[RainbowSky]

The Roman Slave Girl
Prologue

They came one night. The thieves. The robbers. The murderers. The looters. My father asked them how he could help. What we could offer. But they slit his throat. My mother had been laying out our precious belongings. Jewellery. Cutlery. Gold. Clothing. She offered them to them. And they slit her throat as well. I saw these happen from my viewpoint at the top of the stairs leading to my attic bedroom. Scared. Worried. Nervous. I quietly returned to my room and hid under my bed.

I could hear them moving around the house, yelling instructions in Latin. I knew enough Latin after 8 years in the country to understand enough. “Take everything of value,” they cried.

I’m not sure how long I hid. The noises went on for hours. People trampling in and out of the house. Discussions about the worth of items. The sound of the cart outside being loaded up. Then it went quiet. I held my breath in fear. Maybe they wouldn’t check up here.

But they did. Heavy footsteps came up the stairs and from my hiding spot I could see their boots walk around the room, inspecting my belongings. I clutched the necklace around my neck tightly. The footsteps stopped by the side of my bed and then a hand grabbed my ankle, pulling me out. I yelled out in fear.

“Got you now princess,” he hissed at me in Latin. He let go of my ankle and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. There was rope and a knife on the bed. I eyed the knife warily. I’d seen what that knife did to my parents. He saw my gaze. He smirked. “Oh, don’t worry about that. You are far too valuable to die.” Instead he grabbed the rope, tied my wrists together tightly and walked me down the stairs and out the house. He led me to the cart that was piled high with all our belongings. He thread the other end of the rope through a metal ring attached to the inside of the cart. He then walked away.

Words were exchanged in rapid Latin – too quick for me to understand or maybe just words I hadn’t learnt yet. Then the cart began to trundle forwards. My wrists were jerked forwards and I had struggled to keep up at first until I found the rhythm and speed.

Then, from behind me, I felt a swell of heat and the sound of breaking glass. I turned my head and saw my home in flames. I stumbled and fell to my knees but quicky scrambled back up. I turned away and followed behind the monsters to wherever I was to live from now on.