Eirene never had the chance to say goodbye to the wrinkled old Phoibe, browned and twisted with age and plump with the extravagant lifestyle she had shared with the Master and Mistress, before she and Aisha were escorted to Senator Cato's later that same day by Liviana or so Eirene assumed. Alexis had retreated to his cubiculum following the scene that had spilled from his study and into the garden and Eirene had remained at his side. She had declined the offer for him to accompany her to her room to gather her things, since she had no things to gather now that her nightingale was gone. Besides, she didn't think she could bear the sight of Aisha's perfectly made bed that would never again be slept in. To Eirene's mind the girl had already been folded carefully into the creases of her heart, along with her mother, the old scholar and the little brown bird.

'Is she angry?' Eirene asked into the dusk soaked silence that seeped in through the bare window of the large but simply furnished room. Alexis was perched on the edge of his raised bed, the frame of which was cast in shining bronze, polished to the burnished tones of sunlight on autumn leaves, scowling darkly at an official looking scroll which was embossed with two thick words that she couldn't make out from where she remained sprawled out at his feet. Eirene had busied herself copying words with painstaking precision from a piece of papyrus that he had inked them on, onto a wax tablet, in the hope that keeping her mind occupied would fend off the sadness she felt at losing the closest thing she'd had to a friend since being separated from her brother. Eirene had made such a mess with the ink when Alexis had first taught her to write that he had resorted to directing her to the much cleaner, if less impressive, scribing onto wax. He lowered the scroll to look at her and she thought she caught sight of a flicker of worry in his eyes.

'More at me I think, rather than you,' Alexis almost soothed, without having to clarify which 'she' it was that Eirene was talking about. He tossed the papyrus to one side, letting the sheaf curl gently upon itself as it fell to the floor. Eirene sat up; laying down the stylus she had been using to carve her clumsy words into the soft surface of the wax as she watched Alexis pace the length of the room. An ethereal nymph, lithe and graceful as she peeked from between the boughs of a tree surveyed Eirene and Alexis with flat, painted eyes from the mural that graced the wall, running the whole length and width of the room in a swirling riot of greens and browns and pale yellows. Eirene had never seen the inside of her Master's room until then and at first the fresh colours had induced a sense of outdoor freedom and merriment, which she supposed was the desired effect. Though as the minutes had slipped by to morph into hours, consumed as they were by careful studying, Eirene had found the expanse of green foliage oppressing, a constant and unfriendly reminder that she was not actually outside. The nymphs that she caught sight of here and there between the trees, frozen forever in time by the artist's hand, became mocking, all traces of the beauty she had first associated with them was drained from their painted faces with each moment she was contained by those four walls. 'It is still best if we give her space to gather her thoughts for now. She will still be sore that I sent Phoibe and Aisha away, but once we are out of Rome she will no doubt find some new distraction that will detract from the lure of being waited upon hand and foot.' He sighed heavily, running a hand through his short, black hair as though trying to dislodge some other thought from his mind with the gesture, coming to rest in a backless wooden seat that curved up into elaborate scrolls on either side to enable him to rest his arms, crooked at the elbow.

'My brother?' Eirene asked, half hesitant, half demanding as she shoved the wax tablet to one side and raised herself up onto her knees. 'You promised you would help me look for him before we leave.' Alexis gave her a long studious look, his chin resting on one hand as he took in the sudden flare of passion that sharpened Eirene's tone.

'Yes, I did. I will hold to that promise, Eirene, don't think for a second that I won't.' He looked thoughtful as his gaze drifted to the papyrus he had let drop to the floor moments earlier. 'But we will go tonight. I have a feeling that Liviana will want to stay at Senator Cato's this evening since he will no doubt provide her with the utmost sympathy and have his household bending backwards to please her.' There was a stiff resolution in his eyes as he stood to cast a glance out of the window where the hazy purple of dusk was darkening slowly, allowing deeper tones of blue to layer the shadows that crept into the garden beyond. 'You need to be outside,' he said softly as he stood again and moved to the doorway. It wasn't a question. Alexis had seen how the bright awe that first burned in Eirene's eyes had edged into bitter resentment as she looked up at the mural again and again. The girl ducked her head at his observation.

