It was an excellent night.

Astrea was certainly well schooled and the "education" she was given was first rate. Kale was exceedingly pleased with his investment and so was I.

Still...

Something bothers me about her. I don't know what it is. I am not even sure I want to know. I watched every move she made ready to give firm direction - but every move was flawless. She is going to make us very rich.

I let her keep all the gifts, mainly to whet her appetite for what is to come and to make sure that she stays happy. Oddly enough I believe that she WAS happy tonight. My only regret is that I didn't ...

Kale says it is important to keep her at arms length - she is a business investment. I must remember that. Always.

In the past few weeks I have been altering my life to the point that I no longer recognize it. I am the owner of a woman who could make me very rich or who could drain all my fortune; only time will tell. I think she will be good - but I must see her "work" before I can pass judgement.

My father is less than pleased of course, but he is generally glad that I am out of the palace and have something to do other than make trouble for him.

Kale is amazing. He is like a mentor to me that I have never had. The restaurant he bought is a beautiful place of stone and colors and delectable smells. I love it there. The bath house is also wonderful. But I admit my thoughts drift to my new investment. I don't know if it is right to want what I want. I am trying to think about who is the right person for this ...

Someone important? Someone rich? Someone who will talk about her?

We talked the young woman, Astrea, into becoming a rich woman along with us. It was difficult to convince her. Zale did most of the talking, but once he mentioned the fact that she would never be homeless, or without wealth and the finer things in life, she agreed. It seems she is not all that different from me.

And so now I find myself in partnership with a man named Zale that I spoke of earlier. And here is what we are doing and how it came to be:

A few days ago I brought the slaves to the temple. And there I met a young priestess in training. And while she was idiot enough to be one of the offerings in the temple, she has beauty. The man Zale I met, saw her too. He is of the same mind. And here is what we are going to do.

At least it was a slightly better day.

I brought the slaves to the temples as requested and along the way I met this really interesting man named Kale. He has business ventures he thinks my father might be interested in. Not sure what that might be but I am intrigued. He even bought one of the slaves in my charge from me - father will never know. And so I had extra money.

It wasn't a very good day. Not that any day in the past few years has been but today was particularly bad. A long string of events led to an avalanche of disasters.

Bear in mind that I am the fifth son. The fifth prince... I am not much more than a decoration at social events and affairs of state. I am a diplomat at times, but generally my father and mother find the most ridiculous errands to send me on, keeping me out of the way and out of trouble. I am bored, but more than that, I have nothing to look forward to. I find it amusing sometimes to make trouble just to break the tedium of my own life. I will never have land of my own, and I will never have a position of power in this family.

And that is what happened yesterday and today. Yesterday, I was told to purchase slaves for my father's vineyards. So I did. I bought them and then had them delivered. I carefully selected everyone even paid extra for a few really healthy ones. This morning they were delivered and my father was madder than I have ever seen him. The slaves were all female.

My mother raged on and on about how I was selfish and how I probably purchased them for my own pleasure, but I swear that wasn't my intention. I really was just kidding and I thought I would bring them back today. However according to my mother, that would not be the wise thing to do. Instead half will go to my brother's estate up north and the other half I am to take to the temples of Aphrodite, Poseidon and Apollo.

I hate the temple. I hate the priests who are daft and without any shred of decency and I hate the priestesses who think they are so much better than all of us. It is a den of hypocrisy and sex at the highest cost.

I do not relish what I must do today. But if I am to eat ever again, I think I had better obey.

Hi.