Chapter Text
While Aurelia made the necessary phone call to Cinna - to inform her where she was and to plead for help equally - Talia had been sent away. Somebody needed to show the girl around, so she wouldn't have to ask for directions constantly in the next few days and it seemed that somebody was Moss.
Talia stood in front of the other slave who had shown her so far parts of the garden - and telling her in no unclear words she should stay away from his master's ‘playroom’ under any circumstances - where the room her mistress would occupy was, as well as parts of the slave quarters downstairs.
The girl had tried to smooth out some wrinkles in her calf-length dark turquoise coloured tunic the whole time and looked nervous in general. So far she hadn’t said anything, but gave him a nod from time to time, to show she understood what he was saying.
"The house is...big", she finally said, and blushed immediately afterwards.
Moss nodded, pretending he hadn’t seen her blushing. "Yes - it’s pretty easy to find your way round, though, especially once you get used to it. If it helps, you can think of it in four quarters - the atrium, the garden, the bathhouse and the slave quarters."
Talia bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, I hope it will help me. I just… I’ve never been to such a big house." She dropped her gaze and added more quietly: "I didn’t even know my mistress has connections to somebody who lives in such a house. I knew Master Publius comes from a rich family, I just didn't realise how rich. I… is your owner very strict? He doesn't look like he forgives mistakes."
Moss considered her question. "Ye-es… only, he doesn't leave you guessing what he wants, especially if he knows you don't know him or his preferences. He'll probably leave you alone because you're not his. And you're not likely to be impertinent. At least, you don't look like the sort who's impertinent to free people." He paused at the foot of the stairs. "You're staying with your mistress for the next couple of nights, until Master Publius arrives, but after that, you'll be in the guest dormitory. You ought to see that now, just so you know where it is. And the upstairs ablutions."
"Yes, thank you," Talia nodded after she swallowed once. "I don’t think I’m even brave enough to be rude to… anyone, I guess. Though, Kara, one of the girls in the house where I live with my mistress, always tells me I am, when I refuse to answer her questions about my domina. But she spies for Mistress Aufida on her granddaughter, which isn’t something you should do, right?"
"No, you're quite right not to talk about your mistress like that. Nobody here will do anything like that." He led the way up the stairs. "This is where my master's guests' slaves usually sleep," he added, pushing open a door. "There aren't any female slaves in this house, so you might be here on your own, unless you want Ufa to sleep here too. Nobody's going to do anything to hurt you or anything, and if there's anything you need, we can get it. I mean… feminine hygiene products or... anything."
"Thank you, that’s… uhm, I have what I need. Or ask my mistress. And Cinna will probably pack anything, anyway," Talia answered while blushing again and looking around. "It looks nice. I will be alright."
Moss smiled at her, relieved. He would have bought her things for her but would probably have felt a bit uncomfortable doing so. "This is our other dorm room, if Ufa isn't with you, he'll probably be put in here."
"I don’t know what our owners will decide, of course, but I think Ufa will stay in this room with me. Which is alright. Ufa is nice," the girl said, before biting her lower lip again. "How do you celebrate Saturnalia? Is your Master in the house? Because at home Mistress Aufida sometimes leaves the house and comes only back after the holiday."
"It's my first Saturnalia here, too. The others have said that Master stays here, but it's the traditional sort of celebration, so he lets us have the week off to do what we like, and there's the big Saturnalia dinner where we all eat together. From what everyone says, he stays out of the way."
"That’s good. I think. My mistress tried to cook on Saturnalia once - apparently, it was horrible. That was before she bought me, though," Talia said, and blushed again, probably realising she shouldn’t talk like that about the woman who owned her. "I mean… uhm."
Moss smiled at her. "It's OK, I won't tell. My old master was terrible at cooking, too. They wouldn't let him do anything more than just peel the vegetables."
The girl giggled as she heard this, clearly getting more comfortable. After looking around some more, she gazed up at her guide. "Is there anything else, I should know? How many slaves live here?"
"Um. Twelve or thirteen, I think. Something like that," Moss replied, and counted on his fingers. "You may not meet all of them, though, two of them work in the Phallusy store up the road, they just sleep here. In the house, there’s me and Junio - he’s the other house slave you met. Willow. Ven. Petrus the doorkeeper, and Icarus the gardener. Grumio’s the cook, and Davus is the handyman. And there’s the other kitchen staff, too - Felix and Chrestus, and Congrio. And Julianus, though he’s… awkward."
Talia nodded at each name he told her with a smile, but as he mentioned the last, her face showed confusion.
"He has the same name as the Emperor’s cousin," she mumbled with a frown.
