Out Of The City And Into The Stories

And that was how she had ended up serving by Octavia’s side for three months now. She had expected herself to experience the wonders of ancient Rome, but now she was stuck in the villa most of the time, tending to Octavian’s brother as her handmaiden. But it wasn’t a bad thing, Hesperia supposed. Octavia was nice enough, and always treated Hesperia like she was her older sister. Hesperia opens her eyes to another ordinary day, the sky still gray and the birds still asleep. She stumbles clumsily out of her little niche which she had claimed by Octavia’s door, which Arcas, a fellow slave had found her. She treads the floor silently, and it is not long before the halls of the house are full of other slaves milling around. All of them keep silent, not to wake the masters still in bed; they have yet to prepare the first meal of the day before their attendants would need to wake them up. - Being tasked as the personal attendant of the lady Octavia herself, Hesperia heads towards a small pri...

As Hesperia ran, she made sure to step into as many puddles as possible, making as much pandemonium as she could while leading the two legionnaires away from Marcia. She swept her arms out, Of course, Hesperia wasn’t a fast runner, nor was she a trained soldier like those who were chasing her, so it was only less than half a minute that she was tackled to the ground. Hesperia struggled to kick the man who now straddled her, pushing her into the ground. Whipping out a knife, he pressed it against her neck, leaning in to whisper in her ear, “Don’t you dare move, girl. You’re overpowered.” Hesperia identified the man as Scipio, “Now, just do as we say, and we won’t paint this ground with your blood for now, won’t we, Tiberius?” The other watched her warily as she was let up, “Yes, Scipio, we won’t. For now .” - The eyes that stared into Hesperia’s own reminded her of the black coffee that her mother used to have every morning. “I’m sorry, Hesperia. But I had to do this.” “For what?” Hespe...

“How long have you been crouching there?” Hesperia sprung up, crashing into Marcus as he was peering over her shoulder. The girl had drawn in the dirt a rough map of the city of Rome. “None of your business,” Hesperia ignored the boy as he followed her, tugging lightly at her elbow, “I said, it’s none of your business! Leave me alone, and don’t ever find me again.” “Come on, tell me what’s wrong. It’s about the house on fire, isn’t it?” Hesperia stopped in her tracks, and swiveled around. “Don’t you dare mention that again,” her voice was low, yet it shook ever so slightly, as she took a deep breath, “If you value you and your family’s lives.” Marcus took a step back. This was unlike the girl who had agreed to help him steal the bread. - It was not before long Marcus was standing in front of the villa he had snuck in roughly a week ago. He could feel a bitter pool of guilt churning inside his stomach, yes. But he raised his fist nevertheless, pounding twice upon the wooden door. - Ever...

It had already been two days before the people of the house finally knew that the fire that burned a massive hole through their back door was not a work of nature, but lit up by someone. On her way from the city square, Hesperia saw the slaves of the house by the command of their masters, taking in people randomly to their villa, very possibly interrogating them on the subject of the fire. Hesperia pulled her satchel closer to her, clutching it tightly, the fifteen silver little coins rattling inside as she walked faster. Thankfully, she didn't have her cloak on her today, so there was a chance that the people didn't recognize her, if they had even noticed her the day before yesterday.   “Marcus! Where are you?” Hesperia whisper-shouted as she carefully scooted past the boy’s third younger brother, a mere toddler of one and a half years struggling to walk. Marcus’ twin sister Marcia, who was also sixteen, rushed past the girl and swiped Phoebus into her arms. “Hesperia! It’s so...

"I have a solution." "Thank goodness." "It involves fire." "Absolutely not." "But come on," Marcus tapped on Hesperia's shoulder again, "It's the only way for me to get that loaf of freshly baked bread." The girl glanced up. "And what's in it for me?" "I'll snag you a couple of grapes if you want," the boy offered, " I'll also throw in a book." "I think I'll pass on the grapes..." The boy frowned visibly, but Hesperia went on. "But what I do want is the book that you promised," her eyes sparkled with mischief, " Tell me what your plan is." - Hesperia kept her hood pulled low and her cloak tight against her body as she strolled past the villa Marcus had decided to loot from. "Oh, gods." The villa was as large and majestic as Marcus had described from the day before. Hesperia only hoped t...