Vann Turner's Blog: The book jacket - Posts Tagged "prologue-to-book-iii"

The third book in the trilogy continues the importance of Adria as a central character. (In To Abandon Rome, AD 593 one third of the chapters were hers.) The novel starts with the return of Titus to his estate. Hundreds of Romans, fleeing the oppression of the Church, have accompanied him. The prologue presents a scene well into the novel:

PROLOGUS

IN CALEDONIA ANNO DOMINI 624

So many summers had passed, so many winters, since their departure from Rome. Yet still the disquietude Adria Tribonia had experienced outside the walls the Rome lingered, even here, in northern climes, on her deathbed.

Two days ago at her request, that bed had been lovingly carried outside and placed under the beech tree that had been named by their daughter—while still a child—the Wise One. Lying under it, watching, Adria longed to do the chores she could no longer do. She watched Titus doing them in her stead, the milking, the gathering, the feeding and the pasturing.

Never had God made a better man or better husband, she thought, stubborn though he is. For two nights he’s slept on the leaves here beside me, wrapped in the blanket I wove. I wish I could weave him another one to keep him warm in my absence.

She sighed as she watched the beech leaves overhead. They were already tinged with yellow and rustling in the rising wind. To the East the sky glowered with menace.

Soon Titus will cradle me in his arms to carry me inside. He’ll fetch Boastful from the neighboring farmstead for help in lugging the bed. In sooth I’ll welcome the fire, but still I’ll miss the intimacy of the Wise One.

She reached over toward the bole of the tree, so large that two men with arms outstretched could not encompass it. Even with fingers striving, she could not quite touch the gray bark. Continue, Wise One, to watch over my husband.


Vann Turner