A Stray Drop of Blood (46 page)

~*~

Titus watched with mirth as Caelia stormed from the room. “Indeed, Caelia, I know where you will be,” he said to where she had been. Feeling eyes on him, he looked over to find Abigail leaning against the door to the procoeton. “Do you see, now? Our involvement is quite believable, however false.”

Abigail rolled her eyes. “I think you enjoyed that, Titus Asinius.”

Titus only grinned. “I am only a man, my friend.”

Abigail grinned, shook her head, and turned.

A slave filled the doorway of his chamber. “Master, your father has arrived home.”

Titus nodded with a sigh. After Abigail he called, “I must go down and meet him, Abigail. Get yourself settled in up here.”

Hearing her agreement, he left the sanctuary of his room in favor of what he was not so sure would be a warm reunion. His father was one thing he had not missed when in Jerusalem. It seemed that they could not be in the same room without bursting into the flames of argument. It made it so that in past years, Titus simply avoided his sire whenever possible. They did not understand one another, could never agree, and were hence always disappointed in what the other did, thought, or said.

But Titus had prayed for forgiveness for his own insolence and had tried to forgive his father’s, too. It seemed that now he would be tested, to see whether or not he had been sincere enough.

Titus met his father in the atrium and made himself smile. Caius stood at the same height that he did, had the same build and gait. His hair had turned to an iron gray, his face was creased with lines that only added severity to his appearance, rather than age. He was by all accounts a dignified personage; most held him in fear. What terrified Titus was that he knew he would look the same in thirty years, though being similar to the man was the last thing he desired. He could only pray he would not be hewn by the same tides.

“
Father.”

Caius’s face lit with a smile that matched Titus’s; partially forced, partially genuine, partially wary. “Titus, my son.” They approached one another and embraced. “You look well. Jerusalem seems to have agreed with you.”

“
It is good to be back in Rome. You look well too, Father.”

Caius simply nodded at the observation. A hand clapped to his shoulder, he led him toward the impluvium. Its fresh waters glistened in the sunlight streaming in from the opening above. “Vinius met me at the Forum to tell me you had arrived.” A glint Titus well remembered entered Caius’s eye. “He tells me you brought a woman with you. One with a child?”

Titus took one last breath of peace. He knew very well his father’s smile would soon fade. “Yes, Abigail Visibullis. Jason’s widow. It is his son.”

Caius froze midstep, turned to look him in the eye. His smile had become a straight, unyielding line. “You brought the Hebrew slave into my house? The one who was the ruin of your closest friend? Fool.”

Titus bore the epithet without so much as a wince. “Would you have Jason’s legacy be lost to his only son, Father?”

“
Of course not.”

“
Then it was necessary that Abigail come to Rome to lay her claim for her son.”

“
Jason’s
son is then naturally welcome under my roof. The whore is not. Toss her into the streets where she belongs.”

Motion caught Titus’s attention a second before Abigail’s voice rang out. “As I already told your wife, I will gladly stay elsewhere. But my son will go wherever I do.”

Titus and his father both looked at Abigail, and both drew in a sharp breath at the sight of her. She had changed into one of her Roman costumes, and had changed just as quickly from lovely Hebrew mother to seductive goddess. The cloth draped in becoming folds over her curves, the jewelry complementing the tone of her skin. Titus forced himself to swallow and to remember that she was his friend now. That behind that perfect body was an intelligent, caring soul.

Abigail entered the atrium and stopped directly in front of his father. “I am not a whore,” she stated calmly, authoritatively. “I am no longer a slave. I cannot control what you think of me, but you will speak of me with more respect.”

Titus mentally lauded her, at least until a glance at his father showed only heightened interest. The last thing they needed was for Caius to decide she would be a challenge worthy of conquering.

“
I spoke amiss.” Caius somehow made the apology sound as though he had not changed his mind a whit. His eyes did not leave Abigail. “Forgive me, fair one.”

She made no response, measuring him and obviously finding him lacking. When Titus held out a hand, she put hers in it and stepped close to his side. It was a move gauged to lay down the boundaries, and it apparently worked, for Caius’s eyes sparked with something new. Not exactly respect, but it resembled it.

They had been speaking in Greek, but Caius turned to Titus and said in Latin, “In your letters, you wrote only of your disapproval of Jason’s woman. You neglected to mention her beauty.”

Titus glanced down at Abigail only briefly. “I saw no reason to discuss beauty I did not possess. She was Jason’s.”

“
No longer.” He ran his eyes over Abigail just as Titus had the first time they met, and Abigail stepped closer to Titus now as she had to Jason then. Protectiveness surged again. “You have taken her to your bed?”

Titus arched a brow artfully. “Would I take the widow of my closest friend to my bed?” He laced his words with enough sarcasm to elicit a knowing smile from his father.

“
If you have not,” Caius said, “you are a fool. You know I would.”

“
You would. But you will not.”

Caius nodded his deference to Titus’s claim. Turning away enough to break the tension, he said in Greek, “I imagine your mother has made sure a meal is ready, and you must both be hungry. Come, let us dine.”

“
We will join you in a moment.” He watched as Caius nodded and walked away. Titus breathed a sigh of relief and looked down into Abigail’s face. She was still looking in the direction his father had gone, and if her expression were any indication, her thoughts were not very pleasant. He gently cupped her chin. “He will not touch you, Abigail.”

She nodded, but her features did not ease.

“
Where are Samuel and the babe?”

As hoped, Abigail’s face softened and brightened with a smile. “Benjamin is asleep, and Samuel is being introduced to the other boys in the house, and Antonia, with whom he went, promised to see to his meal.”

