Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 15 ~ The offer

Slowly the cold left her body and her mind was getting clearer. Then a stranger explained that he needed to bleed her, she was awake immediately. Fast she opened her eyes and sat up. Great pain was hitting her head and Aurelia was whimpering.
In front of her stood a tiny man with a knife and young, beautiful girl in a unfamiliar room. Her black hair was styled in an updo, her eyes shimmered blue in the slime light. She looked like the Roman version of snow white. Both strangers looked at Aurelia in surprise.
"No bleeding!", she croaked laboriously and tried to put as much distance as possible between her and the tiny man who was trying to get closer. Looking for help she turned to the unfamiliar girl. After a second of hesitation, she commanded the old man harshly to leave the room. The men bowed without a mourn and left the room.
Relieve was flooding through Aurelia's body. She started to examine the room slowly. It was big, but was very spartan, too. There was only the bed she was laying in, a chest under the closed window and a table with a small chair in this room.
The silence continued. Carefully Aurelia stood up and opened the window. Fresh air filled the room and cleared her befuddled mind.
"You should get back to bed", the girl said, and her tune was surprisingly soft, then she took Aurelia's arm to guid her. "You are shivering"
Without resistance Aurelia let the stranger guid her back to the bed and she sank back in the pillows. She felt that edge of the bed came down the moment the girl sat down and Aurelia met her friendly gaze in confusion. The girl pressed a cup in her hands and Aurelia took it thankfully. She drank carefully laying down like the Romans used to. Now she could feel how effective Gaius' lessons were because she finally mastered to not spill the drink on herself. She examined the smiling snow white curiously.
"My name is Julia. I was the one who found you at the beach yesterday", the girl introduced herself. "You were very lucky, Aurelia"
"How do you know my name?", Aurelia wanted to know in surprise and Julia laughed. Aurelia examined the girl a little bit more carefully again and suddenly she understood: Next to her was Julia, Julia Livilla, Gaius's youngest sister. Immediately Aurelia noticed the similarities between the siblings and without noticing she said her full name aloud. Julia turned serious, nodded and explained that her family name was enough because she was the only sister using it. Then she took the cup out of Aurelia's hands, stood up and told her to rest. At the door she stopped, turned around one more time and said quietly: "I am very glad that you have survived"
She left Aurelia with these words confused and exhausted.

Three days later Aurelia was unable to stay in bed and stare at the ceiling any longer. All this time, she had only seen Julia. Didn't Agrippina and Drusilla wanted to meet her, too? Aurelia wasn't bold enough to ask. Maybe the sisters had a lot of things to do.
She stood up hesitatingly and walked to the window. A soft wind was playing with her hair and she started to feel homesick for the first time. She was missing her parents terribly. They surely would have loved being here because they loved the seas as much as she did. What would her parents think about Gaius? Surely, they would be excited to meet him without prejudice – until they checked his Wikipedia profile. Suddenly a new picture was trying to get her attention: Gaius sitting with his perfect, polite smile wearing black jeans and a white shirt at her parent's living room desk, while her parent's gaze moved fast between their screens and his polite face. She had to smile about this little thought.
A quiet knock against her door made her shrug. She turned around and tried to look very cool. She was surprised to find two unfamiliar, young, simple dressed girls standing in the door frame and not Julia. For a while she looked at the girls who met her gaze uneasily. The silence was getting unbearable. Finally, the girl on the left, a small one with red hair, pushed herself to say quietly: "The young ladies sent us to prepare you, milady. They expect to meet you at young lady Agrippina's birthday dinner"
For the last time Aurelia looked out at the glittering sea, then she sat down at the small chair. The other girl, who was also tiny, but blond, grabbed Aurelia's arm, helped her up and guided her out of her room through the corridor to a small bathroom. There she removed the dirt, waxed every unnecessary hair from Aurelia's body (at that point Aurelia was longing for her modern shaver that was still in her suitcase back in the 21st century) and put nice smelling oils at Aurelia's skin. Aurelia smelled discretely at herself and was relieved to notice a hint of lavender. Aurelia hated nothing more than vanilla. Which girl wanted to smell like a dessert willingly? She didn't sprayed herself with chocolate, too.
