Roman Enslavement

Notes: pater famillias-father of the household. Thanatos-God of Death. Scusa, signore-excuse me, sir. Nauseante-nauseous. Bellissima-most beautiful. Magnifico-wonderful. caffe-coffee.


Roman Enslavement, Part 22

Mozelle slowly slid down to sit with her back to the door of the shed, staring into the darkness. *I don\'t believe this. Why can\'t I just be insane? It would be very comforting to think that I wa actually sitting in a padded room somewhere, drooling down my chin and waiting for arts and crafts. But I couldn\'t be that lucky.*

She put her head in her hands. \"I went to the museum. I just wanted to look at the Roman exhibit, because I liked \'I, Claudius\' when it was on PBS. How the hell did I end up at this point in my life?\"

She wondered if anyone had noticed that she was gone. Or was that right to use the past tense when refering to something that had technically not happened yet? She sighed. *It takes too much energy to worry about that. I have other, more pressing matters-like keeping my hide whole, because I don\'t think that Celsus is the forgiving sort.*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

//\"Malanda?\"//

Malanda quickly wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her tunic. //\"Yes, Gauis?\"//

//\"What\'s wrong? Mommy seems mad about something, and Lupus looks like he wants to cry.\"// The little boy frowned. //\"Lupus NEVER cries.\"//

Malanda looked at the little boy, trying to decide how much she should tell him. If she left it up to the family there was no telling what he\'d be told. She was torn. On the one hand, the truth of the situation would upset him. On the other hand he LOVED the quirky slave woman, and not knowing what was going on would distress him anyway.

She sighed, //\"I\'m afraid Mozelle is in trouble, Gauis.\"//

As she had expected, his expression puckered in concern. //\"Is it what happened this afternoon? I heard all kinds of yelling, but Tessa wouldn\'t let me go and see.\"//

//\"Yes. Do you know Celsus Malum?\"// Gauius nodded, making a face. He hadn\'t had much contact with Malum-gently reared Roman children did not have a wide circle of acquaintances, but he knew that he didn\'t like or trust the man. //\"Mozelle and Celsus got in a fight, and I\'m afraid she hurt him.\"//

Gaius scowled. //\"What did he do to her?\"// When Malanda looked at him in surprise he explained, //\"Mozelle would never hurt anyone who didn\'t hurt her. Celsus must\'ve done something nasty to her.\"//

//\"Maybe he did.\"// Malanda paused. //\"He PROBABLY did, but the fact remains that Mozelle hurt HIM. She stabbed him.\"//

Gaius looked curious. //\"Did she kill him?\"//

//\"GAIUS!\"//

He shrugged. //\"She must\'ve had a good reason.\"//

//\"Not according to the law. Anyway, your brother had to lock her in your playhouse till it is decided what to do with her.\"//

Gaius thought. //\"They could make he have no sweets for a month.\"//

//\"Oh, Gaius,\"// Malanda patted his head. //\"I\'m afraid the punishment will be much more severe.\"//

//\"A year?\"// Gaius didn\'t like the expression on Malanda\'s face-it was giving him a funny feeling in the pit of his tummy. //\"Lupus could switch her. My tutor switched my hands when I put the frog in his wine.\"// When Malanda didn\'t respond he said fearfully, //\"Malanda, what will they do? Will... will they send her to prison?\"// Malanda had started to cry again. Gaius\'s voice was faint. //\"Will they do worse than send her to prison?\"//

//\"Gaius...\"//

//\"No.\"// He shook his head firmly. //\"They won\'t do that-Lupus won\'t let them. He loves Mozelle, like I do. He won\'t let them hurt her.\"//

//\"I may not have a choice, Gaius.\"// Lupus was standing in the doorway, his face pinched and his eyes red-rimmed.

