J
Juan1234
Guest
I couldn't believe we were having this conversation. Much less that I was listening, and that I was even beginning to think she might be right.
Heidi's ten years of slavery had been kinder to her than to most, and her last master had treated her like his granddaughter, ultimately setting her free just the week before.
In fact, he had originally bought her partly out of pity for her. About three years ago, in Adrianople, our mother and Heidi's twin sister Gelda had been sold to Quintus Laterus, who would take them home with him across the empire to Rome, leaving Heidi without family in Adrianople. So the old man, also from Rome, had bought Heidi so that she could stay close to her mother and sister.
I was her older brother by five years, and as a strong, adolescent Goth, I had been offered a position as an auxiliary in the Roman army when Rome had captured us and my mother and sisters had been sold as slaves. From there I had made it into the legion and was now a centurion before the age of thirty. Just four months ago, I managed to be stationed in Rome, near my mother and sisters.
Despite my distatste for Quintus Laterus, Gelda and my mother's master, the last four months had been some of the happiest of our lives. Before we had been conquered by Rome, life had been rough and hard, and our father was equal parts menace and protector. Then Rome had come, and the indignity of slavery soured the years, and discipline among the auxiliaries was strict. Then we had been separated when my mother and sisters were sold to Roman masters. Now we were back together, and as a centurion I had certain privileges and freedoms I had not had before. I was even saving money to be able to buy Gelda and my mother from that arrogant patrician Quintus Laterus.
And now, like something from some absurd nightmare, Heidi was telling me the unthinkable, and I was listening
"Roderic, you have to crucify me. Tonight!"
Heidi's ten years of slavery had been kinder to her than to most, and her last master had treated her like his granddaughter, ultimately setting her free just the week before.
In fact, he had originally bought her partly out of pity for her. About three years ago, in Adrianople, our mother and Heidi's twin sister Gelda had been sold to Quintus Laterus, who would take them home with him across the empire to Rome, leaving Heidi without family in Adrianople. So the old man, also from Rome, had bought Heidi so that she could stay close to her mother and sister.
I was her older brother by five years, and as a strong, adolescent Goth, I had been offered a position as an auxiliary in the Roman army when Rome had captured us and my mother and sisters had been sold as slaves. From there I had made it into the legion and was now a centurion before the age of thirty. Just four months ago, I managed to be stationed in Rome, near my mother and sisters.
Despite my distatste for Quintus Laterus, Gelda and my mother's master, the last four months had been some of the happiest of our lives. Before we had been conquered by Rome, life had been rough and hard, and our father was equal parts menace and protector. Then Rome had come, and the indignity of slavery soured the years, and discipline among the auxiliaries was strict. Then we had been separated when my mother and sisters were sold to Roman masters. Now we were back together, and as a centurion I had certain privileges and freedoms I had not had before. I was even saving money to be able to buy Gelda and my mother from that arrogant patrician Quintus Laterus.
And now, like something from some absurd nightmare, Heidi was telling me the unthinkable, and I was listening
"Roderic, you have to crucify me. Tonight!"