Her Roman Protector

by Milinda Jay

  Marcus had the strangest feeling that those last words were meant for him.

  Didn’t he believe that power was for sale, and wasn’t that the very reason he had gotten involved in this mess in the first place?

  What if Annia discovered the real reason he had come for the baby? Because he wanted to advance his career.

  “Now, it seems, there is a new worry. But I’m confused, and maybe you can clear it for me. Does Galerius Janius want the boys back or not?” Marcus said.

  “Why would he want them home?” Gamus asked. “It’s clear that he uses them as pawns in his political game.”

  “That much is evident,” Marcus said. “I can’t imagine why he would want them other than keeping them away from Annia.”

  “He is certainly doing that,” Nona said. “But I believe his primary concern to be convincing his new wife that his boys will never get their hands on any of her money. In order to convince her, he has to kill them.”

  “The only way to protect them is to get them as far away from Rome as possible,” Gamus said. “It’s clear to me what needs to happen, son.”

  Marcus listened.

  “I’ve told you before the threat is becoming more menacing every day. Christians are going to be forced to leave Rome. There is controversy among the Jews and believers, you already know that. But Claudius is being advised that we all need to go.”

  Marcus felt a sickening lurch. Would he lose his position before he had ever even gained it? This could change things completely.

  “What is your point, exactly, Gamus?” Nona asked. “I know you are saying something. I’m just not sure what it is.”

  “My point is that you have to get Annia out of here as quickly as possible. She and her boys must go,” Gamus said.

  “My father agrees. Where do you advise me to take them?” Marcus asked.

  “You mustn’t take them anywhere. But you must send them to Britain. For Annia, I believe this will be easy.”

  “My sister says Annia’s mother and father are both still in Britain. She will be happy to go home,” Nona said.

  “If she goes, I go, too. She needs my protection,” Marcus said, stubborn in his disappointment that Gamus believed he should stay here. His memories of Britain were unpleasant. But sending Annia there alone and unprotected was even more so.

  “No, you can’t go yet. You will have to convince your mother that she, too, must go. Your father is not in so much danger. He is not a prominent believer. Your mother is.”

  “How will we find homes for all the mothers and babies?”

  “That is something we will have to work on,” Gamus said. “I will help you. But for now, you must go and get Annia and her children safe passage on the next ship headed out of the harbor for Britain.”

  “Go, my child. My prayers are with you,” Nona said. “We all do foolish things. God has a funny way of taking the bad and making good out of it if we will let Him.”

  “I want to believe that,” Marcus said. He had done something reprehensible. He had taken gold coins from a man who meant him to harm many people. He needed forgiveness.

  “That is what faith is all about.” Nona smiled and kissed his forehead.

  He felt forgiven.

  Chapter Eleven

  There were two people that Annia needed. Virginia and the slave that Scribonia and her husband had purchased from Janius.

  Annia picked up the bronze needle, gold embroidery thread and purple wool band. She threaded the needle and began working on the series of leaves intertwined with birds and flowers. She tried to remember exactly the picture her own mother had embroidered on the purple band of her first toga and copy it. She would never be the artist her mother was, but embroidering gave her peace.

  First, Annia needed to know who exactly the man was who had been so loyal to her that he had been sold. Whoever he was, she was happy to know he would be her ally.

  She felt Basso could help her.

  Basso was in her garden, weeding.

  “What is it, domina?” Basso asked. “What can I do for you?”

  “There is a man here, a new one. I believe he was purchased at the slave market either last week or the week before by Scribonia.”

  “Ah,” Basso said, “you must be speaking of Titus.”

  “Titus?” Annia said. Was it true? Her Titus? Annia had brought Titus with her from Britain when she came to be married.

  And he certainly wasn’t an old man, not yet. He was only a few years older than Scribonia and Petronius Sergius. If it was the Titus she was thinking of, he was just the man who could help her and her children get to Britain.

  “Where is he,” Annia asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice, “this Titus?”

  “He is right here, domina.” Basso pointed to the garden, where her very own Titus stood watching the boys swim.

  Annia was so relieved to see someone familiar, someone from home, and someone who genuinely loved her that her knees nearly buckled.

  “Mother,” Cato called, seeing her talking with Basso. “Mother. I was hoping you were going to go back to your sheep this afternoon and walk through the garden and beside our pool. Look who we’ve found. It’s our old friend, Titus.”

  The boys both jumped from the pool wriggling with excitement like little fish, their tanned bodies glistening with water. They jumped up and down beside Titus, though not so close as to wet him. She was happy to see they were minding their manners in spite of their excitement.

  “Titus,” Annia said.

  “Oh, my lady,” Titus answered and hugged her as if she were his own child.

  “We are a long way from Britain,” Annia said, holding back her tears.

  “Yes, my lady, a long way. But I plan to return as soon as I can.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes. I had saved enough money to buy my freedom when Galerius Janius sold me. When I told Petronius Sergius, he saw to it that my money was returned.”

