The woman actually considered his opinion carefully. He kept his look of surprise to himself, wondering if things were different here. Back home, they gave not a single care to his words of wisdom, even if they pertained to the fighting ring. He had once watched a gladiator, broad but small, advise a small fat man that his latest acquisition, a tall, thin boy, would do better after a few weeks with sturdy meals and hard training. The foolish fat man put the boy in with the others in group combat and found himself short one thin boy that had room for plenty of growth. Here, he expected nothing more than what he was used to. Regardless, he still managed to eye the woman in wonder for a moment before focusing on her question.
"Maybe. I don't know," he answered honestly, thinking hard about the plants he knew. There were so few and the ones he knew were the ones his sister knew so well. They were common garden plants and weeds back in Rome and he knew they were easy to find then. Here, though? He did not know. "Fennel, maybe. Find seeds. It's very weedy in Italy." He remembered it growing all over the place, and it was easy to find. "Too cold for marigolds, lemon. Basil could survive. Would have to watch carefully." He shrugged, remembering how easy those herbs grew in the ragged garden in their little plot in England. "Rosemary, maybe. I don't know."
Gale touched a patch of moist earth, feeling the dry and wet earth between his fingers before touching a leaf of mint. He pulled it away and crushed it beneath his fingers and sniffed. "Raspberry might be good. Easy to find, easy to grow, hard to control after it spreads. But good for body. Fruit can be drunk, good for bowels or angry stomachs. They taste good too. Leaves can be stewed for a tea good for running bowels and for enjoyment. Good for more too, if mixed with good melle." The slave rose stiffly, joints adjusting to his full height. "We can find bushes here, most likely. In old field, or at the edges of woods." The women used to go out to the woods to find wild bushes.
Image credited to RomeCabs. Table style inspired by Kitty.
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