without_hesitation | (no subject)

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When she wakes in a bed so unlike the one she's come to know in Darrow, Ilithyia simply lies there for a moment until she hears Albinius cry, then rises to look at her surroundings. For a moment, she thinks she has returned to Rome and a smile curves her lips, but then she hears an unmistakable voice.

Lucretia.

She's found herself in Capua.

Ilithyia rises slowly and it speaks to just how long she's been away from home that it startles her when a young woman hurries into the room, a gauzy robe trailing in her hands and lays it upon Ilithyia's shoulders. For a moment, she simply stares at the woman and although hers is not a face she recognizes, she bears the mark of her own body slave and, finally, Ilithyia's smile grows wider. More dangerous. She has returned to Capua and once again finds herself in position to retain status and power.

Once she's cared for Albinius, she bathes and dresses with the help of the slaves. Another young woman expertly braids and pin her hair and when Ilithyia leaves the privacy of her rooms and finds Lucretia, she is prepared for whatever might greet her.

"Ilithyia," Lucretia says, holding out both her hands and Ilithyia goes to her, clutches hands and presses lips to cheek.

"I've missed you," she says with a coy smile. "Have you met my son?"

He's with the slaves now, being attended to, but she is pleased to be able to introduce Lucretia to her husband's heir.

"I have," Lucretia says. "And he's beautiful. Welcome home."

Ilithyia's smile grows. Welcome home.

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Grace spends her first hour gritting her teeth and willing herself not to cry. She doesn't have the first clue where she is, Jerry's nowhere in sight, and she's frightened half to death, but she'll be damned if she'll let on. Anyone who asked her what the matter was would only think her crazy anyway. As it is, she's not sure she isn't, only that this place isn't Darrow or her own world and time. It's something, somewhere, much older, like somewhere out of a movie. If she were Ava Gardner in One Touch of Venus, that would be one thing, but she's only herself, lost and afraid.

She wanders the market, looking for anything that might give her further information, or at least for someone who looks like they might be as out of place as she.

Since finding Sansa in the market, Ilithyia has been careful to look for others, though she can't imagine why anyone else would have followed her from Darrow or how. Still, there is no reason for Sansa to be here and although she can pass well in Capua, there are others Ilithyia knows who might not be quite so adept at blending in.

As with Grace.

She spots the woman through the crowd and, smiling at a man she recognizes as her husband's associate, she slips toward her and takes her by the elbow. "Don't look at me as we walk, just come with me," she instructs, keeping her voice low, avoiding looking directly at Grace. How this has happened is beyond her. Why she cares so deeply is not clear either, but she cannot just leave Grace here alone in the marketplace of Capua. There is little light left and there are men who will do more than simply take advantage of a woman alone.

Grace glances over, startled and relieved, and she can't understand why Ilithyia directs her not to do so. Stubborn though she is, however, she knows how to follow instructions and keep herself safe. So she looks away again, watching the path in front of her as she lets Ilithyia guide her.

"I'm so glad you're here," she says, voice welling with emotion. She tries, though, to keep her expression calm. "How did we get here?"

"I don't know," Ilithyia says as she leads Grace to the relative safety of an alley. No one lurks in the shadows and she takes Grace as far from the entrance as possible, as far from other people, from the sunlight that leaks in through cracks in the stone.

"You're in Capua, which is not far from Rome. I'll have to bring you back to the ludus with me, but you cannot go dressed as you are. I'll purchase a gown for you and will return shortly. Stay here." It is only by the grace of the gods she hasn't yet been picked up by guards or by someone worse.

"Alright," Grace says, nodding. "Thank you." She has no reason to argue, not when she also has no other options. She's lucky to have Ilithyia here and to find her so early on. If she'd had to brave a day, even a night, alone in this, she has no idea what she would have done. That Ilithyia is taking such pains to keep her from the crowd makes her all the more certain she would have had a terribly hard time of it. She's a survivor, but she'll take little to no struggle over merely surviving any day.

