Page 53 of Ensnaring the Dove
It was best to let the past lie.
XXII. FATHER AND DAUGHTER
“YOU DID WELL telling me about that legionary’s coarse behavior and drunkenness, daughter,” Severus said as he ripped off a piece of crusty bread and dipped it in his stew. “Rest assured, Darius Gavia has been punished.”
Colombia met her father’s eye across the table. “How?”
When the soldier had insulted her earlier, she’d wanted to kick him in the face—yet now her father’s grim expression made queasiness churn in her gut. There was a reason she’d deliberately not told her father about the leers and lewd comments some of the men had whispered as she’d walked by over the past weeks.
Severus Juventus ran this fort with an iron fist—and he wasn’t a man known for his mercy.
Her father’s dark brows drew together. “Drinking on duty and then insulting two high-ranking ladies is punishable by death,” he replied coolly. “However, we’re short on men these days, so I took theflagrumto him instead.”
Colombia stifled a wince. Back in Asculum, she’d seen a soldier beaten with a flagrum once. The whipping had been brutal, for the three long leather straps tipped with metal hooks had torn chunks of flesh off the soldier’s back.
Swallowing bile, she reached for her calix of wine and took a large gulp.
Noting her reaction, her father’s expression softened. “I’m sorry you have to hear such things, Colombia,” he murmured, his voice roughening. “A noblewoman should not have contact with the brutality of military life.”
Colombia sighed, her fingers tightening around the stem of the calix. “It’s all right,pater… I’m not going to faint.”
Severus’s mouth thinned, his brow furrowing. “If your mother were alive, she’d be aghast that you were living here with me,” he muttered. “You should be in Asculum, in comfort and safety.”
Colombia set her wine down with a resigned sigh and took a mouthful of stew. She knew her father was only trying to protect her, yet she did find his views tiresome at times.
As she’d expected, the stew was delicious. Claudia had been tending it all morning, seasoning it to taste.
“Do you like the stew,pater?” she asked then. “We’ve run out of spice, but Claudia has made a few tweaks to the recipe.”
“It’s good,” he replied.
Her mouth curved. “That’s a relief … since you’ll be having it tomorrow too. We’re trying to make our stores go a bit further.”
Colombia’s father gave a rare smile then, his expression softening. “Like your mother, you know how to manage a household … although you’re much more strong-willed and opinionated than Antonia ever was.”
Colombia cocked an eyebrow. “And that’s a bad thing?”
Severus snorted. “Such traits are expected in men … but they are unfeminine in women.”
“Why?” Her gaze held his.
Surprise flickered across Severus’s face at the directness of her question. There was a time, not too long ago, when she would have quailed at speaking so boldly to her father, but these days, she had the courage to let her true character show.
She wouldn’t leash her tongue just so that the men around her didn’t feel challenged.
“No man likes a stroppy woman,” Severus grumbled, taking a bite of bread. He chewed and swallowed before continuing. “We value gentleness … obedience. Not your opinions. You’d do well to remember that, Colombia.”
Colombia fought a scowl, her playful mood dissipating. Aedan liked to hear my opinions.
Pushing aside thoughts of the man she couldn’t forget, she sighed. “Materwas both gentle and obedient, wasn’t she?”
His expression shuttered. “She was.”
Silence fell between them, drawing out while they continued to eat their stew. Eventually, wiping her bowl with a scrap of bread, Colombia met her father’s eye once more. “I don’t think my aunt and uncle liked me living with them,” she admitted softly. “Neither looked sad to see me leave … or tried to dissuade me from traveling here.”
Severus’s features tightened. “I shouldn’t have left you with them for so long,” he muttered, “but there was no one else.” He paused then, a groove etching between his brows. “They didn’t mistreat you, did they?”
She shook her head. “No … but Aunt Livia has a wicked temper if crossed.”