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“ Y ou want to what?” Lucretia demanded as Marcus faced her in their garden. Her loom sat between them, linen fabric stretched across its warp threads. She was taking a break from work to weave some cloth, as Marcus would need new tunics soon with the way he was growing.

Marcus set his jaw in a familiar stubborn expression. “I want to go to Cyrene with Felix. You already said I could.”

“That was before .” Until now, she hadn’t even realized she should have forbid Marcus from seeing Felix again.

She had assumed Marcus wouldn’t even have wanted to continue his apprenticeship, but he must have a more forgiving nature than she realized—especially as he knew only a fraction of the truth.

“All he did was propose. He’s done it before, hasn’t he? Why does anything have to change?” He threw up his hands.

Her heart clenched at the gesture of frustration. That was exactly what Cornelius used to do whenever he was fed up with something, whether it was a delayed shipment, an uncooperative supplier, or an invitation to a dinner party he didn’t want to attend.

“If Father was here,” Marcus continued, “I wouldn’t have to go with Felix in the first place. He would have taken me.”

A hard ball of sorrow settled in the pit of her stomach.

Finally, she started to understand that this might be about more than just the prospect of an exciting journey.

If she forbade Marcus from going on this trip, or indeed from continuing his apprenticeship with Felix, she would force him to lose another relationship, just like he’d lost his father.

Of course, his relationship with Felix was nothing like that of a father, but it was still a relationship.

They seemed to have become something close to friends.

She had to admit that he’d been thriving under Felix’s influence.

He wasn’t stealing money or getting into fights—perhaps now because the other boys knew he could fight back.

He was learning the business he would eventually inherit from her.

And there had been moments of warmth between them that she’d been missing since he was a child.

He’d been adrift since his father died, and something about Felix seemed finally to have settled him.

She focused on finishing her current row of weaving. The problem was, she no longer trusted Felix, and thus couldn’t bring herself to let Marcus go off with him for weeks in a strange land.

Then again, trusting Felix with her heart was an altogether different matter than trusting him with her son’s safety. Perhaps, no matter what had happened between them, Felix could still be a careful steward with Marcus’s wellbeing.

Her original reasons for agreeing to the trip came back to her. It would be an invaluable learning opportunity for Marcus, and it could only benefit him to increase his experience of the world. She couldn’t deny him that just because of her falling out with Felix.

She chewed her lip as she untangled a small knot in her yarn, considering.

Marcus gave an impatient huff. “Well?”

She summoned a stern look. “Leave it with me for a day. I will let you know what I decide.”

The next day, Lucretia looped her arm through Dihya’s as they walked away from their office. Their homes were in the same direction for several blocks before their paths would diverge. Twilight had fallen, but the sun’s warmth hadn’t yet abandoned the air.

Lucretia’s other arm supported a basket piled high with delicacies from Caeso. He knew the broad strokes of her rift with Felix, and he’d insisted on plying her with his finest wares, assuring her that good bread and pastries could heal any wound.

“Caeso was much too kind,” she said as she adjusted the weight of the basket.

Dihya shot her a sympathetic glance as they rounded a corner.

“He only wants to help. And I fear the only way he knows how to help is by stuffing you with baked goods.” Dihya raised her eyebrows.

“Unless you want me to have him poison Felix? That option is still on the table, you know. I really think Caeso would do it this time.”

Lucretia chuckled. “Thank you, but no. Felix doesn’t deserve that.”

“I disagree,” Dihya muttered darkly.

Thinking of Felix made her stomach tighten, as if in anticipation of pain.

She’d be happy never to lay eyes on him again, but after the conversation with Marcus yesterday, she knew she had to see him at least once more.

She needed to discuss the matter of the journey face to face.

That was the only way she’d know for sure if Felix could still be trusted with Marcus.

But for the moment, she allowed herself to think of pleasanter matters. “Have you set a date for the wedding yet?”

“We have!” Dihya’s hand gave an excited bounce where it rested on Lucretia’s arm.

“Two months from now, the tenth of October. I don’t mind waiting.

It will give me time to weave my bridal garments, and we need to find somewhere new to live.

Both of our apartments are too small for three people.

Caeso wants to buy a house. He’s been saving money! ”

Lucretia smiled at the elation in her friend’s voice. “That’s wonderful.”

“I met his mother for the first time the other day.” Dihya’s mouth twisted in distaste.

“Horrid woman. She looked down her nose at me the entire time. You should have seen the look on her face when I spoke a word or two in Berber to Tadla in front of her.” Dihya gave an irritated shudder. “If anyone needs poisoning, it’s her.”

Lucretia snorted. “I’ll make sure to keep her occupied at the wedding so you don’t have to speak to her.”

