Crispina chuckled. “I fear it is.” She wanted nothing more than to bask in his warmth for a few more delicious moments, but unfortunately, they had obligations. She poked his shoulder. “We should make sure everything is in order out there.”
He groaned, but hauled himself into a sitting position. Crispina slid out of bed and went to retrieve her clothes. Other thoughts intruded as the bliss of their coupling receded. She remembered what she still needed to broach with him: her lessons.
She bent to pick up her discarded clothing. “There is one other thing I wanted to discuss. I became rather distracted earlier.”
Aelius eyed her as she shook out her undertunic. “You’re going to need to put something on if you don’t want me to get distracted once more.”
“I will be extremely impressed if you can manage anydistractionafter what we just did,” she joked, but she pulled her undertunic over her head anyway, covering herself from neck to ankle. “It’s about the lessons I was giving to the children over on the Aventine. I’m sorry I kept that secret from you, but I’d like to continue them. The children deserve that.” She hated that she’d abandoned them again, even though she had no choice.
Aelius rose from the bed and donned his tunic. When he didn’t answer right away, anxiety flared, twisting in her stomach. What if, after all they’d been through, he denied her something that meant so much to her?
He cinched a belt around his waist. “You must understand that it’s highly inappropriate, not to mention dangerous, for a tribune’s wife to visit such impoverished areas.”
Her stomach plummeted. “They are the people you were elected to represent.” She would not let this go. She had only married him in the first place to gain the freedom to pursue her lessons. If he tried to prevent her…
“You misunderstand me.” He met her gaze, a small smile playing around his lips. “I think it would be better if you invited your pupils here, to take lessons in our home.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“But only temporarily,” he continued. “As soon as it’s feasible, I’d like to introduce a bill to dedicate some funds to the creation of a school, where parents of any status who can’t afford tuition may send their children. It may be difficult to convince the Assembly to spend money on educating the children of the poor, especially the girls, but I trust you can help me build a compelling case as to why increased education will benefit the entire Republic.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh, Aelius. Thank you.” Joy surged within her. He not only understood her mission, but he was prepared to use his newfound power to extend it in ways she could only have dreamed of. She launched herself at him and threw her arms around him. This meant everything to her.
He gave her a deep kiss which made her want to drag him back to bed. “I love you, Crispina,” he murmured, leaning his head against hers. “And I will do whatever it takes to keep you by my side.”
Aelius lingered with Crispina in the atrium after bidding the last guest goodbye. The dinner party had been a success, but the congratulations heaped on him by his guests paled in comparison to the joy he felt whenever he glanced at Crispina sitting beside him. His face hurt from smiling.
Now, the guests were gone. His mother had just bid them goodnight, and Max had been put to bed hours earlier, which left Aelius alone in the atrium with his wife. He plucked a rose from a garland and tucked the crimson bloom behind Crispina’s ear. Next to her fair skin, it looked like a flower that would decorate a goddess’s statue during a festival. “Do you remember the first night we met?” There had been a dinner party then too, and a quiet, empty atrium.
“I splashed you.” She smiled. Once, he hadn’t even known if she was capable of smiling. Now, though it was still a relatively rare occurrence, each one felt like a blessing.
“Catullus warned me away from you that night, you know,” he said.
Her eyebrows lifted. “The nerve. On what grounds?”
“Your intelligence. Apparently he was bitter that you had pointed out an error he made once. He thought our courtship would end in disaster.”
She chuckled, and the sound warmed him like a flame. “It very nearly did.”
“For once, I’m glad I didn’t listen to him.” He pulled her close and lowered his head to kiss her forehead. She rested her cheek against his chest, her body warm and solid. Contentment washed over him as his arms encircled her.
Nothing would ever be better than this moment, not even if he won the consulship ten years from now. None of that mattered without her by his side.
A memory came back to him, from the night a year ago when he’d lost the election. Sitting in his bedroom with his mother, devastation heavy in his chest. His mother’s gentle hand on his shoulder, the concern in her eyes.I question if this will make you happy, she’d said.
He hadn’t known the answer then. Now, though he would never stop striving toward his dream of a consulship, he knew he had found true happiness with Crispina.
Crispina let out a quiet yawn. “To bed, husband?”
He released her from his embrace and took her hand. “To bed, wife.”
Epilogue
Ten years later
On the steps of the temple of Jupiter, Crispina stood with Max and Gaia on either side of her. A huge crowd gathered at their back. In front of them, Aelius stood beneath the temple portico with a group of priests, his co-consul beside him. An acolyte grasped the lead of a brilliant white ox, its horns gilded and its neck wreathed in flowers.
Crispina could hardly believe this day had arrived. Ten years had passed since the tribune election, and now Aelius had achieved his ultimate dream: becoming Rome’s first freedman consul.