"Ye-es," Moss said, a little uncertainly. He took a breath and continued, "He is the Emperor's cousin - all of us know, it was all over the news, about the trial and everything. Just, don't say anything to anyone outside the house?"
"Oh, I wouldn't," Talia assured him, her eyes big and honest. "I’m sure my mistress would be most displeased if I tell somebody anything. And I really don’t want to cause trouble to anyone."
"It's all right," Moss said. "Um. Do you have any questions you want to ask?"
"I…" Talia started and closed her mouth immediately afterwards, a frown appearing on her face. Finally she bit her lower lip and shook her head. "I don't really know. I guess I'll find my way round the house - I just hope I don't step on any toes. Or make a mistake. I don't want to embarrass my mistress."
She looked worried and nervous at the same time and tried, again, to smooth some none existent wrinkles from her tunic.
"You can always ask, if you need to - there's always someone around you can ask, if there's something you need to know. Master will leave you alone because you're not one of his slaves, your mistress is a guest. There might be more of us than you're used to, but everyone's nice enough. Davus can be a bit gruff, but you won't see a lot of him anyway, because he's mainly in the workshop - he does all the useful things like putting up shelves and things."
Moss opened another door. "If you like crafts and things, we've got this space to use when all our work is done."
"The only things I ever crafted was some embroidery and one or two knitted pieces," Talia answered, while taking a look at the room. "Mistress Aufidia thinks a girl shouldn’t learn any other craft, even if you’re a slave. My domina disagrees, but it’s not her house, so..." Talia shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I guess, if we finally move out of the house from Mistress Aufida, I will be allowed to try new things. I haven’t asked my domina yet. She is very annoyed because of the whole wedding thing and I don’t want to bother her."
"Well, if you want to try anything new while you're here, we've probably got the stuff for it. Um. I guess I should show you the other rooms up here, too, just in case you need to know where any of them are. It's mostly storage, which you won't need to know, but there's the sickroom, another ablutions area - with a bathtub, if you want to have a bath - and Willow's office."
"I will ask my mistress if I’m allowed to try something new," Talia answered while she followed Moss, her tone hopeful. "I would really like that. And Willow is your steward, right? Is he nice or strict like your master?"
Moss considered the question. "He has high standards, because the master does, but he’s easy to talk to if you’ve got a problem - he gives good advice if you need it, and if you’ve got a problem with a free person, he can usually help out. He won’t interfere with you because you’re here for your mistress, but he might ask you to do some small things once or twice. You probably won’t be on any of the rotas, so you won't have to worry about that."
"I wouldn’t mind helping," Talia assured him with a shy smile. "I don’t like sitting around and doing nothing and my mistress doesn’t need me to hand her everything. When she goes to work she always leaves me at home. And I know she will be working tomorrow at least."
"Oh! Well, I'm sure we can find you something to do - there's always something, after all. Even if it's just laundry." Moss returned her smile with one of his own.
Talia nodded. It didn’t seem like she would mind doing the laundry. "I like being useful. And I don’t have that many lessons scheduled that I don’t have time for anything else, when my mistress doesn’t need me." She looked around again and added quietly: "It’s really a nice house your master has."
"It is. When I first arrived, I was worried I wasn't going to find my way around, but it's not that hard when you realise it's got four different areas. You just have to remember your way around each of them, and if you're in the balnea, it will probably only be with your mistress. And if you really get lost, find one of the intercom panels - they were designed for slaves who can't read, and show the whole house plan."
He shrugged. "It's not really a proper intercom, because we can't talk over it, it's used for the master to call one of us."
Talia nodded again, to show she understood. "We have an intercom at home, but there is no house plan on it. Knowing this will help me, thank you." She let her gaze wander around more, the shy smile still on her lips. "I think, I can find my way - and you said it wouldn’t be a problem if I ask someone, so I will do that, if I don’t know where to go."
"There's an understanding, among us, that if there's a female slave staying here, she gets to use the upstairs ablutions. It might mean a bit of a walk, but at least you won't walk in on any of us. There are some folks who are used to sharing between sexes, but if you're not, it's here." Moss opened the door into the white-tiled communal bathroom. "There's a bath, if you want - only, don't take too long if you do use it. And I'll find you a couple of towels."
"I’m used to sharing the ablutions with male slaves," Talia muttered and blushed again. "You really don’t need to bother so much for me. Just tell me where I can get a towel and I see to it myself. You clearly have enough duties."
Moss crossed the hall to open the door of a small windowless room, and turned the light on. "This is the household linen store, sheets and blankets are here, and towels are here." He passed her a couple of towels. "If you stay here long enough that you need clean ones - or clean bedding, it’s here. Just put your dirty linen in the wash basket down in the utility room and they’ll get washed with the rest of our stuff."
