New story: Another Time: Eleni of Crete
Sequel to The Roman Centurion

Eleni of Crete is the sixth installment of the Reincarnation
Series:

1. Another Time: The Roman Centurion
2. Another Time: The Ivy leaf
3. Another Time: The Gift
4. Another Time: The Red Carnation
5. Another Time: Someone to call Mommy
6. Another Time: Eleni of Crete*


Veronica Jane Williams
xkhoi@iafrica.com

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Paramount. The story is mine.

Rating: R

ANOTHER TIME: ELENI OF CRETE

She heard voices. Voices that broke through the pain. It felt as
if her body was on fire. Where am I? she wondered. She tried to move,
but felt a stab of pain in her chest. She let out an involuntary
groan.

"You must lie still. Please do not move, Eleni."

She struggled to put a face to the voice, which sounded kind. Sounded
like music, soothing. A hand, comforting, lay gently on her forehead.
She tried to reach out and touch that hand.

"Please do not be alarmed," the kind voice said. It was a strange
voice. It did not sound like her new master. But it sounded as kind.
It soothed her, and her body stilled, for it felt to her as though
it was just in his voice that there was healing. It did not burn
as much, she thought. That was strange. That his touch and his voice
could calm the fire in her.

The voices receded, as if their owners left the room. Room? But it
was only because she drifted quietly into a balming sleep.

*********

"Well, what do you make of her injuries, Lucanus?" Flavius asked
his friend. He was wearing a white robe with white toga, its edges
adorned with gold braiding, and held at his left shoulder by a
clasp.

"She will recover," my good Flavius. "Your mother, the lady Melissa
can now take over here."

They left the room quietly to sit in the courtyard. Lucanus had
collected his instruments, and the rest of the medication, herbs
and poultices in his medicine bag. He joined Flavius on one of
the long benches under an olive tree.

"She was very badly treated, good Lucanus. I saw your expression."

"Yes... it the harsh life of the slave," he said softly.

Flavius understood. Lucanus himself had been born to a slave, but
was adopted by the Consul of Antioch, when that man married Lucanus'
mother. They were now Roman citizens.

"She is free. I own no slaves here, Lucanus. She can stay here, or
go back to Crete or wherever she can find a position as a handmaiden.

Lucanus of Antioch looked at his dear friend, saw the concern in his
eyes. He also saw more than that. My good friend, he thought, your
days of being a handsome Roman with untold wealth and unmarried,
will very soon come to an end. He had been watching the sick woman,
who, although she was unconscious, seemed to turn her face in the
direction of Flavius' voice everytime. And Flavius visited the
patient more than what was fitting of the master of the household.

"You have a good heart, Flavius." Lucanus, whose eyes were as
blue as those of his friend, looked at him, and said: "Perhaps this
time your heart will reap the rewards of your good deeds."

"And you, Lucanus, there is no need to speculate." But Flavius was
smiling when he said that.

"I will be here the same time tomorrow. She should be much improved 
by then."

Lucanus went back into the house to bade his farewell to the
lady Melissa. She was in the sick room, bathing the young girl's
arms and neck, and soothing, talking all the time she worked.
Flavius followed him, looked again at Eleni, his heart growing warm
at he sight of her. Most of the scratches in her face, and on her arms
were now healed, thanks to the healing power of Lucanus. It was the
deeper cuts on her forehead that concerned him, but Lucanus assured
him that even those would heal, with time.

Melissa accompanied them to the door, where she left them and returned
to Eleni, who was still sleeping. Poor girl, Melissa thought. Her
injuries were worse than they expected, and she collapsed soon after
she stepped into the cool foyer of the house. Flavius picked her
up and carried her as if she weighed nothing. She did indeed seem to
be alarmingly thin.

But she could see, even in this state, how Eleni affected her son.
She longed to see her son settle down, and take charge of their
vast properties in Alexandria. And if this sweet young woman was
going to be the instrument to prompt such a decision from him,
she would have Melissa's blessing. Melissa saw a great deal of
instinctive pride in Eleni, whatever the circumstances of her birth
was that determined her destiny. She was clearly refined.

Eleni stirred again, with only a soft moan escaping her now. She
was beginning to wake up. Melissa watched how she struggled to open
her eyes, until a pair of black eyes stared into sapphire eyes.

"Where...where am I?" she croaked weakly.

"My child, do not distress yourself so. You are in the house of
Flavius of Alexandria. He rescued you three days ago. Do you remember
that?"

