by Carol Ashby
Drusilla had been sitting quietly by her mother, but when Malleolus noticed her listening to their conversation, he motioned for her to come over. With a big smile, she hopped off her chair and settled on the couch beside him. He wrapped his arm around her, and she snuggled against him.
Her bright eyes locked on Hector. She hung on every word he spoke as he answered Malleolus’s questions. She was just like her aunt Claudia, as Malleolus claimed. Curious, smart―she would have gone far if she were a boy and had a chance to actually do something.
After several minutes discussing his ship, Hector rose. “I must leave you now. We’ll be casting off soon.”
Drusilla bit her lip as she looked up at him. “Captain?”
He looked down at hopeful eyes. “What, child?”
“Captain, is there somewhere I can watch everything as we leave? Someplace where I won’t get in the way of anybody? I would love to see what happens when we leave the pier and the sails go up.”
At first, he was going to tell her no, that she should just stay at the stern under the canopy with her mother. Then her eager eyes got to him. She looked so excited, as if getting to watch would be like a gift she’d been waiting for a long time.
“If you stay right beside me so you’ll be out of the way of the crew, you can watch from the cabin top.” He turned to Malleolus. “Will that be all right with her mother?”
He didn’t want to ask Cornelia himself.
A smile accompanied Malleolus’s nod. “If I say it’s all right, Cornelia will agree.”
Drusilla took Malleolus’s hand in both of hers. “I promise I’ll do exactly what the captain tells me if you’ll just let me watch.”
He rested his free hand on the side of her head. “You can go with the captain.”
Drusilla gave him a quick hug and stood, looking up expectantly at Hector.
“Up the ladder with you, child. I’ll be up in a moment.”
She scampered away to climb to the cabin top. Malleolus watched her, a smile playing on his lips, before turning back to Hector. “Thank you for letting her join you. She’s a special one. Too bad her father never bothered to find that out.”
Hector nodded once before heading to the ladder himself. Charissa had been a special one, too.
The ship was well out to sea. The weather was clear, and the wind was light, so the rocking of the boat was rather soothing.
Cornelia’s eyelids were heavy as she sat at the tiny table in front of the open window. The gentle sea breeze carried the faint scent of salt and freedom. She glanced at the bed beside her. Not a cloud-soft, thick mattress like she’d left behind, but she expected to sleep deeper than she had for many days.
Anthusa pulled out the sapphire-tipped pins holding the crown of curls on Cornelia’s head and placed the wig in its box. Pulling the rest of the gold pins released all the braids wrapped at the back of her head.
“I won’t be wearing that silly thing for a few weeks.” She ran her fingers through the hair that fell freely across her shoulders after Anthusa unbraided it. “And maybe not even after that.” Cornelia sighed. “It will be a relief to wear my hair more simply. I really don’t know why we all decided we had to spend so much time copying whatever style the Emperor’s wife likes.”
“You’ll look lovely, no matter how you wear your hair, mistress.”
Anthusa began slowly brushing her thick, lustrous tresses. The silver mirror from Cornelia’s dressing table at the estate stood on the table in front of her and reflected her smile to the loyal slave standing behind her.
“You and I both know that isn’t so anymore. I never was a pretty woman, even when I was young, and now...let’s just say I look old enough to have a twenty-four-year-old son.”
Anthusa continued brushing. “You have beautiful hair. And no one can deny how lovely your eyes are. Those don’t change as time passes.”
Cornelia turned to smile directly at the slave who had become her confidante and closest friend since Lucius bought her shortly after they married. That was twenty-five years ago, and Anthusa knew her better than anyone. She was the one person Cornelia could trust with the deepest concerns of her heart.
“I can always count on you to make me feel better, even if what you tell me isn’t exactly the truth. I could never leave you behind.”
“I’m glad you didn’t, mistress.”
She turned back to the mirror so Anthusa could continue with the brushing.
“I hope going to Thracia turns out to be the best thing for Drusilla. I’m sure Titus and Claudia will be glad to see us and will help us start over. I couldn’t let Lucius get Drusilla killed. That’s what would have happened if we’d stayed, but it’s still hard to leave everything and everyone behind. Except Malleolus and you, of course.”
She twisted to face Anthusa directly. “I made sure Malleolus specifically listed you as part of my dowry repayment so Lucius could never try to take you away.” She sighed deeply. “I just hope this all turns out well.”
The mistress’s words were like an embrace to Anthusa. To be that important to Mistress Cornelia was almost like freedom. All the slaves belonged to Master Lucius, and she shuddered to think what he might have done to her after he discovered Mistress had taken Drusilla and she hadn’t warned him.
She couldn’t imagine a better mistress than Cornelia had been. Others might think her too reserved and too proud, but Anthusa knew how much Lucius Fidelis had made her suffer over the years. Her pride had carried her through what would have crushed the spirit of a weaker woman.
“I’m sure it will. As you’ve said before, Master Titus is a good man like his father, and he’ll help make sure it does.”
Mistress was silent for a few moments as the brushing continued. “What do you think of the captain?”
Anthusa raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean, mistress?”
