Emily and I stayed quiet as the late-day sun beat down on my head. I grew hot and sticky beneath the long-sleeved shirt and long stola. As I walked, I thought of Roman.
Where are you? Give me a sign that you’re wherever I am. Are you in a vast forest, too?
I knew it was foolish to be trying to connect with him psychically. For all I knew, he could have landed in Egypt in 1332 BC at Tutankhamun’s temple, a Shinto shrine in ancient Japan, or some other random place. Roman had told me that the dagger was said to guide its user to where they were needed. Why on Earth would I be required here? And why wouldn’t Roman, at least, have been sent here, too?
These thoughts weighed me down, making my legs heavy and lethargic.
We tromped along until the soldiers behind us started talking and laughing again.
“The man in that wagon ahead is my father,” Emily whispered.
“Oh,” I said, yanked from my thoughts.
“They’ve accused him of a lot of bad things. Horrible things.” Emily’s voice drifted as if caught in a web of sad memories. “I know he didn’t do those things.”
“I see,” I said, once again thinking of Roman. In Rome, Roman had killed for a living. It was what he had to do under the emperor’s employ. Sometimes people did terrible things, but it didn’t mean they were intrinsically evil.
I glanced over my shoulder again at the two soldiers.
Rusty caught my eye and leered at me. He grabbed his crotch, thrust his hips, then leaned over to say something to Short Guy.
Both of them threw back their heads and howled with laughter.
Don’t even think of trying anything with me, boys, or your nuts will be shoved down your throats.
I faced ahead and continued to be yanked along.
The deep ruts and potholes in the road were like grooves of wagon wheels. The road was probably shaped by last season’s rains and left to dry in the summer heat. To my left lay the forest. To the right, the river tumbled over rocks and streamed through deeper channels. I continually looked for signs of Roman or Marcellious, hoping to find them lurking in the woods.
“So, why did you do it? Why did you try to save us? You don’t even know us,” Emily whispered.
“I had to protect you. I can’t stand seeing men take advantage of women,” I whispered, looking straight ahead. “What kinds of bad things did your father do?”
Out of the corner of my eye, Emily cast her gaze to the ground. “I can’t tell you. They’ve accused my father of nasty things. These men—they want our heads.”
I preferred keeping my head right where it was. “Where are we? What is this war that’s being fought?”
“Don’t you know?”
I glanced at Emily’s pinched expression. “I was, uh…When my family was shot by British soldiers, I, uh... I hit my head, and I’m a bit confused.”
Emily’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “Oh, you poor thing. You lost your family?”
“Every one of them.” At least it wasn’t a lie. I had lost everyone. While living in Seattle, I watched my ex-boyfriend kill Papa before I was transported to Rome. Mom was killed by the darkness when I was ten. And Lee… Lee was the one who sent me time traveling.And now I’ve lost the love of my life.
My throat choked up, strangled by emotion.
“Oh, dear,” Emily said with a sniffle. “And now you’ve risked your life to save us for no good reason. My father—they think he was selling weapons. This is the War of 1812. We’ve been on the road for a week, heading north. I don’t know what will happen there, but I’m pretty sure they plan on killing us all.”
My heart sank. Could it be I escaped Rome only to meet my death here in the States?
Footsteps barreled toward us from behind.
Rusty grabbed a handful of Emily’s hair and yanked her head back.
“Ow!” Emily cried out.
The young woman next to her cried out.