Gaius ran to him, throwing his arms around his brother\'s waist. //\"Sure you do! You can do ANYTHING, Lupus.\"//

Lupus sat, stroking Gaius\'s hair and gazing at him sadly. //\"Not this time, little brother.\"// He looked at Malanda. //\"We received word from the Malums. Celsus isn\'t calling for her death.\"//

Malanda threw up her hands, her face flooded with relief. //\"The gods be praised! Anything else can be overcome.\"//

Lupus\'s expression was stiff. //\"Pater famillius Malum has agreed to follow his son\'s wishes in this matter, since he is the injured party. Celsus demands that ownership be turned over to him, personally.\"//

Malanda shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand. Gaius looked confused. //\"She would have to go live with him? But she\'s OUR slave.\"//

//\"Gaius,\"// Lupus said gently. //\"If I don\'t send her to him, he can demand her execution. It is his right.\"//

//\"No!\"// The little boy stamped his foot angrily. //\"It ISN\'T right! You tell him no, Lupus.\"//

Lupus gave Malanda a helpless look, but she turned away. //\"I don\'t have any choice, Gaius.\"//

//\"But you can\'t! I NEED Mozelle. Who will I sleep with when I get lonely?\"//

Lupus stood up abruptly, his face pale and paced nervously for a moment. His eyes fell on a clay jar sitting on the shelf, and he took it down. Opening it he found the wild carrot seeds that he had bought from the apothecary. He stared at them for a moment, then hurled the jar into the fire. It smashed, and the seeds sent up a pungent aroma as they burned. //\"He\'s sending someone for her tomorrow morning.\"// He started for the door, then paused, his back to Malanda and Gaius. His voice low, vibrating with pain and frustration, he said, //\"I pray to the Fates that the wound turns septic, and they take him soon to Pluto\'s realm.\"// He left quickly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was crowded in the little shed, though Mozelle wasn\'t aware of it. After all, the other occupants were invisible to mortal eyes. Venus watched the dispirited woman who slumped on the floor, back to the door. //\"Well, I hope you\'re happy, Dischordia. You have well and truly ruined that poor woman\'s life, and all for a trivial slight that she wasn\'t even aware she had committed.\"//

Dischordia shrugged. //\"All right, so I over did it a little. I\'m willing to admit that.\"//

//\"Then send her back!\"//

//\"She still hasn\'t apologized.\"//

//\"CORDIE!\"//

//Yes, all right! But I can\'t just zap her back.\"//

//\"Why not?\"//

The Chaos Goddess fidgeted. //\"I\'m... um, not one hundred percent sure where I got her from.\"//

Venus rolled her eyes in disgust. //\"Well, that is JUST charming! Are we going to have to go bother the Fates into tracing her thread all the way back to where she came from? They\'re already pissed at the way things have gotten tangled up with it doubling back.\"//

//\"No, that shouldn\'t be necessary. If I can get her back to the temple and in particular, back to the altar, I can sort of use it as a homing beacon to locate her proper time and place.\"// When Venus raised an elegantly plucked eyebrow at her she shrugged. //\"Hades, I don\'t know exactly how it works.\"//

//\"Fine.// Venus raised her hands, ready to transport them all to Dischordia\'s temple.

//\"Hold it. We need to do this mortal fashion. It wouldn\'t do to let the mortals think that the gods were taking this close an interestsuchsuch a trivial matter.\"//

//\"I hardly think that Mozelle considers it trivial. What do you suggest?\"//

//\"We get one of the household to let her out.\"//

//\"WHO? Lucien and Dramilla are out, of course. They\'re frantic to avoid scandal. The slaves are out because, as much as they\'d like to help, they w ould endanger their own lives. And Lupus...\" she sighed sadly, \"I\'ve already tried to work on him. He loves her, but it\'s all mixed up with duty to his parents, and he just can\'t quite get past the whole master/slave thing. Who else does that...\"// She trailed off.

Dischordia grinned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Old Tessa was almost beside herself that night, trying to comfort a sobbing Gaius. Patenic was too young to understand what was going on, but he sensed the tension in the family, and he, too, was fretful. When it came time for bed Tessa was exhausted, and felt that she\'d be restless all night. It was just as well, she supposed, as she felt she should watch in case Gaius became more upset during the night.

She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Dischordia nodded at Somnus as he stood up from leaning over her bed. //\"Well done.\"//

He shrugged. //\"Please, as if she was a challenge. You want the other one out, too?\"// He eyed Cassia, where she lay across the door leading to the kitchen.

