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justinewt · 3 months ago

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Pugna Inter Fratres - THOSE ABOUT TO DIE REWRITE Chapter Five

[THOSE ABOUT TO DIE MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (08/30/2024)

Summary: Being reunited with her brothers was the best gift Aldea could have ever asked for. Some tensions here and there rose amongst them after things didn't turn the way they expected, especially between Elia and Fonsoa. They disagreed over the way to handle things after something happened to their horses and Andria and Aldea were kind of in the middle of it, but the latter would soon move on from that after that - though momentarily - after the arrival of two numidian women in her home.

Words: 6.9k

Warnings: title means "fight between brothers" // Those about to die spoilers (episode 2 "Trust None"), fluff

The moon was higher in the sky when they reached Aldea’s house. No one was standing outside the front door. Tenax must have dismissed Dacia and Noro already. She and Scorpus climbed a flight of stairs, his toga slightly slipping off his head as he began pounding on the door. Aldea joined her hand at her waist, looking around, waiting for Tenax to come open the door and they finally heard the lock slide open on the other side. They leaned back in surprise when they came to face with Tenax brandishing a butcher knife. He realized it was just Scorpus and Aldea and he lowered the blade, stepping away from the door.

“By the Gods. What are you doing?” The charioteer walked in, looking at his friend as the latter put away the knife. Aldea followed Scorpus inside. The door creaked as she pushed it behind her, and she quickly went in the bedroom to put her cloak away and combed through her hair with her fingers, proceeding to braid them for the night as she glanced at the two men.

“What do you want?” Scorpus pulled out something to show him and she heard a thud as he placed it on the table. Tenax shrugged. “What’s this?”

“One cotter pin, cut halfway through. My racing partner is dead, and I would be if I hadn’t switched rigs.” Tenax walked towards him, picking up the cotter pin to take a closer look. “Was this one of your fixes? Scorpus loses, you collect big. I break a few bones or my neck to make it look real.”

He frowned, putting down the pin, “No, of course it’s not. I told you; I have much bigger plans for the both of us than a few more rigged races.”

“Then find out who sabotaged my rig and kill them.” Tenax acquiesced, letting out a quiet sigh. Aldea slowly approached them upon hearing Scorpus pick up something else from the table, noting how it apparently looked a lot like his horse Incitatus with a chuckle. She saw her husband took a little gold horse figurine from the driver’s hands and dismissing him, telling him to take his winnings on his way out. “Aldea.” He gave her a nod and as he put one foot on the landing, he turned towards Tenax, pointing at him. “Don’t take me for granted.”

“I don’t.” He replied with a tight smile before locking the door and turning to Aldea, shooting up his eyebrows, spreading his arms open in despondence, urging her to explain herself and she knew he wanted to know where she had been and why she was coming home so late. And yet, she still asked a stupid question as if she hadn’t understood. She didn’t think before speaking. “Well?”

“What?”

“Where have you been?”

“I told you. My brothers are in Rome, so Nica took me to them. We attended the race, and I spoke with them before Scorpus offered to walk me home.” She got closer to him and slid her fingers over the collar of his tunic, locking eyes with him. There was a bright smile stretching her lips. “I never thought I’d see them again, and they’re here, in Rome. I can see them everyday now.”

“That’s great, Aldea. I just want to make sure that you’re safe.” He placed a gentle hand on her stomach, and she put her hand on top.

“I am as safe with my brothers as with Dacia and Noro. And Gavros and Scorpus were there too. I'm alway well surrounded.” Their faces had gotten close to the point of being mere inches apart, the tip of their noses rubbed together. They shared a tender kiss, and she went to bed while he left the apartment, having to take care of Scorpus’ sabotaged-rig problem. She slept soundly that night, with no nightmare, dreaming of her youth. She was around 6, compelling a then 8-year-old Fonsoa to play mom and dad with toddler Elia. He had always been such a sweet, angel-looking boy, even more so then with his big eyes, staring at her and following her and Fonsoa everywhere. In the early years of her brother’s life, it was more of an innocent game for her, but she realized over time that ever since he was born, even though she was only 4 then, she had always taken her role very seriously and loved taking care of him. There were only two things she truly loved doing, caring for her baby brother and being with their horses. She was happy with living this life forever.

