The Barbarian's Mistress (13 page)

Dampening a piece of cloth she wiped the worst of the ash and dirt from his face. ‘It feels like it was all just a nightmare, from up here. The only thing that tells me it was all real is my aching body and how bad you look.’

He grinned, took the wet cloth from her, and began to wipe her face. ‘If I look bad, you should see yourself. No one would recognise the daughter of G. Annius Bibulus, the respected senator of Rome, now.’

Anniana knew he was teasing her, but there was a ring of truth to his words. No one who knew her would recognise her as she was now. She was no different from the thousands of people who were escaping the mountain and its fury.

‘Look!’ Vali pointed out over the darkened countryside. In the distance, they saw a raging fire and lightning on the distant mountain top. ‘It’s happening then. Like on Sicilia. There’ll be nothing left by morning.’

‘Maybe it will only be the stones…’ She tried to be optimistic. The idea that Severus and his beloved estate were directly in the path of that raging mountaintop was too awful to contemplate.

‘No. It’s more than just stones. There’ll be burning mud pouring out soon. That’s what happened at Mt Aetolia. I’m still not sure we’re far enough away. If you’re up to it, I’d like to keep heading south. Now that it’s dark, we can keep the fire from the mountain at our back to guide us.’

Anniana sighed heavily and nodded. She was so exhausted she could barely think straight. But she trusted Vali’s judgement on this, as she had on everything that had happened since they’d left Rome. Had that only been four days ago?

‘Can I rest for a few more minutes? Then I’ll go where you say.’

‘Yes, rest for a little while. I think there’s time.’

‘Vali,’ she said, leaning in to rest against his big body.

He looked down at her, a question in his eyes.

‘Why did you come back for me? You could have been on one of those ships, safely away, if you hadn’t come back for me.’

Vali frowned. ‘Your father entrusted me with your life. Until I know you’re safe, I’ll be at your side.’

‘But your obligation was only to get me to Severus. I was his responsibility then.’

‘And if you’d chosen to stay with him, I would have accepted that. But I had to give you that choice. I’ve enough regrets in my life, without adding you to my load.’

It was not the answer she wanted, but it was the one she would accept. Somewhere in the last few days, the last of the child she’d been had disappeared. The woman now understood far more of the realities of life. Nothing was clear cut, nothing was as it seemed. Sometimes choices were made simply because the alternative was unacceptable. She could live with that.

Chapter Eleven

25 August 79 CE,
Salernum CAMPANIA

Somehow they had found the Via Popilia heading south and joined the growing flood of humanity trying to find safety. As they followed the winding road down from the mountains to the seaside town of Salernum the next morning, they were numb with exhaustion. And looking at the faces of the people around her, Anniana knew they weren’t the only ones. Not even children being carried in the arms of parents had the energy to cry. Their dull little faces were covered in grey dust, and there were heavy bags under their haunted eyes.

In the forum, food was being bought up quickly. Vali left Anniana in a quiet corner and pushed his way to the head of the line to buy bread and oil. When he returned with his prizes, they moved away from the crowd
, down toward the bay, and found a quiet place to sit and eat. It was the first food Anniana had eaten since midday the day before. And from the way Vali tore into his bread, she expected it was at least that long since he’d eaten, too.

‘We probably won’t find an inn in town that has any beds. Refugees have been pouring in all morning from the bits and pieces I heard while I was getting the bread. I think we should buy clean clothes, find the baths, get cleaned up and then keep moving south. There’s bound to be smaller villages along the coast that refugees haven’t reached yet.’

‘A bath sounds like Elyssium to me, at the moment. But I’m not sure how much further I can walk. I’m so tired, Vali.’

‘I know. And if we find a quiet little spot
by the road somewhere we’ll sleep for a few hours. But we’ll need to find another village to get more food later in the day.’

She nodded her head in agreement and let him draw her to her tired feet. Then they returned to the less crowded end of the forum to purchase clothes and ask directions to the baths. By midday they were clean and somewhat reenergised as they made their way out of the town, south along Via Popilia.

By mid-afternoon, they’d come across a small village at the base of a mountain called Picentinus. Here they found a way station and mansione that seemed untouched by what had happened just north of them. After a hot meal, they went to their small, less than clean room. Vali spread his cloak over the filthy straw mattress, and they both collapsed onto it. They were asleep in seconds.

At first light, Anniana felt Vali stirring at her side. She didn’t have the strength to as much as turn her head to see what he was doing.

‘I’m going to find us a horse. Be ready to go when I get back,’ he said into her hair as he pressed a kiss to her temple. She smiled and then groaned.

