Austin Moita
Assignment 8:
Climax
It took every ounce of Tiberius’s
will to keep himself from charging Marcus Brutus and his two slaves as they
walked by. How could a senator be involved in the kidnapping of a woman? As the
men walked towards the entrance, Tiberius slipped from column to column and
made his way to the rear of the theater, entering a small room behind the stage
where the actors were to get ready before a performance. As silent as he could
be, he searched in the room for any sign of the kidnapped woman from earlier at
the market. The room was barren except for an exit leading to the rear of the
theater and a wooden crate in the corner, where Tiberius could just make out
the sounds of every so faint crying.
Just as he
approached the box and began to move off the top, a cry rang out from the
theater behind him, and he heard the yells of what sounded like a very large
group of men in the theater behind him. Realizing he may not have much time,
Tiberius quickened his pace and carefully removed the cover of the crate.
Gagged,
with a torn toga and a dirty purple pella, Tullia lay in the crate, seemingly
on the fringes of consciousness. “We need to go,” Tiberius whispered. “We
need..to save..Caes-“ Tullia began, but Tiberius swiftly covered her mouth as the voices of
approaching men could be heard. Tiberius quickly slung the much smaller Tullia
over his broad shoulders and headed for the exit. He shut the door behind him
and made a beat for a nearby outcropping of rocks, already hearing commotion in
the room he had just exited. Settling down behind the rocks, Tiberius assessed
the woman he still had yet to formally meet.
“Are you
ok?” he asked, noticing a thin stream of blood running down the woman’s cheek.
“I’m..fine..I’ll be ok, but..but Caesar…you must go back!” “I don’t know what
you mean about Caesar, but your cut..let me take you to my place and clean it.”
He grabbed the woman’s hand and lead her away from the theater of Pompey, with
no resistance from Tullia. Tiberius entered his home from the rear. Tullia
admired the peristyle, with its many varieties plants taking in the sun from
above. As Marcus’s slaves looked on from
their rooms around the edges of the house, Tiberius acknowledged them with a
simple nod and led Tullia into the atrium.
The two sat
at the edge of Marcus’s pool, and Tiberius headed to his kitchen and grabbed
some rags. Tullia took in the open, blue sky above her, while Tiberius dipped
one of the rags in the water and began wiping away the blood from her face.
Finally, working up the courage to ask, Tiberius looked at Tullia’s sullen eyes
that were gazing into the sky. “From the moment my eyes met yours, good lady, I
have questioned what name would be befitting of such a beautiful woman who
enjoys going on strolls in the Forum and drawing such..large crowds of men to
her side.” Understanding the joke, Tullia allowed herself to smile and looked
at Tiberius, who met her eyes. “My name is Tullia, and I am the sister of
Appius Crassus, the senator.” “Ah,” Tiberius said, letting out a slight sigh at
the thought of his pursuit of a senator-class woman., “that would explain the
clothing. My name is Tiberius. Now I must know: do you have any idea, good lady
Tullia, as to why you were taken by those men?”
Tullia
became emotional once again and looked back to the sky, remembering the events
that she had allowed Tiberius to take them away from. “And why was Marcus
Junius Brutus up at the theater as well? A Roman politician such as himself has
no place being involved in a kidnapping!” Realizing that there was nothing to
be done anymore about what she had been trying to hide her knowledge of all
along, Tullia looked back at Tiberius, who was peering at her with quizzical
eyes. “Julius Caesar was murdered up at the theater, Tiberius. It was a planned
assassination by many other senators, and my brother was murdered trying to
persuade Marcus Brutus and the rest against it. I was next to be silenced,
which is why I was kidnapped, but I believe Caesar arrived earlier than
anticipated. He may be the only reason I’m alive now. Well, and you are to
thank as well. My life stands because of your courage, and for that I thank
you,” and with that, Tullia drew in and
kissed Tiberius, who’s stunned face right before their lips met brought a near
chuckle from Tullia. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but Tullia felt comforted
and safe with this man. Finally, she could stop running from the madness.