The memory she relieved in her dream changed, it was a few years later, Elia and she were laughing bubbly, rolling in the tall grass to go down the hill and she woke up. She felt as though she was on cloud nine as she took her time to get out bed and put on her stola and cloak. Those memories put her in a state of absolute peace of mind. She was so used to Tenax being gone the whole night that she didn’t even notice he still wasn’t home, and she left for the Circus Maximus, to meet with her brothers at the stable. It wasn’t the afternoon yet, she would have some more time to spend with the three of them before they had to show the horses to Scorpus later on, and she would be with them then too. She didn’t have to work today as there wasn’t any races or fights, and in any case, if she didn’t want to work one day, Tenax wouldn’t actually care. He only let her work because she wanted to keep herself busy. If she felt like spending the day at home or at the bath or the theatre, she could.

She arrived at the Circus during hora undecimal, about half an hour before noon and they walked together to Tenax’s tavern to eat together. They got quite a few glances as they exchanged in Spanish the whole time, speaking at a fast pace too, as they asked their sister about her life in Rome, how she came to know Tenax – whom they still had yet to meet – and she told them the whole story. She told them how she followed this young sailor she thought she was in love with and got stuck on a merchant’s ship and was sold as a slave upon arriving in Rome, bought by Tenax and made a freedwoman a couple months later. She said the merchant never returned to Rome, keeping it to herself that Tenax had the later killed because of what he had done to Aldea. They would get scared for her, knowing Tenax’s doing, and she would have to reveal details she wanted to keep secret. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to know that she was forced to have intercourse by and with the merchant for over a week and that he broke her collarbone because she tried to fight back. She wasn’t hiding the latter under a cloak for nothing.

“You were sold as a slave?” Elia reacted instantly when Aldea said it, raising his eyebrow in a mix of utter shock, worry and anger.

“It’s okay now, I’m free. Tenax lets me work and do basically anything I want. He only asks me to be careful where I go. Rome can be dangerous.” She took a sip of her wine, looking down at her plate. “But he has over a dozen men working for him, and I know that he asked them to keep an eye out for me so I’m safe anywhere I go.”

“He seems to be a good husband.” Andria noted while Elia squinted his eyes, slightly frowning. He still doubted that whoever was her husband was a good enough husband for his sister and it made her smile amusedly. She gave her older brother a nod. Tenax proved to be a good husband indeed. She went on to tell them about their time as a married couple and it was enough for Fonsoa and Andria to hear that she was happy and well treated, or they wouldn’t have let her go back to Tenax, maybe even dragging her back home to Baetica if she needed to be saved from her marriage, but there was no need, and they could see that. Even Elia understood she was happy in her relationship. And now she had her family with her. It felt as though life was smiling on her once again. Ever since she became her own woman again at the end of summer 75 CE, four years ago, almost only good things happened to her; she eventually got into a relationship with Tenax, they got married and now she was expecting a child, and she was reunited with her brothers. She let it slip, during the conversation, that she was pregnant and the shock on Elia's face, his eyebrows raised as high as possible and his wide eyes, made her burst out laughing. He let his cutlery fall on the table, clattering against the wood.

“What— estás realmente embarazada?” He exclaimed, asking her if she was actually pregnant, grabbing her arm. Fonsoa and Andria chuckled, proceeding to congratulate their sister. Fonsoa, sat next to her, giving her a broad, proud smile, putting his hand on her back.

“Your child will be blessed to have you as a mother.”

“You were a natural.” Andria added, a soft smile on his face.

