AU Bingo ficlet: "The Garden"
Feb. 28th, 2011 11:57 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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alias500For the prompt "Historical: Author's Choice." Those of you who have been following the other Roman ficlets will know the cast by now:
The law did not command Gaius Varius to take another wife, but the emperor had strongly suggested it – the sort of thing that set a good example. With Rome’s falling birth rate an increasing concern, men in the public eye were supposed to lead the way by dutifully marrying and procreating, preferably sons.
He had but one daughter, and while in his eyes, Varia was worth any ten of Rome’s sons, he knew Caligula did not see it so. Like Aquila, and so many other men in his situation, Gaius Varius might have found a son to adopt – some younger son of an aristocratic family unable to support the careers and ambitions of all the boys they’d produced. Had he more time to consider the matter, no doubt he could have found a likely young lad, someone Varia would enjoy teasing and coddling in equal degree.
But his rise to prominence since his return from Germania had been as sudden as it was surprising. And Aquila’s offer – distressing though it was on many levels – made good sense.
Gaius Varius sat in the garden of Aquila’s home. The walls here were painted in an unusual style; instead of the regular mythological scenes, Laurina had commissioned the artists to create the illusion of the garden going on forever – trees reaching out into the distance, complete with birds, fruit and flowers. Were it later in the day, when he had drunk sweet wine, it would be easy to believe that he was out at the country villa they had once shared. He could imagine little Varia running toward him on her sturdy toddler legs, Laurina smiling as she lifted her face to sniff the delicate fragrance of the first oranges on the branch …
Enough. That time was long past. The painting was only an illusion.
Aeliana walked out to join him. No one would ever admit that this was anything but an accident; in propriety, Gaius Varius should never have met her outside of her father’s company. Most men would have arranged the matter without bothering to meet the young girl at all; a brief look would suffice. But either Aquila knew him better than that, or Aeliana herself wanted a better examination of the old soldier her father wanted her to marry. He wouldn’t blame the girl for that. Poor young thing – pretty and fresh as an orange blossom, and being foisted off on a scarred man who, in a sense far too literal for comfort, was old enough to be her father.
As, of course, he had been married to her mother …
“Aeliana,” he said, putting as much warmth in his voice as he could muster. Probably the girl was intimidated. “How pleasant to see you.”
“And you, General.” Her smile was bold, her dark eyes dancing. Dear God, but she was like Laurina as she had been when they first met – except that Aeliana’s face displayed nothing but youth, joy and exuberance. This one was scared of nothing. Her gaze had no shadows, like those he had seen in Laurina. “Has my father left you all alone out here? How shameful.”
Gaius Varius spoke gently, but he spoke the truth. “There’s no need to play the coquette.”
It cowed her not at all. “Well, we’re not meant to speak frankly, and yet we’re meant to speak, so what are we to say? I suppose I could talk about the weather. But then I’d bore you to death. And to be bored to death by a girl after defending yourself against all those barbarians? How embarrassing.”
He laughed. Despite himself, he laughed. Aeliana had her charms. For the first time, Gaius Varius began to wonder whether accepting Aquila’s plan wouldn’t be so bad after all.
But then he remembered Laurina’s face – so long ago, and yet more real to him than anything else he had known in the past decade, save his daughter –
Aeliana’s smile faded. “You’re thinking of her.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Mother. You’re thinking of my mother. I always wondered what that look in your eyes meant, but now – now I know.”
Her insight and forthrightness stunned him into silence. What could he say? What else was there to be said?
To his surprise, Aeliana’s expression shifted from surprise and indignation into the deepest tenderness. “You still love her.”
“We cannot speak of this,” Gaius Varius said. He was well aware that this was not the same as saying she was wrong.
With some sadness, she smiled. “Then I suppose we’ll talk about the weather. You must be strong.”
The mixture of her insight and her teasing moved him in a way he had not known he could still be moved. Had he ever entertained the notion that a male and a female might be friends, he would have understood that they had formed a bond of friendship; as that idea was foreign to them both, they instead fell a little bit in love at that moment, while understanding immediately that he would not ask her father for her hand, and that she would no longer have it any other way.
They sat in the garden for a long while, and looked up at the clouds, and swore they felt summer was very near.
**
The law did not command Gaius Varius to take another wife, but the emperor had strongly suggested it – the sort of thing that set a good example. With Rome’s falling birth rate an increasing concern, men in the public eye were supposed to lead the way by dutifully marrying and procreating, preferably sons.
