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kiss with such passion, my love.”
    “Married? Are you proposing?”
    His smile melted her heart. “Valeria, I knew from the moment I saw you in the garden that God had brought you to me for my wife. But you are the daughter of an emperor, and that complicates our relationship.”
    “My mother will take care of my father if that is what you are concerned about.”
    “But I have not even met your father, and I must ask his permission for your hand in marriage. This will likely be a long and arduous process.”
    “But Father will love you, just as I do,” Valeria assured him.
    “He may like me, but most royal marriages are arranged. Still, I am confident that God, who brought us together, will make a way for us.”
    Valeria smiled. “If God could part the Red Sea for the Israelites, He can surely sway my father’s favor in your direction.”
    “I am sure of it,” he agreed, kissing the top of her head. “I see you have learned your Bible lessons well from the monks. Come, let us ask my sister and Baraka to join us for a walk on the beach.”
    When Valeria told Prisca of Mauritius’ proposal, she even offered to help with the wedding plans and trousseau, assuring Valeria that she would approach Diocletian about the situation when the time was right. But each time Valeria asked when that time would be, her mother reminded her that patience and prudence were necessary virtues. Valeria found it difficult to concentrate on these virtues when she longed for Mauritius’ kisses.
    Mauritius knew by now that Valeria had told her mother about them and enlisted her help in gaining Diocletian’s approval. He often echoed Prisca in his warnings to Valeria, who had come to believe that patience was highly overrated and that action was preferable.
    On the morning of Baraka and Nanu’s wedding, Prisca granted Valeria permission to take part in the traditional Egyptian wedding customs.
    “Why does Eugenia have to come along?” Valeria sulked, standing next to the divan where her mother lounged.
    Prisca smiled. “You are the emperor’s daughter, but even if you were not, I would still insist on a chaperone.”
    Valeria moaned. “Most Egyptian women are married by age twelve. If you were not so slow in asking father for permission for me to marry, Mauritius would be my husband by now, and I would not need a chaperone.”
    Prisca flashed Valeria a stern look.
    “Forgive me, Mother.” She crumpled to her knees and laid her head upon her mother’s lap. “I cannot bear the thought that Mauritius will soon leave for Gaul. Even the hours we spend apart seem like decades, and it will be months before he returns.”
    Prisca soothed Valeria, stroking her hair. “When we are planning your wedding, time will pass quickly. It is a thrilling time in the life of a young woman.”
    “Without Mauritius there can be no excitement in my life,” Valeria declared. “You are confident that Father will grant us permission to marry?”
    Before Prisca could answer, Eugenia appeared at the door. “Mauritius has arrived early. Are you ready?”
    Valeria’s hands flew to her hair. “Oh, I must look a mess.”
    “You look lovely,” Prisca assured her as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Where did all the years ago? It seems like yesterday you were a babe in my arms.”
    Valeria brushed her mother’s cheek with a quick kiss before she stood and hurried out into the marble hallway with Eugenia. Her mother’s moist eyes had not escaped her, but she was in too much of a hurry to see Mauritius to stop and console Prisca. Now pangs of guilt pricked at her heart. Valeria was devoted to her mother, and she understood it was difficult for her to let go of her only daughter. With her father away so often, the two women had become inseparable, but with thoughts of seeing Mauritius, she could not force herself to turn back.
    “The palace is bustling this morning,” Valeria noted as she and Eugenia made their way to the front hall where Mauritius