Echo

A naturally modest woman, Aglaea sometimes had trouble accepting compliments. She had known that that was what was intended, of course, but didn't believe that she deserved it. He was right, however, that Livia allowing her to attend her services was a rarity. "I am truly blessed that way. But our relationship has shifted in a way - we are almost like siblings, truth be told." With some major differences, of course. Aglaea chuckled. "I try," she said. "Thank you. Though I don't think Livia will ever replace me with her, unless she can help it." She looked at him. "I haven't done much traveling in my life. Will you tell me about your homeland?" If she were ever freed, she supposed she might travel if she got the chance. @Sharpie

Deia had felt flashes of an urge to kill Marcus, but they were mixed in with the wish to disappear into the ground, or perhaps pass away in order to escape her miserable existence. She couldn't remember being happy for longer than a few minutes over the course of her life. How was that living? Lucius said that he was sorry that she had been hurt and that it was obvious that she had been. Deia looked at him momentarily, her mistrusting nature quarreling with an urge to find help from anyone who seemed remotely nice - and Lucius seemed more than kind. He continued to explain that he wanted to find the man who had hurt her and his friend and do something about it. His point about her role in keeping other people safe from Marcus was a fair one and she had thought about it herself. He asked if he could pay for her for the night and bring her somewhere safer to talk. For a moment, she stayed silent. Then, almost imperceptibly, she nodded. "Yes," she murmured. "We can do that." Leaving the bed, she poked her head out the door, looking for Titus. Upon finding him, she explained that her customer wanted to take her somewhere else for the night, and he agreed, only for a steeper price than it would cost to have Deia here. Once their transaction was complete, Deia pulled a tattered cloak around herself and led the way outside. "Where would you like to go, Lucius?" @Atrice

Aglaea nodded at his answer and smiled slightly. "I am as well as can be expected, I suppose." It was kind of Rufus to ask. It was lucky that she had come across him, actually, because she wanted to ask him about her master and what he had done to him. Secundus had been incensed about a pickpocket daring to take from someone in his household, though it was a fairly common occurrence. She hoped Rufus hadn't been hurt. "I heard that my master had found you after I was pickpocketed that day. I wanted to apologize - he forced me to tell him every detail about that day. He didn't hurt you, did he?" @Sharpie

Wulfric's birth status as compared to that of his half-siblings did present an interesting conundrum. He might have some claim to being Tertius's heir, but Aglaea wasn't sure how the legal procedures worked in such a situation. And in any case, who was to say that was what Wulfric wanted? To go from being a prince of his tribe and potentially a king, to being a simple senator in Rome? She wondered what he would choose in the end. He thanked her, though, for telling him about his siblings and said that he would think about it later. Then he wanted to know about her and she blinked at him with a slightly bemused smile. "Me? Well, there's not much to know," she said with a chuckle. "I have been a slave for most of my life, since I was seven years old. I've been with my current mistress for fourteen years now. I come from a land far away but I don't remember it all that much." @Atrice

Aglaea felt a brief flash of gratitude to Charis - how good she was to be righteously angry on her behalf! She shrugged at Charis's statement about Secundus being wrong. "I suppose so. But he isn't likely to go to his wife and tell her outright. I expect he didn't think this very far ahead." Aglaea had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Her urge to have a partner and a child independent from her master and mistress was tangled up with her fear of Secundus and discomfort in the whole situation. She wondered if she would ever feel alright again. Charis wouldn't be placated, it seemed, as Aglaea tried to change the subject back to her. She felt suddenly very hot and had a moment of panic. "I- I shouldn't have told you at all, it's too much. If my master ever found out, he would have my head," she said very quickly, looking around as though for an escape. But Charis wasn't a bad person. "Please, Charis, you must promise me that you won't tell a soul." She stared back into her friend's eyes. Her question was an interesting one, and one that Aglaea had pondered for some time. She forced herself to calm down with a few deep breaths. "I don't know what he'd do," she said truthfully. "He's such a mystery. I hope that he would eventually give up, thinking me barren, but... who's to say?" @Sara

