by Andromeda -
“She…she was shot with an arrow,” one of the women said, as all turned to see what Ayanna now saw.
Kaiser carefully let his lover go, and reached inside the carriage to take Damali’s body out for all to see.
“She died protecting us,” Aurora said softly to Ayanna. “Even with the arrow in her chest…she tried to fight as best as she could until she couldn’t anymore. We rode as fast as we could, as hard as we could, but in the end, it could not be helped. She died a hero, Ayanna.”
Ayanna could not stop the tears that were pouring down her cheeks, the wails that poured from her mouth, the pounding of her fists upon the dirt. She looked like a mad woman, crying out, tossing ashes on her head in the traditional way of mourning in Kush. But, they let her cry. They knew she needed it.
Opening her mouth, she began to sing the mourning song as Barack appeared, helping her up and leading her into the house as her being under the hot sun was not healthy for both her and the unborn.
But as she laid on her bed, remembering all the times she and Damali shared, a feeling began to bubble within her. A feeling she hadn’t felt before. Yet, it was strong, and she understood it as clear as a diamond.
Revenge.
Chapter Twenty
“We shouldn’t disturb her,” Kaiser said firmly. “She just stopped crying all night.”
“Kaiser, she needs to be there at the funeral,” Artemus said softly. “She will hate us if we buried her and she wasn’t a part of the ceremonies.”
Kaiser frowned, but reluctantly, he walked into their bedchamber and carefully approached the bed. “Bärchen,” he said gently. “It’s time.”
“Leave me alone,” Ayanna said darkly from where she lay. “I do not wish to be disturbed.”
He did not.
Instead, Kaiser crawled onto the bed and pulled her close to him, his arms wrapping securely around her. She tried to pull away, but he just held her tighter, a hand wandering down to rub her full belly tenderly.
“I know how you feel,” he said tenderly. “You think I do not, but I do. Aleron was taken from me, too, do you remember? He was taken from me, by Rome, when all he wanted was freedom. I did not know Damali well, but I do know that she must have loved you and would hate for you to be this way. You are carrying a child, Bärchen. This is not healthy for either of you. Rome will pay.”
“Yes,” she said softly, “they will. Unlike ever before.”
“We have to perform the proper funeral rites,” Kaiser said, “and we cannot do it without you.”
Ayanna knew he was right, but her heart felt so heavy all she felt emotionally was pain. But of course, Kaiser was right. Damali would not be able to pass into the land of the dead without the proper rites. So, she rose from the bed and went to work in cleaning herself up. Kaiser helped, and they both draped themselves in dark clothing, before walking to the courtyard where everyone was gathered.
Many whispered their condolences to her, but she did not hear them. All she could see in the center of the courtyard was the funeral pyre where Damali’s body was wrapped and ready.
Since she was the closest thing Damali had to family, she placed the two coins on her eyes to pay passage into the land of the dead. Then, she bent over and kissed her forehead, then her lips before she pulled away.
“You are now free,” Ayanna whispered softly, as she took the torch that Artemus held out to her and thrust it forward.
Instantly, the bundled faggots burst into flames, and the body was engulfed. She stepped back, and Kaiser wrapped his arms once against around her, as they watched Damali’s body slowly disappear in the flames.
✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
The emperor was enraged.
When word reached him of Aurora’s ‘kidnapping’, he ordered Cornelius to return home and answer for what was going on. Before the young Roman could cross the floor, his father was upon him, punching and swearing.
“You let some bloody slaves get the best of you?!” he roared. “They are slaves!”
“Please, Father!” Cornelius begged. “It…it was a group of women and—”
The emperor cut him off by a strong punch to the mouth. “Even worse! Do you know how this looks? The great and mighty Rome cannot handle a small group of runaway slaves! Our allies and enemies must be laughing at us!”
“I…I think I know where they are located!” Cornelius burst out.
The emperor’s fists stopped. “Explain.”
Cornelius wiped blood from his nose. “When they escaped, we sent some scouts after them. Almost all of them were killed except for one, who was found on the brink of death!”
“And what did he say?” the emperor demanded.
“He said he knew of a villa, one deep within the forests, that they thought was abandoned!” Cornelius explained.
The emperor pulled away to think. It was a stretch, a very long stretch, but it just might be the key they could use to end this petty war once and for all. He turned to a slave, who stood nearby. “Fetch my generals,” he ordered, “and then summon the senators. The end for these rebels is nearing.”
He looked to where Cornelius was trying to stand up with clear distaste. “And you,” he said darkly, “you are going to sit in on the meetings. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Aurora was born the boy, and you the girl.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Artemus groaned as he poured into Aurora. Panting heavily, the Greek rolled onto his side, his body covered with sweat. Aurora wiped her brow, but sat up and looked down at her lover.
“Again,” she said.
Artemus opened a lazy eye. “Are you trying to kill me? We have been at it non-stop for hours. I need a rest.”
Aurora pouted in a way that only came from one who was used to having her way. “I said, again.”
“And I said, let me rest,” he repeated with a light chuckle. “Then, we can go as long as you wish.”
