Eventually Love
Chapter Eight

Tasa was apprehensive about being left alone with this angry man but Faustus Sertorius watched Quintus leave and sagged. He turned to Tasa and reached for her hand. She held it tighter to her side and he smiled sadly. Quintus' departure had led to an instant softening in his whole attitude. He sighed and perched on the edge of the impluvium, shoulders hunched, head in hands.

He sat that way for a minute then patted the low wall beside him in invitation. This time she accepted but with a bit of difficulty given her size. He again offered her hand, this time as a support, and necessity forced her to make use of it.

'Have you any idea how terrible it is to meet one's god?' he asked, 'Much less adopt him as a son?'

Tasa's head snapped round to look at him.

'That is what Quintus is, you know. Not the only one but one of a small pantheon of supreme beings whom I have worshiped since before I even knew what they were called. But before I tell you all about them and about your betrothed, we should perhaps introduce each other. My name is Faustus Sertorius, I am a prominent member of the Senate of this vast empire. I have risen to this position of wealth and influence, despite my relatively humble origins, through my practice of magic and in particular my worship of certain powerful creatures I have read about in ancient scrolls, acquired in my youth. And you are…?'

'My name is Tasa, sir. My father's name is Amessan. He is a great chief in my homeland.'

Faustus chuckled at that but nodded. 'So, my little daughter-in-law-to-be… I, in my self-importance, address a princess in disguise. I understand. I am not to treat you with disrespect. You are right to rebuke me. And considerate to do it so gently.'

'Senator, I didn't mean to rebuke or to be rude in any way…' she protested urgently. 'And I am no princess, just one of many offspring from many wives. And now no more than a slave of a great house.'

'Well, now, that is not entirely accurate, is it? As I hear it, my son freed you last night. I did want to reward him with a wife and I believed that his physical appearance and fearsome reputation would make buying one the only option. You must forgive my ill-bred outburst earlier. I did not appreciate Quintus' defiance of my instructions. I felt it as a rejection of my gift but I should not have said those things. I appreciate that your condition places you in a difficult position, but do you think you could ever willingly come to the marriage bed?'

Tasa thought for a moment how best to respond to such a question, but before she could speak, Faustus was waving his hands and apologizing again.

'There's no need to answer that. At least not today. It was impertinent to ask it... and unforgivable to ask it of a princess.' And he twinkled at her. He was sharing a joke with her not making her the butt of one.

He was turning out to be much more genial than her first impression had implied, so she said, 'No one has ever asked my consent before, Senator Sertorius. It's kind of you. But please, tell me more about Quintus.'

So, Faustus began to tell of the Ancients and their mindless spawn, the strix, and the five half-breeds, the Born or Invicti, of which Quintus was the fifth - giving him his name. His scrolls were extremely well-informed but either they didn't go into great detail about the first four Invicti or Faustus chose to tell Tasa little more than their names: 'Tertia, the third, I know perished at the hands of her Sire – that is the Ancient from whom she descended,' he said. 'But I don't know the fate of Primus or Secunda or, indeed, of Quarta, beyond an incident about a month ago, when she…'

He was interrupted by the return of Quintus with the senator's daughter. Lucia Sertorius was ushered in in front of Quintus. She was about Tasa's age and slightly taller than her with light brown hair and blue eyes similar to her father's.

She seemed hesitant and awkward, glancing at her father for cues as to how to behave in this unusual social situation. Tasa could almost pity her, she was certain no rules of etiquette included a section on how to greet your demi-god adoptive brother's newly-bought foreign pregnant wife-to-be.