Airlea smiled warmly at the former master of their newest purchase and she dipped her head politely in response to his gently spoken words. She thanked him for the striking deal that he’d cut them on the beautiful slave prior to him walking away and then she and Eryx turned to look over their purchase. Her lips were already parted in the beginnings of forming words when the young man before them began to speak. Her eyebrows raised up and she glanced over at Eryx, who sported a similarly surprised expression.<br/><br/>“Tempus, hm?” Eryx murmured thoughtfully, a warm smile playing at his lips as he looked over the man, his eyes crinkling at the corners to hint that the expression was genuine.<br/><br/>“And to think, I was about to suggest we name him Ganymede,” Airlea interjected, something she’d only dare do when she was speaking with Eryx.<br/><br/>“Ah yes, the cupbearer … Well he’d certainly make a fine servant to the Gods, I’d have to agree,” he replied pleasantly before the slave jumped in yet again to speak. He spoke with a heavy Germanic accent, but also with a diction that lent to him having been educated in the past. He didn’t sound dense, and he certainly didn’t sound as though he hadn’t ever spoken prior to the conversation they found themselves within now. It struck Eryx as just a touch odd, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t explain away with logic.<br/><br/>“Ah, ah, Tempus. I’m afraid the pair of us are not together. Eryx here,” she patted the man upon his broad chest, “is my champion. We’re close friends and confidants, yes, but he’s an employee of my household. That’s something you’ll have to remember if you’re to stay with us. I doubt my father would enjoy even the notion that I could be married to someone of Eryx’s status, no offense, my friend.”<br/><br/>“And none taken, dear Airlea. I’d shudder to think of the punishments that should await me were your father to come under the impression we were romantically involved,” he laughed heartily at the thought, shaking his head and then clapping their new companion on his shoulder. Clearly, he took his position in life with a lightheartedness that many working men didn’t share. He didn’t seem at all bittered by his past, nor the promise of remaining in his station in the future. He was a relatively happy man, content with his status in life and the relationships he’d forged. “Let us not mention it again, Tempus, and I’m sure all will be well.”<br/><br/>They led their purchase back towards the edge of the crowd then, catching various glares and scowls from a number of men and women who’d hoped to add the gorgeous northerner to their stock. Eryx stood tall, or, as tall as he could whilst being beside such a lumbering giant, as they moved towards their horses. Airlea tucked herself into Eryx’s side, clearly a bit timider in the face of adversity than the natural born competitor she’d chosen as her own.<br/><br/>“Now, Tempus, I’m sure you’re wondering what it is we’ve purchased you for,” Eryx began as they moved towards their waiting mounts together. “While Airlea was so kind as to offer up the coin for you, I’m the one whose name you will find on your deed. With our excursion to Olympia impending, I need help in the stables. Mainly with manual labor, but occasionally I’ll seek your assistance in working with the horses. Are you comfortable with these tasks?” He queried as they stepped up to the stable boys. Airlea offered them each a coin as they handed over the reins, and then the trio ran off to find themselves more business whilst Eryx handed off the reins of the buckskin mare over to Tempus.