The Tempest

[Sara]

Ovinia's eyes widened to the size of saucers. She'd planned her marriage like every patrician girl had, from the time she had been able to understand it would be her duty. She pictured a lavish feast, a rich husband, beautiful silks, a luxurious villa, the great and the good - perhaps even Caesar himself attending...not a sailor, a pleb, asking her in a hushed whisper. Her shock turned to delight though and she nodded; "Of...of course." Because she wanted him. She loved him. And that was enough for her...almost. "This means you'll have to buy me a ring, of course." She smirked as she gripped his hand.

She desperately wanted to reach out and touch him properly, to kiss him and wind her arms around his neck and never let him go again. She knew that was enough for her now; it was the only future she wanted, when all of the other options were so bleak especially, but even despite that. She exhaled and her thumb stroked the back of his hand. "It won't be easy." She dropped her eyes back to her cup of wine, half-empty. "If...he agrees, I'll never be able to go to Rome again, never see my friends..." She hoped her family might visit, her middle brother most of all but..even that wasn't a certainty. "You promise you'll never abandon me?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Of...of course. This means you'll have to buy me a ring, of course." 

Lucius chuckled, rolling his eyes. She was teasing about the ring, but her words were genuine. She would marry him. Ovinia, who spend the first weeks on the island telling him she was better than him, was willing to be his wife. Against her family's better judgment.

"It won't be easy. If...he agrees, I'll never be able to go to Rome again, never see my friends... You promise you'll never abandon me?" 

"Never" Lucius smiled, still holding her hand, wishing he could kiss her and hold her. "I love you."

@Sara

[Sara]

She did relent then, after one quick glance around, leaning across and letting her lips linger on his, mumbling against them; "I love you too." 

---

Twelve months later

Ovinia grinned as she watched the small boat pull into the bay. It was her nightly tradition to wander from the villa, down the steep rocky track that led to the little secluded beach that they called their own and wait for Lucius to return. She squinted into the setting sun, trying to glimpse him but didn't move to get up. Only five months pregnant, her back already ached and she was content in the heat of the late August sun, sat on the sand, watching the waves as she'd done so many days in her life. When she saw him finally approach she tapped a finger to her lips, summoning him for a kiss. "Productive day?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

If anyone had told Lucius two years earlier that he would be living in a villa, happily married to a patrician woman, he would have laughed at them. In some ways, his life still felt like a dream. Rowing out to fish in his boat, and coming back in the evening, he often wondered what would happen if all of it just disappeared, like sometimes it happened in stories.

But Ovinia was always there, waiting for him.

Lucius smiled as he pulled the boat to shore, walking over to give his wife a deep kiss.

"You really shouldn't be clambering over rocks, you know" he told her, placing a hand on her belly.

@Sara

[Sara]

"Mhmm." She said with a smirk, placing her own hand over his on her belly. "Then you'll have to build me a safer path down to the beach, won't you?" Because she wasn't going to stop coming down. The fear of being left alone hadn't left her since she'd washed up on that spit of land in Greece. She needed him now as much as she did then, and so she'd always come down and watch his boat come into shore safely. 

With a grin, she used her spare hand to pull back a blanket that was covering a small picnic she'd brought down with her, including peaches. She'd had trees imported. She was still Domina of Peach Island, even if they weren't there anymore. "I was thinking we could visit your family this ides," She said as she passed him a wineskin and kicked a bundle of sticks she was suggesting he made into a fire...

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Yes, domina" Lucius grinned, kneeling down to press a kiss to her belly before he set about starting a fire. She was fully capable of starting one on her own, after the months they had spent on the island. But he liked taking care of her, especially now.

"Only if you are up for the journey" he answered her idea, sparking the fire and then picking up a peach to bite into it. "Otherwise, they can come and visit." He glanced up at his wife. "You know they like you. And they'll adore the baby."

@Sara

[Sara]

"It's not so far." She opined as she stretched out on the blanket she'd brought, leaning back to prop herself up on her forearms. She'd been meticulous in choosing this villa - it was suitably far enough away from anywhere remotely fashionable so there was no risk of running into anybody she had known, but it was only half a day or perhaps a full day in poorer weather (or when pregnant...) to his family. She had no family anymore, besides the man next to her and the life growing within her, so it was a small comfort to have his close by. 

"And they had better," She said with a chuckle, running a hand over her bump softly. "Given the misery it's caused me." The months of morning sickness had now passed, but that had been a...testing time for both her, and for Lucius given her moods...She stretched out a hand for his, running her fingers over his softly. "I was thinking of hosting a dinner party as well, for the neighbours." She gripped onto his hand lest he grumble or groan; "It's been a year and we barely know them." They were reasonably isolated and Ovinia had adjusted but sometimes...sometimes she wanted a fancy night of music and laughter and slaves doting on her. A reason to dress up. "Ovinia Roscia and her husband, out on the town...what could go wrong...?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius smiled, moving around to sit on the blanket, leaning his back against a rock. He wrapped his arms around his wife, so she could lean back against him. She was only five months or so along, but she had struggled with morning sickness, and he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible.

None of that, however, kept her from planning a dinner party. Lucius rolled his eyes, but did not protest.

"We should meet the neighbors properly." he agreed. "And I remember you once telling me that you had a special talent throwing dinner parties... now you are going to have to prove it." He grinned, pressing a kiss to her temple. "And I get to show off my gorgeous wife. Not exactly keeping a low profile..."

@Sara

[Sara]

She shuffled into his arms, leaning her back to his chest and sighing in contentment. The fire jumped and started and she felt the rhythm of his breathing under her skin. She smiled softly at the kiss on her temple. 

"I shall have to write to my father to ask for an increase in my allowance, to cater for a suitably gorgeous new dress." She chuckled. Nobody could say Ovinia and her husband lived frugally. Well, Lucius might, but Ovinia didn't. The villa was sprawling, with an attached farm and several plebeian families that worked the land alongside a handful of slaves in the main house. Her father had been generous, although really, he'd had no choice. 

He'd bought it for her, and she'd lived her cover story for a year; an equite widow and her new young husband, she was an heiress that wanted a quiet life and avoided company. It had been difficult, immensely difficult - especially when her letters about her pregnancy went unanswered - but she was happy.

She sighed in contentment in his arms, eyes scanning the sunset in front of them. "I love you." She murmured, eye drifting shut as she took in the peace of the moment. "Thank god for Neptune's wrath, for bringing you to me." 

 

TAG: @Chevi