  “Galerius Janius is a charlatan,” Basso put in. “But Galerius Janius can’t cheat our Petronius Sergius, that’s for sure.”

  Annia smiled at the thought of Galerius Janius being forced to part with gold coins.

  “But I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” Titus continued.

  “I’m so glad you waited,” Annia said, and pulled him aside. She waved to the boys. “It’s fine, boys,” she said, “go on back to the pool and play. It’s a perfect day for swimming.”

  They both looked at her suspiciously. “Why, Mother?” Cato asked. They did not want to miss out on anything.

  “Because we are going on an outing soon. Get your swimming done while you still can” was the only excuse Annia could think of to keep his attention off her conversation with Titus.

  Titus and Annia walked together to a bench at the edge of the garden, far enough away from prying eyes and ears to be able to talk privately.

  “I’ve overheard something that has brought me great fear,” Annia said.

  “What is it, my lady?” Titus asked.

  “I fear Janius is hunting the boys, hunting them down like prey. Has he no love for them? Why would he want to hurt his own flesh and blood? Why?”

  “Oh, my lady, the world is beyond my explaining. Galerius Janius, he said...” His words broke off, and he looked around as if he had heard something. He stood.

  Marcus Sergius, the last person Annia wanted to see, took Titus’s place beside Annia.

  Annia stiffened and pulled away.

  “Why do you pull away?” Marcus asked.

  “I was talking to Titus,” she said. “I need...”

  “She needs help getting her boys to safety,” Titus finished for her. “I am willing to do everything I can to guarantee safety, but I fear the little that
I, a former slave, can do to help you will not be enough.”

  “What, then?” Annia cried. “If I could just get to Britain, to my father’s villa, he could keep us safe.”

  “It is a long way between here and there,” Titus said. “I wish I could do more.”

  Annia closed her eyes. “I wish I were a man,” she said. “If I were a man, I could do what needs to be done!” She shook with rage and frustration. “I would find a way to keep my children safe. I would fight to the death to protect them.”

  “Yes,” Marcus said, “I know that. And you have done much to protect them already. But now, you must let me help you.”

  “How can you help me?” she asked. “You hate Britain. You never want to see it again.” She threw a hand over her own mouth. The words had slipped out before she could stop them. Anger, frustration and very real fear clawed at her insides. She had never felt so desperate.

  Marcus put a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked deeply into her eyes. “I don’t know what you have heard about me, but this is what you can trust. I am not going to let anything happen to you or your boys. Do you understand me?”

  At this, Annia dissolved into tears. Marcus wrapped his strong arms around her, and she relaxed in his arms. She sobbed until her sobs turned to sniffles and then stopped altogether.

  She sat up, dried her face on her palla and said, “You can keep us safe? You can protect my children?”

  He lifted her chin with a gentle finger and said, “Yes.”

  “Yes,” she said, as if repeating his word gave her courage. She smiled a tentative smile. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” Marcus replied, “but I will.”

  She felt herself relaxing in his promise. But she knew that she must protect herself, as well. It was important that Annia not allow herself that helpless feeling again—that feeling of trusting Marcus completely to hold her, to be strong for her, to take care of her and her children. She must remember that it was only for a short while, until he got them to safety. For a few seconds, it had felt so good to pretend that this man could take care of her and her family forever, but she knew it couldn’t last. He was promised to someone else.

  “I must go and speak with my father,” Marcus said. He looked down at Annia. “I will see you soon.”

  Annia hated the thrill that went through her stomach. It was very sweet of him to comfort her. But she was certain that was as far as it went.

  Titus and Annia watched Marcus take his leave, ruffling the wet, curly heads of the boys as he walked by the pool.

  Annia let the boys play in the pool for a while longer than she had planned. It felt good to sit and think while Titus napped in the warm afternoon shade.

  Titus awakened with a jerk and turned to Annia. “Petronius Sergius doesn’t want his son doing anything foolish trying to save you.”

  “I know,” Annia said. “I heard it myself just a few days ago. His father has already picked out a young woman for him.”

  “That may be,” Titus said. “But from what I have just observed in the young man himself, he would gladly risk his life for you.”

  “I’ve just heard Scribonia talking with Nona, and Nona said that he wanted...” The words were almost too difficult for Annia to spit out. “...an unmarried woman. Besides that, he is already promised to Cassia.”

  “Well, my lady, all I know is what I have seen.” Titus grinned and nodded toward the garden gate directly behind them.

  Annia looked over, and there Marcus was, again. He now looked relaxed and happy. Whatever his father had told him had calmed him.

  She felt an uncontrollable anger. In the next instant, she shivered with excitement. She was infuriated by the complexity of her emotions. She didn’t know what she wanted to feel, nor what she should feel.

  She glanced at the boys playing happily in the pool.

  Marcus Sergius, his short blond hair shining like a halo above his head, his eyes dancing, approached them.