“You see, Elia, we’ll become uncles. You need to grow up.” He teased him, stretching his arm behind Aldea to push his brother’s shoulder with a chuckle. Elia dodged his hand, leaning to the side and let out a groan, annoyed to het pushed around by his brother. Fonsoa gently squeezed Aldea’s shoulder, insisting that she will be a great mother, and they finished their meal. A few minutes later, during hora quartadecima, a couple hours after they started eating, they met with Gavros at the Blue faction’s stable and prepped the horses for the try out on the tracks. They geared up four of their dozen Andalusians, attaching them to a rig and Andria warmed them up, making them run for a round in the arena. Fonsoa leaned against the door, his arms crossed while Elia, his hands on his hips, was growing impatient and aggravated by Scorpus’ delay. He still wasn’t there, and they had been waiting for what felt like an eternity. Aldea looked at the sun, up in the sky, indicating it must have been hora sedecim, and if she wasn’t home by the next hour, she thought that Tenax was going to wonder what she was doing out there that was making her so busy that she was missing dinner.

“Where is he?” Having to wait so much made Elia snappy. Gavros put his hand on his shoulder, assuring the driver was coming and he did a few seconds later. Scorpus appeared behind them as the chariot was approaching and Andria brought the horses to a halt.

“They’re small, your Andalusians.” He walked past Andria and stepped on the rig.

“It is not their size that makes horses fast. And no whip. They run better without it.” Scorpus still picked up his whip and Elia glared at him as the charioteer drove away. The horses went gradually faster and within seconds they were full on galloping. They saw Scorpus give a few snaps with the whip but eventually putting it away and instead only snapping the reins, his dark curls blown in the wind. Elia’s angry face gave way to a cheerful smile.

“They’re fast.” Gavros noted. After a full drive around the spina, Scorpus slowed down the horses and got off the rig, letting out a sigh of relief. He was clearly more than satisfied with the beasts and immidietaly made an offer to the brothers.

“Twenty thousand serteces for the ten. But… the three of you stay on as stable hands to get the most out of them.” Elia’s smile faded after getting excited at the price he had proposed. While Fonsoa and Andria agreed to it, he didn’t seem that excited anymore and looked upset.

“We agreed to go back!” Aldea’s head twitched. She didn’t know they were supposed to go home. They hadn’t told her yet.

“Elia. Look around. Do you really want to go back?” Andria asked.

“Yes!”

“We’re in Circus Maximus, and this is Scorpus, he’s trying to buy your horses and hire us. And we got out sister back.” Fonsoa stepped towards his brother. Aldea held her arms, crossed over her chest and kind of looked around, seeing Fimbria watching them in the distance. He crossed her gaze as he was leaving and she squinted her eyes, wondering why he had been staring at them. Elia kept on arguin, insisting Scorpus wanted to trap them in Rome, which he called “a sewer of a city” and the high price offered to them for their horses didn’t seem to make him budge.

“I will take the money, but we agreed to come here, sell the horses, find our sister and go back! We found Aldea, we can go back.” She bit her lips, listening to him. She would have gone back with them in a heartbeat if she hadn’t met and fallen in love with Tenax, and she was married now, it wouldn’t feel right to simply ditch him after years together.

“We could really be someone here. Make a name for ourselves.” Andria tried to convince him to change his mind. Elia shook his head, briskly licking his lips. “Horses, as many as you want.”

“I have all the horses I want, back in Baetica.”

“Boys. Scorpus is waiting.” He rose his voice, drawing attention to him. Andria gave him a nod, briefly turning back to his brothers, proposing to vote on the matter. Fonsoa was in, of course but Elia, unable to stay put, restless, refused to vote and walked away, nudging Fonsoa as he left. The latter called out his name and took a few steps after him but stopped himself and turned back to Andria.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Fonsoa softly grabbed his sister’s arm.

“He’ll be fine. He’ll come around.”

“We have a deal.” Andria then declared to Scorpus. The latter extended his hand towards him.

“The little shit stays as well, yes?” Andria acquiesced, giving his hand a firm shake. As he was leaving, he looked over his shoulder at Aldea. He was going to see Tenax at their home and waited for her to decide whether she was coming with him. Fonsoa comfortingly rubbed her back, reassuring her about Elia. She gave her brothers a hug and walked back to the Suburra with Scorpus. He jumped up the stairs and pushed the front door open. It had been left unlocked and he directly went inside. Aldea closed the door behind them. He had basically run down the street and was out of breath.

