Slave Girl: Chapter 94 (Patreon)

I return to the others to take in a few ladles of water and gather my flatbread, cheese and the tasty fig and lentil paste that Cas had concocted to serve the working men.

“Is there a problem?”  Gyasi asks in a low voice when he notes my distracted expression.

“I don’t know.”  I say with a long glance toward Horatius.  “Find out soon enough.”

I fold the bread over the spread paste and slices of cheese so that I could walk and eat at the same time then return to my boss’s side.  As soon as I approach he begins to stroll.  I settle in beside him.  He is quiet at first, allowing me to eat my meal while also giving me time to think about what I wanted to say to him.  And think I do.

There was so that much my neighbor did not know about my life and, understandably as we were on the road to linking our two families, he wanted to know more about this man who was courting his only daughter.  I weigh what to tell him.  I did not enjoy keeping secrets.  I considered myself an honest and stand up man, I hated being duplicitous, but I was no open book either.  But this wasn’t about honesty, it was about trust.  Trust and was and was not his business to know.  He might have been the pater familias of his family but I had my own household to care for, and a house is allowed to have its own business.

Right off the top I go through the things I would not tell him.  Rosa’s magic was the foremost among these secrets.  That knowledge was simply too dangerous to put out there.  I barely trusted Cassie with it and I did not know her father nearly so well.  The next was his daughter’s sexuality and her attraction to other women and Rosa in particular.  Simply put, this was not my secret to share.  Cassie would have good reason not to have revealed that facet about her amorous interests and it was hers to share with whom she wished.  I would not break that trust.  And finally there was Rosa and I’s alternative lifestyle.  Traditional Romans outside of our circles could not understand the bliss of dominance and submission or fathom the satisfaction that we found in our ways.  If a man like Horatius knew of my sexual subservience to a woman, even if it was in the privacy of my own home, he would never respect me again.

With those firm boundaries established I then go through the topics that were more on the fringe.  I knew that Rosa’s Amazon blood would be a concern.  As the Empire’s sworn enemies Amazon women were reviled like few other races.  I could still remember that farm we stopped at on our trip here.  How things had been going so well until the word Amazon was uttered.  I remember clearly the confusion in adorable Cecilia’s face, the fear in her sister’s eyes, and pure loathing of their mother as she hauled them away from the monster.  What a lot of fuss over a penis!  If we were wise it was a secret that we ought to keep, but it was one that Rosa did not wish to.  She explained how she was done hiding her true heritage and that, while she could never be free because of it, she would rather live as an open Amazon than be ashamed of who she was.  This was something that had not been shared yet but that was simply by omission and not a will to hide it.  It would come out eventually, perhaps I ought to just get it out there now to see what happened.

There were other things too.  Who Toke was, my eventual fight with him, the fact I’d laid with a goblin and might again even after my marriage to his daughter, the fact that Cassie and I had indeed already fooled around, and gods only knew what else.  Some of these things might annoy him, some he might disapprove of, but few were any of his or his kin’s business.

So finally that left…the training.  Not only was it the secret I felt he was most likely to know about, my crew of six meant that there were six potential leaks in our private little boat, it was also the one that involved him most directly.  His son was mixed up in it and soon his daughter would be as well.  It was happening with his workers and, once I borrowed a few items after work for weapon practice, his equipment as well.  If word got out and there was an investigation into our after work ‘school’ Horatius would likely be the first one questioned and one most sanctioned outside the participants themselves.  With our nation’s history in quelling uprisings and rebellions combat training outside of official sources was highly discouraged and looked upon with great suspicion.  The repercussions could be severe.

After I swallow my final bite I ask.  “How’d you find out?”

“Does it matter?”  He answers flatly.

“No.  I suppose it doesn’t.”  I say.  After a few more steps I say.  “Felix.”

He pauses a step to look at me, then carries on walking through the field.  “He idolizes his big brother.”

I let out a quiet breath of relief as I confirm I’d landed on the right secret.  “He’s angry he didn’t get invited to train.”

“No.  Felix is no fighter.  He’s a good farm boy.”  He says.  “He’s angry that he wasn’t trusted.”

“Ah.”  I sigh.  “We mean no harm in it.  The boys and I got to talking and…we wanted to learn.  Lucas wants to be able to protect the farm.”

Horatius shakes his head.  “Lucas wants to join the legions.”

After a few dusty steps I say.  “Yeah.  He yearns for that brotherhood.  Mars is in his heart.”