//\"Of course. It wouldn\'t do to have that wench catching our hero about his work.\"//

Somnus bent over the woman, passing his hand near her face. Her eyelids fluttered, and soon she was snoring lightly. //\"She was already dozing, but now she\'s in a nice, deep sleep. It would take a Macedonian elephant stampede to wake her up.\"//

//\"Good. Now for my work.\"// She rubbed her hands together, grinning. //\"This is an odd situation-I\'m going to cause a good bit of dischord by rectifying another bit of mischief.\"// She bent till her lips were close to the quietly crying Gaius\'s ear. //\"Listen, little mortal. It isn\'t right, is it?\"// Gaius shook his head at what he believed to be his own thought. //\"They can\'t send Moozelle to that rotten man. He\'s a monster. He\'ll treat her badly, and hurt here. You can\'t allow that!\"//

Gaius\'s tears stopped, and his little jaw set with determination. //\"The only thing possible is for her to run away! That\'s it! She\'s clever, she\'ll be able to get out of Rome, and maybe she can even get back to whatever strange place she came from. She just needs someone to let her out of the shed. Look, Tessa and Cassia are asleep.\"//

Gaius peeked at the two women. Yes, they had to be asleep, the way they were snoring. He crept out of bed and pulled on his tunic, then tiptoed to the door that led to the back garden. Tessa had bolted it before she went to bed, just as she always did, and he carefully slid the bolt back, trying not to make any noise.

He wasn\'t used to being outside alone at night, and he hesitated. Then he squared his shoulders manfully. Mozelle needed him-this was no time to be a baby. He crept over to the shed.

Mozelle had dropped her head down on her knees. Venus watched her sadly, hoping that Dischordia\'s plan would work. The Chaos Goddess appeared beside her. //\"He\'s on his way.\"// She studied the huddled woman, and said slowly, //\"You know, through all this I\'ve never seen her really look despairing, till now.\"//

Venus looked at her sharply. If she hadn\'t known it was impossible, she would have thought she heard compassion in Dischordia\'s voice. //\"This has to work. I truly fear that if she is turned over to that monster she will summon Thanatos.\"//

There was a tiny tap on the door. The woman didn\'t move. It came again. \"Mozell?\"

She lifted a tear streaked face, and her voice was disbelieving. \"Gaius? Oh, honey, go back in the house. You shouldn\'t be out here.\" Her voice choked. //\"I don\'t want you to see me like this.\"//

\"Sh, Mozelle. Wait.\"

She heard a scraping, then a breathless grunt. Then she heard Gaius say a swear word that he really shouldn\'t have known. \"Gaius!\"

//\"I\'m sorry, but this bolt is heavy, and it\'s so high up. But I think if I stand on tip-toe...\"//

Suddenly galvanized, Mozelle jumped to her feet just as she heard the thud of something heavy hitting the grass. The door swung open, spilling moonlight into the shed, and the two goddesses exchanged pleased smiles.

Gaius threw his arms around Mozelle, saying fiercely, //\"You WON\'T go to him! You\'ll run away, and find your home, and live a long, long time, and be happy!\"//

Mozelle dropped to her knees, hugging the little boy. //\"Oh, God, baby, I\'m gonna try. At least I have a chance, thanks to you.\"//

Gaius buried his face against her shoulder for a moment, then whispered, //\"I wish Lupus had done this instead of me.\"//

Mozelle closed her eyes. //\"Me, too.\"//

//\"I think he\'s scared, Mozelle. I didn\'t know grownup men GOT scared.\"//

//\"They do, baby, all the time. It\'s just real hard for them to admit it.\"//

He clung to her. //\"You have to go.\"//

//\"I know.\"//

//\"You have to run far away. I won\'t ever see you again.\"// He pulled back a little, gazing at her. Then he leaned forward and dropped a sweet, gentle, child\'s kiss on her lips. //\"I love you, Mozelle.\"//

She remembered all the times Lupus had turned aside from her kisses-turned aside with what she knew had been at least the beginning of love in his eyes, and experienced a wrench of pain that she had thought herself too numb to feel. //\"I love you, too, Gaius.\"// She kissed his cheek, then stood up. //\"Tell your brother... Tell him...\"// She sighed. //\"I just wish we\'d met in another place and time. Maybe then there would have been a chance. Now, go inside. You shouldn\'t watch me go. That way you can tell them that you don\'t know how I escaped, and you won\'t be lying.\"//

She watched till the little boy had gone into the house. Then she forced herself to go back into the shed, getting the chair. Remembering her earlier futile efforts to jump up and catch the edge of the wall, she climbed on it, them managed to haul herself over.

