The Empress of Rome

3: Lovesick Lepidus

"Give me all your denarii! Now!"

The sweet voice of my attacker sounded familiar. Very familiar. Suddenly, the dagger from my throat lowered and the thief burst out laughing. And by gods, it was a familiar laugh. It sounded like a cat's neck was being stepped on, and the poor animal was gasping for breath. It sounded like my sister.

"Oh, Pina! Your face!"

Releasing all the tension I had built up in my shoulders, I slumped against the wall, my fingers pressing against my temple.

"My dear Livilla-"

"Oh Pina! You should've seen it!"

Livilla was my youngest sister, and was only tall enough that the top of her head could brush against my chin. She was also, at times, quite annoying.

"Livilla! That was the stupidest thing you've ever done! What if I had a guard with me? What if Gnaeus was with me? They could've attacked you!"

My words fell on deaf ears as my dear sister was leaning over, holding onto the wall with her dagger-wielding hand for support. She was cackling. Her hood was still drawn over her head, but I could see the bottom half of her face, wrinkles on her cheeks formed from grinning so widely.

In one swift movement, I jammed my knee into her stomach (don't worry, in a "sisterly love" kind of way) and grabbed her dagger as she crumpled to the floor. Her hood slipped off and her black cloak was coated with a layer of brown dirt. She remained on the floor, looking up at me with her wide amber eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. The laughing stopped and was replaced by groaning in pain.

"Oh Pina, I didn't mean much by it. You're always so sensitive."

She rolled her eyes as she rubbed her hand over where I had shown her "sisterly love". I snorted and held out a hand to help her up. Livilla took my hand and stood up before taking off her cloak, making sure shaking it out before starting to fold it.

"You could've just come over for dinner if you wanted to talk to me, Liv."

"Oh but that's no fun."

"But holding a dagger to my throat is? What if I'd tried to escape and you stabbed me by accident? What if-"

"Well it didn't happen! Cheer up."

She's so naive. So were you, when you were her age.

Silence. I looked at her with the dirtiest glare my eyes could muster. Heat rose in my chest. I wanted to punch her. Or bite her. Maybe scratch her.

Livilla sighed and tucked the folded black cloak under her arm. Her light brown hair was messy from being tucked into the hood, but she still looked put together. Drusilla may have been the prettiest sister, but Livilla was a close second. Grabbing my arm, she led me out of the alleyway and into the street, smiling as if she hadn't ever done anything wrong in her life. Despite being lighter than me, her footsteps sounded heavy against the dirt road.

I remained silent. She gave my arm a pat and turned her head to gaze up at me. Raising an eyebrow, she drew in a sharp breath to speak.

"So, where are you off to without Gnaeus, anyway?"

"The forum."

"The forum? What's at the forum?"

"Daggers to stab your dear, beloved sisters with."

"Ha. Ha."

Livilla turned her eyes forward, occasionally giving me a questioning side glance. I remained silent. I never had much in common with her anyway.