Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,18
kiss. “I feel so much better. Let’s open that wine.”
He grinned, picked up the wine skein, and poured two cups full. “By the way, yes, we are celebrating. We’ve found a cave. We’re dry. And I’m going to make love to you for the first time in days.”
“Suddenly,” Gigi smiled, “I’m not dry anymore.”
Magnus threw back his head and laughed, then touched his cup to hers. “Drink up.”
The red wine tasted wonderful, fruity and mellow. Relaxed, she watched him rummage through his gear and come up with their iPod. He turned it on and Andrea Bocelli’s voice filled the cave, singing, “Your Love.”
“You are my life’s greatest gift.” Magnus sat beside her and touched her face. “We have loved for ages, haven’t we? Beyond time.”
Gigi took his hand and kissed it. “And we will love for ages more.”
“Beginning with tonight.” He pulled her close, kissing her throat, her mouth.
Her lips parted and she tasted him, wine and warmth and love.
• • •
After three weeks of constant travel and evasion tactics, Gigi was relieved to see Vada Sabatia sprawled out below them. They were at the very northwestern end of the Italian coastline, just beyond the point where it turns west toward France. Monte Carlo, or what would become that beautiful enclave, was not far away. Curious as to what it looked like in this time, she hoped to be able to spot the location from onboard a ship bound for Barcelona.
Magnus scratched his short, heavy beard, then pushed a hand through his hair and gazed down. “I don’t think we risk anyone recognizing us here.”
Gigi nodded. “I agree. We’ll blend in with the crowd.” Nevertheless, she reached under her cloak and palla and readied her gun. Although they’d had no indication they were being followed, she felt anxious, partly because she’d continued to keep the .45 a secret from Magnus. But how could she not? If she told him she’d brought it, he would insist she throw it away. He’d also learn of her deceit. She wasn’t proud of that and didn’t want to face his anger.
Magnus nudged his horse and Gigi followed him down the road to the seaport. They passed several ordinary, working-class people, who didn’t give them an extra glance. Clearly, they couldn’t care less about a pair of travelers on horseback. Even the soldiers manning the main gate looked bored.
As they entered town, Gigi saw that Vada Sabatia was smaller and more dilapidated than Portus, but it had nearly the same level of cart traffic and pedestrian congestion. She suspected its rundown appearance was due more to its distance from chic and sophisticated Rome, than from any lack of riches.
They went straight to the docks, where Magnus dismounted and addressed a group of dockworkers. “Friends, I want to book passage for us and our horses to Hispania. Barcino, preferably. Where might I make inquiries?”
“Hispania? Surely you jest, brother, or you’ve been living under a rock!” an agitated dockworker snarled. “There is a general blockade, ordered by the emperor, and no boats have been allowed in or out since the Nones. It is killing us! Is Honorius trying to ruin commerce? I don’t understand it. Some are talking of a revolt, but General Constantius is carrying out the order, and to cross him would be to forfeit life, you may be sure!”
Magnus looked stunned, but quickly recovered his composure. Sitting on her horse, Gigi stared at the ground and thought of the endless weeks still ahead of them, if they were forced to go by land. Magnus pressed his shoulder against her knee, and she knew he was trying to comfort her, but it did little to help.
He reached for a pouch on his belt and hefted it a couple of times, so the sound of clinking coins could be heard. “I’m sure there must be some way to find passage.”
“I’ll gladly take your money,” another dockworker laughed, “but that’ll get you no closer to your destination. Constantius’s men threaten to lob Greek fire against any ship that so much as casts an eye toward the western horizon. You’ll go by land, or not at all. And that is a bad idea as well, because of the Bagaudae.”
“As you say,” another man added. “Those miserable bandits infest the north and west, all the way to Hispania. They will kill you and take your coin, your horses, and your wife.”
Magnus narrowed his eyes. “Well, it seems we shall stay put then, until the blockade is lifted. In the