Slave Girl 2: Chapter 32 (Patreon)

I trace the contours of the molded green-blue copper visage of the Minotaur and wonder what it could mean.  Did the builders of this place have some special interest in the original legend?  Perhaps they hailed from Crete, where the father of that monstrous race hailed from, and this was a reminder of home.  Was this a previous ruin that the decor of the house was inspired by or had they been created together?  This platform was certainly old, quite possibly predating the house and grounds, but it was hard to tell.  The design in the stone was still crisp enough to make out easily but shielded from the elements as it was by the woods and its mossy covering perhaps the condition belied its true age.  And why did it resemble those sacrificial altars from the coast?  The simplicity of the architecture, just an open sky platform with a pillar at each corner, meant that the resemblance could be merely coincidental.

My most pressing question though was what was under here?

A shiver runs down my back as I look at the terrifying face staring up at me.  I was happy that Rosa was not here to see it, and would never see it, given her fear of all things beastly.  Taking a grip of the thick nose ring with both hands I set my feet and lift.  My sinews strain and my muscles flex but the old copper plate doesn’t even creak.  I roll my shoulders, tighten my torso, and throw the whole of my considerable strength into the task…and get the same result.  This thing was not moving.  Not today anyway.  Perhaps it wasn’t a hatch after all but simply a fancy centerpiece for the labyrinth design, a representation of the monster’s inner lair or something like that.  Whatever this was I hadn’t the time to figure it out today.  This old mystery would have to lay hidden a little bit longer.  Pulling the sheets of mossy earth back over top of it I get it generally covered again.  I linger a moment to ponder this curiosity further before returning to my wood gathering.

Branches are hewn and gathered up onto the cart before I turn to the tree proper.  I cringe at the loud cleaving whacks echoing through my verdant surroundings as steel bites wood.  More than once I give silent prayers of apology to Rosa’s new patron god as if he were personally watching me.  It is with relief that I hear the creaking and cracking of the trunk giving way.  The muted crash as the tree strikes down upon the mossy earth is swiftly swallowed again by the quiet of the wood.  Happy to be done I haul the lumber back through the bushy verge and onto the path.

I heave the log the rest of the way out of the shrubs and set it down.  Right there I set to work chopping the trunk into manageable logs and piling them onto the cart as well.  Working up a sweat as I chop I chastise myself for not picking up a saw blade while I was getting supplies.  It would have made this task much easier.  On the bright side the overcast sky and the shade of the trees made the summer heat much more bearable, and peeling out of my tunic to let the sweat wick from my skin makes it downright pleasant.

“Need a hand with that?”

“Huh?”  I look down the path to see Cassie approaching me with a pitcher and mug.  “Nah.  I’m fine.”  I hoist the log I’d just cut up onto my shoulder and carry it to the cart.  Out of the corner of my eye I notice my buxom neighbor following my gleaming torso with her eyes.  She takes note of the pink recently healed scar at my side.  She makes no comment thankfully.  Cassie comes to me and pours the mug full of diluted wine and offers it to me.  Wiping my damp brow I accept it gratefully.  “Um…thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

I look down at the mug then back up to her again.  “I appreciate this and I know we said we make our own rules here but…you don’t have to do what she tells you.”

“Neither do you.”

“Mmm.  Fair enough.”  I take a few big chugs of the drink and wipe my lips.  “Ahhh.”

“She’s a fascinating woman.  Isn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“And such a mystery!  I cannot figure how she is a follower of wild Silvanus.”  Cassie shakes her head.  “She is so innocent of our country ways.”

“She’s learning quick.”  I say.  “And you might say the god chose her, not the other way around.”

“As it ought to be I suppose.”  Cassie smiles.  “She sang for me.  It was like something from a dream.”

“You should hear her play the flute.”

“She has so many talents.  She talks about things that I’ve never heard anybody around here talk about.  Fine things.  Beautiful things.  Forbidden things.”  Cassie looks back toward the villa for a long moment.  “And she carries herself so differently.  Not even like those noble ladies of the city.  Even finer than that somehow.  More…I don’t know, womanly?  Like I imagine Helen of Troy, had she been a demon.”

I knew exactly what Cassie was talking about.  Though similar to the practiced mannerisms of the wealthy Rosa’s poise and elegance seemed to flow from her as naturally as the Aciris through this mountain valley.  It was that effortless class of hers that made her impish playfulness all the more enchanting.

“She’s…she’s well traveled.”  I say, wanting to keep her origins obscured.  “And she’s a lot older than she looks.”

“Oh?”

“Nearly as old as both of us together.”

“I could sense that somehow.”  She whispers.  After I drain my mug Cassie refills it again without being asked.  “Master Quintus…”

“Please, just Quin.”

“Quin.”  She corrects herself.  “Would you be upset if I came to visit Rosa?”

“Of course not.”

“Often I mean.”

“How often?”

“I thought, maybe, while you work the harvest I could come and…keep an eye on things for you.”

My brows raise in surprise.  “Won’t your family need you for the harvest?”

