Marcia came immediately to his arms and he smiled at her, an act that would have required as much courage as facing down a charge of Parthian cavalry.
“I’m fine,” he said to his wife and children. “We are, it should be said, blessed by Fortuna that we should have known him at all, and been so blessed to have called him family.”
They were all nodding as he spoke, not a dry eye amongst them, though they each smiled at their own happy memories of Paulus Amadea.
“And his kindness is played out in the words of all who knew him,” Giles continued. “Why, this very evening on my way back from…from…” He caught himself before another wave of grief overtook him. “I was met by Julian Corbin, the kindly nephew of Catus Pompilius. He asked me what was wrong, as I seemed not myself, and I told him of l
