Free Valeria’s Cross by Kathi Macias & Susan Wales Page B

please, get back to your studies.”
    “But I hear sails flapping in the breeze. Can it be? Have the soldiers returned?” Valeria placed her hand over her heart. “Are the boats bringing my true love back to me at last?”
    Eugenia shot a helpless look to the exasperated tutor. “You must finish your studies, Valeria, and when you are done, you and I will go out on the terrace and watch for any ships coming into the Aswan port.”
    “If you insist,” Valeria said. “But I have to stop soon because Nanu and Babafemi are expected at noon. Will you ask the servants to serve our lunch in the garden so we will have a front row seat?”
    Eugenia blushed. “Oh, I forgot to mention that Nanu sent a messenger earlier. Babafemi has a stuffy nose, so they will not be coming to the palace today.”
    “Babafemi was sneezing yesterday, so I am not surprised. This means we are free to go to the harbor to watch the ships arrive.”
    Eugenia shook her head. “Get back to your lessons.”
    “But I already know how to speak French,” Valeria protested, turning to the tutor for his acknowledgement. The man shrugged, doubtless wanting to avoid getting in the middle of the dispute between the two women.
    “You have not yet mastered your pronunciation of the French letter ‘r.’ Besides, if you do not allow me to finish my needlework, you shall have no wedding trousseau,” Eugenia warned her.
    Determined to win this argument, Valeria replied, “Dozens of dressmakers in Milan are sewing as we speak. The dressmaker’s assistant has sailed down from Milan and is with Mother in her chambers this very moment, enticing her with an array of silks and embroidered trims from the Orient. May I please have just one peek?” Not waiting for permission, she sprang to her feet and hurried to the window. With one hand on the curtain, Valeria begged, “Please, Eugenia!”
    “Young love,” Eugenia sighed in resignation. She dropped her needlework on a nearby table, then joined Valeria and pushed the curtains open wide.
    “See, I told you they were here,” Valeria rejoiced, pointing to the fleet of boats coming into the last port of the Nile, packed full with Roman soldiers.
    Eugenia tucked her head inside the window and settled alongside Valeria, as they craned their necks in an attempt to see who was inside the feluccas.
    Valeria was careful to squelch her own enthusiasm since she knew Eugenia would not see her husband, Octavius, until they returned to Nicomedia. But it was hard to contain her joy over the possibility of seeing Mauritius again in a matterof days—maybe even hours. She sighed. And soon, we will be married.
    Valeria hopped down from the window and spun around, unable to contain her joy. “I must find Mother and tell her!”
    “But—you promised,” Eugenia called after her.
    Valeria heard her lady-in-waiting catch up with her just outside her mother’s door.
    “Knock,” Eugenia called out, but Valeria ignored her, bursting through the ornate doors that led to her mother’s sitting room.
    “Mother! Quick! Please, come and look out the window with me. The soldiers have returned. They—”
    Valeria stopped when she noticed a trio of Roman soldiers seated across from her mother. “Oh, please forgive me for intruding. I was unaware you had guests. Of course, you must already know the soldiers have returned.” Humbled only slightly, Valeria surmised the soldiers were here to tell the empress that the war had ended.
    Valeria waited for her mother to reply, but an awkward silence filled the room. Prisca was facing the soldiers, so Valeria was unable to read her expression, and she worried that her rude behavior had angered her mother. “I shall depart and allow you to return to your business,” Valeria apologized as she backed toward the door.
    “Please stay,” her mother called to her, her voice trembling as she spoke.
    Frightened by her mother’s uncertain tone, Valeria rushed to her side. She was even more alarmed