Bella saw the crescent moon carved roughly into the fence of the paddock on a fine spring morning a week or so after their return. It took her by surprise, so much so that she stared over and over again and ran her finger over it to ascertain whether or not it was real. Drago had been in her thoughts and dreams constantly since they had got back home - and she had waited impatiently for him to turn up. But as the days had passed, it seemed less and less likely he would keep to his promise, even though she scoured the house and grounds for this mysterious symbol and lay awake at nights frightened that she had somehow missed it, that he had waited in vain, and now he had given up on this girl who had caught his eye.

So when she did see the sign, she presumed she was imagining it. But no. It was there. A crudely wrought moon scraped on the wooden slat. She wondered how long it had been there, if he had already moved on, whether she had missed her chance.

But that afternoon, when all the house was quiet, she crept out and ran across the hill to the postern gate of their walled estate. It was warm, April already, well into spring. A soft breeze blew across the valley and the scent of flowers wafted over as Bella sat on a milestone and waited hopefully. She could see the farmhouse nestled on the hill across from her, pink stones pale in the glow of sunlight. Father was away buying new stock. Serena was resting with Aulus and her girls. Marcus was studying in the tablinum. Most of the slaves were sleeping the afternoon hours away. It felt like she was the only person in the valley who was out and about.

"Bella?"

She spun round and there he was, framed with the sun behind him, his hair a golden crown. For an instant she wondered if this was one of the legends come to life, if Apollo had taken the guise of this wild young hunter. It seemed hardly possible to her that such men could exist.

"Drago! I saw the moon!"

He grinned. "...And I saw the stars... and they were in your eyes!" His romantic declaration was the first real sign Drago had ever given her that he cared for her in any way and it made Bella bold. She sprang up from her seat and threw herself into his arms. This time his kiss was not stolen. This time his kiss was given back.

He pulled away, smiled shyly, touched her cheek softly and then took her hand. They began to wander down the paved road aimlessly. They spoke about themselves, little insights into their lives. Drago did not know how old he was but he thought he must be about eighteen; he had been alone for six years and he hadn't grown hair on his face when his mother had died. He imagined that would have made him about twelve or thirteen. But it was just a guess. Bella found it incomprehensible that anyone could not know their own age. Drago wondered why anyone would ever need to ask.

That led to questions about his parents. He did not know his father. His mother told her he had died; he suspected that either she had never known his name or that she had been jilted by some passing rogue, most likely a soldier. There had just been the two of them for as long as he could remember. They were from southern Gaul but his mother had finally hooked up with a veteran from Hispania and they had crossed the mountains all three of them. After the man had beaten her up once too many, she and Drago had run off and lived rough for a while until they had been given bed and board on the floor of a tanning factory and where they had worked until his mother had fallen ill with a fever and died.

Drago had run off then, unwilling to stay in that sweat shop and still half mad with grief for his mother. From then on he'd lived as best he could, learning how to hunt and trap, selling furs and meat where he could, always moving on before someone found him and objected to his poaching on their land. He was free and no man owned him. There were few men who could say that in this life, he boasted proudly. Bella thought his story was sad and poignant but desperately romantic. He rose even higher in her estimation.

"What about you? What about your family?" Drago asked. Bella frowned and gave him the lie, the fantasy that she had dreamed up in her head of how she wished her life could be.

"My mother died when I was born. She was the love of my father's life. He married my stepmother so that she could look after me...."

Drago accepted her version; it was a common enough story. "Your father was a general. He doesn't look like one..." 

Bella was surprised. "How do you know my father?"

"I saw him in the town. And I have been watching this place for days. He looks like a farmer. Not a leader of men."

At that Bella went on the defensive. "He was Rome's greatest general! He controlled the entire northern front. Twelve legions and maius imperium!"

Drago shrugged. "So what happened? Why did he give it up for working in the fields and breaking horses?"

"It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you one day..."

A distant hoof beat warned them of passing traffic on the road. Drago took Bella's hand and they plunged into the undergrowth, hiding in a copse of nearby trees. Sinking down to sit on the carpet of earth and scrub, they waited until the traveler had ridden on in silence. It could be someone who knew Bella. It might be someone who was up to no good. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Could they be out looking for you?" 

Bella shook her head. "I don't think so. Father is not here and the rest of them are napping. No one takes much notice of me most of the time."

Drago played with a long curl of her dark hair and then raised it to his lips. "I would notice you. Even in a great crowd of people, I would only see you!" Bella turned, dropping her knees and allowing him to lean her down onto the earth, to lie on her back as he crept over her, his body obscuring the sunlight, leaving her in that dark loamy secret place, wrapped in his embrace. This time his kiss was slow in coming. He hovered above her, his golden hair tumbling across his face as he drew a thumb down her cheek and smoothed it across her full mouth. They observed each other at close hand for long moments, their hearts beating in unison as their bodies touched for the first time.

