Long time no see

[Sharpie]

March 77AD

 

It was three months since Jason's master had moved to the villa situated within the Gardens of Sallust. Three months since Jason had really had much contact with any of the Palace slaves. It was a bit of a strange feeling, coming back to a place that had been home... Well, no, not 'home' per se, but more... familiar territory, the place where he'd lived, spent his daily life...

Tiberius had come to visit his sister, who had stayed in the Domus Augustorum (probably, Jason suspected, because she knew that Tiberius and his friend, being young men, needed their own space. Not that Titus Augustus didn't, but the sprawling Palatine complex was rather bigger than the Villa of Sallust, and that wasn't exactly small). The Palatine complex easily rivalled any of the villages Jason had ever visited before his capture.

He wondered if he could make his way to the stables; it had been a little while since he had been there, and he suspected it would be some time before Tiberius needed him. The corridors and courtyards of the Palatine were familiar to him, but he hadn't got far before he saw a familiar blond woman, and changed his plans. The horses would keep, it was equally long since he'd really been able to chat with the woman he had exchanged blood with, his blood sister.

"Cinnia!"

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

In January, months ago already, Cynane experienced some grand changes in her life and her daily routine. First of all, Tiberius decided to move out of the palace and of course he took his body slave with him. Tirañes could no longer easily be found in the palace, but instead he lived in the villa in the Gardens of Sullust. And it was in those gardens, that she often met with her best friend Charis. But there had been changes there too. Suddenly her friend, after only a few years in Rome, was free and married and her child was free too. She claimed things didn't have to change between them, but how could they not? When one was a slave and the other was not. When one had been a slave in Rome for almost 15 years, almost half of her life, while the other had not experienced it for that long. She should be happy for her friend. And she was, a part of her was. But another still felt strange about it. 

So life was what it was, kind of lonely sometimes. Of course she had Claudia, whom she always appreciated, and there was also Volusa, although she seemed almost too concerned sometimes. Cynane went back to spending most of her time just working, doing what she had to do, and then going to the baths and so on, when she had free time for it. But there really wasn't much to life. Today she stood guard outside Claudia's chambers, as her mistress had a visit from her brother, but she didn't know if Tiberius brought his body slave with him too. Yet then suddenly, she heard a familiar voice call out for her, using her real name.

"Tirañes!" She said with smile, "It's been too long! How have you been?" 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Jason said. "I've been... busy. How about you?"

Busy was an understatement, really - between helping a disparate random collection of (mostly) citizens catch a killer, teaching Tiberius how to work with horses in the Sarmatian fashion (and working with one of the most incredibly beautiful and intelligent horses he'd ever met). It was still beyond astonishing that he was able to ride Ignis himself, even, if he wanted to when Tiberius didn't need him. Not that he'd had much opportunity to do so, really, as a large amount of his limited free time had been spent with the ragtag bunch of citizens who were trying to catch a killer. They had succeeded, eventually, more by luck than anything and the bastard was now safely incarcerated in the Tullianum, somewhere in a hole in the ground. He could rot there, for all Jason cared, though part of him was looking forward to seeing him torn apart by wild animals or something, maybe at the Cerealia celebrations next month.

"I think my master and your mistress are going to be a while, shall we find somewhere to talk? Unless you think Claudia might need you?" There was a courtyard garden nearby, where they could talk in relative privacy and yet still be within call if needed - even Tiberius' usual quiet summons would be heard there.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

She wanted to embrace him, but that wouldn't be proper in the middle of a hallway in the palace. Not even between two slaves. They both served members of the Imperial family and whatever they did, fell back on their mistress and master. But she was happy to see him, which her smile probably also showed. He explained that he'd been busy and wondered how she had been.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happening here." She said, trying not to sound too bored, but it didn't feel like she was going anywhere. At least Jason had a new place to live now. Cynane was just still here, in the palace, serving Claudia and nothing ever happened there. And considering the rest of her life, that was kind of in ruins too. So it was good to see a friendly face like Jason's. He suggested they found somewhere to talk. Somewhere more private, she assumed.

"If she's going to need me, she can just send someone to find me." Cynane said, "Let's find a place. Perhaps not too far away though." She suggested and gestured for him to begin walking, "I'm looking forwards to finding out what's kept you so busy, other than your master of course."  

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Cinnia's bland statement made Jason smile - slaves weren't supposed to make things difficult for their owners, though there were plenty who did, in subtle ways nobody could quite complain about.

