Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 33 ~ Bad news

Never in his life had Gaius seen a woman leave immediately. But Aurelia and Vespasian set off immediately and gave orders to their slaves and freedmen. Provisions were hastily brought, the horses saddled and not ten minutes later they set off. Aurelia had put on her strange, barbaric clothes again. Vespasian had insisted on it, otherwise they would have left even earlier.
Fascinated, Gaius eyed her from the side. She sat proud and upright in the saddle as if she had done nothing else all her life. Her simple tunic fluttered softly in the wind and if he had not been so close to her, he would never have taken her for a woman. The simple straw hat covered her eyes, and it was a mystery to him how she had managed to hide the abundance of hair underneath. This woman never ceased to surprise him.
Since they avoided the streets, they did not meet a soul. In the shelter of the forest, they finally stopped after a few hours, consumed their provisions and gave their horses a short rest. All this time, Aurelia did not leave his side without really taking part in the conversation. All too soon Vespasian declared that they had to ride on, or they would not reach Rome before nightfall. Slowly, Gaius became worried by Aurelia's silence. At some point he asked her what was on her mind. Aurelia jolted out of the world of her thoughts in surprise. She looked at him with concern.
"I was just wondering if anything happened in Rome before you left," she replied quietly, and Gaius was overcome with another wave of nausea at the memory of this other woman. Embarrassed, he avoided her gaze. Then he made sure that Vespasian was still engaged in conversation with Clemens and Magnus and not paying attention to them. Gaius took a deep breath, then began to tell Aurelia, first haltingly, then more and more hastily, about his last evening in Rome. After the story had gushed out of him, he finally dared to meet her gaze. There he saw nothing but understanding and love. How could she not hate him for that? Suddenly she began to laugh softly, and Gaius realised that he had unwittingly spoken his thoughts aloud. Embarrassed, he ran a hand through his hair.
"Of course, I don't hate you, Gaius. After all, we weren't really together at the time, and you ended it before anything serious happened. But I have a bad feeling there's more to this than we can even guess. We'll only get answers in Rome," she said quietly, smiling wryly at him and then calling out to her cousin when they would arrive. With a sly smile, he turned and replied, "Soon."
Aurelia nodded and unconcernedly changed the subject. Smiling, Gaius looked at his beautiful fiancée. In her future role as wife of the Princeps, she would delight anyone of any rank.

They reached Rome at dusk. At the gate, Vespasian did the talking, while Clemens and Gaius deliberately kept their faces in the shadows. Thus, they passed unnoticed into the pulsating heart of his empire.
"To the palace?" inquired Clemens quietly, but Gaius shook his head.
"No, the letter came from my grandmother. We must go to her first," he returned quietly. His companions quietly agreed with him, Aurelia just nodded silently. Her voice would have blown her cover inside the city walls. There were too many prying ears and eyes lurking everywhere. Without further incident, they reached his grandmother Antonia's villa.
They quickly sat down, and Gaius knocked on the portal. After what felt like an eternity, the heavy door swung open quietly and the familiar face of Pallas appeared in the glow of an oil lamp. As soon as he recognised her, the slave looked around the street inconspicuously, then hurriedly waved her into the house. Tired, Aurelia almost stumbled over the threshold, but Vespasian grabbed her arm in time. Gratefully, she nodded to him.
His grandmother appeared in the atrium at the same time as they did, thanking the gods as her gaze fell on Gaius. As if a great weight had fallen from her shoulders, she approached him and happily wrapped her arms around his neck. Confused, he returned her embrace. Then he gently pushed her away and asked her what had happened while he was gone.
"Not now, my dear boy," she said firmly. "Wash off the dirt of the street first, then we'll talk".
She nodded curtly to Pallas, then rushed out of the atrium. Presumably to the kitchen to have some refreshment prepared for them. Hesitantly, Aurelia took off her silly hat and her hair, braided into a simple plait, fell down. Pallas drew in his breath in surprise, and she gave an apologetic smile to the slave, whose expression had become as impenetrable as ever. Unmoved, he led her to another section of the bathroom so that she could freshen up undisturbed by any male company. Before she disappeared from Gaius' sight, she winked at him pertly.

