Chapter Text
Talia tried not to pant while she did her best to keep up with her mistress’ brisk pace, but this wasn’t an easy task at all. It didn’t help that Aurelia nearly had run from the house of her grandmother, fuming with anger, and only slowed down when they reached the Forum.
Now, they were walking up the Quirinal and Talia could still not say, where her mistress was heading. The young slave couldn’t remember if Aurelia had any acquaintance here – she didn’t think so, but what did she know? The patrician lady owned her for a little over two years now and she didn’t always take Talia with her. It was entirely possible somebody she knew lived in one of these posh houses.
The girl tried not to gawk at her surroundings. If she lost sight of Aurelia in this area of the city it would be disastrous: Talia had never been here and had no idea how to get back home. Although she supposed she could search for the next Vigilium officer and tell them she lost her mistress. They wouldn’t be pleased but they would bring her to where she belonged.
While she tried to stick close to her mistress, Talia puzzled over the question of what had led to Aurelia’s epicly bad mood.
There had been an email announcement from her domina’s tabula. Talia had fetched the device and then, as any good slave should, had averted her gaze, while her owner read. Now though, she regretted it. Shortly after, Aurelia’s normally very even temper sparked high – in fact, it exploded.
The tabula had been hurled across the room and landed, thankfully, on the bed. Aurelia hadn’t noticed nor did she seem to particularly care since she already punched a number into her phone. Only then Talia dared to look at her domina and regretted the action immediately. Never before had she witnessed this kind of anger in her mistress's face. She hadn't even known Aurelia was capable of such.
From the words spoken during the short call, Talia guessed that her domina had called Master Publius in India, although there weren’t any sweet words exchanged like they usually did. The girl also gathered that Master’s mother and Mistress Aufidia had done something most displeasing. She had no time to figure out what exactly this was.
Aurelia’s voice was barely controlled when she gave Talia the order to pack the tabula in her satchel and get ready for a walk. The girl hurriedly obeyed without even thinking. She did wonder about the nasty look her domina gave her grandmother when she crossed the atrium, though.
Mistress Aufidia answered only with a nasty look of her own and a short: "Accept it, Aurelia. Helena Terentia is right. It’s far more convenient for everyone."
Her domina countered, "This isn’t your decision! And certainly not hers!"
Talia had still not the slightest clue what was going on as her domina stopped right before a big domus, but she did swallow when Aurelia squared her shoulders and drew herself up to her full height – not that a five foot one inches tall woman could look very intimidating. At least, somebody told Talia this and right now she was inclined to disagree. Her domina looked ready to take down one of the mythic cyclops.
Apparently, though, Aurelia remembered some of her manners as she stepped up to the door and rang the bell. For a short moment, her maid had actually feared her mistress would try to break down the front door. Whoever owned this house wouldn’t be pleased about it, Talia was sure of it.
The door was opened and an elderly slave looked at Aurelia, blinked once in obvious surprise before he stepped aside and let them both in. Talia was a little bit bewildered about that. Who lived here that her domina was let in without being asked what her business with the master or mistress of the house was?
Moss and Junio were trying to wind a string of greenery around one of the pillars by the impluvium when the door opened and a young lady entered, anger radiating off her in waves. Moss, who was halfway up a ladder, looked down at her - and down; she was tiny, but the irritation in her face and demeanour was obvious to both slaves. The girl behind her looked nervous, though how much of that was due to her surroundings and how much was due to her mistress’ temper was anyone’s guess.
The two slaves exchanged glances before Junio (standing on the floor steadying the ladder) ventured, "Um, good morning, Miss. Our master’s not at home at the moment…"
The question so why did Petrus let you in? remained unasked.
"Of course he isn’t," Aurelia grumbled and Talia nearly looked up in alarm.
Why were they here then, if her mistress didn’t expect the master of the house to be at home? Her domina's voice was nearly honey sweet when she spoke next.
"One of you two: Could you be so kind as to fetch Willow for me? Tell him Aurelia Neratia Honoria has something to discuss with your master."
Moss scrambled down from the ladder Junio had been holding and vanished in the direction of what must be the slave quarters.
The strand of greenery began slowly unwinding itself, as Junio tried to think of something he could say that wouldn’t end in Aurelia Neratia Honoria disembowelling him with a spoon.
Thankfully it wasn’t long before Willow appeared, with Moss trotting along right behind him.
"Master Drusus isn’t in right now, Lady. Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?"
Talia blinked in surprise as her mistress suddenly dropped her angry posture and nodded.
"That would be nice. And a glass of water for my poor girl, if you don’t mind."
The young slave would of course never protest against anything her domina said or did, but she wasn’t that thirsty and would have prefered if the other slaves in this house didn’t have to bother with her. They clearly had a lot of work to do!