"There's a courtyard close by, we'll hear if they call," he said, though Cinnia knew the layout of the Palatine complex as well as he did - all the villas, temples, libraries, offices, service quarters, stables... Well, perhaps not the stables; he wasn't sure if the princess rode or not, especially since that particular day.

The courtyard was the place where they had had their first proper conversation, and shed blood to bind them to one another as brother and sister.

Jason indicated the bench, letting Cinnia sit before settling down himself. "Tiberius is... I knew he was unusual, but didn't realise just how unusual... He's asked me to teach him to ride, in the Sarmatian fashion." There was that slow smile again. "Well, as much as possible - I don't think anyone can learn to ride properly if they haven't done it since they were small."

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Claudia knew that Cynane was a loyal slave - though loyal to her mistress mostly, unless she was ordered to do something else. And she was sure that while Tiberius was busy with Claudia, the two would not mind that she spoke a little with her brother. Even if they didn't know about that and shouldn't either. Jason and Cynane or Tirañes and Cinnia were just two slaves who happened to get along. Claudia knew that Cynane would be there the instant she was ordered to come. But there were also the praetorians watching over her mistress. It would be fine, that she left for a brief while.

Tirañes mentioned a courtyard nearby and she knew which one he meant. Not only because it was close by, but because this was where they first really talked and where they shared blood. It held meaning. She thought about it every time she walked by. So Cynane nodded and together they walked towards the courtyard. It didn't take long and she gave him a smile, when he offered she could sit first. As a slave and even a female slave, she was never allowed to sit first. Now she was curious however, to hear about what Tirañes had been doing. He explained that his master had asked him to teach him how to ride a horse. 

She smiled again at his words, "Maybe you should teach me your way as well. I can ride a horse. But I only learned as a young woman in Britannia and after I was captured, it was years before I did it again." Actually not until she came to belong to Claudia and had to accompany her, when she chose to ride... this was about Tirañes however... "How come he asked you to teach him?" 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Everyone will end up using stirrups, it'll cause a stir," he said. "I don't understand why they don't use them - they know about us, and the Parthians." He caught sight of her face and shook his head, bemused at the blank look. "They don't even have a word for them, do they?" he said, realising he'd used the Sarmatian word. How to describe what stirrups were?

"There are different forms, but they all do basically the same thing. There's a strap fastened to the saddle at one end with a loop or metal plate at the other end, for your foot. The best ones have an adjustable strap. It means that a rider can stand up in the saddle if they need to."

He pulled his heel up onto the bench and clasped his hands around his knee. "I don't know how well you know Tiberius, but he's always curious, always wants to know things. So he asked me about where I come from, about my people, and almost as soon as I said about being nomads and horsemen, he took me to the stables. I thought he was just going to let me see the horses - I was more surprised than anyone when he said we were going for a ride."

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

She couldn't help but smile, as Tirañes kept on talking about stirrups for horseback riding. He seemed so passionate about it all, describing it, explaining it. Cynane had never used them, not in Britannia and not here in Rome either. She had her strong thighs, as her mother would have said. She recalled her mother at home in Britannia, claiming women might make better riders than men, if only allowed. They weren't afraid of something between their legs being crushed, and women had to have strong thighs, for how else would they stand giving birth? Not that Cynane ever had that issue. But Tirañes was sweet, talking about something that clearly meant something. She let him talk. He said Tiberius was curious and wanted to know things and had asked into his story and his people.

How lucky he was, to have an owner that actually seemed to care about him. Who asked into his story, who took him for a ride when realizing he could. Her smile faded a little, she felt stuck, she never got anywhere in any direction, she was just here. For the rest of her life, most likely. And Tirañes was all she had.

"I'm glad to hear he favors you so. As he should. They don't all do this." She said, "So you've been busy riding and teaching your master how to do so. That's good. I'm happy for you." And she was. It wasn't that she envied him. She couldn't do what he was doing now. But she could do so much more than what she did. 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

It was so easy to talk about things with Cinnia, though he noticed that her smile shrank as he continued talking. He could guess that cause of that, too - Tiberius had given him something he treasured, but Cinnia was in the same place, the same position, doing the same things, as always.

"I wish... I wish things were different, for you," he said. It had been eight years - more! - before anyone had asked him about his past, and done something like that. But Cinnia had been here longer without anything similar. "I would love to teach you - everyone should be able to ride."

