by Carol Ashby
Drusus swung his leg over the horse’s neck and slid off. His eyes flicked toward Dacius, then away. He took a step before replying.
“No.” With quick strides, he entered the house.
Dacius led the horse to the water trough. It drank deeply before lifting its head. Water dribbled from its muzzle as it turned alert eyes onto him. The Drusus horse was a stallion his father would have been proud to have in their herd. But it wasn’t as fine as Niger, even if only Dacius could handle the young master’s horse…yet. Any horse could be gentled, if you knew what you were doing, and he did.
He tied the reins to a ring attached to the wall and returned to stand by his assigned pole.
Primus put his hand on Dacius’s shoulder and shoved. “Don’t be so eager to serve. You’re on litter duty, and Aulus’s friend can tend to his own horse.”
Dacius raised an eyebrow. “I was bought for the stable. Until they buy someone to replace me, the stable is still my task.”
A snort accompanied Primus’s sneer. “You’re just trying to impress Vilicus. An overseer’s favorite gets special treatment.”
“Special treatment? I’ve already got that.” Dacius’s mouth curved up on one side. “He calls me ‘you’ and tells me to finish the stable work before I can eat when Mistress Julia stays out all day. When the mistress doesn’t go anywhere, he gives me time off from the stable to grow stronger digging that pool.”
Dacius swept one hand toward the stalls, the other toward the garden gateway. “Three tasks and no evening meal until I finish them…I’m clearly one of his favorites.” A chuckle escaped. “If you’d like to join me in that elite group, I can tell him you’d like three tasks instead of one, too.”
Primus’s eyes narrowed, but he turned away without another word.
Dacius had scarcely turned to watch the door for the mistress when Master Aulus and his friend came out. He left the litter and approached the pair.
“Which horse today, master?”
The master didn’t even glance at him. “The gray.”
Dacius still dipped his head. “Yes, master.”
He fetched the gray mare from her stall and tossed her saddle onto her back.
As he cinched it, the master’s friend spoke. “Let’s not go to the races today. You shouldn’t risk losing more when you’ve already got that debt to Sabinus.”
“But I might win enough to pay part. I’ve got to do something.”
Across the mare’s back, Dacius caught the tightening of Drusus’s mouth. “I already told you what we should do. Little risk and certain reward.”
Master Aulus shrugged. “Your plan sounds good, but if Father ever found out…”
“He won’t. If only you and I know, the secret is safe.”
Dacius handed Master Aulus his reins and fetched his friend’s horse. The two mounted and rode out.
Primus’s glare greeted him as he returned to the litter. He’d barely reached it when Mistress Julia and Apicula came through the door. Now if the mistress would only make her visit a short one today.
Julia thumbed through the codex of poetry as she and Apicula entered the stable yard. “I’m glad Calpurnia likes the same poets I do. This new codex I got last week is the perfect gift.”
She handed it to Apicula, who ran her hand over the cover. “It is. The binding is so pretty, too.”
Julia sat on the edge of the litter. “I think it’s disgraceful how the others are shunning her because her father must drop from equestrian order. It wasn’t his fault that he lost his ships in those storms and then had his warehouse burn. If his wife hadn’t decided to divorce him and take her dowry back, he’d still be equestrian. But even though he isn’t, that’s no excuse for hurting Calpurnia. A friend should stay true in the hard times as well as the good.”
She swung her legs in. “Well, I won’t abandon a friend just because her family lost its wealth. Aulus said her father had to sell their estate just north of Rome to pay back the dowry. He bought a townhouse on the Viminal Hill. Gallio found out where it is for me. It’s not in the best neighborhood, but Taurus said it’s in a safe enough part of Rome and close enough that we can go often.” She held out her hand for the book. “She’ll be so surprised when we visit.”
Her smile drifted into a frown. “A true friend would never drop someone just because they lost too much money to stay equestrian. If the girls we both thought were friends shun her, how can I be sure they wouldn’t do the same to me someday?”