Cassie bows her head, her cheeks suddenly darkening with blush.  “If they believe you are a serious suitor…”

“Cassie…”

“If they think you are courting me for marriage they will give me leave.”  She pushes through despite my interruption.  “You can work the fields without worry as you will have someone here to watch Rosa.  It’s a good arrangement.  Don’t you think?”

“Cas already offered Rosa a place in your house while I work.”

“Where she will be worked as a slave.”  She says right back.  “Rosa would be happier here.  Learning her home.  Having time for prayer.  I left her praying just now with that funny fox of hers.  She believes it is very important to pray.”

I look out toward the woods.  “It is important.  She has a lot on her mind right now.  She’s been through a lot that slave of mine.  You wouldn’t know it the way she smiles.”

“Exactly.  She couldn’t do this working for my Mom.”

“And when we don’t marry?”  I ask firmly.

Her head bows lower.  “Am I really so unattractive to you Quin?”

“That’s…that’s not how I meant it.”

“I know.”  She says softly then lets out a long sigh.  “My family will understand.  You are not the first man to turn me away.”

“Cassie.  You are a lovely woman and you will make a fine wife but my heart belongs to another.  And it always will.”

“I know.  You two…deserve each other.”  Swallowing hard Cassie works herself up to ask.  “W-When you said that here…on your land…I could be myself…that you wouldn’t judge me…did you really mean it Quin?”

“Yeah.”  I say.  “I meant it.”

“Have you heard of the poet Sappho?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“She was a Greek poet from the island of Lesbos.”  Cassie says.  “I’m not surprised you’ve not heard of her.  She is not popular here in the West.  I have a…scroll of some of her work hidden away.  I bought it from a traveling merchant.”

“What’s that got to do with you being yourself?”  Squirming in place Cassie’s courage begins to falter.  I ask in a softer tone  “I’ve read Ovid and other poets.  There is no shame in liking literature.  What is her poetry about Cassie?”

“You should ask Rosa.”  Cassie says.  “She…she knows all of her works.  Or much more than is on my scroll.  She recited one to me.  I didn’t even ask her to.  After she sang I laughed and said, ‘Gods I love thee girl.’, a quote from the poet, and Rosa replied with an entire poem from her that I had never heard.”

“She is well read.”  I say.  “Cassie, what are you getting at?  You can tell me.”

After another long breath.  “Sappho writes about love of a different sort.”  Licking her full lips she swallows again.  “The love of a woman for both men…and women.”

“Oh!”  While the desire of man for man was seen as weak, effeminate and ‘Greek’ the desire of woman for woman was downright taboo.  Even the usually flowery Ovid found the idea ‘freakish’.  What Cassie was confessing to me right now could make her a local pariah.  Though, as I thought about it, what she already knew about Rosa and I would do the same if it got out.  This shared vulnerability was why she felt confident enough to open up like this.  “You like women?”

Cassie nods.  “Men too.  I do wish to have a husband but…”

I hold my hand up.  “It’s okay.  You don’t have explain yourself.”

She lets out a great breath, her tense shoulder relaxing.  “I do not wish to steal Rosa from you.”  She laughs.  “Not that I ever could.  I am sure you know this but, she worships you Quin.  In every sense you are her hero.”

“Ahem.  Yeah, I know she loves me.”

“I just…I just want to be around her.  I wish to be near her.  I wish to bask in her beauty, and yours, even if I cannot touch.”  Cassie says.  “She makes me feel at ease.  She makes me feel…unashamed of my desires.  And so do you Quin.  I really do feel like I might find myself here.  I cannot tell you what that means to me.”

“You have no reason to be ashamed Cassie.”  I say as I reflect on my own secrets of submissiveness and bondage and how free and wonderful I felt when Rosa allowed me to express that side of me.  I knew exactly where Cassie was coming from.  She and I really were so alike, both of us just average farm kids who had each somehow grown into adults with nontraditional desires.  I started to wonder if maybe people like us weren’t as rare as we were lead to believe.  I also wondered if Rosa and I might be able to introduce Cassie to a wider community that might accept her as she was through Lydia and her husband.

“I have so much to learn from her.”  Cassie continues.  “Poetry, etiquette, how to be fetching to a man, and so much more.  And I could teach her a thing or two as well.  I promise to make myself useful Quin.”

I don’t have to think about it long.  There was a tiny glimmer of jealousy but it is quickly extinguished.  Rosa loved me.  She would never hurt me like that.

After draining my second mug I wipe my lips and pass it back.  “Agreed.  I’ll be your ‘suitor’ and you can watch my villa while I work.  We’ll figure out what to tell your family after harvest.”  With warmth I add.  “You are always welcome here, friend.”

Cassie’s blue eyes are shining as she takes the mug.  “Really?”

Taking my axe I ready myself to return to work.  “Just tell those two crazy brothers of yours to take it easy on me, huh?”

She laughs.  “I will.  I will.  Oh thank you Quin.”

“You’ve got my blessing.”  I shoot her a wink.  “But you really ought to clear it with the boss first.”

“The bo…?  Ohhh.”  She giggles.  “Gotcha.  I will.”

Both of us left with smiles on our faces Cassie returns to the house as I finish transforming the tree into firewood.

Chapter 33