Valeria's Cross. Kathi MaciasЧитать онлайн книгу.
are they doing?” Valeria asked.
“The same thing I am about to do to you,” Mauritius replied, smiling as he bent to give Valeria a kiss, this time on the lips. He kissed her gently, and then stepped back.
“Please do not stop,” Valeria begged, her head swimming with daydreams of utter delight. She pulled on his tunic to bring him back close to her, but he only pecked her forehead.
“No more kisses,” he scolded her.
“But I want to kiss you over and over again.”
Mauritius touched her face with his hand, sending sparks throughout her body. “I love you, but . . .”
“You love me!” Her heart skipped a beat. “I love you, too, Mauritius,” she declared . . . and then she did the unthinkable. She stood on her tiptoes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
After a moment, he had to step back to extract his lips from hers. “We must wait until we are married to kiss with such passion, my love.”
“Married? Are you proposing?”
His smile melted her heart. “Valeria, I knew from the moment I saw you in the garden that God had brought you to me for my wife. But you are the daughter of an emperor, and that complicates our relationship.”
“My mother will take care of my father if that is what you are concerned about.”
“But I have not even met your father, and I must ask his permission for your hand in marriage. This will likely be a long and arduous process.”
“But Father will love you, just as I do,” Valeria assured him.
“He may like me, but most royal marriages are arranged. Still, I am confident that God, who brought us together, will make a way for us.”
Valeria smiled. “If God could part the Red Sea for the Israelites, He can surely sway my father’s favor in your direction.”
“I am sure of it,” he agreed, kissing the top of her head. “I see you have learned your Bible lessons well from the monks. Come, let us ask my sister and Baraka to join us for a walk on the beach.”
When Valeria told Prisca of Mauritius’ proposal, she even offered to help with the wedding plans and trousseau, assuring Valeria that she would approach Diocletian about the situation when the time was right. But each time Valeria asked when that time would be, her mother reminded her that patience and prudence were necessary virtues. Valeria found it difficult to concentrate on these virtues when she longed for Mauritius’ kisses.
Mauritius knew by now that Valeria had told her mother about them and enlisted her help in gaining Diocletian’s approval. He often echoed Prisca in his warnings to Valeria, who had come to believe that patience was highly overrated and that action was preferable.
On the morning of Baraka and Nanu’s wedding, Prisca granted Valeria permission to take part in the traditional Egyptian wedding customs.
“Why does Eugenia have to come along?” Valeria sulked, standing next to the divan where her mother lounged.
Prisca smiled. “You are the emperor’s daughter, but even if you were not, I would still insist on a chaperone.”
Valeria moaned. “Most Egyptian women are married by age twelve. If you were not so slow in asking father for permission for me to marry, Mauritius would be my husband by now, and I would not need a chaperone.”
Prisca flashed Valeria a stern look.
“Forgive me, Mother.” She crumpled to her knees and laid her head upon her mother’s lap. “I cannot bear the thought that Mauritius will soon leave for Gaul. Even the hours we spend apart seem like decades, and it will be months before he returns.”
Prisca soothed Valeria, stroking her hair. “When we are planning your wedding, time will pass quickly. It is a thrilling time in the life of a young woman.”
“Without Mauritius there can be no excitement in my life,” Valeria declared. “You are confident that Father will grant us permission to marry?”
Before Prisca could answer, Eugenia appeared at the door. “Mauritius has arrived early. Are you ready?”
Valeria’s hands flew to her hair. “Oh, I must look a mess.”
“You look lovely,” Prisca assured her as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Where did all the years ago? It seems like yesterday you were a babe in my arms.”
Valeria brushed her mother’s cheek with a quick kiss before she stood and hurried out into the marble hallway with Eugenia. Her mother’s moist eyes had not escaped her, but she was in too much of a hurry to see Mauritius to stop and console Prisca. Now pangs of guilt pricked at her heart. Valeria was devoted to her mother, and she understood it was difficult for her to let go of her only daughter. With her father away so often, the two women had become inseparable, but with thoughts of seeing Mauritius, she could not force herself to turn back.
“The palace is bustling this morning,” Valeria noted as she and Eugenia made their way to the front hall where Mauritius waited.
“Have you forgotten that your mother insisted on hosting a wedding celebration for Nanu and Baraka?”
“I suppose I did.” Valeria smiled. “I must confess that Mauritius has been my only thought.”
“Did I hear my name?” Mauritius called out to her before he was in her sight.
Valeria ran toward the sound of his voice. When she saw him, she rushed into his outstretched arms. He quickly lifted her off the floor and twirled her around.
“We must hurry or we will miss the festivities,” he warned.
It was a busy morning as friends and family moved Nanu’s possessions into her husband’s room at his parents’ home. Valeria may have been the emperor’s daughter, but she worked as hard as anyone. Once the job was complete, there was little time to freshen up before they were expected at the church.
The servants at the palace were waiting for Valeria when she arrived. Everyone pitched in to help her dress for the wedding. She had insisted on wearing a simple green linen tunic so as not to outshine the bride.
Since Mauritius had to accompany his family to the wedding, Valeria went to the church with her mother and Eugenia. The wedding was unlike any of the weddings the women had ever attended.
The Zaffa, the Egyptian wedding march, began. Traditional music filled the church, and belly dancers and performers with flaming swords preceded the bride and groom. Valeria joined in the lively celebration, clapping her hands wildly and swishing her hips. Mauritius smiled when he spotted her across the aisle and did some clapping and dancing of his own, which made Valeria laugh until she cried.
When Nanu came into their view, the women sighed. The happy bride was exquisite in a simple white linen dress overlaid with an intricately woven bead-net of blue and green faience beads; her ebony hair was encased in a matching bead-net with flowers crowning her head. Her jewelry was fashioned from lapis and gold.
The custom for the groom’s family was to propose to the bride before the couple spoke their vows. Baraka’s large family gathered around the couple and made their proposal to Nanu. She accepted with hugs and kisses.
Valeria’s emotions ran rampant during the solemn wedding ceremony. Many of the young Egyptian women rushed to the altar before their soldiers sailed off to battle in Gaul. Yet the emperor’s daughter would not be among them. Royalty had its benefits, but for now it seemed the negatives far outweighed them.
Her heart was stirred by the religious service, but to her surprise, it also burned with envy when Nanu and Baraka spoke their wedding vows. The words were poetic and meaningful. Instead of her friend Nanu, Valeria wished that she were the bride and Mauritius her groom. During a poignant part of the ceremony, Mauritius turned and smiled at her, and her body trembled with a deep longing for him to be her husband.
During