'I've never been very good at staying inside for long periods of time,' she admitted. 'I need space and air; it's what makes me feel alive.'

'I can see that,' Alexis remarked with a smirk as Eirene practically flung herself at the door in her haste to escape the oppressing nymph scene on the four walls that had been slowly pressing in on her. 'Steady, steady,' he said, reaching out a hand to untangle the wisp of a curtain that had somehow trapped Eirene in its billowing folds. 'The garden will still be there Eirene, whether you take my curtain with you or not,' he smiled, holding the sheer fabric to one side so that she could step through the doorway.

'I know I'm just worried that if I stay here any longer you'll force me to re-write the words I've just spent all that time copying, Master. The use of a wax tablet hasn't improved my penmanship a jot,' Eirene retorted, before turning from him and skipping down the cool corridor to breeze into his study and then out through the wooden shutter that was the shortest route to the outside she had found.

Night had stalked softy around the villa to settle itself firmly in the centre of the colonnaded garden, the downy silence lending comfort and a thrill to Eirene's thought that she was totally alone with Alexis. Though she had seen little more than one corridor and Alexis' study on her journey to the outside, Eirene could tell that Liviana was not yet home. It was more a sense of atmosphere, a deep knowing, rather than a certainty, but it was enough. The sweet scent of honeysuckle, light and delicious, drifted to her as she made her way to the stone bench set sturdily beneath a young apple tree. The seat was cool and smooth beneath her palm as she ran a hand over the veined marble.

'I know she frightens you,' Alexis voice as sleek as the polished stone beneath her fingertips, yet warmer, startled her. Eirene hadn't heard him following so close behind though she knew he must have been as he had not left her side since Liviana had left with the two other slaves. Her chin was raised in stubborn defiance as she turned to face him, wild hair cascading over her thin shoulders like a shadowy cloak.

'She does not!' Alexis sat himself on the bench and reached out to pull Eirene down beside him, laying a gentle finger on her lips to stem her protest.

'Perhaps that was the wrong choice of words. I can see that she unsettles you; my sister's presence is enough to unsettle a gladiator. But she will not harm you, Eirene.' Her sapphire eyes met his and Alexis must have caught her slight flinch as Eirene remembered the lick of Liviana's razor-like whip on her back, as his already dark eyes turned as black as the night around them. 'Believe me when I tell you that you are very dear to me, Eirene, Liviana will never lay another finger on you. I promise you that. You are my purpose, my destiny now, dear heart.' His lips warm and gentle were at her ear, his whispered words sending a trickle of pleasure along the arch of her spine. But she pulled away from him to catch his hands in her own and hold them in her lap, their tangled digits as white and pale as the moonlight that spilled upon them, her gaze was both curious and hopeful.

'You don't know me, how can I be dear to you?'

'I could ask you the very same question,' Alexis grinned, raising his hand to lightly brush Eirene's blushing cheek. 'You followed me without question.'

'I am nothing but an obedient slave, Master,' she said.

'When it pleases you,' Alexis smiled, wryly, his fingertips caressing her wrist, dancing lightly over the smooth skin of Eirene's bare arm and making her shiver. 'I know more about you than you might think. I know you're a beautiful and compassionate woman. You're intelligent and honest with a passion for life that leaves me breathless. Even when the world turns the cruellest hand to you, you pick yourself up and carry on. I've seen enough of Rome by now to know how merciless this world can be, but there is compassion in you, a bright flame in your heart that I swear to protect. You are so unlike anyone I've ever had the chance to meet.' His words pleased Eirene, though flustered her to the point where she could no longer let her eyes rest upon his.

'What makes you so certain your brother is in Rome, Eirene?' he asked, breaking the thoughtfully long silence as he lifted a hand to lightly caress her chin.

