“Take your time.”
Antonius watched her gather her things together, going to her mother and hugging her. A gash on her forehead was surrounded by a huge purple bruise, and Antonius winced involuntarily.
“Are you sure you are recovered?”
Sara came to stand before Antonius, her head bowed. “Yes, Tribune.”
Antonius felt irritation rising in him. She had called him Antonius before, had even told him he was handsome, now here she was, back to calling him Tribune. Perhaps it was her mother’s presence, or perhaps she had been told of her words to him and now was embarrassed by them.
He handed her into the chariot as Jubal came from the side of the house. Jubal’s eyes went from one to the other before coming back to Sara. “Take care, Sara.”
She smiled back at him. “And you.”
Antonius walked back to Jubal and held out a small leather pouch. Jubal looked at him questioningly even as his hand reached for it.
“For you,” Antonius told him before turning on his heel and rejoining Sara in the chariot. Wrapping his arms securely around her, he lifted the reins, slapping them against the horse.
Sara felt almost glad to be returning. She had missed Diana, but she had missed Antonius more. She could feel his tenseness and knew that something was wrong. He had been almost cold. Distant. Was it something she had done?
“Diana is missing,” he told her without emotion.
Turning her head sharply, Sara stared at him in surprise. “How? When?”
“The day I came to get you. You know nothing of this?” His blue eyes showed his uncertainty.
She shook her head. “No, Tribune.” Turning back to the front of the chariot, Sara offered a silent prayer for Diana’s safety. She turned back to Antonius.
“Have you looked for her?” she asked and then realized what a foolish question that was.
“Sara,” Antonius told her softly. “Diana ran away from marrying Flavius.”
“Oh.” Sara saw they were rapidly approaching the city, and her mind was trying to think quickly what to do. Had Diana gone to fellow Christians to hide out? They would have understood her plight and been willing to help her. Antonius must be hurting abominably. He loved Diana. But then why would he try to force her into marriage? It didn’t make sense.
When they arrived at the villa, Antonius handed her down. “You are free to do as you please until I can find Diana. I’ll be in the bibliotheca if you need me.”
Turning, he strode away. Sara watched him go with some misgiving. He was hurt, but he was angry, too. She went inside only to find the whole villa in a state of mourning. Everyone loved Diana, and everyone was concerned.
Deciding to see if what she had supposed was correct, Sara took a cape and slipped out the side gate. So intent was she on her mission that she failed to notice the figures who slipped out behind her. Hurrying through the streets, she came to the rundown section of the city. She went to the apartment that she had been to so many times with Decimus. Knocking gently, she went inside.
“Sara!” Diana ran to her, throwing her arms around Sara and hugging her tightly. Tears flowed freely from both of their faces.
“Diana! Antonius is worried about you.”
Diana drew back slightly, her eyes filling again with tears. “I know. I’m sorry, but I had to leave. I couldn’t go through with it.”
“What happened? I knew you were supposed to marry Flavius, but I didn’t think you would run away.”
Taking her by the hand, Diana pulled her over and had Sara sit near the window. Facing the room, Sara smiled at General Titus and his wife, Callista.
“Welcome, Sara,” General Titus told her, handing her a cup of posca. Sara took the watered wine and smiled her thanks, turning back to Diana.
“You have been here all this time?”
Diana nodded, dropping her hands to her lap. “Antonius must want to kill me.”
Sara sighed. “I don’t know about that, but when he brought me home today, he was very quiet. More so than usual.”
Diana and Sara exchanged stories when General Titus and his wife left the room. That Diana was miserable was obvious, though she tried not to show it. Her lovely blue eyes were dulled with worry. Sara wondered why Antonius had sent her away when he was planning Diana’s wedding. Did he think she would try to stop it?
Someone knocked on the door, and Callista went to answer it. Sara and Diana smiled at each other. General Titus was a kind and helpful man. Many people found their way to his door, and he helped them all, even if it meant giving them his last denarius. Diana had been only one of many.
