Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 92 ~ Problema nova

Even before Aurelia opened her eyes, she sensed that something was wrong. The little body pressed against her was glowing with fever. With a racing heart, Aurelia gently placed her hand on her son's forehead and suppressed the tears that were welling up inside her. After she had halfway calmed down, she opened her eyes and sat up gingerly. But she was not careful enough. Just a tiny bit the blanket slipped and as soon as the pleasantly cool air hit the boy's skin, he began to shiver uncontrollably. Aurelia quickly pulled the blanket into place and gently stroked her son's hair.
Even more carefully than before, she slid out of bed, pulled up a chair and sat down with her son. Automatically she checked the temperature of his forehead again. It was much too hot.
Just as Aurelia was about to call for help, the door opened and Belana entered the room to wake her up on time. The slave immediately recognised the situation and scurried out of the room. Gratefully, Aurelia concentrated on her sick son.
A short time later, Sophia bent over the boy and examined him without waking him. Full of worry, Aurelia watched the slave's every move and analysed her expression. But she did not find the answers that could take away her fear.
Suddenly, soft hands wrapped around her body and pulled her into a warm embrace. She recognised the perfume immediately. Julia. Aurelia would have loved to burst into tears, but something held her back.
"I turned down all your clients this morning on the grounds that you would be uncomfortable," Julia whispered in her ear. "But you have to appear at the Senate today or they will start asking questions."
Aurelia would have liked to start shouting. At the moment she didn't care about her clients or the senators. All that mattered to her was her son and she wanted to stay with him. But Julia was right. She could not, she was not allowed to stay with him. Slowly she detached herself from her sister-in-law and nodded. She had understood.
"Go. I will stay with him," Julia encouraged her, gently wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. Just as Aurelia was about to turn away from her, Julia thrust a scroll into her hand. Without giving her or the document another glance, Aurelia turned on her heel and looked one last time at her son, who was smiling feverishly at her. When had he woken up? How did he feel? But she didn't ask any of those questions that preoccupied her. Instead, she whispered to him in a quivering voice: "I'll be home soon, my darling."
With a heavy heart, she left the room. It was only in the hallway that she remembered the scroll Julia had given her. With a sigh she looked at the document more closely and all at once her heart skipped a beat. Julia had given her a letter from Gaius. Powerlessly, she leaned against the wall. With trembling fingers, she broke the seal and slowly unrolled the letter. The words blurred before her eyes, and she had to force herself to bring her breathing back under control. She could not appear in the Senate so distraught. After a few minutes, she was able to see clearly and began to grasp her husband's words.

My heart,

in no language will there ever be enough words to describe what I feel. I am so relieved that you are doing well. I am so proud of your strength, your foresight and your passion with which you overcome every hurdle that life throws your way. I am proud that you are the mother of my children. I am proud to call myself your husband. And believe me, my Aurelia, there is no happier man in this world than me.
I thank you that I can always count on you... In peace and in war.

I love, love, love you

Gaius

PS. Before you go to the Senate, Prunia will hand you another letter. Read it in the Senate. In it I will not only explain the progress of our campaign but legitimise Antonia as my daughter. With that, you should all be safe.

Relieved, Aurelia lowered the letter and wiped a tear from her face. With Antonia's legitimisation, one of her worries had vanished into thin air. Pressing the letter to her heart, she glanced at Julius's room door one last time. Then she hurried to her own chambers, where her girls were preparing her for the Senate at record speed. She never once let Gaius' letter out of her hand. On a hard day like today, a few words from him were enough and she gained the strength she needed to face this day.
Before leaving her chambers, she slipped his letter into a pocket of her dress and the barely noticeable weight of the scroll hitting her leg with each step calmed her. Perfectly calm on the outside, she strolled without haste through the familiar corridors of her home, wondering if there was anything else she could do for Julius. She had already told Nara to have chicken soup made for him.
In the atrium, her eyes fell on the house altar, to which she usually paid little attention. Aurelia was not a particularly religious person and her time travel had only slightly changed her approach to religion. Nevertheless, at this moment she had the urgent need to turn to this higher power that had led her here. She spontaneously adjusted her veil, bowed her head and knelt down in front of the house altar. Somewhat awkwardly, she folded her hands in prayer, but it didn't feel right. Her gaze lingered on the little cakes. With steady hands, she grabbed one of the pastries and tossed it into the dimly burning brazier. Immediately the consecration blazed up and automatically Aurelia returned the gaze of her household gods on the altar.
"Please watch over my son as long as I serve this family," she whispered in an occupied voice and lingered in that position for another heartbeat. Then she rose gracefully and nodded to Prunia. The secretary stepped out of the shadows and handed her a sealed scroll. Gaius' official letter. For official letters he used red wax, for private ones a blue. She knew what was expected of her.
With confident steps, Aurelia, followed by Clement and his men, left the princeps' imposing city villa on the Palatine.