Titus smiled. “She was my nurse. Mother must have sent her up; your children will be well cared for in her hands.”

“
She seemed very gentle, kind.” She sighed. “Hers was the only polite reception I have encountered within these walls.”

Titus squeezed the hand he held in encouragement. “The worst is over, my friend. Now all you have to do is work on smiling instead of scowling when I look at you.”

She smiled now, but with teasing in her eyes. “As long as you keep looking at me as you have been instead of as you once did, that will not be a problem.”

Titus propelling them both toward the triclinium and food. “Then perhaps we should find you some less becoming clothes.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“
Inside?” Abigail looked dubiously at the tiny room Titus indicated. Her nose wrinkled. “Is that sanitary?”

Titus sternly held down his laugh. The corners of his mouth nevertheless tugged up. “Yes, Abigail. It is far cleaner than an outdoor facility. And far more convenient as well.”

Abigail nevertheless shook her head. “Rome is such a strange place.” She peered into the room but did not step in. “Relieving yourself
indoors
. And you call the
rest
of the world barbaric?”

He lost the battle to the laugh and put a hand on Abigail’s shoulder to urge her forward.

She absorbed the sound with a smile. If the stares the servants sent their way whenever he laughed were any indication, it was not something he had habitually done in this house. Hopefully they would grow accustomed to and fond of this new Titus. “It sounds as though your father has much planned for you these next few days.”

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “My father has much planned for me for the next few
years.
Running the shipping companies, the slave trades.” At the wince she could not hold back, he sighed again. “Sorry. But these wars we have fought have secured many lands for Rome that still burst with miscreants. The numbers that are caught and sold are vast. But beside all that, he also expects me to be active in politics. Go to the Senate hearings, run for offices. . . he will not be happy until I, like he, have a consulate on my list of accomplishments.”

“
And is that what you want?”

Titus led them into the back garden behind the house. The sun was bright and warm, the plants a riot of color and scent, all blending together in a scene that made Abigail smile. She said nothing, however, just waited for Titus to respond. At length, he did. “I know not what I want. I did not like the military life, but I have been rebelling so long against my father that I have already decided I will not like this, either. I suppose I should give it a chance to win me.”

Abigail chuckled, then closed her eyes to breathe in the sweet scent of myriad blooms. “You have lovely gardens. I think I could very easily get lost out here and be content never to be found.”

“
This was Jason’s favorite spot as well.” He led her down a stone path, pointing toward a granite sculpture. “Our garden nymph. She bears a striking resemblance to you, Abigail.”

Abigail stopped before the artwork and tilted her head to the side critically. The figure was nude, but for sculpted flower petals arranged over her that did little to hide her shape. The eyes were closed, head falling back as if to better receive the touch of wind, perfume of blossoms. Her lips were curved up only slightly, her body young and firm, her face at peace. Abigail shook her head. “I do not see it.”

Titus chuckled. “These next few days will be hectic, indeed. But tomorrow I will dispatch a missive to Arminius to let him know you and your babe have arrived; I expect he will be in touch as to what you need to do. We will have to make time to go out there soon, I know.”

Abigail nodded soberly. “I must thank you, my friend, for all you have done to help us. If it were not for you, Benjamin and I could both have died, or been left abandoned at the least. And coming to Rome would have been all but impossible on our own.”

“
I am only glad I was there to help.”

Abigail pressed her hand lightly against the arm it was resting on in acknowledgment of her gratitude, but then looked toward the house. “Benjamin will be waking soon, and he will be hungry. I should go in.”

With a nod from her friend, she moved back inside.

~*~

Titus sighed and sank down on the chaise positioned near him. He would be able to protect her from his father with their current arrangement, it was true. But he had a feeling it may take more than a little bit of prayer to give him the strength to protect her from himself. It was true he was far more temperate now than he had been a few months ago, but he was no less a man. Seeing her in that lovely garment today had only made more obvious what he had never attempted to deny: Abigail was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Getting to know her, liking her, feeling responsible for her did not change that. If anything, it would only complicate the situation more.

But he certainly had enough respect for his late friend to honor her period of mourning, and that would guarantee the chastity of even his thoughts for the next fortnight. Luckily, she would be leaving soon after that.

His brow furrowed. Traveling back to Israel would be no easier than traveling to Rome would have been, and this time he could not go with her. He would have to find someone to accompany her; someone huge, intimidating, strong. . . and a eunuch.

~*~

The day was bright and warm, the sky an unbroken azure spreading out above them in a peaceful canopy, the land a brilliant green rivaling an emerald in its clarity. Outside the city, nature’s smells predominated, the scents of civilization receding and being replaced by that of fresh growth, damp earth, clean air, and promise. It was a day for breathing in with joy and exhaling in contemplation. It was a day to relax, to marvel at the beauty in this world God had fashioned.

But Abigail could not calm the nerves in her stomach long enough to appreciate it. It was her fourth day in Rome, and they were heading out to the Visibullis estates to meet with Arminius and discuss the necessary legal moves. She was terrified. She knew not what she would do if they questioned the truth of her claim.

Titus’s presence beside her was her one anchor. Even now he gave her a soft smile of encouragement and reached over to rest his hand on hers, cradling Benjamin’s head. His thumb brushed through the downy locks of the baby, who gave a toothless grin that made Titus’s lips turn up even more.

“
I hope Samuel is having fun,” Abigail said on a sigh, wishing the sensitive child were with her now to offer his innocent smile and his simplistic wisdom.