Aglaea was sure that Wulfric would come across stranger names than hers during his time in Rome. There were, after all, plenty of slaves named by uninspired masters, foreigners from distant lands. Even his name was odd, but she had heard stranger among the Britons and Germans she'd met. "Thank you," she said, a tiny flutter in her stomach telling her that she was flattered and perhaps a bit shy as well. She pursed her lips slightly as he said he had two siblings. "Well, actually, I left one out. You have three - one of his slaves just recently gave birth to a son." He might as well know, since when he went to visit Tertius, he would surely see the babe. "He is unmarried now, and by all accounts has little interest in finding a new one. That's what I've heard, anyway." Too busy taking his slaves to bed to think about taking a citizen. Ever since Aglaea had met Charis and learned her story, she had found Tertius a bit disgusting, on the same level as her own master. @Atrice

"Very well done, Wulfric," she said with a smile. It was a small thing, getting to know the names of other people, but it had a way of setting the mood and establishing a camaraderie. Wulfric confirmed that she was saying his name correctly and then added that it meant 'powerful wolf.' She chuckled a little at that. "Then you are aptly named. I was named after a goddess in the Roman pantheon." It seemed Wulfric was eager to get down to business and Aglaea was willing to oblige. After all, the whole point of his journey to Rome had been to find his father. Aglaea felt a little selfish urge to keep the information from him, because somehow she feared that he would leave after getting the information out of her that he needed. But then she felt that he had more to him than that, more honor. "Yes, Tertius has a daughter. A... legitimate daughter," she added. "Antonia. And he had a son with a slave, but he is a freedman now - Teutus." She didn't bring up Charis's baby yet, though - she was sure they would get to it eventually. @Atrice

Charis had a point - it is what men did. They just took and took, not bothering to think of the consequences their actions had on anyone else, particularly the women in their lives. Aglaea and Charis were both examples of that entitled attitude of the average Roman man and Aglaea just felt sick to her stomach that Charis had experienced it so soon after her arrival in the empire. Charis talked about being married and the peace that her old life had given her. It made sense that Tertius would tell her to forget her old life, because he was right. Reminiscing just brought pain. Aglaea blushed as Charis stared at her in silence and she felt immediately that she shouldn't have told Charis. She had her own problems, it was wrong for Aglaea to burden her new friend with her own. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't..." But she broke off and stared down at the ground. Charis stuttered something about her mistress, and Aglaea immediately jumped to Livia's defense: "Oh, she doesn't know... I couldn't tell her, and he made me swear not to." She couldn't help but think that Secundus's plan had its flaws; after all, what were they to tell Livia when Aglaea began to balloon up and suddenly had a child one day? She took some comfort from Charis's hand. "There's nothing you can do, Charis. Thank you so much for your offer, though. The real question is, what else can I do for you? You have a child on the way and your master..." She cast a mutinous glance at the domus. @Sara

Aglaea let the other woman take her hand and squeezed it back, hoping that some measure of calm or peace could come through their connected hands. But Aglaea was not feeling peaceful at the moment, which almost never happened. She was angry, and wanted to do something about the licentious Varus men and their insatiable appetites. How could it be that both brothers were the same, yet one pretended to have the moral high ground of not sleeping with his slaves while he did so behind closed doors, and the other was all but proud of his conquests? Aglaea had a wild thought of taking Charis and running away, far away, perhaps back to Judea, or to Britannia. A few tears spilled over and left wet trails down Aglaea's cheeks. As Charis spoke, saying how lucky they were, Aglaea gaped at her with wide eyes. Lucky? Lucky? They were as far from lucky as one could get. "It could be better, too," she said quietly. "Charis, what he did to you was wrong. I know you may not be able to see that you should not be grateful, but you shouldn't be. There is something greater for you. You did not deserve this." Charis urged Aglaea not to worry, but how could she not? This revelation had simply ignited a righteous flame in the woman's breast, and she could do nothing but worry for her new friend. But Charis's story had also given her a brave feeling, like she was not alone in her situation. "I've never told anyone this..." she started, her breath catching and her voice faltering. "I know what you are going through. And I know because I am going through something very similar. Secundus and my mistress have not conceived a child and so Secundus... decided to take me into his bed... he wants me to have his child, pass it off as his wife's..." She grit her teeth and stopped, gazing at the other woman. The words had tumbled out of her mouth like a stream she couldn't stop, and now that they were in the air, she felt a stab of fear in her chest. What would Charis think? @Sara

