Page 10 of Of Love and Treason
Valens swung her to one hip and stepped closer to Marius. “How are you feeling?”
The man shrugged and tried a grin. “Wonderful, when all I eatis boiled barley and water, like a criminal.” He shook his head and watched with a look of longing as a tray of meat pies went by. “Seeing all this fancy food is killing me.”
“No, it’s not.” Cato crossed his arms. “Eatingit will kill you.”
Marius grunted and leaned toward Valens with a conspiratorial gleam in his eye. “If Cato had gone into shipping instead of insisting on being a physician, I’d be a happy, feasting man.”
Cato cocked his head. “No, you’d be a dead man.”
“Feasting in heaven.” Marius winked.
Rue cupped Valens’s face in her chubby hands and forced him to look into her large brown and serious eyes. “Poky face.” She gave his cheeks a pat.
Valens chuckled. “I need a shave, don’t I?”
Cato turned and gave his wife a grin as she arrived with a tray of cups.
“Will you and Beatrix dine with us before the next gathering?” Delphine handed Valens and Cato cups of wine and Marius a cup that steamed. She sent a sideways glance toward her husband as she added, “Cato may have forgotten to invite you.”
Cato snaked an arm around her waist. “Actually, I remembered this time.”
“He did,” Valens confirmed with a nod. “And we would be glad to.”
Rue wiggled to be put down and she ran across the courtyard, tromping through a bed of herbs to where Lalia hid.
Delphine pulled out of Cato’s grasp and started after her. “Maria Calogara Rue! Do you need to use the latrine?” A chase around the courtyard followed the question, with Rue loudly insisting she didnot.
Cato chuckled, watching. “Everyone assured me girls would be well-behaved and quiet.”
As Valens took a drink, the lovely face of the blind woman in the market rushed his mind with a heaviness that sank his gut.Help her tofind hope in You, Lord,he prayed.And if it be Your will, restore her sight for the glory of Your name.
“And how was the meeting of church leaders?” Marius shifted warm brown eyes to Valens.
Valens dropped onto the bench opposite him and, with an apologetic look, accepted a meat pie from a tray. “Oh, same old arguments.” He heaved a weary sigh and took a bite. “But last night I became ‘a bane in the church’s side.’”
Cato rolled his eyes. “What have you done this time?”
“I opposed Pastor Lucca. Again.”
“About what?” This, from Marius.
“The marriage ban and what we should do about it. What stand we should take, if any.” Valens lifted his shoulders. “Lucca thinks we can honor God and the edict—and he’s not the only one who thinks that.”
“What does Bishop Felix say?”
“He’s preoccupied with his letter to the bishop of Antioch, who’s telling everyone Jesus wasn’t God. He thinks this edict is a temporary thing that will blow over.”
“I see. And Pastor Lucca thinks we can honor God and the edict how, exactly?” Marius sniffed the steaming mug, grimaced, and rested it on one knee.
“By encouraging couples to abide by the law, commit to each other, live with each other, and marry later when the ban is lifted.” Valens raised his hands. “He’s afraid to draw attention to the church. There hasn’t been a widespread persecution for ten years now, and he’s telling everyone to do as we’re told and avoid trouble.”
“It’s not the worst plan.” Cato rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s nothing in the Scriptures that says marriage must be ordained by the empire.”
“True.” Valens nodded. “In one sense, marriageisa commitment to one another before God. Simple commitmentsoundsfine, but here in Rome, I fear the application would be difficult. Especially if, say, the man were to die.”
Cato’s eyebrows drew together. “No widows’ rights.”
“Exactly.” Valens knew firsthand why widows’ rights were a lifeline of the empire. His aunt Beatrix, who’d raised him, was a widowand therefore bestowed with the right to own property and retain ownership of her husband’s perfume business. If his aunt and uncle had not been legally married, both she and Valens would have been destitute after Uncle Lucan’s death.
