For a Roman's Heart (33 page)

Adrenia climbed off her chair and examined the dark cape she’d almost finished. “It takes a long time to get to Germania, and who knows what conditions they’ve found there.”

Adrenia said the words, but fears haunted her like dead ancestors. Twice she’d suffered the vision of Victor dead and Terentius attacked. She never said a word to anyone else about it.

Pella smiled. “Don’t worry, Adrenia, Terentius hasn’t forgotten you.”

She nodded. “I know.” She sat at the table and Longa did the same. “Have you ever endured a separation like this, Longa?”

“Only a couple of times. Capito’s work has kept him at the fort most of the time. I’ve been lucky until now.” Longa’s expression said she didn’t like this new arrangement. “It is hard having him gone so long.”

Adrenia smiled and sighed. She palmed her stomach. She’d held back news from her friends until she could report in positive.

Pella threw a grin at Longa, then back at Adrenia. “What is that secret look all about?”

“In eight or so months’ time, you’ll know,” Adrenia said.

Longa gasped. “Could it be...”

Adrenia sighed again, her happiness beaming from her in a huge smile. “I waited until I felt certain. I’m pregnant with Terentius’s child.”

A shriek of delight went up from Longa and Pella, and as the three of them hopped up, they fell into an embrace. Laughing, wiping at tears and chattering, Adrenia’s friends brought new joy to her heart.

Pella hugged her again, eyes shiny. “Are you certain?”

“Absolutely. My courses are never off and never late. I’ve also been ravenous and tired and a bit cranky.”

Pella chuckled. “That sounds normal to me.”

Adrenia smacked her friend’s arm playfully. “Pest.”

Longa beamed. “This is the best possible news. Terentius will be thrilled. Here, sit.”

As Adrenia sank into her chair again and her friends followed suit and returned to their chairs at the table, Adrenia wondered. “Will he want the baby?”

Longa’s thunderous frown answered the question. “He’s a complete fool if he doesn’t. I think he’ll be delighted, as any man with a lick of sense would be.”

Adrenia turned her gaze upon each of her childless friends. “I’m sorry...is this painful for you? I mean...”

“Posh.” Longa swished one hand. “I had a boy many years ago. He passed away when he was two. I’ve never been pregnant again. While it saddens me, I realize it wasn’t meant to be.”

Pella’s pensive look didn’t hold sadness. “There’s still time for Pontius and I. Still time.”

Adrenia reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s hand. “Of course. Now...shall we get ready to go to the fair outside of town this morning? We have wares to sell.”

“Pontius will be here with the wagon any minute,” Pella said.

Longa grunted. “My weaving is piddle in comparison to what you ladies have accomplished. Still, it brings in the money.”

Adrenia rose from her chair. “Before we go, I have something to do.”

She left for her room on the second floor. She entered her bedroom—it felt so strange to think of it as hers. In comparison to anything she’d possessed before, it was large. Her bed was big enough for two, and she hoped to have one night with Terentius in it when he returned. Nay, she didn’t care where she slept with him, only that he she had him back in her arms.

She drew back the covering on the window so light streamed inside. She grabbed her
palla
and drew it on, then found her cape. These days it made more sense to dress as a married woman since it discouraged men from approaching her with odious suggestions. She reached for a small trinket box lying on a table and opened the lid. Inside nestled her one piece of jewelry. She removed the copper ring and slid it on her left hand. There. The illusion was complete. She looked like a married woman in every way. One last thing before she ventured out. She’d constructed a small altar on another table near the door. Small woodcarvings of Coventina, Venus and Abandinus stood alongside candles. Most prominent of all, a petite, detailed carving of a Roman centurion took center stage. She lit one candle and then knelt on the hard floor. She picked up the Roman soldier, kissed his head, then placed it carefully in the center.

Bowing her head and closing her eyes, she recited a personal prayer. “Goddess Coventina, god Abandinus, I beg you to keep Terentius safe on all his travels, no matter what adversity he finds. I love him with all my heart, and now I carry his child.”

