Hyrum asked, deceptively calm, “Why is Corvin ordering you to eat and sleep?”

Livia inhaled. “I got caught up in the library today studying. Forgot to eat.”

Too late. She realized the books she’d checked were still in Corvin’s car. She couldn’t prove her story. Then she remembered the sticker on her library card. “Look, Corvin showed me how to access the Patrician reading room today!” she dug through her purse and showed the sticker to Hyrum.

He grunted.

They stared at each other for a moment. Since Hyrum was still standing there with a stern look, she knew he was worried about something. If Lucas had called her at the library today, Mom had likely called Hyrum too. Livia should ask him if he’d heard from Mom and have a reasonable conversation with him about the issue.

“Did you know about the Patrician reading room?” she asked.

Livia couldn’t bring herself to face the issue directly. She was too afraid of his response. So, even though they both knew it was an act, she pretended nothing was wrong.

“I’d heard about it. Never gone,” Hyrum answered, emotionless.

“Corvin recommend a couple of books to me.” Livia’s back muscles tensed. What would she say if Hyrum asked for details? What would he think if he found out she was researching Patrician family law? Thankfully, Hyrum had other questions at the forefront of his mind.

“You’re not nauseated?” Hyrum asked. If she didn’t suspect he knew about her conversation with mom, she would have thought this was a standard display of brotherly concern.

“No, I’m fine,” Livia said.

“So, you’ll eat dinner with Caecilia and me?” he inquired.

Did saying no mean revealing she was pregnant? “Sure.”

“We’ll eat in ten minutes.”

Livia was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but she was smart enough to know that the invitation was a test. Hyrum was going to see for himself that she had a normal appetite. Hyrum wasn’t going to take the direct route. Instead, he’d scrutinize her for clues and come to his own conclusions. Part of her filled with relief because she’d escaped an immediate confrontation. Another part filled with a frantic fear as she realized a confrontation over the topic would happen at some point between them. Shadows of past abuses crossed her mind. Memories of violence from her father and hundreds of verbal attacks from her mother immediately sent Livia into a state of hypervigilance.

Livia was self-conscience all through dinner. Was she eating the way she usually ate? Did she eat too much? Too little? What would Hyrum find suspicious? Livia ate everything on her plate but turned down dessert.

Caecilia chatted with Hyrum about the news of the day. Hyrum listened but watched Livia closely. Livia’s eyelids slid closed. Reopening them felt like lifting a hundred pounds.

“You’re more tired than usual, Liv,” Hyrum observed.

Livia explained. “I had a hard time sleeping last night.”

He raised a concerned eyebrow. “Any reason?”

Livia shrugged. “One of those nights, I guess.”

Some of the hypervigilance in Hyrum’s posture relaxed. “Go rest. What time do you wake up tomorrow?”

“5. I have work at 6.”

“More reason to get to bed early,” he said.

****

Livia woke to her alarm the following day. She sat up in bed and stared at the wall. She had slept through the night, but she’d been so tense and afraid that her muscles were stiff. She wasn’t hurting, but each movement took twice as long as it should. She couldn’t live like this. She had to say something to Hyrum.

Livia took a deep breath and checked her phone. Livia groaned as she read the first text.

Corvin: What was up with Hyrum? Your car is in the driveway. I put the keys in Hyrum’s mailbox. The library books are on the passenger seat.

Livia: Thanks, Corvin.

She hoped he wouldn’t notice that she hadn’t answered the Hyrum question. She wasn’t sure what version of Hyrum she would get when she went downstairs. She took a hot shower, dressed, and crept cautiously into the kitchen.

Hyrum was waiting. Livia expected that. The smell of omelets wafted in the air. She didn’t expect that.

“What are you doing?” Livia asked.

“Making sure you remember to eat breakfast. You looked too pale and tired last night.”

“I didn’t look pale.” Livia argued.

“You looked pale,” Hyrum said firmly. “Don’t skip meals anymore.”

Livia observed the omelet in front of her. It was full of a bunch of things that Hyrum usually wouldn’t include in an omelet. Red and white onions, three colors of bell peppers, and mushrooms. Livia sighed.

He was still testing her. He was trying to see if strong-tasting veggies would upset her stomach. Caecilia hadn’t been able to eat bell peppers for months. Livia ate every last bite. She even, a little rebelliously, seasoned generously with pepper and salt to increase the flavor. She rinsed her plate, put it in the dishwasher, and thanked Hyrum for breakfast.

