Jars of Clay by Lee Strauss Read Free Book Online

more bravely than she felt. “It was the will of the gods to take him. We must not speak of it.”
    “As you wish.”
    “I’ve brought scrolls from my father’s study. Here is the detailed map charting the way to the city of Rome, as you requested.”
    “Wonderful,” he said, but the way he looked at her, like she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, made her knees quake. She dropped to her place on the blanket.
    “Lucius,” she began tentatively, “is there a special reason you care about Rome?”
    His eyes darkened. “I anticipate a day when I will leave here. When I will leave Carthage.”
    “Why?” she said too quickly, but by his look she knew. He would leave once she was betrothed. Oh to the gods that that day would not come quickly.
    Lucius feigned a smile and sat beside her. “I would like to travel and see the world.”
    Helena remained silent.
    “I am not a slave. I am free, and with my freedom I can aspire to more than service to a wealthy master. No offense to you, my lady.”
    Helena frowned. His words sounded formal and rehearsed. He’d been planning this for awhile.
    “You have no comment?” he prodded.
    “I understand.”
    “Do you, Helena?”
    She shouldn’t have come today. She should’ve known by the dark sky. It was an omen, a warning.
    “Is this something you intend to do soon?” She picked at the grass beside her. “Does my father know?”
    Lucius leaned back. “Perhaps I have spoken out of turn. My own father does not know that I entertain such ideals. I only meant to share them with you, as my friend. If and when the day of my departure draws near, I will be the first to inform the master.”
    “Fair enough.”
    She handed him the map and waited as he unfolded the scroll. He examined the image closely, running his finger along the shipping lanes and then over the roads to Rome. His expression was so earnest, his eyebrows pinched together and his lips pursed in thought. She loved his face, and swallowed hard as she imagined the day when she could no longer gaze at him. His hair fell across his forehead and she fought the urge to reach out and draw it back.
    “As you can see, you need to take a ship from Carthage across the sea to one of the ports along the coast of Italia,” she said, hating how the thought of losing him made her voice catch. “See how it is shaped like a boot? Then it is many hours by carriage or horseback to the capital city of Rome.”
    “Indeed.”
    “It would be a dreadfully long and unpleasant trip. One I would never aspire to myself.”
    “It is certain to be a long trip, but an adventure, no?” His eyes widened, hopeful. “Is adventure not something you’ve dreamed of?”
    “Adventures are not permissible to me, I’m afraid. And how dare I complain? I have a privileged life. I’ve never begged for bread.”
    “My apologies. You are right. You are a refined young woman, and deserving of the best comforts and greatest security. I forget myself.”
    Helena’s emotions warred against each other. She wanted Lucius to have a better life, one that offered him adventure, and a family of his own one day. It was something she could never give to him. And yet she raged against a strong desire for him to always be here with her. She was ashamed of her own selfishness.
    “Maybe I should go,” Helena said. “I must get back before Felicity finds me out.”
    “She knows,” he said, brushing her face with his hand as he moved wayward hair behind her ear.
    This time his touch wasn’t accidental. It was purposeful and intimate, and she couldn’t hide the shiver that traced down her spine.
    “What do you mean?”she asked.
    She thought of how she repeatedly tried to deceive her slave, begging midday fatigue, and telling Felicity quite sharply that she did not want to be watched while she slept.
    “We have spoken about it,” he said.
    “You–you two are friends?”
    “Not exactly friends. Not like you and me, Helena.”
    She leaned