Briefly, Ilithyia reaches out and touches Grace's chin, then disappears from the alley. It takes her little time to find a stall that sells gowns and although the offerings are not nearly as nice as what she believes Grace deserves, it's enough for now. She returns to the alley as soon as she can, holding the gown draped over one of her arms.

"You'll need to change and leaving your belongings here," she says. "Apologies, but it must be this way. I must..." These are not words she has spoken to anyone, they are not even words she has thought with the exception of her son. "I must keep you safe here, but you'll have to follow my lead as best you can." Grace and Sansa are easier to hide than Sawyer, but if she continues to bring people home, her husband is coming to become suspicious.

She's not even sure why, but the idea of it terrifies her. It's as if leaving behind the clothes she wears means leaving behind Darrow entirely, and she can't do that. Jerry is everything to her, and though it sounds melodramatic even to Grace, she's not sure she can bear life without him. Her heart freezes in her chest.

But she nods, still thankful beneath the fear, and accepts the gown. It's unfamiliar. Under other circumstances, she might even think of it as lovely, but today, that's all it is: unfamiliar and frightening. "Here?" she asks. It doesn't seem as if she has much other choice, though, and the alleyway is dark and distant enough that she knows it's likely safe. Reluctant, she starts to unzip her dress. "Keep an eye out while I change?"

Another day and Ilithyia might have taken advantage of circumstances, watched Grace change and taken pleasure in the soft curves of her body, but she is distracted now, displeased with what is happening.

There are voices nearby and she shrinks toward the shadows, keeping Grace blocked, but the men who are speaking pass them by. "We must have story for your arrival here. Something that Lucretia will believe."

"Your friend, right?" Grace asks, adjusting the sleeve. It's nothing she's used to, but it does what she needs it to. She'll have to hope it will be enough to keep people from looking too closely or asking too many questions. It seems Lucretia, however, will be an exception no matter what. "I could be a relative perhaps? Or... Well, I don't know. What do you think she'd believe?"

"The very best," she murmurs, echoing words long past. Though relations with Lucretia have always been interesting, Ilithyia now fears such competition will make keeping Grace and Sansa hid more difficult than she would like it to be. "An acquaintance, perhaps, would be yet more believable. The daughter of a man known to my father, someone I have not seen in many years and have run into in the market. It would explain why Lucretia has not yet met you."

"Alright," Grace says, "I can work with that. What sort of man would your father have associated with?" She'll have to come up with enough information to make it believable, but she's better at lies than acting. So long as she doesn't share too much, she'll do better. She just has to hope it's good enough. "Mine ran a hotel and had horses. I don't know if that helps any."

"My father is a Senator, but he travels much. Perhaps your real story can work here, too, if we were to say my father had stayed with yours while they were both still alive. That he admired your father's horses." Ilithyia nods, almost to herself. "My father's affection for horses was well known, this will work for us."

"Wonderful," Grace says, relieved. It feels like something is, in fact, going right now. It will be simple enough for her to remember this, it's so near to the truth. The last thing she wants to do is slip up and get herself hurt. At least life with Mickey has prepared her for something. Anyway, she hopes it has. "Then that's what we'll say."

"Perhaps," Ilithyia says, glancing out from the alley, "It would be best if you were... a more subdued woman. A proper Roman, truly. Your speech is different from that which is used here and though I have no doubt you might emulate the patterns well enough, it could be the thing that may yet reveal true nature."

She turns back to Grace and reaches for her hands, grasping them gently. "I would not have harm befall you."

If it weren't so terrifying, it would be truly touching, Grace thinks. She squeezes Ilithyia's hands. "I would prefer that," she says with a crooked smile. "I will try. I will do my very best."

She wonders from what corner that danger might come, but it doesn't much matter. She's lived like that before, and learned well that the source only matters so much. Keeping her head low, playing demure, that's kept her safer thus far.

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