  “You were listening,” she said, her words clipped.

  “No, I wasn’t,” he said.

  Annia tried to think of what she had said, and what he might have overheard.

  “I owe you thanks,” she said. Simple was all she could summon.

  “You owe me nothing,” he said, his face a play of obviously painful emotions.

  What was he fighting? He was promised. That was it.

  “I need you to go with Titus to Britain,” he said. “Father agreed with Titus about Galerius Janius.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “But you can’t go?” Was he so eager to send her away alone?

  “There are many things I need to tell you. Father just received word that I’ve been made prefect of the Vigiles.”

  Annia’s breath caught. “Oh, Marcus. It is what you have always wanted. The position will take you to where you want to be—prefect of the Guard. That is the best news I’ve heard.”

  Her eyes shone. “It’s not yet prefect of the Praetorian Guard,” he said. “But it is a step in that direction. You are right. I believe that if I do a good job as prefect of the Vigiles, I will be eventually earn the position of prefect of the Guard.”

  “I know you can do it,” she said. “The emperor merely needs to see you in action, and he will be quick to appoint you to be prefect of the Guard!”

  Marcus smiled back at her, but there was something else, something he wasn’t telling her. She could feel it.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I think it would be best if we prepare you and your boys to leave Rome immediately. I think Galerius Janius will not rest until you are all gone.”

  Of course. Once she was gone, it would be so much easier for him to follow his dream. He could stay here in Rome, marry Cassia and settle into a life of ease.

  “How soon can we leave?” she asked, hiding her pain, resigned to make the best of this new situation.

  “And, my father has just told me that things have become more difficult than we even knew,” he said.

  “How can things be more difficult than what you have just told me?”

  “It is being rumored that Emperor Claudius will make a formal decree in the next week banning all Jews and believers from the city of Rome.”

  “No. That can’t be,” Annia said. “Why, Claudius is the most tolerant of us all. He has close ties to Herod Agrippa, or so I have been told.”

  “Yes, but there has been talk of riots and anarchy in the Jewish quarter. Jew against believer and believer against Jew.”

  “But why should that affect us?”

  “For decades, Jews have been allowed to worship the one God and not bow down to the emperor—they were given permission to worship in the traditions of their ancestors. But believers have only recently chosen to worship Christ over the emperor. And Claudius can’t discern Jews from Christians. So he is getting rid of us all.”

  Marcus would be prefect of the Vigiles, and that meant he would have to stay in Rome.

  “Can’t we wait until the order is real?” Annia asked, though she knew she was grasping at feathers in the wind.

  “No. If we do that, we will have a very difficult time getting Mother and all the babies out. Already, the task will be difficult enough simply convincing her she needs to go. I have to send those who wish to go first. You are lucky. You have a home in Britain. Claudius really doesn’t care what you worship when you are there. You are too far away to cause him any trouble.”

  “I understand,” Annia said, trying to think more rationally. Leaving Marcus would be difficult. But, perhaps, only temporary? “And what of the others, what of the women here? Do you need for me to take anyone with me? We have plenty of room at our villa for at least a few of them and their babies.”

  Marcus looked very relieved. “I was so hoping you would offer that,�
�� he said. “We have a villa there, as well, but I fear that it is not quite large enough to hold all the women we have here.”

  He looked off into the distance. “What I fear most, however,” he said, “is that I will not be able to talk my mother into leaving. I fear that she will insist on staying. Her work is here, she will say.”

  “Can’t your father convince her?” Annia asked.

  “No,” he said. “My father believes in her mission almost as much as she. I suspect what will happen is that as soon as we take as many women and babies as will go to Britain, she will fill the villa up again with new babies.”

  Annia smiled. “She is a great woman, your mother.”

  Marcus looked at Annia. “That she is. I just hope she is able to protect herself. She can’t afford to be foolish. There are too many lives at stake.”

  “Do you believe she will see that after a while?” Annia asked.

  “I hope.”

  “And what of you?” she asked. Hoping, praying that he could come with them, that all of them could escape this place. But she knew better.

  “My duty is here,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  “We can’t get a boat out for three more days,” Marcus said. “In the meantime, there is something I want you to see.”

  Three days? That was all? And then she would never see him again. He would marry Cassia and stay in Rome and enjoy his new position.

  “I have a lot to do,” she said. “I have to finish combing this last bit of wool. We are finally finished with all three fleeces. Washed, pulled and combed. I’ll take some on the boat and spin it. It will keep all of us busy on the long journey. And I haven’t even started gathering food and clothes for the children.”

  “The children will be fine, and you will have plenty of time to prepare everything. Come with me this evening after the children are fed and put to bed, and I will show you.”

  She couldn’t resist him. And it infuriated her.

  Annia finished the last of her combing, gathered the neat piles of combed wool and laid them carefully in the cloth bags Marcus had brought for her. She slung one across her shoulder, picked up Maelia and handed Marcus the other two to sling across his shoulders.