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Valeria's Cross

By Kathi "Easy Writer" Macias

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Shame on you! Valeria chastised herself as she serpentined
through the secret passageway that led to her mother’s boudoir.
Had the agonizing thought of leaving the palace during
the exciting winter social season reduced her, the emperor’s
daughter, to a common spy? Absolutely! Overhearing snippets
of her parents’ conversation in the hallway, she knew she had
no choice; eavesdropping was her only weapon. Valeria was
determined to discover why her father was so insistent that
she accompany her mother to Egypt.
Near the end of the tunnel, Valeria broke through a maze
of cobwebs to reach the secret entrance to her mother’s room.
She pushed the door, rusted shut by years of neglect, but it
would not budge. As a young girl, she had frequently played
in the tunnel, but a couple of years ago, she had put away her
childish ways. Frustrated, she kicked the door repeatedly until
at last it opened. A puff of dust blew into the room and settled
over the Turkish carpet like a storm cloud, but there was no
time to clean. The echo of her mother’s singsong voice drifted
down the hallway, warning of her imminent approach. Valeria
scurried to a hiding place behind the damask draperies—just
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Kathi Macias and Susan Wales
in time! The door swung open, and her parents, Emperor
Diocletian and his beautiful wife, Empress Prisca, entered the
room.
Valeria’s heart raced. She knew she should not be eavesdropping,
but it was too late to turn and run. Besides, she
needed to discover her father’s reasoning for the trip, and
then perhaps she could persuade him to allow her to remain
at home and attend the winter ball.
After all, her mother’s dressmaker in Milan had created a
stunning velvet gown for the event, specifi cally designed to
match the color of Valeria’s eyes, as well as the aquamarines
in the bejeweled crown her father had presented to her on her
fourteenth birthday. What more perfect occasion to show off
her latest fi nery than the winter ball at the palace?
“You simply must not tell her,” she heard her mother
protest.
“But if I do not, the child will surely drive me mad,” her
father countered.
“You are a mighty warrior, my dear. Surely you can withstand
the harpings of a fourteen-year-old girl.”
The emperor sighed. “Truthfully, I would rather fi ght a battle
with the most ferocious barbarian in the empire than to
deny a request from our strong-willed daughter.”
Behind the curtain, Valeria suppressed a giggle. Her incessant
harassment of her father was obviously working. It should
be only a matter of time until she wore down his resistance
and he granted her permission to stay in the palace with the
servants while he and her mother were away.
Prisca laughed. “What right do you have to complain? You
know she inherited her strong will from you. It has certainly
served you well.”
“Alas, it benefi ts me as a man, and more so as the Roman
Emperor, but Valeria is a young woman.”
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Valeria’s Cross
“As the daughter of the mighty Roman Emperor, Valeria
will marry a powerful man. She will need her strong will.”
Diocletian’s voice refl ected his good humor. “Is that spoken
from the voice of experience?” Before Prisca could respond,
the emperor teased, “I love the way your eyes spark with fi re
when you are angry, my love.”
Valeria muffl ed a giggle as she pushed the draperies aside
to peek at her mother’s reaction. She felt her face grow hot
as she watched in horror; her father pulled her mother close
and placed his lips on hers. She squeezed her eyes shut and
scolded herself for spying on her parents during such an intimate
moment. How she wished she could disappear!
A few moments later, when her father’s sandaled footsteps
sounded across the marble fl oor, Valeria was showered with
relief. Then she heard his voice boom throughout the bedchamber.
“Why not just tell her the truth?”
“Because I want our daughter’s childhood to be innocent
and carefree.”
Diocletian chuckled. “In the meantime I will have to live
in fear of her aggravating me.”
“So be it. I do not want our daughter frightened at such a
tender age.”
Valeria was even more perplexed now. She had to know
what could be so dreadful that her parents wanted to protect
her from it. Curiosity overcame her, and she stepped out from
behind the curtains.
“Valeria!” the couple cried in unison. The shock on their
faces was evident, as her mother jumped up from the divan
and walked over to her daughter.
“What were you doing hiding behind there?” Prisca
demanded
Valeria ignored the question, and asked, “What is this ominous
threat that you are afraid to tell me?”
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Kathi Macias and Susan Wales
Her parents looked at one another for a moment, and then
burst into laughter.
“Come here,” her father coaxed, reaching out for her.
Valeria remembered protocol and fell prostrate before her
father. She wondered if he were still smiling or if his initial
humor had turned to anger, but from her vantage point all
she could see was the jeweled hem of his robe and his pointy
red slippers encrusted with diamonds. One thing the emperor
would not tolerate from any of his subjects, including his
daughter, was the refusal to bow down before him, so she had
to remain perfectly still until he dismissed her.
There were no servants in the privacy of her mother’s room,
so Valeria felt her father’s hand reach for her to help her to her
feet.
Accepting his invitation, Valeria took his hand. Diocletian
pulled her close and peered over the top of her head as he
announced to his wife, “There is no greater fear than fear of
the unknown. I must tell her.” He paused, as if waiting for his
wife’s approval.
“Oh, do tell, Father,” Valeria begged, fi lling the silence
as she pulled away from him and shot her mother a pleading
look.
“Very well,” Prisca agreed, as she resumed her seat on the
divan and patted the spot beside her.
Once the women were seated, Diocletian explained. “As
you know, I am leaving for Gaul in a few weeks to join my
troops in order to quell an uprising by the Burgundy rebels.”
“I do know, yes. And I will miss you terribly, Father.”
The emperor smiled. “I will miss you, too, my darling. But
if you must know, I am sending you and your mother to Egypt,
not for pleasure but for your protection.”
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Valeria’s Cross
“But I thought our palace in Nicomedia was the safest
place in the Empire,” Valeria argued. “You have told me so on
numerous occasions.”
“At one time this was true, but our reconnaissance spies
have heard rumors of a plot by the rebels to invade Turkey.
With all the uprisings throughout the empire, and the majority
of the army, as well as me, away in Gaul, our castle in
Nicomedia could be in imminent danger. Should our home
be invaded, your lives and the servants’ could be in jeopardy.
I cannot risk such a threat.”
Valeria hung her head. “Please forgive me, Father. I had no
idea you were saddled with such an enormous burden.”
Her father lifted her chin with his thumb and index fi nger.
“You are not to worry your pretty head about me, nor anything
else for that matter. You and your mother will be safe
and happy at the palace in Egypt. Some of the fi nest armies in
the empire are stationed there.”
“Thank you for your concern for our well-being, my lord,”
Valeria answered, humbled by her father’s care, though
still doubtful that Egypt would be nearly as pleasant as he
claimed.

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