“I have just driven… the fastest horses in my life.” Tenax glanced over at them, sitting in the kitchen at the dinner table while Claudia served him something to drink. He tilted his head, looking at Aldea as she made her way to the table and sat across from her husband before the plate set up for her. Claudia gave her some food.

“Are you sure?” Scorpus leaned on the table and sighed.

“They’re the horses of Aldea’s brothers… they fly with the wings of Pegasus. So, I bought them. Well, with your money.”

“So you’re in?”

“Of course, I’m in.” Aldea followed him with her eyes, not really knowing what they were talking about as Scorpus walked behind her and grabbed a piece of bread from a bowl. Tenax looked aside, leaning his elbow on the table, bringing his hand to his face, thoughtful. Scorpus eventually left, leaving the couple together to finish eating.

“You were with your brothers?”

“Yes. I spent the day with them. I’ll go see if they’re at their place after. I need to check on Elia. He wasn’t too happy about having to stay in Rome.”

“Elia, that’s your…”

“My little brother. I hope he’ll come around… I’ll try to convince him to stay. He doesn’t like Rome, to say the least.” She sighed through her nose, chewing on her food. Tenax didn’t say much else on the matter of her brother being unhappy in the city. She knew he didn’t want her to leave, but he loved her and no matter how reluctant he would be, he would let her go if she chose to go back, but put down her fork and held his hand, hopefully letting him know she wasn’t planning on leaving. She was set on convincing her brother to stay. She wasn’t about to let go of the boy she raised and watched grow into the handsome young man he was today. “What were you talking about, with Scorpus?”

“Come. I have something to show you.” He stood up, wrapping his fingers around her hand and slightly pulling her towards him. She got up in turn and he led her to the bedroom. After pressing on one of the tiles on the wall, he pushed the hidden door open with his shoulder and briefly let go of her hand to go fetch something in the criss-cross shelves at the back of the small, secret room where he kept all his most valuable items and property titles. There were hundreds of those in those shelves, but Aldea knew about all this and had known for a while so she was a little puzzled what he might have to show her. He grabbed a tube and turned to her with an excited smile.

“What’s this?” Unscrewing one of the ends, he showed a scroll inside.

“500 shares of the Blue Faction.”

“500—” She was shocked. they grabbed onto each other’s shoulder. “What? How did you get your hands on 500 shares of the Blue Faction?”

“Rufus made a round bet at yesterday's race, betting his wife's shares on Scorpus to win in the last to second round.”

“Oh, that’s why he pulled back in the middle of the race and stayed behind until the last round? I knew there was something like this going on but, well,” She chuckled in disebelief. “I didn’t know this was what was at stake. What will you do with it now?”

“I’ll sell it to the highest bidder, and with the money, Scorpus and I can start our own faction.”

“That’s great news.” She caressed his cheek, the tip of her finger brushing of his beard’s hair, and she softly pressed her lips on his. He then closed the secret door and they both left home. She headed for her brother’s place, a couple streets away, while he headed for the Esquiline Hill to go negotiate with Consul Marsus over the 500 shares. They weren’t the lead owners of the blue faction, and he knew they would want to have this advantage over the woman who he and his wife had lost the position to, Caltonia. By buying those shares, they could retrieve their position as lead owners and he was going to use this fact to get the consul to buy those shares, giving him enough money to fund his ambitions. He would still need to get approval from the Aedile Ludi, who was no other than the emperor’s youngest son, Domitian. She wasn’t too worried about it. Her husband could be cunning and had a certain way with words, he would probably get Domitian to approve a fifth faction by the time the next race came around.

Aldea went to see if her brothers could be found in the room, they were renting but the housekeeper apologizes to her and told her she hadn’t seen them come back yet. Aldea returned to her apartment and Tenax returned in the first hour of the night. She wasn’t going to wander around town, pregnant and on her own so she would wait for either of her brothers – she hoped it would be Elia – to come to her instead.

“So? How did it go?” She asked, as Tenax walked in the room. He went straight to grabbing her face and kissing her, letting her know it did go as well as hoped.

