A Tale of Romans and Slaves | PJO/HOO

Chapter 8: Hazel

I stared at my wall.

While the rest of my family was meeting the new equites, I was here. All because I wasn't Lady Persephone's child.

My room was small, with nothing but a bed, a closet, and a rug. The symbol of family di-Angelo was painted on the wall, almost like a slap in the face. Rubbing in the fact that I had just as much di-Angelo blood as my siblings, and yet I wasn't one.

I lied down on my bed, so I was staring at the ceiling. I was bored, and I didn't have anyone to talk to. The guards were stiff, and only answered me when I asked a question. The slaves were too scared to talk to me, because my father had a reputation of whipping slaves for practically no reason. The only people who I could talk to were Nico and Bianca, and they were at dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I was hungry. I'm sure the slaves in the kitchen would give me something if I asked.

I stood up and walked out the door. The kitchen was at the other side of the manor, so it was a long walk. My father had a taste for black marble, so most of the manor was made of it. Eventually, I got there.

"Can I have some food please?" I asked a pretty girl.

"What would you like?" She asked.

"Anything would do," I replied. I didn't want the chefs to go through the hassle of making me something, but I knew they would.

"Okay," The girl hesitated, not knowing what to call me. I got that a lot. I wasn't a lady, so you couldn't call me m'lady, but I was also the Lord's daughter.

"Hazel," I said softly. "Call me Hazel."

"Okay," The girl said. "Hazel."

Then she took off. I sighed.

She came back a couple minutes later with a plate of chicken meat. I thanked her and left.

After I got back to my room, I sat down and ate. Then I went to sleep.

I dreamed of Sammy.

It was the day we met, when my father came back from the auction with him. He had been assigned to the tend to the gardens.

I had been reading, and he approached me. He obviously didn't know who I was, because he had flirted with me. But it was nice, having this boy talk to me as if I was just a girl, not a lord's bastard daughter.

He wasn't very attractive, but he had a certain aura that drew me to him. Also, he was funny. I felt like I could be myself around him.

I awoke with a start. I brought my knees to my chest and slowly rocked back and forth, trying to forget. Thinking of Sammy was painful, too painful. The scars on my wrists were proof of that.

Eventually, I fell back asleep, and thankfully didn't have any more dreams.

After I woke up, I changed into a clean dress, brushed my hair, and went up to breakfast. Much to Lady Persephone's dismay, I ate with my father and siblings.

The dining room was three flights up from mine. I was staring at my feet, making sure I wouldn't trip on my dress, when I smacked into something with an oof.

"Oh my! I am so sorry! I didn't see you!" I looked up to see a tall, black haired guy. I recognized him from the vow ceremony. He was one of my fathers new equites.

"Oh, it's was my fault," I said. "I was looking down, I should have seen you coming."

"No, it's mine. I was looking up," He said. His eyes widened, and I knew he just realized who I am.

"Oh my God, you're Hazel!" He said. "Lord Hades daughter."

"Bastard daughter," I corrected.

"Yeah, but still his daughter," He replied.

We both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds.

"Well, I should be getting to breakfast," I said.

"Yeah, me too," He said.

"Uh, well it was nice to meet you," I said.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you too, Hazel," He said. "I'm Frank, by the way."

"Well, bye Frank," I said with a curtsy.

"Bye, Hazel," He said with a bow, which was really unnecessary but I let him do it. I felt nice to be bowed too.

Then we both walked away, leaving our very awkward conversation behind.