“It is still hurting a bit, but I will be fine. Thank you for asking, Master.”
“Go rest now. Tomorrow, you will go to school, but I’ll ask Rufus to carry your tablets. You won’t be able to carry anything on your shoulders for a while. I don’t want your skin marred by scars.”
“Yes, Master,” he replied blushing.
As Saul entered the main living room, he heard someone whispering from behind. He turned his head and saw Flavius peeking from the door of his room. “Come here. I need to talk to you.”
When they were both inside the room, Flavius looked around, searching for the right words and the courage to say what he wanted.
“Saul, I can’t understand what is going on… How do you feel?” Flavius tilted his head and glanced him with a worried expression, holding his arms.
“I am fine, Master. I have something to tell you, and I hope you will listen and understand what I mean.”
Flavius glanced at him. “I will try to at least understand.”
“At first, this punishment was a sort of agreement between your father and me. He didn’t do anything for cruelty.” Saul frowned, trying to find the right words to tell him how that punishment was necessary. “It hasn’t been easy for me to understand what it means to be a slave. I might be too young to perceive it in such a short time. An adult would have been able to give up his hopes more quickly than me.” He paused. “Now I know it sounds odd, but I honestly feel better about it already. I believe that if you continue to help me by behaving as a Master, I will reach full acceptance of my life. This punishment felt like the one a father would inflict on his own son, not for cruelty, but to correct a misbehavior.”
Flavius pondered carefully his words. It would have been difficult for him to understand, but maybe what he was saying made sense, and his father was right when he said that his punishment could be a valuable lesson for all.
“I, too, should be punished for being such a bad Master, but I will try to get better. I will put more efforts to become a good Master; however, I wish our deal to survive. I will wait until the day you feel comfortable enough with me to be my friend. I will learn from my father, to treat you as he does, if this makes things easier, but I will always be there for you.”
Saul exhaled and nodded. “Yes, Master, we all have a lot to learn. And who knows? One day I might be able to be your friend. I will also be there for you, Master. I’m not saying this because I have to, but because I feel you close to my heart, and… because I like you.”
Saul left Flavius’ room and strode slowly to the slaves’ room. Soon the sun would set ending day that had been painful in many respects.
Concern etched wrinkles across Rufus’ forehead. “Saul, we need to take care of your back before you go to sleep. Master Marcus Tiberius ordered me to carry the waxed tablets until you are fully recovered.”
“Thank you. I will need your help.” Saul smirked as they reached the kitchen for dinner.
Rufus was surprised by Saul’s mood. He suspected that, in the punishment, there was an untold story that would have explained the calm serenity with which Saul accepted the punishment. It seemed as if the bond had tightened between them.
Saul rushed to eat his dinner so he could have his back medicated, then go to sleep. Seeing that Rufus had also finished, he asked, “Would you take care of my wounds now?
“Sure, let’s go,” he said, standing up from his chair.
He retrieved the balsam while Saul preceded him to the dorm and laid on his belly on the bed.
Rufus didn’t want to be nosy in the matters between Marcus Tiberius and Saul, but curiosity ran too high. “It seems almost impossible to believe how fast you recovered,” he said.
“I guess I understand what my place is. I realize my position as a slave, and I am accepting it,” he replied. “I know it sounds strange, but this punishment helped. There are so many things I still can’t understand, but I am going to make a big effort to focus on them. What is clear to me, is that it doesn’t matter how old or young I am, as long as I am a slave, and Flavius needed to benefit from my punishment for him to become a good Master, like his father.”
Rufus listened with his head tilted. “I hope that Master Flavius and Mistress Claudia understand your value as a slave. Master Flavius is not enthusiastic about marrying her. The words he used to describe her do not instill hope for anything good, but maybe he is exaggerating, but it doesn’t matter. They are getting married for wealth and social status, not love.”
He wondered what would become of Saul. He liked him and was sorry to see him going away. The household would feel emptier without him, and surely Cassandra would miss him the most. He was almost sure that she liked him in a particular way even though she was a bit older.
“Do you have any idea when the wedding ceremony takes place?” Rufus asked.
“It should be after Master Flavius’ twentieth birthday. I think Claudia is about his age.”
“I knew that there was no age difference between them. How does it work in your country, Saul? Are women usually the same age as men when they get married?”
Saul remained silent, trying to remember something about the time he was still home.
“I don’t know, but my mother was much younger than my father. My memory is a fragment of what it was, and I was taken away before I thought of girls…”
Rufus stood from the bed and closed the jar with the balsam. “So, you don’t have any idea whether your family already had planned to find a wife for you?”
“No, it would have been too early for that, “he chuckled, then his expression darkened like some old memories reemerged from an unpleasant past.
“My sister had her engagement party just before we were taken. She was supposed to get married in seven years. I hope she was sold to a good Master like I was. Saul shook his head to cast away the bad thoughts. “I’m scared every time I think about it. She can even be…” His voice flickered, and his heart stuttered.
He knew she could be dead; however, this was an option he was not ready to accept.
He remembered the party celebrating her engagement to a twenty-year-old man, handsome and kind. She kept holding on me, grasping my hand, unwilling to let it go. He was glad that his father decided to give her to a virtuous man rather than to a richer one. He was sure the future husband would have treated her with respect and taken proper care of her. But, when we were taken from the house of my uncle, everything was lost, together with her hope for a better life.
Rufus pursed his mouth glancing at him and felt sorry that he made him remember painful memories. He knew girls were subjected to more mistreatment when they ended up in slavery. In some cases,
like Cassandra and Nana, girls were bought by a good Master.
“You’d better not think about it, Saul. She is probably fine, just as much as you are. She is very young, and there is the probability that she was sold together with your mother,” he tried to ease his friend’s worries.
“You’re right, and it is useless to think about it, trying to guess what cannot be guessed.”
At that moment, Caleb arrived. “How is he doing?” he asked, at Rufus.
“His skin will be better soon.”
“I tried not to hit in the same place, but with twenty lashes, it is difficult, especially in such a small space like your back. I’m sorry I couldn’t do better,” Caleb apologized, glancing at Saul as Rufus stood up from his bed.
“That’s alright, Caleb, you did what you were supposed to, and if I had behaved as I was supposed to, then I wouldn’t have deserved any punishment. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
“Yes, let’s get some sleep now. Goodnight, Saul.”