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Slave Girl 2: Chapter 16
🕑 Added 2022-12-01 18:13:40 +0000 UTCAs we approach the raised city that overlooked this valley Rosa slips off of the cart and comes up tight beside me to help haul the load up the incline. Together we pull the creaking and clattering wooden wheels over the paved stones as citizens and slaves alike bustle to and fro with their own business.
“What do you see?” Whispers Rosa.
“It’s busy. Lots of people.” I say. “Looks much the same as the other day.”
“Amadeus?”
“Amadeus?” I look around. “No. I don’t see him.” We’d gone to the South gate specifically in hopes of bumping into him again. “Day off maybe. Or he has a later shift.”
I give the city guards that were there a friendly nod. They return a hard, suspicious look, their squints lingering just a bit longer on the demon at my side. With that I notice that there were others all around us also glancing at my slave in a similar way. There was nothing aggressive in their actions but the obviously unfriendly attention was unsettling. Thank the gods they didn’t know she was an Amazon as well or the uncomfortable mood might become something more.
“The guards are giving you the eye.” I say in a low voice.
“Mmm. Not surprised.”
“Amadeus said something about the Consul he works for being pro-non-human.”
“Fulgentius, I remember.”
“I’m starting to think maybe we ought to throw our lot in with him sooner rather than later.”
“Is it that bad?”
“No, but it’s not that good either.” I say. “Keep your ears open. Let’s see what we can find out about these corulers of Grumentum.”
We follow the main street for a time, admiring the marble and architecture of the government buildings along the way, before taking a right into what appeared to be a more mercantile district. We hadn’t yet gone half a block when a sign on the wall of a gated plot snags my attention. ‘Wizard for Hire’ it read. I’d seen such signs in Rome but took little notice of them. The exotic and mysterious, and expensive, world of magic was not something a commoner like me concerned himself with…until now. Within the high walls I could see a three story tower rising up and through the open gate I could see a squat stone building with pillars lining its front. Built into the wall just to the right of the gate was a small shrine to Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic.
“One moment.” I say as I pull our cart into a space alongside the street. “I want to see something. I’ll be within sight. Stay with the cart.”
“Yes Master.”
On my own I approach the gate and stick my head through. Inside I find a small cobbled courtyard with two figures seated beside a burbling fountain. Both were women but their similarities ended there. One wore robes of fine fiery orange silk, a ring adorned every finger and thumb, and upon her silver-white hair rested a tiara with a single emerald clasped at the front. She was stick thin with a swarthy complexion. Her face was younger looking than her snowy locks might indicate though she was clearly at least twice my age. The other one was plump, green, and looked to be no more than four feet tall. She had on a simple cotton knee length tunic cinched around her wide hips. On her bare mint green forearms she bore the tattoos of a slave. Each of her great tufted ears were as big as my hand and her nose was upturned reminiscent of a pig’s snout. Her face was wide with chubby cherubic cheeks. Her hair, worn in long braids, was green as well but a darker shade than her skin and with a steely sheen. Her huge almond shaped eyes were the color of amber with deep black where the whites would be in a human. She was a goblin! A real live goblin!
I knew of them of course, mostly as bands of sneaking thieving pests that traveled the unsettled places of the Empire, but never had I actually seen one in the flesh. I’d heard tale of city dwelling tribes and even of the rare individual of their race who attained full citizenship. I now recall Amadeus warning us that there was a ghetto of such creatures in the city, but that knowledge had not prepared me for suddenly seeing one out of the blue like this.
“Mithtreth.” The goblin lisps. “A cuthtomer.” She hops to her feet and smiles at me, her broad white teeth having a wide gap in the middle. “Greetingth Thitithen!”
“Thitithen?”
“Citizen.” The human woman clarifies as she stands. “Are you here for business or are you simply sight-seeing?”
“Um. Business.” I say. “Or at least to talk.” Still gawking like the country hick that I am I point at the little slave. “Goblin!”
“How very observant of you.” The woman says drolly. “And very rude. They are called Kobalos.”
“Oh, right, sorry.”
“Thatth alright.” The goblin says. “I don’t mind.”
“She’s for sale if you want her.” The woman says.
“Half prithe!” The goblins states boldly. “Good deal! Good wife!”
“Wife?”
“Don’t mind her. She’s coming into her breeding years and, well, I simply don’t have the patience to deal with that. Thus the sale.”
“Breeding years…huh? Oh, no. No, no, no!” I shake my head. “Not interested. I’ve got a slave, thanks.”
The pair of them approach me, the wizard swaying gracefully and her slave bouncing along at her side. With the size and jiggle of the goblins full bosom bouncing was the only way to properly describe it. The wizard comes to a stop in front of me and gives me a small bow of her head. I return the gesture.
Her brown eyes study me and come to stop at my neck. While she does not smile I could see a softening of her proud features. “That is a lovely item you wear.”
I smile and blush, raising my chin just a little more to show off my collar. “I have a slave Rosa.” I pause just as I’d been taught to in order to signal others of our lifestyle. “I am her Master Quin.”