“I sold the shares to Consul Marsu, nine thousand serterces.”

“And Domitian? What did he say?” His fingers sipped into her hair, his thumb caressing her cheek.

“I piqued his curiosity. I told him he would have half ownership over the faction, in secret, and that a river of money awaits us.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll approve your faction. He needs money. He’s been spending the empire’s fortune in every single betting tavern across town. With all the money he’d earn from this, he wouldn’t have to care about his debts anymore.”

“Yes.” He kissed her again, more strongly, as he was thrilled by the thought of finally being able to set his plan in motion and get his own faction. It would get them more money and allow him to sit next to his very own faction’s banner and be somewhat at the same level as the patricians that owned the other four. She didn’t share his ambitions, as she had no such ambitions to begin with, but she supported him in his endeavors and he needed and wanted this, to elevate himself socially, though he would probably not say it in so many words. After all he had been through at the hands of the powerful patricians of the roman empire, it felt, to me, as being a rightful revenge and she would be by his side throughout it. That was one reasons, if not the main one, as to why she couldn’t leave. It felt wrong to abandon and give up on him after the life they had built together, and all they had shared. And they were expecting a child. She couldn’t possibly deprive him of his child, and right to be a father.

She moved away from him, approaching the window as she heard quick steps outside their house. She saw the old woman who watched over Tenax’s property where her brothers were staying. The housekeeper was about to walk through the front door until Aldea called out to her, making her look up.

“You wanted to know when your brothers came home.” Aldea gave her a nod and left, after telling Tenax she wouldn’t be long. She walked to the other insula and as she entered, she could hear them argue in the distance. Because of how clear their voices sounded; she guessed their door was opened. She slowly walked up the stairs.

“Elia, how many times do I have to say it? It’s not forever. We’ll all go back together soon.” Andria tried to calm him down.

“When, exactly? A—After you’re grooms instead of stable hands? After you start driving?”

“Give it a chance. One fortnight, then decide.”

“No.” He was quick with his answer. His mind was still very much made up and he was dead set on leaving Rome. He felt betrayed and lied to, and he told them as much. “You’ve lied to me. Both of you. You never intended to go home. Did you? We said, we come here, sell our horses, find Aldea and go back home.”

“Elia…” She heard Fosnoa sigh. “We sold our horses, and found Aldea. You've been talking about finding her every hour of the day for years. We found her.”

“Yes, and I’m sure she wants to go home too.” She quietly sighed, her hand on the railing as she paused in her tracks.

“Elia, she has built a life here.” Andria said. “She’s married and happy, and she’s with child. You can’t expect her to leave it all behind? Don’t you want to stay here, be close to her?”

“You can’t say that’s not all you’ve wanted, ever since you were a child.”

“Take good care of Ferox.” Elia ignored Fonsoa, turning away from him as he finished packing his things, but he must have seen movement from the corner of his eyes because he turned his head and saw Aldea coming up the stairs. She saw him, mouthing her name and he looked down at his bag, almost shameful of the fact he was getting ready to leave.

“Elia.” She spoke softly, but he avoided looking directly at her, darting glances her way.

“You never intended to go home.” It almost sounded like an accusation. She sighed.

“I never expected I could go home one day. And I met people here, in Rome, that made me love my life here. Elia… please look at me.” She put her hand on his back, and he finally made eye contact with her.

“Do you know how much father’s missed you?” Fonsoa spoke his name, but it didn’t stop Elia from speaking. “First he lost… our mother, and then you. Do you know how much your disappearance destroyed him?”

“Elia. Enough.” Fonsoa rose his voice again, grasping his shoulder, and this time, Elia shut his mouth and went quiet, slightly flaring up his nostrils and shaking his head, freeing his shoulder from Fonsoa with an abrupt shrug. Aldea could see on his face that he felt awful for being mean to her but also that how much he felt hurt and let down by his siblings overshadowed the love he had for them, and especially for his sister.