‘Can’t we stay here for another day? I don’t think I can move. My muscles feel like stone.’

‘I think we need to keep moving south, if we can. I know you’re tired, that’s why I’m going to get a horse or donkey, so you can ride. Will you try for me?’ He cajoled her gently, brushing a wisp of hair back from her face.

‘Shouldn’t we be finding out what happened to Pompeii? Severus might have survived and be looking for me.’

She felt his tension and looked around so she could better read his expression.

‘I heard last night that a cloud of poison poured down Vesuvius yesterday morning and killed every living thing in its path. Unless Severus changed his mind and left his estate, he’s surely dead.’

Anniana dragged herself up until she was sitting. The enormity of what he told her was hard to take in. ‘I’ve never heard of such a thing.’

‘I know, neither have I. But more than one person had heard the story from messengers who changed horses at the way station. This is a dis
aster unlike anything the Empire has ever known. And until we can work out what to do next, we’re better off getting as far away from it, and Rome, as we can.’

‘My father will think I’m dead!’ she said, the realisation suddenly hitting her like a blow.

‘Not necessarily. As far as he was concerned, we’re still on the road south to Campania. But we’ll need to get a message to him somehow…’

‘If we send it directly to the house
, mother might intercept it.’ She thought quickly, her mind suddenly hyper-alert for all her physical exhaustion. ‘Marcellus Lavius! Father’s friend. He has always disliked my mother and she him. If we sent a message via Lavius I’m sure he’d pass it on to father.’

‘Your father told me to get a message to him via the dwelling near the Gate, but there’ll be too many messages going into the city with all this. It’s less likely to be delivered where payment at the other end is doubtful. All right, we’ll write a message and send it with the next northward bound messenger. I’ll find the next large town south of here and we’ll give that as our location. We can make our way there and wait until we hear back from your father.’

She nodded. Without needing to ask, she knew that staying where they were was not a sound idea. It was too small, and they were too conspicuous. How long would it take for someone to realise they carried money and decided to take it from them? Or worse, realised who she was, and passed the information on to her mother. They were far more likely to stay inconspicuous in a larger town.

By mid-morning they had found out that the coastal town of Paestum would be the most suitable spot to send and receive messages by sea, discovered it was impossible to rent or buy a horse or donkey, and set off to follow the coastal road to the end of Paestum Bay on foot, which was 20 miles away.

It was late afternoon when they finally reached their destination, and Vali was pleased to see that no refugees had made it this far. The forum was almost empty, but a few coins greased palms and found them a shipping agent who knew of a craft heading north to Rome the following morning. The
Hercules
would pull up onto the sand below the town, and there’d be someone on board overnight, unless they wanted to wait until dawn, and then pass the message to the ship’s master directly.

The agent was also helpful in naming a suitably clean and honest establishment where they could stay for a week or more. It belonged to his widowed sister-in-law who would also provide meals for a reasonable price. The town, like Pompeii
, was popular with those holidaying from Rome, and the locals had quickly realised that renting spare rooms out during the summer months was an excellent way to make a little extra money.

So the newly wed Vali and Lara took up residence in the upper front room of Daria Hagii’s villa, which she shared with her young son, Appius. It was small but clean and comfortable, and Lara felt at home for the first time since leaving her room in Rome.

After a shared meal with their hostess, Vali and Lara composed the message to go to her father. It was written in indirect language in case anyone else should read it, and simply said, ‘Your goods are safe but S did not survive. Please advise by way of Daria Hagii, Paestum. V’

Then Vali walked Lara to the baths. They only had the clothes on their backs, and much to Lara’s discomfort, she was forced to dress her clean body back into her louse-ridden tunic. 

Vali accompanied her back to their room, settled her in with warnings not to let anyone in, and went back out to get a bath himself, and deliver their message to the
Hercules
. When he returned, he crept quietly into the room, expecting to find his ‘wife’ asleep. She had struggled to stay on her feet for the whole interminable day, and on top of the trauma of Vesuvius, and their escape, it was amazing she was still functioning at all.

The room was lit by moonlight and their hostess and son were already abed. Everything was blissfully still. The humid air was fragrant with night blooming jasmine. He stroked his smooth cheeks, glad to be rid of several days’ growth at the bathhouse. He hadn’t been able to put his loincloth back on after the bath, but had washed it in hot water. He went to lay it on the windowsill, but noticed that his little mistress had thought to do the same thing.

