Slave Girl Ch. 74-84

"By the gods!" I gasp, my spirit soaring.

At my side Rosa was far more restrained in her joy. I don't think she appreciated just what it was we were looking at here. She looks down to the marker and then up over the field again. "Master...this can't be right."

"Of course it is right." I laugh. "Fortuna has rewarded us for all of our hardships. Gods be praised! We are ho..."

"Master, there are men working in that field."

"Neighbors no doubt, or their slaves. In the country sometimes when one of us cannot keep up with things everyone around pitches in to keep things going. Uncle Paullus must have been a good friend to them. A proper Ceres man no doubt."

"Master...there's smoke coming from the chimneys. People are living down there."

"Yes." I say as I too notice it, my confidence starting to waver. "Perhaps an arrangement to keep the place in good order."

"Master..."

"Or perhaps they've let the field workers use the villa. It would only be fair for keeping up the crop. We'll have to give them most of the profits this year in thanks, it's only right. What wonderful people must live here to do this for us."

"Master." Rosa tugs on my tunic. "Look."

She points ahead of us. There, about ten strides away, was another border stone partially hidden by a patch of tall grass delineating the next plot.

"But..." I scratch my head. "But...how..."

"We must have missed the first stone. This is far edge of the property."

As one our heads turn back to the land we had just been traveling along.

"No. No, this isn't right."

It was easy to see where the neighbors land ended and mine began. As if cut with a knife the perfectly straight edge of the square field of wheat comes up against a dense wall of trees and bushes. At the river the wood shifts to a flat stony meander. I look back up the road. I had not given this area much attention on the way by as I believed it to be a wild space.

"This can't be it."

"There was a lane back there." Rosa says. "Just over the crest of the hill."

"That's right." I say, hopes shaken but still high. "That's right, there was." I stride to the cart and lift the handle. Rosa forgoes riding to walk along beside me. "These trees must just be a border." I say as I try to peer the greenery to what might lay beyond, to no avail as all I could see is more forest. "My mother and her family are farmers. Paullus came from farmer stock. He's a farmer."

"Yet he moved away?"

"Yeah, to find his own..." I my voice fades we come over the crest to see the lane ahead. "There it is."

Walking at a pace just short of a jog we hurry up to the side road. There was no gate or sign post of any kind, simply a road leading into the bushes. We turn onto it. Peering down overgrown lane my heart was sinking fast. I remind myself that no matter what it was still land and it was still an unexpected boon, but my expectations were being shattered to pieces here. With much less spring in my step we progress along the path and into the forest. Looking left and right I see the woods may have once been maintained but it had been left to go wild many years ago. This couldn't be the right place, yet it must be.

It is not long before we see a large building through the foliage. With the squeaking of the cart's wheels and the song of birds around us we follow the trail around a lefthand curve and come up onto a wide area paved with stone. I stare in disbelief. Before us rises a graying and terribly dilapidated two story villa. The paint was flaking, cracked russet roof tiles lay on the ground here and there around the edge, the wide wooden front door hung crooked off of a hinge, and most of the windows were shuttered and nailed shut. My uncle had deceased two months ago yet the place looked like it hadn't been lived in in a decade. Not only was it in bad shape, it was huge! Far too large for just Rosa and I. While no palace neither was it a simple farm house. This was the type of villa that required servants and slaves to properly maintain even when in good working order. In its day it must have been a sight to behold but as it was...it looked ready to cave in on itself. Between us and it there was a long rectangular shallow pool half full of stagnant green water, in the center stood a partially moss covered eight foot statue of Mercury looking down on us, as if to greet us. I swear the old trickster god was smirking. I let go of the cart, letting it clatter down to rest.

"This is...this is..." Words fail me.

"Beautiful!" A brightly smiling Rosa says in a hushed tone, her wide eyes peering around at the crumbling architecture and the tangled forest. "We're home!"