Callista opened the door, her breath drawing in sharply in surprise. Diana and Sara rose quickly to their feet, only to find themselves staring into Antonius’s cold blue eyes. Sara realized then that he must have followed her here. Flavius stood to his side and slightly behind him. Seeing Diana, he pushed past Antonius and came to stand before her.
“Why?”
The one word held such a wealth of hurt that Sara felt her throat close tightly. She looked past Flavius to Antonius. He was so unmoving, his face revealing nothing.
General Titus came back into the room, stopping in midstride. His eyes widened in surprise and then filled with welcome. “Antonius! It’s been years!”
Antonius felt some of his anger evaporate. Christian or no, this man had at one time been like a father to him, and Antonius had loved and respected him. Glancing around at the tenement apartment, clean but so obviously a hovel, Antonius felt Rome’s betrayal of one of her best, due to this same pagan religion that Sara embraced.
“General Titus,” he acknowledged. “I’ve come to fetch my sister.”
There was silence in the room until Diana finally broke it. “I’ll get my things,” she said softly to no one in particular.
“I’ll come with you.” Flavius followed her from the room.
Feeling uncomfortable, Sara turned away from Antonius’s dark perusal. She went to Callista and hugged her. “Thank you.” Looking into her eyes, Callista knew that Sara wanted to say more, but something held her back. She gazed over Sara’s shoulder at Antonius and raised her brows but said nothing. Turning to her husband, she said, “Should you not offer Antonius some posca?”
“Thank you, but I haven’t time,” he told her softly.
Callista stared at him, her lips tilting up in humor. “It may be some time before your sister returns,” she told him.
Antonius looked over her shoulder to the hallway where his sister and Flavius had disappeared. He could hear what amounted to a heated argument, and his eyes came back to Callista’s face. His lips quirked in humor. “You could be right.”
“Come in then and have a seat, boy,” the general told him. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Antonius sat in the seat indicated, motioning for Sara to sit beside him. Reluctantly Sara did as she was bidden. She was very aware of Antonius and the arm he draped over the couch behind her.
“I understand you’ve become a Christian?” Antonius cut right to the heart of the matter. He respected this man more than he had any other, save his father. His question invited an explanation.
General Titus explained how his conversion had come about. His eyes gleamed intensely as he focused his attention on Antonius. “I have never seen anything like it before or since. The sun refused to shine for three hours. The earth shook, and rocks were split apart everywhere.”
The words so softly spoken caused a chill to race down Antonius’s spine. If anyone else had told him such a thing, he would have scoffed, but not at this man. Antonius knew him too well.
“You were in Jerusalem when this happened?”
“Yes. I was there with my soldiers to help still the threat of insurrection. But God had other plans for my life.”
“Does this God have a name?” Antonius inquired, impressed despite himself.
“Some call him Jehovah. Some, El Shaddai. There are many names for Him,” the general to
ld him.
“Like Zeus and Jupiter?” Antonius asked skeptically.
General Titus laughed. “No, my friend. Each of His names means something special in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. His names explain who He is at certain times. Sometimes He’s the Father chastising His children, sometimes the Judge passing sentence.”
Antonius nodded in understanding. “I see.”
Sara looked at him in surprise, because it sounded as though he really did understand. Her heart began to beat harder. Could he possibly understand it all? Please, God, let him believe.
Diana and Flavius entered the room, and Antonius noted the defeat etched across his friend’s face, his shoulders slumped in dejection. Diana was being stubborn, no doubt. His lips thinned in anger. He would handle this matter at home.
Getting to his feet, Antonius pulled Sara swiftly to hers. Placing a hand on the small of her back, he propelled her toward the door.
Diana turned at the door, tears in her eyes. “Thank you for taking me in. May God bless you.” Turning, she fled outside.