Adrenia opened her eyes as a strange peace overcame her, just as it always did when she prayed to the gods and goddesses for Terentius. She reached for his statue, kissed his head again, then placed him back on the altar.

“We’ll be here,” Longa said to Adrenia as they piled onto the now-empty wagon. “Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.” Adrenia tied her purse, replete with coins, close against her waist. “I know how much you both like those cakes. It won’t take long for me to get them.”

Longa sighed. “I don’t have time to make them these days, what with weaving.”

“Never you mind. You deserve the break. I’ll pick up bread too.”

Adrenia headed down the alleyway nearby on the way to the bread maker around the corner. His shop had the best bread in Durovigutum, and he also made delicious cakes. She felt flush with happiness. Today’s work selling her weavings at the out-of-town fair had turned out well. She smiled.

Darkness came early in November, and their day at the market took longer when they’d sold more and more of their wares. They couldn’t complain, but it would put them close to nightfall before they reached home. It also took longer than she expected to make her purchases at the bread shop—a large crowd had converged there. Nevertheless, she purchased three loaves and a package of special cakes for celebration.

As she walked, a tingling at the back of her neck stopped her. She ignored it and headed into the alley, knowing Pella and Longa would worry if she stayed away longer. She quickened her steps.

Half way down the alley, an arm swooped around her neck and jerked her backwards into a hard body. She gasped in pain and surprise as fear rushed through her.

A cruel voice whispered into her ear. “I’ve found you, little bitch.”

He shoved open a door and dragged her into a semi-dark room.

Adrenia recoiled as she recognized his voice.

Sulla.

She screamed and kicked backward. Her boot heel connected with flesh. She shoved her elbow into his side. Sulla grunted and released her.

As Adrenia whirled, her fear turned to rage. “You bastard! How dare you touch me?”

He slammed the door and latched it. He was breathing hard. “My dear Adrenia. It’s been a long time. Since the riot in the market.”

Adrenia’s stomach roiled. She drew in a deep breath, knowing she’d need all her willpower to maintain her sanity in the face of what he might do.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You. I want you to pay for what you’ve done.”

“I’ve done nothing.”

He laughed as he walked toward her. For the first time she noticed his bedraggled appearance. His hair was matted and his clothes torn and dirty.

“I’ve fallen on hard times because of you, bitch.”

“How could that be?”

“You’ve thwarted me. You’ve cursed me.”

“I don’t know any curses.”

When he stood close in front of her, Adrenia couldn’t avoid his horrible breath and body odor. She tried hard not to wince in disgust.

His lopsided grin held an evil edge. His eyes had darkened, intent certain. “I suppose you’re surprised to see me, aren’t you? You thought I left the area.”

“Maybe.”

“I’ve been watching. Waiting until Terentius left.”

Horror launched up and paralyzed her. Pinpricks danced over her body as she wondered, for a split of time, if she’d taken her last few breaths.

“Why are you here?” She heard the ragged tone in her own voice and drew a deep breath. She couldn’t show fear.

“First, let me convey my deepest sympathy on the death of your parents.” His voice held no true sentiment, other than undeniable sarcasm.

“Why are you here?” she asked again.

His face went harsh and hard. “Because I have not finished with you.”

His eyes, so clear and beautiful, could have belonged to Jupiter. Yet they belonged to an evil god she couldn’t name and didn’t want to identify.

She decided she might have one chance to save herself. She would lie...try anything to survive this encounter. “What happened to you, Sulla?”

He crossed his arms over his tunic-clad chest. “What do you mean? After the riot in the market? After you ran away from me?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been around.”

“Where?”

“Why do you care, sweet Adrenia?”

She stared up at his tremendously strong body, and she knew if he wanted her, there was almost nothing she could do to escape him. “Did you set the villagers upon my parents?”

