The Death of Antinous || bxb ✔︎

VERITAS ODIT MORAS

"How many trunks do you need, Tinou!"

By his estimate, thirty-five. He took an inventory of all of his tunics, shoes, boar pelts, jewelry, his scrolls, tabula and assorted games, not to mention trinkets and gifts.

It looked like a cyclone had torn through their bedchamber.

"You can buy most of these things on our travels, you know."

"Would I be able to buy this Parthian cat that Orodes himself carved for me from driftwood?"

"Why on earth would you need to take a Parthian cat? You don't even like cats."

He held the figurine to his chest scandalized. "I love cats. Cats are my favorite thing."

Hadrian looked up from his desk and suppressed a smile.

"What do you think?" Antinous asked the slave.

"Don't encourage him, Orodes!"

The slave placed the figurine in one of the trunks. "Take the cat."

"Must you two always conspire against me? I'm an old man," the Emperor mused as he reached for a scroll. They were neatly stored in pigeonholes above his desk with identifying tags. He unfurled a map from its leather sleeve and dipped his quill in ink.

They were weeks away from departing and Antinous had a million things to prepare. He was so afraid of forgetting something, he decided to take everything. Most important among these objects was the gifts he had procured for his family. He bought his mother the finest perfume of aromatic blossoms.

She wasn't a vain woman. Fragrance was her only vice. She picked flowers and made her own sweet-smelling potions at home with a mortar and pestle but none so fine as those in painted glass bottles from the market in Seplasia.

He could not wait to see to see her again. When he was a boy he would try to escape her arms as she smothered him with kisses. Now he was counting down the days until she would hold him. He was a good deal taller since he last saw her. He would be the one holding her! This put a smile on his face.

His stomach growled at the thought of eating her delicious artos dipped in stew. Romans had conquered half the world yet they still couldn't figure out how to bake a decent loaf of bread. He made a mental note to tell her this. It would make her laugh.

When Antinous tired of packing his trunk he started on Hadrian's.

"You should bring your old armor!"

"This is a diplomatic trip. We're not fighting any battles." Then he paused. "It's not that old."

Antinous held it up to the light. "The badges have rusted."

Hadrian pulled the boy away from the trunk and secured him on his lap. "Enough packing!"

Antinous turned his attention to the map on his desk. Their route was dotted with black ink and their destinations marked with a circle. He noticed there was a circle around Nicomedia but not Claudiopolis.

"You missed one."

Hadrian continued circling islands in the Aegean.

"We have to go to Claudiopolis. You promised we could visit my mother."

The Emperor wound a hand around his waist. "I think it's best we sail to the Cyclades from Nicomedia."

"You promised."

"No, I didn't."

Antinous wriggled out of his hands and stood beside the desk. "I want to see my mother."