Julia froze when she saw her husband. She opened her mouth to speak but then noticed that he was talking to a small girl. The girl had dark brown skin and long hair, frizzy in the heat of the day. She was skinny, with lean arms and long, strong legs, and she wore a plain, white, ratty old tunic that was too small for her. The girl’s bare feet were covered in dust. Julia recognized her as one of their kitchen slaves.
Julia sidestepped around a corner, putting one hand protectively over her large, pregnant stomach, and watched them quietly, wishing she could hear what they were saying. The girl seemed to be telling Felix something, and he was nodding, with a small contented smile on his face. Julia narrowed her green eyes, watching as Felix spoke to the girl. He seemed to be giving her an order, and the slave girl seemed to be upset by it. Then Felix turned and walked away, and, after a moment, the slave girl walked towards Julia, looking unhappy.
Julia composed herself and stepped out from around the corner, head held high, brown hair cascading down her back, and walked over to the girl, trying not to let her stomach make her steps awkward. The girl stopped dead and stared up at Julia with wide eyes, looking terrified.
“You, girl, what’s your name?” Julia snapped, looking down at the girl.
For a moment, the girl seemed to forget how to speak, she just looked up at Julia, mouth open. Then she opened her mouth and stammered, “I-Illi-”
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be in the kitchens.”
“I- I… m-master Felix- he- I-” Illi’s hands were shaking.
Julia rolled her eyes and grabbed Illi’s arm. “Calm down, girl. Let’s go.” She began dragging Illi down the street back towards the house. Illi stumbled after her, kicking up dust as her feet scuffed across the ground.
Julia pulled Illi into the house, but instead of taking her to the kitchens, brought her into a small, scantily furnished room in the back of the house. It was dark except for a few flickering candles on a table.
“Sit down,” she said, releasing Illi’s arm. Illi went timidly over to a hard wooden chair in the corner and sat down, looking at the ground. Julia stood, facing Illi, and looked at her with a strange grimace that was her attempt at a kind smile. “Don’t be afraid, Illi, you aren’t in trouble,” she said in a falsely sweet voice. Illi looked up at her, confused. “I just want to know what my… dear... husband… wanted,” Julia continued, walking over to Illi and crouching down next to her with some difficulty. “Can you tell me?”
Illi shook her head, closing her eyes, mouth shut tightly.
For a second, Julia’s face flashed with anger, but then she composed herself. She stood up and walked away from Illi. “Have you ever had a pair of sandals?”
Illi was taken off guard. “M-mistress?”
“Sandals,” Julia repeated, turning around. “Have you ever had any?”
Illi blinked. “Um- no… I… I haven’t… mistress.”
Julia gave Illi the strange smile again. “How would you like your very own pair?”
Illi looked up at her, not sure what to say. “I…” She stared at Julia.
“Tell me what Felix wanted you to do, and I’ll get you a nice pair of sandals.”
Illi hesitated, trying to decide if she should just lie about what he had told her to do. “He… he asked me to um… bury… something for him… and I was just… telling him that I was finished.”
Julia raised her eyebrows. “Bury what?”
Illi faltered. “Um- an… an old box,” she lied, hoping Julia would believe her.
The tall woman looked at her suspiciously for a moment, eyes narrowed, and then turned around again. “Did you look inside of it?”
“N-no- I didn’t,” Illi said, feeling relieved that Julia had believed her.
Julia stood for a moment, trying to figure out what her husband might have buried, nearly forgetting about Illi. “... go back to the kitchens. Your sandals will be by your bed tomorrow evening.”
Illi got up and hurried out of the room, heart still thumping wildly in her chest. She went into the kitchens where an older girl, Demetria, was chopping onions.
“Where on earth have you been?” Demetria asked, sounding flustered.
“I- I was- doing something for… mistress Julia,” Illi said, looking away. “I’m sorry.”
