by Carol Ashby
Her strangely calm voice drew his eyes back to the young one’s pretty face. “I also know how to cook and keep house. Please buy me to do whatever your sister’s household needs.”
Titus rubbed his cheek again. She’d asked him to buy her, but her voice sounded unperturbed, almost as if she knew he would. She kept looking at him with those eyes that were calm but somehow compelling. Something about her intrigued him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.
He crossed his arms. “If you’ve never served a Roman lady, why do you think I should buy you?”
The dark eyes softened. “Because her heart is broken right now, and I can help it heal.”
His head snapped back. How could she possibly have known that? What was it about her eyes that held his gaze? He rubbed the back of his neck.
The sincerity in them―he’d seen that in only a few slaves, and they’d all belonged to his father. Slaves were treated well in the Drusus household, and they responded with diligence and loyalty. It sounded like she may have come from such a household herself.
Money would be very tight for some time. If she could cook and clean and do Greek hair, perhaps she would be a good buy. She could do everything he needed as a house slave, and Claudia could train her to do what she needed as her personal attendant. After seeing the prices, he wasn’t sure he had enough money even to buy two slaves that were any good. If she could do everything until after his next payday, that would solve a big problem.
The trader offered him an oily smile. “There are not many slaves who can do so many things. She is a Jew, but she speaks good Greek. She is strong for her size and healthy. If she does not do well serving your sister, you can always use her in the kitchen or for housecleaning or for entertainment. She can play the lyre and flute, and you can see she has a very pretty face.” He bounced his eyebrows. “Your guests will find her very enjoyable.”
He tapped her chin so she would open her mouth for Titus to inspect her teeth. Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so Titus could view her at all angles.
“You can see that she was fed well by her last master. She is still a virgin, too.” A chuckle accompanied his bouncing eyebrows. “I made sure of that myself. That is one good thing about buying slaves that are seized from Christian masters. They do not make full use of the females they own. Imagine the pleasure you can have being the first to enjoy this lovely body tonight.”
The pretty Jew bowed her head and turned scarlet at that remark. Titus tightened his lips so the trader wouldn’t suspect how appealing he found her.
“They’re only virgin the first time. I’m not in the market for that right now, so it’s not worth extra to me.”
Titus was used to buying horses, not people. Still, horse trading had given him negotiating skills. He had some idea of the going prices from watching a few sales today, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to gauge the price that he should offer for her.
“How much?”
“Five hundred denarii.”
The trader’s smile was too stiff. She was worth less, but how much less?
“That’s too much by far. I can get a good horse for that, and, frankly, she’s not that impressive. I would be taking a chance that she can do what I’m looking for since she hasn’t done it before. The brothel would only pay you 350. That’s my offer.”
“The brothel is a regular customer, and I give them discounted prices for their faithful patronage. The price is higher for a single purchase.”
Titus gazed again at those dark brown eyes in that pretty face. There was something about them. She might be just what he needed.
“I might be willing to pay 375 for her.”
A twitch at corner of the trader’s eye betrayed his disappointment that Titus was not as ignorant of the going rates as he’d hoped.
“I am sure you are a good judge of horseflesh, but this female is worth much more than 375. She is very pretty and a virgin, after all. Still, I always like to show how much I value the excellent service to our province by you Roman officers, and I like you. I would not be so generous to an ordinary buyer, but I would find 450 acceptable from an officer like yourself.”
Titus appraised her one more time. He was drawn again into those eyes that had shone with compassion when she spoke of his sister’s broken heart. If she could cook and keep house as well as tend to his sister’s personal needs, she could be worth four hundred. Maybe he should make the counteroffer for her.
He began to nod his head. Buying her was the right thing to do. Four hundred wasn’t too much for what he’d be getting. With her domestic skills, she should be all he’d have to buy for the moment. It was many days until his next payday, and he would be spending money much faster now there were two of them and a household to support. He could always sell her and shop again later if she wasn’t able to do what she said.
“Four hundred would be acceptable. For four hundred, I’ll buy her.”
The slave trader’s slight smile showed resignation to the price, and he offered Titus his arm to close the deal.
Titus took sixteen aurei from his purse and paid the man. In exchange, he received the bill of sale. Just like buying a horse. This had proven to be much easier than he’d expected when he first entered the slave market. He looked at his purchase. There was something about her that he was certain Claudia would like.
“What’s your name?”
“Miriam, master.”
He nodded. “Come.” He turned and walked away.
The trader’s reserved smile morphed into a smug grin as he watched the tribune weave through the crowd with the limping girl behind him. He had received a much better price for her than he expected. The Roman officer had not been good at this. He should have been suspicious when a pretty young woman like her was fully clothed in a long tunic. He had not asked to see the placard that she would have worn around her neck during the auction that described her skills and defects, including her bad ankle. He had paid more than he had to, and he had not even checked her well enough to know that she limped.
