Bersa and Hisolda waited in the main hall of the villa, listening to the voices beyond the clay walls – Doctore's even calm tone and Batiatus' angry whispers. Hisolda could barely breathe as they rode up the hill, every step of the horse in time with her own pounding heart. Would she not have felt the moment when Segovax passed from life into darkness? Her own skin was still warm, blood still coursing. Segovax instructed her to move her father toward delaying talk of her marriage; he would quickly gain his freedom with winnings in the arena and they would finally unite when he was no longer a slave. With so much yet undone, how could he leave?
"We will have such a pool in our courtyard… and marble in our foyer – to impress visitors. Our private chambers can be restored -" Her father noticed the lanista approaching, dressed in similar clothing. The man's nightclothes are my formal attire, Bersa lamented. "Honorable Batiatus, I am humbled to be received by such a celebrated man."
"Unfortunately, I would be visited by sleep at the moment." Batiatus motioned for the two to sit upon a bench, as he leaned back comfortably on a chaise. "Please. Sit."
"Much gratitude for the audience. I only just learned for Segovax's audacious betrayal. I will rid you of the man's body, to prevent any further inconvenience. I would have requested audience sooner, but I was occupied." Bersa smiled widely; Batiatus remained in apathetic silence. "I have acquired the villa of Legatus Marcus Tiberus, whom I befriended in Gallia. I am working to restore the legendary villa to previous glories."
Hisolda's skin burned with desperation as her father prepared to launch into details of the villa, how Tiberus' grandfather was rumored to have seduced his future wife, the infamous daughter of a famous senator, in the very house he owned. She marveled at her own patience as she waited for confirmation of the dreaded news.
Fortunately, Batiatus' patience was already thinned by the trials of the day. "How fortunate that the old villa should land in such capable hands. Apologies, my wife awaits me in our quarters; Doctore will show you to where we have kept the Gaul's body." The lanista nodded quickly and turned on his heel to walk away.
"Gratitude! Please beg forgiveness from your wife on my behalf! I shall visit another time to discuss- …Fuck. He is gone. Fucking impolite. And now we are burdened by a filthy slave corpse. What the fuck am I to do with this nuisance?"
Hisolda blocked her father's endless ranting as they descended into the ludus, a strange, familiar scent wafting into her nose. So this is the place where my love toiled all these days, imprisoned by rough clay walls and iron bars – cages that smelled of stables.