The Greek Princess

Chapter VI

Chapter VI

Lycus

I waited a few more minutes outside the door, waiting until there was a lull in the conversation. It came, and I entered.

My master looked up from the scroll he'd been studying. "Ah, Lycus. Everything is in order, I trust?"

I kept my gaze downward as I answered him, "Indeed, my lord."

The master nodded and smiled with satisfaction, "Good. The party went well, partially due to your good management."

"Thank you, my lord." I replied.

"Well, you may go." And he turned back to his scroll.

I bowed and left.

I sighed as I walked down the halls of the luxurious villa. I looked at the brightly colored frescoes painted or tiled on the walls. It seemed that the most important thing on most Romans' minds was pleasing oneself.

It was late, so the best course of action was probably no action at all. In other words, I was going to go to bed, sleep, and hope the next day was better than the last one.

The next day dawned bright and sunny, not unusual for the Italian climate. The day dragged on, and I carried out my usual duties which were pretty much making sure everything was going smoothly. It was, so no excitement there. Not that I wanted that much excitement, but I'd been feeling tense of late. 

It was early in the evening when master sent me on trip to the market again. This time as an escort for his two daughters on one of their shopping trips. Their personal slaves could have gone with them, but Phoebe's, the older one, was sick, and Olympia didn't have one. That was one of the reasons I had been sent rather than another slave. This trip was also to purchase a decent personal maid for Olympia. 

On our way to the slave market, the girls would stop at this store, buy that new stola, try some new perfumes... Needless to say, I was bored, but I was just a slave, so I had no say in what they could or couldn't do, unless I knew it was directly against their father's wishes. Unfortunately, clothing and scented oils weren't a problem, so I kept my mouth shut except to urge them on lest it get too late in the day to go to the slave market at all.

Fifteen whole minutes later, we finally reached our destination. It was there that things got interesting.

It was busy, as always, and the slaves for sale looked to be mostly Jews from the recent destruction of their capital city, Jerusalem, by our current Emperor's son, Titus. They looked worn out, dull eyed, and malnourished. No doubt that was all because of their long trip from Judea to Italy. Eventually, though, they were all sold, and we had to wait until the next lot of, hopefully better, specimens.

The first one up was a girl,who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. The same age as Olympia. She was obviously a Briton; I could tell by her pale blonde hair and blue eyes, and I could tell she was scared.

Olympia pointed at her. "Ooh, I like that one!" She cried.

For once, I could relate to Olympia. There was a winsomeness to the girl that no doubt many others also found appealing, as shown by the many bids for her.

"That one, Lycus, that one!" Olympia tugged on my arm to emphasize her point.

I withdrew the pouch of money that Master had sent with me for the purchase of Olympia's slave. The bids weren't getting too high so I raised my hand and kept it raised until the Briton was ours.

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Lycus - GadSul