"Gracious," she said with a laugh. They sounded terrifying! "I'm not sure I would want to! Though I have seen the gladiatrices at the games. They seem fierce enough!" Caecina could have a remarkable temper at times, but Lucius didn't need to know that or see it. It was often directed at her father or Astraea, anyway - she had no reason to be mad at Lucius. His comments on the realities of being an officer were illuminating. She was glad that he took her question seriously and answered realistically. "That's so fascinating, Lucius. I'm sure that it must be a difficult struggle, but I am just as sure that you are equal to the task." She laughed as he said her confidence would serve her well as a soldier. "Well, I hope I will never have to test your theory, but I thank you all the same." @Chris

Aglaea smiled at him as he suggested sweeping and pouring drinks wasn't that important. "Well, I beg to differ, Davus," she said, shrugging. "Every person has a place in their home, a role to play. No matter what that role is." She had to believe that, anyway. She had not always been a body slave; indeed, she had not always even known the language she spoke regularly now. Everyone came from somewhere, no matter how humble. "It is good that you have a good master, though. Not everyone is so lucky." She flushed as he complimented her work. "Well, it is interesting work, at least. Roman matrons are quite demanding." She laughed a little. "I have an understudy of sorts... the poor thing can't comb her hair right, dress her properly... she has a lot to learn." @Sharpie

Marcellus, far from being offended at the things people said or thought about him, was highly amused. He had never particularly cared about the opinions of others, and he believed that he had earned the right to be cocky about his skills in the chariot races. One person who amused him more than most was Azarion, who was a younger boy training to be a charioteer. In fact, the boy reminded Marcellus a lot of himself - good with horses, skilled early on. The only thing was that Azarion did not have the mouth that Marcellus did - that would probably make him more successful in the long run, which amused Marcellus, too. He enjoyed his life far too much to get caught up in the minor details. The day arrived for Marcellus to race Azarion, both driving a pair of horses, and Marcellus led his team down to the track. He had chosen two of the feistiest stallions in the stables, Aethon and Ballista, both to challenge himself and Azarion. He spotted his opponent and a cheeky grin flitted across his face at the boy's sour expression. "Cheer up, Azarion, it's not a funeral! It's a race, by the gods!" he all but shouted. He then noticed Marcus in the stands and hailed him. @Chevi @Sharpie

Aglaea saw the doubtful look on his face and frowned at her hands, wondering how best to rephrase what she had said. "'For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you...'" She looked hopefully up at him, wondering if her words would find their way into his heart. She hoped so. "God has not abandoned you. He wants you to have a good life, one that honors Him, so that you can return to Him in Heaven." He said that she was lucky to find such comfort and she nodded. "I am lucky. But you can find that comfort too. I believe that you will someday." She waved her hand at his apology. "Do not apologize. Sometimes it is better to talk of our trials than to keep them inside." @Atrice

Annis actually flourished in this sort of weather - it reminded her of home, just like the mistlike rain that sometimes fell this time of year did. But more than making her happy, being reminded of Britannia depressed her. It just reminded her that she wasn't home with her loved ones, but instead stuck being a show pony for the horny men of Rome. She supposed she only had herself to blame for that. It was her plan to storm that fort, her fault that she was injured and captured and enslaved by that onerous Longinus. As she walked around the city, she found herself glowering at everyone around her at the memory of her capture. She wasn't quite recovered from the earthquake - her body had healed, sure, but she still woke up from nightmares of shaking earth, buildings crashing down upon her head, suffocating on dust. All because of that fateful day, all those years ago. She wondered how Rome had changed her. Just as she was cursing Longinus for the umpteenth time in her head, her eyes happened to fall on a familiar face - Longinus' slave, Attis. Her eyes narrowed in dislike and she decided to fall into line behind him. "Attis," she said coldly in greeting. @Sharpie

