by Alex C Vick
Who are you?
It was the lady herself, Julia Felix. Looking admirably composed, given her slave was kissing a strange boy dressed in black, whose force field was lighting up the entire walkway.
“Ego sum amicus Claudia.”
I am Claudia’s friend.
I hadn’t actually answered her question. But she’s not getting any more information than that.
I reached under my shirt for the cloth filled with gold. It really was incredibly heavy. Such an inconvenient way to transport credit, compared to the Exchange Station.
Each coin now resembled a Roman aureus, engraved with a likeness of the current emperor. I had made more than enough for one slave to buy her freedom.
The Harmony Spell embedded in the coins added an extra glimmer to the gold. I could see it as Julia unwrapped the cloth. I was taking no chances.
She looked astonished, and then a smile appeared on her lips. I raised my eyebrows in a silent question, and she nodded.
“Satis?” I said, checking. Enough?
“Satis superque,” she replied. More than enough.
I linked my fingers with Claudia’s, and, just like that, we walked away.
Chapter 17 - Marriage
“Quid nunc?” she asked me. What now?
I laughed. “You asked me that before. In the garden. When we first used the Communication Spell. When you agreed to marry me…”
Her cross expression finally registered. Even if I hadn’t been speaking the wrong language, she obviously had no memory of an event that hadn’t happened to her yet.
“Galen. Non intellego.”
I apologised and suggested we walk along Via dell’Abbondanza to the arena. I said I had something to show her.
When we got there, I turned into one of the access corridors, pulling her into the shadows so the people walking past could not see.
I held my hand between us and projected my force field so my palm glowed silver. I asked her to do the same.
“Mihi crede?” I asked. Trust me?
She nodded.
I turned the silver magic dark blue with the Communication Spell, then put my hand onto hers.
I wrapped my other arm around her waist, knowing she would try to pull away when her memories were torn into the open. She twisted her shoulders, leaning back, but the spell held us together.
“Claudia, Claudia…” I said gently. Silently.
“Galen, that was horrible. I don’t know what you thought you were doing…”
She paused. I felt her disbelief and then her hope.
“Am I talking to you right now? Do you understand me?”
I repeated what I had told her before, about how amazing I thought she was, and her happiness swept away the last of my doubts.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.”
“It’s not a dream. Unless life is a dream. In which case, what does it matter?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Will you marry me, Claudia? You said yes the last time, but—”
“Marry you? Galen, you don’t need to marry me. You bought me, you own me.”
I was so horrified, I couldn’t answer her at first.
“No, no, no! I bought your freedom. I didn’t buy you.”
Her emotions came through the spell. So many, and so mixed up, I couldn’t read them.
“Claudia, you can walk away right now if you want to. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Is that what you want?”
I let my anxiety speak for me. No, that’s the last thing I want. But I had spoken the truth. It had to be her choice to stay.
“Well… you’ll have to work on your kissing if you want me to marry you.”
“What?”
“Yes, it’s terrible.”
For a few seconds, I thought I was actually going to die of embarrassment.
“The problem is you don’t kiss me nearly often enough…”
She was grinning. It’s a joke. I was torn between relief and exasperation.
“Funny. Very funny.”
She giggled at my expression.
The longer we talked this way, inside our heads, the more normal it felt.
“I like the way you kiss,” she whispered.
She closed her eyes and pressed her mouth softly against mine.
I returned the kiss carefully. It would be so easy to lose myself again.
“Again?” she asked, breaking the kiss. “Wait a minute, you said I agreed to marry you last time. What did you mean by that?”
So I showed her my memory of what had happened before.
“But how is that possible? How…?”
I kept on going, sharing the highlights of my life since I had last seen her. When she saw what had become of Pompeii after the mountain exploded, she was incredulous.
“No, Galen, it can’t be…”
“It can. It’s already happened.”
I continued until the moment she had seen me today. Now she was pulling back from me.
“Claudia, don’t… If you take your hand away, I won’t be able to talk to you properly.”
“But… you can’t give up Androva! Your entire life, Galen! I’m not worth it!”
I tried to stay calm. The panic she was feeling was nothing compared to my own fear of losing her.
“No, you’ve got it the wrong way round,” I said gently. “It’s the rest that’s not worth it. I’ve already tried living without you. And I hated it.”
I leaned closer to her until our foreheads were touching.
“I have no regrets. And I promise you I never will.”
She was calming down. Thank Androva. Although, I suppose I should start thanking one of the Roman gods, now that I’m a Terran.
“You’re not a Terran,” she said.
“No? What am I then?”
She hesitated. Then I caught the edge of her words. Something about different worlds, the stars, and my Sygnus…
“What? I’m your star boy? Is that what you call me?”
I laughed.
She was mortified.
“You weren’t supposed to know that.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help hearing it. Anyway, I don’t mind.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I think it’s cute.”
Her cheeks were still red.
“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.”
