Sharpie

Aulus let out a laugh. "I should hope so - though if anyone leaves a foundling on my doorstep, this might be a good place to bring him." Give the old biddies something to keep themselves out of trouble. He didn't know what the old biddies expected the box held but they were bound to be somewhat disappointed. He had come to thank the goddess for granting them a child and so naturally he had brought a model of a woman's uterus - completely anatomically correct, he had been assured, very solemnly, by its manufacturer. Quite what use the goddess found for all the various models of bits of the human body, Aulus couldn't say, but it was tradition and both he and Horatia were very firm believers in tradition even if they had ended up being the most unconventional traditional couple in Rome. Adding somewhere nearby where a midwife could live and could attend to any devotees caught as unaware as Horatia had been... that would be another acceptably devotional gift. Whether or not it would be acceptable to the priestesses would be another question. He pulled the sinus fold of his toga over his head and took the box from Felix, walking forward to the altar to lay it before the marble representation of Juno Lucina (whose expression seemed somewhat pained. Obviously not made by the most talented craftsman...) @Chevi

"The illegitimate freedman son," Teutus countered mildly. "And I didn't say I can't, I just said I don't. I haven't met anyone I'd consider marrying - let alone met one whose father would be happy marrying her to someone like me." He reached for a ball of globi and gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Let's face it, you're going to be the acknowledged wife of a Praetor, which outranks me by far too much, according to all the gossipy hens. If I could inherit, that would be one thing, but I can't so I'll end up marrying some plebeian girl, probably. That doesn't mean she's necessarily going to be a fishwife or one of a basket-weaver's dozen brats or anything. Even plebeians can be senators - Cicero was, if you've ever heard of him?" He perked up a bit. "That's something, though - you'll be able to handle the household accounts and stuff, which is something Roman women do. I used to, after Antonia Justa died and he made me his secretary." He popped the deep-fried ball into his mouth and had to lick poppy seeds from his fingers before chewing thoughtfully. "My mother runs the household here - though it's only small. She cooks - you wouldn't do that, but you'd probably end up discussing menus and things with Rhoda. She spins and weaves, very good traditional things for Roman women, though she does it because she likes it. She makes sure that everyone has clothes in good condition - you could do that, or delegate that or part of it." He washed the cheese ball down with some mulsum. "You'd be a mother to my sister - what does Antonia think about all of this?" @Sara

He went to retrieve their snacks before settling back down and helping himself to a date. "Ah. I'm a freedman with my own business, I don't really talk to well-bred young women socially. Maybe when they come shopping, and then of course I need to know what they're looking for - are they redecorating the atrium or are they looking for a birthday present for dearest Pater, perhaps? Or spending their own allowance on pretty things for themselves." He should probably start looking for a wife soon, but right now he was comfortable enough without getting dragged out to very dull social affairs and watching even duller Senators get so drunk that they needed the house slaves to dump them in their litters to be taken home to sober up. Despite his words of earlier he removed the date stone wit his fingers, carefully putting it on the edge of the plate. "I wonder... if my father is going to insist you're his wife and you're to be treated that way, maybe think about doing a bit of redecorating? That's something else you could bring up as a subject - you'll find your way, Charis, you always do." @Sara

"Keep your back straight, that's half of it, or more," he told her. "And I'll tell you a secret. You ask about them and act interested in what they have to say and they will think you are the most fascinating person they've ever met. And you won't have to say very much at all if you don't want. Let them rattle on all night about their wife and their unspeakable children and laugh at all the utterly dull jokes they've told a thousand times. Everything you've probably done as a slave, I know. Except this time you get to make all the uh-huh and umm and oh, really? how very interesting noises you could possibly want to." He pulled her over to where there were two couches set up to one side of the room and he reclined on one, leaving the other for her. "This is the bit you'll find the hardest, I think. Cup in your right hand, tuck that bolster under your left elbow. Everything's done with the right hand." That was conversation with the men dealt with; they would be easy enough to flatter into thinking she was interesting and a good hostess. "The women, on the other hand... You've got a son, you can talk about him. If you can persuade my father to take you to the theatre, that'll give you something else to talk about. Maybe the races. Probably not the games, I don't think you'd like watching gladiator fights." Or worse, and what generally took place during the intervals between bouts could be unspeakably worse, this being Rome and all. @Sara