Since her defect was so obvious if he had bothered to look, the Roman law that required a refund for unknown defects in the first six months would not apply, even if the officer demanded it. The quaestor overseeing slave sales in Perinthus would never believe that a buyer would not have looked at her closely enough before the purchase to see that bad ankle, and only defects not known at the time of sale must receive a refund.
There could be no charge of false claims since her limp would not keep her from doing everything he sold her to do. The officer was getting what he had asked for at the price he suggested himself, so perhaps he would be content with his purchase, anyway.
The trader rubbed his hands together. He liked dealing with fools, and this officer was the biggest one he had cheated in a long time.
Chapter 39: Not What He Paid For
Miriam’s heart had danced at the officer’s words when he said he wasn’t in the market for a virgin and wouldn’t pay extra for one. He must have been sent by God to buy her only for his sister. When the two men agreed on the four hundred denarii and the tribune took the bill of sale, songs of thanksgiving played in her mind.
Her rejoicing continued as Miriam limped after her new master. God must have made the officer choose her without checking everything. He hadn’t examined her naked, like most buyers would demand. Her deformed ankle might have made him think she was worth less than what the brothel would pay, and she would have been mortified to have him look at her body more closely than he had. If he’d wanted her for his own pleasure, he would have insisted on seeing and touching before he bought. He truly had bought her to serve his sister, and that she would do with her whole heart. She would prove to him that he got good value for his four hundred denarii.
He had a long stride, and he walked very fast. The thick crowd parted ahead of him and closed behind him. She’d fallen enough behind that she was havin
g to dodge people. He wasn’t wearing his helmet. As short as she was, it was hard to keep track of his head as so many people pressed around her, blocking her view.
What if she lost sight of him and then couldn’t find him? What if he thought she was trying to run away?
“Wait, master.”
Titus turned to look back at his new slave. As she squeezed past the two men waving their arms as they argued, he saw the limp.
He frowned as she caught up with him. “That limp. How long have you had it?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is it getting better?”
“Since I was five, master. I will always limp.” She bowed her head and stood very still.
A string of curses ended in plunging eyebrows. “I paid four hundred for a cripple?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. How could he have been so stupid as to buy her without checking for defects?
It was those eyes and what she said about his sister that made him do it. He would never have been so careless buying a horse. He’d been taken for a fool. With that limp, he could have argued the trader down to the 350 the brothel would have paid. She was worth buying at the lower price, but he didn’t have an extra fifty denarii to waste.
The master’s cursing pulled Miriam’s gaze from the paving stones to his face. Her stomach leaped, then knotted as disgust twisted his features. Disgust with his purchase...with her. Anger simmered in his eyes. She bowed her head and waited for another explosion.
A cripple―that’s what she was, and the trader had cheated him. But if she’d revealed that and lost the sale, she would have paid dearly. She’d already seen how much the trader enjoyed caning one slave who showed disrespect by rolling his eyes. If the sale had fallen through, he would have made her pay with pain for the money she lost him. He’d left her alone because he thought a virgin would bring a higher price, but his desire to punish her would overcome that. The brothel wouldn’t care at all if she was beaten and used before they bought her.
What if the officer took her back and demanded the return of his money? Surely the slave trader would be afraid to make a Roman officer angry by refusing. Then he’d beat her and take her for losing him the extra fifty denarii, and she’d end up in the brothel before nightfall.
Oh, God! Please! Make him want to keep me even with my limp.
She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “Please don’t take me back, master. I can’t run well, but I was always able to do everything my old master wanted. Truly, I can cook fit for a banquet for a few sesterces and clean so even old things look new. I can do everything your sister might need as her maid. I promise I’ll serve her with all my heart and work so hard you’ll be glad you bought me.”
Titus looked down at those dark brown eyes. They were no longer simply serious. Deep fear pulsed within them. The strange calmness in her voice was gone. Desperation put a quaver in it.
Her fear was justified. She’d never bring 350 at auction. She’d be sold directly to the brothel. That was a brutal place, and her bad ankle would provoke greater cruelty from any cruel man. She wouldn’t last a month. Something about those eyes…he couldn’t send her there now.
Father would never have taken her back when he learned she was a cripple. One time a slave lost half his leg in an accident at the northern estate. Father merely had the overseer find something the crippled man could still do.
It wasn’t her fault he’d paid too much. Besides, a limp wouldn’t keep her from doing what he’d bought her for. Gratitude for him keeping her should make her work hard for him and serve Claudia better. That might be worth an extra fifty denarii in the long run.
The corner of his mouth pulled up as he looked down at her pretty face. She was desperately eager to please him. He wanted a hard worker, and whatever she could do came in an appealing package, even with a bad leg. She was worth trying out before he made his final decision.
“I didn’t buy you to compete in footraces, so your limp doesn’t matter.”
