Roman Flames

Chapter One: Daughter of Mercury

Vespera

I made my way around the Forum easily. I knew this place like the back of my hand.

“Come on, Terentia,” I urged my sister. “Keep up, or we won’t hear what they’re saying.”

“Slow yourself, Vespera,” she hissed. She trudged, picking up fistfuls of her robes so she could walk.

“I don’t understand why you dress yourself like that to sneak around the Forum and watch the extortion court.”

Terentia stared at me. “I don’t understand why you dress yourself in a man’s tunic and insist on getting us in trouble, watching things that we shouldn’t. Playing tricks on the elite.” She gestured to my knee-length beige tunic, which I had borrowed from our older brother. Well…thieved would be a better word.

I rolled my eyes. “My hair is up, tied back with ribbons, and I am wearing my jewelry. My lips are painted and my eyes are lined. However, a long, flowing dress is not practical for running, especially if we get caught!” I couldn’t help but giggle. The last time we were almost caught by the senators, we barely escaped, and we arrived back at home to fall into fits of laughter. “Besides, you enjoy yourself. Playing tricks on them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I think you are a child of Mercury and not of our father.”

“Hush, they’re talking.” We snuck around the back and actually entered the courtroom through some columns. I stayed crouched. Terentia stayed behind, refusing to enter the courtroom. I gestured for her to follow me, but she shook her head, her beautiful face stern. I shook my head and continued on without her.

There was one senator who sat in the back, who was tricked easily. He was my favorite target. And his face would always get purple with rage. However, today I wasn’t in the mood for an easy target. The senator four on the right was younger, in his thirties. He was smart, which would make him a challenge to trick. A welcome challenge. He seemed engrossed in the debates going on right now, and had I not been on a mission, I would have stayed to listen as well. I had stayed once to hear the court, and I was fascinated by the eloquence of some of the advocates.

I turned back to see if Terentia was still there. She was. As I was about to turn back, however, the hairs on my neck prickled. I froze in my crouched position and searched for whomever was looking at me. I didn’t see anyone. I stayed in my position for a few more seconds, and then I crawled back to behind the young senator. He was sitting on the edge of his bench, his feet bouncing up and down nervously. I bit my lip, hesitating, but I reached out for his ankle. He was wearing the classic leather sandals, similar to the ones I was wearing now, and they were tied neatly around his ankles. Too neatly. I grabbed one end of the leather and pulled gently. The knot came undone, and I worked to get the other sandal untied as well. When they were both untied, I tied them together in a complicated knot. The senator’s back tensed, and I could tell he was about to turn. I fell on my stomach and rolled under the wide bench right as he turned to look. I held my breath, waiting to get caught, but nothing happened. I looked outside of the courtroom to see Terentia’s terrified face. She was hidden behind a column so only I could see her. She made a hand gesture that meant ‘don’t come.’ This is why I brought her along. She stared at the young senator, and then she met her eyes back to mine and she gestured, ‘come.’ I rolled out from under the bench and rushed out of the building, taking all my effort not to laugh. I hid with Terentia behind a column, my heart pounding.

“Why do you insist on doing these things?” Terentia whispered. “If you get caught, punishment will not be light.”

I smiled at her. “Because, dear sister, I enjoy seeing you laugh.”