Military camp off the eastern banks of the Rhine River, in the northern borders of Roman held territories, Black Forest, Europe
Valeria shivered involuntarily in her thin cloak and rubbed her hands together to generate heat while she crossed the camp to her tent. There were soldiers assembled in clusters here and there, but she was not interested in meeting any at the moment. Ignoring their lascivious remarks and propositions, she walked quickly in the cold mud and was almost to her tent when a familiar voice stopped her.
["Will you be available later?"]
Valeria turned slowly to see Lieutenant Aerius leaning against one of the transport cages. She cast a longing look towards her tent just a few feet away, but knew she had to play her cards right if she wanted a new coat. Putting on her most mischievous smile, Valeria moved towards him and shrugged playfully.
["You know I have the girl to take care of."]
Aerius caught the finger she was running down his breastplate and looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Taking the slender digit to his lips, he bit it lightly and smiled at Valeria's gasp.
["She's not going to make it, come see me tonight. I have something for you."]
Valeria took her hand back and ignoring the bitter smell of ale on his breath, winked at him saucily.
["Tonight, then."]
Smiling to himself, the lieutenant walked away and Valeria finally entered her tent. Moving the entrance flap aside hastily, she walked straight to the lamp hanging from the middle beam and wrapped both of her hands around the base. Instantly warmer, she sighed tiredly and looked over at the girl lying in her bed. It had been seven days since Aerius' men brought her in and in all that time, the girl hadn't woken up once. Valeria sat by the thin bed and felt along her forehead. The fever had broken, but despite her best efforts, she was still unconscious.
Figuring she was going to spend another night away from her bed anyway, Valeria decided to leave the girl where she lay and moved to her crate and started sorting through her things to find something suitable to wear. Not that Aerius cared much, but she was a professional and believed in always being prepared. He had already started drinking and on these nights it wasn't uncommon that he would be passed out before she reached him. In that event, she could salvage the night and still make a profit by seeking someone else out.
Finding her favorite violet colored scarf, she shed her cloak, draped it dramatically over her shoulders and was about to add a touch of perfume when a mumble interrupted her. Dropping the bottle, Valeria swung around and gasped.
["Gods, you're awake!"]
Mari moaned at the pressure in her shoulder and blinked at the bright light that hung over her. Her mind was a swirl of confusing thoughts and images and not remembering how she came to be on a bed or who was talking to her, sat up and struggled against the hands that felt along her face.
"Get away!"
Valeria let go as soon as Mari started babbling, remembering that she spoke a different language. The Germanic tribes each had distinct dialects according to region, but they were surprisingly similar and the current campaign to eradicate them, had given her ample opportunity to practice several. Taking a moment to recall the words, Valeria spoke slowly and tried a different tactic with the frightened girl.
"I'm, I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie. Please calm down."
Mari stared hazily at the woman dressed in purple through heavy eyes. Her whole body ached and her head felt incredibly heavy. Bringing a hand to it, Mari looked at her new surroundings in escalating panic.
"W-where am I? My sister is……"
Valeria reached out and clasped one of Mari's shaking hands.
"She's not here, sweetie."
"But she was with me and……"
Valeria shook her head slowly and tried to make her understand.
"She's not here."
Mari's eyes began to glisten as everything came crashing back. Her home was burned, her uncle and father were dead, and Danea had run into the night with ribbons, whispered words, and a gentle kiss. Looking down in sorrow, Mari let the heavy tears that gathered in her tired eyes fall to her lap.
Valeria knew something of Mari's story from one of her clients, and slowly moved in closer to her. Mari was soon shaking with sobs and careful not to disturb her still bandaged shoulder, Valeria wrapped her arms around her thin frame and let her cry. It occurred to her that she would be late for her rendezvous with Aerius, but feeling the pain the girl exuded, chose to stay.
As the person responsible for keeping the females that were to be sold into slavery, she had encountered an astonishing amount of girls over the years. She traveled with the Roman legions on occasion and took them in for safe keeping while the men fought and pillaged. Some were made to be prostitutes right away. Some were virgins and sold for a higher price to merchants. Depending on whom they were fighting, the girls could either be Celts or Franks or Germanians. But the differences were unimportant as they all came in crying, scared and lonely.
