Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2019 07:28:53 +0200
From: Nifty Boy <niftyboy01@gmail.com>
Subject: Tiberius and Anik, Chapter 17

Tiberius and Anik

By Niftyboy (niftyboy01@gmail.com)

Chapter 17: Back at the academy


Tiberius and Anik slept deeply through the afternoon and night and woke up
refreshed early in the morning. They sat up and yawned and rubbed their
eyes after having slept for more than half a day.  Anik's stomach growled
and Tiberius smiled.

"I am hungry too. We have eaten mostly fruits since many days, and I cannot
wait to have a proper meal" he commented.  "Yes, I was dreaming of the
cooking by Demetria. I am sure if we go now to the academy, there will be
some leftovers from the morning meal" Anik said longingly.

Just thinking about the food of Demetria made Tiberius salivate. The two
boys got up and stretched and waded into the water to wash themselves. Once
they were clean, they dried themselves in the sun and Anik went to the hut
to get an amphora with scented oil to rub on their skin. The two giggled
and laughed while they touched each other everywhere when they spread the
oil all over their smooth bodies. But their hunger was too urgent and for
once they did not engage in their usual morning sex. Tiberius went looking
for his tunic and found it in the hut and put it on. It felt weird to be
clothed again after having been naked since weeks.

"You look strange like this" Anik said and smiled when Tiberius stepped out
of the hut wearing the slightly ratty and not too clean tunic.

Tiberius smiled sheepishly and nodded. Then they started their walk up the
hill to the academy.  Tiberius marveled how easy the ascent felt. He
remembered how he had struggled when he had just arrived on the island and
that he had needed to take regular breaks. Now he was barely sweating, and
the two youths laughed and chatted and joked while they climbed up the
steep hill. Soon they saw the academy before them and started running. The
students were already sitting outside on the grass in groups with
teachers. The two boys were too hungry to stop and merely waved and ran
towards the kitchen.

Just then Demetria walked out of the kitchen. She stopped and froze, then
she cried out happily and could barely keep her balance when Anik fell
around her neck.

"Baby, you are back, I am so happy" she said again and again and pressed
the naked boy against her ample bosom.

Anik sobbed and clung to the kind woman who was like a mother to him. At
last they managed to calm down slightly and Demetria let go of the boy to
have a look at him.

"Look at you, you have grown again" Demetria commented while she turned
Anik slowly around to have a good look at him.

"Soon you will be taller than me`," she added and gave Anik a clap on his
buttock.

"And you too, I cannot believe how much you have changed," she said to
Tiberius.

"You look so strong now and lean" she added when she noted the muscles that
Tiberius had developed.

"We heard of your adventures, from your parents. We were so glad that
everything came out well."

"But this you cannot wear anymore," she said gently and tugged at the dirty
tunic of Tiberius.

"Do you want to wear a Roman tunic or a light Greek attire," she asked him.

"I am in Greece. I want to do as the Greeks do," Tiberius replied, and
Demetria chuckled. She led Tiberius to a storage room to find some suitable
piece of clothing.

Tiberius soon appeared wearing two simple pieces of linen, one covering the
front and one the back and connected with two small chains and held closer
to the body with a cord around his waist. Anik smiled and licked his lips
when he saw that only the front and back of Tiberius were covered and that
he could enjoy the view of his hips and thighs and sides.

Demetria led the boys to the kitchen where they were fed and had to tell in
great detail their adventures. They were joined by Lacydes, Demetria's
husband and headmaster of the academy. The telling of the adventures took
hours and they were interrupted again and again by Demetria and Lacydes who
could barely believe what had happened to the boys.

At last they came to the end of their story and Lacydes suddenly remembered
that he had students waiting.

"Oh, by Zeus" he cried out and grabbed Tiberius by the hand and hurried
outside to the field of grass where students had been waiting since long.

The students jumped up when they saw Tiberius being dragged along by their
teacher. Tiberius was embraced and squeezed enthusiastically. They all had
heard of the exploits of Anik at the Olympic games and also the rumors of
what had occurred on Crete and that they might even had met the
Emperor. There was no thought of normal school and Tiberius had to tell the
story again.

Anik meanwhile was still sitting in the kitchen and snuggled against
Demetria who fed him grapes and fruits and sweets. He enjoyed the softness
and warmth of the rather ample woman who looked after him like a mother. He
was on his back on the bench with his head on her lap. They talked for
hours and relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. Anik stayed at the
academy all day and Tiberius was happy to see his lover waiting for him
when he walked back with his fellow students from the lectures.

