After a while Marcus reached his home. It wasn't anything splendid. Made from wood and stone with a single floor and four rooms it was nonetheless enough for their small family to live comfortably. However, as Marcus approached his heart grew restless. He didn't know why. Something felt strange.
Marcus quickened his pace. Suddenly he noticed that the door was open by a slight gap. Feeling his heart tighten he abruptly pulled open the door and looked inside.
"Who?! Oh, Marcus!"
A familiar voice came from inside. Marcus looked up and noticed a young man of sixteen years old with a burly build and short brown hair. He wore simple grey clothes, somewhat dirty with black coal dust. It was Marcus's good friend and neighbour Remus.
Other than Remus there was a middle-aged woman of somewhat corpulent figure, who was Remus's mother Petuna. She was currently focused on a small bowl in front of her. The smell of herbs filled the room. Marcus knew that Petuna had some medical skills. But why would she prepare medicine in his home. Could it be…
Marcus held his breath and craned his neck to look past Petuna. His premonition quickly became reality. There, on a stone bench covered in fur, a woman was lying. She had a petite body, black hair and a pale face. Her eyes were closed but fluttering restlessly.
"Mom!"
Shocked, Marcus rushed forward but Remus quickly blocked him with his strong body.
"Marcus, calm down. Mom is already treating Livia! Don't disturb her now!"
"Calm down?! How can I calm down? Remus, what happened to my mother?"
"A while ago I saw someone carry your mother back like this. They said she suddenly fell unconscious during work. I knew you aren't home, so I brought Livia here and called mother."
Hearing this, Marcus had strong worry in his eyes but with a deep breath he indeed managed to calm himself down. It could be seen that Marcus had incredible composure. He gently pushed away Remus's grip and nodded at his friend.
"Thank you, Remus. And of course, Petuna as well."
"It's only natural."
Saying so, Remus took a step back and stopped holding Marcus. The latter carefully approached his mother, afraid of making her situation any worse. Yet seeing the fluttering eyelids and pale face he was almost unable to hold himself back from hugging her tightly.
At this moment Petuna lowered the bowl in her hands to Livia's mouth and gently allowed her to swallow the herbal medicine. Seeing that Livia didn't resist, Petuna nodded slightly. This showed that her condition wasn't that bad, and she could still instinctively drink by herself.
"Petuna, how… is my mother?"
"It should be alright. Let her have a good rest for now. When she wakes up her condition should stabilize."
"Thank you! I don't have much here right now. Why…"
Petuna gently shook her head and stopped Marcus.
"We are neighbours and have known each other for years. It's only natural to help each other out. There is no need to talk about payment."
Marcus glanced at Petuna and noticed the resolute look on her face. He knew that is he brought up the matter again, Petuna would feel insulted instead. But Marcus would also feel guilty if he didn't express his thanks. Thus, he settled on a compromise:
"Alright, thank you Petuna. But at least let me invite you for a meal after my mother is better. I will personally cook you something good."
"Well… ok."
Marcus and Petuna came to an agreement. Afterwards Petuna left some more advice for her son's friend before leaving, stating that Livia needed a good rest now.
Marcus thanked his neighbours again before closing the door. He turned around and stared at his sleeping mother with a strong heartache. He grabbed a fur blanket from nearby and carefully draped it over his mother.
"Sleep well…"
Next, Marcus went to kitchen. At first, he thought about making some strengthening porridge, preparing it for his mother to wake up. But he was afraid that the ensuing smoke from their simple stone oven would disturb his sleeping mother. Thus, he took out a wooden board and prepared some bread and butter. He even took out some of the food they would usually only use sparsely like cheese, olives, and ham. And to top it all off, one cup of his father's treasured wine.
Marcus froze for a moment thinking about the kind face he would never see again. But he quickly composed himself knowing that his mother needed him to be strong right now.
Afterwards Marcus carried the wooden board back to the living room. This was the biggest room of the house, the centre of the family's life. They usually wouldn't spend much of their free time in the kitchen or bedroom. It had a table, a few chairs, two benches, and the highlight of the room, their little oven which kept the room warm in the winter.
Marcus placed the food on the table and set down on one of the chairs, silently watching over his mother. In the silence his thoughts were switching between all kinds of topics. Time passed by. It took longer than Marcus had anticipated and eventually even he fell into a brief nap from the day's exhaustion.
Another hour passed as light groans woke Marcus up. His eyes snapped open and he fixed his gaze on his mother. Livia was twisting left and right and finally opened her eyes, staring at the familiar ceiling.
"Mom?"
Marcus carefully called out. Livia turned towards him, her complexion still pale but her eyes held at least a spark of life.
"Marcus? What happened?"
"Someone said you fell unconscious at work. How are you feeling? Are you hungry?"
Marcus stood up and approached his mother, carefully taking her hand in his. It was so cold. Marcus rubbed Livia's hand a bit, trying to make her feel better.
"I'm… alright. A little bit to eat would be nice."
Saying so, Livia tried to sit up, but Marcus gently pushed her down, telling her not to worry. He went to the table, took some of the prepared food and brought it to his mother. He even wanted to feed her, but Livia refused. She took the bread in her hand and ate by herself.
"Have you been waiting for me? You must be hungry. Eat something as well."
Unable to refuse his mother, Marcus complied. For a while only the noise of their chewing could be heard. After eating her fill Livia felt somewhat exhausted and fell asleep again. The middle-aged woman slept for most of the day while Marcus took care of the house.
Soon, a new day arrived. Livia woke up early, feeling much better. She could stand up and do some easier tasks. Yesterday, Marcus had already asked Livia's boss to give her another day to recover, to which the latter fortunately agreed. Thus, Livia didn't have much to do today. She prepared a small breakfast and sat down together with Marcus.
The scene was rather quiet. Livia looked at her son and could tell what was on his mind. She asked in a low voice:
"Do you want to talk about your father?"
Marcus's pupils shook. He stared at his mother. Could she have somehow gotten the news already?
As her son didn't speak, Livia continued:
"He… died, didn't he? I could feel it. This pain in my heart. I just knew it. Iulius died…"
Towards the end Livia choked up and fell silent. Seeing her like this Marcus could barely hold back his own tears. He stood up and went over to hug his mother tightly. One minute or ten. The two remained like that, spending each other warmth and strength. From now on their little family would only have two members left.
Livia took a deep breath and slightly stabilized her emotions. Marcus took it as a sign and went back to his own chair, speaking in a low voice:
"Yesterday… they announced it at the forum. They erected another new Monument of the Fallen. From what I have seen it must have been about a thousand soldiers who got sacrificed. Tillus was also among them."
"Tillus…"
Livia closed her eyes. The image of a lively young man with hopeful eyes flashed through her mind.
"We should visit Sara and Tennus later…"
Sara and Tennus were Tillus's parents. Tennus was a little official. He didn't earn much, but they had a peaceful like. However, Tillus grew up loving the stories of valiant generals on the battlefield. Thus, he faintly looked down on his father. As soon as he grew old enough, he wanted to join the army. Sara and Tennus held their son back for a while but at eighteen years old Tillus ignored his parents' protests and decided to chase his dream. This was about one year ago. And now…
Marcus secretly shook his head. He knew his mother quite liked Tillus. As the wife of an old veteran Livia had a lot of admiration for the army. Otherwise, if she had tried to convince Iulius, the older soldier might have resigned. After all, he had long served his compulsory years.