Apicula reached behind her and fluffed the pillows. “You can’t, mistress. But your father is a senator, and his wealth is safe in the estates. Those can’t get lost like ships or burn up like a warehouse, so you’ll never have to find out.”
Julia leaned back on the pillows. “Calpurnia always said her father was the best of husbands…faithful, kind. She wants a man just like him. For a wife to leave the man she should be devoted to just because he’s no longer as rich as she wants…well, that’s just wrong.”
Dacius knelt at Taurus’s guttural “Ready the litter” and stood at the escort’s “Lift.” After several times carrying her, the litter no longer felt too heavy on his shoulder. With a flick of a hand, her burly Germanic bodyguard started their trek.
As they passed through the gate, Dacius’s usual slight smile broadened. The mistress’s betrothed, whoever he was, would be a fortunate man when they married in six months. A loyal wife was a blessing beyond measure.
The corner of his mouth twitched up. And he’d be a fortunate man to get off litter duty and back to the stables.
Then he suppressed a sigh. His own father and mother had been one flesh, like God said they should be. Either would have willingly given up anything for the other. As a child, he’d always expected a marriage like theirs, but it was best not to think about what could never happen. A man must accept what was impossible to change and somehow find contentment with what must be.
Chapter 6: Too Much to Ask
Day 5
With his sandal, Dacius traced circles and squares in the dust at his feet as he sat on the bench at the Sabinus villa. An hour’s fast walk brought Mistress Julia to visit her step-sister and nieces. For the mistress, the highlight of her week. For him, another boring day of hurry up and wait…and wait…and wait while his horses went untended.
But at least Vilicus wasn’t there, swearing at the men he thought moved too slowly, cuffing their heads to speed them up.
It was peaceful under the shade tree. Serving as if it was for the Lord wasn’t hard when that meant carrying the mistress to play with the children she loved.
The musical laughter of Mistress Julia blended with the giggling of her step-sister’s daughters as the little girls frolicked in the mosaic-lined pool surrounding the dolphin-shaped fountain. Squeals of delight came from the little girls, and he raised his eyes to watch them. The mistress was sitting on the low wall beside the pool, scooping up handfuls of water to splash them.
The smaller girl took the mistress’s hand and tugged. “I want to ride the dolphin. Help me?”
“Of course. Let me fix my tunic, and then we’ll make him your mount for a race with Neptune.”
She stood and shortened the length of her tunic by tucking it into the silver chain that wrapped around her waist and chest several times, making the most of her womanly form. With her legs free and bare, she stepped into the pool.
“It’s slippery, Sabina. So be carefu―”
The mistress’s arms flew out as she fell backward, and the splash as she hit the water soaked both little girls.
A chorus of giggles that included her melodious laughter told him she wasn’t hurt. But when she stood, her green linen tunic clung to her, magnifying every curve and revealing more than a man’s eyes should see.
He turned his head away.
Flavia clapped her hands. “Look who wasn’t careful.”
“That’s a lesson for all of us. Come, Sabina. Let’s put you
on the dolphin.”
Primus’s elbow rammed into Dacius’s right side. “Take a look, Dacius. That’s a sight you don’t see every day. I’d like to spend some private time with that.” Primus glanced at the other bearers sitting to his right. “Verres and Capellus might want a turn, too.”
Capellus grinned, but Verres frowned. “Don’t let Taurus hear you talking like that, or you’ll be on the auction block.”
Dacius kept his face turned. He held back any words, but his jaw clenched.
Primus rammed his shoulder into Dacius, almost knocking him off the end of the bench. “What do you think? Wouldn’t time with her feel good?” Another shove, but this time Dacius had his foot braced and didn’t move.
An elbow into Verres’s side drew a soft grunt. Primus grinned. “He probably wouldn’t know what to do with her.”
Dacius’s nostrils flared. “Stop it, Primus. It’s not right to talk about the mistress that way.”
