The Greek Princess

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXII

Lycus

The new owners weren't bad at all. The Master was a middle aged man with kind eyes and a ready smile. His wife, whom I learned was his second, was a prim woman with rather tight lips and was always immaculately dressed and groomed. They had two daughters at home, and a son in the army; well, the master and his current wife had a daughter, and the other daughter and son came from his first wife who had died during childbirth.

In their household, I was only a common slave with no high position. A far cry from my previous setting. The day after I had been given to them, I was to accompany the two daughters and the son, who was home on temporary leave, on a shopping trip.

As mentioned before, I had only been in Rome twice, and as in my previous visits, was awed by the size and grandeur of the place. We'd only been out for an hour or so and I was already dizzy with the noise, the smells, and the general activity. The girls fluttered from one shop to the next and my arms were soon full with their purchases. Thankfully, they stopped back at home to drop off the things they'd bought and set out again just to enjoy the Ambiance of the city.

I accompanied them again, and by this time I was very worn out, but I was just a slave and really had no say in the matter. I was just walking along with them, when something caught my eye. There was a string of bedraggled people and since they were all roped together, I took them to be slaves. My gaze had just been passing over them, when I suddenly recognized Ariadne amongst them! That woke me up more than a bucketful of ice water could've done. Ariadne! What was she doing here?

On a spur of the moment decision, I lost myself in the crowd. All I had to do was step to the side, and as they kept on moving forward, it was quite easy. I looked around for her, and soon spotted her. I started moving towards her through the crowds with no idea what I was going to do once I'd reached her.

Wait. I stopped in my tracks, but kept moving a second later than she to the ever-moving crowds. Why was I doing this? I didn't even know her. I'd just left my new owners, who probably thought I'd tried to run away, to try and save this girl I didn't even know. Maybe it was stress. Yeah, it was probably stress. My master had died, I had been sold to some new people in Rome, which was a very busy city, and me, used to the quieter countryside, was having a sensory overload. That was probably it. Although I was still going to get Ariadne out of the sticky situation she was in.

Luckily, she was at the end of the line and all I had to do was grab... nope, guess not. I missed her. She was tied to the others, and I had to get back to my owners; it just wasn't going to work out.

I turned back in the crowd and found my owners, who had stopped by a fruit stand when they'd realized I'd gone missing. I managed to get by with only a scolding. They dismissed my getting "lost" because I was new in the city. Well, I guess... no, I'll save thinking for another day.

Well... is it just me or does Lycus seem conflicted right now? He wants to save Ariadne; he doesn't want to save Ariadne; the boy's fickle.

Lycus - GadSul