But she could only give them a small sign with her fingers to signal she apologised for… well, everything. Her mistress barging in, for example. Aurelia didn’t see it, luckily.
Her mistress seated herself on a couch in the atrium and Talia stood silently behind her, waiting for whatever would happen next.
Moss heard the request for coffee and water and didn’t need telling twice, retracing his steps back to the slave quarters to procure them.
"Is there anything else I can do?" Willow asked politely, standing in front of the unexpected guest with his hands folded, though he sent a quick gesture of reassurance to the girl standing behind her mistress, who looked apologetic and anxious by turns.
"No," Aurelia answered. "Wait, a pillow so Talia doesn’t have to stand the whole time."
Talia sighed inwardly. She would prefer to stand. Kneeling could be far more tiresome.
"Of course," Willow said and glanced at Junio, who merely bent to move one of Ven’s floor cushions from its usual place and positioned it by the lady’s feet before stepping back as the last bit of the strand of greenery unwound, allowing it to slide down the pillar and settle in a tangled heap on the floor.
Talia winced as she saw this, while Aurelia made an amused sound.
"You will help with the decoration before you kneel down. It’s our fault this has happened," she ordered and Talia bowed her head.
At least Aurelia was sensible enough to offer this. But all of it wasn't answering Talia's question why her mistress acted as if she felt right at home.
The young slave sighed inwardly again and walked over to the strand of greenery to untangle it. She would find out sooner or later. It didn’t really matter to her.
"You don’t…" Junio began, and glanced across at the lady who had so imperiously marched in and taken over. The girl did, her mistress had ordered it.
Thank all the gods - someone had taken pity on them and sent Moss back out, with a tray that not only had a pot of coffee on it but some snacks as well, suitable for the time of day, and a glass of water. He set the tray down on the table by the side of the sofa, within reach, and poured a cup of coffee for the lady.
"Do you need anything else?" Willow asked, indicating that Moss should go back to what he was doing before their unexpected guest turned up.
"A way to turn the time back to exactly the point where Publius and me were dumb enough to allow his mother and my grandmother to take over the wedding planning," Aurelia answered, with sarcasm in her voice, before she sighed deeply. "No, Willow. But thank you for not kicking me out on the streets and telling me to come back later."
Talia tried very hard to not stare at her domina. She never thanked a slave. Praised them, yes, but this? She never heard of it.
Willow bowed his head, not quite enough to hide the smile. "There's a good coffee shop two doors down where you could have spent the morning waiting for Master Drusus - he walks right past on his way home. And I would probably have been whipped within an inch of my life if I had turned you away. I don't think we have a time machine in the house. Apologies."
Aurelia only smiled while she leaned back, apparently waiting patiently for Talia to finish her task. The girl hurried to do so without ripping the greenery - good it wasn’t that tangled and so she could hand it to Junio after some minutes of fussing with it.
Junio and Moss resumed the places they had been in moments before, with Moss up the ladder to fasten the strand at the top of the column while Junio held the ladder steady until Moss was done. It didn't take very long before they had finished winding the strand around the column, matching the other three.
Talia watched them out of the corner of her eyes while she added sugar and milk to the cup of coffee exactly how Aurelia preferred it before she knelt on the cushion at her mistress’ feet.
"Take your tabula out and do some of your lessons, Talia. We will be here for a while. But give me mine first."
The girl did as told and after another look at her owner - maybe Aurelia needed something else from her - she concentrated on her work. The young patrician woman began reading herself while she sipped at her coffee, ignoring everything around her.
Junio took the opportunity to return the ladder to its usual storage place before resuming his usual position by the wall.
It was perhaps half an hour later when the main door opened again to admit the master of the house, his secretary and personal slave following him.
"You can reschedule my meeting with Aulus Longinus Crispus for - oh. What are you doing in my atrium, Aurelia?"
Talia winced inwardly hearing his words and a short glance at the man who had spoken them, made her nearly gulp in fear. He didn’t look like he was somebody a slave wanted to cross. Scratch that, who anybody wanted to cross.
But her mistress seemed to ignore this little minor detail and smiled warmly. She had gotten to her feet as soon as the front door opened, but indicated to Talia she shouldn’t stand up.
"Seeking help and asylum," Aurelia answered, before she sighed. "Publius… he didn’t think about giving you a warning, I assume."
"I had hoped either I was mistaken, or he was." Drusus stood still, letting his attending slave unwind the pallium he had been wearing, before he crossed to give Aurelia a kiss on the cheek. "What exactly do you need my help with? And should I have my slaves make up a mattress for you in my lararium, or will a guest bed suffice?"
Talia could barely stop herself from looking up and staring at the man. Was he… well, she hoped he was joking! Her poor mistress, sleeping beside a lararium… No, Talia didn’t even want to try to imagine it.