The tiny girl was very silent during her work and Aurelia wasn't bold enough to address her (beside the waxing programme because she really had to focus to not scream in pain with every removed hair). The girl helped her in a clean tunica without a word and guided her back to her room. The red-haired girl had prepared a few pieces of clothes and tons of creams, small bottles, combs, and brushes at the desk already. The blonde one closed the door behind her. Aurelia smiled at the girls politely, but they didn't look her directly in the eyes.
With a small, frustrated moan Aurelia sat down and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"My name is Aurelia", she introduced herself. "Before you do anything more for me, I'd like to know your names. Your silence makes me uncomfortable, and I don't like to not know the people around me"
The girls stayed silent and blushed in surprise. Aurelia rolled her eyes annoyed. Softly she drummed her fingers against her arm and looked at them patiently.
"Milady", the blond girl whispered uneasy and focussed the floor. Before she could say anything more, Aurelia commanded them to look her in the eyes.
"But, milady", the red-haired protested. "This is inappropriate. Please stand up so that we can help you in your dress"
Aurelia stayed in her position stubbornly. For her it was simply unpolite being unknown of people's names who were helping her.
"Nara", the red-haired whispered finally and the blonde one pushed her elbow in her side. But Nara lifted her gaze uneasily and looked up at her with jade-green eyes. "This is Belana"
"It's a pleasure meeting you", Aurelia answered happily and stood up. Belana looked in her face in confusion, too and Aurelia smiled at the girls. The first step was done.
Nara and Belana helped her in silky dresses. They were silent again. The dress was shimmering like the sea at night and the scarf had a silver touch in this slime light. They brushed her long hair carefully and did it up in a beautiful masterpiece. Aurelia would rather have her hair down, but they put so much effort in her hair styling that she simply couldn't stop them. While they did her make-up they talked to her from time to time. They only asked simple questions. Like if she liked the colour of the lipstick or if she wanted to use more eyeliner. They exchanged confused looks then Aurelia said she didn't want to use any eyeliner at all and that she wanted to focus on her lashes.
"I don't like wearing too much make-up", Aurelia explained seriously and the girls nodded. A woman from another period was looking back from the mirror. What a different hair style and a new dress could do. But the woman in the morror was still Aurelia and she was finding comfort in the thought that she was still herself. With a smile she thanked Nara and Belana whose nodded ashamed and left the room.
Aurelia examined herself frowning in the mirror for the last time, then she turned around and started looking for the dining room. Gaius had described the villa very well to her. She found the room without a problem. But many men and women were already laying there. Unsure Aurelia stayed in the door frame and looked at the crowd. Suddenly Julia excluded herself from the crowd and went to her with a huge smile on her face.
"Good evening, my dear friend", she greeted Aurelia. Aurelia gave Julia a small smile and tried to express her admiration about the party. Julia's smile became bigger, then she took Aurelia's arm.
"Are you ready to meet my sisters?", she asked with a very Gaius-alike grin and pulled her with her.

The three sisters were fascinating. Agrippina and Drusilla whose could be twins (beside of their different hair colour) weren't very similar to her younger sister neither in looks nor in their character. Agrippina's hair was shining like liquid caramel, Drusilla's had a very beautiful shade of brown with a touch of red, their eyes were giant and like amber, their faces were noble and beautiful. Julia didn't look less pretty next to them, only more serious like she was the eldest. Her elder sisters were very extroverted, they drank a lot, they flirted with every single man (and didn't cared about their age or status), they laughed loud and from the bottom of their hearts. But Julia was demurer and more handled in her consume of whine. Aurelia followed her example after Julia shot her a warning gaze.