Anik waved and ran towards Tiberius and fell around his neck. The Greek boy
put his arm around Tiberius' neck and wrapped his legs around his waist and
kissed him passionately. The boys had been separated only for a few hours,
but it seemed to both of them like an eternity. The students grinned when
they caught a glimpse of Anik's member being stiff and pressing against the
front of Tiberius.  The excitement of Tiberius was even more obvious. He
was not wearing a loincloth and his erect member had pushed up the piece of
fabric that he was wearing over his front and his penis pointed straight
out, visible to all. Tiberius smiled shyly and then carried his lover away
behind some nearby bushes. The students laughed and then went to the dining
hall to give the two boys some privacy.  Anik and Tiberius had quick and
frantic sex and then joined the other students to eat. There was a lot of
good-natured joking and teasing. The students prodded the boys to tell them
some of the more salacious stories that they had experienced.

They went outside and the two boys regaled their friends with a few of
their more erotic adventures.  The students stayed outside till deep into
the night and listened attentively. Finally, Lacydes came out and chased
the students into the sleeping hall. They went reluctantly and quite few
could sleep quickly. There was the sound of masturbating from youths who
needed a release before they could sleep. Anik was allowed to stay with
Tiberius and squeezed himself next to his lover on the narrow bunk. They
rubbed slowly against each other until they ejaculated and then snuggled
and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Lacydes made an exception and let the students sleep until
close to midday. The youths woke up late and many smiled sheepishly when
they quickly put on their loincloths to hide the traces of semen on them.

Anik kissed Tiberius deeply and then ran to the kitchen to get some food
before walking down to his hut and then go out with his small boat to
fish. Anik found it strange to be away from his lover and longed all day to
be reunited with him. Tiberius felt the same and during the lectures his
thoughts went back to Anik again and again.  Lacydes realized what the
problem with Tiberius was. He did not reprimand him since he knew that this
was useless. He discussed with Demetria and they both agreed that they
should allow Anik to stay at the academy. Usually it was strictly forbidden
to bring lovers - male or female - to the academy. But in in the case of
Anik and Tiberius, their bond was so strong that to separate them was too
cruel. They had a slave carry an additional cot into the sleeping
hall. They placed it at the other end of the room from the cot of Tiberius
to keep the boys apart and retain a modicum of modesty.

When Anik arrived in the evening after having been out on the sea, Lacydes
and Demetria called him and Tiberius and told them of their decision. The
lovers were jubilant and hugged and embraced the kind couple. From then on,
Anik stayed overnight about half of the time and Tiberius slept in Anik's
hut the other nights. They were inseparable and the studies of Tiberius
progressed well. There was not one day where they did not make love and
they got to know each other's bodies better than their own.

After some time, Lacydes walked over to the youths who were sitting outside
on the grass.

"Tiberius, your studies go well, and you have become one of my best
students. I would like to send you to Crete, where Leonidas has an
academy. Leonidas is a friend of mine and agreed to take you in during the
summer. Leonidas is a hard taskmaster, but I am sure he will give you some
days off from time to time. The academy is close to Knossos and you can
enjoy the city life there."

Anik looked crestfallen and was thinking that he would have to spend all
summer alone without Tiberius. But Lacydes saw the sad look of Anik and
quickly continued, turning towards the Greek boy.

"Leonidas also agreed that you can accompany Tiberius. There is even a
small fishing boat owned by the academy that you can use during the day
when Tiberius has to study," he added.

Both boys whooped and fell around each other's neck. They were both
overjoyed to go again on a journey together. During the following days they
prepared for the travel to Crete. Lacydes organized passage for the boys on
a merchant boat that was soon departing to Crete. Tiberius finished some of
the studies and packed his belongings. Anik did not have to pack much but
prepared his hut and fishing boat for the extended absence.

Soon they said farewell to their friends at the academy and headed for the
harbor and were on the way. The journey was uneventful for once and after a
few days they saw the large island slowly emerge at the horizon. Crete was
a large island, with craggy hills and high mountains and it was said that
Zeus was born in a cave high up Mount Ida. Crete had a long history and was
dotted with ruins and old temples by the Minoans.

The boat arrived at the harbor of Knossos and the boys disembarked and went
looking for the place to stay before going to the academy of Leonidas in a
few days. They had nearly a week before they had to go to the academy, and
they wanted to explore the city and all the famous sights.

