Pello Island: Cassia
Page 16
Darius thought of the patrician’s bed, the bed where he and Cassia had made love, with its feather mattress and silk sheets. His body slid deeper into the chair, and he sighed.
Livia got up and collected some vegetables from a small basket near the door. She put them on the table and sat down.
“Here, eat,” she said.
He grabbed a tomato and took a bite. The juice ran down his chin and onto his tunic.
“I’ll teach you how to fish and farm,” she said. “I know you probably aren’t used to hard work, but it makes the time pass.”
Darius just kept nodding as she spoke. He was so grateful to have food and a place to sleep that he was willing to agree to anything she said.
As they finished their meal, Darius looked across the table and saw that her eyes were brown. She had a sweet countenance, but the lines around her mouth and between her eyebrows told him she’d had a hard life.
“Why did you pick me?” he asked her.
“You looked harmless,” she said with a smile. “And you didn’t look like a thief.”
Livia hesitated before asking her next question. Newcomers were reluctant to talk about their crimes, but he would be living with her, and she wanted to know before he got too comfortable.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
Darius hesitated. He wasn’t sure he should tell her they’d sentenced him as a murderer, however innocent he may be. Finally, he just told her the truth.
“I met a girl, Cassia. Her father was a wealthy merchant. She was young and beautiful. Her father wanted us to marry, and I had gambling debts. He offered to pay them if I married her. But…”
Livia watched him intently. She reached across the table and placed her hand upon his, and he continued.
“My father could never agree to a marriage between his son and a merchant’s daughter. My brother paid my debt, and I broke off the betrothal.”
“But that’s not the whole story,” Livia said.
He looked into her eyes. She seemed to read his thoughts.
“No, that’s not the whole story. I hid from her like a coward. I cared for her, but gambling...” He hesitated. How could he explain to her his need for the dice?
“I found an older woman willing to give me money. One day Cassia found me and we made love. Somehow, during the night, her father found us. When I woke up the next morning, his body was beside the bed and the dagger was in my hand.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No,” he said softly. “Cassia’s father had a hired man. He killed him.”
“But why didn’t you say something before they dragged you here?” she asked, her brows furrowed.
“I was on the docks when I realized it – it just came to me. By then it was too late. They were putting us on the ship.”
Livia took her hand away. He looked so tired.
“You should have fought harder to stay in Rome, to plead your innocence to a tribunal.”
She shook her head. He was a patrician born with options she’d never had. Was it cowardice, or something deeper that made him surrender his life for a crime he didn’t commit?
While she cleaned the plates, Darius lay his head down on his hands. When she turned around, he was sound asleep.
“Sleep, patrician. You’ll learn how to fish tomorrow.”
She walked outside, grabbed her fishing net, and headed for the beach.
Other books by A.L. Jambor
But the Children Survived
Darius Pello Island 2
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Table of Contents
Preface
Cassia
Home - Schuylerville
Schuylerville, New York
A Friend in Need
Amatus on the Hill
Aspen, Colorado
For the Love of Little Cassia
Cassia's Wedding Day
Quintus' Moment on the Palatine
Schuylerville, New York
Rome - Cassia's Fifteenth Birthday
Quintus Seeks a Nobleman
Schuylerville, New York
A Fashionable District of Rome
Darius Makes a Decision
Cassia in Love
Novia's Lament
Anthony Lends a Hand
A Broken Betrothal
Quintus and Flavius
Heartbroken
Cassia Requests a Favor
The First One
Kingston, New York
A Lady's Assistance
A Rude Awakening
Kingston, New York
Incarceration
Lydia
Cassia