But beside every difference everyone could see very clearly that they were sisters and Aurelia started to miss her little brother Max at this view. Was he looking for her? Was her family doing okay without her? They must be so worried now and Aurelia didn't have a change to tell them that she was fine. She was doing fine her, wasn't she?
Aurelia whispered that she needed fresh air and left the dining room fast. She was gasping for air as soon as she reached the atrium. The quiet splashing of the Venus's fountain was calming her down.
Suddenly a hand was laying on her arm and she shrug. Why was she so unconcentrated? Slowly her gaze wandered from the hand to the owner's face: a tiny, fat man around 55 years old with a worried expression on his face.
"Are you feeling alright?", the senator asked. The stripes at his toga marked his social rank. Aurelia forced herself to smile and told him that he doesn't have to worry about her. She removed his hand from her arm softly and sat down at the fountain's edge. Against her expectations the tiny man didn't leave but sat down next to her.
"You don't mind me sitting next to you?", he asked, and she shook her head. For a while they sat there in silence, then she realised that she was behaving very impolitely. She introduced herself fast. But the man laughed and answered that he already knew who she was. She examined his round face confused. It was without any contour and his hair was carefully styled. As soon as he calmed down, he introduced himself as Gaius Vespasius Pollio. Something was ringing in the back of her mind. She had heard that name before. Suddenly she realised. Before she knew what she was doing, she screamed: "You are Vespasian's uncle!"
She looked down at him with new respect in her wide-open eyes. Since the first time she had read about Titus Flavius Vespasianus in a historical novel, she was fascinated by his story. He was the second son of a family living in the Monti Sabini and he had an extraordinary career. He did not only manage to survive Tiberius, Caligula and Nero. No, he was the one surviving the year of the four emperor and as the fourth emperor he started a new dynasty. Sadly, this dynasty found an end with the assassination of his youngest son Domitian. Beside that Vespasian had also fought in many important battles and as an emperor he build the colosseum. And honestly, what was Rome without it's colosseum? Surprised about her excitment Vespasius nodded.
"Indeed", he said slowly. "My youngest nephew wears that name. His elder brother is called Sabinus. I am surprised that you know my family so well. I am the first who was able to get the rank of a praetor"
Aurelia smilled at him softly and was able to fight her longing to ask him everything about his nephew. She couldn't believe it. Next to her was sitting the uncle of her favourite hero in history. She asked fast if he liked the party. He met her gaze politely and they had a very amusing small talk.
"You are surprising me, Aurelia", Vespasius confessed giggling. "It is such a pity that the young Gaius can't be here today. Please be so nice and let him know that I will accept his offer"
"What offer?", she asked, and he smiled at her softly.
"Hasn't he told you?", he replied surprised. "I don't have a problem making you a member of my family"
The tiny man was trying to stand up, but Aurelia stopped him. She looked in his eyes and he were able to stand his ground. With every second passing by she was getting more panic. Wasn't he gay? He was way too old for her. Would Gaius really go that far to wed her to a stranger, old cunt who preferred to stay with other men? For what? So that she was safe, but trapped in a doomed marriage?
Finally he was able to read her face and he laughed again. Aurelia's eyes were getting small, her body tensed.
"My dear child", Vespasius giggled. "I am going to adopt you! The gods are my witnesses, I will never clue a woman like that to me! My nervous could never deal with it!"
Aurelia closed her eyes in relieve and buried her face in her hands.
"I am sorry", she whispered. "My life has become a complete mess lately. Have a good evening, senator Pollio"
She stood up with these words gracefully and returned to the celebrating guests. Fast she was in the middle of a conversation with Agrippina. For the rest of the night, she could feel senator Pollio's eyes on her. But another conversation didn't happen and soon she forgot about him and his family.

But as soon as she was finally laying without make-up and exhausted in her bed, the strange conversation kept her awake for a very long time. Soon she would be the cousin of Titus Flavius Vespasianus. That would be interesting. Her lips formed a small smile. She had the feeling that her future would become very interesting.