 The harbor was huge, even though of course it could not compare with the
one of Rome. But Crete had always been and still was an important trading
place. There were several long piers where cargo boats moored. In the
distance, they could see a slightly smaller harbor that was used
exclusively by warships.

It was a strange feeling for the boys to be back again in Crete, after what
they had experienced with Marcellus, the former governor of the island, who
had kept them as sex slaves. But he had been deposed and it was said that
the new governor was very good and fair.

The kids walked around the harbor and then went to look for an inn to stay
for the coming nights.  They found a cheap place in a somewhat unsavory
part of the city. It was frequented mainly by sailors and thieves and poor
traders. Anik and Tiberius entered the inn and walked towards the stair
leading up to the rooms.  Quite a number of guests looked up from their
wine cups and stared after the two boys.  Even in this seedy joint, the
sight of a naked boy was not common, and many looked hungrily at Anik.

The two boys just grinned when some of the guests whistled and walked up
the stairs. They arrived at the upper floor and found their small room. It
contained only a sleeping mat on the floor and a chamber pot, but at least
it was reasonably clean. And it also had a small wooden balcony that
overlooked the interior courtyard of the house. They put their bags down
and sat down on the sleeping mat and relaxed.

Their back was against the thin wooden wall separating their room from the
next. The wall was so thin that they could understand every word that two
boys were talking in the room next to theirs.  They heard loud kissing
noises and giggling and soft talking. It did not take long before the
sounds of kissing transformed to moans and slapping noises and soon into an
orgiastic scream, followed by a content sigh.

The noises of wild love-making went on and on, and finally Anik and
Tiberius went outside to wander the streets. The city had been rebuilt and
rebuilt again, having been destroyed frequently by fires, earthquakes and
invaders. High up on a hill they could see the ruins of a formerly
gargantuan palace that was said to contain a thousand rooms and where the
legend was that many people had entered and died when they tried to find a
way out in vain. The boys sampled from the local cuisine and went back to
their room when it already started to get dark.

They lighted a torch inside the room and sat outside on the balcony. The
kids in the next room were still going at it. Anik and Tiberius grinned
when they listened to the sounds of wild lovemaking and the boys talking
dirty to each other.

"I wonder if they will continue all through the night," Tiberius wondered.

"It doesn't matter, because I want you to do me all night too," Anik
replied and grinned.

Without any further word, the boy slid from his chair and kneeled between
the thighs of his lover.  He pushed up the tunic of Tiberius and pulled his
loincloth off and started sucking him eagerly.  Tiberius was slightly
nervous since they were out in the open on the balcony. But the feeling was
too wonderful to resist, and he spread his thighs wide and caressed Anik's
hair. The head of the Greek boy bobbed up and down and his soft lips were
tight around his stiff shaft. Tiberius leaned his head back and closed his
eyes.

Neither Anik nor Tiberius noticed that it had become finally quiet in the
room next to theirs.  Only when they heard a surprised gasp did both boys
look up. Their balcony was connected to the one of the neighboring rooms
and only divided by a big pot containing a small palm. They looked over and
noticed two boys on the balcony. One was wearing a short tunic in the Greek
style, the other was naked. They were slightly older than Anik and Tiberius
and both slender and lean.

The taller boy wearing a tunic smiled nervously.

"Hello, I am Theron, and my boy is called Gaios," he introduced themselves,
somewhat tense and formal.

"Hello, this is Tiberius and I am Anik," the Greek boy replied cheerfully,
still kneeling between the thighs of his lover.

"We heard that you had fun," he added and winked.

Theron blushed, while Gaios grinned and winked too.

"I am sorry," Theron said sheepishly and stood even straighter.

"Don't be sorry. I am sure we will soon be very loud too," Tiberius added
with a smile.

"Can we offer you some food and drink for the inconvenience we have caused
you?" Theron asked stiffly.

"It was not inconvenient at all, but we would love to have dinner with
you," Anik replied.

The kids pushed the pot aside and spread a piece of cloth on the floor of
the balcony. Gaios brought cheese and bread and an amphora with weak
wine. The fours sat down cross-legged around the food and began
eating. Theron remained tense and formal, and while Gaios was friendly, he
did not volunteer any information.