“Please, Elia. Sleep on it. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He wouldn’t look at her and she couldn’t the hurt in her eyes before she turned on her heels and left. As she walked down the stairs, she locked eyes with Fonsoa, still standing in the middle of their room and his eyes told her he was sorry about this. She gave him a soft smile and went back to her home. Tenax opened. He had been waiting for her to go to bed. Seeing she looked down, he stared at her worriedly, caressing her cheek. She took his hand and kissed it. She just wanted to go sleep it off, hoping Elia would at least stay in Rome for the night, or even better, change his mind altogether. The day had started off well and did not end on a high note.

Tenax and Aldea woke up the next morning, got dressed, ate some breakfast quickly and then left, heading together for the Esquiline Hill, hoping to find Scorpus there. But he wasn’t home and so began a search of the neighborhood to find their friend. Aldea stayed on the other side of the street while Tenax went to check if he was in the brothel he frequented but again, he came out of there alone and shrugged, exchanging a glance with his wife. They kept looking and found him at a tailor’s shop, looking at colorful pieces of fabric. Tenax ordered the tailor to get out and he snatched the fabric away from Scorpus after he drapped himself with it and threw it back on the table at the center of the room. Aldea, her hands joined by her waist, waited right by the entrance and could hear them even though Tenax was careful to speak quietly.

“Is this what you call discreet?”

“Word will get out, once we get Domitian’s approval.

“If… we get approval. Come. He’s meeting us at the stables to look at the Andalusians.” Scorpus smirked at the news, patting his shoulder on his way out. As he walked past Aldea, he, as Scorpus does, gave her a flirty look and smile and she shook her head amusedly. Looking back at Tenax as he followed him, Aldea saw his eyes briefly widen in annoyance. They then heade towards the stables of the Circus Maximus and got there about a dozen minutes later. The Blue faction stables’ doors were opened ajar, and they were unpleasantly surprised by what they saw inside. Elia was crouched next to Ferox, Fonsoa and Andria standing nearby. In all the other stalls, the horses were lying on the straw, barely breathing and lethargic. Aldea looked at them in worry while Tenax swore through his gritted teeth.

“Gavros went to get a physician.” Elia told them.

“Why didn’t someone tell me?” They turned around upon hearing Felix’s voice behind them. The young boy came running towards them.

“Domitian, he’s here! Outside!”

Tenax sighed heavily, “As I said… Fuck!” He turned to the brothers. “All right. I’ll divert him. Aldea, I want you out of here.” She wasn’t going to argue with him. He had other other fish to fry – bigger fish. She followed him outside and walked to a piller against which she leaned, seeing him talk with Domitian from the corner of her eyes. He tried to slow him down, to give everyone in the stables, just a little more time to find a quick solution to keep up appearances. On her way out, she heard Scorpus tell everyone to close the stalls’ curtains so they would find a short-term solution. Domitian wasn’t buying whatever Tenax was telling him to keep him out of the stables and he walked inside. She saw Felix come out and Aldea approached but when Domitian turned back to left, she stepped aside, hiding behind the large door. Plebieans bowed as the emperor’s son walked past, followed by Tenax and Scorpus. Before he turned to the other two, all three had their back to her so she slipped inside to go to her brothers. Fonsoa held out his arm, placing his hand on her back, drawing her towards him. Gavros arrived with thr physician and the man with the white beard knelt near the horse, holding a small flame to his eye to take a closer look.

“Augendus, the best there is.” Gavros spoke. “He was once veterinaries for the Greens.”

“You were right, Gavros. Most definitely nightshade.”

“What can you do for them?”

“Bury them.” He shrugged, shaking his head and looked up at Tenax.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“There’s little you can do. A magnus might say put crows in their stalls for three nights… and use bells to call out the Orci spirits from their livers.” Tenax smirked in disbelief.

“I’m not gonna bet my life on that one. Do what you can.” He then took a step towards the Corsi brothers, glaring and poiting a threatening finger at them. Elia stood up. “No one has seen this. If you tell a single fucking person, you will die in ways you cannot imagine. Do you understand?” Aldea stayed silent as he addressed her brothers. It wasn’t her place to speak, even less to cut him off. She shouldn’t even be in there and was mainly allowed to be present because of her link to the six men inside. Even simpler than that, as his wife, she stayed out of his business, and this was business. The fact it involved her family didn’t matter. she wasn't going to undermine his credibility by speaking when she should remain quiet. “Don't believe my threats to be empty just because you are my wife's brothers. Remember… the only person you have to fear more than Domitian… is me.”