Primus’s mouth curved down. “I see how you watch her. You’re no different than the rest of us.”
“No man could fail to see she’s pretty, but thinking about lying with her is wrong.”
Primus’s frown flipped into a leer. “You were a farm slave. I hear the masters put farm slaves together to make slave babies. If I had that chance, I wouldn’t be thinking about the mistress. Did you get some of that?” The leer turned into a sneer. “Or didn’t they think you were good enough to have one of the women?”
Dacius kept his voice calm. “It wasn’t that way on the Crassus estate. We weren’t treated like livestock. Women aren’t just for making babies and giving a man pleasure. If I ever have a wife, I want it to be because we truly care for each other.”
Primus’s nose scrunched. “That doesn’t happen.”
“That’s how it was for my mother and father.” Dacius shrugged.
Primus crossed his arms as his eyes narrowed. “But they were free. You’ll be a slave until you die. Better to take what you can get whenever you can get it. You’re a fool if you expect anything more.”
“It’s true that my body isn’t mine, but the familia Secundi doesn’t own my mind. Like any man, I can still choose to do the right thing.”
Primus’s head bounced back. “A man? You won’t be a man as long as someone owns you.” His voice softened. “None of us will. We’re only animals in any master’s eyes. We’ll work like one, and we’ll die like one.” He rose and walked away.
Dacius turned his eyes on the other bearers beside him. Verres shrugged and looked away. Capellus hung his head and stared at the ground.
“He’s wrong, you know.” But the defeat in their eyes showed they didn’t believe him.
Dacius set the pick aside, filled the shovel with the dirt he’d loosened, and tossed it into the handcart. He’d hoped for time in the stable when the mistress came home early from her sister’s, but no. Vilicus was in the stable yard when they carried the litter through the gate, and it was instantly “You. Go dig.”
The mistress had been under the arbor, reading some poetry to her maid, but that made her thirsty. As Apicula walked through the doorway to fetch her a drink, Master Aulus came out.
The young master stopped by his sister. He took a deep breath. “I just heard some news you won’t like.”
Mistress Julia’s spine straightened. “Is it Father?”
“No. Nothing that serious. Well, not for me, anyway. It’s Sextus Nepos. He’s dead.”
Her breath caught. “How?”
“A fever.”
Mistress Julia’s shoulders drooped. “Oh, Aulus! That’s terrible. Metilia always said what a good, kind brother he was. She thought he’d make the finest husband. I was only a child the last time I saw him, but Father said Nepos was a fine man, too.”
She closed the codex resting in her lap. “It might be too hard for her if I visit today. She loved Sextus dearly, and seeing me…well, it was going to be so wonderful being sisters, and now…” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to make it even more painful for her. Maybe a letter now, and I’ll go see her in a couple of days. I need to write my condolence to his parents, too.”
She rose and squared her shoulders. “Well, Father will be back in a month and a half. He thought it would be an excellent marriage, but I suppose he’ll arrange something equally appropriate when he returns.”
Dacius’s eyes followed the mistress as she walked into the house with her head bowed, the slight smile that was almost always there now absent. Her fingertips wiped the corner of her eye as she disappeared from view.
Sextus Nepos would have been a lucky man to have her as his wife. Primus was right that she was an attractive woman that any man might dream about. He’d made a mistress box in his mind and kept her in it so her pretty face and womanly figure wouldn’t tempt his thoughts where Primus’s had gone. But she was much more than a beauty.
The mistress had a kind heart. A cruel husband would crush that.
God, please let her father find her another kind man.
He traded shovel for pick. As he drove the point into the ground once more, he sighed. Another kind noble Roman. Maybe that was too much to ask.
Chapter 7: Time to Warn Her
Day 6
Dacius swept the brush down Niger’s neck, and the stallion’s whole body relaxed.
“Feels good, boy, doesn’t it.”
The black horse reached out to snag some grass from the manger, then shook his mane. His graceful neck turned sideways, and he fixed calm eyes on Dacius.
