Prologue 7
"Othello, I..." Desdemona
whispered to his love while they lay inside the chamber in the quinqueremes.
She had been sick since they board the ship. It was all a whirlwind of events
since the incident at the Senate Hall. After that incident, she went back to
retrieved her personal belongings from her chamber. Her father had stepped into
her chamber to watched her pack. He had not said any words to her but kept his
silence. She did not offer any goodbyes to him but left for the Castra that
night.
"Why my love? I had not expected you
here?" Othello had sounded surprised. He had not prepared his bare
furnished chambers for her, and felt that it was inappropriate as yet.
"You looked beautiful." It was
the flimsy gown that she had reserved for the occasion. He was taken in by the
body that was beneath it all. She held out her arms to him.
"I had declared that I would not be
left alone by myself while you are away." Desdemona told him.
"Aye, I heard you, but I was thinking
of making a villa next to Castra which I could go home with you. But
here..." Othello point to his chamber, "Its a pigsty than a
villa."
"If my love lived in the pigsty, then
I shall be seen there too." Desdemona told him. She reached for him again,
but he pulled away.
"I am sorry, my love, but the
Centurions awaits me for their briefing." Othello told her. She glared at
him and told him.
"Do you mean to tell me that even on
our first night of the union, we are to be parted by your Legion?"
Desdemona questioned him, but then she replied for him.
"Yes, please go. I would not have my
name be rumored to the downfall of my lover." Desdemona sighed. Then she
brighten up and showed him the sash he gave her.
"I still had this and would be my
mate for the night." Desdemona told him. Othello smiled sheepishly and
left her there to rejoin his Centurions. Desdemona sighed to herself.
"He hold two loves; one of the Legion
and the other of me. But which would triumph remain to be seen."
It was a challenge for her to hold that
thought. A challenge she was to hold even on her voyage. She was woken from her
day dream.
"Hush, my love." Othello had
lain next to her on the narrow bedding while the ship rocked to the waves. He
had told her many times during the voyage that walls of the ship are thin and
sounds travel clearer on it. It was not his lover seeking to resumed their
silent love making, but she was in need to use the port hole to clear her last
meal. She was not used to the sea, being a land bounded person all her life
before, she had find difficulty loving her lover. She crawled over his body and
walked to the port hole. While she was throwing her meals off, Othello had held
her from the rear. He was trying to coax her onto another round of love, but
she was turned off.
"I am not in the mood, Othello."
Desdemona pushed her lover off her back and stumbled to the bedding. She sat
there and pulled the bedding cover over her nude body. He walked toward her and
displayed his eagerness to continue, but she shook her head.
"Its not you, my love. Its the
sea." Othello heard her and sat down next to her. He reached out to his
love, which she snugged up to him. They had been at the sea for over two weeks,
crossing the short stretch of the sea, but this journey, their route was marred
by choppy seas.
Othello was to reply when the door to
their chamber was knocked. Othello sighed but Desdemona was used to it. Since
their union, there was always a knock on every alternate turn of the sun. She
pulled away and reached for her gown. Othello dressed in silence and then left
her. By the time he stepped out the room, he had forgotten his physical lover
for the love of the legion.
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