She reached a tentative hand out and brushed away the lock of hair in his eyes; he lowered his mouth to lick her lips and then, as she gasped, he kissed her. The world seemed to disappear for the two of them as they lost themselves in each other. Bella had never known such pleasure existed in the world as in his passionate kiss and in the virile strength, his body brought to her; Drago could scarce believe that a girl so fine would allow him even this much liberty. His lonely heart swelled with emotions long forgotten. Despite the natural arousal of a young man of his age, he felt no driving lust for her. There was no question of despoiling this perfect creature whom he knew could never be his. Instead in his heart, he vowed that day to guard her with his life and ensure that no harm ever came to her. She was like a goddess far above him and he was grateful merely to be her servant.

And so began to the first of many afternoons for this young couple. Bella would wait until the house quieted down, creep out and run across the fields, unwilling to waste one single moment with him. They would talk, wander about, lie on the grass, kiss and fondle each other, run and chase, occasionally even swim in the cool streams in the woods. Drago would sometimes bring food; Bella would occasionally have a basket of fruit. It was innocent and chaste if on the edge of something more sensual. Neither ever remarked when a hand stroked a place where it should not, by the standards of her society, have gone. When they bathed, he in his leggings, Bella in her shift, they acted as if it was perfectly acceptable behaviour despite the surreptitious glances they gave each other, aroused by the sight of a nipple outlined by wet fabric or the heavy swell of his manhood in the dripping cloth.

But Drago did not attempt to take it further and Bella never tried to encourage him. He was no virgin, often being offered favours by housewives and girls of the town where he peddled his furs or the meat he had trapped. Drago was aware that women liked him and he enjoyed what they had to offer. But Bella was different, even if in the dark of the night as he rolled in a blanket round his lonely camp fire, he behaved as any man would and recalled her beauty and imagined her naked beneath the pretty stola, in his arms and writhing on his manhood.

He would have been surprised if he knew such thoughts were not so far from that of his beloved, who lay awake herself every night and dreamed of him lying naked in her bed, trying to imagine what it felt like to be loved by a man called Drago.

Maximus got out of bed and bleary -eyed poured some water from a jug over his head and neck as he stood naked on the balcony of his room It was early morning, light just breaking over the mountains, the first rosy glow of day lightening the dark purple of the night. He breathed in the scent of his land, that smell that nowhere else in the world carried. His eyes rose to the sky and he opened the day as he always did by raising a prayer of thanks to the gods who guided him home and gave him back his world when it had seemed all was gone forever. Never would he leave this place or seek to make a name in the world out there, or even to fulfill some perceived notion of duty, notions that had driven his life since first he had realized how he was and what was expected of a man.

His father's image rose before him. How he had loved that man! In all things he had tried to be the man he was. And yet, from where he stood now, he knew that he no longer believed in the things his father had taught him. Rome is the light. For the glory of the empire.  Duty before dishonour. Love the gods, the state and your family - in that order. His father had been wrong. There is only one bond that counts. Family. The gods and the state are just the extended version of that small unit. And if men saw to their own and expended their energies on their duty at home, perhaps states would find no need for war and the gods would be honoured by the bounty of peace on earth and happiness amongst their peoples. Curious notions for a man whose only skill was a warrior, he mused. His father would not have recognised a single sentiment.

Sighing, he leaned on the wooden rail and watched as the morning woke up his world. Sleepy servants dragged themselves from their pallets to light fires, bake bread, draw water, feed hens. A few children played in the dust nibbling on hunks of bread as their mothers shooed them from under their feet while they got on with their work. Young horses in the paddocks leapt about, feeling their youth and spirit as the light reminded them of the dawning of another morning.

The house was quiet. His children slept on and apart from a little activity in the kitchen, even the family servants were barely about. Maximus wondered where Serena was. The bed had been empty when he had awoke and rolled over to press himself against her in a sleepy welcome to the day, his tumescence instinctively making him seek out the touch of female flesh if only to torment himself at what he must deny. But her place had been empty, then sheet thrown back. Perhaps Aulus had had a poor night again and she had slept with him in his room as she often did these days. The child needed her more than he did.

Binding on his loincloth and slipping a tunic over his nakedness, Maximus wandered down the stairs in the silent house to find some thing to break his fast. He was always hungry these days, as if compensating for the years of restricted diet on campaign and then the monotony of the meat provided for the gladiators. The thought made him smile. Serena had joked that he was filling out, growing rounder in the face and thicker in the girth, no more the honed warrior of the past. It had filled him with pleasure to hear her say that. To grow fat on his wife's cooking as she grew fat with his babies seemed to him the very best way to live one's life.

Down in the kitchen, he asked for some cheese and fruit and sat down drinking from a pitcher of freshly drawn milk. He heard muted voices from the scullery and recognised his wife's voice. Standing up, he walked over and rested on the door frame; she was whispering to Sulvia.

