Twice Loved at Armageddon

Twice Loved at Armageddon, Part VI

Chapter Fifteen

(Flavius and Scott plan to travel to Rome.  Scott and Farah marry and spend eight sensuous nights in their marriage booth.)

   Scott met with Flavius for a conference.  As usual he was not in his office when the guard brought him in.  Although he and Farah had attended Corrina's birthday banquet, Scott still did not make himself too comfortable when entering Flavius's work place.  When he did come in, Scott made a gesture of respect for authority.  Then he asked Scott to sit down.  He then spoke again of how pleased he was with Scott's service to Rome.

   He said, "I especially liked your idea of how light bends through glass allowing us to see things larger or smaller."

   Scott said, "I learned it from another but thought to pass it on to you.  If your craftsmen grind glass with the specifications I have listed, they will be able to read with them when their eyes grow weaker."

   Flavius added, "What is this cylindrical device you made?"

   Scott replied, "Look through the small end at Mount Gilboa in the distance."

   Flavius tried it. "Oh, I see," he said.  "It makes the mountain seem closer.  That would make it valuable to view troop movements in battle."

   Flavius looked back at Scott with satisfaction.  He gestured toward a codex book fat with pages.

   He said, "This is a report I have prepared for the Emperor Tiberius.  It contains your ideas we tried out over the past months.  Yes, your work here will be most helpful to the empire.  In a few weeks you will be leaving with me for Jerusalem, Caesarea, Alexandria, Greece, and then to Capri, where the emperor lives.  Then we retire to my estate in Rome."

   Scott looked at him with concern.  He said, "You know I will be married soon.  What do I do with Farah, my wife?"

   Flavius laughed.  "We will not leave the wife of a future Roman Citizen here without you.  Corrina goes with me also.  They will be good company together."

   His eyes widened. "Me? A Roman Citizen?  Wait until Farah hears this!"

   Flavius laughed again and picked up a small knife for opening dispatches.  "Too late.  She already knows.  Corinna told her yesterday."

   Scott thought to himself and said, "She did act strangely delighted this morning."

   Flavius took on a more penitent look. He said, "Scott, I apologize to you about some things I once said about Farah.  No one but you and Corinna knew just what she could do.  I cannot understand how you knew her so well before the ambush. She has such extraordinary knowledge that her teachers are astounded."

   Scott decided not to speak about the cruelty others had to done to her.  Her success alone would be revenge for the way she had been mistreated. The Romans were no more cruel, Scott thought, than any other empire had been in history.  When Rome was just, she was good.  When she was unjust, all sorts of evil were in her.

   He said to Flavius, "I don't hold a grudge.  It's hard to explain how I knew Farah had special abilities.  I'm not asking that you seek out anyone who troubled her when she was vulnerable.  If you'll pay her the continued respect you would pay to any well-educated woman, others will do the same."

   Flavius nodded.  "You have my help in your coming marriage."  He had a devious grin on his face when Scott left his presence.

   When Scott got back to the villa, Farah was busy giving orders to servants.  She said, "I want the kind of veil my mother wore for my father." The servant nodded in assent and walked out.  She looked up but had no chance to speak before he had taken her up in his arms and kissed her.