The sun had set, so the only light in my room came from lanterns.
I had told my father I was sewing. That was a lie, of course. I despised sewing. It was something my sister, Hylla, and I had in common.
Instead, I was practicing my sword fighting.
I did this every night, copying the moves I had seen soldiers practicing. My bedpost was my opponent.
It was my dream to someday be praetor of the Roman legion. There were two, and after the death of Dakota, Lord Dionysus' son, there was an opening. If I was ever going to achieve my dream, it was now. Which meant I had to be better than everyone else trying to get the role.
And that meant that I couldn't be beaten to the ground by a more experienced sword fighter. I had to be the more experienced sword fighter.
"Hey."
I swung around, almost taking my sisters head off. She laughed.
"Careful!" She said. Hylla was older than me, yet unmarried. Unfortunately, she was barren. Even though the Ramírez-Arellano family was the most powerful family in the empire, (besides the king of course), nobody wanted to marry a woman who couldn't give them any children.
"It's not my fault you surprised me!" I huffed.
"A soldier can't be surprised," Hylla said as she walked into my room and sat down on my bed. "If the enemy surprises you on the battleground, you're dead."
Hylla knew about my dream. I had told her about it two years ago. As it turned out, she always enjoyed sword fighting, and had taught herself how to do it.
"Let's spare," She said, nodding towards my sword. I happily obliged.
We spent the next 3 hours sparring, and then she went off to her room. I fell on my bed, exhausted. Soon, sleep overtook me.
ΙΙΧ⚔️ΧΙΙ
I woke up the next morning to my handmaiden, Leila, my breakfast in her hands. She knew that I avoided my father whenever I could, and tried to keep me away from him. Bringing me breakfast in bed instead of having me eat with him was one of those ways.
According to Hylla, my father used to be kind. But after he came back from the war against Athens, he had changed. Now, he's the father I know. The one who doesn't love me and only cares about marrying me off.
After breakfast, I took a bath. Then, I went to the embroidery room. I may be able to avoid sewing at night, but by day I had an image to obtain. If I didn't, my father would become suspicious, eventually find out about my night time activities, and take away my sword.
Hylla and my mother, Bellona, were waiting for me. My mother used to be fierce, but a lifetime of marriage and being told that she couldn't be a warrior because of her gender broke her spirt.
I won't end up like her.
My sister made embroidery look easy, but I kept screwing up. I used the stitch ripper just as much as my needle.
After a couple hours, Hylla and I had lunch in the garden. After that, we went to the courtyard. We were accompanying my father to a slave auction.
"This is really a waste of time," Hylla said once we were inside our carriage. "We have enough slaves."
"And why does he need us there anyway!" I groaned. "It's not like he asks us for our opinions on what slaves to buy or anything."
But no matter how much we complained, we both knew there was no getting out of this.
It was a short trip to the auction. It was being held at a small trading town, and was being hosted by Lord Hades. It would be selling all the new slaves from Argos.
Once we arrived at the auction, we filled into the courtyard where it would be taking place. Normally, we'd get the best seats in the house, but King Jupiter would be there. So we were sitting at the second-best seats right below him.
About half-an-hour after we got there, the auction started. I knew the auctioneer, which was a boy around my age named Michael. He wasn't so hard on the eyes.
My father bought a girl with black hair, a girl with surprisingly big muscles, and a curly-haired boy with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. The auction was almost over when a sea-green eyed boy was pulled onstage.
He was well-muscled, and I knew he would sell for a high price. But there was something about this boy, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. When I looked at him, I got a strange feeling in my gut.
He was eventually sold to Lord Dionysus, making him a soon-to-be gladiator. But even as the boy was lead to Lord Dionysus' carriage, I couldn't shake this weird feeling.
Somehow, I knew: this boy and I would meet someday. And it will be a bad day for all of Rome.