Bee Among the Clover (291 page)

That burned as well. To be so enthralled by the slave that even now he’d give his freedom, his life, for Roman’s. He cursed himself for a hundred different kinds of fool as he saddled the horse and secured his meager possessions to its back.

Aron couldn’t resist one last glance around the campsite, his chest aching and hollow where his heart had been raw, like a wound inside of him. Finally, he shook his head and mounted the horse, resolutely not looking back as he turned the horse back to the road and toward Londinium.

His fate was no longer his own, and the apathy he felt toward that would’ve frightened him if he were capable of any emotion at the moment. Instead, he was numb, cold, and empty, and he cared not what awaited him with Cate. Perhaps if he was lucky, she’d take his life in payment of his debt, and he wouldn’t feel this horrible, hollow emptiness any longer.

C
ATE watched the progress of the two lovers who unknowingly traveled the same road, separated by mere hours and the chasm of mistrust and horrible communication. She sighed and broke the connection that allowed her to see them. They’d both arrive at their destinations sound of body, even if they were shattered in mind and heart.

She slipped back on her glamour and stepped into the mundane world of men. The sensation of agony and loss that stemmed from Aron and Roman dimmed in the back of her mind. She could still keep track of their progress and know if they got into trouble, but she wasn’t inundated with their feelings.

Mortals. They always complicated things. Cate moved about her humble shop, preparing her salves as she contemplated the growing muddle. She was going to have to intervene again, but this time was the last time. They both had lessons to learn before they were reunited, and perhaps those lessons would help them understand each other more clearly. If they mucked it up again, they were on their own.