by Milinda Jay
It appeared, then, that loyalty to Annia had nothing to do with his change of heart about his decision to help Janius. It appeared to be a decision made based on the fact that he was getting help to advance his career elsewhere.
Who would believe him?
Did Virginia believe him?
If Virginia didn’t believe him, Annia would never believe him.
He had to clear his name before Annia would accept him. But how? His mission for now was this: he would find Annia, take her to her parents and make sure she was safe.
Virginia stood watching him, waiting for an answer, for a full confession.
“I’m interested in Annia,” he said.
“Then take her safely home,” Virginia said.
“I must return to Rome. I must fulfill my duty. I have a position. Will she wait for me?” Marcus said, though the words were hard to push from his mouth. Was he willing to give up his position to stay in Britain with Annia.
“I don’t know.”
Titus watched him.
Marcus met his gaze.
Titus walked away from the fire. Marcus followed.
“Can you?” Titus asked him. “Can you give up the office you’ve just been granted?”
Marcus looked away. He had gained the position in spite of Galerius Janius. He had help from the senator, but he wanted to believe that he’d gotten it because he was good at what he did. Doing a good job as prefect would prove it. For history.
“I don’t know,” Marcus said, his honesty peeling away the grim wrinkles on Titus’s face.
“What is it that you want, then?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Marcus said.
“Nothing more than that,” Titus said. “What do you want?”
Titus turned and walked back to the fire.
Chapter Eighteen
Theodora was right. At the baths, people knew about the shipwreck, and there had been several sightings of survivors all up and down the beaches.
Fishermen had reported seeing survivors as far away as the next town.
How would Annia know if her friends had made it?
“I’ll keep asking,” Theodora said. “I’ve lived in this town my entire life. I know many people.”
The next morning, Theodora sent some of her slaves out to find out what they could.
Annia and the children slept late, their bodies recovering from the long sea voyage and subsequent storm.
Maelia woke Annia for her morning feeding. Flavius played quietly beside Annia’s bed. Cato slept.
“I’ve been very quiet,” Flavius said. “I didn’t wake you, did I, Mother?”
“No, sweet child, you didn’t wake me,” Annia said.
“What are we going to do today, Mother?” Flavius asked.
“I don’t know,” Annia said. “We are waiting to hear good news about our friends.”
“But we must do something while we wait,” Flavius said. “Doing nothing makes the time pass very slowly. I know. Cato and I tried sitting and waiting for you to come back to Father’s house. It took a very long time and made us sad.”
Annia’s throat caught and she felt the pressure of tears behind her eyes. “Come up here and sit with me,” she said and hugged him.
“I’m never leaving you again,” she said.
“I know, Mother,” Flavius said. “It was Father. He was very confused. And Marcus. He and Father talked in the garden many times. Marcus is no longer confused, but I think Father is still confused.”
This time, the feeling in Annia’s stomach was cold, hard fear. “What did you say?” she asked Flavius.
“About what?” he asked. When he saw Annia’s face, he looked worried. Very worried.
“About Marcus talking with your father in the garden,” she said.
“Oh, Father and Marcus were friends. And I would sit in my jungle and pretend to be a slithering snake. Sometimes I would be a sleeping snake. It was then I could hear them talking.”
“And what did they say?” Annia asked, trying hard to keep her voice calm.
“Oh, many things,” Flavius said. “Marcus talked a lot about being a soldier.”
Perhaps it wasn’t as it seemed, Annia thought. Perhaps in order to do his job as a Vigile, he needed to talk with the people in his neighborhood and get to know them.
“I’m sure he had good stories,” Annia said, imagining how much fun it must have been for Flavius to lie in his hiding place and listen to soldiering stories.
“Yes, he did,” Flavius said. “But mostly he talked about prefect.”
“Prefect?” Annia asked.
“Yes,” Flavius continued eagerly. “He talked about that. I think it was something he wanted to be. And Father said he could help him get it.”
Annia tensed, and Maelia looked up at her, startled and began wailing.
“Oh, Mother, she’s crying,” Flavius said.
Annia calmed the baby and herself.
“Now,” Annia said, hoping Flavius would not be put off by the false brightness of her voice, “how was Father to help him?”
Flavius’s face grew red. “Mother, could we go and get the coracle? I think Cato and I would have a great deal of fun playing storm on the beach.”
Annia knew better than to press her son. He had said everything he had to say about the matter. He was a perfect little clam when he wished to be.
Annia was left with emotions swirling in her heart. Had she been fooled? Was Marcus not what he seemed?
She didn’t want to believe it.
Besides, trusting the words of a boy of six years was not wise. Perhaps she needed to hear from his elder brother.
She recalled the vicious attack Cato had made on Marcus. She remembered his wariness when Marcus was near and how hard she’d had to talk to convince him that Marcus had actually saved her.
“No, Mother,” he’d said. “Father wanted you gone. And Maelia fed to the dogs.”
