He picked up the sleeping Quartilla, and they set out for Macellius’s home. But they had hardly started when Tertia began to complain that she wanted to be carried too. Gaius told her brusquely to behave like a big girl and walk; her mother’s health had improved but she was not yet strong enough to carry the child, and Cella was still too small. As Tertia began to whimper, someone moved behind them and he heard a sweet voice saying, “I will carry your little girl.”
Gaius would have refused, but the British girl had already picked up the drowsy child, who almost instantly fell asleep in her arms.
“Indeed, she is no weight at all,” said the girl, “and I am used to harder work than this!”
“You are a true sister in Christ,” exclaimed Julia. Gaius could find nothing to add to this, and so they walked along. The women exchanged a few low-voiced commonplaces, and Gaius found himself obscurely relieved that they clearly did not really know each other that well. The moon, just a few nights after full, gave them just enough light to illuminate their path. They could see the street underfoot clearly, and many of the trees were bright with clouds of misty white blossom.
As they pushed open the gate Macellius’s steward came out to meet them with a lamp. When Tertia began to stir, the British girl set her down and they stood staring at one another in the sudden brilliance.
“You must stay and join us for something to eat, since you too missed the agape,” Julia declared.
“Oh, no, I cannot,” the girl said shyly. “It is most kind of you, lady, but I had not leave to come; I must get home at once, or I will be missed, and then, even if I am not punished, I might not be able to come again.”
“I will not keep you, then; that would be a poor return for your kindness,” Julia said quickly. “Gaius will go with you. This part of the city is quiet, but before you get out of the gates, there might be some people it would not be safe for an honest and proper young girl to meet.”
“That will not be necessary, Domina—” she began but Gaius interrupted, “I’ll go gladly; I wanted to walk a while before I go to bed, and I can return you safely to your home.”
At least he could ask her what a girl from the Forest House was doing among Christians. The answer, he decided, might be revealing. When she pulled her cloak—a dark plain one such as a servant girl in a respectable home would wear—about her closely he wondered if it was because under it she wore the dress of a priestess. Gaius took a torch; even with a moon, he knew better than to brave the streets without one, and he felt that a good light might reassure the girl. She kissed all of the little girls, including the drowsy toddler in Julia’s arms, and went down the steps at his side. They passed through the silent streets without attracting any notice, but even when the last houses were behind them his companion made no attempt to put back her hood, even though the night was warm.
The silence seemed oppressive. “How long have you been coming to services at the new temple?” Gaius asked finally.
“Since it was built.”
“And before that?”
“When I was a little girl, my mother used to take me to meetings in the servants’ quarters in the house of one of the city fathers whose steward was a Christian.”
“But you dwell in the Forest House,” he said, frowning.
“It is true,” she replied quietly. “Their Priestess has given me shelter there—I am an orphan. But no oaths bind me. My father is British, exiled now, but my mother was a Roman. She had me baptized, and when I found that Father Petros was living near, I wanted to learn more of her faith.”
Gaius smiled. “And your name is Valeria!”
She blinked. It had been a long time since she had heard that name.
“That is the name my mother called me, but I have been Senara so long I had almost forgotten it. Father Petros says it is my duty to obey my guardians, even if they are pagans. At least in the Forest House no harm will come to me. He says that the Druids are among the good pagans who will some day be offered salvation; but I must not take oath to them. And the Apostle Paul commanded slaves to obey their masters. Freedom is of the soul, but the legal status of the body cannot be set aside, and neither can lawful oaths.”