The Legacy

by Carol Ashby

  It was good to be back with him, even if he would always see her as his slave.

  Still, she wished it were otherwise. Everything was turning out just as it should for Master Philip and Mistress Claudia. Their love was so deep and pure, and now they would marry and spend their lives together. It was too hard when you loved someone with all your heart, but your dreams for a life together as husband and wife would never be more than dreams.

  She closed her eyes. God, please help me be content with what must be. There could be pleasure in serving the one you love, even if he would never know how much you love him. When you truly love someone, happiness can come from doing everything you can for him...even when he doesn’t love you in return.

  Chapter 75: Difficult Decisions

  Claudia’s gaze snapped onto Titus. She’d expected him to tell Miriam he intended to marry her. She wasn’t sure why he didn’t, and she was more than a little concerned that he hadn’t.

  She’d told him how much Miriam loved him. He seemed convinced Miriam was the right woman for him, so why didn’t he tell Miriam? Claudia would gladly give up Miriam to be her brother’s wife, but not if he only wanted to keep her as his slave.

  As Titus finished wrapping Miriam’s ankle, Claudia placed her hand on his shoulder. “Come with me to the kitchen. I may need help with something.”

  He stood and lifted Miriam’s chin so she was looking into his eyes. “Don’t try to get up and do anything.”

  “Yes, master.”

  Titus followed Claudia along the balcony until she turned into one of the bedchambers. She motioned him to follow her in, then closed the door behind him.

  “Why do you want to keep Miriam? If you’re not planning to marry her, you shouldn’t keep her.” She rested her fists on her hips. “Are you going to marry her, Titus?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. I’d always expected to marry someone like us, not a freed slave. I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.”

  “The right thing for whom? For you? What about what’s right for Miriam? How can you be so cruel and just keep her as your slave?”

  “Why do you think it’s cruel? She seems happy just the way we’ve been.”

  “Do you know how much it hurts to love someone who doesn’t appreciate that love? Can’t you see the kind of love she has for you? She risked death to care for you when you were so terribly sick. You would have died without her. You saw the way she took my place so I wouldn’t have to suffer. She’s willing to suffer whatever it takes to spare someone she loves. Sacrificial love―that’s the kind of love that’s worth more than anything.”

  Titus ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t argue against what you’re saying. If it were just for me, I’d marry her, but how can a Claudius Drusus take a crippled Jewish slave girl as his wife? There are obligations to family honor and Roman pride that I have to consider. I should marry someone from at least the equestrian order. What would Father have said if I don’t?”

  Claudia flicked her hand to sweep away the stupid words he’d just spoken. “I know exactly what Father would say. He’d say marry her because she’ll make you truly happy. Father never wanted to be in the Senate, and Grandfather died before he could be, so there’s no reason you can’t marry her. Are you going to sacrifice your happiness and hers to stupid pride? How could you ever think she’s not as good as us just because she’s not from a noble Roman family? She’s better than either you or me.”

  She took his hand as she stared intently into his eyes.

  “Please don’t make that mistake. It’s only the heart of the person that matters, not the outside or where they came from. I used to be so stupid, thinking that only a handsome Roman would be good enough to marry me. I wouldn’t have given Philip a second glance if God hadn’t put me on his ship so I got to see what a truly worthy man looks like. Miriam’s just like Philip; once you see the treasure within, why would you settle for someone who only looks good on the outside or has the right ancestors?”

  Titus rubbed the back of his neck. “I hear what you’re saying, but how can I take her back to Rome as my wife? Do you know how our friends and relatives would treat her? What they would say about her? About both of us?”

  “Then don’t go back to Rome. Stay here when you finish your service. What do you want in Rome that you can’t have here?” Her lips tightened. “What’s so wonderful about Rome, anyway? It’s so full of pride and violence and greed and…I never want to go there again.”

  She frowned and shook her head. “Pride is the greatest sin of all, Titus. It’s keeping you from the finest woman you’ll ever know.”

  As Claudia stared into her brother’s eyes, a still, small voice whispered within her. Is it time, Lord? She’d prayed for countless hours, asking God to reach Titus’s heart since the morning He’d reached her own. The whisper grew louder...and somehow, she knew. Titus was ready to listen and decide.

  “Even worse, pride keeps us from turning to Jesus because we think we’re good enough on our own, because we don’t want to admit we need Him to save us. But we do need Him, and He loved us enough to die to save us, even though we don’t deserve anything from Him.”

  Titus tightened his lips and shook his head. “You don’t have to tell me I’m not perfect, Claudia. I already know it. Father would have told me I’m a sinner because I had no desire to follow the Jewish god like he did. His last letter laid it all out. I know he thought his god wants me to love him, that his god loves me already, and that Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin because of that love. I’ve spent many hours thinking about what he wrote, but I don’t understand how that could be.”

  Claudia took his hand. “What don’t you understand?”

  “For a god to become a man, not like in the Greek stories but for real, he’d have to give up so much power and freedom and...everything that made him a god. But why would he do that? Why didn’t he just leave the temple in place and use the animal sacrifices to let his people approach him? Why be the final sacrifice himself? And why on a cross? You’ve never seen that type of death, but I have. It makes what Father suffered in the arena seem kind.”

