Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,38
from here. We will marry this summer, I think, and then we will go. I am very happy.”
Delighted, Gigi hugged Verica. “You deserve to be happy, Verica, for all you’ve done and given for your family and for your people. You deserve this.”
Placidia joined them, hugging them both. “I am glad for your happiness, Verica,” she said, before tears filled her eyes. “Now … I would ask your forgiveness,” she added, wiping her eyes. “I, I must be alone.”
Gigi and Verica bowed to the queen, gathered up the girls, and left.
Placidia’s grief had resurfaced, and Gigi ached for her friend, feeling helpless as she left the palace and headed for home.
• • •
Placidia bade her entourage wait outside the Basilica of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, for she needed to be alone with her thoughts. She entered the cloister and sat on a stone bench. The rain had stopped, the clouds parting. She turned her face up, toward the blue sky, seeking warmth in a world grown cold and dark. She closed her eyes and thought of Marga, her little angel.
If not for her, Placidia feared she might yet commit a grave sin.
No, no, she could not. She must live for Marga.
Yet, without Theo …
She heard a voice call out to her and she opened her eyes. A man stood before her, a peasant with a kindly face and snow-white hair. He held a crook. “Geese,” he called out to her, “white ones, pure as snow.”
Placidia stared at him. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Please explain.”
“Thirteen,” he responded. “One for each year of her life. She is with him, you know. She has joined your mother in this, and together they will watch over him.”
Placidia awakened with a start. The rains had begun again, a heavy mist falling from above, like a veil of tears soft against her cheeks. She rose from the bench and looked up. Through the clouds, she spied a wisp of light, a hint of sunshine amidst the storm.
As her own tears fell and mingled with the rain, she whispered, “St. Eulalia, blessed lady, I understand. Thank you. I will honor you.”
She walked inside the basilica and knelt before a marble sarcophagus. She bent her head and prayed for herself, her family, and her dearly departed.
• • •
The rain had not let up. Despite her heavy wool cloak, Gigi was cold and damp as she entered her villa. She felt so sorry for Placidia, but she didn’t know how to ease her pain over the loss of Theo. Gigi’s only comfort was in knowing she and Magnus would do everything in their power to save Marga and the other children.
She found her steward in the foyer, waiting for her with a cup of heated wine. Gigi thanked him as he escorted her to the dining hall, the room warmed by several glowing braziers.
“My lady, I will fetch your husband,” the steward said.
Gigi sipped the wine, then, still feeling cold, she held her hands before the nearest brazier. Magnus entered the room moments later. He was wearing a new tunic of blue brocade, which perfectly matched the color of his eyes.
“You are late,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her throat. “I am very hungry, but first … we must eat some food.”
She laughed, her mood lifting as he led her toward a pair of Roman sofas.
Reclining, they ate a wonderful meal of grilled lobster drenched in a buttery sauce, which they daubed with big, sinful hunks of fresh rosemary bread.
When they were finally done, Gigi got up and sat by Magnus’s side. She touched his lips with the tip of her finger and gazed at his beautiful eyes. “I love you.”
He smiled. “Would you like another glass of wine,” he asked, “or should we just hold each other and make passionate love, then drift off, forcing the world to fend for itself for the rest of the evening?”
Gigi grinned. “I’d like some more wine, and all of the rest, but I want to share some hopeful news first.”
“What news?”
“Verica’s engaged to Frideger. Do you know him? Athaulf wants them to live in Narbonne.”
“Yes, I have met Frideger. I’m happy for her, and it’s a wise decision by Athaulf.”
Gigi could sense he hadn’t realized the full impact of the news. “That means her children will be safe.”
Magnus’s eyes widened. “Of course! That is very good news, indeed. Since history recorded that Theodoric would become king of the Visigoths, we knew he