Adoptions

“Hey Cat, how’s things?” you ask your young Trade Master. Tevron had been kind enough to dedicate a building down at the harbour for Cattleya’s use. Technically the building devoted was just a fancy house of a former merchant but since there are none of those, it was free for use. Cattleya’s office, where you find her now, had a couch against one wall with a table beside it, and a desk in the middle of the room with a nice red rug with yellow patterns around the edges separating the two. Cat was currently seated at her large desk on a simple wooden chair, doing what looked like paperwork.

“Solus!” Cat cheered, bouncing up from her seat to give you a quick hug before returning to her desk. “I’m great! This is great! I have a whole mansion now!” the girl gushed. It wasn’t really a mansion, just a rather big house, but you can see where she got the idea, it was well furnished.

“So what are you working on?” you ask, peering over her shoulder. You frowned at the very long numbers she was **** to use, roman numerals looked nice, but they were somewhat impractical for counting purposes.

“That ship that brought Fortuna agreed to stay and help out, so long as they got a largish cut of the profits” Cattleya told you “So I’m here trying to plot out how to stimulate some trade” she said “That pepper is being used to make merchants from Italy beeline for our city instead of Brundisium, while the gold is then being retasked to the ship so they can go to Egypt and trade with the easterners” she explained. You nodded along, it seemed like as good a plan as any.

“How are you managing the whole ‘we shouldn't have pepper’ business?”you ask.

“By lying mostly” Cattleya replied with a shrug “We tell the Italians we get it from Egypt, and the Egyptians we get it from Italy” she clarified “it’s not like a merchant from Ravenum is going to row to Egypt just to ask if they sold us some pepper, and even if they did, by the that time they got there they probably would have” the girl explained.

“Has anyone ever told you you are very mature for your age?” you ask and get a sad smile from Cat.

“Yes” she said simply and you remember the pressure to get married she mentioned some time ago. You nod before conjuring a stack of paper and a brass pen. Both of which Cattleya looked at with great interest since the paper was cotton paper and the pen was a dip pen. You quickly begin jotting down numbers, writing the Hindu-Arabic numeral next to the Roman numeral until you reached a hundred, and passed the paper over to Cat for her to look at. The girl frowned as she read the sheet before taking the dip pen from you and writing down various figures to test them out.

“It’s from India” you say at her inquisitive glance.

“I’ll experiment” she told you, setting the sheet aside and looking over the scroll she was working on.

“How’s home life been?” you ask, stepping away from the desk. “I’m told you spend a lot of time here” you add. Cattleya set the pen down, careful not to get ink on the parchment before sighing, running a hand down her face. She leant over to the side and pulled a goblet out from where you hadn’t seen it. She took a long swig of the wine contained within, setting the cup on her desk before turning to face you.

“Don’t worry, it’s watered down more than normal” she said in response to your raised eyebrow. You knew that they started kids on wine young in this day and age, especially in Italy but Cattleya looked like she needed something stronger than heavily watered down wine. “Aunty has decided to arrange a marriage for me” she told you and you frowned. That did not sound good at all. “She went around looking for suitors and found a good selection” she continued “I was **** to meet them, or rather, they were told where I’d likely be and they met me” she explained. You could tell she was only just getting to the good part. “One of them apparently took a liking to me” she said, it’s the first time you’d ever seen the normally impossibly cheerful girl scowl. “I said no to him, but my ‘opinion’” she spat “Matters not” she sighed “he went back to Aunty and told her he’ll ‘take me’ off her hands like I’m a fucking purchase, a good to be bought” Cat was gripping the goblet in her hand so hard you decided to reinforce it with some godly power. She took another pull from the wine, draining the cup before slamming it on the table, her eyes screwed shut.

“Where is your Aunty now?” you ask, realising this situation had gotten rather out of hand.

“At home, but I don’t really need you to do anything” The girl replied despondently. She looked like she had almost completely lost all hope.

“Yes, you do, but that is irrelevant” you say in a firm voice, taking the cup out of the girl’s hand and filling it with something a bit stronger, watching as she took an experimental sip. You flex a little power to ensure she won’t get wasted on that cup, tipsy perhaps but not drunk. “What matters is that you are one of my people and no mortal shall ever sell one of my people against her will” you tell her. Cattleya looked up at you, her eyes shining a little as she took in your words. “Now come, take me to your aunt” you command.

