Chasing Blue- The Final Saga (Book 4)

Chapter 41: Invasion

"What if he lives? He might tell the council about you. They will kill you, Troy!" she said. Her whispery voice held an urgency that turned my smirk into a frown.

"I should have trampled him when I had the chance!" I mumbled. Priscilla let out a loud sigh.

"I was just joking," I said, looking back to catch her frown. Even when she frowned, she was beautiful. Too bad Titus did not appreciate what he had in front of his eyes all along. For a stretch of three city blocks neither of us spoke. That only thing punctuating the silence was the rhythmic movements of the horse.

"Where did you say Athena was staying?" I asked, attempting to break the streak of silence.

"She was living with her parents after Maximus left," she said wistfully.

I turned around. "What happened?"

"Her father made her leave. He was too embarrassed about what the family's acquaintances would think. He did not want his daughter to bring him shame," Priscilla said, stroking her stray locks that escaped the small braid that wound around her crown. "I believe she stays at the inn between Apathia and Cyrene." Priscilla guided me to the place she last saw her friend. Even in the night, a few stranglers haunted the streets. With my experience in Rome, the only people out this late were either thieves or prostitutes. In Aegea I was not used to seeing such vices. Perhaps they existed here too just hidden. Before long Priscilla motioned for me to slow down. We had arrived.

There was a trough of water outside the inn near a stable of horses. I dismounted first then assisted Priscilla down the horse. With the horse tied, and my sack sitting on the saddle, we both walked to the front door of the inn. We looked at each other, without a word. Then I opened the door. Thankfully it was open at such an hour. The only light in this room was a single torch in the atrium. The columns obscured the darkened passages. In the dimness, Priscilla gripped my hand again. We would stay together.

It was quiet here. Too quiet; as if nobody resided here. The flickering torches revealed glimmers of spider webs spun in the corners.

"Are you certain this is the right inn?" I whispered.

"I think so," she whispered back. I was not feeling so confident. Then all of a sudden, I felt something crawl over my toes. Before I could react, it was gone.

"Agh!" Priscilla squealed. I turned my head and saw a small shadow scurry down the corridor. "It was a mouse!" she hissed. "I want to get out of here!" she said squeezing my hand.

"We can go," I said, trying to remain calm. We tiptoed back to the atrium only to see a slender shadow heading to the same door we were headed. We froze. I studied the shadow and watched it reveal the form of a young small-framed woman. As we tiptoed to get closer, the torch shone along the side of her face.

"Athena!" Priscilla gasped. Athena shrank against the doorway. Priscilla plastered a nervous smile as she approached her friend.

"It is me, Priscilla. We will not hurt you. Troy is with me," she said. I watched them embrace as Athena burst into tears.

"You have no business in a wretched place like this," Athena sobbed.

"I had to come. I needed to see you again," Priscilla said in a fervent tone. For the next moments we both let Athena spew out all the misery she had been holding till tonight. She confessed how some of the older men that frequented the inn would try to make advances on her and how displeasing they were to the eyes.

"I told them I had a husband who was gone out to sea. That he would return for me. I kept saying that for weeks even months. But I started to lose faith in my own words," she said before breaking into another sob.