The look in her eyes as relief flooded through her was...joyful. Not what he expected from a new slave. Then one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen lit her whole face.
“Thank you, master. I’ll do everything I can to make you and your sister glad you bought me.”
He nodded once. “It’s a good thing I rode. It would be too slow a walk to the house otherwise. Come on.”
He turned his back on her and walked to where his stallion was tied, but this time he shortened his stride enough for her to keep up. When they reached it, he turned to face her.
“Can you ride?”
The look of nervous uncertainty on her face as she stared at his stallion was quickly replaced by one of grim determination. “I can try to do anything you tell me.”
His lips twitched as he suppressed the smile. It was likely she’d never been on a horse before, and his was a big one. She probably would try to do whatever he told her.
“Come here.”
She limped over and stood right in front of him. He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her up to set her on the horse’s back.
“Swing your leg over and slide forward to make room for me.”
Miriam did as the master told her. Her tunic was pushed up, revealing her bare legs and the odd shape of her ankle where shattered bones had healed wrong. He wrapped his hand around her calf and slid it down to feel her ankle, just as he would with a horse’s leg. His touch was gentle, but she still had to fight against jerking away from him. His shrug as he removed his hand was somehow comforting. Her defect really must not matter to him, just as he said.
He laid the reins across his stallion's withers and reached across her leg to grab the mane before jumping up to toss his leg across the horse’s rump. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her snugly against him as he slid forward into position for riding.
She’d never been so close to a man before, and his muscular arm around her waist, his chest pressing against her back, and his legs touching hers made her stomach twist. She tried to slide forward a little to get away from him, but he pulled her back against his chest.
“Sit still.”
She looked down as the heat overspread her cheeks and surged to the tips of her ears.
Titus’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile as he watched her ears turning bright pink. At least the slave trader hadn’t lied about her being a virgin. She felt soft and womanly as he shifted his arm a little higher. A cook, a housemaid, a lady’s maid...and his evening entertainment. A limp probably didn’t matter when he was getting all that for four hundred denarii.
He nudged his horse into a walk and started the trip home.
Chapter 40: Asking the Impossible
Miriam breathed a sigh of relief when her new master finally rode through a gate into a walled outer courtyard and past a garden to the stable in the rear. To be held that close by a master...memories of what happened to her mother kept poking their way into her thoughts.
A man stepped out of the slave quarters attached to the stable. The master reined in as the man bowed.
“Master Titus, I’m Nestor. Master Philip sent me to serve you and your sister however you need.”
That was the first time she’d heard the master’s name. It fit him somehow.
Master Titus placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed. “Bend over.”
She leaned over until her face was almost on the horse’s neck. He swung his right leg over her head and slid off. Then he strode to his new steward, leaving Miriam mounted.
The stallion fidgeted as it watched the master and the strange man. The more it moved, the faster Miriam’s heart beat. Finally, she could stand it no longer. As she had seen Master Titus do, she swung her leg over and slid off.
For a short woman sliding off a tall horse, it was a long way down. She stumbled as her feet hit the ground and fell back into its side. Her bottom hit the ground as the horse snorted and shied away from her. She threw her arms
up to cover her head, but its hooves were much too close. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Two strong hands were suddenly under her arms and lifting her back to her feet.
“You should have waited for me to take you down.” He brushed the dust off her tunic as he spoke. She would rather have done that herself.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, master. I know now that I should have waited, but I thought he wanted me off. I won’t do that again.”
“No harm done as long as you haven’t hurt yourself so you can’t work.”
“I’m ready to work, master. What did you want me to do first?”
“I want to move my sister Claudia into this house tomorrow. Do whatever it takes to get it ready for her.”
“Yes, master.” She bowed and headed for the kitchen door.
Did he really mean what she was sure she’d heard? Get a whole house ready by tomorrow? All by herself? There didn’t appear to be anyone else there except the steward.
It was a large house. It would have several bedchambers on the second floor in addition to the women’s room, plus at least a dining room, sitting room, bath area, and kitchen downstairs surrounding a central courtyard. That would be a huge task even if it was already quite clean.
Miriam drew a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She’d told him she could do whatever his sister needed, so she would try. Somehow, she must get it done. He could still change his mind about keeping her.
She squared her shoulders. If she had to work all night, so be it. Maybe he’d only beat her or use the lash if she didn’t get it all done.
Anything would be better than being returned and sold to the brothel.
Nestor watched the slave girl limp into the house. She would need help with the cleaning as soon as possible, or the house would never be ready in time.
He’d walked through all the rooms when he oversaw the delivery of everything Master Philip sent from his own house to ensure Claudia’s comfort. The house had been empty for too long. It was in desperate need of a thorough cleaning. The previous renters hadn’t bothered to keep it as clean as they should, so it needed scrubbing, not just dusting. But three or four slaves could get it ready by tomorrow morning.