“After we had that argument, I thought I’d made him angry enough that he’d stay angry with me at least for the rest of the day. He didn’t. And he was so kind to Drusilla, the way he let her stay up on the cabin top with him while we sailed out of the harbor. She looked so happy up there. She kept telling me about it when I went in to kiss her good night.”
“He is different. I don’t know what to make of him.”
Anthusa had been dumbstruck when he asked the name of a slave as if she were one of his passengers. But she didn’t tell Mistress how good that made her feel. Her mistress always treated her like a person when no one else was watching, but the captain had done it where everyone would see.
Mistress leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms. “I’m not sure why, but I feel better...safer...knowing he’s the one taking us to Titus.” Mistress moved from the chair to the bed. “There’s something about his eyes...I just know I can trust him. I’m sorry I implied that I couldn’t when I wanted some way to lock the door. I’m glad he didn’t stay mad at me.”
Anthusa pulled the covers over her mistress and tucked them around her. “Sleep well, mistress.”
Mistress nodded as she closed her eyes.
Before blowing out the lamp and climbing into her own upper bunk, Anthusa smiled down at the mistress who was also her friend, the mistress who had sacrificed everything because she loved her daughter so dearly. If only she could find a new husband who would see her for the wonderful woman she was. But how was the mistress going to find a man like that in Thracia?
Chapter 9: Good for Each Other
It had been another night with the dream. Hector stood at the rail for half an hour before deciding to lie down and try to sleep again. As he crept through the galley, soft sounds came from the room next to his.
Someone was crying.
He tapped on the door before opening it enough to stick his head in. “Is something wrong, child? Should I get your mother?”
Drusilla sat up and flicked the tears from her cheeks. “No.” Distress colored her whisper. “Please d
on’t tell her I’ve been crying. I don’t want her to think I’m not happy. She gave up everyone and everything to save me from Father.” She stared at the floor before lifting her eyes to his again. “And where we’re going…it’s so far, and everything will be so different, and that’s scary. Even Malleolus has never been there before.”
“You’re going to your aunt and uncle. You don’t need to be afraid.”
She clutched the sheet and pulled it up to her neck. “I know, and I’m trying to be brave, but...Captain, would you please stay with me until I go back to sleep? I promise it won’t be long. Please?”
Even in the dim moonlight streaming through the window, he couldn’t miss the quivering smile and desperate eyes pleading for him to stay.
“Lie down and close your eyes. I’ll stay with you for a while.”
He slipped into the room and turned the chair so he could sit beside her bed. She reached out, and his large hand enveloped her small one. She wrapped her other hand around his and pulled it over against her cheek as she rolled on her side to face him.
“Thank you, Captain.” She smiled through the remains of her tears before closing her eyes.
In almost no time, her slow, steady breathing told him she was asleep. Her hands had relaxed, and he inched his hand out of hers so he wouldn’t awaken her.
So many times, he’d told Charissa a bedtime story and then held her hand as his little treasure went to sleep. The memory tore at the hole in his heart. How he ached for that nighttime closeness that would never be again.
Drusilla stirred but didn’t waken.
Poor child. At least his little girl had known the love of a father who adored her. The great wealth of the Drusus family was worth nothing without love. Drusilla was a fatherless child no less than one whose father was dead and buried. But the worst part was she’d never had the father she deserved.
Hector’s lips tightened. Cornelia had abandoned everything to save her from her father marrying her to a sadistic monster. Lucius Drusus hadn’t changed at all since he tried to do the same to his sister Claudia eight years earlier.
But even with her mother’s great love, Drusilla felt loneliness and fear. He knew too well what it was like to be alone and frightened as a child.
At least for now, she needed his help. And as he gazed at her in the moonlight, a small voice inside whispered that maybe he needed hers as well.
Before they retired for the night, Hector had informed his passengers that a breakfast of fruit, cheese, and bread would be served shortly after dawn, but they could eat later if they didn’t want to dine that early. In his experience, upper-class Roman women seldom appeared before the sun was well up in the sky. It took too long to put on their beauty potions and fix their hair.
Cornelia had worn one of those ridiculous hairstyles. He’d be able to eat and leave long before she appeared. The corner of his mouth turned up at that thought. It must take a long time to arrange herself to look so regal. No chance for her to irritate him if he was already on the cabin top when she finally came out.
Malleolus had risen early and was sitting under the canopy. Hector had enjoyed their conversation at supper, and the old steward shouldn’t have to eat alone.
He climbed down the ladder at the front of the cabin and rounded the corner. As he approached the door, his gaze drifted to the clouds forming on the horizon.
Movement at the corner of his vision snapped his head forward. Cornelia was stepping out of the cabin, and he was one step from ploughing into her.
She startled and stepped back to avoid him, but her foot caught on the raised threshold. She lost her balance and, with a soft gasp, began to fall backward.
Two strong hands gripped Cornelia’s arms as the captain stopped her fall. Two dark brown eyes met hers, and her breath caught as she gazed into them. A woman could drown in their depths. As he pulled her back into a standing position, heat blazed on her cheeks. Why did those eyes being so close ramp up her sensitivity to his virile attraction? The captain shouldn’t affect a mature noblewoman like her that way. The heat spread to her ears.