"Well..." She looked like a scared mouse. Or Antonia Varia being petulant and stubborn, so not scared as much as sulky. Did mice sulk? Probably not. "Not like that, at any rate," he said, trying not to laugh. "Come here." He got up, and took her hand to pull her up out of her seat. "You just stand up very straight and you look down your nose at them as if they stepped in something absolutely unspeakable outside your door and now they're going to track dog shit all over your clean floors. They probably won't expect you to be there for the morning salutatio, at least, and you can practise being a proper Roman lady for formal meals, that's easy enough." @Sara

"I'm sorry," he said, though he didn't know quite why he was apologising. "Like I said, it's all about control, with him." He sighed, again. "There's a reason I don't come round any more." Mostly it was to do with he son and being confronted, every time, with the reminder that he couldn't be any more than another freedman client (not that Tertius had any other freedmen, although he had plenty of clients). "I could wish Wulfric had been related to anyone else - he didn't deserve to have Tertius for a father and get treated the way he was." He would have to find his brother before he left - hadn't he said he was going to leave in the spring - and see if he could find some way to maybe attempt to make up for things. "I don't have any advice for the future," he said. "Don't set your expectations too high, maybe? Maybe he'll be a better husband to you than you think - I hope he'll be a better father to your son than he was, is, for me." He managed a laugh of his own. "If you think I know the first thing about being a free woman, you're wrong. I'll do what I can though, what do you want help with, in particular?" @Sara

"It's a date, it's not going to bite you," Teutus told her, amused. "Just spit the stone out, all right?" She'd probably be more dainty and remove it from her mouth with her fingers, but there was nobody watching. "It was different, for me," he said, preferring a ball of globi just in case she thought he was incredibly uncouth for suggesting spitting date stones out. "He promised me, for so long... Soon, Teutus, I promise. Next month... next year... soon... and it never was. And then..." He sighed. "It wasn't just the manumission he kept promising, either, of course. Almost right up until you gave him a son he could call freeborn from the very beginning." He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. He didn't really think about it any more, it was safer not to, and he had his own income and his own small household now, he didn't need to think about it. The emotions still got him when he did think about it, though. "It wasn't my father who took your husband away," he said in the end, bringing his gaze back down to meet Charis' eyes again. "I don't... he's not cruel, not like that. Just..." A lot of things. "Controlling. He wants very badly to be in control and doesn't understand why it's like trying to hold a handful of water." @Sara

"Well, there's a familiar story," Teutus said and topped her cup up. "Hold on, we've got some dates somewhere, I think. Or globi, if you prefer." He pushed his seat back and stood, to go and look. She was British, he had an inkling she thought dates were too sweet and sticky, or something, but it was a holiday, there wasn't a better time to be eating sweet sticky food. He brought over a plate of each and put them on the table, sitting back down. "Help yourself, if you want." It would help stave off the drunkenness that would be the inevitable result of too much mulsum on an empty stomach. "I don't hate being called domine," he said. "It's not comfortable but I don't hate it... but it's different, when it's people you've been a slave with. I hated it from you and the others." He rested his elbows on the table, clasping his hands around his own winecup. "He's a patrician, couldn't you just... pretend you're the wife of a chieftain or something, when you're out with him?" @Sara

