Mark of Mars

by Juliet Anderson

  “Thank you for your invitation, Senator Aurelius. Are you calling in your forfeit?”

  “You’ll have to wait and see,” he beamed. A stunning silver haired woman appeared at his side. “My dear, this exquisite young lady is Jenna Duvall.” Jenna blushed at his compliment.

  The Senator’s wife smiled kindly and embraced her. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Jenna. I am Claudia.” She looked at Aurelius. “Could you take Jenna out to the garden and introduce her to our son?”

  “Of course, my dear,” Aurelius responded dutifully and steered Jenna out towards an enclosed courtyard.

  In the distance she could see a canopied area with seats and table. They were obviously eating al fresco tonight. “Is that the forfeit, dinner with your son?” Jenna looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

  “It is. But you will not be alone, we will be joining you.”

  Jenna prayed Aurelius’ son had some of his father’s charm and appeal. She had a horrible feeling he was going to be a complete wet blanket. She could see a figure in the distance, his face was obscured by some foliage but his build seemed pleasing. He was tall and had a strong frame, she just hoped the face wasn’t too terrifying.

  Aurelius ushered Jenna into the canopied area. “I believe you might already have met my son.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Jenna wished she could have stopped her jaw dropping open as Marcus turned around. Apart from the shock that he was Senator Aurelius’ son, dressed in a cream coloured toga, he looked drop dead gorgeous.

  “Jenna,” he took her hand and kissed it. “You look even more beautiful than usual.”

  “Thank you, Marcus.” She wished she could stop the colour rising in her cheeks.

  Aurelius handed her a golden goblet filled with wine. “I will leave you two alone for a while. We will return when dinner is ready.”

  For once, Jenna found herself lost for words. The very last thing she would have expected was that Marcus and Aurelius were related.

  “I’ve never known you to be silent for so long, Jenna. Are you quite alright?” Marcus was standing far too close to her.

  “Yes,” she stepped away from him. “I was trying to think if I said anything too horrible about you to Senator Aurelius. But he should have told me you were related.”

  He ran his hand down her arm as she tried to move away. “Come, I do not want to fight tonight.”

  “Very well. But don’t antagonise me.”

  “Don’t rise to the bait,” he grinned.

  She took a swig of the wine, the expression on her face must have been good because Marcus burst out laughing.

  “I take it you have not had mulsum before?”

  “No. What is it?” she squeaked.

  “Honeyed wine. It’s served before the start of dinners. It’s quite potent too, so don’t drink too much,” his voice dropped low, “unless you want me to take advantage of you.”

  Jenna felt her cheeks flame. She blamed the wine. She wandered from the canopied area over to an ornamental pond. “This is my first Roman dinner, so I might need your guidance.”

  Marcus followed her. “Is it very different from a dinner in Arula?”

  “Yes,” she smiled knowingly and ran her hand over a lily pad in the pond.

  “How so?”

  “For a start, we sit up at a table, in chairs with long backs. Not reclining on couches as you Romans do. We also eat with….”she hesitated trying to find the right words. “We don’t eat with our hands very often. We use specially made tools to cut and pick up the food.”

  “Do you drink wine?”

  “Yes, but we have so many different varieties.”

  Marcus reached for her hand and kissed it softly. “Well, have no fear, I will guide you through the dinner.” He ran a finger over the bruise on her knuckles. “Does it hurt?”

  “Just a bit. Your face must be made of stone, it did not give at all,” she groaned.

  “Trust me, my nose felt it.” He caressed her forearm with his fingers lightly. “You handle a sword better than most of my centurions, are particularly skilled in unarmed combat, and are fiercely courageous. If you are not careful, Mars will be selecting you as a mate.”

  I’m available anytime, Jenna smiled to herself. Although the man standing next to her was making her blood pressure rise all by himself.

  “Am I right in thinking it is not common knowledge that Senator Aurelius is your father?”

  “No. Very few people know the connection, and we would rather keep it that way.”

  “Why’s that?” She was curious.

  “It would endanger us both. As you might have gathered, Roman nobles are always trying to outdo each other in the struggle for power. If it became known that Rome’s leading senator and the Marshall of the Peace were from the same family, it would cause much discord.”

  Jenna looked at him curiously, trying to understand his words. “You mean they would fear one family holding too much power.”

  “Yes. Between us we would control the Senate and the Military. That is enough to frighten most people.”

  She walked around the lily pond over to a selection of statues. “What about the rest of your family?”

  “They keep their ties hidden too. It is better that way. You will meet two of them tonight.”