Demetria’s expression softened. “Go get washed up, and then cut up those carrots,” she said, pointing. Illi nodded, leaving the kitchen to wash her hands. When she was done, she got the carrots out and began chopping them up with a newly sharpened knife. Only then did it really strike her just how narrowly she had escaped. If Julia had known what she was really doing… she shuddered. As she sank into the dull rhythm of chopping the carrots, her mind began to wander back to the previous two nights and the strange task she had performed.
The house was in a corner on the edge of Carthage. It was squat and made up of only two rooms, and most people paid it no notice. Her previous mistress, Marilla Axius, had owned Illi for as long as Illi could remember. She had lived with Marilla and done everything the roman woman ordered her to do, until the day that Illi’s new master, Felix Livius, had lead a raid on Marilla’s house. He had accused her of witchcraft, and rightly so. Felix took everything Marilla had owned, and that included Illi, her house, and the curse tablets and voodoo dolls Marilla had kept inside it.
Two nights before her encounter with Julia, Illi had snuck out of the slave quarters and headed for the house. She thought that if she saw the house again that she could somehow bring her old mistress, and her old life, back. The house, however, was not empty when she reached it. Inside the house was none other than Felix himself. He was hunched over a table, and appeared to be examining something. Illi had turned to run, but he had seen her before she could even take a step. She had looked into his piercing blue eyes shaking with fear, and tried to think of something to say.
“What are *you* doing here?” Felix had asked angrily. “You are supposed to be with the other slaves at all times.”
“I’m sorry I…” Illi had looked down, struggling for a reasonable excuse. “I…”
Felix had peered closely at her, grabbing the torch that was in a dusty bracket on the wall and holding it towards her to get a better look. “You’re the slave girl that used to live here, aren’t you?”
Illi had told him, shakily, that she was.
Felix looked at her for another long moment, and then put the torch on the wall again. “Come inside here.”
Felix had gestured her into the house and, fearfully, she had obeyed. Then he had held up a thin rectangle of lead with deep carvings in it. “What is this?”
Illi had tried to lie but Felix hadn’t believed her. Then Felix had offered her something that she couldn’t refuse: a chance to see her father. Illi had then informed him that the shabby looking scrap of lead actually contained a powerful curse that only needed to be activated. He had asked her what the tablet said, and she had, truthfully, told him that she couldn’t read. At that point, he had dismissed her.
The next morning, Illi had woken up excited to see her father. Her excitement had quickly ebbed, however, when Felix had taken her back to Marilla’s house instead.
“What about going to see my father?” she had asked timedly.
“Not yet,” he had said simply.
“I… I did what you asked me to though,” she had pointed out, trying to hide a frown.
“I just need you to do one more thing, and then I’ll take you to them.”
Then, Felix had given her a curse tablet different than the other one. He had asked her if she could enact the curse, and, eventually, she had nodded. Then he had given her simple instructions. If she made the curse tablet work, she would then be able to see her father. Not seeing any other option, Illi had agreed.
When Illi had snuck out in the middle of the night for the second night in the row, she was feeling slightly more confident. Illi had hurried around to the back of the house and down the street towards the edge of town, not far from Marilla’s house.
When Illi reached the burial grounds just outside of Carthage, she had paused and looked around to make sure that she was alone. Illi had known that disrupting a grave was punishable by death, let alone also being caught with the curse tablet. She would have to be careful.
Illi had gone over to a tomb and crouched down, setting the tablet down in the grass. She had opened the tomb and pulled out the old urn that rested inside. When she had opened the urn, Illi was very careful not to disrupt the ashes inside.
Illi had slowly placed the tablet inside the urn and closed it replacing it in the tomb. Then she had gotten to her feet and gone back to Felix’s house. Finding him already asleep, she had gone to bed, and reported her success to him in the morning.