The girl accepted the towels and glanced into the room, before nodding. "I’ll do that. Is there anything else I should know?" Her last words came out with a worried undertone and she bit her lower lip.
"Um." Moss turned the light back off and closed the door again. "Like I said, you don’t have to worry about Master - he won’t bother you, you’re Mistress Aurelia’s girl. If you end up missing any meals because your mistress keeps you busy, there’s soup and stuff in a cupboard by the door in the kitchen - anyone will show you."
"I never missed a meal while serving my mistress" Talia muttered and shuddered slightly. "That… happened before she owned me and she was furious about it. She ranted about how I’m still growing and stuff and that I should have proper nutrition all the time." She closed her mouth and looked suddenly concerned. "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you with my past."
"I’m not very good at listening," Moss confessed. "But if you do want to talk… Ven’s good at it, or Icarus - the gardener. And, I know what it’s like, though in my case, he just didn’t think, and it didn’t happen very often. But Grumio’s good, he’s got some stuff that’s quick to heat up, or there’s always bread."
"That’s good to know. And… I…" Talia took a deep breath. "I talk to Cinna sometimes, when she has time. She is my domina's partner and best friend. She’s a liberta. But… maybe I will talk to Ven or Icarus. If they have time."
Moss considered. "It might be harder for Ven to find the time, but I’m sure he’ll have time over the Saturnalia season. And Icarus can talk while he works - he’ll tell you if he can’t, but gardening is one of those things that’s easy to do and talk at the same time."
"I’ll think about it. Thank you," the girl smiled and added after some moments with, of course, another blush: "You’re nice. Most adult slaves talk to me like I’m still a small child. You don’t."
Moss grinned. "You’re not a child - well, not a young one. You’re old enough to be your mistress’ body slave, after all, and that isn’t the sort of position anyone would give a child. And talking about your mistress, I suppose we should go and find her before she starts wondering where you are."
"Yes, we should." Talia agreed before she grinned for a short moment. "But I suspect she is far more occupied worrying about Cinna's arrival and her disapproving look. Which is a scary thing. And my mistress gets it every couple of months."
She closed her mouth and frowned. "I shouldn’t say that, should I?"
"I won’t tell anyone you said it - but no, it’s not usually a good idea to criticise your owner, or to say something that other people might think is."
The girl sighed, but nodded. "I understand. Hopefully, I’ll manage to avoid embarrassing my mistress like that. I probably should find her now, after I put these towels away."
"Just leave them on your bed for now, I think," Moss said, to which Talia only nodded again, before turning on her heels to do exactly what he suggested. It didn’t take her more than a moment before she stood before Moss again, expectantly looking up at him.
"Let’s get you back to your mistress, then. Do you know where she is?" Moss said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"She said, she would be in the bibliotheca," the girl answered, looking slightly unsure. "I know you already showed me where it is, but could you show me again? I promise I will find my way alone by tomorrow."
"Of course I can. It's off the atrium, next to the guest room. Can you remember the way to the atrium from here?" He would show her anyway, of course, but if she could remember something already, it would be a start.
"I…" Talia started, but then swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I think so."
She turned in the direction of the stairs and after an unsure gaze over her shoulder, probably to make sure Moss was following her, started to go down. She stopped at the bottom and bit her lower lip in concentration before she seemed to remember and walked in the direction of the cage. She gave the thing a scowl and turned away from it, facing one of the doors leading out of the slave-quarters.
"If we go through here we’re back in the atrium," she said, though it nearly sounded like a question and a frown had appeared on her face.
"Yes," Moss said encouragingly. "Or very nearly, anyway." He pushed the door open. "You can go through this door here to the garden - your mistress' bedroom door is the one in the middle across from us, and then there's a door to the atrium there, or we can go this way, past the balnea. Though let's go past your mistress' room - we don't have to cross the atrium this way."
Talia confirmed his words with another nod of her head and followed him through the door into the garden, obviously trying not to turn her head in every direction to give the garden more than a quick look. She stopped before the bedroom door Moss had pointed out and glanced up at him, as she turned to look in the direction of the atrium.
"You can come out here when your mistress doesn't need you - and it's the quickest way between her room and our part of the house," Moss said, noticing her interest. "If you come into the atrium this way, don't forget to close the door behind you."
Facing them was a pair of glass doors, and Moss opened the right-hand one, letting her go in front of him. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "That's Master's bedroom on the left here, and the bibliotheca is two doors down, the last room on the left."
"I will remember that, thank you," Talia answered, her own voice barely above a whisper itself. "And thank you for showing me around. I better go to my domina now."
She gave Moss a last shy smile, before she lowered her gaze and walked up to the door of the bibliotheca, where she knocked. After some more moments she opened the door and slipped quietly into the room.