Her Roman Protector

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Cato and Annia watched Marcus walk away.

“He seems a nice man now, not at all what I thought when I was chasing after him,” Cato said.

“Why were you chasing him?” she asked Cato. “How did it happen that you were able to come here?”

“I overheard Father talking to this Marcus, again,” he said. “I went to the window and saw the soldiers, and they frightened me. Then I heard what they were saying, how the baby had been taken care of—eaten by wild dogs—and that man Marcus just stood there. He denied nothing. And Father was glad.”

Cato squeezed his eyes together angrily and swatted away tears.

“I hated Father, and I hated Marcus for getting my baby sister and taking her away, so I determined to find the man who took my sister. I followed him through the streets.”

“Were you scared?” Annia asked.

“No, I wasn’t scared. It was daytime. I would have been scared if it had been night, but I would have done it all the same.”

“I’m sure you would have. You are a brave boy,” his mother said. If only Flavius had been able to sneak away with him.

“Can we get Flavius here soon?” he asked, as if reading her thoughts. “He will be scared without me to sleep with.”

“I’m not sure how we can get Flavius, my son,” she said, “though there is nothing I want more.”

“I’ll think of something. Why, I’ll go back and get him and bring him here just as I came. It wasn’t so hard.”

His face was serious, and he handed her the baby and stood as if he were going to get his brother at that very moment.

“I don’t think that is a very good idea just yet. Someone may follow you back here and take all of us. Then your baby sister and I, we may both die.”

Annia hated speaking such harsh words to the boy, but they were true, and she knew she had to paint a very clear picture. Otherwise, this son, so very much like Annia, would be off—convinced he could get his little brother all alone, using only his wit and his wiles.

The boy’s face was pained, and he was silent for a few moments, thinking. “I can’t leave him there all by himself. Now that I know you and my sister are safe, I can go back and care for him. Don’t worry, Mother, I will be back.”

Cato hugged his mother.

“No, son. You need to stay here. I don’t want to lose you again.” Annia held him tight. “You are my precious child. I don’t think I could bear being separated from you again.”

“Don’t cry, Mother,” Cato said. “I will make it so that we can all be together again, and so that Father loves you and the baby and Flavius and me just as he used to.”

She took Cato’s face in her hands and looked into his eyes. “What makes you think he doesn’t love you and Flavius the way he used to?” she said.

He looked away. “I didn’t say that,” he said evasively.

“But you did,” she said. “That’s exactly what you said. Why? Has your father done something to make you think he doesn’t love you?”

“No, Mother. It’s just that...” The boy paused and looked down at his feet. He scrubbed the sandy soil with his leather sandal and gazed out at the newly shorn sheep.

“What?” Annia asked, holding the boy in her arms and rubbing his sturdy back gently.

“It’s just that since Father’s new baby with his new wife was born, he doesn’t call us in to dinner. He doesn’t ask us to go places with him. He won’t come and do things with us when we ask him. He looks at us as if he doesn’t know us.”

The boy’s chin trembled, and tears welled in his eyes. “I don’t think he loves us anymore, Mother. That’s why I must go be with Flavius. He will be frightened without me.”

“I understand, son,” she said. “I understand that you want to protect your brother. But the best way to protect him may be staying away right now. Sometimes waiting is the brave thing to do.”

Annia uttered these words with conviction. But she wondered if they were true.

Wait for what? What was she waiting for?

For Marcus to get her boy for her?

Did he care enough to do that?

There was only one person who really cared for her boys, and that was Annia herself.

Was she alone in this world?

Lord, she prayed, please give me the strength to do whatever it is that I need to do to keep my boys safe.

She had one in her arms right now. How precious he felt. What if she lost him again? What if she lost him and never got to see either of them again? It was more than her heart could bear to think of such things.

“Mother?” Cato asked. “Do you have any food? I’m a little hungry.”

He broke away from her tight grip, and she had to laugh.

“Oh, my sweet child. I am so sorry. Of course you are hungry. Please forgive me for not offering you something to eat and drink right away. Let’s go eat. I’m hungry, and I feel certain there is food in the kitchen.”

She wondered when he had last had a decent meal. Was he being fed? Surely the slaves were caring for him as they had done before she was exiled.

She wrapped Maelia in her baby sling and tied her to her chest, and they made their way back to the villa garden.

Cato squared his shoulders as he walked.

“I smell something cooking, Mother. Do you smell it?” he said.