Back home, of course, everyone could and it was unheard of for someone to not ride. Anyone who couldn't ride took up space in the wagons, which were much slower and more cumbersome than the free-ranging men and women on horseback. Those who couldn't ride were the very young, the very old or the infirm, and Cinnia was none of those.

"So... what have you been up to recently?" he asked, not wanting to rub her nose in his good fortune.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Claudia was a lovely mistress and Cynane was happy to guard her. And happy to be with her, when they were together. She couldn't deny she felt something for the young woman, something more than just Claudia being her mistress. But it had been like it was now for years, since Cynane was given to her. Nothing changed. And she didn't think at the moment that anything would ever change. She didn't know that Tirañes noticed the change of her expression, but then he said he wished things were different for her. And he'd love to teach her how to ride.

"I know how to ride, but not with the stirrups. Maybe they wouldn't let us, though. What if we never came back from the ride?" She said with a small smirk, although it was just a dream and a fantasy. Though sometimes she did consider if it was worth it anyway. It was either the rest of her life as a slave, the possibility of freedom as a fugitive or maybe death. She knew what she thought was the best of those options.

"Not much really, mostly guarding the princess." She said, but then there was something. And she had no one but him to talk to... "I did see my friend Charis a little while ago. Did I tell you about her? She's slave to a Praetor. Or, she was. He's horrible, he has abused and mistreated her in the past. Badly. And well, she was a slave, but he freed her. And calls her his wife now." She inhaled a breath, felt like she needed it, after all of that. And now she thought about, despite what happened to Charis lately, at least she too experienced a kind of progress. 

@Sara

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Going for a ride and not coming back from it... it was a tempting thought, extremely tempting. Although Tiberius' outright telling Jason that he trusted him had done a number on his head. It wasn't as though he'd never thought about running away, it was just that the cold light of day had always thrown cold water over any idea about it, and now he'd found his cousin and felt responsible for his safety. And there was Cinnia to think about, too, now.

He wouldn't run away - home was so far away, and he'd been on a boat for some of the journey anyway, so didn't even know if it was possible to get home by land. And now he had the added complication of knowing that Tiberius trusted him, which just made him want to live up to that trust... Well, that was a mind game if ever there was one!

Though he somehow didn't think that Tiberius had meant it in any other way than utterly, completely sincerely - the whole conversation had been nothing but totally and utterly sincere, after that first awful misunderstanding.

"Charis? No, I don't think you mentioned her. Is she a friend of yours from home?" He hoped so, he hoped that Cinnia had someone from her home, as he had Azarion, now.

"Why don't you start at the beginning, it sounds like a long story. Or a complicated one." And one that Cinnia was angry or upset about, from the way she had jumped from one thing to another in a few short words.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

It was very tempting to go for a ride and just never come back, which was why she probably shouldn't even be allowed to try. Of course she had people she cared about to consider too, but... she was tired of this life. It had been more or less half of her life now, and she wanted to be free, still. But she was going nowhere and she'd even almost fallen out with the woman she considered her sister in Rome. She decided to tell him about Charis and he went quiet and listened and asked where he knew her from, "No... or... she's from Britannia. But we met in Rome, as slaves." She explained, before he continued trying to ask into what was happening.

"The beginning is so far away." She said, "I think she was lost, and I helped her. And we became friends. She was a new slave back then and she hated her master. The man that's now her husband. So one day we met, drank wine and a stranger joined us and she spoke openly about her dislike for her master. The stranger then went and told her master about it." She rolled her eyes, "And then he got angry. Abused her. Punished her. Then he made her his bed slave... yet she turned pregnant and got sick..." She knew why, but it was a very personal matter, "And he got angry about that too. So he locked her up. Now she had the child, whom he's named his heir and then he freed her to call her his wife. I imagine the Romans consider it scandalous. I just... worry about her. Her husband has mistreated her so badly. It doesn't seem fair, that she's now forced to act like a devoted little wife to him. She's tied to him, no matter what. After all he's done." She sighed again, recalling how emotional it had been, the day Charis told her all about what happened... "Bloody Romans, right?" 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Jason let out a breath. It had taken a while to get used to it - he hated that it seemed that he had got used to it! - but taking everything else into consideration, where he had ended up wasn't in a bad place, with a bad master. It could be worse, far worse, and he could have a far worse master than Tiberius.

