But maybe instead of comfort, she could help solve Cassandra’s problem. “Why is he to be sold? Has he displeased his master in some way?” People did not sell their hardworking slaves for no reason.
“He wouldn’t tell me,” Cassandra said. “Said it was better for me not to know. But as far as I know, he’s never done anything to displease. He doesn’t deserve this, mistress.”
“It does seem like an injustice,” Crispina said. She’d been brought up to regard slaves as invisible, interchangeable, but meeting Aelius and Gaia had changed her view. The thought of Aelius’s father reappeared in her mind. What if Gaia had once been as grief-stricken and helpless as Cassandra now looked? Would anyone have come to her aid?
“Do you know when this sale is to happen?” Crispina asked.
“Tomorrow, mistress,” Cassandra said, her voice breaking. “I said my goodbyes today. I told him I’d name the child after him if it’s a boy. Taurus.”
“If it’s to happen tomorrow, then we must act quickly.” Crispina beckoned Cassandra to follow her. “Come, let’s consult with Aelius.”
“But it’s the middle of the night, mistress! He’s asleep!”
Crispina shrugged. “Then we’ll just have to wake him.” In truth, she wasn’t sure if Aelius would be irked to be awoken in the dead of night to advise on how best to reunite his slave with her lover, but Crispina could weather his annoyance.
She strode back to her bedroom, Cassandra trailing behind her. Upon entering the darkened room, she asked Cassandra to light a lamp and went to Aelius’s side of the bed. Crispina allowed herself a moment to glance down at him, his expressive face relaxed in sleep but still supremely handsome. Then, she put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him.
She nearly had to pummel him to wake him up. Cassandra, twisting her fingers until her knuckles went white, seemed to be on the verge of passing out from the horror of waking the master.
“Aelius!” Crispina hissed. “Wake up!”
Finally, Aelius’s hazel eyes blinked open. “What’s wrong?” he grumbled, hauling himself into a sitting position.
“I need to discuss something with you,” Crispina said.
“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”
“No.” She glanced back toward Cassandra, hovering near the door as if debating whether to flee into the hallway.
Aelius followed her gaze. “Is everything all right?”
Crispina hesitated for a moment. She should have thought more carefully about how to present this to him. This was the first time she would ask a favor of him, and she feared she was not off to a good start after rousing him in the middle of the night.
“Cassandra is pregnant,” she announced, deciding to get straight to the point. “And the father of her child, whom she loves, is about to be sold off tomorrow to a mine or somewhere horrible.”
Aelius’s eyebrows shot up. “I see.”
“I would like for us to purchase him,” Crispina continued. “I know you don’t need another slave, and it may be an unnecessary expense, but you can use the money from my dowry, and—”
“There’s no further discussion needed.” Aelius swung his legs out of the bed and rose to stand before her.
Crispina broke off. Her gaze snapped to his face, shadowy in the insubstantial lamplight. She didn’t know him well enough yet to read his expression. Was he about to refuse, or…
He addressed Cassandra, still lurking in the back of the room. “In the morning, give Ajax the name of your beloved’s current master. I’ll send him with six hundred denarii to make an offer of purchase. It’s a better price than he’ll get from a dealer.”
“Oh, sir,” Cassandra whispered. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” She hid her face in her hands as another wave of tears overtook her. Crispina hoped they were happy tears this time.
Aelius crossed to Cassandra and folded her into a gentle embrace. She sagged into his arms, alternately sobbing and gasping thanks. He murmured soothing words into her ear and patted her back with a soft touch. Crispina felt a twinge of embarrassment at the effortless way Aelius comforted the young woman. She had been unable to summon that much warmth to offer Cassandra.
But at least she had solved Cassandra’s problem, and the lovers would be reunited in short order.
Cassandra calmed and withdrew from Aelius’s embrace. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I had planned to name the child after his father, if it’s a boy. But now, I think I should name him after you, sir, for a boy, or you, mistress, for a girl. If you would permit it.”
Aelius smiled down at her. “We would be honored. Now, I think you should try to get some rest.”
“Of course, sir.” She bowed formally to him and Crispina, and left the room.
Aelius turned to Crispina, his brow furrowing in an expression she couldn’t place.