“You’re a handsome one; that’s what you are. I’d love to take you into the country for a gallop, but…” He sighed. He was still the only one who could mount Niger, but Vilicus would never trust him to take the horse for a run and return.
But at least the overseer hadn’t been in the stable yard when they returned from the baths with Mistress Julia, so he’d been able to catch up on some of the stable chores instead of dig.
Two sets of hoofbeats entered the gate, and Dacius made one final sweep down Niger’s side. Time with his favorite was over.
“Where’s your stable slave?” Suspicion tinged Drusus’s voice.
“Who knows.” Master Aulus’s voice was relaxed. “Vilicus puts him where he wants each day. Most of the time, no one’s here.”
The master was in for a surprise today. Dacius took a step toward the stall door. Before he could take a second, Drusus spoke.
“Like I keep telling you, you can get the money to pay Sabinus if you have the courage to do it. No one will suspect you when she’s kidnapped for ransom.”
Dacius’s foot froze in midair. Then he crept deeper into the stall and hid behind Niger. If they discovered he’d heard, he was a dead man.
“Maybe not, but what if the kidnappers are careless, and she overhears my name?”
“She won’t.” Drusus’s arrogant chuckle raised the hairs on Dacius’s neck. “I can make the arrangements through someone who won’t be careless or maybe do it myself. If you’re so worried about her revealing our role in it, we could have them sell her. A pretty virgin like her―she’d bring several thousand denarii.”
A hand slapped a shoulder. Then the young master spoke. “Leave it to you to plan something to really get us in trouble if we’re caught.” His tone was light, as if he thought it funny!
“But we won’t be caught.” A pause, then Drusus spoke. “Are you certain no one’s here?” The nervous edge on his voice raised Dacius’s heart rate. Would they search the stalls?
“He’d have come as soon as we rode in if he was. Just put your horse in one of the empty stalls. Someone will take care of him sometime.”
The hinges on the stall next to Niger’s creaked, and Dacius forced his breathing to slow. If his own fear made Niger restless, they’d surely look in.
A slap on a horse’s rump, then Drusus’s voice just outside. “Surely you can see how it’s the perfect solution to your problem. As soon as Gallio
pays the ransom, we can go to Octavius and find out how to approach his father to get back that promise of payment you signed. He got you into this mess when he told his father about the debt. I think he’ll be willing to help you get out of it.”
Master Aulus’s profile appeared, and he rested his arm on the stall’s half-door. “I’m still not sure we should do it. What if something goes wrong?”
Drusus’s head was framed in the opening. “What could go wrong?” The indifference in his voice chilled Dacius. “Men face their problems, Aulus. They consider the options, and then they act. It’s time to decide.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m worrying over nothing. It should work like you say.”
A slap to a back, then Drusus’s voice. “We should hurry, or we’ll miss the first race.”
Their voices faded away as they headed toward the house.
Dacius’s breath came faster as the horror of what he’d heard wrapped around his heart. Mistress Julia’s own brother was planning to kidnap her, maybe to sell her into the hellish life that awaited pretty young slaves―like his sister Ariana. Roanna, too, if she’d lived long enough to grow into a woman.
He’d been looking forward to Mistress Julia’s marriage. When she joined her husband, he’d be freed from carrying the litter. He’d rather be with the horses, but he would miss watching her play with the children and laugh with her friends. If her brother took Drusus’s advice, she would never have her own children or see her friends again.
He massaged his neck. Was there anyone he could tell who’d believe him? It would be his word as a slave against a noble son of Rome.
But if he warned her himself, at least she could be on her guard. She’d know whom she could trust to protect her. She’d never spoken a word to him, but that didn’t matter now. He had to warn her, even if that meant speaking to her first.
With jaw clenched, he squared his shoulders. He’d take the first chance to tell her when only she would hear. Only God knew if Master Aulus had accomplices in the household. People who would choose to help him, not her, when the choice came.
