She began, “It is not my fault our parents arranged our marriage, and you knew from the beginning that I didn’t like Saul. Why did you have to bring him to live with us?” she asked, standing up.
“Do you mean it is entirely my fault that you hurt Saul? Should I blame myself for your despicable actions?” he asked, almost amused.
“I mean that you are responsible for my cursed life, Flavius, but despite everything, I continued to love you. For some foolish reason, I can’t hate you.”
“You don’t have the slightest idea of what love means. From your lips, it is a useless, foul, dirty word; almost a curse when you pronounce it.”
“You know nothing.”
“When my father announced to me that you would become my wife, I thought the entire world was collapsing around me. I asked for Saul because I needed to have somebody I could trust in my house; I have never liked you. I always considered you an empty, soulless person. Extremely beautiful, finely educated, smart, tasteful; however, an evil, cruel, selfish, and egocentric person. I couldn't love you, but, despite it all, I tried to make our lives a peaceful existence, but I failed. Achieving that target was impossible. Nothing was enough for you.”
She tilted her head back and laughed with a hint of hysteria. “You tried everything? How did you try that? Spending every night in Saul’s bed, searching for pleasure in his body, when you should have spent your nights with me? How do you think I feel?” She spat, pounding her fist against her chest. “Don’t answer, I’ll tell you—humiliated and rejected.” She glared at him. “I felt like less than a slave, but of course, what do you care about a monster like me? I treat slaves the way they deserve, like beasts. They have been our enemies; we fought against them, and we won. We are superior, and that’s the reason they are our slaves. You…you treat them almost as equals.” Her anger morphed into a mirthless chuckle. “How silly that seems to me.”
“Don’t you feel anything for what you did to Saul?” he asked.
“Of course, I do. I regret that I didn’t kill him,” she replied casually.
“When did you decide you would punish Saul that way? Was it when you realized that, it would have been easier to get advantage of my absence? Was this the reason for my kidnapping?” he asked quietly, barely able to tolerate the bad taste in his mouth.
“I told you I had nothing to do with that.” Her voice harshened, but she couldn’t hide a quivering timbre in it.
“Who were those men? Do I know them?” he pursued.
“STOP IT!”
Flavius came closer and clutched her hands. “Stop lying to me; I don’t believe you!” His flashing eyes locked on hers.
“I don’t know anything about it!” she replied, flames burning in her eyes.
Grasping her by the shoulders, he shook her. “I don’t believe you.”
She freed herself from his grip and ran toward the door. In two swift steps, Flavius caught her. They both fell on the floor.
Flavius pinned her beneath him. “You are not going anywhere until you tell me what happened, because I don’t believe you. Saul knows something about it, so I will give you the chance to tell it yourself. Or maybe I should ask Nara.”
She didn’t know how he could possibly know of the dream she had while unconscious. Fingers of fear encircled her soul and squeezed. She realized that no matter what, the truth would come out and she couldn’t stop it.
He hit her head against the floor as he shook her.
“Please, Flavius, let me go,” she cried.
“The truth, Claudia.”,
“It doesn’t matter anymore. Caius was right. I never had you, and I never will,” she said, crawling farther away from him.
“What does Caius have to do with this?”
“He helped me put my plan into action. You don’t get it, do you? He is the man who offered me the human warmth I couldn’t get from you. He is the man who rescued me from the endless loneliness you condemned me to, and he is the man who kidnapped you. But it wasn’t him who killed the slaves traveling with you; he got help from someone else. I didn't order their deaths. I just asked the men to keep you away while I took care of Saul,” Claudia said, relaxing her body as strength abandoned her.
Flavius tried to understand something about the entire story, and then burst into hysterical laughter.
“Is that funny?”
“No, it's pathetic. I thought Caius was a friend, but maybe you have better incentives than I to make him do what you want. If you think I would be jealous that you shared a bed with him, you are wrong; I don’t give a damn. What bothers me is your selfishness. Certainly, Caius wouldn’t hurt me, but you knew nothing about the other man, the one who coldly killed my slaves and threatened to do the same to me. You didn’t consider the probability that something like that could happen to me as well.” His voice rose again. “Or did you consider ordering them to kill me too?” He raised his fist.
“NO! I would have never order anyone to harm you in any way.” wondering if it was time to leave that house and Flavius.
His hand unclenched and lowered to his side. “You disgust me. How can you say you love me? How could you lie to me the way you did? How could you lie to my father?”
Her eyes avoided his. Silence was her answer, as her hands went limp.
Flavius came closer to her, and she feared that he would hurt her. She turned unexpectedly against him and hit him on his face, trying to give herself time to run away.
His mind went blank, then burned with rage. He didn’t have any intention of hurting her but his hands, of their own volition, wrapped around her neck. As if hovering overhead, he watched his grip tighten. Through a pinkish haze, he watched her arms flail on either side of his legs as she struggled to breathe. Watched her face blush. Watched the last feeble flutter of life as it left her.
It was then he realized it was over. Claudia lay dead beneath him on the floor. He could do nothing but cry for himself. He was no better than the woman he killed; the cold-blooded assassin able to take life away from anyone who dared to cross her path. He had become an assassin, just like her.
Useless were his tears over her cold body. She wouldn’t come back to life. She won. She won again, leaving him to live forever with the grief of knowing he had killed another human being. He tried to call her name, but no sound emerged.
He shifted his body and cradled her head against his, rocking her body as if she were a hurt child. After all the tears he had inside were shed, he screamed so loud that even the gods could hear his pain. He prayed they would have mercy on him and give him another chance.
In a nearby room, Nara and Saul hugged each other. Nara had never heard such a desperate scream. Was it the same scream that had escaped from his mouth when his Master, his lover, had died? Was Claudia, dead? He didn’t dare to move a muscle, or to leave Saul. He feared for his fate, as he would have cared for the fate of his brother.
They cried silently, holding each other in their arms. After what seemed a lifetime, they heard the sound of Flavius’ sandals on the floor outside the room, but then the steps stopped.
Flavius fell on his knees. He felt hopeless like there was no more life in his body.
“Saul…” he said, almost whispering.
Saul walked toward him, guided by the sound of his voice, and let himself fall on the floor to hold Flavius.
“Master, I'm here,” he said, holding his hand.
“It is my fault. Forgive me. You are free. There is no longer any slavery that binds you to me or to anyone else. You are released to go wherever your heart belongs, whether in Rome with Cassandra or in Jerusalem to find your roots,” he said with a broken voice, releasing the collar around Saul’s neck. “I give you Nara as your slave, and I will give you one of my farms to sustain your life.”