The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and the sound of periodic beeps of monitors. I heard light footsteps followed by the voices of two arguing men.
"It beats me too, Toni. I don't have an answer for you."
A familiar voice that I didn't hear in ages spoke, "But you said it was a simple procedure."
Anton was my real dad's name. I could feel the bed sink near my feet as he sat down.
Allena started the letter with a "Dear Marcus" which was struck off and replaced with his full name. "To Marcus Claudius Pulcher, My name is Allena Haerviu, daughter of Cornovii tribe Chieftain, Melvin Haerviu. Your grandfather and my father came up with this terrible idea that we should get married. My parents won't let me reject you, so here are the reasons why you should turn me down: #1 I love Neill #2 I am not a virgin #3 I cuss like a sailor and will cuss you every day until your ears bleed #4 I will cheat on you I am sure you don't want such a woman. No one should ever want me for a wife, except for my Neill (This last bit of four words was written as an afterthought, during proofreading I guess). People say that you are rich, hot, handsome, and whatnot. I'm sure you can get someone within a snap of fingers, someone you deserve I hope. If you want help in finding a sweet woman, my friend Cara is perfect, and I love her. WARNING: If you us
Marcus's POV I saw her again. I saw her every time I was wounded. At first, I thought I was hallucinating because of the pain, or those pain-killing herbs that I slap on the skin and drink to heal faster. But I saw the same woman every single time. Her hair dark as the night, her eyes black unfathomable pools. Those eyes have hurt and sadness written all over. I get a rush of super intense raging emotions through me when I see her depressed like that. She had a different name each time, wore a different kind of attire. My imagination was definitely not that wild to create those
The sun was high up in the sky by the time I woke up. I looked at Marcus's empty bed. He probably got up several hours before me. The servants made his bed already. I felt well-rested and the sight of warm sunlight filling every corner of the room was a welcome change from the usual early morning rains and gloominess.Last day at the fortress!My family must have covered a good distance by now. I decided to wear a pleated tartan skirt that Selma packed for me, with a tea green blouse that Iona presented me with. The smell of the bathroom after Marcus s
"Is this cute blondie not riding with us?" Max sneered at Conan. "Fuck you guys! I will sit with the women." Conan pushed Rhea and sat next to her, facing me. I was beginning to wonder if something was going on between the two. While Marcus looked like his mom with lighter hair and skin, Rhea looked like her dad; hazel brown eyes with thick wavy hair that was dark brown. Her dark olive skin was glowing with health and right now it looked like her eyes were sparkling when she looked at Conan.
I decided to go back to the fortress right away. The witch's words rang in my ears.Hewill lie to me? Deception is written all over?I ran faster until I saw the cobblestone streets. I slowed down to catch my breath, lost in thoughts. It was impossible to believe that Marcus would lie to me or deceive me. His eyes were filled with longing when sending me only a mile away, just for a couple of hours. But he did scheme against me and my family. He didn't cancel that kidnapping plan until the morning of the wedding.
A nice drive to some random destination around sunset time is one of my favorite memories with Jonathan. We used to hop into his mom's old car after classes. Sometimes we ended up at the rustic coffee shop where we broke up, and sometimes we used to leave town on a whim. One time we drove up to Milwaukee on a Friday evening with no set plan, well we had plans to go to a mutual friend's birthday party somewhere in Downtown Chicago. Somehow we ended up visiting all the best fall foliage spots in Wisconsin over that weekend. Life was spontaneous and carefree when I was with him. I found myself reminiscing these good old times unexpectedly. I think every time I lost hope with Marcus, my mind shamelessly wandered back t
"Why can't he give it to me himself?" I asked Max with a frown. "I am not you guys' messenger boy you know. Take it or leave it." Max wanted Marcus to hear it so he yelled it out. "She does everything on a whim anyway, might as well keep a weapon handy. To cut things like ropes instead of uprooting shit again." Marcus came out to the backyard. "Tell him I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't such a sly two-timer."
"This is a special casserole made with lamb brains, plenty of cheese, and I topped it off with this beautiful sea urchin that you can all see." My stomach lurched in disgust. "And oh! The most exciting one is coming up, I am sure Allena will love it; not sure if you ever tried it before Allena but peacock meat and eggs are considered a prized possession in Rome. They are very expensive." I was horrified by the names of the dishes rolling out of our host's tongue the following day at dinner. We stopped at some noble ally's home for food and bed who apparently loved to host fancy dinner parties. "... mixed with honey, nuts, raisins, cheese, and mint..." I tried to shut him off from my mind while looking for a simple salad on the dinner table. The host was trying to impress Marcus's father by cooking the most exotic and weird dishes that the Romans ostensibly loved. And then to my horror, he asked two of his servants to serve a little bit of everything into all of our