“B-but I have work to do” Cattleya stammered, looking back at her work.

“I’ll still be there tomorrow” you tell her, putting a hand on hers to stop her from picking up the parchment. “Come, let’s solve this little crisis of yours” you say.

*

Apparently Cattleya’s home is on the other side of the city, it took a while to walk all the way there and you are quite certain Cattleya does this as late as she can to avoid confrontations with her family. The home itself was pretty modest, a main room where the family congregated, a few bedrooms, and a kitchen. It was modest by modern standards, for Roman times though, this would probably be considered a middle class home, if the family actually owned it.

“Ahh! Cattleya! There you are, found your way home early today hmm?” snarked a woman. You guessed she was going on thirty, more or less middle aged in this day and age.

“You know I work on the other end of the city” Cattleya retorted, trying to shuffle past the woman whom you presumed was her aunty. The woman stepped in front of Cattleya.

“Yes, you and your stories about your job running the city’s trade” there were some snickers around the table, apparently none of the family believed Cattleya was the Trade Master. “And if that IS true, than I’m sure Lord Augustus would be far, FAR more happy with a man to run things” she continued “Dentius is a competent enough man with some wealth to his name, far better than a woman could be, let alone a reject like you” the woman said. This is where you had had enough, stepping forward so that all could see you. Several pairs of eyes pivoted towards you, narrowing in suspicion before widening in recognition. “Lord Augustus!” the woman cried out happily, about to rush towards you and gush at your feet.

“You” you say in a low and dangerous voice. The whole room recoiled. “How dare you presume to know what I want” you growl, “I named Cattleya as Trade Master because I wanted HER skills, not some random man you found on the streets!” you continue, stalking forward until you are in the woman’s face. “I will not have you tell me who I can and cannot have in whatever role I choose!” you snarl, eyes burning with sheer rage at this mortal’s presumptions. “And while we are on the subject, I hadn’t thought I needed to outlaw underage marriage and yet here we are, Cattleya is two years too young” you say, turning your back on the woman and pacing around the room. “Not only that, but an arranged marriage as well?” you say before crossing the room so that you are in the Aunty’s face again.

“IF YOU GO BEHIND MY BACK AND CONTINUE WITH THIS FALLACY, I WILL EXECUTE YOUR FAMILY IN FRONT OF YOU AND MAKE YOU MOP UP THE BLOOD!!!!” you roar. The room shook with the **** of your anger.

The room was now full of quivering mortals, the stench of one or two of them having soiled themselves reaching your nose. You also noticed an amphora against one wall had shattered in your anger.

“What of Cattleya? You gonna execute her too? She’s family ya know!” one of the braver elders piped up. You turn to look at the offending man, eyes boring into him until he began to shake.

“No” you say quietly “She is not” you continue “From this day forward she goes under the name Augustus, as my daughter” you finish, looking around the room for any hint of defiance. “Hear my warning, for you shall receive no more” you say before turning and leaving, Cattleya hot on your heels.

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-y” Cattleya tried once outside. She swallowed heavily before trying again. “Your daughter?” she asked, eyes wide with a hopeful light.

“Yes, Cattleya Augustus” you say to her, hearing her squeak “My daughter” you add.

“You probably don’t need me to be your heir” she mutters, a kooky grin on her face. You turn to look at her, a smirk of your own.

“How long, exactly have you known about my divine status?” you ask her, teleporting the both of you back to her office. Cattleya blinked a few times as she got her bearings before reaching for the wine and taking a pull of it.

“I saw you when you first appeared” Cattleya told you. You blink in surprise at that news. “You appeared in a flash of golden light, right after the bandits set fire to our town” she continued in a small voice.

“So, how come you don’t worship me then?” you ask with a grin.

“Easy” she replied, sipping her wine “I got to know you as a person” she told you “And now I get to know you as a father” she said, tears welling up in her eyes. You give a huff of amusement before striding forward and wrapping the girl up in an embrace.