  He did not sound too thrilled about it. Perhaps his brothers were each more handsome than he was and he felt threatened, Jenna thought to herself. One of the statues had caught her eye and she was unable to focus on anything else. Mars. Unmistakably gorgeous. It was a life size version of the God. Unable to resist she reached out and ran her hand down his arm.

  “It is so strange. Most statues are cold to touch, but Mars always feels warm. Did they cast him from anything other than marble?”

  Marcus let out a soft growl, her touch on his statue had shot sparks through him again. It seemed it was not just the one in his temple she could touch him through, it was all of his statues. He grabbed hold of her hand before it could do any more damage. “You are more than welcome to run your hands over me, Jenna,” he murmured huskily. “I even have a pulse.”

  Jenna felt her cheeks flush. She remembered what it felt like to have his arms around her. It wasn’t the fact that he had a pulse, it was what he did to hers!

  He noticed a few dark hairs on her robe and picked them off. “Something tells me you’ve been getting close to Ares.”

  “I can’t resist cuddling him, he is so adorable.”

  “I am jealous,” Marcus grunted.

  She heard voices approaching. Saved by the parents. “Jenna, I hope Marcus has been behaving?” Claudia cast a stern glance at her son.

  “Yes, just about,” Jenna smiled back.

  Claudia took her hands “Come, you must meet another two of my children.”

  She led Jenna back to the canopied area and once again, her jaw dropped open. “Brutus is your son as well?”

  “Yes, have you met?” Claudia sounded surprised.

  “Yes, at the Circus Maximus.” He snogged me in front of the entire audience, she groaned to herself.

  Brutus gave Jenna a blistering smile. “I knew we’d meet again.” He leant in and kissed her cheek slowly, enjoying the fierce look his brother gave him. “Although I think I prefer the greeting I got last time.”

  Jenna gave him a hard stare. “I’m quite happy with this one.”

  “And this is my daughter, Arianna.” Claudia nodded towards the most stunning blonde woman who glided graceful into the courtyard.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jenna. My brother has talked a great deal about you.” Arianna’s voice was so soft.

  “He has?” Jenna hoped she was talking about Marcus.

  “Yes. He’s been cursing non-stop about this volatile foreigner who has been nothing but a thorn in his side,” she beamed. “It’s wonderful to know he has met his match.”

  “He said that?” Jenna grinned, knowing for sure it was Marcus they were discussing.

  �
�Most emphatically.”

  Marcus snorted. “When you two women have quite finished, I am standing right here.”

  Jenna’s eyes met his, she almost got lost in their depth for a moment.

  “With introductions over, let’s move to the dinner table,” Claudia announced.

  Marcus helped her up onto one of the couches and spread out next to her. It felt quite bizarre. Jenna gratefully accepted the refill of her goblet.

  “So Jenna, where is home exactly?” Arianna asked.

  “A small island called Arula in the middle of the ocean,” she responded.

  “What is it like there?”

  “Cold, wet, and full of the comforts of home,” she sighed wistfully.

  “What comforts do you have there you cannot find here in Rome?” Arianna quizzed.

  Coffee, hot running water, chocolate, toothbrush she thought. “Sandy beaches and my horse are two things I can think of straight away.” A good recovery she thought, unusual but not too shocking.

  “Your horse?”

  “Where I come from it is quite normal for a woman to ride. And there is nothing finer than riding along a beach just where the water meets land.” She was suddenly filled with memories of riding along a Normandy beach with her parents. Happy days.

  “She rides well too, I have seen her,” Marcus spoke up.

  A guilty smile crossed Jenna’s face. “I would dearly like to steal Hercules, he is a dream to ride.”

  Arianna looked positively shocked. “Hercules let you ride him?”

  “Yes. He’s such a sweet, talented horse.”

  “I keep telling her he’s a war horse, but she won’t listen,” Marcus grumbled. “In fact Hercules is fast become very needy.”

  “Do you race?” Brutus perked up.

  “On the flat, not with chariots,” Jenna responded.

  “I understand from Aurelius that you are orphaned,” Claudia questioned.

  “Yes, four years ago,” Jenna kept her tone as light as possible.

  “So who is your guardian?” Arianna quizzed.

  To her surprise, Marcus spoke up. “Scandalous as it may seem, on Arula women can inherit wealth.”

  “You are your own mistress?” Arianna was stunned.

  “Yes, I am,” Jenna tried not to look too smug. She picked a juicy olive out of the bowl that was offered to her and popped it as elegantly as she could in her mouth.

  “A rich, beautiful, single woman who likes to race horses. I am fast falling in love with you Jenna,” Brutus sighed dramatically.

  Arianna responded for her by slapping the back of his head. “Ignore my brother, he is a pig.”

  Jenna laughed. This was your normal family dinner.

