Jump to content

Following Up


Sara

Recommended Posts

He didn't know if he could trust her to not tell his father anything about today - and according to what she just suggested, he could indeed not trust her. He felt sorry for her and her position, but there wasn't much he could do. Except for that thought of taking her and Peregrinus away from Rome, but he wasn't sure if she would risk it. So either he'd have to take Peregrinus on his own and kidnap her, or something. Wasn't there something about that in certain parts Britannia, or so he heard? That men would steal their wives. Not that he planned on marrying Charis, what mattered most was his little brother. But he would have to put some more thoughts into all that. 

Charis claimed he wouldn't understand what it was like for her, for he had not been a slave. No, he hadn't, this was true. But he didn't believe that just because you were a slave you lost your will and your mind and your dreams. She was more than just a slave. Even if she claimed she wasn't.

"If you see you like this, like only stupid slave, then it is what you is. Are. I am sorry, if you do." He said, "I am sorry, that you not see yourself as more. I sure your friends see it. Also your son, my brother, will see it. I see it." He replied. Where was this going anyway? The conversation took a different turn than expected! "You need remember, I am not your master. I know you are slave, but I know you are more, also. It will not be different."

@Sara

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charis listened with a shake of her head and tears welling in her eyes. She came here to find out about him not to be the subject of his interrogations, or his morals! She sniffed, annoyed and aggrieved and pushed her hands through her braid again, fingers getting stuck in the twists. "Stop it! Stop it, Wulfric." She shook her head vehemently, upset. 

"I have come to terms with what I am," Her voice was choked and furious, "I was locked in a room for months until I understood who I was and what I was and you do not get to come here and tell me something different." What a difference a year makes. She would have laughed at a slave who said such a thing, once upon a time. But Tertius was good and knew exactly how to get under his skin. He might not have used a lash or his fists, but he had broken her and whilst she'd recovered somewhat from the state she'd been in when she first came out of her room, she would never be quite the same again. This conversation was a testament to that. Besides she was no longer important - Peregrinus was the key and that meant accepting who she was now in the hopes it would give him a better life, no matter how much it chafed her. 

"I think I should go." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I...I'm sorry." She didn't know why she said that - was she sad she'd disappointed him?

 

TAG: @Atrice

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her outburst now surprised him. He only wanted to make her feel better! He hated that his little brother’s mother thought of herself as nothing but a stupid slave, and he could respect and accept her as more than that. Even if his father did not. But he was not his father, that much was obvious. He was very much not his father, in fact! Yet Charis seemed very upset now, asking him to stop and telling him how she’d come to terms with what she was.

 She spoke of being locked in a room for months and that made her learn, so he couldn’t tell her anything different. Wulfric wasn’t sure what to do. This was unexpected, her outburst, her honesty. But then she seemed to collect herself again and spoke of going. What a turn this took. Earlier, Wulfric was upset. And now she was. He felt bad about it though, he didn’t mean to make her feel like that.

 “No, I am sorry. To make you feel this.” He said then, softly, “Was it… was it my father, locked you in a room?” That surprised him too, to hear his father might do such a thing. It was horrible. There had probably been a reason, but it was beyond him why you’d lock anyone up in a room for months unless they’d done something criminal. And surely a sweet young woman like Charis would not do something so bad. Would she? His brother’s mother? And if she would, what did that mean for the future of his brother… that was something he’d have to ponder.

@Sara

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charis frowned at him. He was suddenly nice? She swallowed a scoff. Perhaps he was as much an actress as she was and this was a front, but as he posed his question she doubted it. He sounded genuinely surprised; as if the notion a master couldn't do whatever they wanted with a slave hadn't occurred or reached him. She gave him a quizzical look and nodded her head slightly, tears drying around her eyes. 

"It was long ago." She countered with another pit forming in her stomach - perhaps she was speaking too much? "And I deserved it, and he has since forgiven me and I have learned my place." Tertius couldn't take offence to that, surely, if Wulfric did go behind her back and repeat it...right? She raised a balled up fist to wipe at her eyes and sniffed again. "I've taken up too much of your time." She said with a weak smile, "Thank you for indulging me." 

 

TAG: @Atrice

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was a strange meeting, they both seemed to have gone through a myriad of emotions. And you didn't do that unless the other person got under your skin somehow. Was that a good or a bad thing? He felt he knew Charis better now. And he thought he knew enough about his father, but then she mentioned being locked up for months and he didn't expect that! Hadn't she said before, that she didn't want his pity? But she had it, despite her anger and her words about how he should go back to Germania. He still wasn't sure she wanted him here, but he did feel bad for her. She looked at him with a frown, then confirmed her own story. Though she said it was long ago and she deserved it... and she'd learned her place.

It was hard though, to hear that his father had done such a thing. He knew the Romans could be strange with their slaves and some really liked to show who was dominant over the other, but locking a sweet young woman like Charis in a room for months? How did she deserve that? But he didn't dare ask, not yet. Maybe if he met her again, but he wasn't sure if he would. She didn't seem very fond of him. And especially now she might not be. But she was right, she had taken up a lot of his time and this was probably a good place to end their meeting, before he'd make her cry again.

"Yes... I do think I need go back to work." Wulfric said, looking back towards the warehouse, "I am sorry, for this meeting. I did think..." What did he think? He hadn't expected it, but he had liked her and hoped they'd get along. Now he wasn't sure...

"I hope you will not hate me." He then said, "Also, I am sorry... for what he did. I would not." 

@Sara

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Also, I am sorry... for what he did. I would not." 

But she didn't know that for sure and she gave him a sad smile. Tertius was impossible to read and harder still to understand. She thought she'd understood Wulfric that day in the domus but suspicion had creeped in and after this conversation she was positive there was something lurking underneath. He might not have had the mean streak like his father, but he was not entirely honest, even she could see that. 

"I will see you around, sir." She inclined her head and paused - about to add that she hoped Peregrinus might get to know his brother, but stopped herself, slamming her mouth shut again. Instead, she nodded again and then turned on her heel and walking out and away from the warehouse, ignoring the looks the men who worked there gave her. All she could think on her long walk home was; how am I going to explain this to Tertius? 

 

TAG: @Atrice

- FIN!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...