Dragon's Child by M. K. Hume

doubt. There is no forgetting with those of your blood - as you will come to learn.’
    And then she was gone.
    Artorex arose early next morning, before the sun had banished full darkness, but Morgan had left even earlier while the night was still wholly black. He would be a man full grown before he heard of her again. When he looked at the empty road, he crossed himself in the Christian manner. It did no harm to take precautions against the evil ones.
    Life at the villa continued in its seamless patterns of nature. It seemed, to Artorex’s young heart, that nothing could ever change. Occasionally, a message would arrive by a courier for Ector, and the master would look grave for days. The same courier sometimes brought another scroll for Artorex from the mysterious Llanwith pen Bryn but, mostly, Artorex was content with his world, and all that existed within it.
    Julanna was to effect the changes that would shatter Artorex’s calm. Little Julanna, already pregnant, and frightened as the child swelled within her belly, begged leave to invite a friend from Aquae Sulis to visit for the duration of her confinement.
    As Lady Livinia could not bear to deny anything to the mother of her grandchild, she agreed that word should be sent to the trading house of Gallus, so that the daughter of that wealthy family should be invited for a long stay at the Villa Poppinidii.
    And so fate decided that Artorex would meet Gallia, daughter of a Roman trading family, and his life would change direction once again.

CHAPTER IV
    GALLIA
     
    Spring had come and the whole world of the villa bloomed anew. Buttercups appeared under trees in the lower meadows and the cows grazed belly deep in waving grasses and wild flowers. Trees exploded with tender pink and pale green shoots, while the fields ached to produce the crops that would ripen in late summer.
    Frith led the women in the collection of herbs and simples that were hung, upside down, to sweeten the villa as they dried. Meanwhile, Julanna checked the long track from the Roman road every day, pining for the companionship of her friend, and Mistress Livinia watched her daughter-in-law with concerned, apprehensive eyes. The villa held its breath . . . and waited for change.
    Artorex was far off in the south pasture when a heavy wagon struggled up the road to the Villa Poppinidii. It was loaded high with chests and boxes, so even Livinia wondered if the child meant to stay forever, so deeply were the wooden wheels of the cart driven into the muddy track.
    Under a small, tent-like structure, Gallia reclined on cushions amidst the piled excesses of her luggage. Only when the wagon drew to a halt, and her maid and manservant helped her to descend, did Livinia clearly view the changeling that Villa Poppinidii had welcomed into its family. From her vantage point at the thick wooden doors of the villa, Lady Livinia watched their guest approach in a flurry of shawls, wrapped packages and restless fingers.
    The new arrival proved to be an extraordinary young girl, for all that she was a bare fourteen years of age. Her face was small and unbalanced by a long nose, but there was great sweetness in her rosebud mouth and kindness in her amber eyes that were so out of tune with her curly black hair. That hair, unbound except for jewelled pins as befitted a maid, seemed to crackle with wildfire, as did her compact little body.
    Gallia was tiny, even by Lady Livinia’s standards, but her body was almost vulgarly lush at the breasts and the hips. She took great pride in a tiny waist, pinching in her pleated peplum with a belt of freshwater pearls from the north, embroidered on leather-backed linen.
    Now here’s a little miss, was Livinia’s first thought as the child approached her at a rush. But then Gallia smiled, and even the cloudy day seemed brighter for her unalloyed joy in all those marvels she had yet to experience.
    After bowing low to the master and mistress of the house, against all the rules of good