Her tone said what her words did not: that she had that effect because they desired to be with her but were still ashamed to admit it openly. Titus squeezed her hand in denial. “We are going out. And we can do so anytime you wish to, beloved.”
She renewed her smile. “Perhaps you should wait to see me in action before you promise that. You may be quite embarrassed to be seen with me, Titus, I am shameless when I am haggling. Is that not right, Phillip?”
Phillip chuckled. “The merchants run for cover when they see her approaching; they all know she will practically steal their wares, but always in such a way that they are happy to part with them.”
Titus laughed as they approached the door that a servant opened wordlessly before them. “I saw you in action with Otho, and yet still I am willing to go with you to the marketplace. Shall I play the part of domineering lord again?”
Abigail smiled up at him sweetly. “It is what you are best at.”
He laughed again and pulled her closer to his side, knowing that if the rest of the day could continue in the same vein, they would have a marvelous time.
They had been browsing the stalls for an hour before Titus actually stopped her at one, his eye on the necklaces. Abigail looked at him curiously. “What has caught your eye, Titus?”
Titus picked up a length of gold with delicate craftsmanship.
“Titus, no.”
He hushed her with a smile. “Indulge me, Abigail. I would like to give you something to remember me by.” He fingered the pendant with a grin. “Amethyst, right?”
She flushed. “As if I need any token to help me remember you.”
He glanced at the merchant, who had come to attention. “I am going to ask you how much this is, and you are not going to waste my time with your outlandish prices. Take whatever number that is in your mind right now and cut it in half.”
The merchant smiled slyly and named a number entirely too high. Titus sighed and replaced the necklace. “You have wasted my time. I will find my lady a token elsewhere.” He turned, pulling Abigail with him.
Naturally, the shopkeeper called him back with a shout of a number half as large as the original one he had mentioned, and Titus turned back to finish the negotiation. He got what he deemed a good price for it, even if Abigail did tease that she could have gotten it for half that.
“Be silent and wear your gift,” Titus ordered with a grin, slipping the gold chain over her head. She obliged.
They had wandered half an hour more before an entirely too-familiar voice intruded upon their attention.
“Titus! I was hoping to run into you.”
Titus froze and sighed, then turned to face his father. “Father. I thought you were spending the day at the baths.”
Caius waved that away. “Come, son, I need your opinion on something.”
Titus arched a brow in question, but Caius was already sidling through the crowds. With a glance at Abigail, who shrugged, he led them after him. By the time he realized where they were headed, his father had fallen in beside them again and had the audacity to take Abigail by the arm, proclaiming, “Actually, Abigail, this will interest you as well. You are still looking for a handmaiden, are you not? I believe I spotted a few Hebrewesses in the lines.”
Abigail looked at Titus over her shoulder as Caius led her onward. He clenched his teeth together. “She does not need to go there, Father.”
“Nonsense, Titus,” Caius returned with an innocence that spoke of deviousness. “If I have learned anything about women, it is that they are never satisfied until they have control. If you were to pick out a slave for her, she would hate the girl. If you let her come and choose for herself, she will be satisfied. Is that not true, Abigail? Would you not prefer to decide for yourself who will serve you?”
“Not there,” Titus maintained.
But it was too late. They were already on the edges of the slave sales, and Abigail recoiled. Still, Caius pulled her onward, and Titus could not stop him, short of tugging on Abigail’s other arm and turning her into a human rope. Opting to spare her joints, he squeezed her hand in encouragement.
*
Abigail was not certain quite what she expected Caius to do. Proclaim her a slave too and offer her to one of the traders? No, not with Titus there. Was he simply trying to humiliate her? Perhaps, but that seemed too simple. Seeing no other option, she held her tongue and her patience and followed him.