4
Antonius moved slowly towards the stricken woman, who was too heart-rent from her recent sufferings to back away from him. "You must have been very close to this man's family—I cannot tell you with what sorrow I see the judgment Rome has enacted upon them." Calliliana shook herself as if from a trance.
"Do you see this child?" she asked slowly, as she held the cadaver of her beloved little Leander before the soldier's eyes. Blood dripped slowly from the corpse onto the pale blue stola of the young woman—as the soldier hastily averted his eyes from the scene, the two colors so combined appeared to him as though the cloudless sky was weeping blood. "Do you see what your nation has done to this innocent babe?" Antonius could scarcely force his horrified eyes to meet the tortured gaze of the half-crazed woman before him.
"I do see. And for what it is worth, Aemilia…I beg your forgiveness. I know not what services you did for this man and for his family, but I can see that you were close to them…" Calliliana was not listening any longer. A low, keening moan sounded deep within the recesses of her throat and she fell slowly to her knees. She had thought that she would have no more tears to cry once she saw the empty cross of her husband.
She had been wrong.
Antonius felt the hair on the nape of his neck rise with terror as he heard the unearthly wails of the woman before him, and as he saw her thus, crouching low to the ground over the babe, like a wounded she-beast with its slain young. "She must have been this babe's nursemaid," he thought, his body unconsciously appraising her slender, rounded hips and milk-full breasts. "It is said that a bond is formed between a woman and the child she cares for…she must have loved him as deeply as did his father."
Calliliana's sobs subsided somewhat after a short while, and she stood painfully, the body of her little Leander still clutched tightly in her arms. "What m-must I d-do with th-them?" she stuttered softly, a question burning in her tear-bright eyes. Antonius was struck by how young Aemilia sounded as she spoke to him—grief had shattered the shell of the woman about this maid, and rendered her once more a helpless little girl.
"I shall help you bury these two. We cannot leave them lying here." The maiden shook her head slowly.
"And then where am I to go? What shall you do with me?" Again, the soldier was struck by the question in the girl's soft young voice. He realized at last that, though she was young and she appeared untouched by the cruel world about her, she had at least learned to fear him in the way all women must fear men—that all beautiful, foreign women must fear the soldiers of Rome. He laid his hand upon her shoulder gently, and was pleased when she did not flinch away.
"You need not fear me, Aemilia, nor anyone else while I am by your side." He stooped, and with averted eyes, began to gently roll the gruesome remains of Kalyca into a blanket. "If you wish it, you may come to live with me. I share a small villa with my sister, Sylvia, and she has been in great need of a ladies' maid." Antonius looked up, to see what looked like a small glimmer of hope begin to dawn in the storm-tossed green seas of the maiden's eyes.
"Oh yes, oh yes, it is good. I can do that kind of work!" Her voice was eager in its childishness, and Antonius could not restrain a smile.
"You will please her I think." The soldier stood, his well-formed biceps bulging under the strain of the blanket-shrouded body he carried upon his back. "Come now; let us lay these poor souls to rest."
Calliliana stood by silently as Antonius dug two deep wells within the earth of the beauteous garden—that garden in which she and her beloved had spent so many happy hours—and as he carefully laid the remains of those she loved into them. "You have wept enough this day," she told herself firmly as thus she stood, forcing herself to stare straight ahead upon a little blue flower. She must not think of them…she musn't…or this kind Roman would grow suspicious…
"This flower is the color of your robe, the hue of a sapphire gem…"
STOP IT! Calliliana attempted to flog her mind into submission. She must NOT think of Leander, NOT now. It could only prove to be dangerous for her. The maiden gave the innocent little flower upon which her gaze had alighted a look poisonous enough to have withered it. She turned aside, realizing that the blue blossom had been what had triggered her thoughts of her husband. Instead, she trained her eye upon a little bush of delicate roses.
