The invitation to the palace seemed quite unexpected, at least in Elena's mind. Marcus seemed to have expected it. Though Elena felt it might have been something that someone like himself would have in his condition. It called for Marcus and his family to journey with him to Rome, to receive some form of ironic recognition for what all that he had given up in his time serving in Britannia.
Elena had never asked her brother about what had happened, believing it important but not something Marcus would have wanted to talk to her about. If he had, he might have spoken to her about it all already. Leaning her elbows against the frame of the litter's windows, she carefully pushed the curtains aside and peered outside at the party that followed them.
Within the rather spacious carriage, sat Elena, closest to the front as possible, near the windows, along with her brother, who sat on the opposite side of her, fast asleep. He had been in a lot of pain as of late, and even sitting still in a carriage that consistently bumped him around tired him out. So the seventeen year old allowed him to sleep, not bothering to wake him. The Gods knew he needed rest.
The sky was covered in grey clouds, the sun blocked from her view as she scanned the row of men mounted upon horses. As usual, her mind was in the clouds, daydreaming as she usually tended to do when she was bored, but her eyes were still on the lookout. Crateros had ridden on ahead of them, scouting, she suspected, or something of the like.
What he did wasn't really of any interest to her. Not anymore. She expected her feelings had been set aside for another now, someone she'd rather been surprised to admit to herself that she liked.
"Is breá liom tú." Esca said slowly, using his hands as he spoke to pace the wording for Elena. She sat in front of him, staring intently for his eyes to meet hers as she tried to make sense of the way he spoke. "What does it mean?" she asked, curious to know the meaning of the things the Briton said before she said them back. She didn't want to repeat something so immensely rude.
It wasn't like she hadn't learned a few curses or so since their 'lessons', but she didn't plan on using them often. Since Elena had practically begged and forced Esca into teaching her the language of his people, she believed she was getting better. She could now speak and understand full sentences, and while like anyone learning a new language, she fumbled at times, but it was honest mistakes that Esca said were easily fixed.
"It means 'I love you'." he replied, avoiding her eyes as he said it as though ashamed of teaching her the very words.
Elena could almost see the change in color in his cheeks, and she couldn't help but silently giggle. When it came down to it, Elena could be very childish. It was strange since she rarely ever acted like it, to see her be so.
"Is breá liom tú." she repeated, slowly enunciating each word, trying to do her best not to mess up.
It had been a long process, the past few months, learning his language, and though she was improving, she knew she had a long way to go before she was fluent. She practiced on her own time, driving herself to improve, since in reality she had nothing else to do now that Lucia had left, but sit and read and pleasure her husband every so often. Learning Esca's language gave her something to do, something she wanted to do.
"Good! Very good. Best first time saying something since we started." said Esca grinning widely at her, now no longer avoiding her eyes.
He had once been afraid of looking her directly in the eye, since he was a slave and slaves just were not allowed to meet the eye of the people he served, but Elena was kind to him and didn't force rules upon him. She made him comfortable around her, and that was something not to be said for every slave master.
The very day they began their speaking lessons, Elena had told him that she was not his mistress, and he didn't have to do what she said, and of course it took him a long time to accept that, but after two months of nightly sessions, he was more comfortable around her than he was with Marcus.
"I can't tell if you're being serious or not, but it doesn't matter. I take it as a compliment." She grinned back at him, proud of herself.
Esca stared at her for a long moment, and Elena, slightly oblivious, started rambling on about how there was hardly moments in her life where she could feel proud of something she had done.
"You'd think me ridiculous for complaining about my life, but-" she had been cut off by the man in front of her, crashing his lips to hers. For a moment Elena tried to push him away out of shock, but then she realized how much she liked the feel of his lips against her own and kissed him back.
It didn't last very long, perhaps no more than thirty seconds, because after realizing what she'd done, Elena pulled away and stood up. "I'm sorry...I...I have to go." and she took off back inside the house.
She blushed at the memory, smiling a little to herself even though she still rather regretted having kissed him back. Not because she didn't enjoy it, but because for a moment she allowed herself to be lost with him, and once that moment ended, she remembered her duties as a wife. It had nothing to do with the fact that Esca was a slave, and a Briton, since she could hardly care less about rank compared to the person themselves, but she was still a married woman and she knew she shouldn't allow herself to get lost in another person that wasn't her husband. Despite her new-found feelings for Esca, which were a lot stronger than her feelings for Crateros.
"What are you thinking about?"