I shake my head. Rosa hadn't a clue of the magnitude of this revelation. The amount of time and backbreaking labor it would take to clear, break, and terrace the land we'd seen thus far into something productive...I couldn't even guess. And that is to say nothing of the crumbling villa itself. Gods, what did the inside look like? But I hadn't seen the remainder of the property yet. I needed to see the rest to truly assess our situation. The villa sat on a large outcrop, the rest of the land dropping sharply off beyond it. Leaving the awestruck Rosa behind I hurry forward and around the roofed and tiled porch that surrounded the villa on all sides. I see birds nesting in the eaves, I see rotted wooden beams, I see graffiti, and I see a whole hell of a lot of broken amphora and other pottery. By the smell and dark stains on the insides it seemed they had been wine containers, the fact I could smell them at all told me they weren't as old as the rest of this place. I ignore it all and continue on. Coming around to the back the paved area continues out into what was once a magnificent columned terrace that overlooked the land. I storm right past the stone benches and columns toward the knee high balustrade, trying my best to cling to some small bit of hope. Perhaps this was an orchard or a vineyard or a...

"Shit."

The forest did give way to a more open expanse but not the kind I had hoped for. To the right and left stone stairs lead down the steep slope to a low lying area that had once been an expansive garden. Though it was overgrown, from above I could see the layout. A fountain in the center, a winding cobble path through the lawn around it, shrines and statuary about the edges, and even a gazebo near the far end. If there were other features they had been swallowed by the thick foliage of the forest that encroached in from all around. Beyond the gazebo I saw the almost circular curve of the river, confirming my earlier thought that the far edge of the property was a meander bordered on three sides by the snaking waterway. Right away I could see why this estate, as grand as it once was, had eventually been abandoned. The lawn was strewn all over with roots and branches and random detritus, parts of it were choked out by earth that had once been mud washed in during a flood. It appeared that whenever the Aciris spilled its banks the whole garden area would be under water. There was the remnants of a flood wall that bordered the garden where the green met the stony bank but clearly it hadn't been enough. Across the river was the scrubby fallow land of some other local. The shadow of the hill and the trees darkens the land beyond telling me this back terrace faced roughly Eastward, making it ideal to host visitors during hot summer evenings but not so great for growing anything needing a lot of sun.

This was no farm. Not by a long shot. It was a failed luxury estate. No doubt the country home of some patrician from years gone by who likely also once held all of the rich farmland that surrounded this plot. What in Ceres name was I supposed to do with this? What have you gotten me into here dear uncle?

From behind me I hear the clink of broken pottery being kicked followed by Rosa's cheerful voice. "Well, it could certainly use a coat of paint."

"A coat of paint!?" I sigh and bury my face in my hands. "Gods Rosa."

She glides up beside me and takes my arm and rests her head against my shoulder. "Not what you expected?"

"No. Not even a little!" I let out a huff. "We came all this way...for this!?"

"I like it." Rosa states unequivocally as she looks out over our land. "I think it is the most wonderful place in all the world."

"Sure it looks pretty but how do I make living off of it? How do I support us?" My shoulders slump. "Even if I get some work with one of our neighbors...most of my income would go toward the taxes on this place. Maybe I can sell it but...who would want it? This is more burden than blessing. Rosa, this land needed to be able to support itself and as well as us. Gods damn it! It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Mmm." She squeezes in tight, holding me close for a long quiet moment, before saying. "A wise man once said that regret and anger won't help a damn thing. All we can do is get on with living."

"Hey." I look down at her. "My Dad used to say that."

"I know." She smiles back up at me and scrunches her nose. "Pretty good advice I'd say."

The tension, the anger, the disappointment all ease as Rosa does that thing that only she can do. I put my arms around her and pull her in tight, more in love with her than ever. Looking again at our property I let the veil of my expectations fall away and see it all again with fresh eyes.

It really was a pretty site. Quite stunning actually, it was probably originally placed here just for this view. The hills and mountains in the distance were spectacular. The forest was lush and healthy indicating good earth beneath it. Though on a hill there was at least some relatively usable land up here if I could somehow clear it. Being right on the river meant easy fishing and, more crucially, that we'd never have to worry about fresh water. We were within a couple hours walk along a well built road of a thriving city. Cleaned up some of these statues and stone might be worth something, it might just help us along in the short term. All around us our neighbors did Ceres' good work upon the soil, that gave me comfort. And, given our nontraditional lifestyle, perhaps a little wooded privacy wouldn't be so bad in the end. Also, maybe most importantly, Rosa liked it. This place had a lot going for it. How many of my fellow plebeians would give everything they had for such a chance as this? This inheritance may be the instrument of my eventual ruin but all I could do right now is follow my father's guidance to do my best and get on with living.

