of breeding.’ She looked like an angry pigeon.
Artorex was concerned about the direction their conversation was taking, and gazed around to ensure that no one could overhear the words this girl was uttering. Did she have no reserve in her nature?
‘My brothers share my lineage, and they don’t assert the full rights of a husband on the bodies of their wives.’
Artorex shrugged. Lineage was of little interest to a fatherless man.
‘And so Caius is allowed to beat Julanna, and everyone in the Villa Poppinidii knows about it,’ Gallia stated with conviction. ‘How cowardly!’
Artorex shrugged once more. The truth was self-evident.
‘Is there anyone here who can protect her from Caius?’
‘No one at all, if the Mistress Livinia decides to turn a blind eye - as I believe you should, if you are wise.’
‘I am not so mean-spirited.’
‘I believe you, but what do you expect me to do? Lady Livinia has spoken to her son, so I expect no more violence from him. I can hardly insist that the son of the house should be punished, nor is it my place to be critical of those decisions made by the master and the mistress of the villa.’ Artorex was frustrated with the discussion, mainly because he knew in his heart that Gallia was correct. Caius was a bully, and the poorest servant at the villa knew it. Artorex himself had seen the proof and he felt soiled by his complicity.
‘As the steward of this noble house, I suppose there is nothing you can do if his parents will not prevent the cruelty of their son. It is all very sad, because I considered this beautiful villa as a little slice of Olympia, and it is disheartening to discover that wickedness is everywhere.’ Gallia sighed deeply, and Artorex found his irritation had flown away on that gentle exhalation of breath.
But the girl immediately shocked him with her next question.
‘Does he follow the Greek fashion?’
‘What?’ Artorex drew to a halt so quickly that Coal butted him in the back.
‘Does he seek out love with small boys and effeminate men?’ Gallia elaborated as if to a young and innocent child.
‘I know nothing of the amorous preferences of Master Caius. His friend, Severinus, may be another matter - but I am never invited to consort with my betters.’
‘How very convenient,’ Gallia said softly, as if to herself. Turning, she smiled up at Artorex’s scowling face. ‘Thank you, Artorex.’ She smiled once more in dismissal. ‘You may leave me now. I wish to return to the villa.’
His abrupt dismissal irritated Artorex more than he could have expected.
As he mounted Coal and rode away, his mind decided on a number of stinging answers to her impertinent questions. But it was all too late.
‘Damn the girl,’ Artorex told Coal, who whickered his encouragement. ‘She makes me feel like a fool.’
However, once an idea takes root, it begins to grow.
Despite himself, Artorex discovered his thoughts returning to Caius and his friends, no matter how vigorously he tried to rein them in. Thoughts of Gallia, too, intruded into his reading of Caesar’s exploits against Versingatorex, something that had never happened before. In the days that followed, when he was in her presence he struggled to meet her wide amber stare - and realized that thoughts of her lush breasts were beginning to disturb his sleep.
Women are very, very strange, he thought to himself on several occasions. The other servants frequently noticed that he would stare distractedly at nothing in particular when he should have been concentrating on the running of the villa.
It was only natural that the servants began to gossip.
‘The young steward is in love,’ Frith cackled at him one morning after a frost had driven him into the kitchens to warm his chapped hands.
‘Nonsense, Frith!’ Artorex retorted, although the old servant noticed that her words had brought two spots of colour to the thin skin over his cheekbones.
‘Methinks it is Lady Gallia that distracts
Artorex was concerned about the direction their conversation was taking, and gazed around to ensure that no one could overhear the words this girl was uttering. Did she have no reserve in her nature?
‘My brothers share my lineage, and they don’t assert the full rights of a husband on the bodies of their wives.’
Artorex shrugged. Lineage was of little interest to a fatherless man.
‘And so Caius is allowed to beat Julanna, and everyone in the Villa Poppinidii knows about it,’ Gallia stated with conviction. ‘How cowardly!’
Artorex shrugged once more. The truth was self-evident.
‘Is there anyone here who can protect her from Caius?’
‘No one at all, if the Mistress Livinia decides to turn a blind eye - as I believe you should, if you are wise.’
‘I am not so mean-spirited.’
‘I believe you, but what do you expect me to do? Lady Livinia has spoken to her son, so I expect no more violence from him. I can hardly insist that the son of the house should be punished, nor is it my place to be critical of those decisions made by the master and the mistress of the villa.’ Artorex was frustrated with the discussion, mainly because he knew in his heart that Gallia was correct. Caius was a bully, and the poorest servant at the villa knew it. Artorex himself had seen the proof and he felt soiled by his complicity.
‘As the steward of this noble house, I suppose there is nothing you can do if his parents will not prevent the cruelty of their son. It is all very sad, because I considered this beautiful villa as a little slice of Olympia, and it is disheartening to discover that wickedness is everywhere.’ Gallia sighed deeply, and Artorex found his irritation had flown away on that gentle exhalation of breath.
But the girl immediately shocked him with her next question.
‘Does he follow the Greek fashion?’
‘What?’ Artorex drew to a halt so quickly that Coal butted him in the back.
‘Does he seek out love with small boys and effeminate men?’ Gallia elaborated as if to a young and innocent child.
‘I know nothing of the amorous preferences of Master Caius. His friend, Severinus, may be another matter - but I am never invited to consort with my betters.’
‘How very convenient,’ Gallia said softly, as if to herself. Turning, she smiled up at Artorex’s scowling face. ‘Thank you, Artorex.’ She smiled once more in dismissal. ‘You may leave me now. I wish to return to the villa.’
His abrupt dismissal irritated Artorex more than he could have expected.
As he mounted Coal and rode away, his mind decided on a number of stinging answers to her impertinent questions. But it was all too late.
‘Damn the girl,’ Artorex told Coal, who whickered his encouragement. ‘She makes me feel like a fool.’
However, once an idea takes root, it begins to grow.
Despite himself, Artorex discovered his thoughts returning to Caius and his friends, no matter how vigorously he tried to rein them in. Thoughts of Gallia, too, intruded into his reading of Caesar’s exploits against Versingatorex, something that had never happened before. In the days that followed, when he was in her presence he struggled to meet her wide amber stare - and realized that thoughts of her lush breasts were beginning to disturb his sleep.
Women are very, very strange, he thought to himself on several occasions. The other servants frequently noticed that he would stare distractedly at nothing in particular when he should have been concentrating on the running of the villa.
It was only natural that the servants began to gossip.
‘The young steward is in love,’ Frith cackled at him one morning after a frost had driven him into the kitchens to warm his chapped hands.
‘Nonsense, Frith!’ Artorex retorted, although the old servant noticed that her words had brought two spots of colour to the thin skin over his cheekbones.
‘Methinks it is Lady Gallia that distracts
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