But slowly, as they were talking and taking swigs from the amphora, Theron
relaxed. Tiberius told them of their adventures and Theron and Gaios had
wide eyes when he regaled them with the slightly embellished story of their
capture by the former governor of Crete.

"You are the two boys?" Theron exclaimed.

The tale of two boys having been captured by Marcellus and who in the end
successfully freed themselves was well known in Crete. But the story was so
outrageous that many assumed that it was merely a tall tale. Theron and
even Gaios asked many questions and could not get enough of the
story. Tiberius was glad to comply and talked and was often interrupted by
Anik with very graphic, interjections and elaborations.

It was already late evening when Theron took a deep breath and started
talking about the story of Gaios and him.

"I am the son of a noble family, and we own many slaves," he started and
glanced at Gaios.

"And while Gaios is our property, as is his family since many generation,
he is also more to me," he continued.

"We were born only days apart and grew up together. We played together as
toddlers and I suckled at his mother's tits. And later we ran through the
forests of our properties and swam in the sea together. And it was with him
that I spilled my seed for the first time," he said and smiled lovingly at
Gaios.

"And it was with you that I spilled first my seed," Gaios said and snuggled
against the taller youth.

"We became lovers instead of only friends, and we both want to stay
together," Theron said and gently stroked the back of Gaios.

"But my family does not approve. They have already selected a wife for me,
and expect me to sire children with her," Theron explained.

"They have forbidden me to keep Gaios in my room during the night, or even
to talk to him," he sighed, close to tears.

"I was not allowed to see him for weeks and he was kept away from me," he
continued.

"When I could not bear anymore to be without Gaios, I went looking for
him. Then I found out that he was to be sold, so that we were unable to
meet anymore," Theron explained.

"I found him working in the fields and took him as he was and we eloped,"
he said.

Gaios and Anik were both on their back, with their heads in the lap of
their lovers and Theron and Tiberius were fingering their stiff boycocks .

"Now we have to leave Crete forever. Gaios would be killed as an escaped
slave and I will be shunned by my family since I have brought disgrace upon
them."

The armor of the pretended detachment of Theron started to crack. His eyes
became moist and a tear flowed down his cheek. Gaios made cooing noises and
reached up to wipe the tear away.  Theron bent down and the two lovers
kissed deeply, both shaking and sobbing silently. Tiberius leaned over and
gently patted Theron's back. After a while the two boys regained their
composure.

Theron sat up and sniffed and wiped his nose.

"I am sorry," Theron said and was clearly embarrassed.

"It is fine, we have been in a similar situation. It all seemed hopeless,
but in the end, everything was well," Tiberius said soothingly.

Theron nodded, then he spread his thighs slightly wider. Gaios had shifted
slightly and buried his face in Theron's crotch. His head was hidden by
Theron's tunic, but the wet, slurping noises from the boy made it clear
that he was suckling at his lover's cock. The slave boy had turned and
showed his back towards his new friends. Anik reached out to rub and caress
his buttocks. He let his finger glide along the boy's crack and
grinned. The crack was sticky with a thick film of dried and gooey precum
and semen. It was clear that the two boys had been very busy. Anik rubbed
and poked against Gaios' pucker. The boy reacted at one and lifted one leg
to give Anik better access while he continued to suck eagerly. Anik rubbed
and caressed the clenched sphincter, then suddenly the anal muscle started
to spasm. Creamy semen and anal fluids gushed out, then more dribbled and
squirted out as the sphincter spasmed.

Anik and Tiberius both were astonished by the amount of cum that the boy
expelled from his chute and anus.

"How long did you make love?" Tiberius asked curiously.

"A day...two...?" Theron moaned.

The kids grinned, while Theron began breathing harder and stroked the black
hair of Gaios. Then he pressed the face of his slave boy down and thrust up
and moaned loudly.

The sounds that Gaios made transformed from sucking noises to a wet
gargling and gagging and gulping as the seed of Theron flooded his mouth
and throat. The noble boy grabbed Gaios by his hair and fucked his face
while he ejaculated. Once his orgasm had subsided, he pulled his slave of
his cock and bent down and kissed him passionately.

