Volusia, sitting across from him at dinner, knew just how he felt. He could tell it from her smile as they listened to their fathers discuss the upcoming election, speculating who might win the next term.
The past year had been dismal, full of dinner parties and banquets and state occasions where he had to stand up straight and pretend to pay attention. He’d been kept on a tight leash, forbidden from carousing and gambling with his friends. He’d only endured it because his parents had struck a bargain with him: one year of exemplary behavior, and he would be sent off to join the army’s cavalry division with a horse of his choosing.
He’d already chosen the horse, a graceful young mare whose gait was the smoothest he’d ever felt, and he endured every boring dinner party by imagining the adventures they would have together. He pitied Volusia; all she had to look forward to was marriage to some magistrate her parents had selected.
Volusia caught his eye across the table. Her delicate eyebrows twitched twice in quick succession. He smothered his grin into his napkin. That signal meant “escape at the first opportunity.” They had developed their own language of twitches and nudges over the past few months, after an unfortunate incident resulted in them being forbidden from sitting next to each other. The incident in question had been almost worth it: Max had endeavored to make Volusia laugh by spelling out inappropriate words with his food. He’d been halfway through “farthole” when she’d burst out in an unbecoming peal of giggles, drawing the attention of every guest.
After that, he’d received a stern talking-to from Aelius and Crispina, his adoptive parents, and there had been no more sitting next to Volusia. They’d gotten more creative in finding ways to slip away unnoticed and escape into the atrium of whatever house they were at.
Tonight’s gathering was a small one, just their parents at Volusia’s house. Their fathers were avidly talking politics, and their mothers were discussing Crispina’s endeavor to fund a school for children whose parents couldn’t afford school fees or private tutors. Volusia, moving with the gentle grace that never failed to catch his attention, rose from the table and slipped from the dining room.
Max counted to fifty in his head, then languidly lifted himself off the dining couch and walked as casually as he could to the door.
His pace increased once he left the dining room behind, and he hurried down the hallway. He’d probably find Volusia in the atrium, enjoying the quiet twilight.
He was right; she sat on a bench between two flowering bushes in stone planters, looking like some sort of forest nymph among the greenery.
“You found me,” she said with a smile.
“Were you hiding?” He lowered himself onto the bench next to her.
“Not from you.” Their shoulders brushed on the narrow bench, and a flare of heat traveled through him. He’d been smitten with her since they’d first met, but he’d been told in no uncertain terms that she was not for him. Volusia’s stepfather scorned Max’s low birth, but neither Rufus’s contempt nor the fact that Volusia was on the verge of an engagement could dull the sparks Max felt whenever he was near her.
“Only a few more weeks of this.” Max stretched his legs in front of him. “Then we’re free.”
“Hardly free,” Volusia said with a rueful smile. “I’ll be married before winter, no doubt, and you’ll be in service to the army.”
To Max, joining the army was freedom—the chance to escape the oppressive city, to see new lands and test himself in battle. One day, he might be a great general. He imagined leading a triumphal procession through the streets, basking in the respect and adoration of the whole Republic.
But then it settled over him like a heavy, uncomfortable toga: the end of his father’s term meant he wouldn’t have an excuse to see Volusia anymore. Once she was married, she would be even further out of his reach.
He tried to ignore the unpleasant thought. “I found my horse the other day. She’s a gray mare. Guess what I’m going to name her.”
Volusia propped her chin in her hand as if thinking hard. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s somethingveryrespectable.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Her name is going to be Elephant,” Max said, his chest puffing out with pride. “On account of her coloring, and because I want to ride an elephant into battle like Hannibal.”
Volusia covered her mouth against a shriek of giggling. “You’re naming ahorseElephant? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s very clever,” he protested.
She rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”
He huffed and changed the subject. “What about you? Anything new with the engagement?”
“Mother and Father are negotiating the dowry. I expect the betrothal will be official once that is finalized, and then it will just be a matter of finding an auspicious date.”
“Have you even met this man you’re supposed to marry?”
“Several times. He’s very kind, and his prospects are excellent. He even gave me this.” She flashed a blue-stoned bracelet on her slender wrist.
Max, who had admired the deep blue stones against her fair skin earlier in the evening, now thought it was the ugliest piece of jewelry he had ever seen.
“I could have a child by this time next year,” Volusia said, her eyes lighting up. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
The thought of Volusia having children with some unknown man sent a sickening pang through him. “Juno’s cunt,” he muttered.
“Max!” Her eyes widened in scandalized horror, as they always did when he swore. “You really shouldn’t talk like that. The gods don’t like being mocked.”