"Do you see this rose? It is the color of your cheeks when I speak to you…"
"Oh Leander!" she cried out, her sob of agony escaping her ill-disciplined lips before she could snatch it back. Antonius rose from placing the last heap of earth upon the second grave, a question in his eyes.
"What was the bond between you and the criminal?" At that moment, Calliana had a vision of herself throwing her full weight upon the man, felling him to the ground, and grinding the dirt from the path into his pitiful eyes. No one…no one indeed, should ever call her husband a criminal! With great effort, the maiden stilled her tumultuous emotions.
"It was also the name of the child." She said no more, thought Antonius would feign have questioned her again upon the matter. Instead, the girl gathered up her small bundle of garments (she had taken care to leave all of her most beautiful clothing lest the man grow suspicious of her true place in the household of Maximinus) and walked hastily from the garden.
The villa of Antonius and Sylvia was smaller by far than the villa of Maximinus, but it was lovely and refreshing to the maiden's tired eyes. A small fountain bubbled in the middle of the entry, its fountainhead shaped like a roaring lion. The mosaics upon the floor were lovely indeed to behold, all telling stories from the classic myths of the Romans and the Greeks. From where she stood, Calliliana could see that the adjacent rooms were also tastefully furnished and welcoming. "Your sister indeed has a gift for making a weary traveler feel at home," she said softly.
"I thank you." Calliliana gasped and turned to behold a tall woman, taller than many of the men she had known in her life, coming gracefully towards them. She was pretty, the maiden saw as she neared them, with dark-hued classical features and the thick, rippling dark curls of the Roman race. She was incredibly slender, perhaps as a result of her extreme height, and Calliliana could not help feeling even more like a child as a she gazed upon her. Sylvia smiled then at her brother, a mischievous light dancing in her onyxian eyes.
"Now who is this, Antonius? She is quite lovely." Calliliana found herself blushing at the praise, and she heard Antonius chuckle behind her.
"A present for you, my sister. She was a servant in the household of…a merchant here…who recently departed this life." Calliliana silently blessed the man's name for keeping the hideous truth to himself, and she bowed herself into a graceful curtsey.
"My name is Aemilia, Domina. I will be pleased to be of service to you." Sylvia smiled again, her eyes growing soft as the looked at the delicate flower of a girl before her.
"I can already tell that you shall please me, Aemilia." She snapped her fingers twice and two young women appeared so swiftly, it appeared to Calliliana to have been as of magic. The one girl was a plump and rosy blonde, and her whole face looked as merry as the dimples adorning her cheery face and her twinkling blue eyes. Though she was possibly even older than Calliliana, the maiden found herself contemplating the "fairy-child" as she called her with a maternal air. The other woman, however, gave her pause.
She was nearly as tall as was her mistress, and her head was graced by coarse, black hair tied back from her face in an unflatteringly tight bun. Her figure was solid, sturdy, and unwomanly, not delicate like that of the newcomer—it was obvious that she was built for hard labor and was used for such. A large hooked nose, deeply recessed and hooded eyes of a hue so palely brown they appeared yellow, thin, tan-colored lips, and sunken cheeks rendered the already plain face of the woman into something close to repulsiveness. Calliliana thought, with a chill of fear, that the woman, who was bending her cat-like gaze upon her with a definite look of disfavor, appeared more like to a corpse than maiden.
"Girls, this shall be your new companion. Aemilia, I would like you to meet my two handmaids—Albina," here Sylvia pointed at the giggling fairy-maid, "And Mara." Mara inclined her head slightly towards the newcomer, her golden eyes flashing fire. Calliliana bowed to them, her watchful gaze never leaving the look on the corpse-woman's face. "Now girls, take Aemilia to the baths. She will not be fit for work until she is cleaned, fed, and given a good night's sleep." Calliliana thanked her new mistress with her eyes.
"Thank you, Domina. Your kindness is greatly appreciated." Antonius and Sylvia watched the beautiful newcomer leaver with her companions—and the venomous looks which Mara bountifully bestowed upon her lovely new rival escaped the notice of no one.