The night after she confronted Illi, Julia lay on her back in bed, waiting for Felix to fall asleep. Her mind was whirling as she tried to figure out what Felix had gotten rid of. When Felix finally began to snore, Julia waited a few minutes longer, and then quietly got out of bed and got dressed, pulling on the large tunic with a sigh and looking down at her stomach. She had been pregnant before, but it seemed worse every time. When Julia was dressed she walked to the front door and out of the house, barely making any sound.
Julia hurried down the street, head held high, not looking at the few people who walked past her. When she reached Marcus’s house, she went up to the back door and knocked lightly. He opened it immediately, grinning at her, and she stepped into the house and kissed him on the lips with no hesitation.
Marcus wrapped his arms around her, careful not to press against her too much, and she kicked the door shut as they moved further into the house, still kissing. Finally they broke apart, his face only inches from hers.
“I missed you all day,” Marcus murmured.
“I missed you too,” Julia said, letting go of him. “Felix is driving me crazy.”
Marcus gave her a sympathetic smile and then pulled her against him so that her back was pressed against his chest. He laid on hand on her stomach. “You know, you could always come live here instead.”
Julia rolled her eyes. “How? You know I can’t just leave him.”
“But if he was gone, would you move in with me?”
“Gone?” Julia raised her eyebrows. “Marcus don’t be ridiculous.”
“But you love me.”
Julia turned her head to kiss him again. “I do. But that doesn’t mean I want Felix to be ‘gone’.”
Marcus let go of her. “I thought you would say that,” he said with a small sigh. “I just… hoped you would prove me wrong.”
“Marcus, just put it out of your mind. We’re together right now, I don’t want to talk about Felix or… wish we could be together always.”
Marcus nodded, stroking her long hair with one hand. “Wine?”
Julia nodded, smiling at him, and Marcus walked away into another room. Julia sat down with a small sigh and put her hand to her stomach. She hoped he didn’t bring up the subject of her leaving Felix again. She looked down at her swollen stomach and smiled slightly. Maybe I should leave Felix. I don’t want him raising Marcus’ child.
A loud crash jolted Julia out of her thoughts. “Marcus?” she called, standing up. “Did you drop the wine again?” She rolled her eyes as she went into the other room. Then she let out a gasp.
Marcus was sprawled across the floor.Wine from the shattered bottle puddled around him, and large glass shards were scattered around his hand. His off-white toga was stained red in the puddle of wine. Julia rushed to his side and knelt down, shaking him. “Marcus? Are you okay?”
She got no response. She pressed her fingers to his wrist, checking for a pulse, and found none. Her eyes widened, and she stared down at Marcus for a long moment. After the crash, she knew people would wonder what was going on, and had no doubt a slave would show up any minute. Julia straightened up with a small groan, made sure she had no wine on her long tunic, and walked as quickly as she could out of the house.
Julia’s head was spinning as she walked quickly away from Marcus’s house. He couldn’t be dead. She must have imagined it. It couldn’t have actually happened. But Julia couldn’t really fool herself. Marcus was gone. She didn’t know how, but he was dead.
At first Illi didn’t understand what was happening. A man showed up early in the morning, and demanded to speak to Felix. One of the older slaves took the man back to Felix’s room, and Illi watched them walk away, curious. Not long after, the man emerged again with Felix. She heard them speaking quietly as they left the house.
“...nobody knows how he died,” the stranger was saying, “what a terrible loss. Your brother was a good man.”
“He was more than just a good man,” Felix replied. Illi thought he didn’t sound very sincere, but she assumed he was just in shock.
When Felix returned, however, he seemed to be in a very good mood. Illi was confused. She didn’t understand how Felix could be anything but devastated after the death of his brother. Illi hear the other slaves muttering to each other as she cut vegetables in preparation for dinner, and found out why he was so happy. It turned out that Felix had inherited a considerable amount of money from his brother, in addition to the lands and slaves that his brother owned. Had his brother’s death actually been a good thing for Felix? Suddenly a horrible thought struck Illi. What if he actually wanted him to die? What if that’s what the curse tablet did? The knife slipped and the top of Illi’s finger blossomed with blood. She let out a small gasp and carefully set the knife down, going to wash her hands again.