"I'll take the guest bed, thank you very much," Aurelia answered, returning the greeting. "But I hope it won’t be necessary. And I need help with telling Helena Terentia and my grandmother to… how do I put it nicely… to keep their noses, hands and anything else out of my wedding?"
Aurelia sounded like she was smiling, but Talia could hear the stressed undertone.
"This would be the wedding that you haven't begun planning yet, I take it," Drusus said, taking a seat on the sofa across from where Aurelia had been sitting. The slave who had accompanied him returned from putting the pallium away and knelt to exchange his outdoor shoes for his indoor slippers before taking his position kneeling beside his master on another cushion.
He caught Talia's eye and gave her a gesture of reassurance. The girl blushed, but thanked him with a minor movement of her fingers.
She finally figured out who the master of the house was - it helped he looked a lot like Master Publius, only older. And his attending slave was kind of famous for something on VosTubum, although Talia wasn't allowed to watch the videos. Aurelia always said she was too young for this, whatever this was.
"We began with the planning," Aurelia mumbled, as she sat back down. "But it's hard to find a house in Rome - which I managed, by the way. I bought it four days ago. And before Publius didn't know when he would be back permanently, there was little sense in planning."
"One can always plan," Drusus pointed out. "Be that as it may, this is the situation as it is now, and we can't change the past. What have Helena Terentia and your grandmother done that's brought you to my house in search of sanctuary and help?"
Talia managed to not look up at her mistress with a look of pure disbelief while inwardly agreeing with Master Publius’ father. She was sure they could have planned anything without the date, or at least a major part of it.
"Somehow, through their various contacts and who knows what, they managed to get the information about the date Publius would have his honourable discharge sooner than us. And instead of maybe asking, they set a date for the wedding. Which, of course, is one suitable for them and not the date Publius and me wanted. And I only found out, because I tried to get an appointment with a priest of Juno - who was confused why I suddenly wanted a different date, because they already noted one done."
This time, Talia couldn't stop herself from looking shocked. Alright, that was…not something any relative should do. She could understand why her mistress was so furious.
Drusus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Arranging anything else would be irritating, but to dictate the very date? Yes, that's a step too far. What date did they summarily choose, and which date would you and my son prefer?"
Aurelia sighed unhappily. "We wanted a date in October. Now it's the eighth of September. This is alright, we don't need to change it. But this isn't the point! It's not their wedding, for Juno's sake. I mean if they decide this what comes next? The furniture of our house? How many slaves are we allowed to own? The name of our firstborn?!"
Out of the corner of her eyes Talia saw how her domina shook her head, suddenly looking very tired.
"They are not listening to me nor do they listen to Publius - apparently they think we are unable to sort everything out by ourselves. Which is partially our own fault, I can admit that. But since they ignore us, I need to ask you to tell them to let us make our own decisions from now on. Obviously I'm not intimidating enough and Publius is in India."
"Would you prefer a date in October? I presume you can arrange everything else yourselves, flame-coloured veil, torchbearers, procession, catering and everything. I'm happy to lend you my slaves to serve the food, if you need them."
"I would prefer if as few people as possible become aware of Publius and my problem with Helena and my grandmother, so it would be better to leave the date as it is," Aurelia admitted and added after a short pause: "Currently, you, my partner, her husband and Senator Granius are the only persons who are aware of it. The senator only knows because his company will provide the catering. And he accepted the contract for a wedding, without a date, a guest list, or a location simply because my partner is friends with him and asked him to do her this favour - but I probably will take your offer to borrow your slaves for serving."
After another pause and some squirming in her seat she mumbled finally: "And I have had the flammeum since the signing of the betrothal contract."
"I shall call them - unless you would prefer I email? In the meantime, however, did you think to bring any spare clothing with you? I don’t think your grandmother will take too kindly to having her ideas for your wedding summarily ignored; you had best prepare to spend at least a few days here, if not the whole of Saturnalia."
Talia sighed inwardly. No, of course Aurelia hadn’t thought about that and had Talia been aware of the whole problem she would have packed a few things.
"I have maybe acted before I thought about that," Aurelia admitted, her usual smile back in place. "But I think I can convince a friend to bring me what I need. My probably very angry grandmother would never think about stopping her."
Poor Cinna, Talia thought, having no doubt about who Aurelia meant, when she said ‘friend’. She only hoped her mistress would remember that Talia herself needed some clothes too.
"Are you sure you want Publius and me around you for the whole of Saturnalia?" Aurelia asked. "I know we have the tendency to be a little bit chaotic."
"The house is big enough for a little bit of chaos, and it’s a chaotic time of year anyway. And with you staying here, I might actually be able to see my son for, oh, five minutes or so, which is a chance I won’t have otherwise."
Aurelia smiled brightly.