What if her son was telling the truth? What if Marcus was in league with Janius?
She tried to think clearly, but her thoughts were a tangled mess. She was exhausted and confused, still recovering from the harrowing sea journey.
She would spend more time thinking, and then question Cato further later.
She looked over at her sleeping son. He was breathing evenly, his curly brown lashes so long, so thick, nearly brushing his cheek. He jerked in his sleep and then sighed.
Flavius played happily while she decided what to do next.
Later that morning, she knew her path.
“Theodora, my parents live in Londinium, and I would like to get there and see them as soon as possible.”
Theodora looked a bit surprised. Earlier Annia had wanted nothing more than to see her friends safe and whole.
“I understand,” Theodora said.
“I would like to borrow a wagon and horse and one of your slaves who knows the roads and can get me home,” Annia said. “I’ve not seen my parents in many years, and I’m eager to see them.”
Annia could see that her friend did not entirely believe her.
“I will help you in any way I can,” Theodora said, but her brow was creased with worry. “But what about searching for your friends?”
“I know it seems that I have changed my mind, and it is true, I have. I’ve learned some things from my son that have helped me see a little differently. I feel it imperative to get to my parents as soon as possible.” Her words sounded cold and ungrateful. She did not mean to offend Theodora.
“Have I done something to offend you?” Theodora asked.
“No, no, my friend,” Annia said, reaching forward and taking Theodora’s hand in hers. “You’ve been nothing but generous and kind. I ask you this favor
because being here has made me long for my parents and my home”
Theodora looked deeply into Annia’s eyes. “Then I will do what I can to get you there with haste,” she said. “Would you like for me to continue my search for your friends?”
“I don’t think so,” Annia said. “Virginia knows exactly where my home is, as does Titus.”
“And the other two, Lucia and Marcus, and the boy, Julius?”
Annia was amazed at Theodora’s ability to remember the names of each friend.
“They know where they are going. Marcus has a family villa close to the port on the Thames. Lucia has a home there with Marcus and his family.”
Theodora’s eyebrows lifted at this. “I thought Marcus was special to you.”
Annia could not bring herself to respond to this. What could she say? How could she explain what she didn’t understand herself?
Was Marcus still under the pay of Galerius Janius?
“I will pay you, or at least my father will pay you,” Annia said.
“I’m not worried about coin,” Theodora said. “My husband has left me with plenty of time and money.”
Theodora studied Annia for a moment. “What if I ride with you?” she suggested. “I could help with the children,” she added.
Annia looked at Theodora. Why would this woman want to travel with her?
“I need to go to Londinium anyway,” Theodora said. “There are things you can buy there that you can’t find anywhere else. I need some new glass for the windows in these upstairs rooms.”
Annia looked at the blue-glass window, and it was true, the window was dotted with holes and in sore need of repair.
“And your slave can’t get it for you?” Annia said.
“No,” Theodora said, “truly. I’ve wanted to make the trip to Londinium for a while now but have put it off because I hate traveling alone. If you will allow me to go, it would be very kind of you.”
“Allow you to go?” Annia said, laughing with Theodora. “It is your horse, your cart and your coin. Of course I will ‘allow’ you to go. I will be happy for the company.”
“I would like that,” Theodora said. “I don’t have many friends here. The minute they discover my faith, they back away from me as if I had the plague.”
“I understand,” Annia said. “It was the same in Rome.”
“I think we can be prepared to leave by the morning. I will make certain.”
“I can be ready at a moment’s notice. As you can see, we have brought very little with us,” Annia said.
“The boat,” Flavius said. “We must take the boat. Marcus will be sad if we leave it.”
Annia was tempted to leave it for that reason. She felt enraged just thinking about him. Before she could rearrange her face to calm, Theodora glanced at her, her brow wrinkled.
Annia shook the anger away and went back up into the room where Cato was sleeping. Flavius was playing quietly beside him.
She took Flavius’s hand.
“Come, son,” she said. “Let’s go get that boat.”
At these words, Cato woke. “I want to go get the boat, too,” he said.
“We must eat first,” Annia said, “and then we will go on our morning adventure.”
Annia met Theodora in the kitchen, busily preparing breakfast. “You are so kind to take such good care of me and my boys,” she said. “Thank you. Now, what can I do to help?”
“Nothing other than following me to the storehouse to tell me what the boys like to eat so we can pack meals for the next two days.”
Annia’s face was a question.
“It will take us that long to reach Londinium,” Theodora said in response.
“Only two days?” Annia asked.
“Ah, yes,” Theodora said. “You’ve not lived here since we’ve had the new roads. For the past five years, the pounding of iron against stone has been constant. The roads are well laid and safe for easy passage from here to many other towns. I don’t think the road is complete all the way in to Londinium, but it was close the last time I was there.”
