Chapter Four

Evie's Notes: Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week ! Thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me 💜! See the end notes for translations. I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.


Antonia woke up to the soft humming of the radio and quiet pattering of Annabella's feet as the woman moved about the room. Pushing up her sleep mask Antonia saw the maid opening the shutters and letting in the cool winter light.

"Good morning Antonia" greeted the woman

"Morning Anabella" she yawned back.

"You have quite the busy day ahead of you. Philomena has requested an audience with you after ientaculum, she is waiting in the atrium with your other hopeful audiences"

"Has she eaten yet?"

"I'm not sure Miss"

"Have Delores send out a tray of pastries and coffee. It will hardly do for my guests to be hangry when I meet with them"

"Of course Miss," agreed the woman before popping out of the room to pass on the message.

As much as Antonia loathed to leave the warmth and comfort of her bed, she knew that she had to get moving. As her housekeeper had mentioned, Antonia's schedule was quite full today. Her morning would be spent hearing requests and concerns from her constituents. She then had a lunch meeting with the priest of Mercury to chat about possible new travel regulations. After that was another senate session followed by a visit to the fields.

Climbing out of bed, Antonia set about her morning routine. Wrapping her dressing gown tightly around her, she opened the doors to her balcony for the first step.

The flame from last night's sacrifice was still faintly flickering, but the wick had burned low. Dousing the dish with purified water she chanted "gratias agimus tibi pro benedictionibus tuis, et per noctem nos servas incolumes".

Turning her attention to the trio of candles placed in a golden tray on the railing, Antonia lit them in honor of the gods Dies, Apollo and Janus. She prayed that they would ensure her day would be bright, safe and successful.

The final sacrifice she had to offer was to her patron. The corner of her balcony was dedicated to a small fountain with an icon of the goddess Juno. Plucking a few petals off a Lotus blossom she tossed them into the running fountain along with a sprig of wintergreen and a few drops of peppermint and tea tree oils. "Salve, mi patrone, tibi gratias ago pro alio die mihi permittens. perfice voluntatem tuam et nomini tuo honorem afferam".

With her morning sacrifices complete, Antonia headed back inside to wait for Anabella.

* Rise of the Lotus * Rise of the Lotus *

Mollie and Antonia were enjoying their ientaculum of dried apricots, scrambled eggs, toast and jam, in the triclinium when they were interrupted by a surprise visitor.

"Sorry to interrupt but there is a messenger from the Senate, Miss Antonia" announced Cecilia.

"That's strange, I thought the session wasn't being held until this afternoon" wondered Antonia. "Send them in please"

"What could the Senate want from you?" asked Mollie

"I'm not sure, but we're about to find out," admitted Antonia as the messenger appeared in the doorway.

"I'm sorry to interrupt my lady," apologized the messenger. "I bring urgent news from the early Senate Council meeting this morning".

The Senate Council was made up of the praetors, Pontifex Maximus and Cohort leads.

"Oh, what do they have for me?" she asked.

"Praetor Avila Ramírez-Arellano wants to know if you have seen Praetor Grace yet this morning"

What?

"Uhh, no. I haven't seen Jason since last night. Why?"

"Praetor Grace failed to show for the Senate Council meeting and has yet to be located".

"Did anyone check in with Nico?" asked Mollie.

"Mr. Di Angelo said that the Praetor was already gone when he woke up. The children of Pluto have been searching for Praetor Grace since he was first noticed to be missing".

"Ok, I'll keep an eye out and let you all know if I see him" promised Antonia, signaling for Cecilia to show the messenger out.

Seeing Mollie's worried face Antonia pulled the girl into a hug. "I'm sure it's fine, Jace probably went flying, found something cool, got distracted and lost track of time. He'll show up when he gets hungry with a silly story and we'll all feel foolish for worrying".

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm going to go get started on my studies. Are we still going to the fields this afternoon?"

"Yup! Study hard and remember that I have lunch with Remy about a possible travel bill so you will be on your own for prandium".

