It was early in the morning, just past breakfast time. The sun was just starting to rise, so it wasn’t boiling outside yet. There were a few fluffy, white clouds in the sky, which would help tame the sun whenever it raised fully. There was a soft wind that carried the same of the salt water. The temperature was warm outside, but it wasn’t unbearable. There wasn’t even a slight chance for rain, and overall the day looked promising. A good day for shopping.

Scylla was wearing a loosely fitted peplos. The tunic was draped and fastened beautifully around Scylla’s body. Scylla had a very petite body, with not many curves, but the way the tunic was draped, emphasized her small waist and then flared out. The tunic was also slightly off the shoulder, and it was died a light blue color, with gold accents around the edges. Scylla’s blonde hair was pulled back in two braids and tied together. When outside people could see hints of red in Scylla’s blonde hair, making her stand out. Scylla was wearing light brown leather sandals and carried a white with gold accent purse, which carried the money she planned on spending.

Scylla was on her way to the agora, which was a big central shopping area, in Almosis. It was a large open area where merchants of all different types could be found, most were local, and few were foreign. The agora wasn’t Scylla’s favorite place to be. It was often crowded and loud, and on a day as fine as today, there was no doubt that the agora would be busy. Merchants could be heard calling out their sales, people could be heard bargaining. Like most wealthy women, Scylla was accompanied by a servant her family owned. Which would come in handy, seeing Scylla had a lot on her list of things to buy.

Scylla needed six loaves of bread. Bread was something ate at every meal, and with such a large family, they went through bread very fast. She was going to pick up some olives, figs, and cheese. Each of these would be in smaller doses, seeing they were normally eaten only at lunchtime. Her final list of things would include vegetables, fruit, and plenty of fish. Fish was normally eaten for lunch and dinner, so they needed lots to supply them. The only beverage she would be picking up was wine. Which was also something used up very fast.
Scylla had already stopped by many merchants. Her servant was carrying a box to put all the food in, and it was starting to get food. Scylla could tell her servant was starting to have a hard time carrying the box. Scylla didn’t treat her servants bad, so she reached into the box and pulled out the vegetables and fruits. She carried them in her arms and they continued their shopping. Their last stop was to get the fish. She had stopped by the table of a merchant she often bought from. She placed her fruits and vegetables down on the table, and she looked at the merchant. ”I need three pounds of fish.” He looked back at her and said, “Thirty silver owls.” Scylla made a you-have-to-be-kidding-me face. ”It’s me, Scylla. You’ve never charged me that much in the past. I’ll give you fifteen silver owls.” The merchant agreed with a smile and gave her the fish wrapped in a thin cloth. Scylla looked at her vegetables, fruits, and fish. She had no clue how she was going to carry all of this. She didn’t want to pile on three more pounds of food onto her servant, but she didn’t have enough arm room for all the food.

”I should have planned this out better.”