Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,34

Theo, it wasn’t meant to be. There was no way to completely shelter anyone from the vagaries of life.

“I am glad you have such sweet memories of your mother, Placidia. You were so little when she passed on,” Gigi said. “It wasn’t until recently I realized how much I’d taken for granted having my mother as close as a phone, er … a call … er … a letter.”

“When I was a child I used to pen letters to my mother all the time,” Placidia said, nodding. “I just knew she was looking over my shoulder, reading every word.”

“Children find ways to heal, don’t they?”

“They do. But then, one day Serena found my letters and burned them all,” Placidia added bitterly.

Startled, Gigi recalled Serena, the wife of the late General Stilicho. “I remember her from the palace. She was very pretty.”

“Yes, her painted face was beautiful, yet hard, a mask of icy intent. She was my cousin, did you know? I had to be present at her execution by order of the Roman Senate. It was a day I shall never forget. Serena was cruel, yet I wish I had been able to commute her sentence. Alas, I could not. In the end, she was a victim of her own evil machinations.”

“I had no idea she was like that. Why did she burn your letters?”

“To be cruel,” Placidia said flatly. “But … I’ve forgotten myself. This is a story you will enjoy, because it involves Magnus. The first time I remember meeting him was right after Serena put my little packet of letters into the fire. We lived in Constantinople at the time, and I was very young. Magnus was called simply Quintus Pontius Flavus then, and was just a young, fresh face in my father’s court, but he seemed quite grown up to me.” Smiling, Placidia turned toward Gigi, tears glistening in her eyes. “I actually ran right into him, but after some grumbling he listened as I poured out my broken heart, and I shall never forget what he said.”

Gigi waited, but Placidia had grown quiet, reflective. She patiently sat a moment longer, then her curiosity got the best of her. “Tell me, please! What did he say?”

For the first time since she and Magnus had arrived, Gigi heard Placidia laugh.

“I’m sorry, I was just remembering,” the queen said. “Magnus pretended to scold me, saying, ‘Stop crying, little one! Serena loves to make you cry. You shouldn’t give her such pleasure. Of course your mother sees your letters! Don’t you know when you burn a letter the smoke takes it straight to the afterlife? Your mother can hold them for herself now, and read them as often as she likes.’” Placidia smiled. “Since then I have always cared for Magnus, and I have always burned my letters to my mother, and now to Theo, and so I have taught Marga. And we never fail to place a kiss on them first.”

A mist of tears clouded Gigi’s vision as she thought about Placidia’s story, amazed to realize she could love Magnus even more than she already did.

• • •

Magnus spent a long afternoon with King Athaulf and his advisors, going over security in general, and Athaulf’s in particular. The king had been amused by Magnus’s insistence that he have bodyguards accompany him at all times, even in his private chambers.

“I am not a coward like Honorius, pissing my bed while hiding behind my axe bearers,” Athaulf said with a laugh. “Besides, my people are loyal unto death. No king or ruler is ever completely safe, but I am safe enough.”

And that overconfidence, Magnus reminded himself, is the first step on the road to destruction.

Frustrated, Magnus then decided to turn the argument on its head. “Might I remind you of what you did to General Sarus? You acted because you knew Sarus shrugged off bodyguards in his own residence — ”

Athaulf waved his hand in dismissal. “That was four years ago, and my enemies have made peace with me, or called a truce. Even Sarus’s kin have relented in their calls for retribution, Sergeric included.”

Magnus knew this was true to a point, but trusting Sergeric was akin to trusting Honorius. Despite what Athaulf believed, Sergeric still nursed a great hatred over the killing of his brother. If events were allowed to play out, Magnus knew Sergeric would seize the Visigoth kingship after Athaulf’s death and kill the royal children. The news that Sergeric had recently left court for Gaul on