"Serena? I wondered where you were..."

The two women spun round at the sound of his voice and appeared almost guilty to have been disturbed. Serena looked pale, dark circles below her eyes and furrowed lines on her brow. Her hand rested on her belly which seemed lower and more ungainly than he remembered.

"Are you well?"

"I had some difficulty sleeping. The baby was moving and disturbing me..."

"Is everything all right? You would tell me if you felt ill?"

Serena tsked at him. "Of course I would! I am just tired. Go eat your breakfast and let me to my tasks..."

Maximus went to turn away, accepting her shapr tongue as just the result of her exhaustion and current state. She still had over a month to go and it was a difficult time for a woman when her life was restricted and her days tedious. Sleep was the only pleasure she got - and now that had been rationed. "I was thinking of taking Marcus and going to do a little bit of hunting in the forest. It's been a while and I'm sure you would all like some venison..."

"Good idea. Go hunt." Serena responded bluntly and returned to her conversation with the servant.

Maximus raised his eyes at her apparent lack of interest. Women could be very annoying creatures when they were in that mood, he thought to himself. They cut men down as if they were mere children who were annoyingly under their feet. Just then Serena gasped and he turned back round. "Are you sure you are well?" There was something about her that did not convince him.

"For the mother's sake, Maximus, will you stop fussing about me every minute of the day! Go out and leave me be! You are worse than Aulus constantly hanging round my heels!"

Maximus pulled his mouth into a tight line of disapproval and raised his chin in defiance - much as Aulus would have done if chastised by his mother. "Then I will remove myself from your presence without more do, madam, I wish you well of the day..."

He strode out and ran upstairs, roughly hauling his eldest son out of bed and ordering him gruffly to be ready as soon as possible - to meet his father in the stables. And within a half hour, the two men rode off up the valley.

Serena watched them go and sent a silent farewell to them both. It was for the best that they were gone for the day. Now she could concentrate on what lay ahead. Immediately she let her control slip away and stumbled into Sulvia's arms. "Get someone to go and bring the doctor. And that old witch of a midwife, Strelga. Make sure they explain that it is too soon. The baby will be small and will not take so long..."

In the middle of the night, Serena had woken with the first cramping pains. She had risen and walked up and down in the silent house as her labour had set in, quietly contemplated what this would mean. An eight month's child was not necessarily a thing of concern as many survived, if they were strong. But Serena knew that the problem might not lie with the child but with her. If her body was failing her then choices might have to be made as the day progressed. And she knew that Maximus would make the wrong choice. If it was a mater of saving her life, he might be willing to risk the child and that Serena would not allow. This child was Maximus. This child had a future. If the gods so willed it her life might be over but she would do everything in her power to enable her child to survive. Even if that meant sending Maximus away so he was unawares of the situation.

Bella rose promptly disturbed by the noise of riders outside her window. She watched sadly as her father and brother rode out. Later in the kitchen, she breakfasted alone while all the women were fussing around in the main room with Serena. She paid little attention to what was going on. No one took much notice of her either. So she decided to go and see Drago.

He had mentioned he was going to set some traps that day on the fringes of a neighbour's property. Bella often worried if he was endangering himself by hanging round the same area for weeks. He normally made a swoop and then moved on before locals got wind of his presence but she knew that people would soon be talking if they weren't already. It was obvious they would. Every day she lived in fear of her father mentioning that he was going after poachers who had trespassed and she knew what he would do if he found Drago. He would do what any man round these parts would do - string him up as a warning to any others who tried to steal from his land.

But today she set those thoughts aside as she ran through the fields with a parcel of bread and cheese and a small flagon of wine. They would lay traps together and then spend the afternoon by some cool stream swimming and making love. A whole day with him!

The hours slipped by. Serena met with the doctor and told him that the child must come first if the decision had to be taken when she was no longer of sound mind. He nodded impassively; it was a familiar story. He took a look at her and she seemed well enough, a strong and slender woman, fit for her age, there was no sign the child was presenting awkwardly. Personally he thought she would have little problem but he knew that one could never be sure. The midwife, an old sparring partner of his, but a woman he knew was as competent in the art of delivering babies as he - if not more so - concurred for once and so he sat downstairs and ate well, awaiting the passage of the hours in between, unaffected by the travails of the woman above.

The house was subdued all day, a restrained sense of anticipation tempered with anxiety. Serena was well loved by all and every member of the household knew how the master would suffer should anything happen to his wife. Little Aulus was fretful, crying for his mother and refusing to accept the attentions of the servants, throwing himself around in temper. Even he seemed to understand that something was happening to his Mama, reading the general tension in the air.