"Well..." He shut up and shrugged. She probably had the same friends he did - none. Or very few, which was more than he had. "Um. There was one woman who accosted me in the street when he wouldn't let you out. And there was the one who wrote to you that time." About her mother or sister - sister, that was it. He managed a smile, raising his own cup in a silent toast. "Well, congratulations, then. It took him nine years, near enough, before he got round to it for me - he's getting quicker." He didn't tell her that he'd never known his father to free any slave before Teutus' own manumission, he didn't need to. Nor did he say that he'd said Tertius ought to free Charis, at that disastrous dinner with Wulfric. "Why does that sound so familiar?" he asked ruefully, although he knew exactly why it did. Because there wasn't a legal and proper way for Teutus to be his son and heir, that was why. "I hope you don't expect me to call you Mother," he managed with an attempt at a smile that just came out crooked. "You're younger than me, after all." @Sara

"Yes," he said, closing the door behind her. "And no; I'd only get in their way and confuse them." If the truth were known, he'd never really felt comfortable celebrating Saturnalia, despite it being wildly popular among most Romans. Or with their slaves, if not with them. There was a jug of mulsum kept warm by the brazier's embers and he found her a cup, pouring some for each of them. He'd been free for two years now, though sometimes it felt far longer and sometimes it only felt like a day or so. He liked being on his own, something he'd not really had much chance of in his life. "How are you?" he asked, sitting back down and indicating that Charis should sit too. "I would have thought you'd be out wit your friends." Why had she come to see him? They weren't that close, not any more, for many reasons. Several of those reasons began 'Tertius' and ended 'Quinctilius Varus' but by no means all of them - Teutus was busy with his own trade, and Charis was no doubt kept busy with her baby and everything else, of course she didn't have time to go visiting. @Sara

The others had gone out somewhere, at Teutus' insistance and his mother's gentle urging. She had tried to persuade him to go with them but he had demurred; whether or not the party remained together or went their separate ways, they were still his slaves and he was still their master and would only inhibit them. He'd given them spending money and told them to have fun, before adding more wood to the brazier and returning to his comfortable seat by the window. He'd been reading... something, but the scroll had dropped from his hands as he'd fallen into a daydream, only to be brought back to himself by knocking on the door. Just a tap, but enough to rouse him thanks to his years of service and needing to be alert all the time. He tossed the scroll aside onto the table and went to answer the door; it was probably someone wanting to borrow some flour or something because the shops were shut. He was not expecting Charis and blinked down at her in surprise before he managed to find his voice. "Charis?" He stepped to the side to let her in, if she wanted to come in. "I didn't expect you to - Io Saturnalia. Come in?" @Sara

"She was pretty scared, which was only to be expected," Jason said in his accented Latin, glancing at Alexius in case he'd rather take the lead in answering. This group of people was rather odd, but Jason was still a slave surrounded by free people. He accepted a cup of wine. "It was dark, she couldn't really add anything that we don't already know, except his voice is a bit deeper than Alexius'." He sighed. "She's going to stay with relatives in Ostia. I didn't think to ask whether she'd be willing to testify if - when! - we catch the bastard, but I don't think she was in a good place to answer that right now anyway." @Chevi @Atrice

"Yes, Domine," Jason said quietly in reply to the quiet calm order, and turned to roll each scroll properly, being careful with them, and setting them aside into groups for each library they belonged to. He couldn't read, but it didn't take a genius to match symbols and each tag had what was probably a description of the individual scroll on one side and on the other the name of the library and a specific symbol; even the librarians recognised that not all slaves could read, and they wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to get their books back. He glanced across at the pair from time to time, wondering just how it was that two such different people had met and become friends. @Sarah @Atrice