I take in a long breath and smell the fresh forest air. Our forest. I shift my weight just to feel the paved terrace beneath my feet. Our terrace. I gaze down on the verdant garden, bright flowers still speckled the wild green here and there. Our garden. I glance back over my shoulder at the ramshackle villa in all of its long faded glory. Our villa. From the road right on down to the river, from the grain field on one side to the one that bordered the other, this was all ours. Our very own place to build a life together.

"Home!" I say at last, allowing that powerful word to truly and fully sink in for the first time. "We're home Rosa."

"Home." Rosa echoes as she leans into me. "You got us here Quin, safe and sound, just like I knew you would." She sighs happily. "We made it baby."

"We made it." I cup my hands in behind her pointed ears and kiss her, hard, and she kisses me back. I scoop her up off of the ground and cradle her in my arms. "Allow me to carry you across the threshold my Lady?"

She hugs me around the neck with one arm and thrusts her other hand forward. "Take me to our palace my prince!"

Chapter 79

Rosa's petite body easily held in my arms I carry her back around to the front, stepping carefully to avoid the broken shards of ceramic. It seemed right to enter our new home for the first time through the main door. Standing between the crooked front door and the stagnant pool we look up at the imposing structure. At one point it would have been a gleaming white, faded accents of red horizontal lines could still be made out.

"We won't be wanting for space." I quip.

"Nope!" Rosa giggles. "I might have to carry a map so I don't get lost."

Putting the staggering amount of work it was going to take to spruce this place up again out of my mind I step up onto the small porch and approach the door a bit warily. Peering through the space I could see natural light in the distance but all was dark in between. Reaching out with a foot I push the door, the bottom corner scrapes along the smooth yet bumpy mosaic floor.

"Pretty." Rosa says as the light reveals the multicolored labyrinth design of the floor.

I step through, entering our house with my Lady in my arms, feeling a sense of victory filling my spirit. As big of a milestone as it was for me to take on this place it was Rosa's presence that made this moment special. I couldn't even imagine it without her. I kiss her, and we smile at each other, then let her down onto her feet. The walls of the entrance hall were painted plaster depicting a lovely country garden, perhaps the garden of this very villa back in its glory days? To my surprise, and a pleasant one it was, the interior was in much better condition than the shabby outside of the building. The floor, the walls, the timber of the roof all looked a bit neglected but generally to be in good shape. This was a placed that had been lived in and kept up to a minimum standard at least. Through the open doorway across from us I can see the pillars and open roof of the central peristyle.

With me leading the way we pass through a short hallway with doors to each side, the one on the right had a small plaque indicating that the slave quarters were through there. The hall opens into the spacious peristyle, this room alone is as large as the entire house that I grew up in. It rose up the full height of both stories to an opening in the roof. We find a waist high wall topped with pillars that supported the ceiling. Within the area open to the sky is a small inner garden full of mostly dead ferns and weeds. All around the rest of the room lead to other rooms or hallways. At the second story level were a few shuttered windows that could be opened to look down into this area. More broken amphora and pottery lay here and there along with some wooden furniture, much of it also broken.

From here we look around at the various exits all around us wondering where to go next. Most of the doors were closed but there was one broken open like the heavy front door. I suspected thieves had visited in the months since my uncles death. Having nobody here to watch over it I wasn't surprised. Perhaps they found something of value but looking around at the state of the place I was dubious there would have been much here worth stealing.

We continue our exploration. We find the atrium messy but with the impluvium pool in good repair and half full of clear rainwater. We find the tablinum, the office of the house seemed to have been turned into some sort of gambling den as there are cracked bone dice and parts of other games of chance scattered about the table and floor. We find a hall, grander by far than the one Peisandros hosted us in, with more amphora and tattered furniture. It had a mosaic floor and the walls are covered in frescoes of figures dancing and performing lewd acts, though in the deep dim they were hard to make out. We find the kitchen with long since rotted food and just a few usable implements in it but in good working order. We find stairs up, we find stairs leading down to a cellar which we leave be, we find all of this and more. So many rooms! Most too dark to see. It was simply too much for two weary travelers to explore in a single evening. Besides, Nox had nearly pulled her blanket completely across the dimming sky.