Anik want down and reclined on the floor and raised and spread his
legs. Tiberius could not even waste the time to take off his tunic. He
kneeled and tugged it up and pulled off his loincloth. He grabbed Anik's
ankles and pressed into the boy in one fluids motion, burying his penis
inside Anik's anus. He started to thrust urgently, both boys moaning and
whimpering lustfully. Tiberius looked into Theron's eyes as if he wanted to
say that Anik was his. He thrust and shoved, wild and energetic.  Anik
moaned loudly as his lover rammed and shoved his penis as deep into him as
he could. Anik's boycock was rock hard and twitched every time Tiberius
slammed his cock all in. Soon Tiberius yelled loudly and arched his back
and climaxed. Anik clamped his anal muscles to milk his lover and
ejaculated over his tunny. Tiberius moaned and shoved, then he slid out the
boy and leaned over Anik and pushed his legs back and folded the boy. He
moved up until Anik could lift his head and lick the sticky penis of
Tiberius.

The four boys realized that it was late in the evening, and the boys yawned
and stretched.

"Do you want to bed with us," Theron asked.

"Our room is bigger and we would be honored if you were to share our
sleeping mat," he continued, somewhat formally.

Tiberius and Anik smiled happily and got up. Anik tugged at the tunic of
Tiberius who glanced at him, then he shrugged it off and was naked as his
lover. His boycock was semi-erect and stiffened quickly.  Anik and Gaios
were already unclothed, and Theron smiled and somewhat self-consciously
took of his expensive tunic. His boycock was quite impressive. It was sleek
and hairless and long. His foreskin was pulled back and his cockhead was
exposed and engorged and flared out. His glans was quite substantially
wider than his shaft and Anik wondered if it would hurt if he were to mount
him.

The four boys entered the larger room of Theron and Gaios. It contained two
sleeping mats, one of which was covered with semen and bodily fluids and
had obviously been used by Theron and Gaios during many hours. Gaios went
on all fours on the cummy mat. Theron kneeled behind him and stroked and
caressed his sides. He started to thrust lightly against the pucker of
Gaios. Anik and Tiberius watched the flared cockhead of Theron flatten
itself against the clenched pucker.

"Relax, my baby," Theron said softly and began to twist and rotate his
hips. He wrapped a hand around his shaft and tried to screw his cockhead
through the sphincter of the boy.

"My boy is very tight," Theron gasped and looked up at Tiberius and Anik.

"Yes, and your glans is quite wide," Tiberius added.

Theron slowly but surely managed to press his cockhead in. The anal muscle
of Gaios was being pulled out by the corkscrew movements of Theron's
penis. Finally, the slave boy cried out and Thereon managed to push the
ridge of his cockhead in. Theron moaned lustfully and reached under the boy
to finger the stiff penis. Anik smiled at Tiberius and reclined on the
sticky mat under Gaios.  He lifted his head and clamped his lips around the
rigid boycock of the slave boy.

Thereon started to thrust and rock backwards and forwards. His penis slowly
squeezed in deeper and widened the slippery wall of the boy. Gaios had
drunken quite a lot of water and whimpered when the wide cockhead of Theron
pressed against his full bladder. Anik felt a drop of pee gush out of
Gaios' slit and into his mouth.

"Just let go," Anik mumbled with the boycock in his mouth.

Theron grinned and twisted his hips and made his penis tap against the
boy's bladder. This was too much and Gaios moaned loudly and let go. Anik
clenched his lips tight around the slender penis of Gaios and felt a hot
jet of pee shoot down his throat into his stomach. He gulped and swallowed
while the boy emptied his bladder.

Anik felt his legs being lifted by Tiberius, followed by a short, intense
feeling of pain as the Roman boy stabbed into him. He cried out, then he
moaned lustfully when the feeling of pain transformed in ecstasy. Tiberius
and Theron both fucked their boys and kissed each other wildly and swapped
spit. Everyone was in heat and soon they climaxed and moaned loudly and
boyishly.

Tiberius kept his boycock inside Anik and gently pressed against his
tummy. He felt it being slightly distended from all the pee that he had
swallowed from Gaios. Theron meanwhile pulled out of his lover and
reclined. Gaios sat on his face and reached down to spread his buttocks. He
twisted and slid and rubbed his pucker all over Theron's face, leaving a
trail of cum and anal fluids.

Anik crawled away from Tiberius and went on all fours and raised his hips,
to tell his lover that he should lick his pucker too. The Roman boy grinned
and buried his face against the boy's buttocks and sucked and slurped and
began eating Anik's chute out.  After a while Anik and Gaios moved and went
on all fours beside each and kissed each other wildly and raised their
hips. Tiberius and Theron smiled excitedly and squatted behind the two
boys, Tiberius behind Gaios and Theron behind Anik.