“Mmm.”  He lets out a hard breath.  “You sent two of my children home last night happier than I had ever seen them.  When Lucas arrived back I thought maybe the lot of you had discovered some stash of opium old Paullus had left behind.  I had never seen him shine so brightly.  Once I realized the poppy was not to blame I knew that there were few other things that would give him such a high naturally.  I sent Felix to find out.  I knew Lucas could not hold in a brag for long to his younger brother.”

“I see.”

“Later when Cassie returned floating on a cloud I wondered all over if Bacchus was to blame but her breath was clean and her mind sharp.”  He shakes his head.  “And this is to say nothing of this…Charm School idea that has seized my wife.  Who is this man stirring up my simple tranquility?”

“I don’t mean to be trouble, Sir.”

“Like you didn’t mean that trouble in town.”

“Yes Sir.”

“If I give you Cassie’s hand you become kin Quintus.  Your family becomes my family.  Your mother my sister, you my son.  Our fates are tied.”

“It would be an honor for me.”

“And a headache for me it seems.”  He looks back over his shoulder.  “But you do have a way about you.  That boy’s been working these fields since he was waist high.  Nobody, not even me, has got him working so hard.”  He then stares off over the fields toward his home.  “And my girl…we were beginning to worry that no man would find her approval.  She’s…difficult.  Yet you sweep her up with ease.”

“Respectfully Sir, ain’t nothin easy about your daughter.”

“Ha!”  He laughs despite himself.  “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“Yes Sir.”  I say.  “Cassie’s going to be joining us.  Assuming you don’t stop us.”

His head snaps to look at me.  “Cassie?”

“Yes Sir.  Toke’s people have no taboo around their women raising arms.  Cassie was there, the offer was made, and she accepted.”

He snorts.  “She would too.”

“Yeah.”

“Will she be hurt?”

“Bruises, pulled muscles, nothing that won’t heal.”

“You approve of this?”

“I do.  Not that it’s my place to approve or disapprove.  Cassie is her own woman.”  I say.  “And that’s why I want her.”

Slowly he nods, not quite approving but ceding respect.  “I’m starting to see what made you different in her eyes.  Anything else?”

I stop and put my hands on my hips.  “One more thing.”  I turn to look at him.  “And you’re not going to like it.”

His expression hardens once more.  “Go on.”

I take a deep breath.  “My slave Rosa…she’s half Amazon.”  I say, my tone as stern as his.  “If that’s going to be a problem, well, then it’s going to be a problem.  She can’t change and I’m not getting rid of her.  Not for all the gold in Emperor Trajan’s vaults.”

He turns and looks up at me.  After a long, tense pause he says.  “I appreciate your candor.  I already knew that but it was good to hear it from you.”

“You did?”

“Your slave told Cas yesterday.”

“Oh.”

“I’d be lying if I said we were thrilled about it.  But…it ain’t something we can change is it?  It is what it is.”  He says.  “All we can do is get on with livin.”

“Wh-What?”

“Problem?”

“Uh, no Sir.  Just…someone I once knew used to say that.”  That someone was Dad.  “So?  Are you going to stop us?”

He sucks his teeth and lets out a huff.  “I don’t think Lucas would ever talk to me again if I did.  You sparked a fire in that boy.”

“Respectfully, that boy is man.  And that fire was already burning before I ever arrived.”

“You ain’t wrong Master Quintus.”  He slaps my arm.  “If it keeps him here for another year, well, I suppose it’s the best I can hope for.”

“We sure appreciate that Sir.”

“It’s a damn silly thing anyway, outlawing a free man’s right to learn.  No matter the topic.”  He says.  “But if the Consul’s men do come sniffing around…”

“I’ll take the blame.”

“To Hades you will.”  He says.  “I’m just sayin.  Be careful.  You’re not a young bachelor anymore.  Your actions effect more than yourself.”

“Yes Sir.  I’m…I’m learning that.”

“I’ll look after Felix.  You just make sure the rest of ’em keep their mouths shut.”

“I’ll try.”

“Anything else you want to come clean on while you’ve got the chance?”

“That’s it.”  I say.  “For now.”

“For now?”

“Those are things I think you’ve got a stake in knowing.”  I give a deferential bow of my head.  “Respectfully.”

“Mmm.  Fair enough.”  He grumbles.  “I suppose.  That training better not get in the way of work.”

With some pride I look back at my men and swath of field we’d done that morning.  “I think we can manage.”

Chapter 95