Serena walked about until she was too tired to walk more and the pains were coming closer and closer together. She was having difficulty by now determining one wave of pain from another. The servants were preparing the birthing chair and she shuddered at the sight of it as if it were some implement of torture. Serena knew that there was only one way through this and that was to face what was to come. Lying on the bed, propped up by pillows, her eyes closed and trying to focus, an image came to her mind that of Maximus facing another harrowing battle in the arena, his stillness as he would have stood preparing himself, aware that the next moments might be his last. She needed that now, the calm and dogged ability to face what must be faced, accept what must be suffered and yet strive with every last ounce of strength to overcome and survive. Blessed mother, bring me through these final hours, watch over my child as he makes his journey to life and should it be your wish to take me from this world, take my man and my children to your own care...

...Maximus was sitting crouched in a gulley watching a deer approach nervously. The animal sensed man was near but was confused; the scent of Marcus down wind was causing it to wander into his trap. Just a little closer and the delicate animal would be in range. Maximus steadied his bow and took aim...

He heard his name. Jerking his head up, he looked about him. Had he imagined it? Then the sound came again. In his head. Serena's voice calling his name. She was in pain. He knew it. Just as once long ago he had sensed that evil had reached his home and he had heard his name again from the depths of his brain. Maximus! Maximus!

The deer forgotten, he shouted to his son; the animal bounded away and Marcus crashed through the undergrowth. "What is it, father?"

"Your mother! We have to get back....your mother...! It is her time..."

Marcus looked astonished. "But, how can you know that?"

Maximus stood, his eyes fixed in their intensity. "I don't know how I know. But she needs me...come...ride with me!"

The two men found their horses and threw themselves on their back, leaning low and spurring them on as soon as they left the thicker forest. Pounding over the rugged terrain, they raised dust in their wake as the galloped across the distance back to Maximus' lands as if Pluto himself was on their tails.

The rapid hoof beats alerted Bella and her young man, canoodling by the fringes of the road; they ducked down as the speeding horsemen rode past but raised their heads as they had passed.

"Wonder what the rush is?" Drago asked.

Bella bit her lip and frowned. "That was my father and my brother. I must go home. Something has happened....I'm sorry...." She stood up and ran in the direction of the horses with Drago following her, catching her by the arm

"I'll go with you to the gates..."

"No...it's too dangerous for you, my love....let me go..."

"What could it be?"

"I don't know...unless my mother...Oh God, my mother...!" The girl shook his hand away and ran down the road, frantic at the thought that something may have gone wrong. Nothing must happen to Serena. Bella could not bear that. She needed Serena. And she began to weep for all the things she had said and done to hurt her stepmother as she began to understand the awful reality that life might end on a beautiful early summer day and your chance to make amends was gone forever.

The men reached the house, leapt from steaming horses and handed them to grooms, running for the house. "Where is Serena?" Maximus shouted as he burst into the atrium. Rufius ran forward.

"Master....she is...it is her time..."

"I must go to her..."

"No! You must not, sir, it would be tempting fate..." The man tried to hold his master back but was simply thrown out of his way. Maximus ran up the stairs towards the bedroom. At the door Strelga appeared blocking his entrance, her arms folded and her thick legs planted.

"What do you think you're doing, sir?" She was a respecter of no man. Childbirth was the domain of women; she reluctantly worked with male doctors - but let a man near? There was no chance.

"Move out of my way! I wish to see my wife!"

"I shall not move. Go downstairs and leave women to women's business. Or must I remove you physically myself?"

Maximus looked at the fearsome hag and then began to laugh. "You would move me?"

"That I would. I know where your balls are..."

He held up his hands in defeat, amused by her ferocity. "How is my wife?. It is too soon. Please...be honest with me..." The woman's absurd challenge had calmed down the desperate rage that had taken hold of him since his instinct had warned him of Serena's labour. Strelga nodded and stepped outside, closing the door behind her as she led him further down the corridor.

"She is fine. Not all babies require the full time. They come when they are ready. I see no dangerous signs. Try not to worry..." There was a kindness in the woman's brusque tones, as matter of fact as were her words.

"She suffers?"

Strelga snorted. "Of course she suffers! This is labour. Why else call it that? Men have no idea. But it is pain that she understands. She is not afraid. Now go away and let me to my task and stop wasting my time with your fool questions!"

Chastened, Maximus nodded but caught the woman's arm as she turned to go back to the room. "Tell her...tell her..."He was not sure what to say.

"She knows....she knows..." The old lady patted his arm and withdrew.

Downstairs, he came across a little serving girl struggling with an uncooperative Aulus. Marcus was standing about, looking stunned, unsure what to do. Maximus realized that this was where he should be; these were the ones who needed him today. He had no more place with Serena than she would have had at his side in the battle line - nor would either have ever wanted the other to be there at such a time.

He picked up the little boy and told the girl with him to go upstairs and assist the women, leading his elder son into the study. Sitting on the floor, he let Aulus play. Marcus crouched down by him. "Is she all right?"