“Have a good day, Liv,” he said. “If you need anything…you know you can tell me?”

Livia decided to pull the plug on their charades. “Mom called you, didn’t she?”

Hyrum put aside the rag he was using to wash the counters. He leaned back against the kitchen cabinets and folded his arms. “She mentioned you were pregnant.”

“I’m not pregnant, Hyrum,” Livia snapped.

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He stared at her. “Look, Liv. It doesn’t need to be a problem if you are, okay? Just don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying!”

Hyrum ran a hand over his face. “So, you looking ill and Corvin acting all—”

“I was upset because I wanted the answer to basic questions, and Mom thought that gave her the right to make accusations!”

Hyrum took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Do you believe me?” Livia demanded.

“I believe you,” Hyrum said. “But Liv, I mean it. Being pregnant doesn’t need to be a big problem. What mom did was so bad and caused so many problems because she lied, hid, and manipulated people. So don’t lie to me about this, okay? Just come clean.”

“I’m not lying!” Livia insisted again.

Hyrum nodded. “I need it said between us that if you are honest with me, I can help you. If you lie to me, my hands are tied.”

“You don’t sound like you believe me,” Livia growled.

“I believe you, but I don’t want you to feel like you ever have to lie to me about something like this,” Hyrum said.

Livia looked at him, hurt. She didn’t think he believed her. She pursed her lips as the sharp sting of betrayal throbbed against the pulse points in her body. In short jerky movements, she took her medication and grabbed her purse. Hyrum tried to say something, but she ignored him and stomped out of the house.

Livia grabbed her keys from the mailbox. Corvin had stuffed them in a manila envelope with her name written on the front.

A pleasant tingle ran down her spine to see her name written in his distinctive scrawl. It counteracted some of the hurt Hyrum had inflicted. Livia ripped open the envelope and reached in to grab her keys, only to find them surrounded by dozens of her favorite chocolates.

Livia laughed out loud. Her cheeks warmed with the pleasure of the sweet surprise. She opened her car and reached into the envelope to snack on a few chocolates on her way to work and found a note inside.

I hope you have a better day, sweetheart. Corvin.

Livia put her hand over her heart, overwhelmed by the sweet gesture. She picked up her phone.

Livia: Corvin! I can’t believe you!

Corvin: What? What did I do?

Livia: The chocolates!

Corvin: Oh, good. I’m not in trouble.

Livia: Stop being paranoid.

Corvin: How are you this morning? Did you eat breakfast?

Livia: Hyrum made me an epic omelet.

Corvin: Good. I hope he wasn’t upset with us last night.

Livia: Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.

Corvin: Call me when you get off work. We need to make plans for the Saturnalia Festival.

Oh no. Livia remembered that she promised Hyrum she’d ask Corvin for help getting Ancus on board for the Senate vote. She huffed and texted back.

Livia: Yeah. I do need to ask you about that. I get off at noon. Are you free then?

Corvin: Yes. It’ll be my lunch break.

Things went smoothly for Livia during work. Delores was in a good mood. She reminded everyone their last day of work for the season would also be the staff Saturnalia celebration. Irene seemed too distracted with her phone to bother anyone. The teen went through her tasks with a frown and a creased forehead. Livia should have realized that meant something had gone wrong. She didn’t figure it out until she walked out of work beside Clara Porcius and found Irene’s mother waiting for her.

Clara muttered, “Can’t she keep her nasty patrician politics out of public parking lots?

The woman leveled Livia with a glare. “Do you think you can come here and ruin another woman’s chances without consequences?”

Livia stared at her, refusing to give the question an answer. She had no idea what was going on.

Her face twisted with hatred. “We had the perfect plan! Now, you’ve ruined it all.”

“That’s not my problem,” Livia said, still not understanding the problem.

“There’s no way you will ever understand him! What he needs! What sacrifices have to be made by patrician women—”

Oh, this was about Corvin again, but Livia still didn’t know what had happened. What had spurred this whole confrontation? Livia worried it was somehow connected to her mother spreading rumors. Did they think she was carrying Corvin’s baby, which destroyed Salina’s chances? If Rattus House was spreading those stories, everyone in Caesarea already knew. Terror ran down Livia’s spine.

“Oh, please,” Clara interrupted, defending Livia. “Don’t give us the sob story.”

