“Caius, I am married—”
He held her gently and pressed his lips against hers.
The lonely woman inside her melted, and she returned his passionate kisses, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Caius embraced her, holding her tightly against his body, careless of being seen by any slave; he could not part from Claudia and the sweet taste of her lips. “Flavius is a fool if he doesn’t appreciate his luck,” he uttered as he kissed her cheek.
“Our marriage is just a contract granting political advantages to our families; there isn’t any love that binds him to me,” she moaned, hugging herself to Caius.
“What about you? What binds you to him?” Caius asked, trying to understand her feelings. Since he saw her by chance on the street, he could not stop thinking about her and wondered if the rumors of a possible divorce were true. When he was younger, he would have never considered falling in love with that selfish person like she was.
Yet, as he met her after a long time, he saw a strong and fragile woman, hurt and humiliated by a wrong marriage.
He felt like his heart belonged to her, and never in his life desired a woman like he desired Claudia.
Claudia parted from him. “I love him, but in his heart, there is place only for that slave. He hates me.”
“Saul has been in Flavius’ heart since he met him, but I would never prefer him to a woman like you,” Caius smirked.
He held her by the shoulders to look into her eyes. “I can’t promise you the same wealth, but I can give you my love…”
Nobody had ever talked to her that way, and she felt blushing under the adulatory words of a lover.
“What are you proposing?” she asked, frightened.
“Forget about Flavius, come with me.”
“Caius, you don’t know what you are saying. I can’t just leave him. My father will never forgive me for taking away from him the privileges my family obtained with my marriage.”
He turned his gaze away from her, distracted by a slave passing by. “Allow me to see you, then.”
“Every day?”
“Every day, Claudia, but in my house or your slaves might tell your husband about us.”
“Every day, at the sixth hour of the day, I will come to you where we can entertain each other for our own pleasure,” she murmured, wanting to feel their hearts beat as one. Her heart wanted to leave her body to beat together with Caius’ heart.
“My life will be a constant wait until we meet tomorrow.”
He stood, and with a brief bow, departed, knowing that the following day they would be free from spying eyes and ears.
Claudia remained seated on the bench after Caius left. She felt fought between the love she felt for Flavius and the new feelings she was experiencing with Caius.
If only Flavius could treat me half as kind as Caius, I would never even listened. To his adulatory words.
What am I supposed to do? Should I really give up on Flavius and leave with Caius? What my life will look like when my family turns their shoulders to me? I will be forced to leave Rome…
She shook her head, terrified by the sole thought of losing her family and her home.
I might just live my life this way. Certainly, Flavius won’t even notice or care.
She raised her hands to cover her mouth, trying to find a solution to the turmoil in her soul.
Her eyes lingered on the marble statues, in the garden, and her soul seemed to ease at that beauty, as a smile appeared on her lips.
Chapter 13.
From that day on, Claudia left the house without any slave, to reach Caius’ house at the sixth hour of each day.
In his arms, she found not only the love she thought was denied to her, but also a friend who listened to her frustrations without complaining and tried to give the support she needed.
For Saul, it was as if everything had changed with the season, as his life shifted, like a flag subject to the whims of the wind.
The best thing for him to do was adjust to each change in direction as fast as possible, according to his master’s design. However, there was something which his Master also had to bend to, and that was the will of the gods, those fickle divinities resembling human nature, and far from divine behavior.
Saul considered the Roman Gods as if they were powerful beings able to enslave even the Romans.
He thought of Flavius and Claudia as his gods, as they had the power of life or death over him; however, they had other gods to obey. It was the rule of the strongest.
From his point of view, there was no supernatural force, but a stronger population which governed over the Romans.
Those gods decided that now was the time to change the cards on the table, for Saul, whether he belonged to them or not. The day before he and Flavius were to depart, they gave him a high fever.
Julius took good care of him, but it was no use. Saul was too weak to join Flavius on his trip the next day.
Fever made his body shake with cold shivers, and he could barely stand on his feet.
Saul’s plea that he would rather die during the trip with Flavius than be at the mercy of Claudia for a couple of weeks fell on deaf ears.
“Saul, my dear, I can’t find the words to tell you how much I’d like to bring you with me, but I can’t risk worsening your sickness. I’ll be back in two weeks; I have assigned you to follow the accounting of the house during my absence as soon as your condition improves. You will be left in Julius’ hands, and I expect you to do whatever he says to get better. I will miss you in many ways,” he said, kissing his forehead.
“Master, please…I”
“Shh! Don’t question my orders, slave,” he said with a wry smile. Flavius’ expression became serious for a moment.
Saul beamed weakly at him. “Yes, Master.” As his strength abandoned his body, he closed his eyes.
When he awoke, stars twinkled in the black sky and Flavius had left without him.
Loneliness, hopelessness, and a sense of betrayal filled his heart. Flavius promised to protect him, but how can he do that if he is not even here?
He tried to sit up, but the room spun, and his body collapsed back on the bed.
Why are the Roman Gods so angry with me? Could it be his own God was disappointed by his behavior? But how much did he deserve to be punished for something he wasn’t even sure he did?
Maybe it was true there was no God, no heaven or hell. Perhaps Roman Gods were the only ones that existed, and they were angry at him for worshipping the wrong god.
“What am I supposed to do?” He tried to yell but only managed a pathetic whisper. He wept, cursing his father, his God and the Roman gods, for none of them were there to have mercy on him.
Nara spoke from the doorway, “It seems like you are angry with everyone. May I safely come in?”
Saul waved him in with a feeble hand. “Of course, you can come in. I feel so hopeless. I feel like I have been betrayed by everyone in this world: my father, my Master, the Gods, everybody.”
Nara smiled. “I am not going to let you down, nor will I ever betray you.”
“Just wait…” he replied bitterly, turning his head away.
Nara caressed his cheek. “I will pretend I didn’t hear that, only because you are delirious with the fever. I warn you, say it another time, and I will make you swallow those words.”
Saul faced him again. He was right; he had been unfair. “I’m sorry, Nara. I don’t know why I said that. I am so upset because I could not join Flavius on his trip, and I feel scared.”
“Scared of what?” Nara asked. He sat on the bed.