As the general and his wife watched the four walk away, General Titus turned to his wife. “Come, Callista. I think we have some heavy praying to do.”
Chapter 14
Antonius watched his sister and Flavius out the window of the bibliotheca, tempted to intervene. The same scenario had been performed for the last two weeks. Every day, Flavius came to see Diana, and within a short period of time, they were in a heated argument. Then Flavius would leave, only to return the next day and try again.
Shaking his head, Antonius decided not to interfere. This was something they had to work out for themselves. After talking with Diana, Antonius realized how distraught she was over the thought of marrying a man who didn’t share her faith. He had finally granted permission for her to decline the marriage. It had been hard to do. Flavius had been extremely hurt. He had refused to give up, and Diana loved him enough to try to win him to her way of thinking.
Diana was vociferously arguing her cause when Flavius suddenly swooped forward and kissed her on her surprised mouth. Color flew to Diana’s cheeks, and Antonius had to grin. Atta boy, Flavius. Keep her off balance.
Antonius turned at a sound from the doorway. Sara stopped on the threshold and stared at him questioningly. He felt his heart squeeze within him. This was something else that was going to be hard to do.
“You wished to see me, Tribune?”
“Come in, Sara.” Antonius motioned her forward. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.” His eyes roved over her, taking in the colorful yellow tunic she wore. She looked like a butterfly in the sunshine.
Sara felt her heart start to pound. What had she done to cause such a look on Antonius’s face? Something was terribly wrong, and she had no idea what it could possibly be.
Antonius couldn’t bring himself to look Sara in the face, so he busied himself rolling up scrolls and putting them away in their cubicles. With his back to her, he leaned heavily against the carved desk. “Sara,” he began reluctantly, and Sara became more concerned. She had never seen him so unsure of himself.
Sighing, he turned to face her, leaning back against the desk. “I’ve made inquiries to find out about your brother, Dathan. I had it in mind to have him set free.”
A smile spread across Sara’s face at the news, her heart suddenly filled with joy. Dathan coming home! The smile left her face as rapidly as it came. Antonius didn’t look pleased at all. “You couldn’t find him?” she asked hesitantly.
His eyes met hers briefly and quickly flicked away. He motioned her to a seat, coming to kneel in front of her when she slowly lowered herself into it.
Antonius licked suddenly dry lips, taking one of Sara’s hands in his own. He began to absently stroke her wrist with his fingers, not realizing the effect he was having on her.
“I only know of one way to tell you this,” he told her firmly, his eyes fully meeting hers for the first time.
“Dathan is dead,” he told her softly, his throat closing around the words. He felt her begin to tremble, her eyes growing wide with horror. Slowly she shook her head from side to side.
“No! It can’t be!”
Sara’s mind began to whirl with her confusing thoughts. Dathan dead! How was it possible? Surely God had a purpose for his life. He couldn’t die this young, he just couldn’t. Feelings of guilt overwhelmed her. She hadn’t been the kind of sister she should have been, and truth to tell, she had loved Decimus more than her own brother.
Now she could never make it up to him, never ask his forgiveness. She felt somehow to blame. Staring into the intense blue eyes in front of her, she felt her anger begin to boil. Hadn’t she told Antonius that Dathan was just a boy? He couldn’t be expected to survive such harsh conditions as the galleys.
Black anger clouded her reasoning as she continued to stare at Antonius. He was to blame. He was the one who had put these things into motion and brought such a disaster upon her brother.
“It’s your fault,” she told him tonelessly.
Antonius released her hands, drawing back at the pain she inflicted with her words. He had already fought with his own feelings of guilt, his own self-condemnation. But there was more that Sara needed to know. There was more to the story.
“Sara.”
“No!” Sara jumped to her feet, almost knocking him to the floor where he was still kneeling. When he reached out to her, she drew back sharply and stared at him with loathing. “You killed him. You murdered him!”
“Enough!”
“I hate you!” she gritted through clenched teeth.