"Your mistress has always been a woman of eminently practical sense," Aulus observed dryly, and couldn't help arching an eyebrow as he saw the reception committee waiting for them. He was wearing the plain white toga virilis today, as befit a Senator without a magistracy. "It seems the ex-Consul is more worthy of a reception than the ex-Consul's extremely pregnant lady wife," he added to his ever-faithful Felix, before addressing the waiting priestesses. "Ladies. I understand that this may be an unusual place for a man to be, but I have come to give my thanks to Juno Lucina for safely overseeing the birth of my son." Which, please note, you did not, leaving it to a slave to deliver him went unspoken, though the silent thought could be plainly inferred, if they chose to recognise it. The priestesses fluttered, as priestesses were wont to do (he had half a mind to inquire of his sister whether she had ever fluttered, as a Vestal) but allowed him into the quiet darkness of the temple to present his gifts to the goddess. @Chevi

"Lucius has always been... Well, I never thought he was an idiot. But this time he wouldn't let go of the idea, and," Gaius shrugged. "I think if our father had still been alive, he might have given up on it, but it can't be easy when your head of the family is your elder brother. We're not very far apart in age, after all." He should probably have held out for longer, but Lucius had a way of charming everyone around him, even elder brothers who were prone to irascibility over things like their younger brothers running someone's olive-oil stand for an afternoon. "We have a sister, who comes between us in age, but she's married now and has her own children to look after. She doesn't need to be running after her idiot brothers all the time." He adjusted the brooch clasping his pallium at the shoulder. "I suppose your brother can't possibly be as idiotic as mine." @Atrice

"A few more benches would be easy enough. A midwife would be a sensible precaution, though I doubt the priestesses will appreciate the insinuation that this is a good place to have a child." Right now, though, it was a terrible place from a medical point of view, and surely the goddess would be relieved by having a competent pair or two of human hands so that she didn't have to keep putting herself out to ensure the safe delivery of every child. "Thank Juno that Longinus' girl was here," he added. He didn't dare to think what might have happened to his wife if she had been on her own; the priestesses had been next to useless. @Chevi

"Oh, he's a perfectly useless guard dog," Attis admitted cheerfully. "He'd knock any intruder down and lick them to death, though. But he does bark to let people know he's happy to see them - we'd all come in to find him making friends with the man who'd only come in to try his luck with the master's strongbox." Longinus' slaves were no worse at their jobs than any of Sulpicius Rufus' were - probably better; that Dacian girl Zoe or Zia or whatever it was could hardly be lazier and less apt to do a stroke of work. He wondered if Rufus knew just how little she actually did around the house. "Then he does - did anyone bother to offer you any refreshments at all, sir?" They should have, of course, especially as they should all know Titus Sulpicius Rufus was one of their master's inner circle and closest friends, along with the ex-consul. If they hadn't, Attis was going to give them an earful! As for whether or not the dog had finished growing yet, he didn't have a clue, and shrugged. "I don't know when dogs stop growing, to tell the truth. He'll be able to pull a donkey-cart, easily, by the time he's full grown, and the kennel will be about the size of a small house." He was just hoping that Licky would manage to destroy some of the less tasteful things Longinus had collected over the years, although he'd taken a peculiar liking to the moonfaced nymph in the garden, judging by the way he made a beeline for her every time he wanted to relieve himself. @Liv ( @Sara @Chevi )

The Temple of Juno Lucina, April 77 Aulus had felt that he should make offerings to the relevant gods for the safekeeping of his wife and infant son, and one of the most important was Juno Lucina, the person of Juno who was responsible for childbirth and motherhood. And, most relevant, in whose very temple Aulus' wife had given birth to their second son. Apparently the priestesses hadn't been amused by this, nor had they been very helpful when push came to shove. Or rather, when push led to the birth of a baby. He felt rather out of place in this sanctum of a goddess whose remit was that most womanly of affairs, but he needed to leave his own offerings and make his own prayers... and possibly to chivvy the old, holy bats into being a little more helpful the next time someone went into labour on their doorstep. Being even an ex-consul had to be good for something... And once his errand here was done, he was determined to find some small gift for Horatia that she would appreciate - even a woman of simple tastes liked to be given surprise gifts on occasion, after all. "I can't believe the priestesses of the goddess of childbirth aren't better prepared to deal with the realities of actual childbirth," he said to Felix, pausing in the walk up the hill to the temple at its summit. "Especially after they've had to walk up here." It was no wonder Horatia had gone into labour, as late on in her pregnancy as she had been, with even the moderate exertion of this walk. @Chevi