The wizard’s warmth then breaks into a genuine grin. “Well that is interesting.” She says. “A pleasure to meet you Quin.” At her side the goblin watches on clearly oblivious to the subtext of the communication happening in front of her. “You are new here?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Lydia.” The wizard says without the distinct pause. “And this is Collywaddle, though she goes by Colly.”
“Greetingth again.”
“Hello.” I clear my throat, still unfamiliar with all of the ins and outs of this hidden in plain sight language we were speaking. “Are you a…Lady, Mistress Lydia?”
She laughs at my naive attempt, but it is a kindly laugh. “No. I am a girl.” With a wave of her fingers across her neck I see, just for an instant, a ghostly red collar appear then disappear. It happened so quickly Colly hadn’t even spotted it.
“Oh!”
“But let us not speak of such things openly.” She says. “You have business with me? You need a wizard?”
“Um, yeah.” I say. “My slave has shown a penchant for magic.”
“Oh, I see. That is a problem.” She says. “The same slave that…” She nods toward my collar. I nod yes. “Hmm. That could be trouble. I cannot magically castrate her if that’s what your after.”
“Oh no. Quite the opposite actually.” I say with a glance out the gate to make sure Rosa was okay. “I was hoping that you’d teach her.”
“Teach her?” Lydia raises a sharp brow. “No. The answer is no. Free her first and then we might discuss it. A slave with magic is a dangerous combination. And an illegal one.”
“She’s blind. She’s harmless.” I say. “I just thought if maybe you could teach her a few basic tricks, get her started, I dunno, maybe she could serve our household better.”
“I see. Blindness would limit her potential significantly. Well, like I said, until you free her I cannot help you.”
I clear my throat and swallow. “I cannot free her.”
“I don’t understand. Why won’t you…?”
I shake my head and say slowly and clearly. “I want to, but I can’t. I cannot free her. She cannot be free inside of the Empire.”
For a moment Lydia looks at me confused but then I watch as understanding slowly dawns. “Oh. Oh! Oh my.” She whispers. “That does complicate things.”
“Yes.”
“Colly. Leave us.”
“Yeth Mithreth.” Bows the goblin and jiggles off back to where they’d been sitting.
Lydia steps closer, her voice kept low. “She’s shown talent?”
“Yes.” I decide to trust Lydia with knowledge of our treasure as she looked to be a woman who was not hard up for more jewelry. “She recognized and activated a magical item that laid hidden for generations.”
“Anything else?”
“The odd thing, nothing much.” Nothing much…except for bringing me back from the dead. “It’s very recent but she’s definitely…blooming. It runs her family.” I nod to across the street where Rosa stood looking so small and helpless as the city traffic passed back and forth between us. “Her father was a mage.”
Lydia comes to look at her and studies her for a time. “A demon. I see. It’s not uncommon for the gift to run in their bloodlines. Mmm.” She rubs her chin and considers it. “Well, I ought to at least assess her.” She glances at my collar once more, a visible reminder that she and I were a part of the same hidden community. “I shouldn’t, I really shouldn’t…”
“But…?”
“But…” She sighs. “I am trusting that the pair of you can keep secrets.”
“Oh yes.” I say. “We can definitely do that.”
“She will not flaunt anything I teach her? Even if they are just simple tricks.”
“She will not.” I say. “And our home is very secluded. It is because we are so isolated I hoped she might learn some magic to help us.”
“You are sure, absolutely sure, that she will not rise up against you?”
I touch my fingers to my collar. “As sure as a man can be.”
She nods in understanding. “Does she understand Greek? It would make it a lot easier.”
“Fluently” I confirm. “She is educated.”
“Fine. I’ll see where she’s at and maybe give her a rudimentary primer.”
“Excellent!” I bow deeply. “Thank you Mistress Lydia. Thank you.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
“We won’t. Oh! She’ll be so surprised.” I say excited, eager to spring the good news on my beloved slave. “What do we owe you?”
“Simply you and your Lady’s presence at my Master’s next party.”
“Uh, really?”
“For such a risk I would like something special in return. It would be a great honor for my Master to be the one to introduce you.” She smiles. “You aren’t the only one who wishes to please their holder with an unexpected gift. I can assure you, I am a VERY good girl for my Master.”
“Great, great!” I say. “You and my Lady…um, Rosa…can…oh…oh wait.” My joy rapidly fades. “Um, I…I don’t know if this is going to work.”
“Oh?”
“My Lady is…she’s…she’s taking a rest. From her Lady duties.” Gods, I felt like such an idiot. “It’s complicated. I’m sorry. I can offer money or an item perhaps?”
Lydia tilts her head and thinks about it. “It is always complicated for us Quin. Masters’ do a lot of work, they carry a lot of weight, it is not unheard of for one to…take a rest, as you put it. I will show some faith that your Lady’s hiatus is temporary. She would not have collared a boy like you if she wasn’t serious.” She says. “Besides, I still ought to assess her. The gift is rare and I would like to know where and in whom it resides around my city.”
“Geez, thank you Lydia. Thank you so much.”
“I’m not making any promises.”
“I know. Just, thanks for giving us a chance.” I thumb across the street. “I’m…I’m gonna go tell her now.”
Lydia chuckles at my excitement. “Go ahead then Quin. Be a good boy and go surprise your Mistress.”
“Ha ha! Yes!”
