The Barbarian's Mistress by Nhys Glover Read Free Book Online Page B

mistress. She saw her leaning over this instrument, as if it were a lover, stroking its strings until it gave up the most beautiful sounds.
    ‘Get her to stop that incessant noise, Herakles. Surely Annia Minor can find something better to do with her time!’ The strident tones of Salvia’s voice rang out from somewhere nearby.
    Her father’s deep voice made some reply.
    She waited for the quiet knock on the door.
    When it came, she hurried to open it just a crack to make sure it was her father on the other side. It was. And her loving eyes took in his short, bony body; ebony skin; and frizzy hair, prematurely turned white.
    ‘You must stop for a while now. The mistress is tired of hearing you,’ he said softly.
    ‘All right. I’m tired anyway, and it’s time Anni would normally have a sleep. The heat is awful in here.’
    ‘And out here. Are you all right, daughter?’
    ‘Yes. I’m terrified she’ll find out what the master is having us do. But, if it will save Anni, then I’ll do it.’
    ‘It’s at the master’s insistence. None of us can pay for following his instructions. Just make sure Mira doesn’t find out. She’ll tell her mistress.’
    ‘I know. I’ll be careful. I just don’t know how long we can hide her absence.’
    ‘As long as it takes, daughter, as long as it takes.’

 
    Chapter Four
     
    21 August 79 CE Outskirts of Rome, LATIUM
     
    By the time the sun began to rise behind the Albian Hills, Vali and Anniana were well out of Rome and on their way down the Via Appia. The air was chilly, and the breeze stirred up by their steady pace made Anniana wrap her thin stola more securely around her shoulders. Vali said little, keeping his attention on the two scrawny horses, one brown, one grey, he was driving. Every bump, as the iron wheels hit uneven surfaces, vibrated right through the carrus. Even the cushioned seat did nothing to offset the punishing jarring.
    At first, Anniana clung to the edge of the biga, certain she would be catapulted out of it at any moment. But after an hour of this kind of grip, her hands ached so badly she was forced to drop them into her lap and take her chances. And the longer they journeyed, the less worried she became that they were in imminent danger. After all, Vali would hardly have stood with legs apart, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, if there was any danger. Of course, the bumps probably felt less jarring on his feet than on her behind.
    The road was straight and wide, stretching out in front of them like a grey line dividing the greenery. So wide was it, they had no trouble passing other wider, slower vehicles as they went. She noticed Vali made a point of giving a friendly wave to all the drivers, and many of the travellers who walked along the footpaths on either side of the road.
    ‘Why do you wave to people you don’t know?’ she finally asked, her curiosity overcoming her natural inclination for silence.
    ‘Oh, you’re awake. You’ve been so quiet I thought you’d dropped off.’ He turned his head and grinned cheerily at her. ‘I wave because it’s the custom to acknowledge fellow travellers. If I didn’t, we’d become memorable. This way, we’re no different to anyone else on the roads. Easily forgotten.’
    She mulled this over for a few moments. ‘How do you know that?’
    ‘I was driver and bodyguard for one of my mistresses. I picked it up by watching others, and sharing conversations with fellow drivers at way stations. I try to learn what I can in whatever situation I find myself.’
    She studied him more closely. His short, white-blonde hair glistened in the morning light. His heavily muscled body moved with easy grace. He was at home driving the team, just as he had been at home in her father’s office. How did he adapt so readily to the many roles he was forced to play? She had never even learned to play the one she was born to – patrician, daughter of a senator, relation of the emperor himself. 
    ‘The