“You have my blessing to lock her in a closet,” Dihya pronounced.

They’d reached the street where their paths parted, so Lucretia bid Dihya goodbye with a kiss on the cheek.

Beneath her happiness for Dihya, a trace of melancholy lingered.

Dihya had found a new love, someone who treasured her.

Whereas Lucretia had only managed to get her heart broken by a man she never should have become entangled with.

And now she had to see that man once again, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

Lucretia went home, dropped off the weighty basket of baked goods, then continued reluctantly to Felix’s house. Better to get this encounter over with.

A few moments after she knocked on Felix’s door, a servant pulled it open, recognized her, and offered to show her in, but she refused. “I would like to meet with Lucius Avitus Felix outside.” His house held far too many memories that would only cloud her judgment.

The young man nodded and withdrew.

When the door opened next, Felix was there. It had only been two days since they last parted, but the sight of him still sent a pang through her. His nose and left eye were mottled with purple-yellow bruises, and Lucretia suppressed a wince.

He surveyed her with his old aloofness, his gray eyes remaining dispassionate and chilled. No warmth sparked in his gaze, and his expression was as blank and implacable as a concrete wall. “You refuse to step foot in my house?”

She met his coolness with as much tranquility as she could muster. “It’s a pleasant evening. I thought it better to take a walk.” At least, if they were walking, she wouldn’t have to look directly at him.

“Very well.” He left the house, closing the door behind him. “What do you want?”

Her shoulders tensed at his rudeness as they began to walk. He was the one who had transgressed—he had some gall to address her so brusquely. “You must know Marcus still wishes to go to Cyrene with you.”

“I assume you have forbidden it?” His voice was clipped, as if every syllable cost him something.

She shot him a sidelong glance as they turned a corner. They had set no destination, but by some unspoken agreement they seemed to be heading in the direction of the harbor. “Not yet. I don’t wish Marcus to suffer because of our…disagreement.” Because you betrayed me, and broke my heart .

“You are…a good mother,” he said in a begrudging tone.

She ruthlessly quashed the warmth that rose within her at the compliment.

Felix’s opinions on her parenting meant nothing to her.

“I need to know, first, if you even want him to accompany you. Or to continue his apprenticeship at all. If you don’t wish to have anything more to do with him, tell me honestly, and I’ll put a stop to it. ” Even if Marcus hates me for it .

Felix was silent for a moment as they navigated a cluster of people queuing at a food stall. The scent of spiced meat wafted through the air, tickling her nostrils.

“He’s making good progress,” he finally said. “It would be a waste to stop now.”

“I can tell he’s making progress in boxing, if nothing else,” she said with a tiny smile he wouldn’t be able to see. “I did reprimand him for hitting you.” Though you may have deserved it.

“He apologized.”

His curt, icy tone irritated her. It made her feel driven to charm and smile, to soften and placate him, though he deserved none of her warmth or smiles. He should be groveling on his knees for what he’d done. But he seemed to feel no remorse.

They reached the harbor, where merchants and sailors hurried to finish the day’s work before dark, and walked out along one of the long jetties that extended into the water.

At the end of it, Lucretia turned to face Felix.

“Can I still trust you to take care of him?” Her eyes searched his face, seeking any scrap of benevolence.

She leaned back against the flimsy wooden rail behind her, which served as an insubstantial barrier between the wooden dock and the water beneath.

“You can,” he said. “I’ll swear an oath to any god you choose not to let any harm come to him.”

She considered for a moment, leaning her weight more fully against the rickety wood behind her.

The wood creaked, groaned, and then suddenly disappeared. Lucretia barely had time to take a breath before her body lurched backward toward the water. Her arms flailed.

Felix’s hand caught her forearm, tugging her upright, away from the edge of the dock. Her body collided with his, and his arms braced her shoulders, steadying her. A rush of warmth flooded her, but she couldn’t luxuriate in the pleasure of his touch. That was all over.

“Someone should really fix that,” she murmured breathlessly as she found her footing and stepped away from him.

“I’ll have a word with the harbor authorities.” A strange instability colored his voice.

She glanced up at him. His icy mask had slipped, and he was gazing down at her with the intensity she remembered from their lessons, as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him. Sorrow, pain, and regret swirled in his gray eyes, the emotion so piercing it took her breath away.

Then he dropped his hands from her shoulders, and the emotion vanished, replaced by cool blankness. She realized his ungracious manner was hiding a deep well of pain. He did feel remorse about what happened between them. He just didn’t know how to acknowledge it.

Her gut told her that Marcus would be safe with him. Marcus had been longing for this trip, and it would be cruel to deprive him of it.

“Marcus may join you,” she finally said. “But I’m going to require that oath first.”