Page 117 of Of Love and Treason
He locked his gaze on Marius, the effort to avoid her question evident in the lines on his face. “You have to leave. Please.”
“You’re doing it, aren’t you?” Acid burned in Iris’s throat.
Titus shut his eyes and hung his head. Though he didn’t speak, the movement was answer enough.
Her stomach tumbled. She was glad they hadn’t eaten yet. “Why bother warning us?”
“To protect you and your father,” he admitted quietly. “And to protect the people caring for you both.”
Iris opened and shut her mouth, unable to think of anything to say. Did he really think this would make up for Valentine’s arrest? For his torture? She pressed her lips together, not trusting herself to speak as anger and grief rolled over her in waves.
Marius leaned forward with a wince and a grunt. “Thank you, son.” He reached out and grasped Titus’s thick arm, looking him hard in the eyes. “You are not far from the Kingdom, I think.”
Titus shrugged free. “I want nothing to do with your beliefs, old man. Don’t mistake this warning for anything other than what it is.My aim has always been to keep Iris and Quintus safe. Will you swear to do that?”
Marius gave a slight incline of his head. “I will do my best, certainly, but it is God who holds each of us. Our days are numbered in His book and there is nothing we can do to add or take away from what He has set.”
Titus blinked twice before turning to Iris, jaw hard with anger. “Come withmethen. I’ll take you to my mother in Ostia. I’ll arrange a cart for your pater. You’ll both be safe there.”
Iris leaned away, shaking her head. “I don’t want—I want to stay here.”
“He’snot going to protect you.” He jerked a hand toward Marius and accentuated every word as if Iris were a child. “These people and their so-calledgodhave brought nothing but trouble to you and your pater.”
Iris released Beatrix’s hand and twisted in her seat to face him. “That’s not true, Titus.” Her anger clashed with a solid stillness as she spoke. “God restored my sight, freed Pater, gave us peace and hope—”
“Hope.”Titus spat out the word like a rancid olive. “Hope for what? Your pater would have been worked to death ifIhadn’t stepped in. Your lover is going to die—andthisis the god you’re choosing for protection?”
Marius and the others said nothing. This was a conversation meant for the two of them, and while none of them could bring themselves to interrupt it enough to leave, they all sat still and silent.
Titus raked his hands through his hair, cursing at them all through gritted teeth. Iris’s anger softened, melting into pity. He didn’t know. He truly didn’t know. He was only acting on what he saw from the outside. The panic she’d felt for Valentine had eased a little with her declaration of God’s peace and hope. What Marius said was true. They were all in God’s hands and there was no safer place to be. No matter how precarious that appeared from the outside.
Iris stood and skirted the table, approaching Titus with an outstretched hand. “Come with me.” She tilted her head toward thedoor. He followed her into the courtyard, where the sun reflected perfect fragments of the house and sky in the puddles. She stopped near the silent fountain, its basin filled with rainwater and dead leaves.
He crossed his arms, the breeze lifting the short dark hair off his forehead. “Are you going to speak honestly now?”
“I did.” Iris tightened her palla around her shoulders.
“You don’t have to repeat what they want you to say.”
“I’m not.” She crossed her arms and struggled to come up with words that would make him understand. “Marius is right. It is God who holds each of us—”
“Well, he’s about to drop you all.” Titus gripped her arms and gave her a little shake. “Valentine broke the law.Ihave the proof—”
“Valentine didn’t do what he did for anarchy’s sake.” She looked up at him, tone earnest, eyes pleading. “He did it because he believes marriage is what is best for Rome. For families and widow care and property. What he did, he didforRome.”
Titus shrugged but kept his hands on her shoulders. “That may be. But you must listen when I tell you that with just a little pressure, Valentine is going to give you all up.” His voice dropped low and steely. “That means certain and immediate execution for your pater, for you and everyone else who harbored him. You cannot stay here!”
“Titus—”
He swore and threw his hands up. “I’m asking you—beggingyou to be sensible! You havetwodays.” He turned pleading eyes on her. “Convince them to leave. Valentine will be questioned and he’s not...” He paused, wincing. “He’s not the type that can withstand it for long. Believe me, he’ll give up your names with the second hot iron and you’ll all be taken in. You have to be far away by then.”
The courtyard went blurry.
Titus gripped her hands as his voice dropped to a whisper. “Please. I could have borne losing you to him... eventually. But I can’t lose you like this.” He pulled her to him, his embrace apologetic and platonic. She felt his pulse throbbing in his neck, every muscle of his body strung tight and tense as he waited for her to say something.
She could not force her arms to hug him back. “I’ll talk to them.”
He cupped her face, looking hard into her eyes. “Convincethem.” His hands left her face with a rush of cool air and he turned away, his boots clacking over the pale marble path. Any calm Iris had exhibited in his presence vanished at the slam of the culina door. Her shaking hand shot out and gripped the lip of the fountain. She didn’t hear the footsteps approaching until Beatrix put a hand on her arm.
