The Mark of Rome

xxix / Vincit qui se vincit

The world seemed to tilt on its axis as I beheld him. The man that held my heart and all of my worries. There was no holding me back from leaping into his arms. My legs couldn't carry me fast enough.

Our bodies collided and he gave a soft, resonant chuckle as his face buried in my neck. I collapsed into him, pouring over with relief and longing.

His body was leaner and the hollowness to his cheek might not have been noticeable to most, but I had brushed my palm across it more than a hundred times and I knew that they were once full and youthful. Still, it did not matter. Nothing could ruin this moment for me.

I did not weep as my sister did for her lover, but I had missed him immensely all the same.

"You admit that you love me then?" He quipped. He drew away just enough for me to catch a glimpse of his face and there was something that toiled behind those eyes. Usually quiet and reserved, Octavian held the same expression, but there was a sense of defeat that laid heavy on his shoulders.

"I've told you I love you," I chided. It wasn't untrue. He confessed his love for me the night before the ambush. Vian asked for my hand, and yet, in that moment, I had had no answer to give him.

I told him I loved him as they ripped him from my arms, as my sister tore me away to evade the mob.

Vian gave me a look that communicated a thousand words and yet, I couldn't bring myself to believe him. I denied the sadness in his gaze and his silence. My family would be made whole. We were favored by the gods after all.

In the dim torchlight, I watched as he opened his mouth to speak and I laid my forehead against his to interrupt, "Don't. Not yet. Let me have this moment with you. Even if just for a moment...It feels as though I've waited for you for a lifetime and then some."

"Believe me, Cass," he rasped. "It feels as though I've waited for you longer."

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The room was filled with people and my heart felt as though it might beat out of my chest. I could hear the quiet chatter from outside my home.

Breathless and with my heart racing, I burst into the room, quieting every conversation and every happy reunion. My home was filled with people who had heard the whispers on the streets. Marius' friends and trusted counsel cluttered the room. It was a modest party, but one that felt alive with tension and excitement.

Octavian's eyes darted to meet me and his expression shifted. I couldn't read him as well as I would've liked. Always the more guarded of the three, Vian kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. Now was no exception, to my chagrin.

I kept an even face as I approached him and I met his eye with a look to say we would have a word together in private later. Without hesitation, I embraced him. He was my family and he was home. With or without my husband, I was glad to have him home.

Vian's shoulders relaxed as I made the first move to welcome him. I knew he must have been wary of how I'd react. I knew he wouldn't have wanted to come home without his two brothers, and that's what made me worry.

"You're thinner," I muttered. "You should have something to eat."

There was the slightest beat of trepidation in his devilish grin, but his lip upturned a moment later as he chuckled darkly, "I apologize if I'm too thin for your tastes, Domina. I should have told the guards to give me more to eat."