©2001 by WILDBEARIES

This story is based on characters created in the film, "Gladiator" and in no way intended to infringe upon those characters or the story of that film. References to real people are strictly the product of the writer's imagination and meant to entertain the reader.
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Ana stood in the kitchen of the governor's house, hands on her hips, a disgusted look on her face. The servants, only two of whom still existed, cowered behind a worktable, not sure what their new mistress was like or if they were going to be blamed for the condition of the house, especially the kitchen. "All right," Ana said, turning to the two older women, "we need to clean, first of all, and we will need more people than just the two of you for that."

The elder of the two, a plump, olive skinned woman with streaks of white in her black hair, spoke up, "Mistress, I have nieces who would gladly work for you - but they need to make money to feed their children." Her manner was respectful, some of the fear gone, but she was still somewhat uncertain.

Ana smiled, "Good, I intend to pay anyone who works here - there will be no slaves in this house, and no unpaid servants. What is your name?"

"I am Melina, Mistress."

"Are you Greek?" Ana asked, recognizing the name from relatives of her mother.

"My father was," the older woman said, her eyes less wary now. "My mother was from Trujillo, though."

"My mother was Greek," Ana explained. She looked to the second servant, "And your name?"

"Joan, Mistress."

"All right, since you two seem to be the only remaining servants, I'll need your help to secure some others - we're going to need a cook, laundress and gardener, plus at least one more man to do heavy tasks - and I will need a personal maid. The governor has his aide, so he will not need a body servant. Oh, and I suppose we will need someone to do the cleaning - sweeping, and so forth."

"We'll help get workers for you, Mistress," Melina said firmly, "it will be good to have this house in order once again." With that, the three of them huddled briefly, deciding who would go into Emerita for helpers who could come that day, who would stay to start cleaning, and who would go to the market for foodstuffs. Ana chose the latter since she had the household purse. The three women smiled at one another and set off on their individual missions.

By sunset, what had been a house filled with cobwebs, trash, dirt and even a chicken or two running in and out of the open doors to the kitchen, had been transformed to unaccustomed order. The floors had been swept, the chickens shooed outdoors and penned, cobwebs brushed down from walls and ceilings, and the kitchen was sparkling. Melina, who, it turned out, was an excellent cook, was happily ordering three of her nieces about as they peeled vegetables, turned roasting meats on a spit in the newly cleaned out hearth, stirred fragrant sauces and baked bread and pastries.

Ana was upstairs in the bedroom she and Maximus would begin sharing that very night, seeing that the large bed was ready - the tickings filled with fresh straw, fresh linens and blankets put on, fragrant herbs sprinkled between the layers. She found rugs braided from soft local textiles in the market place, and had two large ones placed on the tiled floor of the bedchamber, one on either side of the bed. She had also bought long swaths of beautiful fabric to drape over the windows to keep out winter drafts and soften the stark stone walls with some color. The deep tones of red, blue and golden yellow were very warm against the gray stone. "I like it," she said aloud, pleased with her handiwork.

"So do I," came her husband's voice from behind her. She whirled, her surprised squeak making him laugh.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said unnecessarily.

Maximus pulled her to him for a kiss, "I was enjoying watching you, I didn't want to disturb you."

"I did a lot today. The house is actually habitable now." It had been a truly humbling experience to walk into what she had thought would be a lovely, or at least, nice house, only to find the previous occupants had left it almost wrecked.

"Publius Marrus barely lived in it," Maximus said, holding Ana with an arm around her waist. "I found today that he spent most of his time in a grand villa in the hills outside the city, consorting with his whores and rich friends."

"No wonder things have gotten so lax in the garrison," Ana commented.

"Indeed." Maximus let go of his wife and unfastened his cloak. She took it and folded it, placing it over a low bench near the door. "Drusus will have to take that outside and shake the dust from it," she remarked. "I don't want it shaken in here on my clean floors."

Maximus chuckled at how quickly it had become "my clean floors" and how she had taken charge of it completely. "Is that food I smell cooking?"