Snapping out of her reverie of sorts, Elena looked around for the source of the voice. Turning her head, she saw Esca riding up towards her before slowing and keeping pace alongside the carriage. She smiled at him fondly, but looked up and down the dirt road to ensure no one else would be coming to disturb them.
"Nothing." she replied smirking a little, before laughing ever so softly.
Esca raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head at her before he looked up and met her gaze. He knew it was wrong and he'd be whipped for so much as speaking to her the way he often did, but he knew she didn't mind.
"It does not look like nothing." he said switching to his language, hoping that she would be able to understand him.
Elena smiled at him and took a moment to translate what he had just said, and then again with her own reply. "I was thinking about..." She took a moment longer to think about what she was going to say. Of course she wanted to tell him that she had been thinking of him, but the Gods knew she could not say that, at least not here and now.
"Never mind. What are you thinking about?" Elena questioned him, placing her forearm on the window ledge and resting her chin on it, staring intently at Esca with rather tired eyes.
The journey had taken a toll on her and a part of her desperately wanted to rest, but another part of her forced herself awake to talk to Esca. She liked to talk to him, he was somebody she rather enjoyed to be with. She'd spent so much of her life spending time with people who made her be the proper young lady she had to be, including her own brother, and so to spend time with the Briton, she felt as though she was able to be more of who she wanted to be. And he did not expect her to be any different than she wanted.
"I would tell you, but I fear it would be too forward of me, My Lady." was his reply and Elena could not stop the grin on her face.
"Be as forward as you like. I rather like forward people. Let's them get the point of what they're trying to say, across much faster." the brunette spoke softly as she yawned. "So, what are you thinking about, Esca, Son of Cunival?" she repeated her question, a small and curious grin on her face as she stared across at the young man.
He looked up at her, uncertainty still in his eyes, but she smiled at him, encouraging him to speak. "I was thinking...about you." Esca replied finally, not taking his eyes away from hers, though she knew that he seemed a little embarrassed by his response. The smile that crept upon her lips could not be stopped, and she didn't try to hide should she? Was she not allowed to smile? To laugh? To be...in love?
If that's what it was.
"You are not angry..." Esca said, looking at her curiously, as though unsure as to why she did not get upset with him. Not that he minded of course, he was just curious. He had always assumed Romans to be rather hotheaded people to their slaves, but he supposed that that was where Elena was different. She wasn't like the other Romans he'd met. And that was something he rather liked.
Elena shook her head no ever so slightly, still smiling at him.
The carriage trudged along for a while longer, Elena and Esca talking quietly along the way, their voices hushed so the would not draw attention to themselves. Marcus still sat on the opposite side of Elena, his head resting against the inner wall with his eyes closed, and the occasional moments when she would glance his way she could not help but think about how peaceful he looked.
So much had happened in only a short while, the love of his life leaving him only days after he'd returned home to her. She could not imagine such a thing occurring in her life, but she still felt rather sad for him.
It was not until the sun was high in the sky, beating down upon them, did they arrive at the Capitol. Esca had first seen it before he smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the city, forcing Elena to turn in her spot to peer out the window and to stare at their destination. From a distance, it truly looked beautiful, and despite the muddy ground and filthy people that they passed, she could not help but believe that this place was a beauty in itself.
Standing up slowly, she walked over to Marcus, and sat beside him, beginning to nudge him and whispering, "Marcus. Marcus, wake up. We're here."
Her brother groaned in protest, but he opened his eyes to look at her before he looked around. The carriage had stopped and soon, very soon, they would meet the Caesar.
It was the most elegant place that Elena had ever set eyes on, perhaps because it was the most divine place she'd ever been given that she had never really left her Uncle's villa. Yet there was something so grand and splendid about it that she just felt like she didn't belong. The place was far too magnificent that she felt out of place, even more so as she, along with her brother, and husband, made way up towards where Lucius stood.
As she glanced around as subtly as possible at her surroundings, she could not help but feel elegant, but out of place in the grandness of the place. It was truly a wondrous palace and she hoped that she would be able to stay as long as possible.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Marcus asked flatly when he took note of his sister's look of wonder and amazement as they walked. Elena nodded.
"I've never seen anything like it, and I probably never will again." she replied, smiling at her brother before turning her attention to the end of the hall where they were headed. It was there, in the distance that she saw a familiar face. She could hardly believe her eyes. In an attempt to keep her composure, to keep herself from running out of line to the woman, she clenched her fists, and dug her nails into her palms.
Elena nodded her head toward the grand pedestal where the Ceasar sat on his throne, a woman standing beside him.
"Lucia." Marcus breathed out softly.
