Domain of Power-The Dreamer (Book 3)

Chapter 20: Redemption

"Troy, what are you doing in my bed?"

"What?" I mumbled. The first thing I saw was Romeos hovering over me.

"This is my room. Yours was the next door down. I suppose you like my bed better," he said mustering a half-smile.

"Sorry." Here I was sprawled in his bed. All the bedrooms looked the same to me.

Romeos chuckled. "You know what? You can sleep here too if you want," he said extending his hands in a sweeping gesture. "I suppose I should take the guest room. In that case let me remove my belongings into the other room," he said whimsically as he turned his back to me. I watched from the bed as Romeos fiddled with clay flasks on his lampstand. Teetering towards the edge was a tiny money pouch.

"Are those the acro coins?" I exclaimed from behind. I had seen them a few times when Apollus would do a quick count of coins in his money purse. I almost never carried money with me let alone worried about it. From the moment I woke up, everything was handed to me.

"No. They are different coins my father has collected from his travels. Most are the Roman denarii. He has been to several different places across the Great Sea. You would not believe how many different relics he has gotten from his various travels," Romeos said as he pointed to the various assortments of clay jars with some shaped as human heads.

"I see," I said bobbing my head. I took in the various keepsakes that Romeos had lined up in a row. "I suppose those were obtained through fair trade," I said sheepishly.

Romeos let out a breathy laugh. "What is that supposed to mean? I will have you know my father is a top ranking merchant who sets his prices fairly and bargains to get what he wants. He traveled with some of the best merchants of his class." He turned around to face me.

"So did your father know the character of these men he would travel with on trade expeditions?"

"He thought he knew them. Many of them were his fellow comrades. It was not like he knew these were greedy thieves," Romeos said shaking his head.

"So he was completely unaware of the actions of the crew or that they had a taste for what did not belong to them?"

Romeos shrugged in response. "Maybe he overlooked their actions. So what?" He threw his hands up before they clapped the sides of his tunic. "Where are these questions even coming from?" he asked. "If I am reading on correctly you sound suspicious of my father. You said so yourself he was a noble man," Romeos said, folding his arms over his chest.

I heaved a sigh. "I just want to have a fair picture of what he is involved in. Please do not think that I view your father as a criminal or an accomplice. You have to understand I mean no harm," I assured. "I want to believe your father but there are still unanswered questions and people need to know where your father stands."

Romeos rolled his eyes. "You mean the Investigator," he answered in a terse voice. "I know he must have put you up to this but I thought my close friend would not fathom the idea to betray me," Romeos said, shaking his head. "You know what? I have a change of mind. I want my room back!" he said with an edge to his voice.

"You can have your room back. I apologize for invading your space." I got up from the bed. "I cannot believe you would fathom to think I would do something like that. I just want to get the facts, but sorry I probed." Not like they had no problem probing me for answers. Now when I did the same, suddenly his tone was changing. "If your father was really innocent there is no need to get so defensive," I snapped.

Romeos ran his fingers through his closely cropped hair. "I think I need to go," Romeos said quietly. "I do not want to talk about this," he mumbled. He crossed to the doorway, ready to leave.