Let The Games Begin.

Lost Income

Back at my room, Ajax is waiting at my door, a stack of neatly separated parchments resting in his hands. I see the look of concern on his face as I approach. Averting my gaze to avoid questioning, I step up beside him, briefly glance up at him to nod his acknowledgement and then push the door open and step in past him. As if silent commands were exchanged, he files in behind me, pushing the door closed. 

     "Integra-" he starts.

     "Don't-" I warn, yanking the chair out behind the desk and plopping down into it. "I'm fine. Really. Just tell me what needs to be done with the papers. 

Frozen in place for a second longer than he should have been, he shakes himself out of it and steps closer, sitting on the opposite side of the desk. "I brought all the copies you requested. The sealed ones are exactly the same, so you can keep whichever one you want to and send the opposite copy to the magistrates. In each copy, I also included a run down of the information that I found in the treasury on your mother's assets, which is something I actually still need to cover with you."

     "Oh?" I question, crossing my arms, and my legs at the knees. Leaning back into the seat, I say, "Continue."

     "It seems like your mother only had stock built up in two trades. In silk, and in many variations of produce."

     "So...?"

     "That means she either has funds coming in under the table, or she doesn't have much to be taken. There's no way fruit and fabric is worth what she has made from it according to the papers."

     "Well, I could have asked Lucas, but..." My voice trails off, my hands coming to fiddle with the edge of my chiton.

     "I heard, I'm truly sorry for your loss. I know he was dear to you." Ajax consoles. "Not to pull away from that so quickly, I still need to know if you want to proceed with stripping your mother's funds."

     "There has to be more..." I mutter, getting up from the chair. I begin to pace the short distance, wondering what else she could have money tied up in. "Politics, certainly. But she would have sent for help the first time she was detained, and sent a message for help if her communications were to stop."

     "What if she moved the sum of her income to a private source?" He asks, watching me pace back and forth. 

I pause, glancing over at him. "Wait here." Crossing the short distance to the door, I tug it open and call out for a hoplite. At once, one appears, bowing to me before asking what it is I need. I request Marcellus, and that he bring the letter he was supposed to be writing to his father. Telling the hoplite not to see him back but instead to command him to knock firmly four times, I close the door, and turn back to Ajax, who is flipping through the papers. 

     "The only person I would know about, if that were the case is my uncle, Julius or the emperor of Rome. Seeing as I doubt she'd willingly give her assets away to another country, it has to be my uncle. He has military power at his command and could start a siege easily if commanded."

     "But not without something to benefit from himself."

     "Exactly-" I say, turning, in sync with Ajax, to face the door when from the other side, four firm knocks sound off. 

Commanding Ajax to stuff the papers under my mattress, I saunter over to the door, lifting the cover to the peephole before tugging the door open, keeping my body in the crack of the door. 

     "You requested me?" He asks. "And my letter?" In his left hand, a neatly folded square of parchment. 

I nod, gesturing him inside. "I certainly did." Grabbing his arm, I tug him into the room. Pulling up the stool from beside my bed, I set it next to Ajax and motion for Marcellus to sit, which he does.