Charis said that Tertius liked her mistress - that was surely a point in their favor, but if Aglaea was honest, she didn't particularly care who Tertius liked. She planned on making it happen no matter what. Charis deserved a friend, needed a friend. And so did Aglaea. "Good, I'm glad. I'll go and see him in a little while." As Charis revealed the paternity of her child, though, Aglaea felt shock and then fury settle in her stomach. She realized how vulnerable Charis must feel now - Aglaea couldn't imagine telling someone about her own situation, and it seemed as though the other woman might be in a similar one. Charis explained further, that she hadn't been hurt when her child was conceived, but Aglaea wasn't convinced that it was at all consensual. Charis then confirmed her suspicions, saying she hadn't wanted to, but trailing off. To her surprise, Aglaea felt tears welling up in her eyes at the injustice of it, tears of rage and pity at the guilt in Charis's eyes. "My God," she said simply, her voice thick. She looked away so Charis wouldn't see her tears. "He should not have done that to you," she said, turning back to Charis suddenly. "That evil, vile..." She cut herself off, alarmed at her own vitriol. It was as if she had become what she wished someone would be for her. @Sara

How could she have expected something like this? It had been a recurring nightmare of hers, that she was discovered by Marcus giving away his secrets and killed for her loose lips. She thought that Lucius must be a truly excellent sleuth, though, to have found one of Marcus's favorite haunts. He was just fortunate that he was not here tonight, both because it made Deia available to meet him and so that he was safe from Marcus's wrath upon finding someone on his path. As she trailed off, she saw the pity in his eyes and felt a flash of impotent anger at her predicament. She didn't want his pity - she wanted to be away from this place, whether dead or alive, she didn't care. He asked if he could sit next to her as he moved closer to her and she gazed up at him a moment before nodding in assent. She didn't speak yet, listening to his explanation. She wished she could trust him. "I'm afraid you don't understand, dominus..." She looked down at her folded hands. "My master, Titus... he is paid very well for his clients' secrets to be kept. If he knew that I was speaking to you of this..." She shivered. She'd seen his 'punishments' and was not keen to be on the receiving end of it. "I'm sorry your friend was hurt," she said softly, moving the attention off of herself. Deia wondered if she had a moral obligation to tell Lucius what she knew... @Atrice

Wulfric certainly wasn't as swarthy as Secundus - he was somewhat paler than the average Roman, and therefore more sensitive to the sun. Perhaps it was his German blood that made him brave enough to stick around. "We can't have that, can we?" she said in amusement as he said he didn't want his skin to be burned by the sun. Aglaea did thank her heritage for blessing her with a good resistance to the sun; how else would her ancestors have survived their forty years in the desert? She sat comfortably on the bench and smiled as he said he was well. He also said that he did not want to offend her by saying her name incorrectly. She patted his hand reassuringly. "You don't offend me, Wulfric. But I will teach you all the same." She smiled. "My name is A-glaea," she said slowly, being sure to pronounce it very carefully. She had almost considered giving him her birth name, but he was so new to her that she didn't feel ready to share that part of herself yet. "It is Greek. Am I saying your name correctly?" @Atrice

"Good," Deia replied with a grin. The story continued. Rhodopis must have been some woman to hold a man's attention like that for so long - Deia was not so blessed, but she supposed she wasn't in quite the position to hold someone's attention for very long. Men came and went here quickly and their appetites were satiated after one or two sessions, becoming bored after that, usually. "If only I were so talented," Deia said with a wry grin. It was only half a joke. @Chevi

As Lucius chose the chair, Deia sat lightly on the bed and crossed one leg over the other at the knee. She supposed there were worse things than talking, and when he asked her to promise not to tell her master, she smiled indulgently for half a second. Her master certainly wouldn't want to hear whatever sordid secrets he was about to tell her. But then he suggested that if she did spill his secrets, someone might attempt to murder him! Her eyes widened and she stared at him for a long moment. "I - I suppose I can keep your secret," she said hesitantly. But she wasn't sure... what if his secret would hurt Titus's business? He would kill her if she didn't tell him at once. Lucius continued speaking, talking about a man who had attacked a friend of hers with a knife. With those words, Deia felt her muscles tighten. Yes, she knew someone who was capable of such a thing. He visited her here every so often. How was she to proceed? Unconsciously, she shifted her clothes so that her breasts were more effectively covered - she didn't want him to see her scar. "Perhaps if I knew... more about the man..." She bit her lip. "I'm not sure if I'm allowed to..." she trailed off before she finished the thought. @Atrice

