The Barbarian's Mistress Read Free

countryside there. Due to the amount of rain, of course. So far my villa has shown little profit, but with the political situation easing, I can expect that property to become highly lucrative. Isn’t that right, Vali?’
    ‘Yes master, it was a wise investment.’
    ‘Have you thought to send Vali out there to supervise your holdings?’ Anniana asked innocently.
    Vali stared at the girl in shock. Where had that idea come from? He wasn’t old enough, nor experienced enough, to manage a property, even in the farthest reaches of the empire.
    Bibulus must have felt the same astonishment, but he hid it well. ‘My darling lamb, I know you think highly of Vali. He is a very talented young scribe, and valuable assistant, but he is a slave, a very young slave. I cannot entrust my holdings to someone like him.’
    ‘But father, you could free him. And he might be young, but he has sorted your finances out far better than anyone before him. You have said as much to me.’
    Bibulus looked skyward for patience. ‘To place him in such a position would do him a disservice. Those who worked under him would not respect him, and he would have nothing but trouble and dissent. It takes more to manage land than a good head for figures.’
    ‘But he’s the son of a Norse chieftain. He was raised to manage his father’s land…’
    ‘Young mistress, please, your father is right. I am not the person for such a responsible role. I am merely a slave,’ Vali interrupted hastily, seeing Bibulus’ suspicious expression.
    ‘But mother will sell you to that horrible Julia Agrippina. I heard her talking.’ The girl’s eyes grew large with concern as she looked from Vali to her father and back.
    ‘Why would your mother want to sell Vali? He is the best assistant I’ve ever had.’
    ‘She gets annoyed when he won’t do things for her, when he has so much work to do for you. She says she bought him, and so she can dispose of him. Please father, don’t let her.’
    Bibulus frowned, and rubbed at his receding hairline. ‘Your mother is just venting. She makes all kinds of threats that she doesn’t mean, lamb. You have too soft a heart to be worried about every slave we own. Come come, calm yourself. Let us go and find Ninia, and have her bring us something cool to drink. I’m quite parched after my day.’
    ‘But father, she means it. Please, you can’t let her do it…’
    ‘Enough of this, Anniana. I will not have you pleading for a slave. It is time you started to realise your position in this household. Slaves are not your friends, they are your property. Treat them as anything more and they will no longer respect you. In a few years you will marry and have a household of your own. How can you expect to run it successfully if you are at the beck and call of those who are meant to serve you?’
    ‘But father, you don’t know what she’s like when you aren’t here. Slaves have feelings too, and mother treats them so cruelly. They are all scared of her, except Vali. And that’s probably why she wants to get rid of him.’
    ‘Enough, daughter. I will hear no more of this. Come. Vali has work to do, and I need a drink.’
    With that, Bibulus drew his daughter from the stuffy little office, leaving the stunned Vali staring after them.
     
    ‘He rejected the idea out of hand,’ Anniana said as she threw herself down onto the stone bench set into the alcove at the far end of the garden peristylium. From this sheltered spot, which the friends had managed to claim as their domain since they were very young girls, they could watch the comings and goings of the household without being seen. The vined trellises provided the perfect cover.
    ‘I told you as much. Vali is a slave, and a young one. And he belongs to your mother.’
    ‘Technically all the slaves in the paterfamilias belong to father.’ She spoke up more fiercely than was necessary. Ninia knew as well as she did the workings of the household.
    ‘Technically. But you know