"Sounds good! Have fun hearing audiences and dealing with the cow drama" cackled Mollie, heading out of the dining room and off to the bibliotheca for her lessons. Antonia just groaned dramatically and playfully mimed dying.

As the door slammed shut behind her apprentice Antonia snapped back to normal. As much as she wanted to believe the speech she had given Mollie, Antonia couldn't help but worry about her friend. It wasn't like Jason to miss a meeting. He was the perfect soldier. One did not make it to the rank of Praetor without developing exceptional situational awareness and impressive instincts.

* Rise of the Lotus * Rise of the Lotus *

After an exhausting morning of listening to the concerns of her constituents Antonia was finally free. Donning her midnight blue walking cloak, Antonia headed off to her meeting with the Priest of Mercury.

The journey from her villa to Remy's wasn't too long, only taking about ten minutes. Rounding the bend, Antonia was finally able to see the familiar gates surrounding the Villa. She was greeted at the door by Remy's butler Julian who took her cloak before leading her through the property and out into the gardens where the priest was waiting.

Remy Thayer was a son of Invidia and gained the favor of Mercury through his inherited greed and people skills. Antonia studied the young man as he shot arrow after arrow into the center of one of the garden's trees. She had to tread carefully here; while Remy could usually be reasoned with, Antonia had to be careful not to trigger his mother's envy and jealousy.

"Salve Thayer, Qui agis hodie?"

"Salve! Ego valeo sacerdos talheir. gratias ago tibi, quia venio ad humilem mansionem meam"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a humble home, Remy," laughed Antonia. "Your villa is absolutely spectacular".

The boy preened at the praise. "Gratias, sacerdos. I am grateful that you were able to join me for prandium today" thanked the boy, gesturing for Antonia to follow him over to the table where his staff had set up their lunch.

"Of course, I was honored by your invitation and thrilled to have this opportunity to speak with you," grinned Antonia. She knew she was laying it on a bit thick, but if there was one thing that Remy reacted well too, it was flattery.

"I must admit that this new travel bill in the Senate is most concerning to me" began Antonia. "My constituents are worried that these new travel restrictions will harm their finances".

"Oh?"

"Yes, the cowherds view this as a threat to their traveling trails whereas the farmers desire freedom while moving their products to market".

"Speak more on the concerns of your cowherds" encouraged Remy, pouring Antonia a glass of sparkling water as they tucked into their grilled chicken and salads.

"The cowherds have learned over the years the best routes for their livestock. These trails are important as it allows the animals to reach the best grazing fields and watering holes. This new law would have the legion paving over their trails to allow for cart traffic. Not only will this disrupt the livestock traffic but it will also destroy the local fauna. Wouldn't it be better to look back over the previous building plans to see if there is a better option?"

"Hmm… Interesting. Still going back over the reports and proposed alternate routes would take time and money we don't have"

"The reasoning for the road expansion is the hypothesized population boom due to the recent Oath of the gods. I would argue though that destruction of our natural woodland and fauna for increased roads and living areas should be delayed until such a time as it is actually needed" argued Antonia.

"Look Toni, I hear you. Really. I promise I'll talk to my team and we'll think of your proposal" compromised Remy.

"That's all I ask. Thank you Remy"

"Of course, now let's talk about more pleasant things. How are Mollie's studies going?" replied the young man.

Antonia grinned, relaxing now that she had accomplished her goal. Plus she was always happy to talk about Mollie.

The pair spent the remainder of their meal chatting peacefully and enjoying each other's company. All too soon their time together came to an end, and Antonia bid her coworker goodbye and headed off to that afternoon's senate meeting.


Latin Terms:
Triclinium - Dinning Room
ientaculum - breakfast
prandium - lunch
Bibliotheca - library


Translation of the sacrifice prayer:
- Thank you for your blessings and keeping us safe through the night.
- Good Morning, my patron, thank you for allowing me another day. I will do your will and bring honor to your name.


Translation of the conversation:
- Hello Thayer! How are you today?"
- Hello! I am well priestess Talheir. thank you for coming to my humble abode.


Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!

I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr Find-y0ur-j0y! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