"We'll have plenty of time tomorrow." I say.

"And the next day and the next day." Rosa takes my hand. "And forever."

I liked the sound of that. I squeeze her hand and we make our way back to the front to get our packs. "It looks like this place was a...party house of some sort."

"Mmm. A pleasure mansion or simply a den of iniquity." Rosa nods. "Your uncle was a drunkard and a gambler and an all around hedonist it seems. I think I saw a shrine to Bacchus back there. Gods only know what these walls have seen."

"His reputation precedes me." I say, recounting what the official had said back in the city. "Great."

She pats my arm. "You are your own man. People will learn that soon enough."

We walk back outside and look around the shadowy woods. Through the branches I could just make out the square angle of the side of another building hidden in the foliage. The house wasn't the only thing left to explore. I didn't even truly know how large this plot was never mind what was actually in it. Again, a task for the morning. I bring the cart up to park it near the door and we unload our stuff then head back inside.

"I'm just going to secure this front door. Won't take long." I say.

"Meet you in the kitchen." Rosa replies.

I watch her dark lithe silhouette stride down the hall toward the peristyle, her hips swaying beckoningly. She wore that dress so well, her hourglass shape so alluring in it. The very tips of her growing horns could be seen peeking up to frame her top knot even from behind now. Her blade shaped ears highlighted even more her elegant slender neck. What a woman. What a Lady.

Once she disappears around the corner I heave the thick stout door straight and push it into the frame. The lock had been bent during the break-in but thankfully there was the heavy bolt for securing the entry while the house was occupied was intact. I slide it into its housing and step back. Between the tight fit in the frame, the one good hinge and the bolt it would hold securely enough. The other hinge I would deal with when I had better light and more energy to do it. I knew from our little tour that the other entrances were already locked up tight. Rosa had finally gotten the safe and strong walls she had been dreaming about.

I lift my pack and walk toward the kitchen. Turning the corner I could see flickering fire light coming from within. Walking in I see Rosa had started a small fire in the stove. She had also lit one of the handheld oil lamps we had purchased back in Grumentum and set it on one of low counters that ran round the walls of this room.

I look about the room. "At least the kitchen is..."

The words die in my throat as Rosa slowly turns around and hits me with a sultry dominant gaze that could melt iron.

As if by instinct now my voice raises and I let out a soft submissive whine. "Ohhhhh! My Lady!"

Standing, paralyzed by her glimmering magenta eyes, I wait for her command.

"Is the door locked?" She asks in that Lady voice that instantly sent fire to my loins.

"Yes...my Lady." I whisper.

There was something different in her gaze tonight. A hunger that had been carefully caged inside of her all this time was now set free. She takes one step toward me, moving with a silky feline grace, and reaches up to release her hair and pull the pin from it. Her long wavy violet to pink locks tumble down over her shoulders and down her back. Without a thought she drops the pin, it tings off of the tile floor and skitters to rest, and takes another step forward. Every ounce of her smoldering attention was locked on me.

I wanted so bad to kneel or even throw myself to her feet but I hadn't yet been told to do so. Without actually bending I shrink down as small as my big frame would let me. I still towered over her yet thanks to her bearing and expression I felt as tiny and helpless as a newborn puppy. Seeing her in her full majesty made me so happy...and so fucking horny!

Another step closer and she in arm's reach. With fire in her eyes yet the gentleness I knew her for she reaches up and tenderly strokes my cheek. I rub my cheek into her soft palm greedy for her touch. Her other hand comes to my hip and, as if leading me in a courtly dance, directs me to the side. I move with her as easy as could be. She turns me and pushes me back against the counter then continues to lightly push. Following her lead I rest my butt back on the counter then slide back to sit upon it. The hand at my hip slips around to my lower back to indicate just where she wished me to sit, not right at the edge nor too far back.