Rays of sunlight touched my skin, warming my checks telling me it was time to wake up; I turned out of habit away from the window as I had often been blinded by the sun peering over the top of my balcony through the glass of the doors. I opened my eyes and looked across at the terracotta wall I looked at every morning with the in-progress painting of Typhoeus, it had been at this status for about a year as it takes a lot of time to paint one hundred heads and being a daughter of 'an official representative of the pure Greek community in the East Roman Empire'... such a long title for a pointless job, but it presented us with a lot of money, I mean, we could afford glass! Father liked to make that point at least five times a day... I couldn't care less; I liked the feel of the breeze in the morning.
I pushed my sheets off of me and stretched. I walked to the balcony doors and opened them, my bare feet slapping across the stone floor, I took a moment to look across the grounds of the villa in which my family lived, simply put, it was large white and over the top in every way possible to show off the amount of money father earned. However, I must admit, it did have a good view, on my side of the house I could look out to the town, I could see the market and the other buildings surrounding it including the residents of the scholars and nobility who we often visit for "gatherings" and who often visit us for the same reason. Mother is sure I will marry one of them one day... I'm not too sure myself... There was a delicate knock on the door that broke me from my thoughts,
"Entre!" I called back into the room
"The Mistress of the household has sent me to dress you Young Miss." said an unusual voice, I turned and walked back into my room, before me was an older woman than my regular slave, she had blonde hair and tanned skin. I couldn't tell what her eye colour was as she was staring intently at the floor close to my feet, she wore a pale tunic gathered with a simple brown belt, I wished I could wear something as simple as that but mother would never allow it.
"You're new..." I stated, "Where's my slave?" my voice was rougher than I meant but father had this terrible habit that caused me to lose slaves on a regular basis and I wanted to know what had happened to her,
"S-she" she paused, clearly not sure if she was to tell me something then continued "missing."
"Right..." I sighed, I knew I would never see her again, it was a shame, I'd liked her, she was fun "So you're taking her place?" I asked she nodded, "What's your name?" I tried to soften my voice from the interrogation earlier.
"Nysa Young Miss" She stated in a small voice I was getting sick of this 'Young Miss' Crap
"Called me Phoebe, please," she looked up slightly, confused "As in the Titan of the moon, mother Leto, Phoebe." she nodded again 'Great... a quiet one' I thought "So you're here to dress me?" another nod, "Alright, the wardrobe is over there, I pointed to the corner where it stood." she walked over to it nodding, I was getting a little irritated at this nodding now but I bit my tongue, it was her first day here, she'd learn.
"W-What colour?" she asked gawping at the variations that lived in the cupboard,
"It's tournament day so..." I shrugged
"You're mother is in red, apparently it's your father's favourite colour." she spoke a little louder than before 'Now she's coming out of her shell.' I thought
"Do I have to do anything this evening?" I wondered aloud, she shrugged, "Um... let's go with a turquoise stola." she nodded and got it out along with a pale tunic while I removed my sleeping garments and allowed her to dress me in the clothes mother brought for me. Once the gold clasps of the stole were fastened she got out the golden cuffs and necklace mother made me wear for day duties. I sat on a cushioned stool and waited while my hair was braided and covered with more jewellery, it made my neck ache after too long but it made my parents happy to see me conform to their will seeing as my younger sister liked to 'rebel'. My face was painted and finally I was, as mother would say, "fit for presentation". I looked into the polished metal surface in front of me to see what I looked like. Nysa had done a good job, at least I looked like a woman, my brunette hair was platted in a spiral on my head, with golden jewelled hair decorations embedding within my chocolate locks. My eyes were lined with dark lines that ended with dragon tails, clearly she had been told what I like to wear, my lids were a faded blue and my lips a light rose, I'd never worn this colour before but it seemed to compliment my unusually pain skin. I was always so impressed by the skills my slaves had I would never be able to look respectable without them.
I left my room, new slave close behind as I met mother in the foyer where we stood in silence waiting for my siblings to meet us so we could leave, father was meeting us there, apparently he had 'business' to attend to beforehand. I always thought that meant violating my slave as he never really did anything "work" related. While waiting I gazed around the lobby looking at all the carvings that surrounded the walls and the vases which sat on pedestals expressing the titans each of us were named after.
There are seven of us in total in the family that lived under this roof, father, mother, my three brothers, my sister and I. Father was a tall, average man who dresses elaborately and uses my mother as an accessory, it is well known to the family that he likes red headed slaves, hence why mine disappeared, she will be bedded, beaten and never seen again. Mother is a red head she has a perfect complexion and is proud of her youthful looks, clearly not caring that father sees her as an object and conveniently not noticing the frequent change of female slaves. Prometheus (20), my eldest brother, is the opposite of the meaning of his name (forethought), his very dim, and most of his decisions are made by his manhood. He's able to put a sentence together but that's the extent of his brain, he has the physique of a warrior, hair father's and constantly gets the attention of the ladies, they believe he's mysterious as he's so quiet however the truth is he's trying to think of the right thing to say. Next is Oceanus (19), a very witty man and a generally fun person to be around however has never really cared about the attention of women, it drives mother mad that he hasn't found a wife yet but he is content in life, always learning, reading and listening to interesting people. Between you and me, just because he hasn't found a wife doesn't mean he hasn't found love, in fact he and the tutor we had as children have been seeing more of each other, he often comes house at late hour with his auburn curls a mess. I think it's nice that they found each other but if father knew then our tutor would be decapitated and his head presented to my brother for dinner. I'm the middle child, aged 17 and apparently "looking for a husband". Well if I could find a man who would love me for my devotion to knowledge and art I would be happy to marry, but most men want a pretty thing to hold onto and produce children. Then it's my youngest brother, Apollo (16), he's turning into a lovely gentleman who is polite and smart and the perfect balance between athletic and scholar, we get along quiet well though sometimes he can be a bit loud but what young boy isn't? The youngest is my baby sister Hestia (15); she is the spitting image of mother but would never admit it. She is the so called rebellious one; she wants men, all of them, at least the ones with mussels, mother nearly screamed at her in public the other week when she arrived late at the market wearing a gown that showed her knees and cleavage. She was taken home and forced to change instead. Now mother won't leave until she's seen my sister and what she is wearing.
That's why we're waiting, during my recap of my family while gazing at the details of the vases surrounding the lobby my brothers joined my mother and I and started a convocation breaking the silence. It's not that I can't talk with my mother; it's just one-on-one convocations with her turn into her lecturing me about being single. Finally my sister joined us looking:
"Fit for presentation Hestia my dear." mother said so we left personal servants in toe.
We met father by the busy entrance to the theatre where some men would be fighting, he showed us to our seats with blood on the edge of his sandal that made my stomach clench. We watch four men die and a man crowned victor then it was time to eat... after seeing dead carcases being dragged off didn't really ignite my appetite but it seemed to for other people. I gave most of my food to Nysa and watch Prometheus get chatted up by women, Oceanus sneak off with Baluis (the tutor), Apollo run around with his friends and Hestia flirt, a lot.
We were home while the sun was still in the sky but with a promise of another gathering at out hour at twilight. Meaning, go home, have a bath, a nap and change again... Thankfully Nysa and I were home first so I went to bed as she began to draw me a bath in the next room, she guaranteed to wake me in good time.