Roman Flames

Chapter Seven: Saturnalia

Chapter Seven: Saturnalia

Vespera

“Io Saturnalia!” exclaimed Ignatius, clapping at the performers. Terentia, Ignatius and I were walking around the Forum during my favorite holiday, Saturnalia. There were dancers and performers and singers, and there was a lot of food. It was still light out, although in a little while the sun would be going down and the most impressive shows would begin. Those involved fire and swords, and I couldn’t wait.

We had just finished watching acrobats, and Ignatius was beginning to make me nervous. He was leading us, and we were slowly making our way to the gambling. During Saturnalia, gambling was allowed, and Ignatius was too smart for his own good. He wasn’t a gambler, but he had made it privately clear to Terentia and me that he wanted to try his hand at winning. I knew our parents would not approve, especially Mother. Father was always gambling for approval in politics, but that was his job, and even then, Mother was wary.

“Ignatius,” Terentia said, “you know Mother won’t approve of the gambling.”

He turned and smiled at our sister. “That is why neither of you will say anything. Please, only one game.”

I crossed my arms. “That’s what they all say. ‘Only one game.’ Next thing, you’ve gambled away your house.”

He pointed in the air with his fingers. “Ah, yes, but I’m not drunk.”

“Yet,” Terentia murmured under her breath as he continued to lead us to the gambling. Suddenly, someone bumped into me and I fell over.

“Sorry,” muttered a bearded man, stumbling out of the gambling hall. I picked myself up and had a flashback to when that stranger had knocked me over the other day. Does no one see me standing here? Am I invisible? Gods.

“You okay, Vespera?” Ignatius asked, glancing back toward me.

“I’m fine,” I said gruffly. I brushed myself off. “Ignatius, if you want, go ahead and gamble away your life in a night. I’m not going to watch.” I started walking off.

“Vespera,” Terentia called.

“You supervise him,” I commanded. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid.”

“I’m not a child,” Ignatius stated indignantly. I gave him a face.

“I’m not going to watch you lose,” I said. “I’ll be over there watching the acrobats in case you find your head again.” I left the two of them and headed back to where we had seen the acrobats. I followed the music back to where we had seen the performers, and I watched as they performed a dance so intricate that it was mesmerizing. I really wished I had that sort of coordination. I only pretended to be so graceful.

The sun was starting to go down, and the fire performers began to ignite their rods. Some of them looked exotic, like they were from Egyptian or Greek descent. I caught eyes with one of the performers, a young man only a little older than I who was twirling a flaming rod around, throwing it in the air, and catching it again. It was quite impressive, and we caught eyes several times. Around the fourth or fifth time, I could feel blush creeping into my cheeks. And I knew he was looking at me because Terentia wasn’t here. While he performed, I stared, oh so shamelessly. After tossing up a flaming rod, he caught it again effortlessly and winked at me. I was glad, for once, that Ignatius was gambling and that Terentia was with him. I would never hear the end of this.

At the end of their performance, I clapped really hard. They extinguished their flaming rods and the crowd dispersed, all except for me. The youth came over to me with a half-smile on his face.