Sara was beyond reasoning, beyond fear of retribution. Lifting her hand, she violated all the laws of Rome and struck her master a resounding blow across the cheek. Turning, she fled from the room.
Antonius stared after her in surprise, his hand covering his cheek, where a red mark was beginning to show. By all rights, Sara had forfeited her life with such an action. He could have her fed to the lions in the arena or even crucified if he so chose. He shuddered at such a possibility.
Although he was angry at Sara’s refusal to listen to his explanation, he understood her feelings. She had every right to accuse him. He hadn’t given any consideration to anyone’s feelings when he had taken Sara from her home and sent Dathan to the galleys. He hadn’t cared whom he hurt as long as he got his way. Just like Rome. The words echoed in his mind and left him no peace. He would give Sara time to recover, and then he would try again.
.
Sara paused outside the bibliotheca, suppressing the shudder that ran through her. Antonius had demanded her presence, and she thought she knew why. She had been foolish to slap him, and her rash action may have cost her her life. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room.
She was surprised to see Diana standing next to the desk where Antonius sat, her eyes full of compassion. Sara walked over and stood in front of Antonius, her head bowed respectfully.
Leaning across the table, Antonius laid a scroll in front of Sara. “Take it,” he commanded, remembering another time.
Sara lifted her eyes to his and saw his pain reflected there. What had he to be hurt about? Thinking the scroll her death sentence, her fingers trembled as they reached forward and clasped the document.
“Antonius is giving you your freedom, Sara,” Diana told her joyfully. “I’m going to miss you something fierce, but what he’s doing is right.”
Sara swallowed the knot in her throat. She didn’t care that he was freeing her or even that she wasn’t to be punished for her actions earlier. Only one thought stood out clearly in her mind. He was sending her away.
Diana wrapped Sara gently in her arms and hugged her close. “We won’t say good-bye, because I intend to see you again every time I get the chance. You must come to my wedding, also.”
Looking up, Sara questioned Diana with her eyes. Color filled Diana’s cheeks and made her look more beautiful than ever.
“Flavius is coming around to my
way of thinking. It may take some time, but I won’t give up. God is supreme, and His Word won’t come back empty, so Flavius doesn’t stand a chance. When that happens. . .then we’ll be married,” Diana finished softly.
Antonius got to his feet and came around the desk to stand beside them. He reached out a hand but let it drop to his side.
“Get your things together. We’ll leave for your home within the hour.”
Confused, Sara turned away. She had told him she hated him and had slapped his face. She had blamed him for the death of her brother and called him a murderer. And he was giving her her freedom. She had expected to be punished and, instead, had been rewarded. Isn’t that what was known as grace?
Her heart breaking, Sara gathered her things together while Diana chatted to her. What did she expect? She had been a servant, nothing more. She had been wrong when she thought Antonius cared for her. Maybe he had, just a little, but she had destroyed that with her thoughtless words.
Antonius helped Sara into the chariot after she and Diana hugged each other, clinging together as friends. He wrapped his arms firmly around her, taking up the reins.
“I’ll miss you,” Diana yelled as they drove away.
Tears that had been held back now struggled for release. Believing herself unobserved, Sara let them trickle in masses down her cheeks. She should be glad she was going home, and in a way she was, but her heart felt torn apart by her confusing feelings regarding Antonius. She blamed him for the death of her brother, and yet she couldn’t resolve that with the man she had come to know and love.
Antonius watched the tears wending their way down Sara’s cheeks and felt his chest constrict painfully. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her close, begging her forgiveness. But now wasn’t the time or the place, and he had things to settle with her parents. He prayed that they would listen before condemning him.
They reached Sara’s house as the sun was beginning to set. Lifting her down from the chariot, Antonius watched as she walked away, head held high. A smile twitched his lips. Stubborn to the end.
The Eagle And The Lamb (Truly Yours Digital Editions) Page 14