Thread: The Concubine     (Fanatic/Nika)

Atticus nodded as he had expected Alicias reaction to meeting the barbarians. He had expected as much because she was no different than any of the soft citizens of Rome who thought that the barbarians as beneath their position. He suspected that she still felt elevated from her former position in the temple. Alicia was also a victim of propaganda like a common street vendor. She feared what she did not understand, and at that moment there was a lot that she did not understand. Still he noticed that she had learned to keep her tongue in check. This one learns quickly he thought to himself. He smiled when he heard that she wrote and spoke Latin and some Greek. Latin was the language of power in the Empire, so regardless of what language was your native tongue you were expected to learn a rudimentary amount of Latin. He had also expected Greek to be in her vocabulary also as it was the preferred language of scholars, diplomats, politicians and the well educated upper society. All of which she might have come in contact with in her duties. He detected a hint of disgust as she answered the question of riding a horse as a pampered priestess would. He had also expected as much as it would be rare for a woman to ride, especially in Rome. But he thought maybe it might have become necessary in her travels. The general merely listened to the young woman tell of what she knows of the state of Rome. Even when it was clear that she was trying, unwisely to get a rise out of him his face remained as if made of stone. Although he had known of the high taxes and the games, the burden placed upon the people by the taxes was a direct result of his army. His army did supply the slaves and gladiators through conquest, which in turn died in the arena to distract the masses from the burden of being overtaxed. And in the midst of all of this statues of him were erected. Atticus knew that fame had its price in Rome. He found this profoundly disturbing because he knew when the public revolted the blame for their plight would fall upon him as he was not there to protest. This meant that he would eventually have to defend himself and the people of Rome from those that held the seats of power. He had feared just that. Just the thought of the plight of the peoples burden at the expense of gross profit allowed a hint of sadness to creep into his emotionless features. Then after the girl had finished answering his questions he began to speak to her in Greek. He took a soft tone that he was unaccustomed to taking I am sorry that things are hard for you my dear. But as you have stated, things are hard everywhere for everyone. Almost, everyone. And like it or not you have apparently been swept up in the tides of power and graft. Now I beg you to listen to my words very carefully and when you speak, speak only to me in Greek until I tell you otherwise. Everyone in this camp speaks Latin, few speak Greek. There are spies of Rome in this camp. So we must make it hard for them to understand when we speak. Looking into her beautiful yet fierce eyes he looked to see if there was comprehension. When he saw what he took to be comprehension, he continued. You were a priestess. The emphasis is on WERE. It takes a lot of power to make a priestess to disappear. A lot of power and also the cooperation of the temple I would think. You were sent here as a concubine with no mention of you being a priestess, unless you have told anyone. I think you in some form or another are caught up in some sort of power play in Rome, that you are unaware of. I think you were sent here for your safety as much as you hate it. Now the best thing you can do while we figure this puzzle out is for you to be my concubine. You need to accept that this is your life for now, because right now the only person keeping your beautiful hide alive is me. Now we are going to my bedchambers where we are going to bed. You will not be blemished tonight, as you are probably very tired. But soon we will be expected to behave as a couple, because after all you are my concubine. I suggest you get your rest, because tomorrow morning we are going for a ride. While on this ride we will be able to speak more in private. Now come with me, my dear. We will talk more in the morning. But I warn you to remember where you are and remember that you arent a priestess anymore. He said as he parts his bedchamber curtains and holds out his hand for her to take.