“What about your family?” I chance asking, deciding this is about as deep as I can get with her. I don’t want to upset her at all.
She clears her throat, shaking her head a couple of times. “They are not of any consequence.”
“How?” I practically shout without thinking.
Her eyes widen and fly up to meet my own. She licks her lips, and I take a step back, opening my mouth to apologize, but she speaks before I can get any words out.
“They sold me to Tiberius’ people,” she whispers. “I am lucky. I have a good life here, very good now that I am useful,” she states.
I hate it for her, I hate it for all of the people that Tiberius claims are slaves. I don’t know how badly they’re treated, Laurentia looks healthy and she has clean clothes, but I really despise that they aren’t free.
“If I can get you to my world, would you go?” I ask.
Her eyes widen and she takes a step back. This is not the first time that I have mentioned this and I have been met with the same type of reaction. She smiles sadly, then shakes her head.
“It is not for me, Empress. I have a wonderful life here and I would not wish to jeopardize any of that.”
“But you are not free,” I whisper.
“I am as free as I wish to be.”
She doesn’t leave the conversation open for anything else, and I don’t ask anything else either. Instead, I shift my gaze toward the land in front of us, as the boats are approaching the beach to be parked, docked, whatever it is, for a while.
Inhaling a deep breath, I close my eyes and I feel it, almost immediately. Magic. Laurentia was right. You can feel the magic. You can taste it, too. It’s sweet, almost like an orange, it’s like sweet candy and I want it inside of me. I want it all over me.
When I open my eyes, I don’t see what I should. The beach is gone, I’m not on the ship anymore, and I gasp.
TIBERIUS
A woman’s scream fills the air. Turning around to look at the ship, I freeze. I see it happening before my eyes, and yet, I cannot believe it. Drucilla disappears right in front of me. She vanishes. I take a step toward her, and then another, but she is gone before I can even reach the ship’s side.
I reach out in vain, knowing she is already vanished. Her famulus screams uncontrollably next to where she had been standing. I jerk my chin to Brutus, who is still onboard, and wraps his hand around the screaming woman’s mouth before he drags her away.
I’m not sure what to do next. I should have allowed the pontifex maximus to come with us. I should have had him cast some kind of spell to ensure that she would stay next to me. It doesn’t take long for Brutus to appear at my side after he’s taken the servi to the other ship and deposited her.
“Where has she gone?” I demand on a growl.
“I could only think of one place,” he murmurs, then turns around and stares at the mountain peak in the distance.
“You don’t think?”
Brutus clears his throat but doesn’t say anything immediately. Brutus isn’t one for things fantastical, he is a realist. What he sees is what he believes and until Drucilla, I felt the same way, now I am not so sure that there isn’t more out there. There is something working that cannot be seen.
“I cannot imagine she would be elsewhere.”
“To her homeland?” I ask.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Possible. Though I believe unlikely.”
I believe unlikely as well, considering we just arrived on the venefica’s land and she disappeared moments later.
“Shall we find her, then?” I ask.
“We shall,” he grunts.
Reaching out to Felix, I call for him, telling him what has happened. He arrives at my side moments later. Brutus’ horse does the same. In just seconds, we have a group of five of my best men on their beasts, and we are headed in the direction of the mountain.
I’m unsure of how long it will take, unsure of the terrain, but we have been through much worse as a group. These are my brothers beside me, the men that have been at my side since I was a boy, the men I have fought beside before I even knew the feel of a woman’s cunnus.
I trust them with my life. With the future of Savona. With everything.
It takes us several days to reach the base of the mountain. We don’t sleep, we barely eat and piss, we are on a mission and that mission is to find my empress. She is the future of Savona, she is mine.
Even if I did not want her, that does not matter as she is tied to me now, she is my property until her last breath. She is also mine to protect. Tugging back on Felix’s reins, I growl at the sight before me.
“We cannot climb this way. It is too steep, not just for the horses, but for us as well,” Brutus needlessly announces.
Making a decision that may not be favorable, but one we all need, I announce that we will be camping out here this evening. We all need the rest, the horses especially, and tomorrow we will decide on a plan of action.
There is reluctance, but in the end they all agree with me and I am again, grateful for the group of men that I have chosen to be at my side in all things, in all battles. It doesn’t take us long to set up camp, Brutus fishes and hunts, bringing back a feast of rabbit, dormice, and two fish.
“You have done too much,” I point out as we sit down to prepare the feast over the fire.
He chuckles. “It is pure selfishness, cousin. I am starving. I knew