As soon as she was dismissed from the kitchens for the night, Illi set off to find Felix. She knew she could get in trouble, but she just had to ask him what exactly the tablet had done. She had barely left the slave quarters when Felix found her, putting one hand on her shoulder from behind.
Illi jumped in surprise and spun around, staring up at Felix.
“Follow me,” he said quietly, before Illi had even opened her mouth to speak. Illi would have protested, but she knew that would only get her in trouble. Felix turned and walked away, and Illi followed him nervously.
“Master Felix I-”
“Don’t talk,” Felix whispered harshly, cutting her off. “We don’t want to be heard.”
Illi bit her lip, staying silent. Is he going to kill me too? The thought stuck in her mind.
When they reached Marilla’s house, Illi felt slightly relieved. Finally, Felix spoke.
“I want you to take care of another tablet for me,” Felix said, going into the small house without looking at her.
Illi swallowed. “I- I don’t-”
“Don’t you want to see your father again?” he snapped. “But- you said I could after the other one-”
“Well, now I want you to do this one,” he roughly handed the tablet to her, making her stumble back slightly.
Illi considered running for a moment, but then mustered her courage. “What- what did that last one do?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“But- if…” Illi took a deep breath. “Did it… kill your brother?”
Felix froze. “What are you talking about?” he snapped, rounding on her. “I thought you couldn’t read!”
Illi stared at him with wide eyes. “I c-can’t-”
“Then what makes you think that it killed my brother?”
“W-well I just- you got all that money so I- I thought m-maybe you k-killed him to get it-” Illi stammered, stepping back.
Felix’s angry expression changed to a disturbing smile, made all the more eerie by the dim torchlight of the room. “You think I killed him for money? No, you foolish girl, that’s not why I killed him-” Felix broke off, looking furious with himself.
Illi stared at him, speechless. Felix glared at her as if it was her fault that he had said too much, and pointed firmly at the door. “Go deal with that tablet. Now.”
Illi didn’t dare disobey him again. She scurried out of the room, heart thumping.
When Illi got a good distance away from the house, she slowed to a walk and looked down at the tablet in her hands. What am I going to do? She stopped in the middle of the road. If I bury it, will someone else die? What is he trying to do? She had almost decided to hide the tablet instead of burying it when another thought came to mind. What will he do to me if I don’t do it? Will he kill me? Will I ever see my family again? Illi took a few steps down the road in the direction of her master’s house. I’ll think about it tonight and deal with it tomorrow.
Illi had only gone a few feet down the hallway of the main house when she heard a muffled grunt of pain. She froze, listening carefully. There was silence for a long moment, and then another stifled groan came from Julia’s room. Illi crept towards the doorway to Julia’s room. Then, after a moments hesitation, she slowly stepped in. Her eyes went wide when she saw the scene inside.
Julia was standing, hunched over slightly, holding her swollen stomach with one arm. Her face was screwed up with pain, and she held a hand to her mouth to quiet the sounds she was making. After a moment, Julia’s face relaxed, and she straightened slightly, panting.
Illi stared at Julia, frozen. She suddenly felt sick. Memories of her mother doing the same thing flashed in Illi’s mind. Illi recalled her mother, crying out, face red. Her mother gripping her father’s hand tightly while another woman shouted at her to push. Her mother bleeding onto the bed and screaming. Her mother collapsing onto the bed, panting, while her brother’s cries rang out for the first time. Her mother bleeding more. Bleeding too much. Her father’s panicked shouts at the other woman. Illi remembered being pulled out of the room by her aunt, who was holding her new brother. That was the last time she saw her mother alive.
