to be done and asked if either of them volunteered.

Hera said, "Do it to Juno! Don't do it to me! I will break!"

Marissa took Juno's chin in her hand and said, "Can you endure it for me? I will forgive you everything you have done. I will love you if you suffer this for me."

Juno trembled, but said, "Very well mistress. I accept."

The guards tied Vesta and Juno so they lay on the floor on their backs, their legs spread and pulled over their bodies, exposing their genitals.

The guards showed the girls the needles to be used on them and then put them in hot coals.

The Prefect took out a blade and showed it to Vesta, and said, "If you are willing to lose your tongue, you can spare both yourself and Juno here what is about to befall you."

Agrippina protested the deal and said, "Let the bitches get their balls pierced!"

Vesta said, "I will endure the needles! She will do them to me anyway if I let you take my tongue."

The Prefect nodded and said, "Very well."

The needles heated after a few minutes, and a guard showed the Prefect that they were yellow hot. Then she showed the two slaves.

Juno and Vesta began sobbing.

The Prefect said, "Vesta, this is your final chance."

Agrippina said, "Vesta! I will do worse than these people if you betray me now!"

Vesta said nothing. She just cried.

The Prefect said, "Very well. You may pierce the accuser's slave first."

The guard got on her knee and took hold of Juno's scrotum and squeezed it to isolate one of her testicles.

Juno began to hyperventilate as the woman's powerful hand grabbed her.

Then the guard aimed the needle at her testicle.

Juno quivered as she felt the heat radiate against her skin.

With a quick jab, the guard pushed the needle through, and Juno began screaming, "OWW! OWW! OWW! IT HURTS! MISTRESS! IT'S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OUT! AHHHHH!"

Juno continued to scream as the guard took out a fresh needle for Vesta who said, "Take my tongue! Take my tongue!"

Agrippina said, "I will skewer both of your balls!"

Vesta still begged the Prefect to let her rescind her past comment to spare her.

The Prefect asked, "Do you condemn your mistress?"

Vesta said, "I condemn her!"

The Prefect said, "Then that is the last thing you will say."

She ordered the guard to take the needle out of Juno's testicle and to put Vesta in position for her glossectomy.

Juno continued to cry as it felt as though her right nut had been popped.

The guards held Vesta on her knees and her face so she couldn't turn away. The Prefect took hold of her tongue with a pair of tongs and put the blade inside the slave's mouth, and pulled it through so the whole tongue came out.

Vesta cried out through the blood.

The Prefect said, "Go back to your cloisters. I have much to think on."

The guards escorted Marissa and Agrippina back to their cloisters.

Juno and Hera were allowed to stay with Marissa, but the Prefect decided to keep Vesta in her own custody.

They all waited the Prefect's decision by the next day.

That morning the guard took them all to a place outside the city where a crowd had gathered.

The people were all throwing stones and sticks at someone in the middle of the scene.

When the guards brought Marissa, Agrippina, Juno, and Hera to the center, there was Vesta hanging by her wrists and ankles which were pinned on a cedar post driven into the stone.

The Prefect came into the crowd and said, "The mistress of this traitor to Romula has something to say!"

The Prefect said, "Attest your loyalty to the Empire. You don't have to announce your guilt."

Agrippina looked at her with a resentful face, but stood in the middle of the crowd and mumbled something about how slaves should know their place.

Vesta cried out saying, "Mistress! Don't abandon me! I'm sorry!"

Agrippina ignored her and did not look upon her crimson scourged body.

The Prefect led them back to to Governess's house.

Hera and Juno sat behind Marissa and Agrippina stood to the right of them as they had during the interrogation.

The Prefect said, "I am convinced that there was a conspiracy to destroy Marissa's crops which was perpetrated by her own slaves. I am convinced that there was a motive for Agrippa to incite this act to use the courts to take away Marissa's land by our financial laws. By the trial by ordeal, Marissa's slave held fast to her mistress while Agrippina's suffered glossectomy to speak against her own. "I find Agrippina guilty of inciting a slave rebellion against her neighbor. Given her social stature, I sentence Agrippina to pay the expense of rebuilding Marissa's olive groves, pay Marissa's land tax of twenty-thousand kianas, and to forgive Marissa her debt. "If Agrippina is unable to pay in gold, then her slaves shall rebuild Marissa's property before any labor can be done on her own plantation, and she shall pay for the tax by selling her land at fifty kianas per hectare."

The Prefect pulled out a ledger and it showed A statement reading, "Marissa owes Agrippina 20,000 Kianas"

She struck the statement with a line and said, "Congratulations Marissa! You are debt free!"

The Prefect looked to Juno who suffered from a dull pain in her groin and lower abdomen, and hardly saw or heard what was happening for its reason.

The Prefect said, "You have redeemed yourself for your failure. I recommend your mistress forgive you for your transgression against her and I on behalf of the Empress, forgive you for your crime against the empire."

Juno's pain subsided for a moment as pride swelled up in her for a moment.

The Prefect looked at Marissa and said, "I can still crucify that coward behind you."

Marissa said, "I have a better use for Hera. Her strong body will be good to breed new slaves."

Agrippina said, "I shall appeal this slander to to Governess!"

The Prefect said, "That is your right, but your slaves will be under Marissa's charge until either you win or their building is complete."

The Governess came in to the room.

Everyone stood in respect, and the slaves prostrated themselves.

She was a bit chubby, blonde, and a bit older than even Agrippina.

The Prefect stepped aside to let her take a seat.

The Governess said, "I have heard of this case, and asked the Prefect about its details, and I have to say that I do not wish to drag Marissa through anymore of this nonsense! A high borne patrician should not engage in usury and vandalism by the hand of another's slaves to gain in our Empire of Laws and Honor. I will not hear your appeal Agrippina. You shall do as this court commands or be stripped of your title and land!"

Agrippina fumed in anger, and stormed out of the court before being excused.

The Governess said, "Marissa! When your estate is restored, I would be honored to attend the estate of one who has the bravery to stand up against one as powerful as Agrippina! I wish you good health and the blessings of the goddesses!"

Marissa said, "I wish you the same your Majesty."

With a flamboyant flurry of her hand, the Governess said, "You are dismissed!"

Marissa bowed and left.

Chapter 7

By the next year, the drought still persisted, and Marissa's crop grew better than before because the ashes from her old crops fertilized the ground, so the new vines from Agrippina's lands -- some of the only which were still alive -- thrived in their new home.

Marissa had to pay thirty-thousand Kianas the next year because her land was so much more valuable, but the amount of money from her olive oil and the high price thereof by reason of the drought made more than enough for her to pay it.

Nothing grew on the vast expanse of Agrippina's estate. The Prefect started taking one tenth of her land every year and giving it to settlers from Romula. Agrippina did not win a seat in the Senate, and when the scandal met the ears of the people, she was out as soon as the patricians voted. She earned only one vote -- from herself.

Hera and Aphrodite proved a fruitful pairing and they had twin daughters.

Juno healed from the ordeal, and she did not need to have her testicle removed which was a fear for her throughout the year, but Marissa paid respected doctors who were perturbed having to do the work of a veterinarian -- until they saw several a full kianas.

Marissa forgave all of her guards for failing to stop the fire.

In fact, when she got home from the trial, she gave every one of her slaves a tug herself.