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
The beautiful valleys and rolling hills of Switzerland and France soon gave way to rich coastal flatlands once we neared the ocean. We passed several farms and a web of communities before hitting the sea. I could never get enough of the breathtaking views of mountainous terrains dramatically spilling into the sapphire blue waters. It was my favorite part even when going to the fortress with my family. And I was so glad we weren't going to go through the caverns this time. "Caverns? Who the hell dares to attack us??" Marcus asked me arrogantly when I mentioned it to him.
"What's so great about sunsets? Why do you love them so much?" Marcus asked me warmly, staring at the evening sky. He saw me get excited every day of this week around this time. Today's sunset was extra special. Rain clouds cleared out and the sky was painted in bold and fiery hues. Also, it was the first sunset that we were watching together, without sulking or ignoring each other. "It's not just about the sunsets," I told him, unable to express myself any better than that. We were huddled together in the corner of the boat. We had an early dinner and Marcus refused to stay away from me the entire time. He said it was to make up for all the lost time. I have been sitting on his lap all evening because he wouldn't have it any other way. Everyone, especially Rhea and Max, looked at us whenever they were bored and mocked us for being so extreme. We got on their nerves every day with our petty squabbles until this noon. "You two apparently like to do it everywhere except
Marcus gave me a totally unexpected and wonderful surprise when we were about half a mile away from his home. We were riding down a hill, and his house was situated in a valley below. It was surrounded by trees and a few other houses. What looked like the garden side of the house with a fountain was overlooking the river. I was straining my eyes hard to see the house more clearly when my family appeared out of nowhere. Marcus invited them the day they were leaving. He just never told me. The Romans did a ceremony to take the new wife into the house, similar to modern-day but in a slightly different style. "Aaahhh...!" I was super thrilled and climbed down my horse to run to them. "Where's the sex glow??" That was Selma's first question. "She's tired. Don't bother her already." My mom said happily, crushing me into a warm hug. Marcus and Max both talked to my brothers without being rude for the first time. Aiden was taken aback by their niceness, in fact, he looked disa