Athenian Slave (Book 2)

Chapter 5

AN - Hi, I just wanted to say, thank you all for joining in with reading the sequel to Trojan Slave. I have received so much encouragement it really does mean a lot. Just a little note, I have been uploading frequently on this book so far, and wanted to say that will probably start to drop a little soon. I write as a way of distracting myself from 'issues' in my life, and at the moment those 'issues' mean I need a lot of distraction, hence all the chapters. When things calm again it could drop to two of three chapters a week hopefully! I hope you will understand! Thanks so much for reading. Az x

Chapter 5

Alexios strode through the corridors of his Athens villa. Feeling peculiar and out of place. Surrounded by such wealth was not what he was accustomed too. The slave lined up to greet him unnerved him. There were more than he had expected, and the caretaker he had appointed had enough charm to bend anyone to his will. He would not be surprised if all of his female slaves were half in love with the male before him, incessantly prattling on and on about colours and flowers. He was a warrior, what did he know of flowers?

Tuning the out the males grand gestures and slimy words, he concentrated on memorising the layout. The faces. The details. He knew from experience that if he concentrated upon his first arrival he could tell if even a pebble had moved in the corner. It was an important ability that he had managed to use to the advantage of his very life in some cases. Knowing the male was still prattling on and on about the inconsequential, he was led into a pleasant, surprisingly sedate and tranquil courtyard. It was the only part of the abode he had witnessed so far that he felt at ease in. Though that ease was broken by the line, of yet more slaves.

How many slaves did one man need? How had his uncle lived? Surely half of these slaves must go days without any work. Did his uncle have them literally do everything for him? Shaking his head, he stepped forward to inspect the slaves here, the workers under the higher level slave he had met in the entrance. These were the ones that truly ran the villa. The ones that knew the ins and outs and the nuances of the very building. Unlike those above them, these were the ones that would be useful to him in the case of an emergency.

Noticing the small path was bordered by small red flowers, and an overflow of green, he was reminded of how barren the beach was he had spent most of the last years calling home. The fields he saw had been the places blood poured and pain was inflicted. Yet here. Here he had witnessed no pain, here he could try and get over the images that were lodged in his mind.

Forcing both his mind and his gaze back onto the issue at hand, he set his intentions to inspecting the state of the slaves. Some were too thin he thought, he needed to check what they were allowed to eat, maybe increase the amount from what his uncle had them on. He had told Anaxagoras that he was to keep the same rules as his uncle had, yet he had been lax in not checking what those rules were. He needed to make sure if he had slaves in his care that he was actually taking care of them.

While he had never owned a slave, never really thought he would, after meeting Elpis his mind had been set forever on his views on the action. It was, he admitted, an accepted part of life. Their economy was held up upon the shoulders of slaves, the unpaid workers helped create the most exquisite of merchandise. The wealth of men such as his uncle came from the blood and sweat of those forced into the labour. It had started to make him think of the ethics of slavery. Was it really how they should be treating others? No matter who they were?