[RainbowSky]

Two

“Eleni! So glad you could join me. Take a seat, enjoy some food. We have a lot to discuss,” the man cried. I eyed the seat warily and continued to stand. “Now, now, Eleni! I insist you sit,” he adds, his voice taking on a menacing tone.

“If it’s all the same Sir, I would like to stand,” I request. He slams his hands on the table, the sound echoing around the hall.

“It is not a request. Sit down!” he growls. I nervously look at the chair and before I even have time to move, the guard has swept me up and dumps me on the chair. He then ties the ends of the chains to the table leg. I can’t escape. He leaves the room.

There is an awkward silence as the man at the other end of the table looks me up and down. He then picks up and apple and begins to eat. “Eat Eleni. This is the only offer of food you are going to get for… hmmm… twenty-four hours or so. I promise it’s not poisonous.”

I reach forwards, the chains rattling as I grab a pear. I bite in and savour the sweetness. There is an awkward silence as we both munch on our fruit. I finish the pear and place and core back on the plate. As I wait for him to decide to inform me of why I am here, I look around the hall. The tall marble ceiling is covered with arches and curves. The mosaic floor is of an ocean scene. A pretty mermaid is just peeking out from under a chair leg.

There is a sigh at the other end of the hall and I look up expectantly. He is throwing an apple up and down in his hand. “I suppose you are wondering why you are here and most importantly why you are alive?” he asks. I nod meekly. “Very well. My name is Septimus Piso. And to be quite honest with you, your father owes myself and other members of society a considerable amount of money. Money which your family don’t have available.”

I open my mouth to protest this fact but he raises a finger. “Ah, no speaking. Not yet anyway. You can ask your questions afterwards.” I feel my blood boiling at the way he is speaking to me but chained to the table, I am not able to do anything but sit and listen. “Were you aware your father was a gambling man?” Septimus asked me. I shook my head. “Then allow me to expand a little. He was. At least once a week, we would gather at a house to place cards. And every time your father would bet a little too much and lose it all. Of course, at first it didn’t matter. You had all the money you’d brought from Greece with you but then it got to a point where your mother would have got suspicious. So he began betting with money he knew he couldn’t afford and leaving a lot of people aggravated and without their winnings. There were a lot of demands for payment until he eventually promised to pay it off within the week. And guess what he promised against.

You Eleni. He promised you. And the home you lived in and your possessions. If he didn’t pay within the week, we were allowed to take and sell whatever we could, including you princess.

Now, I’m not sure what he told you last night when he returned from home, but I’m pretty sure he had no intention of paying up and thought we would let him off. So he probably made up some excuse for you and your mother, knowing full well we would be coming as we had informed his so at lunch. It wasn’t a secret. It was a fact. So now Eleni, the question remains what do I do with you? Any questions?”

I took a moment to comprehend all that had been said. My father had… lied to us. We hadn’t been robbed because we were Greek, we’d been robbed for… what? Paying off his debts? I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I couldn’t allow myself to believe these lies. Septimus was not my friend, why would he tell me the truth? My father though… I had to believe he was a good man, for my own sake than anything else. “What does happen to me?” I ask, my voice more steady than I expected.

Septimus grinned delighted at me. “I’m so pleased you asked. Now, I did think about keeping you for myself. Having you work here as a slave. But your Greek. And a princess. Not that I will share that little secret with anyone else. Oh, by the way, how does it feel to be the new heir?” He didn’t wait for a reply, which was probably good as my mind was reeling from the fact he knew the truth of my heritage. “So instead, I’m going to sell you. There is an auction this evening. All your possessions will be sold there as well as several slaves from various sellers for the rich to buy. And I’m sure that you will be the most valuable possession at the auction. You do lose all your rights though once your sold. You won’t really even be viewed as human, just a possession to be used by your masters and mistresses.”

I felt a shiver ran through my spine. I knew all about slavery. We had them in Greece as well, but I’d heard that the Romans were less… gracious with their slaves. That although I may have one role within a household, I was also at every whim of the family, including if they wanted… I shuddered slightly, pushing the thought from my head. I looked up and saw Septimus watching me closely. I tried to hide my worry.

“But before that, I have some things I need to learn and a decision to make about how to present you. So I need you to answer honestly Eleni. What languages do you speak?”

“Greek and Latin,” I managed to splutter out.

“Good, good. And education. What have you studied and learnt? Both here and in Greece,” he questioned.

I thought for a moment. This was a tougher question to answer. “I can read, speak and write both Latin and Greek. I studied literature. I studied dance, music and poetry in Greece. I learnt to play the flute and lyre. I also learnt how to cook, sew and look after a home. I also learnt maths and some politics, slightly. As an heir to the throne, there was a need for me to be kept up to date with the world and how to rule,” I responded delicately.

He glowered as if I education wasn’t important. “Yes, you had a great education due to luck and heritage. You’d make a good teacher though. Age?”

I hesitated for a moment. I knew the following would be seen as awful. “Eighteen,” I mumbled. He seemed very taken aback by that. “I know. Most marry at thirteen or fourteen. But we’d only just moved here and were still settling down. Besides, I don’t need to be married to rule.”

There was some grumbling from the other end of the table but Septimus didn’t say anything. He paused and looked at me. “Are you a virgin?” My eyes widened in shock but I nodded dumbfound that he would even ask that question. He nodded. “Then finally how to present you. Most slaves will be naked so potential owners can inspect them, so should I do the same? Or should I play up your Grecian side and dress you as a Greek? Or display you as a Roman? Hmm… I’ll have a think. In the meantime, enjoy your time in the cell Eleni.” With these words, the doors opened again and in walked the guard. He untied my chains and I reluctantly followed behind, knowing in a few hours what my fate would be.

A/N: Thank you for the lovely comments so far. I'm really enjoying writing this one so far. The Romans were my favourite period of history to learn about although not sure I'd be too keen to be a Roman. What do you think? How should Septimus dress Eleni? And who should buy her? A man? A woman? A family? What should her "main" role be in the household? (because let's face it we all know her secondary role already).