Step 6
Sergius basked in the honey-gold light of the early morning sun. Never given to early rising, he lolled considering his options for the day. He enjoyed his life here in Palestine. Though the summers could roar in rather sultry, the mild winters ambled aimlessly on into spring. The mild sunny weather ensured some of the best pomegranates, figs, and melons he’d ever eaten. And then there were the mounds almonds. He’d never eaten better almonds in all his travels, and he’d been from one end of the empire to the other. But this was not what kept him here at the far end of the empire. No, he had bigger dreams, much larger than a tasty meal.
Sergius was a merchant and a prosperous one. He’d found a lucrative market and exploited it. He found a need and he knew how to fill the need and turn a handy profit at the same time. He was able to live well and set aside some for his ultimate goal, a small villa in the hills east of Rome. One with a terrace that faced west, warmed by the setting sun. There a man could work the land, enjoy the fruits of his labor, and take his ease. A year or two more in the markets and he’d have enough to buy his farm and settled down. Still, he needed to continue his labors for a while yet and this required travel to Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch and Tarsus. Sergius found the profits remarkable, but the moans and cries of the slave market stayed within his mind, echoing loudly disrupting his few quiet moments, moments like this.
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