Well, on top of everything else, the cold, darkness, health problems, now a pipe froze and burst in the ceiling of our laundry room, then the ceiling fell in. That was last night, now we are learning to live without water. And we are now getting freezing rain, which will put a layer of ice on top of everything and likely break power lines.
In the meantime, here are some new renders of the next scene, in which the executioner's helpers are preparing to tie Sabina's feet to the cross temporarily to hold them while the executioner drives nails through each of them. Hercules holds Sabina by one leg as he passes the end of the rope to Ajax, standing behind the cross. Sabina continues to narrate:
When Hercules released me and let my body sag back toward the cross, twisting the nails in my wrists a little, settling my weight back on those wounds, I groaned. I tried to raise my feet up, get their soles against the cross to try to push up. But with them tied together, all movement was clumsy, even more futile than before. I felt the rough end of the cornu poke me in the crack of my buttocks and knew that no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I wouldn’t escape it.
It was only a matter of time until that rough wooden horn would be inside of me.
In my porcella. I’d already made the decision. I’ll have to spread my legs as wide as I can, try to… to ease it in. I can’t think about all of them watching me!
Thinking about the point of the cornu slowly slipping up between my lower lips set off a tingling down there that made me want to squeeze my legs together. I tried to will it away, ignore it, but nothing worked.
Don’t wait till the last minute when... No, once I feel it enter me it’s too late. I can’t… oh gods. A woman’s vagina is made to… to stretch, isn’t it? Please let it be easier, oh I don’t know! Sooner or later I’ll have to take it there anyway.
One of them grabbed my left leg and bent my knee, pushing my bound feet up behind me, dragging them over to the side. Every movement set off stabbing pains in my wrists, made me moan. What were they doing? I squeezed eyes closed more tightly, trying not to look.
Don’t struggle!
I felt the end of the cornu scrape across one bare cheek, already welted from the whip, winced, jerked, felt the sharp pain in my wrists.
Let them do it! I thought, fighting back panic.
Antius stood waiting. He already had the nails he was going to drive through my feet soon, in just a few moments.