Roman Flames

Chapter Thirteen: Faust's Secret

Chapter Thirteen: Faust’s Secret

Vespera

We had met three times after that. Our meetings were irregular, but we saw each other at least once every two weeks. We were getting closer, and our meetings were what I looked forward to all the time. I could never concentrate on my lessons if I was meeting him that night, and I found myself playing less tricks on people. Terentia and Ignatius never suspected anything, and neither did our parents, thank the gods. I felt slightly guilty for lying, but…I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Sanctius was slowly opening up, but I still had the impression that he was hiding something. He never talked about his father, and he never talked about his life before he was sixteen. But he was always well mannered and quiet; there wasn’t an aggressive bone in his body. So I couldn’t help but wonder about the scars. Why did he have so many scars if he was such a gentle person? He hadn’t yet betrayed that secret either. I no longer assumed the centurion theory. He told me how he worked now, and any time before, he would have been far too young to be in the legions. His eyes told stories though. They were bright and hazel, and they danced when he smiled.

“Vespera,” my brother nudged me gently. I woke from my reverie. We were having dinner with Faust, whom I hadn’t seen in a while. And honestly, I had forgotten about him for a while. I was too fascinated with Sanctius and our conversations; Faust was always at the Forum debating, besides, and I hadn’t had time to go there to listen. Faust was reclining and eating dinner. I had already finished my meal, and I sat upright to listen to him talk. Well, honestly, I had a hard time paying attention, which was not normal, since Faust always talked about interesting things. However, tonight I didn’t find the subject fascinating enough, evidently.

Terentia was talking now, and I figured she was going to have all the attention. She commanded the attention of everyone…except Faust. He was looking at me, as if he expected me to jump in and say something intelligent. Nothing was coming to me, and I felt sorry for letting my intellectual friend down. I could only think about Sanctius, and he would get my heart fluttering again. The last three times we had met, and how comfortable we were together. I had made him laugh on several occasions, and I couldn’t wait to make him laugh again. His gentle face lit up, and the darkness in his eyes disappeared.

“What do you think about the situation, Vespera?” Faust prodded. I had no clue what we were talking about, honestly, and I felt terrible.

“I’m not informed enough to make a decent decision,” I answered, hoping it fit the conversation.

“About…your sister’s betrothal?” Faust asked. Oh, gods.

“I…don’t know him well enough to decide if he’s worthy of my sister or not, but I suppose I have to trust her judgment and that of my parents.” Both Faust and I were satisfied with my answer, but Terentia shot daggers at me with her eyes. I knew I would be hearing about that later. Mother and Father jumped in on the conversation before I could say anything else, and the rest of the night, I stayed relatively quiet, thinking about Sanctius. He commanded my thoughts, and I really wondered if he thought about me as much. I wasn’t quite sure if this was love or not. I was concentrated on the friendship. At least, until I remembered how he had given me a flower and called me beautiful. I wondered a lot about that. And I smiled to myself, and I decided that sometime, I was going to invite him to dine with us. I didn’t want to hide him from my family anymore. He had become my friend and how could I hide that?

The rest of the night went by with me being quiet, which I suspected Faust didn’t like, but he didn’t say anything. A male servant came to Faust, put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered something in his ear. Faust nodded once and the servant left. I noticed that his eyes lingered on the servant, and then he looked down before looking back at me. I felt like he was trying to tell me something with his eyes, but…I couldn’t figure it out.