Annia was amazed. When she was a girl, it was a three-week trip from Londinium to the white cliffs to the south. “I wonder what else has changed,” she said.
“Much, I assure you,” Theodora said, “and not all for the good.”
Chapter Nineteen
Annia trudged reluctantly along to help her boys fetch the little boat. She did not want to go anywhere near the beach. The possibility of seeing Marcus was great.
She wasn’t worried about missing Virginia, Titus and Lucia. Virginia knew the way to her home, and she was certain that Lucia would want to come home with her, and not go with Marcus. Lucia did not know anyone currently living at Marcus’s villa other than Marcus.
Women needed other women, especially when there were small children to raise. Lucia would choose the support of her friends over Marcus, Annia was certain.
The fisherman had said just this morning that it would take her friends a day or so to get to Porte Dubris from where he had seen them beached.
Her chance of running into Marcus was slim.
Her chance of getting more information from her son, Cato, was excellent.
She hastened her steps and caught up with her boys.
“Mother, can we stop for a moment and watch the soldiers build?” Cato asked.
Theodora had explained this structure was to double as a watchtower and lighthouse.
When it was complete, it would be three stories high. Ships could see it in fog and storm and use the light to guide them safely to port.
Cato and Flavius had already planned to build one on her father’s villa, which sat on the bank of the river Thames. The boys watched the construction carefully so that they could copy it on a much smaller scale.
When the boys finally grew tired of watching, Annia urged them to the beach. “Let’s get the boat and take it to Theodora’s in time for our midday meal.”
The boys liked this plan.
Annia wasn’t certain how to broach the subject of Marcus with Cato.
They walked along in silence for a while, Flavius rattling on about the lighthouse.
“And when we get there, maybe Grandfather can find us a small lantern, very small, so that we can hang it up in the top of our lighthouse. And we can make it burn forever and ever so that no one will ever get lost on our river.”
“No one gets lost on a river,” Cato scoffed. “People get lost on the sea.”
“Oh,” Flavius said, kicking pebbles out of his way.
“Well,” Annia said, “that’s not always true. In Londinium, sometimes the mist can be so thick that you lose track of which way you are headed. I believe a lighthouse on the riverbank might be a very useful thing,” she said.
Cato absorbed this information. “Are there bogs near the river, Mother?” he asked. “I’ve heard there were. I’ve heard of soldiers being so weighted down by their gear and armor that they drowned in a few inches of water in the bogs beside rivers in Britain.”
“That is probably very true,” Annia said.
Caton smiled. “It is. I heard Marcus tell Father the story of how he lost ten men one day in the bogs beside the Thames River.”
Flavius picked up the story. “I heard that, too. That was the day he and Father had lunch in the yard, and Father’s baby boy was born.”
“I remember that,” Cato added. “The midwife brought the baby down, and Father was so engrossed in Marcus’s story that when he picked the baby up, he nearly dropped him.” Cato laughed.
“Yes, I saw that, too,” Flavius added.
Annia was burning to ask more questions, but she knew that if she did, she might hear nothing more from her boys. Best for her to be silent and see how much they might
share.
“That was the day Father gave Marcus a gold piece,” Flavius said.
“Yes,” Cato said, and then looked at his mother and was silent.
Flavius took Cato’s cue and was silent, as well.
“Why did your father pay Marcus, Cato?” Annia asked.
“I don’t know,” Cato said and shrugged.
“I do,” Flavius added, eager as a puppy. “He paid him to expose Maelia. Father said it was a gift to his new wife. He’d promised to give it to her as soon as her baby was born, but only if it was a boy.”
“Shut your mouth,” Cato said. His face was red with anger. “I told you never to speak of that again. Ever.”
Flavius looked at his brother, and then his bottom lip began to tremble. Soon he was crying. “I’m sorry, Cato. I forgot,” he said.
The feeling in the pit of Annia’s stomach was stone. Her entire body felt heavy.
The remaining journey to the coracle was silent. Flavius eventually dried his tears and soldiered forward. They pulled the coracle from its hiding place in the sand dune. They dusted it off as best they could and hoisted it on their shoulders. The burden wasn’t heavy.
It was the other burden that made Annia’s shoulders sag and her heart hurt.
“Mother,” Cato said, breaking the silence. “Look.”
He pointed down the beach.
In the distance were four figures coming toward them.
They were too far away to see whether they were fisherman or picnickers.
“Yes,” Annia said, “I see them. Come along, now. We don’t want to be late for lunch.”
“But they might be Marcus and Julius,” Flavius said.
He made absolutely no connection between the information he had just shared with Annia and the pain she felt in her stomach. He was just a little boy. He couldn’t begin to understand.
Flavius only knew that his family was happy when Marcus was with them.
Cato looked up at his mother. She was relieved that she was able to keep her face impassive.
“Come on, Flavius,” Cato urged taking his cue from Annia’s mood. “Turn around and let’s take the boat to Theodora’s.”