She beamed at him, "Yes, actually, it is. Melina - one of the servants who was still here when we got here - is half Greek. She is an excellent cook, and has brought in some of her nieces to help in the kitchen and the household. I believe you smell honey and almond pastries - wait until you taste them!"

His stomach growled, right on time, and they both laughed. "Help me off with this," he said, unbuckling his lorica, "Drusus is with Antoninus, finding out about transferring to the cavalry. I'm afraid you will have to be my aide for a few days until I find another one."

Ana smiled delightedly, "So he has chosen?" She unbuckled the opposite side and Maximus set the heavy armored breastplate on the floor.

"Yes, and chosen rightly, his talents are wasted being my aide, the man rides like he was born on a horse, and he will do very well in Wolf's Bane." Maximus stretched, glad to be free of the constricting armor. He left on his linen undertunic and flannelled trousers, cinching the tunic with his wide, soft leather belt. "I'll bathe later," he told Ana.

She sniffed near him, "You don't seem too dirty, my husband, just a little aura of horse and dust - I rather like it."

He drew her tight against him for a kiss or two, "I'll remember that next time we're in the stables, maybe we can explore your liking for me when I've been riding all day."

Ana leaned up and pulled his head down so she could nip his earlobe, "Then you can ride me all night," she purred in his ear.

Maximus burst out laughing, as always caught somewhat off guard by his aristocratic-appearing wife's earthy enjoyment of sex. "Come, little Venus," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs, "if you want me hale and hearty, you must feed me."

They went into the small triclinium, which was now sparkling clean, but sat in chairs at a small table instead of reclining on couches. Maximus far preferred this, feeling awkward trying to eat lying down. Besides, he was no pampered Roman fop, but a common man from Hispania, and a soldier. He had no need to impress anyone with delicate manners, although he could if he had to.

Melina and one of her nieces served them the best food he'd had since they left Ostia. There was succulent roasted pork with a wine-based sauce, dried peas that the woman had somehow made plump and tender, bathing them in herbs and butter, and rice that had been cooked with saffron so it was a rich golden yellow. Her breads were tender, fragrant and delicious, and Maximus ate hungrily, moaning in delight over the honey almond pastries at the end of the meal. He called Melina into the triclinium and praised her.

"Melina, that was wonderful. If you continue to feed me like this, I will need new armor because I'll outgrow my clothing."

The woman smiled shyly, ducking her head and giving an awkward curtsey, "Thank you, Domine, this was just ordinary cooking, sir. If I had more time, I could have really prepared something good."

Maximus laughed and shook his head, "I shudder to imagine it - food for the gods. Thank you again, and tell your helpers that I am very pleased with all their work."

"Yes, Domine," she said, and backed out of the room. They heard her rapid steps fading down the hall to the kitchen, then caught a bit of her excited voice passing along his praises.

"You've won her over," Ana commented. She looked around the Spartan little room. "I must find something to make this room more welcoming."

Maximus nodded, "Yes, something on the walls, maybe. I'm told there are still splendid artisans and artists here, perhaps a day or two spent in the marketplace will help you find the things the house needs." He rose and went into the entry hall, coming back with a small locked chest and a ring of many keys. He selected one and opened the chest, retrieving a leather pouch which he handed her. "Here, spend as much of this as you need to make the house as you want it, it's some of the emperor's gold aureii."

She didn't need to ask which emperor - for her husband, there had been only one true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. The pouch clinked, heavy in her hand. "Just how many coins did he leave you?" She had never asked. They hadn't opened the chests that held the late emperor's gifts since they had left Ostia - they had been safely locked inside a much larger trunk, disguised as linens and other commonplace articles.

He gave her a somewhat embarrassed look before finally admitting that he wasn't sure. "It's more money than I've ever seen, truthfully, Ana. Enough to build a new house if you wanted one, or to do anything we want the rest of our lives and still have coins left to leave our children."

Eyes wide, she came and sat on his lap, his arms going around her and cuddling her against his linen-covered chest. "What I'd like," she said a little tentatively, "is to see your farm - maybe use some of the money to make it wonderful again."