Meeting someone from home, wherever 'home' was, gave a solid sort of connection. If Azarion had been unrelated to him, just another Sarmatian, that alone would have been a connection - someone who understood his own language, knew the same gods, had the same connection with horses. Losing that connection - well that was the reason the Romans did it, wasn't it, split people up and made sure they didn't have those links with anyone from the same place.

Cinnia's friend sounded like an innocent - Jason had been aware enough, even in the early days, not to spill too much of his thoughts and feelings to people he didn't know. There were always tell-tales among slaves, people who tried to curry favour by telling the overseer - or even the master himself -  about the stupid things slaves complained about without actually telling them anything useful, or that they might want to do something about.

"It sounds... horrible. Complicated." He shrugged. You think you had begun to understand them and then one of them went and did something like that. "Right. Bloody Romans."

Was this the sort of thing Tiberius wanted to encourage? Discourage? Ignore completely? Where on his scale of 'not fair' would this sort of thing land, in short?

"How are you, with all of that? It's - horrible, to watch that from the outside." He shuddered, unable to prevent the memories of that horrible day that he and Azarion were enslaved from rising - the sheer helplessness of watching what the Romans did to the other prisoners was something he wouldn't wish on anyone, yet he could see echoes of it in Cinnia's face. He reached to clasp her hand, to offer companionship and understanding, the only thing he was able to give her.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Jason was right. To her it seemed they had both been lucky for the time being, when it came to whom their Roman master and mistress was. Both Claudia and Tiberius seemed calm and kind and they were certainly nothing like Charis' master. Now husband. She told Jason the whole story, at least what she knew of it, and it brought all the emotions back from the last time she saw Charis. Where she learned her friend had been freed and was now the wife to the man who had abused her. It was so wrong. So wrong. She could both understand it and not grasp it at all. When she was done, Jason commented how horrible it was.

But instead of now asking more into it, he wondered how Cynane felt about it all. She blinked, unprepared for such a question. Fuck, was she going to cry again? See, this was what Charis did to her. She cared about her friend. Deeply. They'd named each other sisters. And now there was a rift between them and no one but Jason asked into how she was feeling. She felt his hand wrap around hers then and felt her breath hitch for a moment.

"Not very good." She managed, "I don't know how it is with you, but I don't have a myriad of people to call close friends here. She was one of few. I've done my best for her. To be there for her. And then this happens. And I can't do anything about it." She hated being a slave and she hated that she'd grown so attached to someone, that it caused her to feel so emotional when talking about it. 

Then it dawned on her what she just said. She was one of few. Was? She blinked again, unable to stop the tears. Bloody Romans indeed.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"I don't have many friends here, either," Jason murmured, and let his friend, his sister, continue speaking. "I've got you, and Azarion, and - that's all."

Cinnia's shoulders shook then and he adjusted his position to wrap his arms around her, not knowing quite what to say. He and Cinnia were from very different places and different tribes, yet they understood one another in a way few people did. They had entered their respective masters' service on the same day, he'd found - both being given as a gift for their owner's sixteenth birthday, and as Claudia Caesaris and Tiberius were twins, well. So they'd had a connection even before, not that they'd really known it.

"You can let her know you're still there for her," he added, once the worst of the sobs were over. "True friends - it doesn't matter the distance, what happens. There's always something, between true friends."

He had been too lost, too full of anger and hate, to make any friends when he'd first been enslaved, but he couldn't help remembering his childhood friend. He hoped Iazad had done everything they'd planned to, and was still living wild and free - someone needed to be. He'd probably forgotten Tiranês completely, or thought he was dead. He hoped that his old friend hadn't been witness to the humiliations the Romans had heaped on him.

"I'm sure your friend will always be your friend, even if circumstances are hard right now," he said, bringing himself back to the here and now.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Gods! She hated feeling weak. Especially here in Rome. Cynane never appeared weak to anyone here. And yet now she was, because of all this talk about Charis. And how it all made Cynane feel. It wasn't loud, the way she cried, but more the silent kind. She tried to stop herself, tried to force them away, the tears, while Jason said something about not having many friends in Rome either. And then she felt his arms around her. As if that helped, as if that made the tears stop. She buried her face in his neck, in a way she might not have done with anyone in a long time. Years maybe. Her head throbbed and her heart felt like it was aching. Gods, Tirañes... 