  Senator Aurelius took hold of the conversation, kindly steering it away from Jenna. She was starting to feel like she was before the Spanish Inquisition. It was to be expected though as she was the newcomer.

  Two young women appeared with bowls full of warm water. Jenna remembered that at dinners, guests would have their hands washed before each course as Romans ate with their fingers. She begrudgingly let one of the women wash her hands.

  The first course of food was piled onto the central table. It consisted of a mixture of breads, eggs, cheeses and something else Jenna could not make out. Jenna watched the others take an empty plate and fill it from the platters. Marcus passed her a plate and she reached over and took some bread and cheese.

  “Try this.” Marcus passed her a piece of the unidentifiable food.

  “What is it?” she asked quietly.

  “Dormouse. I think you will like it.”

  Jenna looked at him in disbelief. “Dormouse?”

  “Yes, it’s good. Try it.”

  She did not whether to laugh or gag. A cute furry dormouse was an endangered species where she came from. To refuse to try it would insult her hosts so she had no choice but to accept the offered morsel with good grace.

  She bit the piece in half, chewed it quickly before taking a very large slug of wine. Tastes just like chicken, she smiled to herself. Well, that was a new one to add to her list of weird foods.

  “So what do you do here in Rome?” Arianna continued her questioning. She found Jenna quite fascinating.

  “I’m a temple handmaiden.”

  “Do you need to work?”

  “No, but being a handmaiden gives me the opportunity to move around safely. No-one dares bother a handmaiden.”

  “Whose temple do you serve?” As if she didn’t know already.

  “Apollo.”

  Brutus choked on his wine, it was the last thing he expected her to say. This exquisite beauty was under his own roof all along. That would teach him to neglect his temple.

  Jenna could detect icy glares between Marcus and Brutus. Something must have happened between the two brothers she was unaware of. Other than Brutus kissing her, of course.

  The first course plates were cleared away, and as the next course was brought in, the young women dutiful washed all their hands.

  Jenna surveyed the food, it looked to be a mixture of fish, meat and game, some in sauces, some served with just fresh figs. She selected a few pieces of plain fish and some figs. This was the course she had dreaded the most. Had she been at home she would automatically have notified her host of her seafood allergy, but here it was unheard of. She was not sure they would even know what classed as seafood. Just in case though, her epi-pen was strapped to her thigh. Cassandra has insisted on that.

  Marcus was watching her again. “Did your mother never tell you it was rude to stare?” Jenna shot him a look.

  “I can’t help admiring the view, it is so delightful.” He reached over and passed her a piece of meat heavily coated in sauce.

  “What is that?”

  “Thrush.”

  Think of it like pheasant, Jenna told herself. “And the sauce?”

  “Some sort of fish sauce,” Marcus shrugged.

  She cast her eyes down a little embarrassed. “I am sorry if I ask so many questions, but there is one food that makes me very ill. It is what we call crustacean in Arula. Anything from the sea that has a hard shell, like oysters. Regular fish like this is fine.” She ate the morsel of white fish.

  He put the thrush down on his plate. “Crustaceans make you sick?”

  She flushed a little. “Without the right treatment in time, they could kill me.”

  He gazed at her curiously. “You can wade through a seething mass of rioters unscathed, yet one small offering from Neptune can kill you. There is a certain irony there.” He paused for a moment, those black eyes appraising her in detail. “If I were to eat crustaceans and kiss you, would that have the same effect?”

  “If you were to kiss me right after eating them, then yes it would a fairly toxic kiss. However a few hours later when all traces have been washed away with wine, then that would have no effect.”

  “With you, I am not prepared to take that risk.” He called one of the slaves over and had them wash his hands again.

  She noticed him glance over at Claudia and say something quickly which she did not catch. She did however see the look of shock on Claudia’s face.

  “How long are you planning to stay in Rome, Jenna?” Arianna asked.

  “I am not sure. My time here is limited but I hope to stay as long as I can.”

  “If you govern your own life, what is stopping you from staying as long as you like?”

  “I do have responsibilities back in Arula.”

  “What could be so pressing to take you away from Rome?”

  Time for a little white lie. “I have an estate to maintain and greedy relatives eager to get their hands on it. If I do not make regular appearances, they would have me declared dead and inherit my wealth.”

  “Have you at least been to the Circus Maximus or the Colosseum?” Arianna was not letting up on the questions.

  “Yes, I’ve seen a race at the Circus Maximus,” she gave a sideways glance at Marcus. She loved seeing that fl
icker of jealousy cross his face. “Brutus won.”

  “Yes, I did,” he beamed. “The prize was definitely worth winning that day.”

  Marcus snorted next to her. She nudged him with her foot.

  “How about the theatre?”