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The Via Crucis of
Camille - Crux 1 - Page 9
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Leticia looked at the soldier
beating her, she looked into his eyes, he was a soldier she
had seen before, perhaps a guard at her palatial home.
It would be fitting that they
send her guards to punish her since they were in charge
of the senator's protection and failed to protect him.
Soldier's were not executioners,
there were other men charged with that ungrateful task.
It was those soldiers who had falter who were chosen to
carry out the duty of putting a prisoner to death.
In the case of her chastiser,
it was obvious he was holding the whip because it was under
his watch that a poisoner managed to kill a senator.
Beware of the poisoners, was
written in the old books of the Hebrews.
She was her husband's poisoner,
in his view, deserving of the cruel punishment. But she
could see in his eyes that he pitied her even as he lashed
her with all his might. |
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Leticia's servant was, in fact
in love with the senator, but she knew full well her place
in the world and had no feelings against her lady. In fact
she was happy that the senator had found such a beautiful
and graceful wife.
She was overjoyed with the news
of their impending marriage and when the lady moved in the
house, way in advance of the wedding, she was put in charge
of serving her. The senator knew full well he could trust
her.
She had been his lover when he
needed and had sworn complete loyalty til death, not knowing
that she would follow him to the beyond along with his wife.
She was not aware of what she
had in her hands when she took the drink to the senator's
chamber.
He had asked for more wine and
she complied. The happy couple were making love when she
found the skins where the old wine was kept, she knew that
was his favorite wine, a gift from the emperor. |
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Leticia kept her eyes on the soldier
for a while, she stopped moving, she held her body tight,
wrapping her feet to the back of the post to keep her from
moving at the stroke of the whip.
In this way she resisted 5, perhaps
6 lashes, always looking at him, penetrating his eyes with
hers, in a way defying him to see her innocence, calling
him to rebel against the injustice.
He felt her burning eyes digging
holes into his soul. He could not look at her in the face,
he focused on her body, on the parts he was ripping with
the whip.
He tightened up his jaws as he
hit her. She was a woman that knew how to love and how to
hate. He had seen her with the senator, he had seen her
holding his face and burying her eyes into his, full of
love and promise.
They looked like such a happy
couple, it was sad, really sad that she turned into a murderer.
The reason, it was spread around,
was the ugly monster of adultery. There was the well known
relationship with a foreign lord. One that had arrived once
with gifts for her. |
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The smell of conspiracy was all
over the palatial home of the senator, only he could not sense
it. For the soldier it was the conspiracy of adultery with
agravating issues such as treason. But the true conspiracy
was fermenting in the bath house, where hidden behind clouds
of steam the conspirators planned in whispers the assassination
of Ceasar and of the loyal and young senator.
A wedding gift from Ceasar would
be the weapon.
Ceasar had pleasure in sending
gifts to his loyal friends and he prepared a great selection
of foods, wines, horses and slaves for the house of the
young couple.
The gifts were received with
joy and thankfulness. The wines were placed in the secure,
dry cave where the best and oldest wines were kept.
One of them was tainted with
arsenic and to insure that it's used correctly, it was marked:
for the senator only.
The mark mysteriously disappeared after the slave
was arrested, but she swore she saw it and that's why she
took it. Later she recanted, it was that wine that her lady
had instructed to be used. |
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The servant was reanimated with
a burning stick. She felt the fire burning inside her and
she reacted, trying again to get on her knees, lifting her
body and the heavy timber on her back. She was forced to turn
around to face the post a few meters away and in front of
her she saw the trail of burning coals and ashes starting
right under her knees and stretched all the way to the bottom
of the erect post.
She understood what they wanted
her to do. The laughing soldiers were prodding her to begin
her journey of pain with the use of the whip on her back.
She started moving slowly, her knees stepping on the burning
coals before her.
She felt her legs burn and tried
to move faster but she couldn't.
After two or three steps she
fell, hitting the burning ground with her face first and
soon after with her breasts and shoulders.
The pain of her face and shoulders
burning gave her the stamina to get up on her knees again
and to try to move, again she struggled to go forward, again
she managed to give two or three steps before se fell again. |
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