He had but one daughter, and while in his eyes, Varia was worth any ten of Rome’s sons, he knew Caligula did not see it so. Like Aquila, and so many other men in his situation, Gaius Varius might have found a son to adopt – some younger son of an aristocratic family unable to support the careers and ambitions of all the boys they’d produced. Had he more time to consider the matter, no doubt he could have found a likely young lad, someone Varia would enjoy teasing and coddling in equal degree.
But his rise to prominence since his return from Germania had been as sudden as it was surprising. And Aquila’s offer – distressing though it was on many levels – made good sense.
Gaius Varius sat in the garden of Aquila’s home. The walls here were painted in an unusual style; instead of the regular mythological scenes, Laurina had commissioned the artists to create the illusion of the garden going on forever – trees reaching out into the distance, complete with birds, fruit and flowers. Were it later in the day, when he had drunk sweet wine, it would be easy to believe that he was out at the country villa they had once shared. He could imagine little Varia running toward him on her sturdy toddler legs, Laurina smiling as she lifted her face to sniff the delicate fragrance of the first oranges on the branch …
Enough. That time was long past. The painting was only an illusion.
Aeliana walked out to join him. No one would ever admit that this was anything but an accident; in propriety, Gaius Varius should never have met her outside of her father’s company. Most men would have arranged the matter without bothering to meet the young girl at all; a brief look would suffice. But either Aquila knew him better than that, or Aeliana herself wanted a better examination of the old soldier her father wanted her to marry. He wouldn’t blame the girl for that. Poor young thing – pretty and fresh as an orange blossom, and being foisted off on a scarred man who, in a sense far too literal for comfort, was old enough to be her father.
As, of course, he had been married to her mother …
“Aeliana,” he said, putting as much warmth in his voice as he could muster. Probably the girl was intimidated. “How pleasant to see you.”
“And you, General.” Her smile was bold, her dark eyes dancing. Dear God, but she was like Laurina as she had been when they first met – except that Aeliana’s face displayed nothing but youth, joy and exuberance. This one was scared of nothing. Her gaze had no shadows, like those he had seen in Laurina. “Has my father left you all alone out here? How shameful.”
Gaius Varius spoke gently, but he spoke the truth. “There’s no need to play the coquette.”
It cowed her not at all. “Well, we’re not meant to speak frankly, and yet we’re meant to speak, so what are we to say? I suppose I could talk about the weather. But then I’d bore you to death. And to be bored to death by a girl after defending yourself against all those barbarians? How embarrassing.”
He laughed. Despite himself, he laughed. Aeliana had her charms. For the first time, Gaius Varius began to wonder whether accepting Aquila’s plan wouldn’t be so bad after all.
But then he remembered Laurina’s face – so long ago, and yet more real to him than anything else he had known in the past decade, save his daughter –
Aeliana’s smile faded. “You’re thinking of her.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Mother. You’re thinking of my mother. I always wondered what that look in your eyes meant, but now – now I know.”
Her insight and forthrightness stunned him into silence. What could he say? What else was there to be said?
To his surprise, Aeliana’s expression shifted from surprise and indignation into the deepest tenderness. “You still love her.”
“We cannot speak of this,” Gaius Varius said. He was well aware that this was not the same as saying she was wrong.
With some sadness, she smiled. “Then I suppose we’ll talk about the weather. You must be strong.”
The mixture of her insight and her teasing moved him in a way he had not known he could still be moved. Had he ever entertained the notion that a male and a female might be friends, he would have understood that they had formed a bond of friendship; as that idea was foreign to them both, they instead fell a little bit in love at that moment, while understanding immediately that he would not ask her father for her hand, and that she would no longer have it any other way.
They sat in the garden for a long while, and looked up at the clouds, and swore they felt summer was very near.
**
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Date: 2011-03-01 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 07:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 01:16 pm (UTC)Also, awesome ficlet, perfect WWBH.
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Date: 2011-03-01 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 02:08 pm (UTC)You know I love this universe, so it was great to get more of it. I love the idea the Aeliana finds Varius' continued love for her mother to be sort of adorable, that it just makes her love him more.
Somewhat unrelatedly, I thought you had invented the name "Laurina," then I googled it to find that it's a real Roman name. How perfect!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 02:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know, when I saw the name Laurina on a list, I was all SHUT UP THAT'S PERFECT. It couldn't have been anything else.
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Date: 2011-03-01 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-01 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-02 03:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-02 04:49 pm (UTC)