Maximus nodded and patted the boy's back. "She is as well as she can be. We must wait. Childbirth is hard work but your mother is strong and healthy."

Marcus sat down. "We never think of that, do we, Father? Men, I mean. When we take our pleasure. We never think of what it means for women. We take pleasure but we give them pain."

At that Maximus smiled. "We give pleasure...do not be confused about that. Women want our bodies as much as we want theirs. Everyone has their labour. It is simply life. Men must fight; women must bear children. But you are right in one way. Women are the foundation of our society. Serena is a remarkable woman. Year after year, she stayed here alone while I went out and lived my life, won fame and glory and left her to carry the lonely burden of our family. She knew I might never return. She knew I would take other women for comfort - and I did - she buried our dead babies and kept this place running alone. And in the end, I almost threw all of you away on account of my arrogance and pride. Oh yes, we owe our women much. Never forget that. But...do not let that make you feel guilty for what men and women do between the sheets. No power on earth can stop desire. Nor would any sane man or woman want it to! Or how else would we receive gifts as great as you, or Bella or Aulus or that little babe who is coming into this world today?"

Marcus shrugged but grinned at his father's words. Maximus ruffled up his hair and then picked up a giggling Aulus and raised him high.  And that is how Bella found the three males when she ran frantically in to the house some time later, panting for breath.

"Father! What is wrong! I saw the horses!" she gasped, tearful and panic struck. He handed the toddler to Aulus and jumped up, catching her in his arms. Her face was tear-streaked and her hair unbound; she looked as if she had run a long distance.

"Calm down...calm down...Serena has been taken to bed but all is well for now. Do not worry. I need you to be a sensible girl and help us with Aulus; he is missing his mother..."

Bella breathed in gasps but began to calm herself. "I should be with mother... should I join the women, Father?"

Maximus wiped the tears from her face and brushed back her long hair. "Yes, by rights you should be as the eldest daughter - the only daughter - of the house. But...I would rather you stayed here. Time enough for such matters in the years to come. Take your brother and play with him. Marcus...let me look at that essay you wrote..."

Some might have said that Maximus'  behaviour was too sentimental, that a daughter ought to be aware of the reality of childbed - particularly one as willful as Bella. It was often thought to be the best way of controlling silly young girls who were allowing their heads to be turned by the lusty young men of the district. Witness the end result and see a woman writhing in pain and blood in childbirth and a young maid would soon keep her legs closed until she was married - and even then be reluctant to indulge in more than was seemly.

But Maximus had other reasons for his reluctance to make his young daughter endure all that. He did not wish her to be afraid. In his memory was a night many years before when he had lain awake with his fingers in his ears trying to drown out the sounds of his own mother's harrowing screams as she struggled to give birth to his sister. Both had died. The night had been long and those screams had finally faded, becoming hoarser and more heartbreakingly cruel, until silence had prevailed. But in his head they had rang out night after night for a long time afterwards and frightened the grief-stricken young boy profoundly.

He had lost his mother and at the same time discovered the only thing that really scared him in life. When Marcus had been born Maximus had been on campaign and had managed to shut away the fears. But at Aulus' birth he had suffered the same helpless fear and this time, heightened further by the fact of this untimely start, he was even more anxious. Yet Maximus would not allow his children to grow up with such irrational fears if he could help it.

Time passed and the family stayed together, ate a simple meal, talked and played with the toddler. Late in the afternoon, Bella raised her head and suddenly asked her father. "Why is it so quiet? Women in labour scream with pain. Why does she make no sound?"

Maximus knew why. Once, long ago, he had shared his boyhood memory of the night of his mother's death - and Serena would have taken the message to heart. She would not utter a sound for fear her own children - or her husband himself- should suffer in their helpless vigil anymore than they had to. Her courage astounded him but never surprised him in the least.

"Not all women feel the same. And the walls are thick; I built them myself!" Bella accepted that reasoning, seeming satisfied with his response.  But one look at Marcus and Maximus was not so sure if he was as ready to believe the story. The boy was tense and pale. Or perhaps, Maximus wondered, does the mystery of the childbed and the adoration of our mothers lie deeper in men than in women? For girls already understand by instinct something of that place just as a young boy does not fear the clash of sword on sword as much as a young woman would? Life was so full of deep conundrums, labyrinths of thought, Maximus said to himself. And when he had been a young man he had thought it all so simple. Wrong or right. Man or woman. Roman or slave. Win or lose. Live or die.

All time had taught him since was that he would probably never know any answers - just give him more questions.

"...Master! Master! Master!" 

When it came, it happened so fast. Sulvia came running into the tablinum, decorum forgotten. Maximus was already at the curtain and the others had risen, all standing transfixed.

"Well?" Maximus growled.

"A daughter! Strong, healthy if a little small... yet...so pretty...not a mark on her...."