"You would?" he murmured, rubbing his cheek against her soft hair.

She nodded, "Yes - I know they rebuilt it for you, but I'm sure it's not going to be as you want it. I would love to make it special for you, and see your horses run in the pastures and the wheat waving golden in the fields."

"As would I," Maximus agreed. He kissed her temple. "Anything else?" He sensed she was holding back somewhat.

"Well," Ana said in a hesitant tone, "I would like to see that Selene and Marcus were properly honored, would you mind?"

He hugged her tightly, eyes closed briefly as he wondered at her unselfishness. "I wouldn't mind at all, cara, and I think it would be wonderful of you."

She turned in his arms and kissed him. "Good, that's settled then. When can we ride out to Trujillo and see the farm?"

"Not this week," he said, laughing again at her eagerness, "the first of next week, perhaps. I need this week to get this place running in some kind of order again. You can work on getting this house presentable - that should keep you busy enough."

"That will keep me busy for months," she said with a wry smile. "Do you know, there were actually chickens running in and out of the kitchen when I got here this morning?"

"We're lucky it was only chickens, and not pigs as well," her husband commented. He was idly stroking her hip through the soft wool of her stola. "This is a nice dress," he said, "is it new?"

"No, I just unpacked it this afternoon - it's been in a trunk since we left Ostia." His stroking had gotten a bit less casual and her voice quivered as he lifted one edge of the hem and slid his roughened palm up her leg. "Maximus stop, suppose one of the servants comes in?" She pretended to be scandalized, smacking his hand lightly.

Maximus chuckled and continued teasing her, his palm right against her upper inner thigh, teasing the soft hair of her mons. "I'll send them away, and they'll tell everyone that the new governor likes to fondle his wife in the dining room."

She giggled, then gasped as he slid one of his thick, long fingers inside her. "Oh, gods," she moaned as he teased her. She kissed him, licking around his mouth, teasing his lips until he let her in, then stroking her tongue against his. After a moment, she pulled back, smiling, "You taste of honey and almonds."

Maximus rose to his feet, lifting her as though she was a live doll. He walked upstairs carrying her, kissing her all the way, then into their bedroom. Kicking the door shut behind him, he heard the giggles from two of the servant girls who had been outside the triclinium, waiting to clear the remains of the meal. "We've just entertained the maids," he commented, dropping her into the center of the big bed. He unbuckled his belt and pulled off his tunic and undershirt, then he kicked off his boots, removed the trousers and got on the bed with his wife, quickly stripping her down to her skin.

Ana shivered in the cool air of the room, nipples puckered into hard little nubs, but Maximus solved that problem by climbing on top of her and suckling her breasts until she was warm and tingling all over. He worked his magic on her body with lips and tongue and fingers, and when they were both trembling with anticipation, he lifted her hips and drove inside her. "Oh, gods," he moaned, pausing for one moment to whisper teasingly, "I claim this bed in the name of Maximus Decimus Meridius, Military Governor of Hispania."

Filled with him, she nevertheless managed to whisper back, "I yield, General, now claim your willing bride."

"Ana," he gasped, "Ana, Ana, Ana."

"Yes," she crooned, wrapping her arms and legs around his plunging body, "yes, take me. Yes!"

Their murmuring voices and the squeak of the bedstead went on for hours, interspersed with breaks for sleep and talk. The serving girls who had giggled outside the dining room, had cause to giggle again, when, well after midnight, they went up to the second floor to light the little lamps that served as night lights and plainly heard the creaking of the bed. "Venus and Mars," one said, and they ran down to the kitchen to spread the story that the new master must be passionately in love with his wife.

"And so he should be," their aunt scolded them, sending them off to bed in the newly cleaned servants' quarters. "She is a wonderful woman, how could he not be in love with her?" She sighed as she blew out the lamps in the kitchen. "Just as he is a wonderful man - would there were many more like him." She went off to find her own bed, looking forward to what the next day would bring.

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Copyright 2001 by wildbearies

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