Consequences | K.T.H. x J.H.S.

ένας

He remembered the first time he had ever seen a God. He remembered every mundane moment that led up to it. It was the second day of Anthesterion, so he had gotten up earlier than usual to fetch the water for his mistress' bath. He was a domestic slave for one of the more wealthy merchant's wife, which meant that he would need to help his mistress orchestrate what most considered the most prestigious wine tasting party in the polis.

His mistress had been especially tense about the affair so he was very deliberate in his selection of oils, and had arranged an array of hair ornaments that he knew his mistress enjoyed. He also prepared the makeup, accidentally spilling some of the white paint on his arm. He remembered looking down at it longingly, ashamed of the stark contrast of the paint agains his honey skin.

When the water had been sufficiently heated and he had wiped his arm clean of any traces of the paint, he had gone to fetch his mistress.

He remembered how beautiful his mistress had looked that morning, her treasured golden ringlets fanned out around her head, reminding the slave of a crown, her pale skin beautifully complementing the rich red peplos. He remembered how wretched he felt when waking the sleeping woman up, loathing that he had disturbed such a wondrous beauty from the gentle arms of sleep.

His mistress had been worn out from the previous night's festivities, so the bath had been mostly silent, save for the slave's soothing hums and his mistress' content sighs. He enjoyed being able to relax his mistress with his gentle kneading as he rubbed the oils over the woman's ivory skin.

He remembered how proud he had been after dressing his mistress in the fine blue fabrics, securing the garment with a silver pin. he remembered styling the golden ringlets back, he remembered threading the pearls and beads through, and remembered securing the hair with an ivory pin.

He remembered how pleasant the weather was, how he had sat with his mistress in the courtyard and how he had listened to the worries of her mistress, and how he had quietly calmed the woman down with soft songs of gods and goddesses blessing the people of Greece.

he remembered how his mistress had played with his dark locks as he sang. His hair was much longer than most slaves, especially for a male, and came to just below his shoulder blades because his mistress had told him that she found combing through the strands soothing.

He remembered how his mistress had dragged him back to her quarters and ordered another slave to fetch both of them breakfast, and how the melodic the woman's giggles were at the unconventional act of sharing a meal with a slave. he remembered standing by his mistress when the chous were brought out, and how he gently massaged the woman's shoulders as his mistress began greeting guests. he remembered how his mistress snuck more whine into the slave's glass while nobody was looking, and how the woman winked at him before slinking back into the large courtyard and merging into the crowd until all her slave could see of her were the flickers of blue and flashes of golden hair.

He had been slowly sipping his wine when it happened, when his life changed forever. It started as a low rumble, slowly escalating into a subtle tremor, and then the courtyard had been flooded with bright white light, so radiant that when he closed his eyes to block it out, nothing happened. It overpowered his other senses to the point where he almost didn't hear the screams, he almost couldn't smell the stench of blood, and he almost couldn't feel the burn of the light.

When the light faded he remembered how it took him close to an hour to be able to make out shapes. he remembered losing the contents of his stomach to the cobbled floor as he registered the sight in front of her. he remembered the tears that fell from his eyes when among the mutilated corpses he saw a body swathed in blue. he remembered running over to the body. he remembered yanking the fabric away, and he remembered how pitiful his screams were as sobs wracked through his body as he collapsed when he saw the once beautiful blonde hair in ashy clumps of the floor, and his mistress' partially melted face forever frozen into an expression of pure anguish and terror.

He remembered how he had grabbed a blade from one of the dead guards bodies, and he remembered how shaky his hands were as he positioned the dagger in front of his heart. he remembered thrusting the blade forward and waiting for his misery to end.

He remembered how the blade never reached his chest.

He remembered sobbing harder when the knife was yanked from his hands.

He remembered looking up to see his wretched savior.

He remembered the mocking smirk that played across the incredibly large man's lips.

He remembered the way his obsidian eyes bore into his soul as he screamed and cried.

He remembered flailing in his captors arms as he plucked his off the ground.

He remembered the chilling laugh that fell from the man's lips.

And he remembered how everything went black.