"I knew I'd find you here," Arminius said softly.

Maria looked up from her study of the paving stones that surrounded the fountain in what she liked to think of as the "town garden." She didn't answer Arminius. Her voice would have betrayed the fact she had been crying. If she remained silent, perhaps the darkness of the night would hide the tears.

Arminius sat beside her on the stone rim of the fountain's pool of water and took his wife's hand. She tried to look away from him, but Arminius gently turned her head to face him. "It's best this way. Marcus feels the need to act, and he can't do what needs to be done as a boy."

"He deserves better than this!" Maria choked on a sob. "He should have had his family with him! All of his family. And his friends! He should have a party with all of his favorite foods. H-he should have…" Her voice trailed off into a sob as Arminius pulled her into his arms.

"Marcus cares less for those things than that he should be seen to be a man. He wants to protect you and his brother and sister. He wants to help me in whatever we must do next." Arminius smoothed the unruly curls that framed Maria's face. "And I need for him to help me."

The tears came harder now and Maria rested her head against Arminius's shoulder. "I wish we were away from here. Out of the City. We should have gone to Fanum Fortunae when you wanted to. But no! I had to insist we stay so I could see that outlandish Egyptian woman and Caesar's little bastard." Her lip curled. "Well, I've seen them. The boy looks like a Syrian slave and the woman is so tarted up with jewelry and paint nobody KNOWS what SHE looks like!"

Maria could feel Arminius suppressing a laugh at her words and looked up at him with a frown. "Well, Caesar's boy IS a bastard. Not a proper Roman boy at all. And the Queen of Egypt is nothing but a whore. And if Caesar hadn't wasted himself on her maybe poor Calpurnia would have something to show for all her years of devotion to the man. Now she's left with nothing. No son to care for her--no daughter to comfort her!"

Maria rose from her perch and began to pace. "What is to become of us all now? Another civil war? Another Marius… another Sulla… another Pompey -- another Caesar?" She stopped and stared briefly toward the atrium. Old Marius was gone, and most of his family with him. Even the remote cousins had been forced to lie low after Sulla's triumphant takeover of the City. "Who will replace them now? I see nobody of their stature to take over. Giants replaced by little jealous toads." She began to pace again, stopping only to kick at an errant naleesia blossom that had fallen to the ground.

Arminus smiled in the darkness at his wife's tirade. There was never a disaster so bad that it couldn't be rectified by Maria pacing about the garden. "Would you like some crockery to smash, mel?"

She halted abruptly and turned to her husband. "Y-you can joke at a time like this?"

Arminius rose and pulled her into his arms once again. "When will there be a better time to joke than this? When will you more need your mind to be cleared and your wits to be sharpened?" He shook her and then ruthlessly kissed her.

Maria sighed and relaxed into his embrace. "You know me too well. I'm too predictable to you."

He nodded. "Yes. And so easy to control, too."

"OH!" she exclaimed as she pulled away from him. "I am NOT!"

At this he broke into a deep and genuine laugh. "Mea mel, when you stop rising to the bait every time I cast the line, then I will agree with you."

She sighed again. "I suppose I deserved that." She shrugged then dragged him back to their previous seat on the edge of the fountain.

"It's just that… well, perhaps if we had more children then it wouldn't matter so much that--that--well… we could--"

"Hshhh." He put his index finger to her lips. "We've been over this. The medicus said no more after the twins were born. And Susannah threatened to--well, never mind what she threatened to do to me." He regarded her gravely for a moment. "It would make no difference you know. Sooner or later, the oldest child becomes a man or a woman. And sooner or later, the youngest one does the same. In the end we are left with each other. Is that so bad?"

"No," she whispered. She looked into his eyes, "No, it's not bad. But see that you stay alive." Her eyes narrowed suddenly. Although he couldn't see clearly in the dim light, Arminius knew that they flashed green. "And see that you don't try to divorce me. Or Susannah's threats will seem mild in comparison to what I do!"

He rose and drew her to her feet. "Tomorrow, we take counsel as a family. Marcus and I can go out very early and see what is happening. At need, we can move you and Luscinea out of the City to a safer place."

Maria wrinkled her nose at the suggestion. "Move us out? What makes you think we'll obey you?"

Arminius tilted her head upwards and forced her to look at him. "You will obey, for once, because it is your duty. And you will take Luscinea out of town if Marcus and I conclude it's the better course, because it will be your duty."

"M-Marcus and you?" Her voice trailed to a whisper once more as she realized what Arminius was telling her. The roles had switched. She was no longer Marcus's protector. Now, she and the two younger children were in her son's care as surely as she was in her husband's hand.

"Come with me now." He drew her toward their cubiculum. "We don't know what tomorrow morning will bring. So let us enjoy the night."

Maria smiled. "Where you are Gaius, still I am Gaia."