Her job was simple. Clean them up, teach them what they were supposed to do and see that they brought in a good price. Valeria performed these tasks perfunctorily. She herself was a slave of sorts, forced to serve the soldiers in between their campaigns and traveling merchants to seal business deals. It was purely survival and a way to keep herself clothed and fed as well, but occasionally a girl would touch her heart in a profound way. No matter how much she avoided becoming involved, some made her feel almost human again. They reminded her of the carefree, adventurous kid she once was and made her forget what she had become.
The minute Valeria saw Mari, she instantly knew she could grow to love her. She was bloodied, bruised and half-dead, making her not really worth the effort profit-wise, but Valeria saw something in Mari's pale, pretty face that she thought was very worth saving. Refusing to leave her in a wooden cage outside in the cold, she had a soldier lay her down in her own bed and saw to her personally in between her rounds.
As the days passed and Mari's fever got worse, Valeria wondered if Aerius was right in saying that she was trying to earn redemption by helping the girl, but she continued to do it faithfully. Smiling into Mari's dark auburn hair as she cried on her shoulder, Valeria wondered. Maybe she was and maybe she wasn't, but the fact that the girl was alive at all was her doing and in a life that she did little out of consideration for others, she knew that helping the girl was noble. In the back of her mind, her grandmother's voice echoed to her that the gods always noticed noble, selfless acts and Valeria desperately wanted to atone for her ways. Pulling Mari back gently, she looked deep into her eyes and asked the question she had speculated on for a week.
"What is your name?"
Mari sniffled and wiped at her face with her free hand awkwardly. Having cried for a long stretch on the bright shawl of the woman, she was calmer and more curious about who the woman was and where they were.
"I'm Mari. Are you……how do you……"
Valeria smiled at the delicate sounding name. Not what she had guessed, but it suited her well.
"I'm Valeria, and yes I am a Roman, but not how you think. I'm not a citizen of the Empire, I just work for them."
Mari blinked her enormous eyes at the brightly dressed woman. She was beautiful for sure, but had the strangest mark running down the right side of her face. It was the bluish color of a bruise, but couldn't be since it was in the perfect shape of a diamond whose point ended on her cheek. She was wrapped in thin fabric robes that Mari had never seen before. Looking down at her own pelt skins, she felt worthless in her presence. For the first time in her life, Mari understood why the Romans referred to her people as barbarians. People that could weave such fine colors would think nothing of fur skins peeled away from dead animals. Suddenly uncomfortable, Mari sat up straighter and looked around apprehensively.
"But then how could you speak……"
Valeria stood up and walked to the crate she had dropped her perfume in, knowing that Mari was now becoming aware of her surroundings and needed the safety that distance provided.
"I have worked with many girls and traders. Inevitably I pick up their language. I can speak several. You can say I have the gift of speech."
Valeria touched her things absentmindedly and flashed Mari a smile. To her relief, Mari had stopped crying, but the look that she had told her she was contemplating a run for it. She had to try harder to keep her in place.
"Where are we then? What do you want with me?"
"We are in a military encampment just four days from the Danube River. This is where legions rest, regroup and restock. And what I want is for you to be still so that your shoulder heals properly. You have been unconscious for days."
Suddenly aware again of the dull ache in her shoulder, Mari spread open her pelt coat and looked at the bandages that were wrapped around her shoulder tightly. Having seen the Roman soldiers systematically kill her entire village, it didn't make sense that she was being taken care of so well.
"How many days was I asleep and why……why have you done this?"
Valeria moved to increase the light that lit the tent in an effort to look busy and non-threatening and answered without looking at Mari.
"Seven and I had to, you would have died."
At the sound of the word `died' Mari's eyes changed. The suspicion and fear vanished instantly to leave only sorrow. Valeria saw this and regretted her choice of words. Trying hard not to think of her father's and uncle's bodies out in the open for seven days, Mari swallowed painfully and picked at the bandage carefully, peeking at the sutures in place. The skin around the jagged scar was still swollen and discolored, but she could see it was well on its way to being healed.
"Thank you, umm, for doing this. You must be a great healer."
Without really meaning to, Valeria chuckled. Mari's head snapped up and Valeria knew she needed to expand on her role, since it was obvious Mari hadn't really understood yet.
"I'm not a healer, Mari. Far from it."
Mari blinked at Valeria in confusion. A little of the mistrust they held earlier found its way back into the green depths of her eyes.
"I'm a prostitute, Mari. I serviced the field surgeon in exchange for him to seal your wound."