“We understand, sir. We have seen nothing here.” Andria acquiesced. She could tell he was intimidated and took Tenax’s words very seriously, and he was right to do so. A faint smile appeared on his face, like a ray of sunshine managing to break through the clouds momentarily. This was as much a friendly “nice to meet you” smile as it was a threatening “if something happened to Aldea, I’ll kill you” kind of smile. He then motioned for Scorpus and Gavros to follow him outside and left the Corsi in the stables. The poor horses groaned at their feet. Leading his sister along with him, Fonsoa called to his brothers to go talk in private in a stall a little further in the stable.

“All right, little brother, you win. This is getting too dangerous. I say we play along until dark and then slip out of the city.” Aldea frowned, slightly shaking her head. She held her arms, looking around. Elia took his eyes off the ground and glanced at his brother.

“To go where?” Andria asked.

“Anywhere other than here. Home?”

“I’m not gonna leave our horses to die.” Elia argued.

“Now he wants to stay?” Fonsoa smirked in disbelief.

“We have reared these horses since they were foals.” He insisted. “I love them. And I’m not going to leave them behind.”

“The Emperor’s son has seen us.” Andria added. “How far would we get if we run? We have no option. Fonsoa, you said it yourself last night… we can’t expect Aldea to leave the city either. She’s married and with child. I say, we throw in with Scorpus and Tenax.”

“It will be fine if you listen to what Tenax says, Fonsoa.” Aldea then spoke, following Andria as the later walked away. She looked over her shoulder when she heard something slam against wood. Elia was still in the stall, with Fonsoa following in his siblings’ footsteps. She sighed through her nose, quietly. He had been shoved by Fonsoa into the wall of the horse’s stall. She watched her brother walk past her and turned back, going straight to Elia.

“I’m fine.” He said under his breath as she grabbed his shoulder and made him look at her, putting her finger under his chin to lift his head. He softly pushed her hand away and she took a step back to give him some space and sighed before walking to the door where Andria was peeking out, looking at Scorpus, Tenax and Gavros. She arrived as Tenax pointed at her brother, ordering him to keep someone safe and since Scorpus led him away with him, pretending to go fetch some fresh horses, she understood he had sent Andria with Scorpus to go get something. She crossed eyes with her husband after he sent Gavros to get guards to stand.

“Where is my brother going with Scorpus?” Tenax looked around, bringing her towards the wall.

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now, I need to deal with this. I want you to go home.” She stared at him for a few seconds before nodding with a sigh. He saw she wasn’t really pleased to leave so he gave her a comforting look and she walked away. Before she even left the area of the circus, she glanced behind her, thinking of her two brothers and she was surprised to see Fonsoa, carrying a sack, leaving the stables. He didn’t notice her right away, staring into space angrily. She stopped in her tracks and waited for him to look at her which he eventually did as he came closer. He came to a halt.

“Where’s Elia?” At her question, he looked away with an annoyed snort and kept on walking. She called his name and walked with a brisk step to keep up with him. Seeing her struggle, he apologized and slowed down his pace. “Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I’m not spending another night in this city.”

“Fonsoa…” He turned to her, stopping suddenly and grabbed her shoulder.

“You’ve been living with this man for four years? We’ve been here for two days and it’s already getting dangerous. He threatened us.”

“I told you; everyone will be fine as long as you keep this situation to yourself. His threats weren’t empty, but he won’t harm you. He has to be like this. Life in Rome is quite unforgiving.” She tried to explain but he shook his head.

“No. I won't let this be my life, or yours, or my nephew's.”

“You can’t make me leave.” She argued with a scoff, leaning back, starign at him in incredulity.

“Aldea, this man is dangerous.”