'I just don't believe that he would have left without me,' Eirene replied simply with the slightest shrug of her shoulders, reaching up to take his hand again and entwine her delicate fingers with his. Their hands came to rest upon the bench between them, skin as smooth and pale as the white marble as she regarded them silently for a moment. 'You don't think he's here, do you?' she asked Alexis quietly.

'I just think that if he was still in this city, you would have found him by now. How many times have you been out there looking for him in the months you've been here with me? I know you're stubborn enough not to give up easily. If your brother was still around here, Eirene, you would have found him by now I feel certain of that. Perhaps it's time to move on?' he suggested, hesitantly, 'I promise we will return at once if all else fails, but I just believe that if your brother has youth and strength on his side he may have been sent out to the fields to work, or even to the docks to haul the imports.' Eirene nodded, having been thinking the very same thing.

'I did wonder that myself,' she sighed, looking up at the clear night sky as the sheer shadow cast by the apple tree beside them darkened her face.

'There are many routes in and out of Rome, but I think we should follow the road out to Ostia.'

'The port?' Eirene asked with a note of surprise.

'It's the busiest trade route, I know that many slaves get sent there to work the docks. It's worth a try. And there is nothing to stop us from coming back and trying a different route another time. Ostia isn't far from here; we could probably make the journey on foot in half a day.' Eirene nodded her agreement.

'Yes, Master.' Alexis stood up.

'I will gather some things we may need, we will leave at once.' Eirene jumped to her feet too, a ripple of excitement flashing through her at the sudden promise of action. 'Don't worry about clothes; we can buy new ones on the way. Is there anything else you would like to bring?'

'No, I have nothing,' she said. Alexis eyed Eirene for a moment, seemingly contemplating her simple statement before he nodded and she continued, 'But what about the Mistress? Will we not wait for her to return before we leave?'

'My sister is capable of looking after herself, she will stay at Cato's no doubt for as long as she can milk his sympathy and admiration so I think it highly unlikely that we will see her for a while.' His gaze was flinty and his tone bitter as he ran a hand through his short, dark hair. 'We'll go back through the study and I'll leave her a note. I know Liviana will be too proud to follow me for the moment, I have hurt her deeply. I suspect she will wait here for my return.'

'But this villa, you said we had to leave it soon, where will she go then?' Alexis raised a heavy brow at the concern in Eirene's voice.

'Liviana can fend well enough for herself, Eirene, please don't worry about her. So, are you happy for us to leave now?'

'Of course!' Eirene was on her feet at once, the thrill of action tingling through her veins. After so many long months of fruitless searching on her own she felt as though they might actually achieve something together. Although Eirene was able to move through the city without drawing attention to herself as she could be any one of a number of slaves out on an errand for her master, but Alexis' status and wealth might open more doors for her that would otherwise be closed. The tall, broad figure of Alexis led the way back down the stone path, his bulk blocking out a section of moonlight to cast a thick shadow upon the ground as they walked back into his study. He located a pen and a pot of dark ink beneath the mass of papyrus and scrolls that lay haphazardly over his desk top and twitched a sheaf towards him, turning it over to write on the clean side. Eirene drifted over to the wide shelves that lined one wall of the room, towering higher than she could reach to spill tightly rolled scrolls squashed between stacks of flattened papyrus and loose sheaves that draped themselves down onto the shelf below. Her fingertips fluttered gently over them, awe catching at her breath as she realised just how much knowledge lay nestled amongst those cryptic patterns that formed words and sentences.

'You aren't taking any of these?' Eirene asked a little sadly. Since Alexis had been teaching her to read he had awoken a deep passion for knowledge in the girl that had previously began to settle into submissive dormancy so now, to leave behind so much of the written word when reading material was hard to come by seemed to her a heinous crime. He looked up for a moment to see what Eirene was talking about, frowning at the few lines he had written.

'No, I've read them. Feel free to take anything you like,' Alexis said without looking up, as he signed off his note to Liviana with a flourish.

Meus carus Petra, ego evestigatus meus fatum. Eirene. Usquequaque vestri frater, Jinn Quil-Ya