An Echo in the Darkness(160)

Julia lay back again, the tension Marcus hadn’t noticed until then going out of her. She held her hand out and Azar took it, sitting on the edge of the sleeping couch. She lightly brushed the damp tendrils of hair back from Julia’s temples and then turned her head toward him.

“I looked in on your mother a few minutes ago, my lord. Iulius put seed out for the birds. They come and sit on the wall where she can watch them.”

“She always liked birds,” he said, thankful for her presence. It eased the tension between him and his sister.

“A pair of turtledoves was looking over the stonework. Perhaps they’ll nest there.”

“Remember in Rome, Marcus, how Mother loved to work in the flower garden and watch the birds,” Julia said wistfully. “Oh, Azar, I wish you could have seen it. It was so pretty there. You’d have loved it.”

Marcus remembered Hadassah going out into the moonlit garden to prostrate herself before the Lord.

“There were trees that bloomed each spring,” Julia went on, “and a stone walkway that wound around the flowerbeds. Mother even had a fanum built near the west wall.” Julia looked at Marcus. “Was it the same when you returned?”

“It was the same, but empty. I was told when I returned from Palestine that Mother released her rights to the villa to one of Father’s old friends in the Senate on the agreement that the proceeds would be used for the poor.”

“Oh,” Julia said, feeling a deep pang of loss. “I was so happy there as a child. I used to run along the pathways.” To think of others living there was unsettling. Yet, she saw it was a good thing. Perhaps her mother had felt the same pleasant feeling she had when she had given Prometheus his freedom.

As he listened to Julia, Marcus was filled with memories as well. He remembered his sister, young and full of high spirits, racing to him and leaping into his arms. She had been innocent of the world then, eager to hear every detail of his adventures. She drank in the gossip of her friend Olympia and cajoled him into taking her to the games on the sly. He had agreed because he thought his father’s restrictions unreasonable at the time. Now he wondered if Father hadn’t seen Julia more clearly than he ever had. He had never considered what the effects might be of his own less-than-perfect example.

“Have you found the man who attacked you?” Julia asked, and he was grateful to have his thoughts diverted.

“I’ve had neither the time nor inclination to trace him.”

“But you must, Marcus. He could try again.”

“I’ll know him the next time I see him. That’ll be warning enough.”

“What if you don’t see him first?” she said, worried. “There’s another possibility. What if this Arab is merely a hireling for someone else? There must be reason behind his mad attack. You must find him and learn what it is so you can destroy your enemies before they destroy you.”

Marcus glanced at Azar. Though she said nothing and did nothing, he sensed she was disturbed by the course of this conversation. “He may have been a robber and nothing more,” he said, wanting to dismiss the occurrence entirely.

“You aren’t without resources, Marcus. You could find him if you chose to do so.”

“If I chose to do so,” he said pointedly.

Her expression fell at his brusqueness. “I didn’t mean to argue, Marcus. I just don’t want you hurt again.”

He smiled down at her with an ironic twist of his mouth. No one had ever hurt him as much as she had done.

Comprehending that look, Julia went cold inside. She lowered her head.

Azar put her hand over Julia’s and raised her head. Marcus could feel her looking at him through that veil. He couldn’t see her face but felt her disappointment. A muscle jerked in his jaw. “I’ve work to do,” he said tersely. Nodding to Azar, he walked across the room toward the door.

“Will you come visit me again, Marcus?” Julia said plaintively.

Marcus strode from the room without answering.





46

Julia finally slept, and Azar left Lavinnia to watch over her so that she could go down to the alcove in the peristyle and pray in solitude. Rashid was uppermost in her mind, but she was not so foolish she didn’t recognize the danger to herself should Marcus trace the Arab. Rashid’s rash act might also put Alexander at risk.

Hadassah considered revealing her identity to Julia and prayed for the Lord’s guidance. What came to her was the conviction that Julia would assume some plot on the lives of her family members should she tell her who she was and her connection with the Arab. Even imagined wrongs had been enough for Julia to retaliate in the past. If her suspicions were aroused now, calamity could fall swiftly upon everyone. If that happened, what would become of Julia?