“I’m the one living with him, Fonsoa. I know him. I get to say if he’s dangerous. Please, just trust me when I tell you that he’s not.” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with him in the middle of the street and switched to Spanish mid-sentence. They argued all the way home until they stopped by the front door of Aldea’s insula. She looked desperate to convince her brother to change his mind and tired to fight with him.

He sighed, apologizing, “Lo siento, Aldea.”

“Please, reconsider.”

“I’ll see you later.” He gave her a kiss on her temple, and she watched him as he walked away and stood there until he disappeared from her sight, and only then did she enter the insula and get into the apartment where she got to cooking to keep herself busy while Tenax wasn’t home. Claudia came out of her room and proceeded to help her cook, cutting the foodstuffs together in the kitchen by the candlelight. Not long after, the two women stopped when the door suddenly opened, and a young Numidian woman was pushed into the room. Aldea looked at her, squinting her eyes in confusion. Tenax came in after her, closing the door behind her. He asked Claudia and Aldea to leave them and the Spaniard didn’t move for a couple seconds while the housekeeper went back in her room, but after a second look from Tenax, she walked past him and the young woman, glancing at her from the corner of her eyes and she closed the doors behind her, leaving them slightly ajar, peeking out. Tenax stretched out his hand towards the chair, asking the girl to sit but she glared at him, somehow reminding Aldea of herself when she first stepped in his home.

“I said sit.” He pointed at the chair again, with his index finger, the light making his signet ring shine.

“After you take me, sooner or later you will fall asleep, and when you do, I will slit your throat.”

“You’re going to still my throat?” He nodded his head, and she could feel him shoot up his eyebrows in skepticism. The girl gasped as he took a step towards her and grabbed her by the throat. Aldea carefully pushed the door, so as not to make any noise, though she wouldn’t have been punished if he saw she was listening – he expected she would and knew she was – and she approached her ear from the opening as Tenax lowered his voice, speaking closer to the girl.

“I own you. You are my slave.” Aldea frowned, not understanding why he would buy a slave, after not doing so ever since he bought her. He didn’t actually need a slave then; she didn’t know why he would need a slave now. “I can do whatever I want with you.” Someone started pounding on the door. The loud knocking interrupted him and Aldea grabbed the doors handles and opened them entirely, stepping outside of the bedroom as he pulled out his dagger before unlocking the front door and came face to face with another Numidian woman, standing on the landing. Tenax exhaled, seemingly exasperated. “You don’t give up.”

“I’m her mother.” He sighed, inviting her in with a gesture. She rushed towards her daughter, and they threw themselves into each other’s arms. Tenax glanced over his shoulder upon feeling Aldea come up from behind her. The look she gave him was asking for an explanation, but he responded with a wave of the hand, meaning he would deal with her later and he turned to the newcomer as he put away his blade.

“I already told you. She’s not for sale.”

“Everything is for sale. At the right price.”

“Not her.” She stood before her daughter, as if shielding her while Aldea watched Tenax from behind, puzzled by what was going on.

“Why did you buy her?”

“I need to know things about the person who bought your other daughter.” Aldea joined her hands at her waist, nodding to herself, now understanding why he bought a slave out of nowhere.

“I see. You seek to use this daughter as a go-between to my other daughter to spy on your enemy. I have an alternative.”

“I’m listening.”

“I will be your go-between.” She offered. Her daughter parted her lips, about to protest but her mother continued. “But you don’t touch her. And when this is over, whatever it is, you allow me to buy her… at your cost.”

Tenax scoffed, taking a few steps in the woman’s direction, “No. When all this is done, I will consider selling her to you for whatever price I like.”

“I need lodging.” He smiled, amused and chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at Aldea and showed the room at the back of the flat.

“You can stay with your daughter for a couple of nights.” He stressed the last few words and turned around, slipping his hand from Aldea’s shoulder to her back as he led her to bedroom with him. They would finally have some time to talk, just the two of them. Aldea had a lot of things to ask him to clarify the situation. The last thing they heard before he closed the doors behind them was the woman telling them her name, Cala.

[To be continued…]

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Published (08/20/2024) by Andrea

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