Forbidden

Chapter 11

Aeliana stared into her vanity as the servants around her pulled and twisted her hair up, so as to stay cool in the heat. Her gaze shifted to a new object in the mirror, and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes at this figure. "Good morn, Princess Aeliana." "Priscilla," she muttered, "What is our itinerary for this beautiful day?" Priscilla seemed annoyed by something Aeliana said, and she opened her mouth to speak only after sighing, "One can hardly label this day as a beautiful one.

"The sun, with no protection, could simply burn you in a matter of minutes. I've brought an abundance of virgin oil so as to rub our limbs with the substance. It will serve as an extra layer of protection from today's harmful sun rays.There is also no wind, which does not give us an upperhand as we can not stay cool. Therefore, I have carried also in my bag a small urn with a patched cap; the urn is filled with water." Aeliana stared at her 'companion' with an annoyed complexion. 'I was simply begninning conversation,' the princess thought, though she would not speak it. Instead she spoke more kindly, "Intriguing observations, Priscilla. How clever of you to bring such things. The itinerary?"

"We are to set out as soon as it is possible towards the floral shop, where I have been informed to help you choose which decorations you are to have at the wedding," Aeliana's eyes widened at this, "Then to a temple. We will speak with an oracle. It is of my awareness that you most often visit the temple of Venus, is this true?" Aeliana felt as if the question were abrupt; she hadn't expected to be asked to speak. Nevertheless, she slowly nodded her head and simply stated, "It is." Priscilla sighed, "Princess. You cannot favour any of the gods! We will stop at the temple of Mars, so as to thank him for letting Rome win the war." Priscilla spoke bitterly on the latter and this left Aeliana to wonder why. "Oh, I suppose so." "Finally, we will meet your husband to be at the bottom of the palace's hill. From there he will accompany us to the dining hall, where we will all three join your family for a meal." At that, the servants finished and the two women were off.

****

"Princessa! Princessa!" A small girl shouted, causing Aeliana to turn and smile at her. "Hello, child. What is your name?" "My name is Terentia." Aeliana smiled bitterly at the sound of her name, just out of grimace from it's similarity to that of her fiancé. "You are utterly beautiful, Terentia." The princess had not been lying; the small child had deep brown hair which cascaded down her back in ringlets. The hair reminded Aeliana of Priscilla's, unfortunately. Terentia's eyes were the brightest of greens, as beautiful as an emerald and as deep as the sea. Her ivory skin was not a normal sight to be seen on the streets of Rome, but it's tone pulled all of the child together into a small figure of pure innocent beauty. Her cheeks were painted rose as if by the gods, with such perfection that the sight of her face made Aeliana want to cry in happiness and awe. "I am no such thing compared to you, Princessa."

Aeliana's eyes watered quickly, her fingers reaching to her eyes instantly to hide her tears. "Terentia, have you knowledge of my betrothing to our army's Second-General?" The small girl's eyes lit as if a torch had been. Her massive smile almost made it impossible for her to speak, "Of course I have, Your Highness." Aeliana's hand cupped the child's cheek lovingly. "Do you know his name, Terentia?" The girl in question's whole demeanor saddened, and so the princess smiled grimly. "His name is Terentius, my child. And I love you as much as I love him." Aeliana's intentions were of two; Priscilla's job was to see if Aeliana truly had been romancing unfaithfully and this would show her otherwise. The second was to tell the child that she was special. Terentia's eyes filled with joy and Aeliana brought her into her arms.

The princess waved goodbye to the girl before turning around and walking again. "How sweet of you, princess." Aeliana sighed to herself, "I would rather not be called princess on such a regular basis," she looked at Priscilla with an untrue smile, "Call me Aeliana." Priscilla looked incredibly at the other woman and nodded, flabbergasted.

*****

After an uneventful and tiring time in the floral shop, the two made their way to the temple of Mars. There was silence for a long while between the two, until Aeliana spoke up, "I know why you're here, Priscilla. My mother believes that I am committing adultery. I am not." Priscilla stopped walking and looked straight into the princess' eyes. "You are obviously oblivious to the trials of any other citizen but yourself." Priscilla's eyes widened at her own use of words, but still she continued. "I am sorry, Princess Avitus, but it is the truth. I was hired for purposes I have been told, though I do not believe them. Your privacy will remain should you wish for it to, princess. I requested that your mother might choose me to serve as your 'friend' so as I could occupy my days alone and earn money." Aeliana was not as surprised as she should have been, she herself noticed. She supposed that she was hoping Priscilla would reply intellectually. Aeliana then stopped in thought; Priscilla had spoken of living on her lonesome. "Why would you have been alone, otherwise?" The princess asked, confused.