“You have no idea how unprepared you are—” Irene’s mother continued.

“Get out of here,” Clara growled.

“I hope you’re proud that you got Salina fired,” she shouted at Livia. “But you’ll see how little emotions matter in a patrician marriage.”

The woman gathered herself and her daughter into her car and drove off. Livia was still frozen by the words that had been cast at her. Salina got fired. It had nothing to do with Mom spreading rumors. Livia went limp with relief.

Clara nudged Livia with her shoulder. “Liv, don’t listen to her.”

Except, she was right. Livia did have an incomplete idea of what she was getting herself into. Clara had the luxury of shrugging off the substance of the accusations, but she was plebeian.

Livia knew there were systematic problems, or her mother would never have gone Rogue. Even Corvin had admitted his father had changed things. The weight of fear settled in Livia’s stomach. She recognized she couldn’t flippantly shrug off the attacks of Irene’s mother. She needed to understand Patrician family law.

Livia almost forgot to call Corvin. She’d come straight home intending to scour the library books Corvin had helped her find. Remembering his help, though, reminded her to call him.

He answered, “Fabulous, I miss you.”

A warmth poured through Livia as she heard his warm-honey toned voice. She loved this human. “Corvin, I love hearing your voice.”

“So we’re doing the Saturnalian festival together?” he asked.

“Yes, but I need help with something,” Livia said.

“What?” Corvin asked.

“Hyrum wants to invite Ancus to dinner, so I must talk with him.”

“Why is Hyrum inviting him to dinner?” Corvin asked.

Livia explained, “To convince him to vote for the welfare bill.”

“Ah.” There was a resignation in Corvin’s tone. “I’ll arrange things so you’ll get to talk to him.”

“Is…that okay?” Livia asked.

“It’s fine. I’ll spend less time with you, is all.”

“I know. It’s just…this welfare bill. It’s important.”

Corvin said, “I’m grateful you’re willing to help. We recognize that Hyrum has put considerable effort into resolving this budget issue. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to help.”

“I have another question,” Livia said.

“Ask,” Corvin said.

“What am I supposed to wear?”

Corvin laughed. “Red.”

Livia snorted. He told her that she looked good in red once. She assumed he was teasing. “Not being shy about what you prefer, are you?”

“I do love you in red. However, you need to wear your House color.”

“Oh,” Livia sighed. “What else?”

“You should wear a modern formal dress. Do you want help shopping for one?”

Livia planned to borrow a dress from Caecilia. “Um, I’ll let you know.”

Livia knew that Corvin’s lunch break was close to over. She hesitated to ask him if he knew what went down with Salina today or not. Should she mention the fact that Irene’s mother had confronted her after work? What did Livia expect Corvin to do about it? Getting him involved would only make the situation worse. The entire scene in the parking lot today could even be part of Salina’s plans to goad Livia into an emotional response. For now, staying nonchalant about the situation was probably best. That meant keeping other people out of the situation as much as possible.

Livia decided to let the incident go without telling Corvin. “Talk to you later, Corvin.”

Livia flipped through Patrician families: a modern interpretation. She found a lot of what she feared. Women trapped by the rules created by their fathers and husbands, though there was a patron loophole. Women who valued freedom above efficiency and had a high tolerance for bureaucratic nonsense pitted their Paterfamilias against their fathers and husbands and pitted their fathers and husbands against their patron. Livia hadn’t realized before how much having Justin so far separated from both Corvin and Gaius had protected her. Pleblein, Aquila, Director of an entire division of the security patrol. Many patrician women didn’t have the connections to secure that type of protection.

Livia texted Justin. Hey, I heard Salina lost her job.

Justin: I understand they will blame you, but the emotional requirements of the position were toxic to Salina’s health, and it was time to accept that personal development wasn’t going to fix it.

Livia: So, you’ll hire someone new.

Justin: From Aquila, most likely. I won’t put a Rattus in that position ever again. My mistake.

Livia: Can I come over and talk to you and Flavia?

Justin: Name a date. You’re always welcome.

Livia: This weekend is the Saturnalia festival.

Justin: Come Monday at 5. Flavia will be thrilled.

Having arranged that, Livia turned to her papers again. Livia tweaked a few phrases she’d written and requested financial support for six months. It was the best she could do. Livia didn’t know how Gaius or Corvin would react to it, but that shouldn’t stop her. She emailed Gaius to let him know she had finished her match papers.