After the Fall(37)

What a debacle! Gazing at the king, Magnus realized he didn’t care about any of it. Not anymore. He drained the last of his beer and said, “You will do as you feel you must, I suppose. As for me, I will serve Placidia.”

“Uncle Magnus!”

A shock of recognition hit Magnus hard as he jumped up and spun around. “Berga!” He pulled the child close. After hugging him with all her might, Berga squirmed away, and he shook his head in amazement. “She — she survived!”

Smiling self-consciously, Verica nodded. “She did, Magnus, and Theodoric, also. We were so surprised. Blessed God answered all our prayers.”

“All?” Magnus searched her face, the familiar pain redoubling as the furies of hope tore at him. “But, have you ever, was there ever any news?”

Verica’s eyes filled with tears as she rose and cupped his face in her trembling hands. “Dear Magnus, Gigi is with Placidia, awaiting your return.”

Hardly able to breathe, Magnus could only stare at Verica and wonder at the truth in her eyes. “Alive? Here?”

Verica nodded, tears streaming down her face. “Indeed,” she whispered. “Indeed.”

“Athaulf has brought a horse for you,” Alaric said.

Magnus took him in a bear hug, then, rushing headlong, he leapt on the horse and dug in his heels.

The walls of Rome called to him, beckoned, like never before.

• • •

Magnus arrived at the palace gates and handed off his horse to a guard, just as Leontius hurried into view.

“Magnus!” he declared, his shock plain to see.

Crossing the courtyard at a run, Magnus burst through the doors, scattering terrified servants in his wake. None tried to stop his passage as he ran through the public rooms, opening doors and leaving them ajar as he raced to the next.

“Gigi!” he bellowed. “Gigi!”

He checked more rooms, but all were empty of anyone but servants. Stop, think, he finally told himself. The place is enormous — think — where would she be on a hot afternoon?

The sounds of a flute drifted to his ears, and suddenly he knew. Thanks be to all the gods! Rushing on through the less formal rooms, he made for a particular corridor and out onto the principal balcony overlooking the Tiber River, then he stopped, staring in disbelief.

Placidia was seated, looking out, and Gigi stood beside her, playing her flute, the breeze moving across her gossamer gown, just as it had in so many of his dreams.

It took him a moment to find his voice. “Gigi,” he said, sounding gruff to his own ears, a rasp of emotions.

Placidia gasped just as the music faltered, and Gigi lowered her hands slightly, then looked around with a frown.

Magnus took only a single step forward before Gigi was in his arms.

“You didn’t — you’re alive! Oh, Magnus,” she sobbed, “you came back!”

Staggered beyond words, Magnus could only hold her, drink in her honeyed scent and wonder if he were dreaming again … but the dreams had never been like this; never had he been able to find her, hold her again, and feel the warmth of her. His unbearable pain started to ease at last, the frost encasing his heart finally melting.

“I had no idea — I thought … ” he said, kissing her. “Sweet Victoria has delivered me from Hades.”

• • •

Gigi sat on the couch in her room — their room — still dressed in her gauzy amber gown, her bare feet tucked beneath her. She sipped her wine and wondered if the food she’d had delivered while Magnus shaved would be touched before morning.

She felt ill at ease, shy, and was glad for the sense of calm the wine would bring. It had been well over a year, after all, since she’d last seen her husband. She loved him dearly, but it would take time for them to get reacquainted.

Magnus came out wiping his clean-shaven face, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He’d lost a lot of weight, and his eyes had the same troubled look he had when she first met him. Knowing he’d been through a terrible ordeal, Gigi wondered how she could help him heal. She smiled nervously.

“You are beautiful,” he said, leaning against the door. “I can hardly believe you’re sitting before me, waiting for me, as you did all this time.”

“I never gave up hope. Placidia had her people searching everywhere, but no one could find you. But I had no doubt you’d come back, Magnus,” she said, putting her wine down.

With a last swipe of his face, he tossed the cloth on the floor and took her hands. She stood and he kissed the ring on her finger, then her brow. “Victoria watched over me when you could not. I know it.”