"...her mother?" Maximus broke in.

Sulvia smiled broadly. "Serena is fine. She is tired but it was an easy birth in the end. Not like young master Aulus with his wide shoulders and round head! She said to tell you not to worry, that she would be up and about in no time - and that you were to stay away! She does not wish you to see her like this!"

The older woman blushed at her forthright message but Maximus just laughed and swung her round, his relief and joy unrestrained. "A daughter? I have a little baby girl? By the gods, we never thought we would make a daughter!"

"The mistress is so happy! She has waited so long for a girl. Two sons and one daughter! The emperor himself could not be more blessed!"

Bella heard the remark and blinked rapidly. In a blinding moment of comprehension she realised what the arrival of this child now meant to her status within her family. She was no longer the daughter of the house. Serena had managed to displace her with this new baby. Maximus had three children. Plus one little bastard.

Maximus, unaware of the impact his reaction to the news of his daughter's birth might have had on her older stepsister, unwittingly added insult to injury with his next remark. "Bella! Take Aulus to see his mother and the baby! You should now be present with the women for this happy event. Leave us men to share a fine glass of wine and celebrate!" He handed his younger son to his daughter and then clapped a delighted Marcus on the back as the two settled down to toast the new member of the family.Bella held her stepbrother to her and ran up the stairs, still reeling from the blow she had just received. It occurred to her she was little more than one of the servants herself in reality, a tolerated member of the household , but never to be considered as one of the Meridius clan,  a mere illegitimate carrier of the blood. Her father would not invite her to share a glass with his real son. She must simply fetch and carry and take care of her more favoured brother - and now sister. Why had it taken her so long to realize the truth?

Hard as it was for him, Maximus kept to the conventions and fulfilled the traditions required of him. He waited until his daughter was a week old before he called for the household to assemble before the family gods in the lararium and the little girl was placed naked at his feet. It was his first sight of her. His heart almost broke at the sight of the tiny perfect little girl, her soft peach skin unblemished, a light brown fluff of hair on her round little head, small dark eyes, neither blue nor brown, staring up at him, her lips pouted as if in query. She wriggled and cried out, no doubt cold on the hard marble, as her father bent down to acknowledge her into the family.

He swept her in his strong hands and held her high so that all present could witness the moment when he called out her name. "Lavinia Meridia." His mother's name. The family broke into smiles and she was soon being fussed and fawned over, although her father would not hand her over to anyone else to hold even when she wet herself and the damp stain spread through her swaddling onto his arm. Maximus merely laughed. He had waited long enough for this moment and he wished to enjoy it to the full.

Later, when everyone had congratulated him, he carried the little child up to the room above where Serena still lay in seclusion. Her maids ran out at the sight of him and closed the door behind them; Maximus and his wife were at last alone for the first time since the day Lavinia had been born, seven days before. In that time, Maximus had not seen or spoken to his wife in accordance with ancient custom lest he be defiled by a woman who bled. As curious as the notion seemed to him, he had no wish to break taboos that had existed for centuries.

But now, he was allowed near again and he intended to waste no time. Serena was sitting in her bed, dressed in a soft white robe, her hair arranged prettily and a touch of rouge on her face. She had known he would come and her wide smile of delight told him that she had been waiting impatiently for this moment. He felt like a young suitor again, a little shy and uncomfortable as he loitered by the door, his daughter in his arms.

"I have brought our daughter back to you. She is a beautiful child. How can I thank you for this precious gift?"

Serena held out her hands and beckoned him in, taking the child, releasing the fastener on her robe and baring her breast before him to feed her. "We gave her to each other, Maximus. We gave her life. I could not have done this alone!" He knelt by the bed and watched; Serena reached out a hand to touch his face. "I have missed you, my beautiful man. I long for the night when you can join me in our bed again..."

Maximus grunted. "Tonight. I have done with propriety. We will sleep together and I will behave - until it is seemly. And then no more. You are nursing and I intend to make the most of that. The master has spoken!" His eyes danced and he chuckled as he said it.

"I do love you best when you pretend to be all masterful and dominant, you know?" Serena laughed. "But I know that all you really want to do is carry this little girl around all night whenever she cries. I know you well, Maximus Meridius! By the way - what is her name?" Serena asked as an afterthought. The father chose a child's title himself and as they had not seen each other prior to the ceremony, it was common for the mother never to know for sure until the naming day

Maximus stroked the baby's tiny head. "Lavinia...as I always said I would should I be granted a daughter. Named for my mother."

Serena smiled. "How beautiful! Well, Lavinia Meridia, what do you think of your name? And what do you think of your father? Isn't your Papa the most handsome man in the world!" She looked over at Maximus and giggled. "You know what the servants call her already? They call her Mini! Short for Minima. Maximus' little daughter! Aulus already shouts, 'Meenee' when he looks for her!"

