Behind the Scenes

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Antheia's reaction was everything that Volusa could have wanted and she smiled at the older woman. 

"I come here as often as my duties allow, but I'm with the mistress more than any of her other slaves except Cynane, who's her bodyguard," she said. Antheia would probably be able to be out here more than Volusa, because her own duties would allow her more free time than  Volusa  generally got.

 

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"As often as I can," Volusa replied. "You'll probably have more chance than me to come here, though - I'm the mistress' body slave which means I'm with her nearly all the time, and sleep in her room."

It curtailed the freedom to come and go which she had had as just another palace slave back before she'd been given the responsibility of serving the princess exclusively, but that lack of freedom did have the benefit of putting her above most of the other palace slaves, with the exception of those slaves who attended the other members of the Imperial Family.

"The only time we shouldn't be here is if we're wanted elsewhere, or if someone in the family is out here, but that doesn't happen very often."

She looked at the older woman, who was looking a bit happier than she had earlier, and dared add, "If you want to ask me - anything, you can."

 

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Edited August 20, 2021 by Sharpie

[locutus-sum]

Antheia couldn't help but take a sweeping look around the garden, just to make sure they were alone. Asking the question she was about to ask could get a slave into difficulty, so she'd heard.

"Is the Domina..." she swallowed. "Well, is she kind to you?"

Ordinarily, Antheia would not have dared ask such a thing, but something about Volusa's confidential tone invited it. For some reason, the girl seemed trustworthy.

@SharpieApologies for the delay!!

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Volusa had been prepared to be asked something more personal - had she always been a slave, how had she got the position of the mistress' body slave - and while the query was none of those, it was one that really should not be asked anywhere the family or any other free person should overhear. She should have expected it, really.

"Yes," she said, simply. "Very - she won't put up with nonsense or anything, but she's very kind. I think you'll like her."

She certainly hoped Antheia would, anyway - she was not blind to the mistress' faults, but nor would she follow her blindly, two extremes that personal slaves could often fall into. Volusa had spent her life in servitude in the Palace and was familiar with both the hero-worshipping sort of slave and those that treated their masters with disdain when out of their sight. She had little time for either sort, and hoped that Antheia would not turn out to be either, though she didn't think the older woman seemed to be that type of person.

 

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"Oh, that's good to hear," said Antheia, feeling genuinely relaxed for the first time in a while. She just hoped the mistress' definition of 'nonsense' was the same as everyone else's. If having her judgements questioned counted, teaching her anything about philosophy would be a Sisyphean task. But Volusa seemed like a sensible girl, and she doubted she would have praised Claudia so highly if the latter was indeed prone to bouts of unreasonableness.

A pause. She'd now exhausted all possible lines of detached inquiry, so Antheia decided to initiate a more personal conversation.

"So you're verna, then, I suppose?" she asked casually.

@Sharpie sooo sorry for the delay, life has been a whirlwind!!!

 

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Well, there it was - they had totally run out of all possible innocuous subjects and it was only natural that Antheia try to sound Volusa out about her background and her own place here.

"Yes," she said simply. "My parents are both slaves here, I was brought up in the Palace." It made it easier and harder at the same time - and she had been witness to some of the events leading up to the civil war, although she'd been very young and kept as much out of view of the principal members of the household as possible, whoever wore the purple at the time.

Even now, she rarely saw the Emperor himself ever, and when she did it was usually at a distance. Though that might change with the new Emperor being Titus, Quintus' son.

Nothing that Volusa needed to worry about, anyway.

"What about you? You, uh, sound Greek." Which meant very little, really, except that she'd lived in Achaia, but whether as a free person or a slave, Volusa couldn't tell.

 

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[locutus-sum]

So Volusa still saw her parents regularly, and had grown up here. "That's nice, that you can see them still," Antheia commented out loud with a smile. A nice life, then, or so she supposed. One never liked to assume these things with any slave, though. "I suppose this place really does feel like home to you." No wonder she was so unfazed by all the hustle, bustle and splendour. Antheia knew it would be a long time before she herself grew used to it.

She smiled slightly at the younger woman's observations on her accent, though she was not offended. Antheia was well aware that her Latin pronunciation was less that perfect, despite having lived most of her life in Rome. Her old master had encouraged her to speak Greek as much as possible in her work as a tutor to improve his young daughter's speaking skills, and she had spent most of her free time talking to Aristo in their native tongue.

"Yes, I was born in Athens and came to Rome-" well, taken to Rome was more accurate - "when the city was sacked. I was about ten. I've lived here ever since. Rome feels like home for me, too." At least, her old domina's house had felt like home. But that was in the past. No use dwelling on it. This was home now.

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"It's all I've known," Volusa admitted. She knew her way around the service corridors of the Palace - and even some of the more decorated public and private areas of it - but would get completely turned around if left to her own devices out in the streets of Rome itself. The Palatine with its houses and temples that were all for the use of the Imperial family were all the home she needed.

Her mental picture of Athens resembled Rome, though perhaps with fewer hills.

"It's busy, here, but you get used to it," she said. "If you get really lost, ask for me, or Cynane - or Helenus, who's my brother and could find his way around if he was blindfolded."

 

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[locutus-sum]

"Oh, you have a brother at the palace? Do you see him often? What's his job?" Antheia studied Volusa's face, taking note of the features, the distance between them. Perhaps she'd recognise Helenus if she saw him around just from the similarity. How pleasant it must be to come across a face so like your own that a smile feels like a kind of reassurance nobody else could give. It was a long time since Antheia had felt that. Not that she remembered the feeling, though she must have felt it sometime.

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"Yes. I see him fairly often - he's a house slave, does all the usual sort of things house slaves do. You might see him when the princess receives a message, he usually brings those unless he's busy doing something else."

Volusa had a sneaking suspicion he positioned himself to be visible when messages were to be brought to Claudia; his way of checking on his sister even if they couldn't really speak to each other at those times. They managed to talk at other times, though; the advantages of knowing how the palace ran.

There was a sort of wistfulness in Antheia's face and Volusa impulsively reached out to touch her arm. "I'm sure you'll make friends here;  it might be busy but people are friendly, when they can take time to talk."

And Antheia seemed nice enough. Volusa was sure she wouldn't be lonely for long.

 

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Antheia initally started at the touch on her arm but caught herself before snatching it away and let Volusa's hand rest there for a second. She could relax here. It was clear Volusa did not represent a threat, but rather, Antheia hoped, a potential friend.

"I'm sure I will; if everyone is as welcoming as you have been, I am sure to." She smiled genuinely at the younger woman. "Well, thanks for showing me round."

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