Chapter Eight

Xenophon made his presence in the garden known by clearing his throat. "Clearing his throat" may have been the loosest definition of the sound he made, for as Messalina would come to describe it, it sounded more like a sheep having a coughing fit.

"Yes, Xenophon? What is it?" asked Livia.

"Romulus is... Uh, he is sleeping." Replied Xenophon. "I made him a physic that should help him recover in a matter of days."

"How many days?" asked Livia.

"What's that now?" asked Xenophon in return.

"How many days will it take him to recover?" asked Livia, wanting to get a good answer.

"I... I... I do not know." Confessed Xenophon. "I decided to experiment with a physic I had made but never tested."

Livia stood up from the bench she had been sitting on with Messalina and approached Xenophon. "Never tested?" she asked. "You mean to tell me that you used a physic of your own creation and never before used on my step-grandson?"

"I did not use a physic I had made but never tested on Romulus!" exclaimed Xenophon, a look of fear in his little black eyes. "I used a completely different physic altogether!"

Immediately, Messalina went running to Romulus' bedchamber. He was indeed asleep and when she put a hand to his forehead found the heat to be somewhat lesser than it had been. A trained physician would not call it a low fever but it was somewhat lower than it had been. It would seem that Xenophon's physic was working.

Kissing his brow, Messalina fell to her knees and prayed. She prayed to no Roman god or goddess but instead to those of the Egyptian pantheon. The Egyptian gods and goddesses were very popular in Rome so much that Messalina worshipped them alone and none of her native deities. She prayed to the goddesses Sekhmet, Serket, Ta-Bitjet and Isis, the goddess to whom Messalina prayed the most, and the god Heka to heal Romulus.

Messalina was not alone in her love the Egyptian pantheon. As stated it was very popular in Rome and Romulus did indeed worship the Egyptian gods as well, or rather one specific god: Aton, a minor sun god according to Romulus' tutors that had caught his attention more strongly than any of the major gods.

What could his sun god do for him now? Messalina only remained on her knees with her reddish-brown eyes on the Gael who had been raised a Roman. If Romulus could not pray to his god to heal him then Messalina would pray on his behalf.

"Aton, please hear my prayer. Never have I prayed to you before but still I ask of you to heal your worshipper Romulus. He is ill and in the short time that I have known him I recognize him as kindred spirit. Please, heal him."

In the doorway, Livia listened. She did not worship the Egyptian gods but still she prayed to the deified Romans: Romulus, for whom her step-grandson was named, and Julius Caesar to heal her step-grandson. Silently, she prayed and joined Messalina in hoping her prayers were heard. Livia had already lost her husband she did not want to lose another member of her family.