"My lady - "

"Yes, Eleni of Crete. I am Melissa, his mother. How are you feeling
now?"

Eleni looked at the older woman and felt her eyes beginning to sting
with tears. She was only a slave. Nothing. With no prospects except
to warm the bed of her master, when he so desired. This woman and
her son treated her with kindness, like she was a person, not an
object sold at the market place, on show for all to see. She cringed
at the thought. How the last trader stripped her so the men could
inspect her, touching her, their hands rough, squeezing, their
fingers probing, insistent...

She closed her eyes and she cried...

She felt a cool cloth on her face, wiping the hot tears that would
not seem to stop.

"Hush, my child. For you, that life is over," Melissa said as she
drew Eleni in her arms, and comforted her.

At length, she lay back again. There was a question in her eyes.

"I think," Melissa said, "Flavius would be better equipped to answer
your questions." She smiled as she saw Eleni's surprise that the
older woman could read her thoughts. "You have many questions, I can
see that. I understand, my child. Rest now, while I get Flavius to
see you.

Eleni closed her eyes again. Her new master... Flavius. She saw him
again, as she lay on the ground, with those people stoning her,
like a Trojan soldier breaking through, and looking down at
her. His eyes were very blue, and he had his helmet on. Like a
Hermes, or Eros. She shrank back then, afraid he would hurt her,
like all of them. But his eyes were kind. And laughing. She wondered
if he would be a mischief maker, like the handsome messenger Hermes.

Now she was his property...

She looked up when he entered the room, and came to sit down on a low
stool next to her. He was dressed differently now, in white robes.
He reached out his hand to touch her cheek, but she shrank from his
touch.

"I will not hurt you... Here you are safe." She tried to look for
reassurance in his eyes.

"I - I am indebted to you, Master, for - "

"Eleni!" he said with mild anger. "Did I not tell you not to call
me that?"

She tried to remember, but the last few days had meshed into a
stream of only hazy recollections. She could not remember. She
nodded.

"What is my name?" he challenged her. He looked into he eyes. There
was a flash of pride there. He knew she would react to that. Then
suddenly wondered: she's been in my house for three days, yet I know
she has that nature.

"M- You said F-Flavius."

"Good. Then that is what you shall call me."

"Yes..."

"What is my name, Eleni?" he asked softly.

"Flavius."

"Good. Now, Eleni, how do you feel now?" he asked again, softly,
his hand touching the bandage on her forehead. She closed her eyes
when she felt his hand on her, then opened them quickly again.

"What - what is this?" she asked, touching the bandages.

"I take it you don't remember."

She nodded.

"A physician treated your wounds the last three days. He will be here
again tomorrow, to look at this," and he pointed to her forehead.

"I owe you my life...Flavius Tomas Parisius."

"So you do remember!"

For the first time Eleni smiled, and Flavius knew in that instant
that Eleni of Crete would remain in his house forever, under his roof,
his protection.

"It is late, Eleni. You must rest now. I will visit you again tomorrow
after the parade of foot soldiers."

As he rose to leave, she touched his sleeve hesitantly. She looked
at him, with less of the fear of earlier.

"Thank you..."

"It has been my pleasure, Eleni of Crete," he said, then gently touched
her cheek again, before he left.

*****************

"You slave wench! If you fight me, I'll use this dagger and carve
you here," Quintus said as he scored her forehead with the point of
his dagger.

"Please, Master, enough. Do not hurt me..."

"I'm not done with you, sweet Eleni," he leered as he pulled her
simple tunic from her, leaving her exposed.

"No...please. No more."

"Yes... more. Say yes, sweet Eleni, before I cut you."

"No - "

"Then damn you," he said coarsely as he parted her legs roughly and
mounted her, his engorged member so big, she screamed as she felt
herself tearing, when he forced himself in her. His hand was on her
throat, the other hand playing with the dagger in her face.

"Say yes..."

"No..."

She screamed as he pounded roughly into her. He heaved, grunting
obscenely, not stopping.

"What do you say?"

"Yes..." Then she cried uncontrollably as he continued, stopping
suddenly, drawing out. She thought it was over, until he flipped her
over on her stomach, and she felt him kneading her buttocks,
pressing them open... 

"No - !! No - ! Don't -!" she screamed.


Flavius was sitting in his library, studying some scrolls containing
accounts of Caesar's Gallic Wars, written in Latin. He should have
some of these accounts translated into Greek, he was still thinking
when he heard a scream coming from Eleni's room.

