“Of Claudia. Aren’t you?”
“No. She is our mistress. Why in this world should she do anything bad to us? If we serve her loyally, she won’t have any reason to be disappointed and punish us.”
“Maybe you are right, but when I met her for the first time, I felt as if she is the kind of person who cannot resist a chance to be cruel to us. I am scared of the pleasure she takes in mistreating us.”
“Are you speaking of Hades or of Claudia?” Nara chuckled. “Sure, she is not an easy mistress, and her punishments can reach pure sadistic cruelty, but she would never put a serious threat to our lives.”
“This is because, so far, Flavius has been here, and he could supervise her behavior,” Saul reminded him.
“Please, now you are exaggerating, and I will prove it to you. In two weeks, when Flavius is back, you will realize that Claudia, even without her husband, is not going to kill anyone.” He brushed a stray hair off Saul’s forehead. “Julius sent me to check your health status, but it seems like you need more than the medicine he is treating you with. Are you hungry?”
“A bit, yes. Please help me reach the kitchen so I can eat.”
“I’ll do better. I'll bring you something; it is better if you remain in bed and rest. I’ll be back soon,” Nara said, standing up from the bed.
Saul didn’t reply. Maybe Nara was right. Maybe he was overreacting in regard to Claudia’s character.
With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes.
A few days after Flavius left, an idea took form in Claudia’s soul, one that she considered being the solution to all her problems. She needed to be sure Caius would help her. During the walk to Caius’ residence, she practiced her words to him.
“What!” Caius exclaimed, surprised. “Can you please repeat that? I think I misunderstood.”
Claudia exhaled, raising her glance and hands to the sky. “Don’t you understand that this is the only chance I have to save my marriage?”
Caius grabbed her by the shoulders, looking deep into her eyes, trying to understand whether she was just joking, or if she was seriously thinking about getting rid of Saul before Flavius’ return. “Claudia, it is not a question of Saul. Flavius never wanted you and never will. You will never win him over, and nothing you do can change it. Even if you kill Saul, Flavius will never love you.”
“That slave has been a curse for me since he came into my life. It is like I need to compete against him every day for the attention of my husband, my guests, and my friends.”
“Nobody else, but you will ever gather my attention,” he whispered. “You are the center of my world, Claudia. Forget about revenge and about Flavius, forget about the bitterness. We can have each other.”
Her face relaxed into a tender smile. “Caius, you are the only one in this world who can make me feel happy. I wish I could just leave everything and run away with you.”
He placed a gentle finger to her lips. “I know. I understand you cannot leave, and I am happy to have you the way I am having you now. It is far better than losing you forever.”
Their lips fused into a tender kiss, and he knew he could not resist her pleas. He felt her pain and could not understand how Flavius could be indifferent to her frustration.
“I will help you, Claudia. I would do anything to make you happy,” he assured, parting from her. “What do you have in mind?”
“I just need you to make sure that Flavius will be late until I can find a way to get rid of Saul,” she replied slyly.
“Do you mean I should find a way to pretend a kidnapping?” he suggested.
“That might be a good solution. The roads outside the city are dangerous when you meet the wrong people.” She narrowed her eyes, glancing him with a cunning smirk.
He stroked his chin in thought. “Give me a couple of days to find the right man to help me, then we will come back to you with an answer.”
“I will be waiting. Meanwhile, I will find the right people to take care of the other problem.” Claudia opened her arms to him and licked the lobe of his ear the way he liked it.
For the entire week, Saul was forced to remain in his bed resting and following the orders of Julius. He didn’t have any news about what was happening inside the house without Flavius, but he noticed the change in Nara’s behavior. When his friend became less talkative than usual, Saul suspected that something was not going as expected. On Friday afternoon, when Nara came to check on his status, a black and purple bruise marred his face under his left eye.
“What happened to you?” Saul asked.
Nara averted his gaze. “It is nothing. How do you feel?”
“Good enough to start work on the accounting of the house as Flavius ordered, but please—what happened to your eye?”
“Julius said that it is better for you to wait until Monday, and I am in agreement; you still need to rest.”
Impatience sharpened Saul’s tone. “Nara, tell me why you have a nasty bruise on your face.”
Nara’s gaze flitted about the room as if he was searching for a good answer. “Claudia got upset with me this morning because I came too late to wake her up.”
“Were you late?” he asked.
Nara shook his head no.
“I noticed your mood change this week. I was right about Claudia, and now you too are scared. Am I wrong?” Saul asked.
“Take all the time you need to stay away from her. She has been terrorizing all the slaves. She is impossible to please. Julius and the few others who work outside the house are the luckiest since they rarely encounter her, but for us, it is hard. Luckily, in seven days, Flavius will return and our lives will be back to normal.” He stood. “I will bring you something to eat.”
As Saul watched him walk out of the room, waves of fear overwhelmed him. If Claudia was that cruel with the other slaves, then she would be pure evil against the one who stole her husband from her for many nights.
“What should I do? Please, God, if you are there, help me,” he whimpered and waited.
Saul waited for some time—for something to happen, for help to come from the skies for Flavius to appear in the doorway, smiling at him.
Flavius needed to return. Dread shuddered up his spine at the thought of what it could be like, being alone with a vengeful Claudia.
Saul sat on his bed and then stood, uneasy in the semi-darkness of the room. He needed to see the light of the day, but at the same time, he was afraid to meet his mistress and unleash her wrath.
Fear or cowardice won, and he returned to his sickbed, deciding it was better to follow Julius’ orders—and avoid trouble.
Early Monday morning, Nara shook Saul’s shoulder. “Wake up.”
“What?” he asked, confused.
“Time to get up. Claudia ordered that you will be with me to help her dress so you can focus on the accounting during the rest of the day. Don’t waste time and dress quickly.” He pulled him out of bed.
Saul sprang to his feet and complied, with his heart racing in his chest, and glanced puzzled at Nara.
He thought that perhaps he missed something. Nara had spoken as fast as he could.
When they reached Claudia’s room, Nara assigned Saul to wait at the entrance as he lit the oil lamp to illuminate the room. After that, he went to wake his Mistress gently caressing her shoulder with a light shake.
“Oh, Nara. Is it already time to get up?” she asked sleepily.
“Yes, Mistress, and as you ordered, Saul is here to help me.”
Claudia stood up from the bed and looked at Saul. “So, you finally decided to make yourself useful?” she glanced at Saul with a stare of pure hate in her eyes. “From now on, until Flavius returns, you are going to help Nara and wake me up every morning. Is that clear enough to you?”
“Forgive me, Mistress. I am sorry I have failed in serving you. I will not fail anymore in the future,” he said with bowed head as he went to get her sandals.