When she dropped into the lane behind the garden, she wrenched her ankle slightly. Not enough to hobble her, but as she hurried away, it began to ache, and it got worse as she went along.

She had no idea where she was going. She thought that she should try to get out of the city, because they would probably raise an alarm when they discovered her gone the next morning. Then there were the patrols to worry about. The city guards roamed the streets in pairs, keeping the peace, and they\'d naturally stop any slave they saw out alone at this time of night.

Mozelle never knew how close she came to being captured that night. But every pair of guards that neared her suddenly found themselves feeling compelled to turn down a side street, whether it was on their route or not. Venus and Dischordia had commandeered several other gods and goddesses to keep the authorities away from Mozelle as she limped her way through the darkened streets. Dischordia followed the woman, whispering suggestions about direction at every cross street.

Mozelle was dismayed to see that she seemed to be going deeper into the city. Then she noted two guards approaching. They were at the end of the street, and hadn\'t spotted her yet, but she knew she had to hide, and quickly. There was a large, open sided building nearby, and she darted into it. She quickly hid behind a large, square stone and waited till the men had passed, then crept out cautiously and looked around.

She blinked. *Oh, I don\'t BELIEVE this! I\'m right back where I started.*

She had enough Latin now to read the inscription on the altar. \"Dedicated to the worship of Dischordia, Goddess of Chaos.\" Her eyes widened, then she gave a harsh bark of laughter. \"Oh, isn\'t THAT just fucking typical of my luck! No wonder my life has been so screwed up.\" She gazed upward. \"Hey, Dischordia!\" Dischordia appeared behind her altar, watching Mozelle expectantly. \"Goddess of Chaos, huh? I thought that altar I slept on was dedicated to Hestia. I never would have laid down on it if I\'d known it was yours.\" She paused. \"That is, if I had believed in you.\" She sighed. \"I dunno. I guess there has to be SOMETHING to it, considering what happened. Look, whatever it was I did to piss you off, I\'m sorry, okay? Could you just call off the dogs for a little while? Give me some breathing space? I\'d really appreciate it.\"

Somnus appeared at Dischordia\'s side. //\"Well, Cordie?\"//

Dischordia nodded. //\"She\'s met the requirements. It wasn\'t really all that humble, but it WAS an apology. Put her to sleep.\"//

Somnus exerted gentle force on the mortal woman. Mozelle yawned hugely. \"Oh, no. No way. I have to go. I have to get into the wind.\" Even as she muttered this she was stretching out on the stone slab, and closing her eyes. She whispered, \"Maybe if I say \'there\'s no place like home\' three times... There\'s no place like home. There\'s no place like home. There\'s no... place... like...\" She dozed off.

Dischordia bent over her and said softly, //\"All you had to do was ask nicely.\"//

*FLASH!*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

\"Lady?\"

Mozelle curled up tighter, moaning slightly. Damn, it was cold. It had been so warm when she\'d fallen asleep. She remembered stifstifling it had been in the confines of the shed.

*The shed! I\'m supposed to be running away! Oh, Jesus, I fell asleep. How could I fall asleep?! Who found me? Please, God, don\'t let that be a guard!* She cracked one eye open warily.

There wa a small group of people standing in front of her, gaping. All of them except the man in front, that is. He wore some sort of a uniform, and was frowning. \"Lady, get down off that right now! That\'s an antiquity, you\'re not even supposed to be behind the velvet ropes! If you damaged it, you\'ll be in a lot of trouble.\"

Without thinking she replied faintly, \"It\'s solid stone and probably weighs a ton. What could I do to it?\"

The man\'s eyes narrowed, and he started to reach for the walkie talkie that hung from his belt. Someone pushed their way to the front and laid a restraining hand on his arm. \"Scusa, signore. My girlfriend, she is sick.\"

Mozelle and the guard both looked at the young man in surprise. He shrugged, smiling apologetically. \"She said she was, um... nauseante. You know,\" he made an eloquent gagging sound, clutching at his throat. \"Whoopsie. She said she was going to sit down, but she was light headed, yes?\" He unhooked one of the velvet ropes before the guard could protest and went to where Mozelle was sitting up on the edge of the altar. He reached out and caught both her hands in his. \"Bellissima, I\'m sorry I didn\'t come with you. Are you feeling better now?\" His back to the crowd, he squeezed her hands and winked at her.