The second half of any race was usually the most dangerous part, where the more skilled (and desperate) charioteers would try to make their bids for the lead position. The Greens were down to one chariot, with the other three teams still with both of their drivers in the running. Azarion was doing well, out in front and trying to work out where the Red behind him was. The Blues were in third and the other Red in fourth, with the second White (Flavius) fifth, battling it out with the other Blue and the remaining Green. The second half of any race was always the more dangerous, as charioteers knew that the time was growing shorter for them to make their move and take the prime first place. The Red seemed to be eyeing up Azarion in front of him to try to move around him, possibly forcing him into the spina which would cause him a shipwreck and put him out of the race entirely - a charioteer who ended up in a shipwreck had a good chance of being killed or sustaining serious injuries, something Marcus had seen all too often in his career, and grown used to. He would be sorry to see Azarion come to such an end, although he had seen a real talent in the youngster and though it unlikely that he would end so ignominiously. @Chevi @Insignia

The dog's response to Sulpicius Rufus was all that Attis could have hoped for - as was the Senator's response to the dog. The only thing that could have improved it was if the senator had been knocked onto his arse, but Attis would take what he could, and ruffled the dog's ears as it sat and looked up at him - it didn't even have all that far to look, not really, not for a dog. "My master calls him Ragum, I call him Licky - you can see why," he said, wondering what on earth had possessed Sulpicius Rufus to buy such a large dog in the first place. He could guess why he'd gifted the animal to Longinus, though. "Does my master know you're here?" he asked, ignoring it as Licky lifted a hind paw to scratch himself. @Liv (And @Sara and @Chevi if you want to join these two idiots!)

"It's not good, but I think she'll be all right," Jason said soberly, pulling his cloak tighter around himself as they left the house to meet the colder night air outside. February in Rome wasn't as cold as February on the steppe but it still wasn't the warmest time of year. "She's going to go to stay with relatives in Ostia - it'll be good for her to get away from here after all this, especially while he's still loose. I didn't think to ask whether she'd be willing to come back to testify in court but I don't think she's in a good place to think about that right now - maybe in a few days." He sighed. "She couldn't add anything else to what we already know, except that he's got a bit of a deeper voice than you maybe." They should probably go and find Lucius Whatever-it-was and the others, but Jason really didn't know what else they could do to find the man doing this. @Atrice @Chevi

Jannus repeated his thanks, and Teutus smiled in recognition and appreciation; he'd already said you're welcome twice in the last three minutes, after all. Saying it again would be overkill, probably... though something about Jannus' expression and repetition of his thanks made him take a fresh look at the other. Jannus was perhaps five years younger than he was, with similar dark hair and blue eyes - if things had turned out a little differently, they might have ended up as a matched pair of house slaves in some Senator's home. Despite all his many flaws, though, Tertius had never once made Teutus fear he might be sold, or given a lower status in the house than as his secretary. He sent a quick glance across to Olipor and Amandus - even the young boy had similar dark hair, though Teutus had a sneaking suspicion his eyes were darker, like most Romans'. Anyone just glancing at them might think they were brothers or something. Maybe. Jannus was more like Teutus than perhaps he realised - there was something of Teutus' own diffidence and uncertainty, though perhaps with more reason. Well, he couldn't fix Jannus' head - he couldn't fix his own - but he could try to be a lot less of an enigma to Jannus than Tertius was to him. And a lot more supportive, in his own way. One thing he would never do, though, was to delay keeping a promise until keeping or breaking it made no difference. "Jannus," he said quietly. "I don't care what your previous masters were like. This is a different place and you have a place here. If you need to talk with me, I will listen. Just... make sure it's a good time, all right?" He'd offer the same to the other two - three, if Proserpina ever needed to, although he thought she would rather confide in Varinia, her mistress. "I won't ever play guessing games, mind games, with you. I've been in your position with people doing that and I won't do it to anyone." @Insignia