Priscilla sighed and closed her eyes as they were glazed by tears. "My mother was taken by the plague in the early years of my life. My father and two brothers," she started, opening her eyes, "served as soldiers in the army of Rome. In this most recent war, they were killed. Stabbed and cut and burned by the Grecians. They were murdered by our enemy, princess. I am told that since we Romans were victorious, their deaths are honourable. This means that if we had not won the war, my family's deaths would count for nothing, and their lives were wasted. Either way, I believe their lives were wasted. Tell me something, princess. For what purpose was there a war?" Aeliana believed the question to be rhetorical as Priscilla left little time for her to respond. "To show our rivalry? Was it meant to present how Rome is stronger? Smarter, perhaps? Nonetheless, Your Highness, I lost the only family I had in that war. That imbecilic, pointless war." Aeliana was left speechless, so she only frowned. "I know my apologies have no powers, but I am terribly sorry." Priscilla nodded rather arrogantly, as if she had come back from an emotional state and reinforced a stony wall of unfriendliness in her mind.

As the women engaged themselves in the serious conversation, they rounded a popular corner of the cobblestoned road. It was known for the numerous ale houses, where Rome's burliest men drank their sanity away and caused pointless fights, and unsanitary brothels. Aeliana and Priscilla's faces screwed up into masks of the same kind; disgust. Knowing that it was very possible that the two would get involved in some sort of tussle, Priscilla wound her arm through Aeliana's and quickened their pace. "Keep your gaze straight ahead, and ignore everything you happen to hear." Aeliana nodded and moved forward, making sure her chin and shoulders were set.

Raucous laughter, shouts and singing could be heard from the door of one Ale House and Aeliana was tempted to peer into the entrance but remembered Priscilla's stern instructions. But a familiar voice caught her attention and Aeliana found herself looking in the direction of the shout. Atilius was leaned against the yellowing wall, shirtless and laughing hysterically. A skinny girl scantily clad, with brown hair was resting her hand upon his chest and batting her eyes towards him in a flirtatious manner. "Atilius.." The princess found herself whispering. Apparently, alcohol seemed to heighten Atilius' hearing sense for he swung his head towards Aeliana and met her gaze with foggy, unfocused eyes.

"Princess!" He shouted and Priscilla yanked on Aeliana's arm, to make the Princess move again. But Aeliana dug her heels into the street and narrowed her eyes at the gladiator. "Good morn Atilius." He walked forward, stumbling on his way, and dragged the brunette towards her. "Aeliana." Priscilla warned, but the woman in question waved a dismissing hand towards her. "Aeliana, darling." Atilius burst "This is Livia! She's been quite hospitable to me this past day, eh Livia?" The whore, Livia, giggled and met Aeliana's glare. She sobered and cleared her throat. "Good morn, Princess." Aeliana distractedley nodded, whilst the girl ran away and met Atilius' gaze again. "Atilius-" "Liana, love. Would you like to meet tonight? Seeing as last time I never-" "ATILIUS." The princess yelled, quite loudly. Citizens of all ages were watching the scene with curious, judgmental eyes. Priscilla jumped upon hearing the sudden outburst from her companion amd looked at her.

Her cheeks were flushed a light red, and she sighed audibly. Aeliana opened her mouth to clearly reprimand the drunk in front of her but a raven haired man came jogging through the entrance. "Cousin! There you are!" Dilios, wearing a shirt and clearly sober, wrapped an arm around the taller mans shoulders. "Princess Aeliana, always a pleasure." He nodded and slyly winked towards her. "Come now, we must get you back to where you belong." Dilios towed Atilius away, but not without the blonde turning and shouting "Farewell Aeliana!"

The princess turned to look forward, sheepishly avoiding Priscilla's gaze. "Oh Aeliana." The girl tsked and walked forward again, resuming their outing.