He chuckled, his gaze rife with wicked amusement. “Hardly. They didn’t need any help from me.”

He looked at her as if she belonged on the slave block for him to purchase and defile as he liked. Then it hit her, in a flash of revelation. Visions flip flopped across her sight.

She understood what happened to the slave girl he’d taken away from the Durovigutum market. Adrenia knew, with sickening clarity, what he’d done to the other women he’d taken as well.

But she couldn’t prove it. “All of your women are small. Leaning towards thin, aren’t they? You like us with little meat on our bones.”

His eyes went colder. “How do you know that?”

She confessed. “I know many things. I have special sight.” She forced herself to recite the facts. “Such hate inside you, Sulla. You don’t even understand what happens when you decide you want a woman. It is a grinding lust within you, a rage and compulsion you can’t stop.” She dared stare into his gaze. Scathing colored his eyes and gave them an extraordinary cruelty.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” His voice shook. “You’re quite the superior bitch, aren’t you?”

Impressions came over Adrenia in rapid pace. “You hate your mother. I see what she did to you. She demanded piety and service above all things to the gods. She denied that any goddess has power. When you worshiped at the feet of Minerva many years ago, she had your father beat you. She said your love for women had turned evil and foul, but she was the one who instilled that hate within you.”

He spit on the floor beside them. “Goddesses are for the pleasure of men and gods alike. Not for power. They weld no spears, no war.”

“Minerva does.”

“Minerva drains the gods and men of their power. Women are for one use only.”

She could not repress a shiver or the contempt in her voice. “You punish women because you are punishing your mother over and over again. You hated her.” She swallowed hard. “You killed her.”

He grabbed her arm. “Why, you little bitch.”

Her head throbbed as the emotions came with the visions. “You had a terrible life, and now you want to share that pain a thousand fold.”

He jerked her forward and pain sliced her arm. He snarled his next words. “You do not know anything about my father. He was a bastard and deserved what mother gave him.”

She closed her eyes once more as another vision came. His mother beating him with a stick, her voice shrill. Sulla’s mother swore, her face twisted with evil. Adrenia mouthed her words, but hushed to avoid screaming the horrible words. “You are a boy. A stinking, horrible boy. I wish I bore a girl. You filthy, filthy son of a swine.”

When she opened her eyes again, she prickled with cold. Sulla’s gaze no longer held the lust she had seen before. Instead his eyes held fear and disgust. Good. Maybe if she told him more about his past it would drive him away.

“They should have burned you, you sorceress,” he said.

Fear spiked upwards, and she took an involuntary step back. Murder raged in his eyes, and she wondered if her last moment had come.

No. No.
She wouldn’t let him harm Terentius’s baby. She wouldn’t. She spied the
gladius
at his waist and licked her lips. If she could just—

His hand flashed out, clamped around her throat. “You are finished playing with me, and you are finished cursing me.”

She gagged as the pressure increased. Her hands went up involuntarily as terror ripped through her. She clasped his wrists. Yanked. Tugged.

His eyes, now wild and manic, glared into hers. “Your soldier can’t save you now.”

Rage ripped through her as the pain in her throat became excruciating. She released one of his wrists. Grappled. Searched. Found his
gladius
and ripped it from the scabbard. With a strangled gurgle of fury, she jammed it straight into the side of his neck. Blood spurted onto her face. She opened her mouth. Tried to scream. Silence. Instantly the pressure on her throat released.

Eyes wide with shock or disbelief, Sulla stumbled backwards and yanked the knife from his throat. She coughed, choked, couldn’t find her breath as she watched him fall to his knees, blood spurting. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell flat on his face. Nausea ripped up her throat. Trembling, she didn’t dare look at the body. She ran to the door and fumbled with the latch as breaths escaped her throat in wretched sobs. She dashed from the room and forced her weak legs to take her to the end of the alley and the forum where she hoped to find Pella and Longa. She came to the end of the alley and leaned against the wall.