  “Penelope told me the animal sacrifices were only to teach people how serious sin was, that it needed blood to cover it before God. But animal blood only covered it; it didn’t erase the sin. The plan from the beginning was for Jesus to come and make the final, perfect sacrifice when people could understand it. He took on all the sins of everyone who ever lived or will live and paid for them all. He did it out of love.”

  Titus rubbed the back of his neck. “But to choose to die on a cross...how could anyone, god or otherwise, love people he didn’t even know enough to do that? It can take days, and it’s pure torture the whole time a man’s up there.” He rested his hand on her cheek. “I could choose to die to spare you, but you’re my sister. I love you. For some stranger? No. That kind of love is earned.”

  Claudia lifted his hand from her cheek and held it as she gazed up into her brother’s eyes.

  “The deepest, truest love isn’t. Just look at Miriam. She tries to love us like Jesus loves us, even when we haven’t done anything to deserve it, even when you hurt her terribly. You’ve seen how she’s forgiven you after you hit her so hard and told Nestor to sell her when all she’d ever done was love and care for us.”

  Titus frowned and slowly nodded. Claudia fought the smile. He’d always done that when he was really listening to Father.

  “She was willing to suffer anything to save you when you were so sick with fever. She didn’t care if she caught it and died if that was what it took to get you better.”

  She watched his frown begin to turn into a slight smile as he listened. His nods became faster and deeper.

  “You were so ungrateful that afternoon when you finally woke up. I’m glad she never heard what you said, but she already knew that was what you felt. She told me you didn’t really care what happened to her, but she kept loving you anyway. Jesus
loves us even when we don’t love Him back, and He never stops loving us even when we say or do things we shouldn’t. He even gives His followers the power to love like He did.

  “Miriam loves me like that, too. She wanted to go to Lucius in my place, and you know he would have made her suffer unbearably before he killed her in some horrible way. She knew that, too, but she was willing to pay any price so I wouldn’t have to suffer. She was willing to die to buy my freedom.

  “God loves us even more. Jesus suffered to pay for everyone’s sins so we wouldn’t have to. On that cross, He paid for Father’s sins, for my sins, for your sins to end our separation from God. He freed us out of love.”

  She raised his hand and held it against her cheek. “I wish you’d follow me and Father and become a Christian, too.”

  He pulled his hands from hers, crossed his arms, and stared at the floor. “Ever since I received Father’s letter, I’ve been thinking about why he made his choice. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read and reread that letter. His reasons for becoming a God-fearer make perfect sense. They convinced me the Jewish god really is God, so I guess you’d have to call me a God-fearer, too. His worry about how to replace the Jerusalem temple sacrifices made sense. After a while, so did his conclusion that a man who was also God could make the perfect sacrifice and end the need for any more. What I couldn’t understand was why Father chose to die when offering a little incense to Caesar could save him.”

  He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand before he shrugged. “But maybe that makes sense, too. Loyalty and love for the one who saved you by his own death is the most reasonable thing in the world. Refusing to deny the one who loves you that much...that makes sense, too, even if you have to die for it.”

  Titus crossed his arms again. “The surest proof of love really is going to certain death to spare the ones you love, even if they don’t love you in return.” He raised his eyes to gaze into hers. “If a woman like Miriam can love that much, surely God can love even more. I can believe Jesus did just that.”

  He tipped his head to the side, and a thoughtful smile appeared. “The three smartest people I’ve ever known are you, Father, and Philip, and you all decided to believe Jesus died to save you. Perhaps it’s time I join you.”

  Claudia bounced on her toes. “Really? Oh, Titus! I’m so happy for you. For me, too, because now you and I and Father will all be together in heaven someday with Jesus. Nothing can part us forever.”

  “I still have some questions, but I expect Philip can answer them all as well as Father would have.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “We’ll have that conversation after I give him my permission to marry you when he gets back from the harbor. Or maybe before I give permission, just to prolong the suspense for him.”

  Claudia caught her brother’s hand and held it against her cheek. “I want to be there. Promise me you won’t start without me.”

  Titus chuckled. “He won’t want you out of his sight, so I’m certain he’ll have no objection to that.”

  Claudia’s sly smile crept out. Titus was in for a big surprise. Her brother had decided to follow Jesus with his head, but soon he’d open his heart to receive the Holy Spirit. Life was so much sweeter when you moved past knowing about God to meeting Him yourself.

  She’d only been this happy twice before in her life: the morning she decided to follow Jesus and the moment Philip asked her to be his wife. Titus had made the first decision she’d prayed for. Now to get him to make the second.

  “Now what about Miriam?”

  He gazed into her eager eyes, and a crooked grin appeared.

  “You’re going to have to find yourself a new maid. If you want to eat as well as me, you’ll have to come visit. Even after she’s my wife, I’m going to have her direct the kitchen. I’ve become too spoiled to switch cooks now.”

  Claudia bounced on her toes again when he said ‘after she’s my wife.’ That was exactly what she wanted to hear. Her brother wasn’t so stupid after all.

