Eleutheria

XXXVI

XXXVI

It took days before all of the details regarding the law that Hypatia had wished for could be debated over and finalized. Hypatia had to sit through every moment to ensure that everything worked out exactly as she worded it to.

She didn't stand alone though. Of course, Dymas stood beside her. His older, more experienced voice often calmed the council with greater ease and success than her younger, more hated one could. Harmocydes grumbled for about an hour about what this law would mean for his daughter and the soon-to-be freed Erasmos, but after that he jumped into the fray on her side because he hated to see her attacked.

Far too many of the council were trying their hardest though to undermine her or to adjust the new law so that the 'freedom' given to the slaves was anything but. None of them wanted to lose their source of free labor, and considered her wicked for taking it from them.

After the initial wish, Erasmos was no longer needed for ceremony. Hypatia had him sent back home where he could rest. She had Pammon and his remaining men – which had somehow grown in number again without her looking – to watch over him and prevent his father from taking him away. However, Charmides and Theodoron didn't leave the city when predicted and stayed to watch the backlash of her wish and what it might mean for Eleutheria.

So it wasn't a surprise for her to come home one day to find Charmides in her room, talking with Erasmos as if she had invited him in there.

“A bit late for a visit, isn't it?” she asked him calmly as she removed Theodora's comb from her hair and set it gently on her vanity. It had been another long day, she was looking forward to sleeping it off next to Erasmos's warmth.

“Good evening,” Charmides beamed at her. “I was holding a rather interesting conversation with my brother. He's informed me, multiple times, that he loves you. Also, that he hates eating boar meat. I already knew both of those things, but he insisted on telling me anyway.”

“Kyros said that he'll leave him aware enough tomorrow morning that we can remove the collar. He'll be the first slave to be freed under my new law,” Hypatia said softly as she poured herself a goblet of water. Her calm attitude hid an excited interior.

“Our father will be very happy to hear that,” Charmides smiled. “I won't say that there's nothing about Eleutheria that he has enjoyed, but the enslavement of his son has effected him.”

Hypatia walked forward and sat down on the edge of her bed. Erasmos was awake, but his eyes were glassy and he was looking at her with a distant smile on his face.

“Hello, beautiful,” he slurred, reaching up and placing his uninjured hand on her thigh. “Have you come to visit the ill?”

“Go to sleep,” she told him softly without any real command in her voice. He blinked slowly, one eye at a time, but didn't obey. Instead he began stroking her thigh. It wasn't sexual, it was like he just wanted to feel her skin under his hand as a means of comfort. She didn't begrudge him that and turned to Charmides. “So is there any reason that you're here, or were you just wanting to visit Erasmos again?”

“Again?” he repeated, his eyes dancing. “What makes you think I've been here before?”

“Erasmos is a terrible secret keeper when he's drugged.”

“Yeah,” Charmides laughed. “Father tried to fix that. It didn't really take. It's a good thing that he never aspired to be a spy, because he's really not that good at it.”

“You haven't answered my question.”

“He's come to take me away from you,” Erasmos said in what he obviously thought was a whisper.