"Well, it’s settled. Oh, Talia will stay here too, if you don’t mind. If I send her back, my gran will surely try to press information out of her and the poor girl doesn’t deserve such a treatment."
Talia had expected this, but felt a little bit nervous. Staying here, in this house, where she didn’t know anyone? Well, if Master Publius would come for a visit, Ufa would be here too, but… She tried not to squirm. If her mistress wished for it, she would stay, of course.
"Your friend had best pick something up for Talia too, then; I don’t think any of my slaves’ tunics would fit her. As for sleeping arrangements… You would probably be best in Helena Terentia’s old room, unless you would prefer to be elsewhere. And does Talia sleep in your room, or elsewhere?"
"Well, normally she sleeps at the slave quarters with the other female slaves of my grandmother, but I think she should stay with me in this case. And… you are aware I won’t stay in Helena's old rooms as soon as Publius arrives here, aren’t you?"
"The reason I think that room is best is because it has a double bed, and Publius’ room doesn’t. And you won’t disturb anyone there - you could go into the guest room, I suppose, which would be just as easy, but I doubt either of you will want to be right next to me."
Aurelia blinked once before she glanced at the slave kneeling beside Drusus and gave the master of the house an impish grin.
"Helena's old rooms will be fine."
Drusus was not in a position to see Ven’s eyes close momentarily so he could roll his eyes without being seen. He did catch Aurelia’s eye and note her expression.
"I’m pretty sure neither of us want to hear what you two are likely to get up to, either," he pointed out.
"You are probably right about that," Aurelia smiled.
Talia dropped her gaze to the floor and rolled her eyes, too. No, nobody wanted this.
"I think as soon as Publius arrives Talia will be fine to sleep in the slave quarters. She gets along with Ufa and generally listens to him."
What Aurelia probably meant was, Ufa would make sure nobody in the house would be unkind to Talia as long as he was near. But of course, she wouldn’t say that aloud. Talia only wondered who in this house would be so bold. Publius' father didn’t look like he would allow any of his slaves to misbehave.
Drusus snapped his fingers. "I want to speak to Willow."
"Yes, Master." Junio immediately turned and headed for the door to the back part of the house, where Willow had gone once he was no longer required to wait on Aurelia.
The majordomo entered a few moments later. "Master?"
"Have the bed in your mistress’ room made up, and a cot taken in. And make up two cots in the guest dormitory, too."
"Yes, Master."
"Would your partner care to stay for dinner after dropping your things off, do you think?" Drusus enquired.
"Uhm," Aurelia started and looked suddenly very uncomfortable, her gaze settling on Ven, before snapping back to Drusus.
"There is maybe something else, I should tell you first, before you invite her."
Drusus’ eyebrow arched. "Oh? You’re bringing a whole troupe of dancing girls with you, which is why you’ve been summarily thrown out of your grandmother’s house?"
"Uhm… no. You were invited to dinner at the house of the Vestals last month, right? With the emperor?" Aurelia tried at least to smile, but failed.
Drusus sighed. "That is strictly confidential, but you’re a member of Imperial Security. Yes, I was. No, I will not talk about what was discussed. Though I’m sure it’s common knowledge by now, anyway."
Aurelia nodded. "Yes, his stupid cousin. Former cousin. Whatever." She took a deep breath. "We got the order to check your household - before this whole other mess. And… well my partner… she spoke to Ven. In disguise." Aurelia looked for a moment a little bit afraid and added a very subdued: "I apologise for that."
Ven startled, obviously not expecting his name to be mentioned in this at all.
"It was mentioned that Imperial Security had done some investigating, but I had not expected it to have come from within my own family. Soon-to-be family. Perhaps I should rescind that order to Willow?"
Ven’s hand slipped to his master’s ankle and tapped it twice.
"Yes, pet?"
"It was very soon after you started making those videos, Master, and Valentine told me he was the one to request it. He… was worried."
"It was an order and to be honest, I thought better it’s me who combs through your private affairs then a complete stranger," Aurelia piped up. "My partner, Cinna, is… uhm. Well, she didn’t think you mistreated your boy and reported that nothing was wrong."
"I’m glad to hear it," Drusus remarked dryly and Aurelia winced visibly.
"Are you throwing me out now?"
"Are you still digging into my private affairs?"
"No. This was a one time only thing, I swear. And Cinna told me beforehand it was a stupid idea."
"You might listen to her on occasion, young lady. No, I’m not going to throw you out - I daresay you left home without enough money for a taxa capra, never mind a hotel room anywhere, and we are about to be family. As for Cinna, you can inform her that she and her husband are invited for dinner to make it up to her for having to pack up enough of your clothing for the Saturnalia week." He was not exactly smiling, but his expression was not as stern as might be expected at the pronouncement.
Aurelia swallowed, gave him a smile and nodded, while Talia breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Thank you. I will tell her."