But it also felt nice, to be held like this. Comfortable. They were quiet for a while, until he said that she should let Charis know she was there for her. And that no matter what happened, true friends were there for good. And that she and Charis would always be friends.

"I hope so. For now, I think I need time. We both do." She said with a sigh and pulled away, tried to dry the last tears away, "Apologies, I didn't mean to... act like this." And they were even here in the palace, it was a good thing no one saw. She could just imagine how the praetorians would laugh if they'd seen her cry... "It's all so solid and hard here, isn't it? I mean... Rome is. It's all marble and stone and brick and metal, there's no space for anything not hard." Maybe it was her way of saying there was no space for weakness here in Rome. And she certainly could not be seen as weak. She hoped Tirañes wouldn't think less of her because he'd now seen her like this.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"There's no space for - anything," Jason said. "Too many buildings, too many people..." He had lived among Romans for nearly nine years and in Rome itself for five (well, nearly five) of them, and still felt stifled.

"I miss having a horizon," he said. There was nowhere in Rome that anyone could go to catch a proper glimpse of any sort of horizon, never mind the endless horizon of the steppe. "Don't apologise - you don't need to apologise. You're not made of stone, after all. Not like that nymph there." He indicated a statue nearby that depicted one of the countless Roman deities.

"It's all so... crowded in, and as you say, solid and hard. There's no space to just... breathe."

He wondered if Tiberius and his sister would go out to the country this summer - they often did, but things had changed, with Titus now being the emperor and maybe they wouldn't. But it would be a change of scenery, at least, and a relief from the hardness and closed-in feeling of the city.

"I don't know whether I've missed riding, archery or just seeing the horizon the most," he confessed. He was lucky, extremely lucky, to have a master who trusted him enough to allow him access to the stables and the horses there almost whenever he chose, and he knew he was. He was not ever going to take that for granted, nor was he going to rub anyone's face in it.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Her blood-brother agreed that there wasn't much space for anything in Rome and there was no horizon. She nodded. There wasn't. She'd seen it sometimes, when she accompanied Claudia outside of Rome, but she wasn't allowed to enjoy it out there. After all, she was a slave and she was working. And always alert near her mistress. She would never forget that day they were attacked and would prefer that such an incident was not repeated, ever. So even when she did see the horizon, she couldn't be soft and just... enjoy it. Tirañes said she should not apologize for her behavior, because she wasn't made of stone.

"Maybe it would be easier if I was made of stone." Cynane mused, "I wonder if we'll ever get that chance again. To breathe, as you say." She added, looking up at the walls of the palace that surrounded them. Meanwhile Tirañes wondered what he missed the most.

"I don't know what I miss most either. Maybe just... something else than this. Being able to make my own decisions and choices. My body being mine." Her mind, her thoughts they couldn't steal from her, but her body belonged to the Romans. She looked at him with a small smile, "How miserable we both sound now. Perhaps we should focus on other things. Has anything good happened in your life recently? Besides teaching your master how to handle a horse?" 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"I found my cousin - but I think I already told you that?" He readjusted his foot on the edge of the bench. "And we helped catch a murderer." He had more freedom than Cinnia did - as Tiberius' body slave there were times when he wasn't needed, places his master went (such as the Curia) where he wasn't allowed, which meant that there were times he could do his own thing - visit Azarion, if his cousin wasn't busy. Cinnia was unlikely to have that - she was her mistress' bodyguard, so where Claudia was, Cinnia was.

He told her the story, from the first message he'd received from the faction leader of the Whites (well, no, that was wrong. The message had been sent to Tiberius, requesting the loan of his slave) to helping Ovinia - very carefully leaving her name out - to the final capture of the man.

"He's a citizen, I don't know how the Romans execute citizens who are criminals," he said. He would have to ask Tiberius what, exactly, was going to happen to whatever-his-name-was (and who cared about the name? Once dead, he'd be nameless and forgotten, as far as Jason was concerned).

"It's a shame what happened, but he's caught, at least. Though I'm not exactly sure I had much to do with it, not really." He looked at Cinnia; she hadn't had a run-in with him to his knowledge, but it was possible - or her friends might have.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

She nodded, he did tell her he met his cousin. But then he suddenly spoke of catching a murderer and now she arched a brow. She hadn't heard about that whole ordeal and was curious and of course Tirañes went on to tell her the whole story. Cynane stayed quiet while he spoke, surprised and honestly a bit stunned to hear all of that. How on Earth did such a beast wander the streets of Rome for not weeks or months, but years? What were the urban cohorts and the fucking vigiles doing? Sitting around doing nothing to protect the people of Rome, it seemed. Tirañes did only mention one vigile helping out in the case with the murderer, but it would appear it was more of a personal matter to him than anything else. Somehow. And Tirañes got himself involved because of his cousin.

