The hour passed painfully for Eirene, who had positioned herself at the table so that she could see the steady flow of men coming and going into the main room. The chatter around her washed over her like a tide, ebbing and flowing through her consciousness. Albanus was in his element, already at the bottom of his third jug of ale and now wound around the golden blonde man he had been busy making eyes at. Kosmas seemed unsettled, unable to focus on the game of dice before him as he petted the twitching girl in his lap.
'I beg of you, child. Think twice on this venture. It isn't often I have misgivings such as these, but when I do I feel they must be heeded.'
'I have to see him for myself,' was Eirene's repeated answer, her dark eyes wide and hungry, never leaving the door.
She knew him the moment he walked in. The time apart hadn't changed Germanus at all. He was just as tall and muscular as she remembered, his body toned with labour and brown from the sun. Eirene gasped and jumped from Kosmas's lap.
'It's him! It's my brother!' she squealed with delight, watching him stride confidently into the room.
'Caution, little one. Please do approach this matter with caution, I implore.' Eirene laughed lightly, her beaming face turned to the old Greek who restrained her with a hand on her wrist.
'I have waited an age and walked a thousand miles to find him again, Kosmas. He is my brother, he won't harm me.'
'Not him, perhaps, my little bird. But there are others in this room that may. I hate to be the one to inform you of this, but your brother has more enemies than friends here. He does not always play honest or fair in a room full of men who pride themselves on such valour. And the whisperings of others would elude to a large debt run up of many broken promises and very little coin.'
'I don't care if he has a mountain of debt. The fact is, he's here. I've finally found my brother!' Eirene slipped the grasp on her wrist and spun herself into the crowd that now surrounded the tall, hulking figure of Germanus. His face was broad and welcoming in the tallow glow, dark hair curled around his lovely features as his wide, white grin lit up his face.
'Germanus!' Eirene called, wriggling her way through the sweaty press of bodies that had gradually been building up in the main room. 'Germanus, it's me!'
'Eirene?' His dark eyes narrowed as he peered down, elbowing a few bodies out of his way. 'Is it really you? Little sister!' His wide smile never faltered, though Kosmas was the only one who noticed how the flat expression never reached his eyes. 'I've found you at last!' the young man cried with joy as he scooped her up into a hard hug. 'My sister,' he grinned, snagging a passing cup of wine and toasting the nearest man to him. 'My sister everyone. I've found my baby sister!' He drank deep and motioned for a refill.
'Where have you been?' Eirene demanded as she took the offered cup of wine from him. 'Germanus, I've searched high and low all over Rome for you.'
'I've been keeping to the city boundaries mostly, flitting in and out of various establishments as I make my fortune. But I never stopped thinking about you, little sister, never. My plan since I bought my way off the auction block was always to make enough to secure your freedom and set us both up on a piece of land we could live off.'
Eirene took a step back to get a better look at her brother. His robe was spun of fine thread, his once work-roughened hands were smooth and he looked well fed and carefree.
'You have no Master?' she asked, in disbelief.
'I am my own Master now,' Germanus grinned, switching his empty cup for a full one. Eirene frowned with confusion.
