Chapter Three: Flavia: In which I realize man is mortal
A year 'ad passed since Papa had left fer the war. We'd been havin' no news of him the whole entire time. Mama was worried o' course but she figured no news was good news. I didn't believe that fer a second. I was pretty certain there was somethin' up.
My suspicions was confirmed one day. Papa returned home injured an' sick. Mama screamed an' Cornelia fainted. Lucius hid behind Marcus, who decided he was goin' to hold my hand fer no reason. I let 'im though. He was my older brother. Who was I to stop 'im?
Luckily fer Papa, Mama had some training in herbs that was fer cures an' stuff. I was her helper. When I was older, I was goin' to study cures an' stuff an' join the healers so I could go aroun' with the army an' help as best I could.
"Flavia," Mama said. "Go get me my knife and come help me get some herbs." She'd regained 'er nerve by now.
"Yes, Mama," I ran into her's an' Papa's room, grabbed the knife, an' ran back out.
Mama an' I cut lots o' herbs then went back inside. I sat down by Papa, an' Mama started boilin' the herbs. A few minutes later, she was over 'ere forcin' Papa to swallow herb flavored water. He did, much to Mama's relief.
"Things was goin' like that fer weeks, with Papa showin' no sign o' gettin' better or worse.
On the eve o' the Remen feast o' Jupiter, Papa took a turn fer the better. He woke up an' then sat up. Mama woulda nearly strangled 'im with hugging' if I hadn't intervened. We was all happy he was alive an' it wasn't fair fer only her to nearly strangle 'im. Us young-us joined in too.
Papa continued to get better. Weeks continued passing an' we was too happy havin' 'im back that we was even sadder when he left this time. The chief didn't come to get 'im thankfully, so we was able to keep Marcus but we wanted to keep both Marcus an' Papa. I didn't want Papa to come home injured again. I wanted 'im to stay so he'd stay alright. When he left that time, I realized that there was a chance I'd never see 'im again. Man is after all, mortal. Man's nothin' like Jupiter an' Venus an' Mars who was all goin' to live ferever. Man would die an' could be killed by a single arrow if said arrow pierced a vital spot.
I cried when Papa left. Harder than any time before that point. An' I prayed a silent prayer to Jupiter and Mars to keep 'im safe.