He found her on the low bedstead, curled into a fetal position
whimpering.

"No...don't...please..."

"Eleni, wake up," he shook her. "It's a dream." Nightmare was more
like it as he saw her quivering with fear.

"Wake up, Eleni."  He touched her gently, but in that moment she
opened her eyes and screamed again, shrinking violently away from
him.

"No - ! Don't touch me, please," she pleaded.

"Eleni, it's me, Flavius. Look at me. I won't hurt you - "

But she cowered against the wall, away from his hand. Flavius had
come in with a lamp which he had put down on a table. He saw the
abject fear in Eleni's eyes. Damn him who put it there, Flavius
thought. Damn him.

He leaned forward on the bed, and pulled the trembling Eleni in his
arms. But she started to fight him off, beating against his chest,
telling him not to hurt her. But Flavius held her tightly, so long,
until he felt her becoming calmer, the trembling almost stopped.

"Shhh...it's over now, Eleni. Over. No one will hurt you again. No
one," he said as he held her to him, feeling her thin body warming
again. He sighed. And was angry again. At what he didn't have to
imagine her former owner did to her. That arrogant Marcus Tullius -
he can't imagine why he remained friends with him so long -
sometimes regaled him of tales of what he could only call sexual 
abuse of their slaves. 

He rocked her gently, talking softly to her, assuring her she's
safe.

Eleni felt his arms around her, and wondered at this strange feeling
of being at home. It was warm and comforting. She fought him off,
thinking he was Quintus, then thinking he was like Quintus. But the
arms around her would not go away. It held her even closer. She
smelled him, her face in his neck, his hand on her hair. She had
never been held like this, as if the arms around her would never let
her go. As if she belonged in those arms. Only then she relaxed.

"You are safe here, with me..." she heard him say.

She did not realise that she had been sobbing quietly. He wiped
her tears, consoled her. When she had calmed down at length,
her eyes started to droop, and she slipped quietly into sleep again.

Flavius smiled as he looked down at the sleeping Eleni in his arms.
He placed her gently back in the bed, pulled the cover over her.
Stroking her cheek, his heart went out to this defenseless woman,
whose only crime was that she was a slave.

He sighed. He hated slavery and the idea of it. Removing a person's
freedom in this way, treating them like merchandise. If truth be told,
that was how many merchants in their caravans on their way to
Damascus, referred to them. Merchandise. He cringed. In the past
few years, in fact, ever since he listened once to the Nazarene
talk, he tried buying as many of them, then freeing them, having
it officially documented by the Magistrate. Who was Marcus Tullius'
father...

Eleni had been freed the same day he brought her home. He didn't
think that she remembered anything. She had a high fever after
her ordeal, at the hands of her former owners and those lechers
who would always throw stones.

He stayed with her most of the night, making sure that he would
be there if she had the nightmare again.

******************

Eleni was feeling much better. She was able to sit up. The warm sun
threw its beams on the floor of the room. She looked much better,
Melissa thought as she held Eleni's hand.

"My child, the physician will be here again, to look at you. If
only to make sure you have recovered. He is a good friend of Flavius.
They studied in Alexandria, Lucanus in medicine and Flavius in
military strategy." 

"My lady Melissa, I feel much better. My wounds healed very quickly.
He must be a very good physician."

"You will never find a better one, my child," Melissa said, a secret
smile forming on her lips.

Eleni thought how like her son she looked, with that smile and those
same blue eyes.

Her heart started pounding. Flavius...Flavius...he comforted me
during the night. It felt so good.

There was a rustle at the door, and a man entered, perhaps only a
little older than Flavius. His eyes were a startling blue, and his
smile was kind.

"How is the young lady feeling today?" he asked kindly. She knew she
had heard that voice. The voice that healed her.

"You...healed me, Master...with your voice..."

"Eleni of Crete, do not call me master. There is only one Master.
I am Lucanus of Antioch."

"Lucanus...of Antioch. Luke. You are Greek? Like me?"

"Yes, like you, Eleni of Crete."

Flavius had also entered then, in his uniform this time, but without
his breastplate and helmet that reminded her of Hermes. She looked
at him, her eyes giving away what she was feeling. Luke and Melissa
merely smiled indulgently, knowing that Flavius had captured her heart
as she captured Flavius' heart.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and waited till Lucanus removed
the bandage.

