Beloved

Dagian protested.

'We have a child, Mother. A daughter. Her name is Mavia, and she is the Princess of Palmyra.'

'What?!' Dagian gripped the arms of the chair and leaned forward, her lovely face very white.

'Hear me, Mother, before you speak again. I had barely arrived in Palmyra when I saw Zenobia and fell in love with her. Regrettably, she was about to marry Odenathus, who was then Prince of Palmyra.'

'She returned your feelings, though?'

'She didn't even know, Mother. She was young, and very innocent, for after her mother's death her father and her brothers all overprotected her. You would like her, Mother. She is very much like you in certain ways.'

Dagian looked like she might cry, but she fought back the emotion that threatened to spill over and asked in a voice that was less than steady, 'How is she like me, Marcus?'

'She is stubborn, yet compassionate, intelligent, and kind. She was a good wife to her husband, and is a good mother to her children.'

'Yet she has borne you a child, Marcus. A child that you tell me is known as the Princess of Palmyra. I do not understand.'

'The night that Odenathus was killed, Zenobia collapsed with the shock, and we made love, Mother. In the morning I was gone and she remembered nothing. She believed the child to be her husband's until she saw it, and then she remembered. We both thought it best that Mavia believe she is Odenathus's child. To do otherwise could have compromised the rule of young King Vaballathus, for although the boy is his father's image, there are those who might say he was not Odenathus's son.'

Dagian nodded, understanding Zenobia's protective maternal instincts toward her children.

Marcus spoke again. 'Now I wish to see my father, receive his final blessing, make his passage from this life to the next a happy one, and then return to my beloved in Palmyra. Zenobia is my very reason for living, Mother, and I ache with the separation from her.'

Dagian was now unable to control herself, and a flood of tears rushed down her face. 'Oh, Marcus, you are my eldest child, and although I would never admit it before even to myself, you are my favorite child. I want you to be happy, but you cannot marry your Zenobia. Your father has arranged a match for you. He so wanted to see you married before he died. You must not be angry with him!'

Marcus was astounded. 'He arranged a match for me? Has his illness rendered him mad, Mother? I am no boy for him to arrange a wife for me. I am past forty! Could he not have waited until I got home, and consulted with me on this matter?'

'Marcus, try to understand! He is dying and he wants everything in his life in order before he must make that crossing from here to the Underworld. His eldest son, a man these many years, remains unmarried. If you were a lover of boys he would have long since given you up, but you are a real man, and his only immortality.'

'Aulus is married, Mother, and he is also father's son. Aulus is the father of several sons.'

'You are Lucius Alexander's eldest son, Marcus, and he wanted you settled. He wanted you happy, as he and I have been all these years. He did not seek to harm you. Besides, why did you not write to us of your love for Zenobia. As always, you have been secretive.'

'I could not write to you under the circumstances, Mother. Surely you must see that Zenobia's situation is far too politically sensitive, and if such a message had fallen into the wrong hands it might have brought down her government and endangered the empire's eastern boundaries that she and her late husband protected so well for Rome. No, it is unfortunate, but this betrothal will have to be broken.'

'It cannot be,' Dagian almost whispered.

'Cannot?' His brow darkened with anger. 'What do you mean, 'cannot,' Mother?'

'Your father secured a great match for you, Marcus. You are to be married to the emperor's niece, Carissa.'

'The match will have to be broken, emperor's niece or no, Mother.'

'Marcus, you cannot offend Aurelian!'

'Do not fear, Mother. I will go to Aurelian myself, and explain the situation. Zenobia is vital to the empire's eastern defenses. I know the emperor will approve my match with the queen and find another husband for his niece.”

They walked from the room and back downstairs again into the atrium, where Marcus called for a chariot. Within moments the vehicle was at the front door of the house, and with a quick smile to his mother he was gone through the door. She stood listening as the chariot rumbled off down the quiet residential street. An arm went about her shoulders, and Aulus said. 'You look as if you have been crying. What has my big brother done now, Mother?'

'He has done nothing, Aulus. Your father made a match between your older brother and the emperor's niece, Carissa. Marcus, however, is in love with a woman in Palmyra. He has gone off to tell the emperor that the betrothal must be canceled.'

Aulus had paled at the mention of the emperor's niece's name. 'Carissa, Mother? You are sure of the name?'

Dagian nodded, and then asked, 'What is wrong, Aulus? You look as if you have seen an evil spirit.'

'Oh, Mother, Carissa is the most venal creature alive.'

'That sweet-faced child?'

'That is the paradox of Carissa. She looks like a vestal virgin, yet is more corrupt than any woman in the empire.'

Marcus drove through the bustling streets of the city to the Palatine Hill, where the emperor lived. He could not help but notice the filth in the streets, unusual, for the Rome he remembered had been clean and bright. Now, however, the great marble buildings were in need of repair, and there was obvious vandalism to public places. There were many shops closed and shuttered.

At the palace a slave ran to take his horses, and he strode into the ancient building to encounter an old friend.

'Marcus Alexander!' came the shout, and he turned.

'Gaius Cicero!'

The two men gripped arms in the traditional Roman greeting, and then stepped back to view each other.

Gaius Cicero was a man of forty, of medium height and stocky build with brown eyes and black hair. 'I had heard you were coming home from the eastern frontier,' he said with a smile. 'I am sorry so sad an event as your father's dying brings you. What do you here?'

'I must see the emperor.'

'So cries half of Rome, Marcus Alexander, but Aurelian's time is limited.'

'This is an urgent matter, Gaius Cicero. It could have far-reaching effects on the empire. Can you help me?'

'By chance, yes. He's in the baths now, and if you don't mind seeing him there, then I will take you.'

'I would see him in Hades if necessary.'

The Praetorian officer smiled wryly. 'I am sure there are those who would wish Aurelian in the very place you mentioned. Follow me, Marcus Alexander.' He made several turns into exquisitely decorated corridors that were lit with multilamped candelabra. 'Ah, here we are,' he announced as they moved quickly through large double doors that were opened by two Praetorian guards.

A slave hurried to aid them, and Gaius Cicero said, 'Tell the emperor that Gaius Cicero has brought Marcus Alexander Britainus to see him on a matter of urgent business. We ask the emperor's leave to come into the bath.'

'At once, Gaius Cicero,' the slave replied, and hurried off.

'If he will see you, Marcus, you will not need me. I do not wish to intrude.'

'I thank you again for your help, Gaius Cicero,' Marcus replied.

'Perhaps we can have dinner together while you are in Rome,' the Praetorian said.

'The emperor will see you, Marcus Alexander Britainus,' said the returning slave.

'Farewell, Marcus Alexander,' Gaius Cicero said. 'I will send a message to your parents' home.'

The slave quickly had Marcus divested of his clothes. 'The emperor is already in the caldarium. He will speak with you when you reach the unctorium, Marcus Alexander Britainus.'