Half an hour later they were fresh, in new clothes and half-starved in his grandmother's trinclinium when food was finally dished up. Gaius' stomach growled and he helped himself. The conversation was mostly about Vespasian's estate in Cosa, and, to his surprise, his grandmother was talking mostly to Aurelia.
"Now that you are back in Rome, have you perhaps already set your sights on a marriage candidate, or may I help you find one?" his grandmother asked so suddenly that Aurelia choked on her bite. She sat up straighter, tears coming to her eyes, and hastily drank a sip of water. Seeking help, she looked at him.
"Avia," Gaius said softly and his grandmother's dark eyes immediately rested on him. "I'm going to marry Aurelia."
A surprised smile appeared on his grandmother's face. Her eyes flitted briefly to Aurelia, then she began her cross-examination about the upcoming wedding. Of course, she was going to make an act of state out of it. Gaius only listened with half an ear. Other things were more important now than the array of dancers and musicians for the bridal procession.
"Now will you please explain to me why you called me back to Rome without any explanation?" he interrupted her daydreams. Antonia eyed his fiancée inquiringly. Striving for a neutral tone, she told them about his ordered search of the chamber, about the poison discovery and the whore's attempt to escape, thwarted by Drusilla, who had then been secretly locked in a cell in the dungeon beneath his grandmother's city villa.
"She refuses to talk," his grandmother sighed. "I have already shown her all the tools at my disposal for torture, but she has only stared silently. I did not want to continue her interrogation without you."
Thoughtfully, he nodded.
"But in pain she would say anything you asked her to" Aurelia interjected and they all looked at her in surprise. Never had any of them doubted the method of torture. Effortlessly polite, his grandmother inquired what Aurelia had in mind. Thoughtfully, Aurelia stood up and began to walk up and down the room, feverishly searching for a solution. The silence was only broken by Aurelia's footsteps. Suddenly, thunderstruck, she stopped, turned jerkily to face him and he sank into her sea-blue eyes.
"Who would benefit most from your death?" she asked soberly. Gaius merely shrugged, while his grandmother also rose and coldly called Vespasian Gemellus. But Aurelia shook her head. His grandmother and his fiancée stared at each other for a long time, then his grandmother suddenly widened her eyes in horror.
"Macro," she whispered, and the name hung over them like a sword of Damocles. Vespasian's face darkened, Clement looked as if he would rather be anywhere but here, Aurelia nodded, and Gaius just shook his head irritably.
"I have paid Macro and his guard enough to secure their loyalty," he replied nonchalantly. Aurelia began to laugh hysterically and knelt down in front of him so that their eyes were level. Slowly she became serious again.
"Do you really think Macro serves someone other than himself?" she asked him insistently and Gaius considered feverishly, but the food, his tiredness and Aurelia's lovely scent that rose to his nose clouded his thoughts. Hesitantly, his grandmother squatted down beside Aurelia and took his hand.
"Perhaps our prisoner is silent because she is afraid of those who paid her for her crime," his grandmother interjected, and Aurelia nodded. Depressed, Gaius closed his eyes.
"Without evidence, I cannot move against Gemellus and certainly not Macro. After all, he is the prefect of my Praetorians," he said wearily. "Tomorrow morning, we will get our answers from that whore".
A dress rustled softly as its wearer rose.
"How about I get that evidence" Aurelia's voice rang out softly and Gaius jerked his eyes open. He didn't like the expression on her pretty face at all. Flippantly, he wanted to know how she was going to do it. Her lips twisted into a fine smile.
"Perhaps she will confide in a foreign slave who shares her fate," Aurelia replied calmly, her exotic accent colouring her every word as she determinedly pulled the hairpins out of her hairstyle, carelessly removed every article of clothing of her standing, stripped off her signet ring and tossed it casually to Gaius, who caught it idly. His grandmother eyed the young woman with fascination. With a hungry smile on her face, she nodded affirmatively at Gaius. But he knew himself that he had really made a good choice.