"There, all nice and cleanly knitted together," Lucanus said as
his fingers went lightly over the now faint scars on her forehead.
"Nothing that a few months in the sun at Alexandria can't heal
completely," and he winked at Flavius, who had the grace to blush.

Eleni touched her brow, felt only the faint outline of the marks
Quintus made on her. She was still holding her hand there, when
her tears started flowing. Warm tears of release. Three people
watched the young woman shed tears, all three hoping that it would
go a long way to healing her spirit. They left her, until she
stopped at length.

Once again, it was Lucanus who broke the silence. He touched Eleni's
cheek, then said: "Go well, Eleni of Crete. When I see you again,
it will be in Alexandria, I hope."

"You are leaving?" she asked softly, and rather boldly she thought.

"Yes, I am to join my good friend Theophilis and journey to
Macedonia. I will be away for some time. Take care of Melissa and
Flavius, Eleni of Crete," he said enigmatically.

She was too surprised, so she just nodded to him. Then he left,
having spoken with Flavius already.

Melissa touched her cheek. She leaned forward and kissed her brow.
Eleni closed her eyes. She was not used to being treated like their
equal. Then she did something unaccustomed. She threw her arms around
the older woman, and hugged her tightly.

They stayed like that for long seconds, until Melissa told her that
Flavius was waiting to speak with her.

*****************

Flavius came to sit next to her on the bed, facing her. He took her
hand in his, and looked into her face.

"Eleni, you are no longer a slave. You are freed, and it has been
officially entered so in the Magistrate's records." He waited
for her reaction. She looked surprised.

"I freed you on the day I brought you here, Eleni of Crete."

"You are to kind to me, Flavius. I do not deserve your generosity -"

"I'll shall decide on that, Eleni," and he took her by the shoulders
and shook her a little.

"I - " and she looked away, trying to extricate her fingers from
his hand, but he pressed her face so that she had to look him in
the eye. "I am not worthy..."

"Eleni..." and now he cupped her head in his hands, his face only
inches away from her, "You are more worthy than anyone I have known.
Because you are brave, you have great inner strength."

He is going to kiss me, Eleni was still thinking when she felt his
lips on hers, soft, caressing. She felt a thrill going through
her, desire, alien and strange. She pulled away from him.

"Shhh...Eleni. My kiss upsets you?" he asked.

She backed against the wall this time, and Flavius could see the
fear in her eyes. He cursed once again her former tormentors, and
realised he would have to be very careful with her.

"Eleni, you are a freed slave. Free. Do you wish to remain here,
in the house, as a companion to my mother?"

She felt her eyes filling with tears. She thought of the lady
Melissa, and of their kindness towards her. Her eyes were dark with
emotion as she answered:

"I do not have any more family, Flavius. I - I would very much like
to stay here."

"Long enough, Eleni, to agree to become my betrothed?"

Eleni of Crete look at her rescuer, handsome as Hermes and Eros,
with his very blue eyes and blonde hair, combed from his crown
forward in the typical style of the patrician Roman. There was a
smile playing around his mouth. But he waited.

She knew she was harbouring feelings for this man, feelings she
felt unlawful almost, yet he has asked for her hand.

"I - I..." she struggled to say it, but pressed forward. "There...
have been many men, Flavius. How could you want me?"

"You were defenseless then, Eleni," he said, his heart almost
breaking at the hopeless sound to her voice. "You were used,
robbed of your freedom. You are beautiful, courageous and pure,"
he assured her. "Do you understand that?"

She nodded.

"Now, Eleni of Crete, will you marry me? And live with me forever?"

Eleni's face became flushed, her lips parted slightly, all the
terrible things she had gone through, forgotten in the few moments
she looked at Flavius of Alexandria, and whispered:

"Yes, Flavius."

Then she reached out her hand to his face, and touched him, her hands
going softly over his eyes, his cheeks, her fingers resting on his
lips. She found it. Love. Her arms went round him as she hugged him.

His arms enfolded her completely, his hand was on her hair, and his
mouth kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Eleni of Crete."

THE END


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Some of you may have guessed the Lucanus in the story is St. Luke, 
who wrote the third gospel and Acts. Four of the five Bible 
commentaries I have researched, credit Lucanus as a physician. He 
studied at the university of Alexandria(source here: Taylor Caldwell's
novel - Dear and Glorious Physician), the then seat of culture and 
learning. All sources refer to him  being of Greek birth, from 
Antioch, although records show, including the Bible, that he resided 
for a time at Macedonia. 

He may appear again in the next segment of this little saga.