Valeria glanced at Mari to gauge her reaction and seeing nothing but rapt attention, continued before she lost her nerve. She usually made these speeches very quick and matter of fact, but something about the innocence in Mari's young face made it unbearably hard this time.
"These clothes, my things, it's all given to me in trade. I also take in girls. This may be hard to understand but they brought you to me……"
"As a slave."
Valeria looked up to catch the pain that flashed through Mari's eyes. She could tell she understood fully now and to solidify the fact, she added solemnly.
"Yes, Mari, as a slave to be sold to the highest bidder."
The two women stared at each other for a full minute, Valeria tried desperately to read Mari's reaction and Mari desperately tried to fathom the cruel destiny that brought her to where she lay. Still caught in the impossibility of it all, Mari jumped up and ran to the tent entrance. Tearing it open, she gasped at the sight of hundreds of small tents pitched in the frozen black mud of a riverbank. It was nighttime, but there were men everywhere, practicing fighting along the river, drinking, walking, laughing, even huddling around fires. All were clothed in shiny brass breastplates and scarlet robes and talking in a language she could not understand.
Not really entirely conscious of Valeria's frantic words behind her as she tried holding her back, Mari felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. She was weakened from her fever and had gotten up too suddenly but it was mostly the thought of being among the enemy that made her queasy. Grabbing onto Valeria for support, Mari let herself be taken back inside into the warmth of the tent she had awoken in. Valeria was saying all kinds of things to her, it was comforting she knew, because Valeria's hands smoothed over her hair and stroked her face, but Mari really couldn't make anything of it. She slid to the ground numbly until it suddenly stopped.
There was a man in the tent now, and although Mari didn't turn to look at him, she recognized the cadence in his garbled speech well enough. It was the same man that had inspected her and Danea when they were captured. Remembering the feel of his hands roughly outlining her body, it all clicked into place. She was a slave and she would be made to give herself over to whoever bought her. She would disgrace her family and bring shame to herself because she would never be a proper wife or mother to anyone. She would be property, to be used and discarded and never, ever loved.
Hearing the words between Valeria and the man increase in volume, Mari looked up slowly. She saw the annoyance in his features and holding her breath, watched as he walked over and picked her up by her hurt arm. She grimaced and cried out in pain as the tender flesh tore and before it faded enough to allow her to think, she found herself being dragged outside to where a row of wooden cages were lined up against Valeria's tent. Mari was taken to an empty one and shoved inside. She landed in a heap in the far corner and too overwhelmed to react, curled into a ball and watched the man stomp back, pull Valeria roughly by the hair and push her back inside the tent. She could make out the anger in Valeria's eyes, but she went passively enough.
Mari stared at the flap of the tent for an eternity, as the night slowly grew darker and colder. Gradually, the men bustling all around disappeared into their tents to sleep, leaving only the dogs and slaves to the mercy of the late fall chill. Eventually, Mari allowed herself to move ever so slightly. Looking over at the row of cages to her side, she could make out a few shivering shapes in each one. Some had several people, nestled close for heat, but not having anyone with her, Mari huddled into her pelt coat and watched her breath crystallize in the air.
The last time she was in a cage, Danea was with her. Now she was alone and although it was unbearably cold and frightening to be among the sworn enemy, Mari smiled faintly. She had once wondered how she was ever going to get used to sleeping alone once her sister married and left home, now Mari thanked the gods that she was far away, with the man who loved her. She thought of the mountains and how safe they were, in each other's arms with their stomachs full even if their hearts were heavy. The image made Mari feel better and actually lessened the bite in the wind and her own stomach's emptiness. Danea was safe and she would gladly suffer in exchange for the satisfaction that the hated Romans couldn't get to her. Yes. They were safe and she would accept her fate in exchange of it. Her uncle had given his life for Battavia, her father had given his for his daughters, and Mari would surrender her own for her sister's.
In their fishing expeditions, her uncle always spoke of destiny and how it always led you to someplace new, because it understood what you couldn't. Mari never understood what he meant as a child, but on that bitterly cold night, it became very clear to her.
Swearing never to feel sorry for herself or cry for them again, Mari said goodbye to her family and accepted her new life. Not because she was giving up, but because she would see Danea again. She was a Battavian and Battavians could never be slaves. She would not die someone else's property. She would not surrender her will over to anyone. She would escape eventually and find her. It would take time, maybe a very long time, but Mari had a goal to spur her on and dreams and memories to hold onto meanwhile. She would do it and make her father proud.
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