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Green Acres was the rural villa of a wealthy gentleman named Sextus Manlius, and posing as a young Greek gentleman I found a warmer welcome there than I could possibly have hoped for. Sextus and his lover, another Greek named Philandros, warmly and generously accepted me into their household - the Kindly Ones must surely have had a hand in my horse falling lame at the gates of this villa of beautiful men! However, lies do have an unfortunate habit of revealing themselves. It turned out that Sextus himself was a slave dealer, and when it was discovered I was in fact nothing but a runaway slave I feared I would be immediately returned to my fate in Syracusa, or worse.
But Sextus and Philandros proved themselves to be as kind as they were generous, and though I had done little enough to deserve their trust they devised a story whereby Hylas the runaway slave had died in an unfortunate accident, and in compensation they sent his master the amount he was worth - not an inconsiderable sum, I am proud to admit!
Sextus offered me my freedom, and maybe you will think me crazy for refusing it? But I had my reasons. I had been a slave for so long that the thought of freedom, and having to fend for myself without the protection and care of a master frankly terrifying. And so I remained at Green Acre as their household slave. It wasn't always easy, having two masters, especially as their relationship seemed to be a dizzying round of seperations and reunions. But then - I suppose it wasn't always easy for them having me as a slave either, though I would like to believe I helped as well as hindered sometimes...
It was while I was a slave at Green Acres that I first met Rufio, who later became foreman of the estate. Always my friend and sometimes my lover, Rufio was my port in the storms, the one person who could accept all my faults and still love me despite them.
I did finally accept my freedom from Sextus and Philandros, and my reservations about its appeal quickly proved right. Feeling cast adrift from everything I knew and having no useful means of support save one, I avoided everyone I knew, even Rufio, and fell back on the oldest trade in the world. By the time Felix found me, I was the kept companion of an elderly gentleman. Ah, but I haven't explained about Felix yet, have I?
Q Valerius Felix was a Sicilian, the son of a friend of C. Aemilius Pertinax, who had employed him to track down and bring back his runaway slave. As investigators go, Felix was rather unusual in that he didn't always favour the viewpoint of his employer, and unbeknown to me, had been aware of my presence in Pompeii practically since my arrival there. He had simply chosen never to apprehend me, and for reasons of his own had stayed on in Pompeii observing me even after my supposed 'death'. Even though he claims (I suspect feigns) no interest in me 'that way', something about me must have caught his interest, because he approached me in the baths and offered me a job - not in my regular line of work, but as an assistant in his investigations.
Now as I write these words, in the small but comfortable pergula of Felix's apartment where I now live, I realise that my life holds more adventures and prospects than other men's beds. Rufio has found where I now am, and our friendship has resumed. Two recent clients, Eirik and Spurius - accused of some faked-up crime they never committed - have become good friends, and through them I also met Idris, a most intriguing and handsome Silurian who has promised to teach me the tricks of his trade too. I've come a long way from a small olive farm in Korinth - and if the Kindly Ones are still looking out for me, I trust my life-story has only begun yet another chapter. |
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