Julia cried out again and Illi looked back up at her, eyes still wide. She felt panic rise up inside her, and tried to back out of the room. She tripped backwards, falling, and the tablet clattered loudly to the groudn. Julia looked up at her, both hands protectively covering her stomach. Her face contorted with a mix of anger, fear, and pain, and she stepped towards Illi before letting out a gasp of pain and leaning weakly against the wall.
“Help me- to the bed-” Julia muttered, not looking at Illi.
Illi didn’t move.
“Are you deaf?” Julia snapped. “Help me to the bed, slave. That’s- what you’re for.”
Illi moved slowly forward towards Julia.
“Hurry up,” Julia barked, hunching with pain again.
Illi hesitated when she reached Julia, not sure what to do. Julia grabbed onto her shoulder, and Illi let out a small yelp of surprise, nearly falling over as Julia leaned heavily against her. Illi moved towards the bed, struggling to hold Julia up. When she reached it Julia collapsed, and moved to the middle, lying down and letting out another groan of pain. Illi stood there, mute, staring at Julia. Is she dying too?
Julia clenched the sheets of the bed in her fists, eyes squeezed shut again. Should I say something? Illi wondered.
“Um- c-can I… help?” Illi asked timidly. At first, Julia appeared not to hear her, then her face slackened again and she leaned back, panting.
“Stack- up the pillows,” Julia ordered her.
Illi began gathering up the pillows next to Julia, confused.
“Behind me you idiot!” Julia snapped again, practically yelling.
Illi quickly moved the pillows behind Julia, dropping some of them to the floor. She quickly bent down to pick them up and put them behind Julia as well. Julia leaned against the pillows, still breathing heavily. Before Illi could speak again Julia let out a loud groan of pain, closing her eyes.
“You- should push…” Illi squeaked, imitating what had been said to her mother.
“I am pushing!” Julia panted furiously. “I’ve- done this five times-” Julia broke off, letting out a louder cry of pain. “Get- water-”
Glad for a reason to leave, Illi turned and fled the room. She broke into a run when she was in the hallway, going to the kitchen and getting out a cup. She dipped it into the pot of water that had been set out in preparation for the next morning, and then ran back to Julia, trying not to spill too much of it. She was so distracted as she sprinted down the hallway that she didn’t even notice Felix until she ran into him from behind. The cup of water crashed to the floor, shattering. Felix spun around.
“What the- what are you doing here?” Felix yelled, stepping away from the puddle of water. His eyes ran over her, clearly checking to see if she had the tablet. His voice dropped. “Is it gone?”
Before Illi could speak Julia let out a loud cry of pain and Felix looked over his shoulder, hesitating for only a moment before walking quickly into the room.
“Julia?” Illi heard him say loudly.
“Felix-” She heard Julia grunt.
“It’s okay, i’m here.” Felix’s voice was unusually gentle. Julia groaned loudly one more time, and then the night was filled with the cries of a baby. Unable to quell her curiosity, Illi went into the room again, stepping carefully over the broken cup. She saw the tablet on the ground just inside the room and picked it up, about to stuff it into her tunic. Then she looked up and felt her heart drop as her eyes met with Julia’s. “What is that?” Julia asked in a dangerous voice. Felix turned around. In his arms was a small baby, bloody but no longer crying. A few bright red hairs stood out on the baby’s head, the same vivid shade as Felix’s. When he saw Illi holding the tablet, fury swept over his features.
“N-nothing-” Illi squeaked, trying to shove the tablet into her tunic.
“Come here,” Julia snapped. Illi wanted nothing more than to disappear, but she moved forward. Before she reached Julia, Felix turned back towards his wife.
“It’s nothing important, just something she found in the old witch’s house. I told her to dispose of it, but obviously…” he glanced over his shoulder at Illi, eyes flashing, “she hasn’t.”
Illi looked down at the floor, gripping the tablet tightly with her small hands.
Julia looked suspiciously at Felix, and then back at Illi. “I want to see it.”