They plunged into the boys and started jabbing and hammering into
them. Theron had some problems to press his bulbous cockhead into Anik but
after some pushing and shoving, he managed to punch into the boy. Anik and
Gaios whimpered and squealed and continued kissing each other.  Tiberius
and Theron thrusted slowly and deeply and kissed each other too. They paced
each other so that they climaxed simultaneously. They moaned and bred the
boys and then both collapsed, tired and happy.

All four kids were so tired that they were asleep even before the cocks had
slipped out of the boys under them. They woke up shortly before lunch. They
were all a mess and covered with sticky juices.  Fortunately, there was an
amphora with water in the room which they used to wipe each other clean.

Theron and Tunic put on their tunics while Anik and Gaios remained stark
naked. They went out of the room and walked down the stairs. Gaios and Anik
walked ahead, holding hands. The people drinking and having breakfast in
the inn stared as the naked boys walked down. Their bodies were both golden
brown, Anik slightly darker. Their muscles flexed gracefully as they
stepped down the steep, rickety stairs. Theron and Tiberius walked behind
them and smiled proudly and nearly burst from pride when they saw the
envious stares of the crowd in the inn.

Even in Crete in summer it was rare to see boys that walked around outside
completely unclothed. If a boy did, he was usually a slave working in the
fields or a sex slave. Since they were in the city, the crowd assumed that
the two naked boys were sex slaves of the youths wearing tunics. Theron did
nothing to dispel them of their notion. Once they arrived on the ground
floor, he clamped his hand possessively around one of the taut buttocks of
Gaios. They walked over to an empty table and sat down.

While on the surface, the two couples look and seemed quite similar, in
reality their relationships were quite different. Tiberius and Anik were
very equal. And even though Tiberius was taller and a Roman boy, it was
often Anik who gave the direction and who often dominated. Tiberius
sometimes was not even aware of it, but often actually enjoyed it and
gladly followed the direction that Anik gave. In contrast, Theron never let
Gaios forgot who the master was and who was the slave. Once they sat down
at the table, he sent him to the innkeeper to bring food and drinks. And
when Gaios came back to the table, he took out a few golden chains and put
them on the boy to adorn him. It was clear that the jewelry was not the
possession of Gaios but belonged to Theron and was put on the boy when his
master felt like it. There was no sense that Theron behaved in a malicious
way, but merely that he was the master and that the boy belonged to him. He
put a fine chain around the waist of the boy, and then one around the base
of the slender penis of Gaios. He rubbed the penis until it engorged and
became semi-erect. Then he tugged at the chain to tighten it so that it
kept the member of the boy in a tumescent state. He smiled and rubbed the
flat tummy and chest of the boy and then told him to sit down beside him on
the bench.

The four boys ate and drank, and it was after midday when they got
up. Anik's and Gaios' tummies were slightly distended from all the bread
and fruits and grapejuice they had gulped down. The two naked boys grinned
and rubbed their bellies and then walked in front of Theron and Tiberius.

"Let's go to the old palace of Knossos," Theron proposed.

"Many think it is haunted and there are few people there. We can't be seen
and captured, else I will have to leave Crete and the boy will be
executed," he explained.

Tiberius nodded, and the kids walked up a steep hill. As Theron predicted,
there were few people here, mostly just beggars. The two naked boys in
front of them chatted and giggled and soon they were glistening with sweat.

They arrived on top of the hill and the gargantuan palace was before
them. It had been abandoned many hundreds of years before and the frequent
earthquakes had brought many walls tumbling down. And many of the stones
and bricks had been used to build new houses and temples.

"It is said that there are over a thousand rooms, and many more down below
in the cellars," Theron explained.

"And somewhere is a Minotaur, hiding and waiting and eating anyone who is
lost within the maze of rooms," he added.

"Oh, really?" Tiberius asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he seems to like especially boys, but not only. It happens quite
often that street kids enter the palace and look for treasures, and never
return," Theron said and was not quite able to hide his own fear from his
voice.

The kids sat down outside the ruins under a wide olive tree and
chatted. Tiberius and Anik were wondering what was hidden inside and
especially below in the cellars and catacombs. As most boys, they were
intensely curious and could not resist the challenge to enter the maze.

They both talked and argued with Theron, who was reluctant but did not want
to show his fear.  Finally, he relented and agreed. They got up and entered
the ruins.

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