Tiberius' voice came again, more insistent this time. He had never had to call twice, ever. Jason didn't want to think what this meant for him, despite the fact that it wasn't his fault; no citizen liked the slave they were talking with to decide that someone else was a higher priority, even if they were. "Jason. Come here." "That's my master. And I am going to him," he said. We wouldn't want to disappoint him, now, would we. He had barely taken a step when Junius Silanus fixed him with a look (that portended absolutely nothing good for the future) and stood, heading towards the room where Tiberius was. Jason could either fall in docilely behind him and look as if he preferred to attend him rather than Tiberius, or push past and look like some uppity slave who didn't know his place at the bottom of the shit-heap that was Roman society. Either way, he'd probably be in trouble with one or other of the young men. He followed Junius Silanus, deciding he'd rather get in trouble with Tiberius who knew him (who owned him, as Silanus had pointed out so very generously earlier) and who he had never previously been in trouble, than with Junius Silanus who had every appearance of being one of those who liked to get slaves in trouble just for fun. He was going to be very cautious around him until he was clear whether Silanus did it deliberately or not. @Sarah @Atrice

"All right," Jason said, still talking quietly and calmly, as if to a spooked horse. "We're part of a group who are looking for the man who did this to you. If you can tell us anything about him, it will help." She just nodded, her eyes never leaving his face. He kept his hands where she could see them, aware from Azarion and Ovinia of the fact that the man had a knife concealed under a cloak. He didn't want her to be any more terrified than she was, which was more than enough. "You're very brave," he told her. "Can you tell me what happened?" She began to tell him, speaking very quietly and in fits and starts, of being accosted by the man, of the knife and the look in his eyes, of the threat to kill, of the interruption by the senator dressed in his white tunic and toga, appearing like a saving god. Jason couldn't tell her that the Senator had been the one to end up dead in her place. The only description he could draw from her matched what he had gleaned from Ovinia and Azarion - tall, dark-haired, with a dark-coloured cloak and a knife. The quiet hissed commands and threats in a voice something deeper than Jason's, more like Alexius' without the accent. Maybe even a bit deeper than his. "You've been very brave. Thank you," Jason said, once it was clear she had nothing else to say. "Have you got anyone outside Rome you could stay with? You'd feel safer there, I think." Apparently there was an aunt in Ostia. She could go tomorrow, with a slave. Maybe she'd never come back to Rome - that could only be a good thing. He got up to return to Alexius, glad to note that the slave immediately went to her to comfort her. She would be all right, in the end, he thought. @Atrice @Chevi - I thought I'd posted here but it looks like I lost my original reply without sending it. :(

He settled himself in the unfamiliar saddle, legs dangling in an equally unfamiliar way - he wondered what Tiberius would make of stirrups and decided it would be worth it to find out, one day. The stable master and other stablehands would probably think it beyond barbarian, but they hadn't managed to persuade Ignis to do anything worthwhile and so their opinion barely mattered. He kept his hands on Ignis' neck, allowing him to feel the contact, ignoring the reins for now. Reins were mostly for the rider to feel secure, and Jason had been an archer with his own people; nobody could draw a bow and hold the reins at the same time. He was as secure in the saddle as any Sarmatian, despite the lack of stirrups. He clicked his tongue. "Walk on, Ignis, my friend," he said, giving a gentle squeeze of the knees and releasing it as soon as he felt the horse move under him. He would follow Tiberius - it would be expected that the prince's body slave would be behind him, for one thing and for another, it would do Ignis the world of good to be behind a quieter, calmer horse. @Sarah