“But-” Felix began.
“Give it to me, slave!” Julia barked, cutting Felix off.
Not daring to disobey, Illi stepped up to the bed and, hands shaking, handed the tablet to Julia. Then she stepped back and tried to leave the room.
“Don’t move,” Felix growled, freezing Illi in her tracks. The baby started crying again, and Felix turned his attention to it. Julia read over the tablet once, twice, her face dark. Then she looked up at Felix.
“What is this?” Julia asked in a quiet voice that made Illi shiver.
Felix hesitated, and then spoke, looking at Julia. “I- there were… many of them in the witch’s house… I just thought…” he looked down again. “I thought that…”
“You thought you could use magic to make me love you?” Julia asked icily.
Felix flinched, and then nodded.
“Did you ever consider,” Julia began angrily, “that if you had just loved me in the first place, I might be able to love you? Without witchcraft.”
“I do love you,” Felix protested, glancing up at her and then quickly averting his eyes again. .
“Well you have a funny way of showing it,” Julia spat. “Give me my son.”
Felix carefully handed her the boy, who was still crying. He was reluctant to let go of him. For a long while there was silence as Julia looked down at her child, her expression softening. Felix stood quietly by the bed, watching her. Illi considered trying to sneak away again. Then Felix spoke.
“His hair. It’s red, just like mine,” Felix said softly. “It is,” Julia agreed, not looking at him.
“Marcus-” Felix swallowed, “Marcus didn’t have red hair.”
“He didn’t,” Julia agreed again. She looked up at him, staring into his eyes. “He’s yours. I thought… I thought he wouldn’t be…” She sniffed, and Illi stared in shock as Julia began to cry.
Felix looked almost as surprised as Illi. He hesitated and then put a hand on Julia’s shoulder. Julia flinched away, but then relaxed.
“I’m- i’m sorry,” Julia said quietly. Felix looked even more surprised. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“I never- never meant for it to- I just- Marcus- he gave me- a-attention. You were- you never- and then… then the baby- I thought- if it was Marcus’s I- I would have to-” she broke off, looking up at Felix. “I thought you didn’t love me,” she said, wiping her eyes with one hand.
“I do love you,” Felix whispered. “I thought you loved Marcus.”
Julia hesitated, and looked down at the baby in her lap. “I… I thought I did too… but… maybe… maybe I was wrong…”
Illi took a step away from the bed, and then another one. When neither Felix nor Julia stopped her, she left the room, and went quietly out the back door to the slaves’ living quarters.
The next morning, after Illi made breakfast, Felix came up to her. He looked happier than Illi had ever seen him. “Come with me,” he said, leading the way towards the front door. Illi followed him, feeling both nervous and curious. “I’m taking you to see your father,” Felix said once they were outside. “Well, actually, I’m buying him. They will work for Julia and me now.”
Illi’s eyes widened and her heart leapt.
“My- my father! But… but I didn’t bury the tablet.”
“Bury?” Felix looked at her and then shook his head. “Never mind. Yes, you didn’t… bury it. That’s exactly the point. If you had… if the curse…” he shivered. “Because you didn’t, Julia… Julia and I are figuring out how to love each other again… without any curses.”
Illi stared at him uncomprehendingly, not sure how she had helped. She didn’t say anything, however. She was finally going to see her parents. She was going to live with her parents. They weren’t going to be stuck in the fields anymore.
“My… my brother?” she asked, looking up at Felix.
“Him too,” Felix said. Illi could have hugged him.
They walked for a long while until they reached a large house on a hill, overlooking a vast field full of workers. Standing in front of the house were a tall, sharp looking man, her father’s owner, her father, a shorter, stronger man with dark skin, and a small boy, clinging to her father’s leg. Illi broke into a run and sprinted to her father, jumping into his arms, tears flowing down her face. She felt his arms wrap around her, and buried her head against his shoulder. She never wanted to leave his arms again.
