Caecilius and Metella sat together in horto, gazing at the stars and talking about life, the slaves, and how Cerberus snored when he slept. It was a romantic moment. Metella was full of wine and grapes. She had never been happier.
She turned her head to her husband and smiled at him. Caecilius, still dazed by the amazing bright night scene, said,
"You know what looks beautiful tonight?"
"What?" said Metella, blushing.
"The horto," he whispered.
Metella looked at him, flabbergasted. He must have been joking. But when Caecilius did not laugh, her face grew warm. Was the garden more important to this man that has wife? His wife, who had loved and trusted him so much that she showed him his ankles?
Utterly betrayed, Metella rose from her stone chair and excused herself, saying that she was going to check on Quintus. As soon as her face was out of the man's sight, Metella felt tears leak down her cheeks.
Her sandaled feet scraped across the smooth floor as she found herself inexplicably traveling toward the kitchen.
Maybe I can get some cake to make me feel better, she thought dully.
Occupied with this notion, Metella did not notice the hulking man standing in the doorway to the kitchen until she walked straight into him. He backpedaled and caught himself before he fell into the mensa.
"Esne bene?" Grumio asked gruffly, his brown eyes staring into her blue eyes. Metella nodded, trying to act like she hadn't been crying, but Grumio had spent a lot of time watching the domina from afar, and he could read her face like a liber.
Grumio moved forward gently, and gave Metella a hug. Metella stiffened as she was not a lady of the night, but felt reassured and her eyes dried.
Stepping back, Grumio held her shoulders and asked once again, "Es bene?" And Metella could, for once, answer honestly with a nod.
She was caught in his meaty masculine bearded face and she did not know how long they stood there in the culina, just looking at each other.
"Metella? Ubi es?"
caecilius was coming!
||VOCAB||
Horto: garden
Mensa: table
"Esne bene": are you okay?
Domina: master(feminine)
Liber: book
Culina: kitchen
Lady of the night: scandalous type beat, a woman who shows her ankles a lot iyk yk
YOU ARE READING
Secreto in est horto ⛪️
FanfictionA lil f a n f i c with a love square between metella, grumio, Caecilius, and the amicus. I plan on updating regularly so stay tuned ig PLEASE DM ME FOR PLOT IDEAS