"Then Meenee it is! That is what we shall call her at home. I like it quite as much..."

The next few days saw many guests visit the estate with presents and good wishes for the little girl. Her grandparents came over from their farm and were overjoyed at the new addition to the family. Everywhere she turned, Bella heard the congratulations and remarks that how wonderful it was at last, after fifteen years of marriage, that Maximus and Serena had been rewarded with a daughter. It was as if she, his first born daughter, did not exist.

Bella hung about the fringes of the gathering, hiding from notice, listening in to idle conversations. She was behind a column when her adoptive grandfather made a suggestion to Maximus.

"Do you remember a Decius Abrosius? I think you were boys together."

Maximus nodded. "He's a few years my senior, but, yes, I know him slightly. Why do you ask?"

"He's in the market for a wife. I thought of your Bella. She's a beauty and ought to be married by now but it won't be easy getting someone of our class. They all know she's a bastard and her mother was a slave. Abrosius isn't too bothered about that sort of thing. He's got a legitimate family already and just wants his bed warming at this time of life. I think he'd jump at the chance for a girl like her - and he's got quite a fortune under his belt. She could do worse..."

Maximus listened to his father-in-law with growing horror. But he could not answer him with the disdain he would have liked. Corellius Serenus was an old friend of his own father and had been good to him. He was also Serena's father. For that and many other kindnesses over the years, he was due respect. "...I... had not given the subject much thought....the child is still young. Not ready for marriage..."

"Young? She's fifteen at least. And I had a good look at her today. She's ripe, Max. Needs a man. Or nature will send the wrong one in her path. You know how it is. Get her wed and let Abrosius seed that little womb and it will soon cure her of those flashing glances and all that tossing of her hair. She swings her hips far too much as well. It's the slave stock, Maximus. Their children are whoring by ten. It's in their blood. Mark my words, she's itchy for a good ploughing and someone will have her soon if you don't look out. Come on, man! I know you're fond of her, but you need to think on this. Invite Abrosius to dinner and at least talk to him..."

Maximus smiled stiffly. "I will give it some thought. You are always wise, father. But, let me discuss it with Serena first..." he changed the subject deftly. There was no way this man Abrosius was ever coming near his daughter. Maximus knew more about the fellow than he was admitting. Abrosius had been married several times, always to very young women, and yet was still a regular fixture at the brothels in the nearby towns. Rumour had it that his last wife had died from some disease he had picked up in one such place. Another cause for Maximus' dislike of this man was that Serena had once mentioned that he had come sniffing round her after the news of Maximus' purported execution for treason had reached Trujillo. Abrosius had offered her an arrangement. Money for her services - he had known she was all but destitute after the Praetorian had destroyed her dead husband's lands. So Abrosius had thought to treat his wife as a whore and now wanted to bed his daughter? The matter would not even be up for discussion and if Abrosius made a suit, Maximus looked forward to rebutting it in his own way.

Bella listened to the men discussing her fate with shock, oblivious to any resistance from her father's carefully chose words. She hadn't really given much thought either to the notion of her future marriage, imagining her father would never be the sort of man to simply sell her to the highest bidder. But perhaps Maximus was eager to be rid of her now that the little baby girl had arrived? And once she joined another family, she knew that she would no longer be around as an embarrassing reminder of his youthful indiscretions. This news was another major blow to her self-esteem.

Drago was still in Trujillo and she saw him when she could but he had spoken recently of a need to leave the district until at least the next year. His traps had been discovered and once or twice he had scarcely avoided being taken by some of the farmers who had gone after him. It was time to lie low and visit another area for a while. He had told her that they must end their friendship for her good. He had said that their love could never go anywhere so they should accept that this time had been sweet but it was just a passing dream. He must leave and she must go on to live her life as the daughter of a well respected local lord.

And if he should go? What remained to her then? Drago was not deemed fit to marry a girl of her rank but she in her turn was not fit to find a decent husband in her social class so must content herself with lecherous old man who merely wished for her young flesh. She would lose her beloved father then anyway and have to leave for ever the only home she had ever known. It occurred to her that there was simply no reason for her to stay and wait for her unhappy fate to be decided. If Drago had to leave then she should leave with him to share his fate in the world out there. Better to be a poor man's love than a rich man's whore.

With these ideas worrying at her mind, Bella spent the day imagining the grand gesture of running away for love and never seeing her family again. It seemed such a tragedy epic story and made her cry and feel ennobled at the same time. It was, of course, largely make believe, the product of her romantic nature, a common enough reverie for this passionate girl. She saw none of the pitfalls or the hardships that she had never been raised to deal with in this course of action nor the potential disaster such an act would be for her and her family. Yet, it was still unlikely that she would take that step and willingly throw herself and her reputation to the four winds. Idyllic imaginings were one thing but such a course of action would require even more desperate measures to drive her finally to take the decision.

