After I had finished what work needed to be done around my family’s farm, I decided to head into the town to see if there was anything I could get for food for my family. As I am a high ranking member of the Roman military, my weight in gold is much heavier than a regular commoner’s should.

The market was fairly lively, commoners came in droves, especially as it was the middle of the day. Bands of merchants hollering at any person close enough to hear to purchase their stock and wares. The ringing of the golden coins as it bounces in its pouch and knocks against one another. One could easily get lost in the sea of buzzing noise of people and gold. Suddenly I was relieved that I had not asked the woman to go in my stead or my grandmother. As I spotted Roman soldiers posted on each end of the market. Guardsmen on patrol and, from their mannerisms and expression, they do not seem like the disciplined sort.

As I left the market I came across the library, I recall spending many nights tearing through many books in order to shape myself into the model soldier, not only for combat and strategy, but also for discipline and language as well. Language…..

I remember books that were able to mold me into a man of high society in order to become the soldier the empire needed me to be, or the bare minimum requirement to be one. She may be a little stubborn but this may help her, if not live in our society, then maybe help her survive. If I am to protect her, I must be able to communicate with her, and her to me.

I gathered all the language books I could recall that helped me and began to head back to my grandparents’ home. As the door appeared before my eyes, I saw my grandmother and my….servant talking by the porch. She seems to be more comfortable now, the best I am able to tell at least. My grandmother seems to have taken a liking to her.

My grandmother notices me walking towards them and begins to wave at me, my servant glances at my direction as well. As quickly as she saw me, she turned the other way. She must really see me as the devil himself.

"Ah dear, you have come back from the market." my grandmother said. "You took an unusually long time for the groceries, we were worried something might have happened." she continued. "I was never in any danger, grandmother. I simply visited the library." "Oh such an intelligent young man, you are." my grandmother said, beaming with pride as she smiled.

My servants' look was...less inviting. She had been constantly giving me fiery, hate filled stares, however, she seemed to be more confused. While she was always tense in my presence, her eyes always betrayed her emotions.

She expressed a softer stare. She seemed to be more uncertain than she was enraged. "Oh my, it is sunset. I will prepare the food, your grandfather will not live through the night without his dinner." my grandmother said jokingly, heading inside the house, oblivious to the tension between my servant and I. I took the books out of my bag, and my servant sprang from her seat. "It is alright." I said softly, trying to calm her down. "I brought you these." I slowly handed her the books, waiting for her to take, she simply stared at them.

I was unsure how to communicate my intentions with gestures, I contemplated how to explain the purpose of the books with what little words she knew in our tongue. Thankfully, she seemed to understand what I was trying to say when she took the books off my hands.

The rest of the evening was awkward at the very least. My grandparents had prepared the food and Marcus decided to spend his evening with us, which seemed to have made my servant uncomfortable. We ate in silence, with the exception of Marcus, who seemed to be particularly talkative that evening. I suppose it was fortunate, otherwise my family would have had to endure the entire dinner filled with silence. As soon as we finished dinner, I asked Marcus to train with me outside for a moment.

I may have been given the opportunity to serve as a Praetor to the Legion, however, Marcus had always been the better fighter between the two of us. Every time we had sparred, he would almost always win against me, ever since we were kids playing with wooden swords.

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We traded blows, Marcus' had always been more of the aggressive warrior, preferring to overwhelm his opponents with attack after attack. I, on the other hand, prefer to let him make his moves in order for me to get the upper hand. My mind began to wonder, and before I realized, Marcus had disarmed me and one our fights.

"That was pitiful, Pamphilus," he said. "That is why I asked you to spar with me, to improve." I said. "You will never improve if your mind and body are in two different places." he explained. "What is that supposed to mean?" Instead of answering me, he turned his head towards the house, and looked at the open windows on the second floor of the house. That was my room, is he talking about her?

"I was surprised." Marcus began talking again. "When they had told me that you had taken a Greek woman as your slave, I thought you had given in to your animalistic urges." he jokingly said. "Did I seem so shallow?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm. "She was given to you as a reward. Had it been me, I would have fucked her the moment we had gotten to my tent." I looked at him, clenching my fist. He noticed my fist and laughed.

"Calm yourself, I am simply saying that she is, admittedly, a beautiful woman." he said. "However, regardless of what you want to call her, whether it be a servant or otherwise, she was given to you as property for you to use." he said, his expression becoming less bright. "That is simply the way the world is." he continued. And he is right. He knew I don't indulge myself in such a way, but the reality is that not a single one would be surprised if I had.

"So I ask you, my friend." he turned to me with a serious look in his eyes. "What are you expecting to do with her?" I looked at the windows lit with a somewhat dim candlelight from the inside. My thoughts drifted to that night, to the words that I said. "She was given to me." I said confidently. "As you said, she is my property."

"Therefore, she is mine to protect." Marcus looked at me with his eyes slightly widened by my subtle proclamation. After a few moments he bursted into laughter and put his arm around me, pulling me in. "You must learn to relax. You take yourself too seriously." he said smiling. "But I suppose that's the burden of authority, Praetor." While Marcus seemed to laugh at my words, I knew he understood how serious I was, and how much this mattered to me, although, I must admit, it also surprised me.

After our conversation, we parted ways, as he made his way back into the city to retire at the camp. I decided to check on my servant as it seemed she was still awake. When I arrived at my old room, I saw her, with a lit candlelight, engrossed in the books that I had given her.

I thought that she would have had a hard time reading, let alone understanding the texts. To my surprise, the expression she wore on her face was not confusion, but curiosity. Her eyes took in every word, with every intent of understanding and learning. It is as if she spent her whole life doing nothing but learning, with the way she reads it.

I knocked on the door and it seemed to have startled her. She looked at me and immediately closed the book and avoided looking at me. She hung her head down, as if she thought she did something wrong and was waiting for punishment. "It is alright, it's just me." I said gently. I walked towards her, slowly, to not frighten her more. "I simply wanted to see if you were alright." the closer I became, the more she would look away from me. She must really hate me.

"Forgive me for saying, but I'm surprised that you have no trouble understanding these books." "I knew you were able to understand our tongue, although, I am beginning to suspect that you can speak it too."

She remained silent, it seems I was mistaken. Then, she began to talk, in Latin. "I....was able....to study...before the war...." she spoke in a soft voice. While it was broken, it seemed almost perfectly fluent. It seemed she was no ordinary Greek woman. I stood, amazed at her intelligence and eloquence in the use of our language for a foreigner. "If I may ask, were you a Greek scholar?" I asked, hoping that I might not offend her. "Yes... I was..." she said her tone turning solemn. "I see.." I said, losing my words. I must have reminded her about the raid on her city.

We both stayed there in awkward silence again, not knowing what to say to one another. I looked at her once more, and was surprised at the sight. Her green eyes, shining from the candlelight, gave her expression such a soft and gentle look. Was it possible that she does not hate me? No, I must be imagining things.

"I should be going. I will leave you to your studies." I said, promptly leaving the room. As I reached the doorway, I heard the chair creak from behind me and her voice again. "Ummm..." she said, trying to get my attention. I stopped wondering what she wanted to say. "Thank you.... For the gift." she said.

Unlike our first conversation, her words were complete and it had more confidence. I could not help but chuckle when I heard it. For some reason, it made me smile. "Be sure to rest." I said, leaving her to read and learn. After that conversation, I found myself thinking that the future might hold something interesting.