She sighed. “It’s just been so long… I never thought I’d ever have this.”
“Have what?” he asked.
“Freedom,” she said. “You. Your son.”
“Our son,” he corrected her, as he looked to the small bed where their son laid asleep. “He is our son.”
“He looks so much like you,” she said softly. “Every day, when I was in Rome, all I could think about was him. If he’d grow up and remember me.”
“Of course he would,” he said firmly. “I have told him about you every night, every day. He knows who his mother is.”
“It tore me apart…to send him away,” she said. “But, I knew I had to. My father would have made me get rid of him if I didn’t. And if I married…the man would have killed him.”
A muscle jerked in Artemus’ cheek. “No one would lay their hands on our son.”
“And I would have killed him if he had tried,” she assured him. “But oh, how good it feels to be in your arms, to see him again. He’s grown so big…”
She had been with the escapees for almost a week now, since Damali’s funeral, and she did not know her place. While she knew no one would dare touch her, Aurora knew most of the freed slaves saw her as a Roman, one of their former master’s. To them, she was an outsider who might turn them in at any moment.
Aurora, of course, knew she would not, but they looked at her sometimes with such anger, she kept to stay in her chambers, only having to come out if she was hungry. She quickly fell into a routine here, though, of course, it quickly became quite boring to her as all she could do was read.
What she did love, most of all, was spending time with her son.
At first, little Eryx was shy, and a bit standoffish, as he did not know fully who she was. But slowly, he warmed to her, and it made her heart melt whenever those large brown eyes would light up when he saw her.
He was learning to speak Greek, as Artemus was teaching him, and Aurora was grateful she could speak it as well. In Rome, everyone spoke Latin, but only the elite spoke both Greek and Latin to show they were highly
educated.
Slowly, she began to make a bond with her son, and every day, every hour, every moment she was with him made her feel like a mother. She had the child she had bore in her arms again, and never was she going to let him go.
✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
It was a dark and stormy night the night Kaiser burst into Artemus’ and Aurora’s bedchamber. He was sweating, his eyes wide with worry and he kept looking from Artemus to Aurora, back to Artemus, back to Aurora.
“What’s going on?” Artemus asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s happening,” Kaiser said. “It’s Ayanna! She’s…well, she’s…”
Aurora knew what he was going to say before the words ever left his lips. She scrambled from under the covers and pulled on her clothes. Her heart thudded in her chest as she ran down the halls, following the cries of pain and women cooing encouraging words. When she burst into the bedchamber, she saw Ayanna laying on the bed, her legs spread wide as several women buzzed around her like bees.
“Wow,” Aurora said with a playful smile. “All these years, and I didn’t know you could yell that loud.”
“That’s not funny!” Ayanna cried as she panted. “It hurts…everywhere!”
“I know,” Aurora said with a soft smile, as she walked to the bed and tenderly caressed her cheek. “But, now it’s your turn to do what I did. To become a mother.”
Ayanna panted as she groaned, her back arching. “How can something so pleasureful, end up to be something so painful?”
“It’s the way of life,” Aurora chuckled. “Now, I am right here with you. The same way you were with me. Come on, Ayanna, you can do it.”
“When I count to three, I want you to push,” one of the women, clearly the head midwife, ordered Ayanna. “Alright? One. Two. Three!”
Ayanna tucked under her chin and pushed with all her might. Perspiration beaded upon her brow as she felt something large move within her. She did not know what it was, but she continued to push, but after several moments, she fell back, panting heavily.
“Good job,” Aurora said with a smile, “but you’re not done yet. I can see the head, but come on, Ayanna, you have to do it again.”
“I can’t…,” Ayanna said weakly. “It hurts…too much…”
Aurora frowned, and then decided to play her weakness: her pride. “Are you telling me you can’t do this? You said you could do anything. You, who have beaten Rome back not once, but twice? You, who have escaped the palace of the emperor?”
It had the wanted effect, and Ayanna sat up straighter, her head was held higher. “I’m not saying that,” she said.
“Then prove it to me,” Aurora said encouragingly. “Give birth to this child, and be the mother I know you can be.”
Ayanna nodded and looked to the women. “I am ready.”
Tucking in her chin, she began to push as the women counted aloud. Aurora looked down, and slowly, she saw a dark head appear, followed by shoulders, and then a body, and then legs. The cord was quickly cut and the newborn threw her head back and screamed out to the heavens, announcing its arrival to the world.
“A girl,” Aurora said with a smile. “You have a little girl.”
Ayanna smiled weakly, but she was in too much pain to celebrate. There was another heaviness between her legs, and one of the midwives gasped as another dark head appeared. Aurora pushed her way forward and caught the newborn boy, who, too, screamed his arrival to his brave new world.
“Twins,” one of the midwives said with a smile. “You have twins!”
“A beautiful girl, and a handsome boy,” Aurora said to Ayanna.
They bathed her tenderly before packing her womb, then placing her onto the bed. With a smile, they handed the newly washed babies in their mother’s arms. Instantly, at the feel of her skin, they began nuzzling her chest, looking for her breast to nurse upon. Ayanna was more than happy to comply.
✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Kaiser, who had stood outside the entire time with Artemus, was finally allowed to see Ayanna. When he rushed inside and saw the two children nursing upon her breasts, he stopped quickly at the door. Artemus, who was behind him, saw the twins too and he smiled at his friend.
“Well done!” he said, as he gave him a slap on the back in congratulations. “Two for one!”
“Artemus, be silent,” Aurora chided him as she sat next to Ayanna, “before I cut out your tongue.”
“Then I won’t be able to use it on you anymore,” he said with a smirk.
“Enough, you two,” Ayanna chuckled. “I want to speak with Kaiser a moment, please. Alone.”
Artemus and Aurora nodded and left, though Kaiser was still frozen at the doorway. Ayanna smiled at his awe-struck face, and waved for him to come closer, which he did, very slowly. The babes nursed as if they were starving men, though their son seemed to slowly be falling asleep, while their daughter was wide awake, her blue eyes staring right at him.
“Wow,” he said softly. “She’s looking at me as if she knows me.”
“She does know you,” Ayanna said with a smile. “You’re her father, remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, with a nervous chuckle. “Can I, erm…well…”
“Want to hold one?” she offered him.
“Y…yes…,” he said softly, with a smile.
Ayanna carefully unbroke the suction for both babies and cleaned their mouths. Though their son was silent and went right to sleep, their daughter fussed, bursting into tears almost instantly and began to scream in protest. Ayanna cooed gently and wrapped her up, rocking her a moment before she nodded for Kaiser to approach.
“Like this,” she instructed him. “Hold the head, yes, like that.”
Kaiser tried his best to copy what she did, but truthfully, he felt awkward. He was used to carrying weapons and shields, yet at that moment, never did he feel more vulnerable. This large man felt totally stripped down to the core of his being as he looked into the blue eyes of his daughter.
She had light brown hair that looked like it would grow to be red-gold, yet curly like her mother’s, not straight like his own. Her skin was a light brown, though he figured it would get darker as she grew with age. But what struck him the most was her eyes. Those deep, dark blue eyes that seemed to reach into his very soul, his very being. Never had he seen eyes like she had before.
He felt strange, this large man, holding this tiny baby in his hands who was the most innocent thing in the world. He could feel her tiny bones, how fragile she was, and he took great care to make sure he did not hurt her. Slowly, she began to quiet down, until the only noise in the room was the soft crackle of the fire in the fireplace that was in the corner of the chamber.
“What are you going to name her?” Kaiser asked. “And our son?”
“I was going to ask you,” Ayanna said. “Naming the children is normally what the father does.”
Kaiser looked to their son, who was sleeping peacefully in his mother’s arms. “Bo,” he answered, “for our son. And for our daughter…” He turned back to the small girl in his arms, who continued to look into his soul. “Alina.”
“Alina and Bo it is then,” Ayanna said with a smile. “I hope you are happy, my love.”
“I am more than happy,” Kaiser said firmly, as he walked to the window with the babe in his arms, looking out at the moon. “But I have been thinking.”
“About what?” Ayanna asked.
“About you, about us, about Rome…but most of all about our children,” he confessed.
“Can you tell me?” she asked.
“We are going to leave this territory,” Kaiser said, “and return to Germania, all of us. The slaves we have freed and more.”
She blinked. “W…what? You are running away? What about Rome? What about our revenge?”
Kaiser shook his head. “You misunderstand me. We are not running away, we are just retreating so we can have a future and plan. I believe the time has come that we make allies with other Germanic tribes
, and not just them, but the Britons as well. The time has come for us to plan, and we will take the fight to Rome herself.”
“I…I don’t understand…,” Ayanna said, unsure.
“We are going to form an army of all of Rome’s enemies,” he explained. “Briton. Germanic. Greek. African and more. We are going to do this so that no child, especially ours, will ever fear the cruelty of Rome ever in their lives. Together we will fight, and in the end, there is only one fate for Rome: it is going to burn.”
Sneak Peek
Rome is in chaos.
The threat of Kaiser, Ayanna and their rebels is heavy upon them, with their numbers growing every day.
Though they are not in Roman territory anymore, they know their families are not safe unless the empire promises to eternally leave them alone.
But they know Rome would never accept it.
The time for negations is over.
Now is the time for anger.
Now is the time for hate.
Blood will be spilled and fire shall rain from the sky, as the weak shall fall,
and out of the ashes, a new dynasty, a new empire, shall rise.
Kaiser and Ayanna have sent their message to Rome, a message that will make the blood of all who try to oppose them turn icy with fear.
Burn…
Author’s Note
Andromeda was born in the Bay Area of California and spent much of her childhood in both the Westcoast as well as the Southeast state of Georgia. She was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.
Because she wasn’t that open to other humans, young Andromeda would turn to books, reading at an early age, and was always found with a pile of books near her person. Her imagination grew because of her reading ability and she began to tell stories to her friends and families. Her mother always told her her dreams were as numerous as the stars and she later took it, along with the first name, Andromeda, to make her current pen name.