And then the tide turned and she learned the last vital thread in the tapestry of her conviction. A conversation over the family dinner sent her world into chaos. "Maximus?" Serenus leant over and announced. "I've had a delegation of farmers complaining about a poacher who seems to have settled himself around here for months. Not the usual pattern at all. He's getting careless, or over confident, of late for he has been seen several times - and was almost apprehended. These stout fellows asked for my help to track him down. I suggested that you would be the best man to lead a party to take him. What say you to getting a group together and doing a sweep of the area? Small matter for a man of your tactical ability to pin down one lone hunter!"

Maximus laughed. "What harm does he do, sir? Nature is free and so is he. Leave the man to his living."

Corellius frowned. "Are you going soft? Not every farmer here has your extensive estates. And what if others should learn of our tolerance and mark Trujillo out as a place where the men are too afraid to take action? We need to make an example of him. String him up or stake him out as a warning to others..."

With a sigh, Maximus assented. "I'll take a look around with an armed band. But I don't like wasting life, sir. I've done enough killing for a hundred men and have no taste for more. But I will oblige for the sake of the men of these parts whose livelihoods are affected. The day after tomorrow. When the celebrations are all over."

Bella sat up sharply. She had to warn Drago! He must be well out of the area before her father set out. She knew that Maximus, reluctant or not, would hunt him down with little difficulty, no matter how cleverly he covered his tracks. Her father had tracked the German forests and was far too skilled for a simple boy like Drago to evade. And despite his words, her father would have him killed if he apprehended him. This Bella would never allow.

Not long afterwards, while she was still making a plan to creep out under cover of darkness to warn him, Serena called Bella from the table on the pretext of leaving the men alone to drink and talk. "I need a word with you. In private," her stepmother announced after settling her mother in one of the bedrooms to take a nap. They sat down on the verandah downstairs and Bella waited, curious to know what this furtive behaviour was all about.

"I was talking to your grandmother earlier..." Serena began; her face was grave and Bella sensed that something very serious was coming. "Bella...this is difficult for me to say. But I must say it. My mother told me that several slaves from her estate had recently seen you - on different occasions - in the company of a young man walking the fields and woods. He appeared to be of humble birth and was not known to anyone. Is it true? Have you been seeing someone?"

Bella held her breath, completely taken aback by the accusation. She had believed that they had never once been observed. Deciding to say nothing as being the better course, she merely sat in silence, eyes downcast.

Serena sighed deeply. "I take it your silence is assent. Who is he? Who is this man?"

More silence.

"Bella...you cannot simply refuse to talk! How can I explain this to you in ways you will understand...?" Serena struggled for words to break through the stubborn resistance of this wilful girl. When Bella's mind was made up, she was as resolute as her father - and as convinced of her own rightness. "If you let this boy touch you, then your chances of marriage are gone. Your father will be devastated. You will break his heart! This will bring shame to your name and to that of the entire family. Is that what you wish for us?"

"I love him!" Bella suddenly declared.

"Love?" Serena repeated aghast. "You are little more than a child! You know nothing of love and what it costs! If you did love him, you would never see him again. Bella...if your father hears of this...I do not know what he will do, but I suspect that this young man will rue the day he came near a daughter of Maximus!"

"I love him! You had your choice! Why not I?"

"Who is he? I chose the finest man in all Spain. You are wandering about with a boy known to no one. Some passing rogue. That is not the same thing!"

Bella jumped up. "He is as fine as any general to me! You know nothing. I will not give him up!"

Serena grasped her by the arms and shook her gently. "Your grandfather knows too. He thinks I should tell Maximus. I have not told him. For your sake. But he is suggesting to your father that he find you a husband. And I too will encourage that if you persist in this nonsense. Has this man touched you? Are you still a virgin?" she added, desperation evident in her voice.

Bella shook her hands away. "That is none of your business! Tell my father then! I do not care! I will not marry anyone I do not love. And if I lose Drago - I will stay unmarried all my life!"

The girl ran away and Serena groaned. That had been an unmitigated disaster. She knew she should tell Maximus. But he would be so enraged. Perhaps she could work on Bella over the next few days and make her see reason, end this unwise liaison before Maximus had to be troubled by the news of his daughter's unseemly behaviour. So against her better judgement, Serena kept this information from her husband and made her own parents promise not to tell him until she had time to bring the silly girl to her senses. And save him unnecessary distress.

In her room, lying prostrate on her couch, Bella did see reason. There was only one obvious course of action left open to her now. She had to warn Drago to leave. She also had no earthly reason to stay behind. The story was out and she would lose her home, be forced into marriage, turn her father against her and see herself treated as a loose and shameless woman who had brought disgrace on an honourable name. It was better for them all for her to simply disappear and save them all the shame.

In the early hours when the house was asleep, she would go to Drago and leave this place forever.