  Chapter 76: Better than Vengeance

  Titus had scarcely finished sharing the two most important decisions of his life with his beloved sister when the messenger came from the garrison to report that Lucius’s men had been caught. He told the soldier he would be along shortly, and the soldier saluted and left.

  Claudia placed her hand on Titus’s arm. “What are you going to do to them, Titus?”

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “This afternoon, when I first learned they’d taken Miriam, I wanted to coat my gladius with their blood for daring to hurt someone I care about. Now, well, I guess I’m a different man. Father was right about me needing to forgive Lucius, not just for him but for me. I don’t want revenge anymore, on Lucius or on these men who are just doing what he ordered. I have a better way to deal with them. A way that will please God while solving your problem with Lucius once and for all.”

  She smiled up at him. “I’m glad, Titus.”

  “I have to finish my business with them, then I’ll be back to set some things straight with Miriam.”

  Claudia bounced on her toes and clapped her hands when he said that.

  Titus tightened his lips to stop the grin. “Don’t you let her know what I have planned. I want the fun of watching her face when I tell her.”

  “I won’t. I can keep a secret with the best of them, and this is the best secret I’ve ever had to keep.”

  Titus stood in the garrison stable yard with his arms crossed, scowling at Lucius’s agents. He could have them killed, but that wouldn’t keep Lucius from simply sending someone else. He had a better plan.

  “By the authority of the governor, your fate is in my hands. While stealing my slave is simple theft, that was not your intention. You thought she was my sister Claudia. Taking Claudia against her will would be kidnapping. If you had taken her, you would be better off dead right now. You have admitted you are peregrines, not citizens of Rome, so what I choose to do is not limited by Roman law. This is Thracia, not Rome. Kidnapping is not tolerated in this province, and the governor will allow me to crucify you for merely trying to kidnap a Roman citizen, even though you bungled the attempt.”

  Titus raked them with his angriest stare until the panic in their eyes reached the desired level.

  “I could order my centurion to kill you right here, right now...but I’m not going to. Instead, I’m sending you back to Lucius with a message from me. First, he is never to try to kidnap Claudia again. He can forget about getting money from Flavius Sabinus or anyone else in Rome who wants her. The governor has made me her guardian instead of Lucius. Before you reach Rome, she’ll be married to the man we have chosen. Lucius deserves nothing since the role he played in finding her husband was not what he intended. Still, her betrothed is willing to pay him the same amount that I gave for the woman I’m planning to marry. You will deliver it to him.”

  He tossed them a sack that had been sewn shut and then sewn inside a second sack. Inside was four hundred denarii in dupondii, so the 3200 brass coins made it very heavy. Titus fought a smile. Too bad he wouldn’t see the emotions on Lucius’s face when he opened it. Surprise, then fury. It was likely to be quite amusing.

  “Second, I expect him to admit that the estate north of Rome is now mine, as Father always intended. He is to send me proof that ownership has been legally transferred to me. You will tell him that I’m certain he wouldn’t want all Rome to know that he cheated his brother and tried to sell his sister after arranging to murder his father. I will make certain all the people he cares about in Rome know if he refuses to give me what is rightfully mine. Malleolus is to continue overseeing the estate for me. I’ll expect an accounting from him twice a year.”

  He spoke to the soldier standing right behind them. “Untie them.”

  “Third, you are to tell him that neither Claudia nor I plan to seek revenge on him for killing Father or trying to hurt her. Father forgave Lucius for his betrayal; we are c
hoosing to forgive him, too.”

  The two agents stood before him, rubbing their wrists where the ropes had cut into them.

  “Now go. Deliver my message to Lucius, and be thankful that I’m a merciful man.”

  Titus left the incredulous men staring at him as he spun and walked to his horse. He mounted and kicked the stallion into a trot. He’d already been away from Philip’s house too long. Two women he loved were waiting for him.

  Miriam and Mistress Claudia were sitting together in the mistress’s room when they heard Master Titus’s footsteps on the balcony. Both looked up to see him standing at the door with an odd smile on his face.

  Then the smile flipped into a frown. “Claudia, I need to speak with Miriam alone. I’ll come get you when I’m through with her.”

  The mistress covered her mouth with her hand. “I’ll be next door. Call me when you want me.”

  Miriam looked first at Master Titus, then at Mistress Claudia, then back at the master. The set of his mouth was grim, his eyes deadly serious. Something was wrong, dreadfully wrong.

  Mistress headed for the door, but she patted the master’s arm as she passed.

  He offered his hands. “Stand up, Miriam. I have something to tell you.”

  She took both his hands and stood, keeping her weight off her sprained ankle. What could be so serious that he wanted her to stand? She swallowed hard.

  “Claudia and I have a problem. I own you, but we both want you. She wants you as her companion. I want you as my cook. There is one thing we agree on, however. We both want you to be her sister. I see only one solution that will satisfy us both so...”

  Sadness wrapped around her heart as she waited for the master to decree her fate. No matter what he decided to do with her, she would no longer be spending every day with one of the two people she loved.