A/N: So...chapter 2!
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Alba never asked for the life she lived. She was a young girl, only twelve or so. She was plain and simple, but many believed she was some kind of witch or divine woman, someone who could look on the gods and not be blinded by the light that followed them.
She didn't believe in any gods and instead focused on working her life away as a slave for an evil old man. She lived in a city where she couldn't pronounce the name, nor did anyone care. She couldn't read or write but that mattered nothing as her job was to weave, cook, clean and please her master in any way possible. ANY WAY.
Alba watched many girls, young and older catch the eye of the currant master, only to be taken into the bed chambers. They were all given a choice: choose yes to his advances...or die.
A few were too brave...and Alba, being the plain one, was forced to take care of the bodies. And yet the thing that bothered her most wasn't that he was doing it. Oh no...it was that no one seemed to care that her master's more beautiful slaves would go missing or become round with a child. It didn't matter if the baby survived or if the woman died. No one cared about a slave girl.
It was a sad fact of life. She was nothing but an object of wealth. nothing more than a coin to be traded and used, until she had no use. Alba picked the olives that gave the sweetest oil and prayed that today she would be spared. That someone would come save her from the life that she lived, from the fear that she always felt when the master walked into the room. And yet...no one ever came...and her time for the bedchambers was drawing nearer and nearer every day.
Today was different though...it felt like something...someone was coming for her. The master of the house had left her alone for a while, being as most of her senses were true. But he would ignore her warnings and have his way with her.
It was late into the day when Alba noticed the men in the streets. They were marching into the city, swords raised. She grew scared when they advanced onto the middle of the city. She grabbed all the servant girls and boys and hid them in the olive grove while she dressed in fancy clothes. When the guards came to the door, they didn't think that she was a servant, but rather the woman of the house. They forced her out into the street with the other women and stripped her of all her riches.
A man, a great tall man with brown curled hair and red cloak started walking around the women. They were all older women, with Alba being the smallest and youngest. He spoke Latin and the women were divided into two groups, the older and less attractive in one, the more beautiful in another.
He looked at Alba and stopped. She felt scared and exposed, like he was staring straight into her soul.
"Ego rogavi pro omnibus mulieribus hostium tectis egerentem. Quem cum interrogassem quis puellae." (1) 'I thought I asked for all the women in the houses. I didn't ask for the girl.'
The guard answered back in respective Latin, which gave her the time to think of a plan. If she ran, they would catch her and she would be killed. If she didn't...he would send her to die...She would die either way.
Alba couldn't help the tears that were coming to fall down her cheeks. She prayed to gods that she didn't believe in to save her. She wished for help, and hoped that they heard her.
"Cur clamas?" (2) 'Why do you cry?' The man wiped her cheeks and looked into her stormy gray eyes.
Alba only shook her head, not knowing how to answer him. He waited and nodded, speaking into a language she knew.
"I promise I won't hurt you...please...you will not be killed."
"I...my name is Alba...and I'm not a wealthy woman...I'm a slave girl...please don't kill me for trying to save my fellow servants..."
"Where are they? No harm will come to them."
"I...I cannot...I...no. I won't tell you."
The man in front of Alba didn't answer before Alba's master run and embraced her, calling her his wife and weeping at tears of joy. Alba was confused, and terrified, of his affection towards her. He wasn't planning on tonight being the night? He couldn't...not...no!
Alba struggled to open her mouth and scream, but it wasn't needed. The man in the red cloak grabbed her master away from her and quickly did away with him. He growled but composed himself once he saw the fear in her eyes.
"Father, Abuser, or Master?"
"M-master...and...a...abu..."
Alba never heard of that word before, but she struggled to speak it. She tried and tried but the man gently moved her hair out of her face and palmed her cheek. "Do not worry...suffering is over."
He asked again to see the other slaves and Alba pulled everyone out of the olive grove. He looked over everyone to make sure they were not mortally wounded. Alba held the two youngest, three and two years of age and calmed them when they fussed. The man held his hand out and instead of fearing this man, the children smiled and touched his fingers.
He spoke to his men who took their own slave or slaves until it was just Alba left. She was last again. She watched as others ran into the soldiers arms or stand quietly once the excitement subsided. They all smiled and waited to leave for the new homes they would soon have. Although Alba was happy to see them leave, a twane of sorrrow hit her. She wasn't choosen.
As everyone marched back to the place they once came from, the man in the red cloak picked Alma up like a sack of flour, smiling and laughing. Alma let out a child-like squeal of joy and terror before giggling softly. She couldn't contain herself from the giggling that fell like rain from the sky.
He carried her like this to a pair of grey horses, the likes Alma had never seen before. The man set her on the back of one and asked if she ever rode before. Alma was confused. Rode what?
"The horse. You can ride them and they can go really fast if you wish them to. This one is named Tiburus."
Alma gently touched his mane and down his back. He made a strange sound that frightened her, but the man smiled and gave her a fruit to feed him. As she did as he asked the horse calmed and began to nuzzle into her touch before the horse started walking down the dirt road.
"Ah!"
"Don't worry, he knows the way!" The man had gotten on his horse and walked side by side with Alma.
"W-where?"
"To my home, Rome!"
"Why should I trust him?"
"He trusts you."
The man said nothing more, but Alma felt a sense of pride. She patted his head and tugged on his mane when she started to slip off. The horse bolted forward and Alma screamed. But not in fear
She screamed with joy.
A/N: So...chapter 3? Please?
