Free When Truth Fails by Lucianna Gray Page A

Carol in the face with pleading eyes. “Yes, yes, yes. He’s handsome and rich and sweet. Now pull me out, pull me out!”
    “Pull you out of what?” asked Carol.
    Ellie looked down at her feet but instead of sand and sandals, she saw the ugly, high traffic carpet of her classroom and her red high-top Converse shoes. “Oh,” she said. “I’m safe.”
    “That’s what you think.”
    Ellie’s eyes sprinted from the floor to directly in front of her and stopped dead at Senator Glabor. Glabor’s green eyes would be the last thing she saw before a hessian sack was placed over her head.
     
    Ellie bolted upright in her cot. The linen tunic she wore (similar to the one in her dream) stuck to her skin with sweat. The only sound in the room was the huffing and puffing coming from her mouth. Her eyes darted from one side of the room to the other. Magnus lay on the floor next to her cot. He had insisted that she take the bed. She watched him sleep. The sunlight was shining through the gaps between the fabric covering the windows and illuminating his now clean shaven face. Magus had shaved off his beard and cut his hair the night before so that he could better hide from the guards while they were out. He looked like a different man. He looked like a handsome man – not one that had just spent months in an underground prison.
    As the daze of sleep wore off, Ellie began to think clearly. She hadn’t spent nearly enough time worrying about how she had got herself thrown back in time. Or, you know, prison. Instead, she spent the last few days – or has it been weeks? - running from guards, falling in love, and trying to solve a murder in Ancient Rome. What was going on? This was crazy. She rested her head in her hands and began to cry.
    The soft sounds of her weeping must have awakened Magnus who sat up and placed his hand on her shoulder. Ellie jumped up and away from his touch. His eyes were filled with worry for his new friend.
    “We will get through this,” he said. “Fear not. I will not let anyone hurt you.”
    Despite all the time that they had spent together she had never seen this look in his eyes before. This worried and sympathetic look. Most men that she knew turned and ran as soon as she showed any sign of vulnerability and emotion. She felt her shoulders slump. Magnus stood up sat next to her on the bed. He wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get some breakfast and talk about what we want to do next.”
    Ellie nodded. She watched him stand up and stretch. Silhouetted against the sunlight shining through the cracks, she could still see definition in his back and arms. Her gaze swept across his shoulders and down further still. She could feel her cheeks heat up like a teapot. Magnus nonchalantly grabbed his tunic and belt. “I will give you some privacy,” he said. Ellie nodded again.
    As soon as he left, she fell over. “Cassius,” she said. “I think I’m going through Cassius withdrawals…” Though the words came out of her mouth, her mind was still fixed to Magnus’s muscular posterior. “What kind of work out yields those types of results?” she said under her breath. “Like squats on crack…” She grinned at the thought and got up so that she could get dressed.
     
    The two brothers, Magnus, and his female cousin (whose house they were currently holed up in) were all sitting around a table munching on pieces of bread. Magnus tossed her a piece. “Eat up,” he said. “We are talking about what we are going to be doing today.”
    “I’ve got some ideas,” she said.
    “I hope it does not involve four people,” Magnus said.
    Ellie turned to the brothers. The older one spoke up, “Magnus said that it would be best if we split into two groups.” He shrugged. “It makes sense. It will be easier to hide.” He scratched his head, his curly blonde hair shaking in the process.
    “We wanted to show you our gratitude by helping you in your endeavor,”