"Well, you've mastered that phrase," she said with a chuckle. "I was blessed with an education in Greek and Latin, but I've never learned Egyptian. I would love to learn sometime, though." The conversation paused as she went inside to purchase the cakes and then resumed as they sat on the curb to eat their treats. He explained that he was not anything special within the household, but that he had been with his master for six years. "That's quite a long time," she commented. Time had lost some meaning to her - she barely remembered a time before slavery, or even a time before Livia, now that she was getting older. Her younger years had become a blur. "Oh - yes, my domina and I are very close. I have been her companion for quite a long while." She gazed at him. "You shouldn't be down on yourself about the work you do, you know. I am sure you do important work for your master," she said gently. Aglaea was of the opinion that all slaves were important in the working of the household, no matter their tasks. She always made a point to help wherever she could, anyway, so she could relate to most parts of the house. @Sharpie

Gaius took a healthy sip of his drink as the other man spoke, bristling ever so slightly at the suggestion that the guard was visibly declining in prowess. But he had to reason with himself - they were, after all, declining. At least, some units. Gaius took pride in his men and their skills and dedication. He took men and turned them into parts of a greater whole. It was the one thing he was good at. "It is my pleasure to serve Rome and the emperor," he said, acknowledging the compliment with a tilt of the head. The younger man brightened considerably at the question - clearly, it was a topic that interested him greatly. Especially so because he spent most of his waking moments either practicing discipline, considering it, or putting his men through their paces. "Training is much like military training. When I served in Britannia, I gained a lot of experience in training men." He took another sip before continuing. "I like to start with physical training - running, strength trials, things of that nature. And then formations, battle tactics, individual combat training. We wake up quite early," he finished with a little laugh. "Perhaps you would like a demonstration sometime, senator?" @Járnviðr

It was hard to make out his face at first, but, shading her eyes, she saw that this was the man she had come to see and was relieved. She had half-feared that he would run as far away from her and his crazy family as he could get, all the way back to Germania, perhaps. But it seemed that, as much as he was Secundus's relative, he had some other blood running through him. He was brave enough to stick around, for whatever reason. But she decided she didn't care what the reason was - she was just happy to have someone to speak to and get her mind off of her life for a while. He stood as she approached and said he was glad to see her. Then he asked how she was. "I am well," she said simply, signifying that nothing much had changed in her position since they had last seen one another. "But hot," she amended with an amused chuckle. "Perhaps we should move into the shade?" Around the perimeter of the fountain were a few benches sitting in the shade of tall trees. Aglaea led the way to one of these and sat down. "Thank you for coming, Wulfric. I hope you are well?" @Atrice

Aglaea had managed to slip away from the domus again today, this time for a fair few chores and errands. After preparing her mistress for the day, she had been sent to gather a few necessary products, including cosmetics and a jar of silphium for Livia. If she had enough money, she would be buying herself some. But she just had enough for some thread and a new comb today -- she would just have to skim off the top of Livia's silphium Lost in her thoughts as she walked around, she was suddenly pulled out of them at the sound of her name. Turning about, she saw a familiar red head coming through the crowd toward her and her eyes crinkled in a grin. "Rufus!" As he came up to her, she smiled brightly at him. "Rufus, how good to see you. How have you been keeping?" @Sharpie

Aglaea watched him with a furrowed brow as he explained that he did not just feel like a failure. It seemed he had a lot of baggage, emotional trauma that hadn't been dealt with, and truth be told, she really didn't know what to say. She wasn't exactly a seasoned member of her faith -- the new one, anyway, which overlapped in some ways with her upbringing in the Jewish faith. What did you say to a man so defeated? It seemed like an insurmountable task, so she stayed silent for some time, thinking of what she could possibly say. Who could know God's plans? Why He did the things He did? Aglaea certainly didn't. She supposed knowing His plan would help her stomach the things wrong in her life. But how did she get through the day? By having faith that God had a good plan for her life. She bit her lip and glanced at him finally. "I can't pretend to know why these things have happened to you, Manius," she began. "But all I can say is that God has a plan for your life and that His ways are mysterious. I am sure that whatever happened... happened for a reason." She sighed and shook her head. "The world is cruel and difficult. There is no denying that. But what a comfort it is to know that our sins can be forgiven." @Atrice