The Lady Out of Time

6 - Poise

Keeping Julia close solved none of her mysteries, Agrippa realized some days later. Rather, it only teased even more.  He found himself watching her with furrowed brow whenever she did something particularly peculiar, like when she insisted on the villa’s residents coughing into the crook of their elbows or teaching the younger slaves to wash their hands with lye soap for at least twenty seconds or more. Sanitation was far more important to her than it was to the other slaves (which he approved of, but still found a curious inclination in such a young girl). 

But those were the small things. There were other, more startling things about her that he noticed the longer she stayed around him, namely the way she understood the rest of the world and the people around her enough to know that there was always a second meaning to the things they said or hints as to their true dispositions.

For instance, she remained unaffected by the sudden surge in her popularity with the younger women slaves of the household after it became known that she was his personal attendant. Favors were lavished on her and others whispered salacious gossip in her ears, gifting her with their informed opinions of everything going on around them. Under that kind of attention, most young women would have found themselves swaggering around despite themselves.

Not so with Julia. Agrippa noted with keen interest how she diverted their attention away from her when it became overly solicitous, along with the way she seemed able to divide the well meaning wheat from the scheming chaff even with no warning from others who had more experience in  navigating the villa’s slave politics.

It struck him not too long later what exactly it was: she had a fearsome ability to read others, an ability that perhaps surpassed even his own.

It was a breakthrough realization that made him appreciate her shrewdness all the more. Although she continued to clash with Annia time and time again, she reserved peace for the rest of her relationships with the villa’s slaves. She wielded her authority with a live but not overbearing dominance, and it wasn’t long before even the servants with greatest seniority were treating her with equal respect.

Because even her seemingly impetuous moments didn’t seem that way at all, but rather the lashing out of a woman who had dealt with too many irritations to tolerate any more. Her temper - it had poise.

“There are too many ways to pin a sheet together,” Julia complained one day as she fitted the long tunic around his waist. “I can’t believe you have to dress like this for every meeting.”

And here, conversely, was one of her qualities that made him smirk rather than stare at her in quiet amazement: her inability to suffer what she considered a waste of time.

“It’s not a council meeting today,” he said as he watched her circle around him and pinch the sheet up by his shoulder.  It was interesting watching her slender fingers at work; she was improving fast but still vastly unfamiliar with dressing him in the mornings.

“Oh? Where to?”

He snorted in amusement. No other slave would dare to question him so casually. “I’m off to help a friend. He’s in dire trouble.”

Her fingers moved to secure a thin belt around his waist now.

“What kind of trouble?”

“He’s in a coma.”

She didn’t pause in her movements, but he saw her glance up at him for a second.

“I hope he wakes up soon.”

“Hm.”

“Alright, that’s good. Now the toga. So what exactly are you helping him with? Checking on his family?”

Agrippa checked himself in the mirror with a discreet glimpse after she finished draping one end of the long fabric over his arm. Indeed, she was improving daily.

“No. He’s been accused of murder, and the complainant demands a trial despite my friend not being able to defend himself because of his condition. I’m going to the scene of the alleged crime to see if the truth can be unearthed.”

Julia had stooped down to secure the straps of his leather sandals, but with an upward jerk of her head, she stared up at him with such pinpoint interest that he could only stare back in silent surprise.

“I’ll go with you,” she said. “If you want, that is.”

That second-thought addition was uttered with a note of begrudging reservation, he noticed. This was one of her demanding moments, but she had managed to curb it a bit for the sake of appealing to his pride. Impressive. She was a far quicker learner than Annia had given her credit for.

A faint smile teased at the corner of his mouth as he continued to look down at her. She rose to her feet after a moment but held his gaze as well, unblinking. She was far too aware of how much he tended to indulge her whenever she wasn’t overbearing with her demands, and she was relying on that now as well.

Sneaky girl. He supposed this was just evidence that she truly was just an adolescent girl, though, with a morbid interest in criminal gossip.

But it wouldn’t hurt to bring her along and disappoint her with the boring investigation he intended to undertake.  Maybe it would make her that much less eager to accompany him whenever he left the villa.

For some reason, however, that thought didn’t please him. There was something amusing about keeping Julia at his elbow and watching her take in the world with that too-sharp light in her eyes.

“I expect you to behave,” he said. “This is a grave matter.”

“Of course. Always.”

“But this time in particular, Julia.”

“Someone’s been murdered, right? I’ve never taken alleged violence lightly.”

He paused. What was that? It almost sounded like she was implying prior experience with just such a situation, and not just once, but multiple times.

“...Because murder is a serious thing,” she added quickly. “Everyone knows that, even me. Come on, then, my dear master. Daylight’s burning.”

He followed her out of the room, but the niggling curiosity refused to fade. Every day, she was becoming more and more of a curiosity...