“Serves you right for criticising my kissing.”
The corridor was starting to get busier as preparations for that day’s arena entertainment increased. We decided to rent a room to stay in Pompeii for two more days. I wanted to arrange our marriage while we were still in Roma, where I understood the customs.
Of course, neither of us had any family to carry out the formalities, so this would be a contract just between us. More like a statement of intent than the joining of two Roman houses.
But we could have a blessing in one of the temples, and more importantly, Roman law would not allow either of us to marry anyone else. We’d belong to each other.
I removed another aureus, from my boot this time, to secure the room. Because I was getting increasingly curious looks about the way I was dressed, we went to a clothing merchant next.
I had no choice but to buy a tunic. It was like wearing fresh air compared to what I was used to. Very disconcerting. Claudia chose a different dress for herself, in a finer material than she had worn as a slave.
I had been surprised when I first noticed that slaves dressed so similarly to their masters. However, as I spent more time in Pompeii, I understood it was better for the Romans if the slaves didn’t know how great their own numbers were. If they rose up together to fight, they might win.
I held Claudia’s hand behind my back as we waited for the merchant to wrap our purchases. It was getting easier and easier for us to project the spell.
“We have to go and live somewhere on Terra where they dress better.”
&n
bsp; “At least I’m not making you dress like a gladiator. That tunic is actually quite modest by Roma standards.”
We ate at the thermopolium downstairs from our room. I loved being with Claudia out in the open, free from the Council’s rules and Nico’s threats.
I refused to go to the Thermae, showing Claudia the Cleaning Spell instead. She did the spell over and over, until eventually I grabbed her hand.
“You’re clean,” I said. “Stop! You’re cleaner than the sky after a rainstorm.”
“That’s it,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like I’ve been washed by the weather. Rain that’s soft as silk. Wet, but dry. The slow warmth of a sunrise. A breeze like feathers. It’s incredible.”
“Well,” I said, “it certainly beats the Thermae. I’ll never understand the way Terra uses magic.”
Her smile faded.
“To win wars. To build great cities. To enforce the law. To capture slaves.”
“Yes, I suppose so. It is a shame.”
We slept holding hands. In the early hours of the morning, I woke from a terrible nightmare. Nico had found the Signature Symbols and come to Pompeii. He’d brought the Council with him.
They took me back. They removed Claudia’s recent memories and condemned her to perish in the fire of the mountain. I was put on trial.
“And so, it is the verdict of us all that you should suffer the Spell of Removal.”
I was shouting and fighting them.
“Galen, Galen!”
Claudia’s voice. What is she doing in the Assembly Rooms?
“Galen, bene est, bene est, sum hic.” It’s alright, it’s alright, I’m here.
My eyes opened. I was still in the rented room. Claudia was next to me. Dawn was lightening the sky outside. I was out of breath, the terror receding slowly.
I gathered my thoughts and took her hand.
“After we’re married, we’ll find somewhere to go. I’ll open a portal. But then I’m coming back here to wait. One week, until the last two Signature Symbols in that book have passed.”
“But Galen… you just had a bad dream. That’s all. You told me yourself, Nico won’t remember.”
“I need to know. I need to know they didn’t figure out the time travel. Otherwise I’ll be checking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
She could not change my mind, no matter how hard she tried.
“Anyway,” I added, “I might be able to convince some more people to leave Pompeii before the mountain destroys it.”
This she agreed with. She said even though I had no social standing as a stranger in Pompeii, I should still be able to influence people.
“Because I’m not an ex-slave, I suppose?”
“No. Because you’re not a girl.”
She was very matter-of-fact.
“Not a…? Oh, right,” I said, a bit uncertain. I knew about the inequality, obviously, but had never discussed it with Claudia. Her tone sounded as if she were fine with it.
“Roma does not consider us your equal. You must have noticed,” she went on.
“No, I have, it’s just… Don’t you mind? Androva’s not like that, in case you were wondering.”
She grinned.
“Don’t worry, I could tell. The people of Gaul weren’t like that either. And I mind, Galen. I mind about a lot of things. But pretending I don’t is a lot better than ending up in the arena.”
I was silent. I felt stupid. And slightly in awe of her.
“You can make it up to me,” she said teasingly. “Just do whatever I tell you for the rest of our lives.”
I smiled. I really did love her.
“Maybe I was going to do that anyway,” I said, and she laughed.
“Of course you were,” she said.
We were married that morning, and had our blessing in the Temple of Isis. Not only was Isis a goddess of marriage and magic, but the building of her temple in Pompeii had been paid for by a former slave. It seemed fitting to choose her as our imaginary protector.
Then we went to a house on the same street where Claudia had lived with Julia Felix. It was owned by a merchant called Octavius Quartio. Claudia knew one of the slaves who worked there very well.
On our way, the ground shook with what was to be the first of several tremors that week. I hated it. I held onto Claudia so tightly she complained I was hurting her.
