Commodus was not always bitter. In fact, he used to be one of the kindest souls that Rome ever knew. He loved deeply once, laughed as if there was no worry in all the world. His tongue was sweet and tender, not cold and harsh. This is the story of Commodus and Augusta, and their doomed love that would change him forever.
Chapter Three
"You walk slower than a tortoise, Commodus!" Augusta laughed as she sped on ahead of him. Commodus forced on a small smile as he received her, holding onto her abdomen so he wouldn't drop her. He whirled her around.
"How is my nymph?" he murmured, smoothing her ruffled hair. "Sad, angry, or happy? Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I'm fine, Commodus." He leaned back on a sycamore tree, Augusta lying on top of his body. He further pressed her against his heart, right near his neck so that his pulse vibrated against her skin. "That's good to hear. Do you have everything you need?" He tried very hard to smile, but his lips quivered as he did so and left Augusta puzzled.
"I'm healthy and I have you." Her smile faded. She attempted to read him, his cryptic, crooked pout. She was fixed on him entirely, but she did not know how to scrutinize the letters that made up his face.
"How can you ask me that?" She questioned him only to receive a stroke on the chin in response, followed by an idle grin. A Commodus grin. She brightened up to him as the sun peaks out of the clouds after a rainstorm. He wants to ask me if I love him, she thought. We played this game many times before.
"Commodus, can we not play this game at this moment?" Augusta returned to her curled position on his torso. "Please." He said nothing. He only continued to gaze at her.
"Now, don't be angry. It's been a long time since I saw you, and I only want to have you here, next to me."
He spoke. "I'm not playing games, Augusta. How much do you love me?"
With a sigh, she replied, "More than the whole world."
"More than the…"
Augusta chimed, "Mediterranean Sea."
Commodus was beaming. "Augusta…" he began. The two of them lay side by side beside the barley field on their stomachs.
"If you say so, I think the time is right for us to wed." His request made Augusta's eyes widen.
"Right now? Here?"
"I don't see why not. We love each other, don't we? I think we should seal our love."
Augusta sounded hesitant. "But how? I have never met your parents, in which case we have no chance to hold a ceremony. My parents are too poor to pay for a formal wedding."
Commodus pouted in displeasure. "I do not care for formality."
He pulled up Augusta and smirked. "I have a gift for you, but you will have to close your eyes if you want me to show it to you at all." Laughing, Augusta obliged.
"No peeking."
Commodus rapidly pulled out a ring from his pocket.
"Open them. Behold your offering."
Augusta was never selfish. She did not wish for jewels or any other riches. She had never owned something more valuable than her gold medallion, for that matter. And that jewel she had given to Commodus as a token of her absolute devotion. She owned nothing.
She wondered what trinket Commodus possibly could have gotten especially for her. And she listened, opened her eyes.
"Oh…" She gasped.
In his hands, Commodus held out a luminous, round figure. It was an exquisite ring. It had to be priceless. She did not think to touch it until she received her lover's urging eye. She looked on in astonishment; the color was almost blinding. She liked to think of it as Commodus' heart, burning a crimson red. Full of passion. Burning with intensity.
"Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful," answered Augusta. Commodus placed the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. Commodus gave her a shy grin.
"Marry me."
It took a moment for the question to sink in. It was as if all of Augusta's fantasies were coming true, her dreams fulfilled. Even if she could say no, she wouldn't.
"Of course." She nodded, her tone affected by a sudden outburst of tears that were forming in her eyes.
"Yes?" Commodus could hide his joy no longer. The woman he loved was accepting his proposal, accepting to be bound to him and be his. It was something he felt was a gift from heaven, something he had done nothing to earn.
"We shall recite our vows, then." Commodus boyishly scratched his head for ideas. Augusta blushed. "I, Commodus, take you, Augusta, to be my wife and companion, my best friend and partner, whom I will love until I die and no other, if any force of nature shall separate us or drive us apart." He was quite impressed with himself.
"I, Augusta, take you, Commodus, to be my husband and best friend, whom I love and cherish with all of my heart and will continue to love and hold dearly until the day I die."
They laughed out of embarrassment to each other, these two young lovebirds; never had they dictated any passage so serious to each other.
"Come, Augusta, let us go on our honeymoon." Commodus was smiling playfully. He scooped her up and walked the trails in the fields of barley. "Where do you want to go?"
"Rome," she said.
"Rome it is. Wherever you go, I'll go and always follow you." Commodus picked up his step to the delight of his woman. "It is a beautiful city, almost as beautiful as you."
"Is it filled with tall buildings?"
"Lots of them."
He put her on his back and commenced to sprint through the fields. He danced; there was nothing that brought him more happiness than the goddess he carried.