\"I... Yes, much better.\"

\"Magnifico!\" He gently helped her down off the altar, putting an arm around her shoulders, and began to help her away from the altar.

She found herself staring at him mutely. There was something very familiar about him, but she\'d never met anyone from Italy. Well, no one from this CENTURY, anyway. As they walked past the still suspicious looking guard her escort gave him a charming smile. \"Thank you so much for finding her for me. I will tell the people back in Italia how helpful and kind are the Americans at this wonderful museum.\"

Now the guard looked a little smug. \"It was nothing. Are you sure you\'re okay, lady?\"

\"I think...\" Mozelle pinched herself on the arm, hard, and yipped quietly.

The guard was back to gaping again. \"Why did you do that?\"

\"To be sure I wasn\'t dreaming. Usually I hate the whole \'it was all just a dream\' thing, but in this case I\'m willing to make an exception.\"

They walked out of the Roman exhibit. Once they were away from the crowd Mozelle took a good look around. It was the museum, all right, looking exactly as she remembered it, except that workers were beginning to carry crates out of the room they\'d just left, breaking down the exhibit.

Mozelle glanced at the man who held her arm, and stopped walking. He looked at her questioningly, then smiled. \"Yes, we should talk. Here is a bench, more comfortable than your last bed, I think.\" They sat down and he said, \"They were not going to let anyone into that exhibit this morning, but I slipped in.\" He shrugged. \"I was feeling a little homesick. This is my first time away from Italia. You know, I thought you were part of the exhibit till the guard started to make a fuss.\"

\"Part of the exhibit?\"

He nodded. \"Yes, like your Williamsburg? I have been there, too. It is fascinating, to see the people in their costumes, working as the colonists did. I thought that you were portraying a slave girl.\" He cocked his head. \"The costume is good, except that the tunic is very short.\"

\"I think he liked to look at my legs,\" she said absently.

\"I do not know who \'he\' is, but I cannot blame him.\" Mozelle looked up sharply at the flirtateous tone. \"The collar is especially authentic.\" He touched the metal circlet with one fingertip. \"How do you get it off?\"

\"I suppose it will by by a locksmith.\" She studied him more closely. In his twenties, dark hair, dark eyes, handsome. \"You look so familiar. Have we met before?\"

\"Alas, I fear not.\"

She found herself chuckling. \"Alas?\"

He smiled again. \"What can I say? I am Italian, sometimes the romance comes out. Since there is no one to introduce us, will you tell me your name?\"

\"I\'m Mozelle.\"

\"What a beautiful name. Mo-zell-eh. It flows off the tongue. I am...\"

\"Wait.\" *Thisiscrazythisiscrazy.* \"Your name wouldn\'t happen to be Lupus, would it?\"

His dark eyebrows rose in surprise. \"No, it is Luka. But my friends call me Lobo. Perhaps we HAVE met?\"

\"Perhaps.\"

He nudged her arm teasingly. \"In another life, yes?\"

Mozelle glanced wonderingly back toward the room she\'d, apparently, spent the night in. \"Yes,\" she said softly. The altar, on a cart, was being wheeled out. She kept her eyes on it as it passed, then disappeared around a turn into another hallway. She looked back at Luka *Lobo?* \"In another life.\"

\"Mozelle, I know you do not know me, and a woman must be careful these days, but...\" He looked down at his hands, suddenly shy. She found herself smiling. He\'d been so glib up till now. \"Like I said, I am far from home. I moved to America two months ago, and I have made some friends, but...\" he shrugged. \"Would you like to have caffe with me?\" He looked back at her. \"I think I would like to know you.\"

She watched him thoughtfully. \"Tell me, how do you feel about slavery?\"

He looked puzzled, but willing to discuss any topic she found interesting. \"It still exists in some parts of the world. It must be wiped out.\"

\"You don\'t think it\'s an acceptable practice?\"

\"I... No!\" He looked flustered. \"What do you think?\"

She laid her hand over his. \"I think that maybe second chances aren\'t mythological after all.\"

The End


Roman Enlightenment is the sequal to this, beginning with an alternate ending to this story, and following Lupus into Mozelle\'s world.