Chapter 9: Impasse
Aquilia looked at her son sorrowfully.
"Why are you silent, Luciano? Do I ask a difficult thing of you?"
"Yes, Mother."
Luciano did not coat his words seeing no reason to. His father has been an honourable man. From tender years, he and his siblings were taught to stand up for truth, equity and his convictions always. Even though he is yet to converse with the lady, Persis, on the state of her affairs, she seems not to be in the right state of mind. If he must have to heed his mother's words to drive Persis away, he must do it with sound judgement and right reasons. Was she not the one who taught them not to turn their backs on those who require assistance from them? Luciano frowned in deep thought.
"Mother, this goes against the principles you and father taught us."
"Oh Luciano, my son," his mother called out brokenly. "What are principles in the face of death?" She touches his cheek gently. "It is not worth it to have many die because of one. As long as this household remain connected to that Lady, Haddon will not only hunt for her blood, but for the blood of all those who associate with her. She is condemned to sacrifice. None can save her, not even you."
"Mother, human sacrifice is no more." Luciano's brows furrowed in displeasure. "Who condemns Persis..? Tell me," he inquired
A flash of dread crossed his mother's features before it returned to its serene nature. She drops her hands from his cheeks to her laps, intertwining them and looking down.
"No one." Aquilia took a deep breath, trying to push back the tremors of fear she was feeling. "Haddon chooses its sacrifice."
"Haddon is a myth, Mother," Luciano replied, reaching forth for his mother's hands with his own and stopping her from fiddling nervously with them.
Jerking her hands from his grasp, she glanced angrily at him. "How can that be? You said it yourself... You saw a ferocious creature tore people apart. Your carriageman in the bedchamber now bears the reminders of Haddon's destruction..."
"Mother, what I saw was not a beast. What I saw was an ¹spiritus malus.
"Don't spout nonsense, Luciano!" Her mother sharply rebuked. Glancing around as if she was sure someone would hear them, she lowered her voice to say, "Be careful of what you speak about, my son. The wind has ears, and your words may end up in the wrong ears."
Aquilia gracefully rose from the stone bench. She and Luciano have argued for a long time and still have come to an impasse. Her first son is so set in his own ways as his father was when he was a young father. Was it wrong for her to ask her son to chase a lady who has been cursed for death away so her family can live? Was she wrong to want her family safe over that of a stranger? A mother would do anything for the safety of her children and family. That is what she is doing. Surely, no one would fault her for that.
"I wish to retire to my bedchamber now," his mother said tiredly. "I was happy when I learned that my son was returning home. I boasted of your accomplishment to my fellow women at the baths. Many mothers envied me while some offered their daughters hands..." She paused and looked away for a moment to return her gaze to Luciano again who still sat on the stone bench and continued to say;
"But you bring me heartache. My heart breaks to know you are unwilling to obey your mother over a stranger."
Luciano's heart aches with pain as he watches his mother walk away. His mother's words rang clear over and over in his mind; 'You bring me heartache.' Luciano loves his mother so much. He will gladly do anything to keep her mother's warm smile on her lips. Persis is a stranger to him. Was he wrong to ignore his mother's wishes over her? Earlier when he conversed with his father in the Tablinum, he had asked him to think and weigh his choices carefully. He told him he will support whatever he decides to do that does not go against the conscience. But his mother has given him no choice. He reclined on the stone bench, greatly conflicted.
"What is the right thing to do, Lord?" he whispered in prayer, his eyes tightly shut.
The answer of a whisper came unbidden in Luciano's heart,
²'Thus says the LORD, "Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.'
Shocked, Luciano opened his eyes and glanced around the courtyard as if searching for who has spoken to him.
~~~~~
'Paaaaa!
The sound of a resounding slap echoed around the bedchamber. Cassia held her left cheek, hot tears springing to her eyes.
"Mother, I di- did no such thing as sister Ursula told," She stuttered
"Silence, Cassia! Do you call your sister a liar?" their mother queried with displeasure. Not giving Cassia a moment to speak, continued to say, "You chatted with a man on the way and delayed hurrying home with your sister. If you wish to become a whore, tell me and I will gladly gift you to the temple with joy. There you can serve the whole city as you desire." their mother finished, shoving Cassia hard. She fell to the floor with a cry, bruising a knee in the process.
Cassia looked up at her mother in bitter disappointment. Wiping the tears from her cheek, she rose.
"Mother, you treat me with dishonour? Whether you believe me or not, it is up to you. I am not a whore..., " She deliberately paused and turned to look contemptuously at Ursula who stood by the corner of their mother's cubiculum with an evil smirk on her lips. "...At least not like your first daughter here," she finished, making both mother and daughter gasp in shock.
The next second, they both lunged at her with flailing arms.
~~~~~~
Cassia's slave maid ran from the door of the big Lady's bedchamber where she had stood waiting for her little mistress to finish speaking with her mother. She knows that what she was going to do may bring her punishment or even death if the Lady of the household finds out. But she must try and help her mistress before they harm her further. Knocking and rushing into Master Urbanus Tablinum, she knelt before the man out of breath.
"Master, master! Please save Mistress Cassia! They will beat her to death."
Footnote:
1. Spiritus Malus: Evil Spirit
2.Holy Bible: Jeremiah 22:3 (NASB)
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