“I’m sorry, Cornelia. I should have been watching, but I didn’t expect you up so early. Are you hurt?”
His hands were still on her arms. His grip had been tight, but now it was relaxed. Her eyes were level with his chest. It was so broad, and his biceps were disturbingly muscular. Just standing so close to him raised her heart rate. She slapped herself mentally. It was silly to be affected this way by a man she’d just met―and a ship’s captain at that.
She raised her blue eyes to fix them on his brown ones. “No, Captain. I’m unscathed. Thank you for catching me. I’ll watch out for that step in the future.”
He let go of her arms, and she was sorry. A pleasant smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Good. I’d hate to have one of my passengers get hurt the first day out. I was just going to join Malleolus for some breakfast. I hope you’ll enjoy what my cook has prepared.”
He motioned with his hand. “Please, go ahead of me. I’ll try not to knock you over again.”
She offered him a gracious smile over her shoulder. “Thank you, Captain.”
As she turned away from him and took a step, the heat rose in her cheeks again. This is childish. I’m no giggling maiden watching some handsome young man. His upturned mouth and warm eyes had started her heart beating faster. Had her ears turned pink enough for him to notice from behind? He was only a ship’s captain, so why was she fourteen again when he stood so close to her and smiled?
Her lips twitched as she silently laughed at herself. A ship’s captain with the build of a gladiator and the eyes of a man who could be trusted. Perhaps the difference between a girl of fourteen and a matron of thirty-nine wasn’t that great after all.
As Cornelia walked ahead of him, Hector caught a whiff of the subtle, musky perfume in her hair. That hair surprised him. A single long, thick braid had been wrapped around itself and pinned at the back of her head. That would take only a few minutes. Nothing like the fancy styles he expected on a wealthy noblewoman.
Her hair was simple today, but regal still described her perfectly as she glided ahead of him. Regal, but not arrogant. Perhaps having her as a passenger for the next few weeks wouldn’t be as trying as he’d feared.
They’d been at sea for two days, and the novelty of the passing shoreline had worn off for Drusilla. She hung over the rail, watching how the ship cut through the waves. She moved up the rail toward the bow to see if that changed depending on where she was on the ship. She was near the front when a dolphin broke through the water’s surface below her.
She startled and stepped back from the rail. When a second dolphin joined the first, she grabbed the rail again and stood transfixed as she watched them.
Hector walked up beside her. “They’re dolphins.”
She turned bright eyes up to his face. “I’ve read about them, but I never thought I’d see one. They look like they’re playing together.” A wistful look dimmed their brightness. “It must be nice for them to have someone to play with.” She sighed. “My brother Tertius used to play board games with me...I wonder if I’ll ever see him again.” Another sigh escaped her. “I miss playing with my best friend, Flavia, too. I wonder if I’ll ever have another best friend to play with.”
Hector’s lips tightened. She’d been forced to leave most of the people she loved behind. That first night in the dark, she’d said she didn’t want her mother to know she wasn’t happy. How much of the happy way she acted was only a show to protect her mother?
He knew too well how hard it was to hide the sadness over loved ones lost.
“I have some games in the cabin. I’ll play with you for a while, if you want. I can teach you a game if you don’t know any of the ones I have.”
The sparkle in her eyes and her instant smile made him glad he’d offered. “Really, Captain? You will?”
He smiled down at her eager little face. “Yes.
Let’s go pick something out.”
She followed him into his room. He lifted a small wooden chest and a game board down from the top bunk. The board was inscribed on one side with a checkered pattern and on the other side for tabula. He handed her the board while he tucked the small chest under his arm.
“We can play under the canopy.”
“You should pick the game, Captain.” She beamed up at him. “Thank you so much for doing this with me.”
He simply smiled before he led her out the door and back to the canopy. Once there, he placed one of the small tables in front of an empty chair and pulled another over to face it. She set the board on the table with the checkered pattern up.
“So, what do you know how to play?” He set the box of game pieces on the table and opened it.
“I know how to play Pebbles. Tertius taught me, and I could beat him half the time. I like that one.”
“Set it up.”
She reached into the box to get out the white and blue disks made of sliced bone. While she was picking them out of the dice and knucklebones that were also in the box, she picked up two carved bone pyramids.
“What are these, Captain?”
“Those are the kings for Mercenaries. It’s a strategy game popular with my adult passengers.”
“I like strategy games. I’d love to learn a new one. Will you teach me?”
“If you wish. The rules are simple, but to play it well takes a lot of practice. It’s not an easy game.”
“We have lots of time before we get to Perinthus, and I like learning hard things.”
Cornelia watched Hector as he explained the rules to Drusilla. Maybe a captain didn’t have that much to keep him busy while the ship was at sea, but why was he back under the canopy playing a game with her daughter?
Not that she would complain. It gave her another chance to watch him up close. She was no moon-eyed maiden, but his unassuming masculinity made her feel like one. When she thought about it, she saw how absurd it was, but he attracted her. It was a pleasure to watch such a handsome man, but it wasn’t just his appearance that drew her to him.