Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 43 ~ Fama

Even before Aurelia opened her eyes, she sensed that something was different. Something important was missing. Sleepily, she straightened up in her bed. By ancient standards, it was larger than average, so that two people could sleep in it without piling on top of each other.
But the place beside her was empty and cold. Through the crack of the half-open door, light fell from Gaius' study into her bedchamber. Aurelia leaned forward a little and discovered him at his desk poring over various documents.
Tired, she ran a hand through her hair, wrapped herself in her warm comforter, and toddled barefoot to him. When he heard her footsteps, he looked up and smiled apologetically at her.
"Why aren't you asleep?" asked Aurelia anxiously, stepping behind him and placing a hand on the back of his neck. Exhausted, he leaned against her and closed his eyes as if he was tormented by a severe headache. Gently, Aurelia began to massage his temples and looked over his shoulder at the documents. Although she had become accustomed to transcript by now, the continuous spelling of Romans without separation of individual words, she was still too tired at the moment and so the letters blurred into an inscrutable mass before her eyes.
Slowly, Gaius relaxed. After a while he opened his eyes, and his typical crooked grin was on his face again. When Aurelia moved back a bit from him to sit down on one of the chairs opposite him, his hands suddenly settled on her hips and pulled her onto his lap. Laughing, Aurelia put her arms around his neck. Then her gaze fell on the rings under his eyes and with a start she became serious again.
"What's troubling you?" she asked softly, eyeing his drained face with concern. Gaius sighed deeply and began to play with a strand of her hair. Light as a feather, she nudged him, and a mirthless smile appeared on his face. Then he muttered something so softly she couldn't understand him. Sternly, she raised an eyebrow. Gaius let go of her hair and gently stroked her cheek.
"The waiting is driving me crazy," he confessed softly, looking her firmly in the eye. "Every hour that passes without Macro and Gemellus making their next move, you're in danger. If they still want to eliminate me, they can't spare you. I want to finally be able to take specific action against them and ruin their plans, but to do that I need to know what they're up to"
Aurelia was silent for a moment, thinking. Then she wanted to know how he planned to eliminate the danger posed by Macro and Gemellus.
"The easiest thing would be to order them to commit suicide," Gaius replied promptly, and she stared at him in horror.
"But the most sensible thing would be a trial," he continued quickly, trying to explain to her how they would have to proceed, based on the trials of his two older brothers.
"We could use that Persian woman," Aurelia interjected, but Gaius only snorted that no Roman would believe the word of a foreign whore over that of a Roman citizen-even if the whore's testimony was authenticated by Roman citizens.
"I understand that the evidence must be unimpeachable," she replied. "But we agree that Macro is the bigger problem. To think that our safety depends on him... Mina is still in your grandmother's prison. Not a hair on her head has been harmed. No one knows where she is. We already have the girl in hand, and she is one thing above all: selfish. We give her what she wants, she'll do anything for us. Gemellus has a soft spot for her. If she contacts him and asks for a meeting, Macro and he will go for it. If we can persuade Gemellus to confess, Macro will fall."
"That's a lot of 'ifs'," Gaius murmured wearily, pulling her closer. Aurelia lovingly ran her hand through his hair.
"I know, my heart," she breathed, "and we'll need all our strength for that. So come back to bed and sleep!"
Wordlessly, Gaius stood up with her in his arms and strode to the bed. On it, he gently set her down and with her hands still clasped in his neck, she pulled him with her onto the large, inviting bed.

The soft rays of the winter sun tickled Aurelia awake. Rested, she sat up in bed. Gaius was already gone. Displeased, her eyes fell on a wax tablet lying on his pillow. Wax tablets, the ancient version of scribbles, she thought with a smirk and reached for the tablet. Her smirk turned into a smile when she saw the words her husband had separated just for her. He knew them too well. Transcript would have put her away, annoyed, at this hour.