As we began walking again, she said Octavius had been living in Pompeii when the earth shifted before, seventeen years ago. He often spoke of it, and how the gods had saved him from harm.
“You might be able to convince him,” she said. “Tell him you had a vision or something.”
I had to use a spell before he would give us the time of day, but as it turned out, he was predisposed to believe me, even without the magical influence. He feared that the gods, having saved him once, would not necessarily do so again.
Octavius was an older man, wanting a quiet life. His business was prosperous, and he had been considering selling it to one of his competitors so he could leave Pompeii and live in the country.
He generously offered us his house when I said I intended to stay. On condition I did not tell the purchaser of his business anything about Pompeii’s future until the deal was concluded. I was glad to agree.
We tried talking to Julia Felix. It went badly. I did not dare to use any spells because there were several other ladies and gentlemen with her.
They wore expressions of boredom, as was fashionable, wanting to appear as if they had seen everything before. But their eyes were sharp and on the lookout for any diversion.
At first, Julia laughed at us. Then she became suspicious, and finally angry.
We left, her threats ringing in our ears. She said I was a stranger in Pompeii, with no family connections, and no one to speak on my behalf if she accused me of deceiving her.
“Conati sumus,” I said. We tried.
After that, we made some tablets with warnings on them to leave at public places around Pompeii. Claudia spoke to as many people as she knew, but most of them thought it was a joke or a trick.
Then, it was the night before the first Signature Symbol. To begin with I had wanted Claudia to wait for me far away, somewhere on the other side of Terra. I knew how to calculate the coordinates to many different places.
Her counterargument was short and logical. She should stay in Roma. Not only did she know the language and the customs, but we could also be sure no natural disasters had befallen the capital city.
There was only a chance in ten thousand that she would meet Nico. And he did not know what she looked like, even if we were to be so freakishly unlucky.
I had to agree. I opened the portal, and I felt her amazement through the Communication Spell when we stepped into it. As soon as she was settled in another rented room, I made her a Portal Remedy and returned to Pompeii. I did not want to leave the portal open for longer than necessary.
I promised to return in two days, once I was sure no Androvan had used either Signature Symbol.
I gave her all the gold I had left. She refused to discuss what she would do if I did not return.
“You’ll come back, Galen, I know you will. It was only a bad dream. If I had my way, I’d be staying in Pompeii with you.”
“No. In this instance, we are stronger apart. If I know you are safe, I can handle anything. Please, Claudia. Just let me do this.”
She kissed me fiercely, putting her hands around my neck.
“Biduum,” she said, stepping back. Two days.
After I had returned to the merchant’s villa, I stayed up half the night wondering if I were doing the right thing. Three times I started opening a portal to return to her, then changed my mind.
It was nearly dawn when I finally got to sleep. On waking, I realised I had overslept. I left for Julia’s villa at a run, to the room where I knew the silk trade was taking place.
I was going to miss it. My stupid Roman sandals nearly tripped me up. When I got there,
the room was empty.
Except it wasn’t. I detected two Invisibility Spells. I was terrified. This is actually happening. They’ve found me.
Chapter 18 - Jax And Shannon
“Show yourselves!”
Nothing. I repeated the words. I knew my voice probably sounded as desperate as I felt. I projected my force field in readiness, trying to decide which spell combination to create.
All of a sudden, two magicians appeared. A boy and a girl. They looked like third years. For a second, I thought how sneaky the Council were being. Nico would know my spell combinations didn’t work against underage magicians.
The boy had black hair and rather startling green eyes, which were staring straight at me. The girl had long brown hair, which was impossibly straight. Her eyes were brown, and she was wearing the most extraordinary shirt I’d ever seen. The colours, the writing…
“Who are you?” asked the boy.
“I won’t go back! You can’t make me!” I blurted out. Then I realised what he’d said. Doesn’t he even know who I am?
“Galen?” said the girl hesitantly, sounding like she didn’t believe it.
There was something very strange going on here. They looked… odd. And they weren’t behaving as if they were trying to trap me. The way she is dressed…
“Your clothes,” I said abruptly. “What year are you from?”
The boy answered.
“On Androva, it is the year eight thousand and ten.”
The relief was overwhelming. I had to sit down. We’re safe! Claudia and I, we’re safe! Eight thousand and ten is two thousand years after my time. This boy and girl are nothing to do with me.
“It’s alright,” I said out loud, wanting to laugh. “The book stayed hidden for long enough.”
I couldn’t wait to tell Claudia.
“What do you mean? Why don’t you want to be found?” asked the boy. “You are Galen, I presume?”
I looked up. I’d almost forgotten about him and the girl.
“I am,” I told him. “But I don’t understand why you are here. In your time, it has been nearly two thousand years since I left. Surely another magician has discovered how to do it by now.”
As far as I was concerned, the only possible explanation was that they were on some kind of treasure hunt for the Communication Spell. A couple of stupid third years with more ability than sense.