He was instantly hard. The idea that she was naked beneath her gown was too appealing, even exhausted as he was. Then he noticed that her tunic was crumpled in the corner where the carry-all and arms were resting.

She only had one tunic. If it was on the floor, what was she wearing?

His hands began to shake. His mind conjured a picture of her naked beneath the white sheet that covered her. He didn’t need this torture. Not tonight. Not after everything they’d been through. What possessed her to sleep naked, knowing he’d be beside her? Did she think he was a eunuch? Hadn’t he made it clear to her that he wasn’t to be trusted, that he was a beast, with a beast’s ugly needs? Why would she intentionally test him like this?

He undid his belt, flung off his tunic and climbed into the soft bed next to her. She immediately inched away from him to the farthest corner of the bed. So she wasn’t trying to provoke him or seduce him, otherwise she would be making her state of undress known to him. But damn it, she couldn’t expect him to lie next to her all night when her beautiful little body was bare.

Then he heard her sniffling, and his anger and confusion faded. ‘What’s wrong?’

The back of her head moved in a shaking gesture, her shoulders huddled in on herself.

‘Anniana, tell me what’s wrong.’

‘I’ve got nothing on. I’ve got no clean clothes and…and…’ she hiccoughed through her tears, ‘I couldn’t stand to get into this nice clean bed wearing that bug infested gown… and I didn’t have anything else to put on… I’ve…I’ve never been naked before. I feel …’

‘What do you feel?’ he pressed her gently, not moving from his side of the bed.

‘Shameful and nasty. Like a… prostitute…’

He couldn’t take it. The laughter broke from him so fast and so forcefully that all he could do was lie on his back roaring with it, until the tears ran down his cheeks. When he gained control of himself enough to realise she would probably be hurt that he laughed at her, he tried to think of something that might ease her shame.

‘In my country, it’s very cold, and people sleep naked together all the time. It’s warmer than with clothes on.’ He left out the fact that those sleeping naked were usually sexual partners or children. She didn’t need to hear that. ‘Being naked is nothing to be ashamed of. Especially in this heat.’

She sniffed, and turned over to face him, the sheet pulled up tightly against her neck. ‘Doesn’t it feel strange to … be that way with someone? It’s very personal. Only Ninia and some of the other female slaves, who’ve helped me bath, have ever seen me naked. Oh, and a few women in the bathhouses over the last few days, but I tried to keep my distance from them, and they didn’t seem to be interested in looking at me…’

‘It is personal, but it’s also very natural. You slept next to me the night before we reached Pompeii, and I was almost naked.’

‘I remember. I found it… unsettling… especially when you… But I don’t want to think about that. I know I’m being stupid, laughable. But I’m so tired I can’t think straight. And I’ve been lying here trying to sleep, but I can’t. All I can do is cry.’ She sniffed loudly.

‘Come over here. We can keep the sheet between us as if it’s clothing.’ He didn’t know what he was doing. This was a formula for disaster. But his little mistress needed comforting, and it was the only thing he could think of.

She must have thought so too, because she edged over toward him, folding the sheet around her body so that she could lay with her head on his shoulder with the sheet between their naked bodies. Damn, why did he have to think such thoughts? He needed to sleep, but with her naked, he doubted he’d be able to do more than close his eyes.

The way she snuggled into him was becoming all too familiar. It made him feel calm and gentle inside. Content. After everything they’d been through, this one, small thing made him feel content. Peaceful. Safe.

‘Talk to me, tell me about what it was like being a child in that cold place. It might make the memories of the last few days feel less… pressing.’

‘All right. Let me think. My people live on the edge of a deep fjord… that is a river that cuts through huge cliffs. There isn’t a lot of arable land, but we farm what we can. My village was the largest in our area because my father was the chieftain of our clan. He had three wives, but my mother was his first, and I believe his most loved. They married when they were both very young.

‘My father had several brothers a little younger than he was, and they were good to me. From the time I could walk I’d follow my father around. At first the men were angry, and tried to make me stay with the women. But I always got away from them, and ended up at my father’s side. So they let me stay. Of course, I don’t remember that. It’s what they told me years later.

‘We lived in a long house. A dwelling that had no windows, and only a door at either end. There were holes in the thatch roof to let the smoke out. It was one big room, and people slept next to each other in family units around their own fires.’

‘If your father had more than one wife, who did he sleep next to?’ she asked sleepily.

‘Whoever he was having sex with. And if he didn’t want sex, then he usually slept with my mother, as the favoured wife.’

‘I don’t think I’d like to share my husband.’

‘You’ll probably have to, if you marry a patrician. They all take other women.’