She stopped Sixtus, the old man getting ready to go to the market. “Dominus is coming home soon, Sixtus. Make sure his room is ready in a couple checking of weeks, his clothes refreshed.”
The old man’s eyes widened with joy. “Domina... this is good news!”
She pursed her lips. “Yes, good news for you because you won’t feel my whip so much.”
Although she had seldom hit the old man, out of pity maybe. Her eyes turned to the yard where Kyle was getting the cart ready. She walked to him, lightly swatting his back with her whip, and he turned around, dropping to his knees.
She hooked the whip under his jaw and tipped his head up. His grey eyes bore into hers. She smiled. “Your dominus is coming home soon...” He breathed a bit harder, but his face stayed a mask. “Aren’t you happy?”
“I am, domina...”
She pursed her lips, sounding disappointed. “You’re a hard worker, Kyle. Too bad I’ll have to let you back into the sheets soon...”
He blanched, and he watched her leave, his chest heaving.
Sixtus walked up to him. “Why are you kneeling? We should leave. Dominus will be home in a few weeks.”
They sat on the cart, slowly driving to the market, and Kyle’s stomach was a block of ice. Marius was coming home. And he could not decide how he felt about it.
The next few weeks were spent getting the house ready, and Seraphina rested more, her belly growing. The child was already moving a lot, kicking her, and she grew restless, worried at the prospect of giving birth. Reluctantly, she talked to Melissa, and the slave explained to her how it would be, but it was still frightening, something she could barely comprehend.
Their mothers and Tertullia also came to visit her to make the time pass faster, and they were chatting away in the dining hall one day, waiting for the slaves to bring some snacks. Kyle and Lis walked in, and Tertullia’s words froze in her mouth. She could barely recognize the doe-eyed young boy she had first met almost a year ago.
The young man leaned down to her to fill her cup, and she clutched his arm, squeezing his muscles. “My, my... how you’ve grown...”
Seraphina grinned at her. “Noble ladies shouldn’t grope slaves.”
Tertullia waved her away. “I am not noble... but... this is something... what have you done to this boy?”
Seraphina’s eyes shone. “He doesn’t lazy around in the sheets anymore, right, Kyle?”
“Yes, domina.”
“Come here.”
He obeyed, kneeling next to her. “A year of good solid work will do that to a slave. That, and discipline. You should use my methods, my good Tertullia.”
The older woman waved her off. “No way... but it’s tempting though, if my boys could be half as handsome and well-built as your boy here...”
She chuckled and Seraphina looked down at Kyle. “He doesn’t mind getting the whip either, right?”
“No, domina.”
Tertullia laughed. “Don’t tell me he doesn’t mind!”
Seraphina lashed the whip across Kyle’s face, a red welt forming straight away, running down his left cheek to his jawline.
He flinched but didn’t yelp or move, and Tertullia blanched. “My dear... I don’t think you should...”
Seraphina’s eyes didn’t leave Kyle’s. He knew what she wanted to hear. “Thank you, domina...”
“Good boy. Now go and make yourself useful.”
He rose and left, Tertullia barely believing what she had seen, worried sick.
His house at last... Marius rode his horse up the hill, impatient, the crisp spring air feeling warm after the winter cold. The sun was setting, but it was still early. His heart pounded faster and he jumped off his horse and banged on the gate. A few moments of waiting and the gate opened, Sixtus hurrying to him, the stable slave taking his horse.
The old man had started kneeling, but Marius caught his arm. “No, please...”