When he seemed to be finishing, she inhaled a breath, she barely realized she'd almost held it, she had stayed quiet and listened, after all. It was quite the tale! 

"You had something to do with it. Your cousin was attacked. And his friend too. Without you, they would never be heard." She said and put a hand on his arm, "You may not have done much, but between you and the rest of that odd gang of yours... you've done more than the people who were supposed to keep Rome safe." Cynane said with a smile to him, "I'm glad he's caught. But if there's one, I wonder if there's more." There most likely was, and who was to do something about that?

"I hope he gets a public execution. But I'm not sure how the Romans deal with it either. It's not like they involve people like us. But maybe you can influence your master?" 

@Sharpie

Edited October 20, 2022 by Atrice

[Sharpie]

"I'm not sure Tiberius appreciated being dragged into it like that," Jason said wryly, and shrugged with a lop-sided grin. "Though I think they'd have found a way to speak to him anyway." Some of them had links of one sort or another to Tiberius, and it would only take a petition to make an appointment to be heard.

But none of them would have been able to go right into his private room and wake him there and then. Something Tiberius definitely hadn't appreciated at the time, and Jason didn't think he was happy about being forced into making a decision without a trial.

"I hope he does, too. I hope it's painful." Azarion had gone through too much and this was the only person who'd hurt him who would likely ever get punished for it (though the execution wouldn't be because he'd hurt Azarion but because he'd hurt a bunch of free women and killed a senator. Still, it was something).

He'd surprised himself with the viciousness of his words and let out a breath. "It doesn't seem fair, at all, that nobody ever suffers because they made us suffer, but only because other Romans did."

It wasn't fair that he'd hurt Ovinia, twice. It wasn't fair that Azarion's friend had been killed and nobody had done a damn thing about it.

He was tired of life not being fair.

"It's going to be at the Cerealia games. I don't know what they'll come up with, but they're bloody inventive enough." It wouldn't be crucifixion, though. That particular indignity was reserved for people who weren't citizens.

 

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Cynane let out a little huff, when he said Tiberius didn't like being dragged into it. Well, pity for him. Tirañes and his friends had helped comprehend a murderer and violator and it was only right and just that a man of such a high rank as Tiberius dealt with it. Tiberius wasn't the worst Roman she ever met, but she didn't feel bad about Tirañes waking him up at all. They agreed about a public and painful execution for the killer. But then he changed subject and she looked at him and put a hand on his.

"It isn't fair. But we're the lowest of low here." She said with a sigh, "You'll have to imagine how they should suffer. I fear if we do anything, we'll be the ones in worse pain." Since that's how it worked here in Rome. That's why she never really fought back, no matter how much she wanted to. She knew they'd catch her and they would make sure she knew to not harm Romans again. And she wasn't quite ready to die just yet. Fucking Romans.

Tirañes then said the execution would be at the Cerealia games. She nodded, "They are, at least they've got that going for them. I suppose you'll be there? If Tiberius sets it in motion." 

@Sharpie

 

[Sharpie]

Jason turned his hand to grasp hers. Life wasn't fair, he knew that fact intimately. If life were fair even in the slightest degree, he and Azarion would still be riding free and wild on the steppe and Cinnia would doubtless have a husband and children of her own in her own village in Britannia.

"If life were truly fair, we probably wouldn't have ever met, you and me," he told her, putting his thought into words, and shrugged. "Not quite the very lowest of the low - we're personal slaves to members of the imperial family." He gave her a wry grin. "But then, it doesn't matter whether it's made of marble or wood, a table is still a table." And they were both still slaves.

He nodded in response to her question. "He won't relish it like some Romans enjoy watching that sort of thing. But he'll want to see it through now that he's part of it and responsible for it, and of course I'll be there if he's there." It would be the only part of the programme Jason himself would enjoy; he was not a bloodthirsty sort of person but he knew how his friend's death had affected Azarion, and he'd seen the results of the monster's attacks first-hand when he'd found Ovinia Camilla and helped her get home.

 

@Atrice