Heir of Aurelian

The morning after Marcellus' wedding night, he slept soundly in his bed. He had a fat smile on his face while slept peacefully with his arms around his young wife. Placidia was also smiling, and why wouldn't she be? She had just completed her life's dream of marrying Marcellus. Their wedding night was great, and they proved to be very compatible with one another.

However, there was one person in Marcellus' villa who was not pleased with the way things had gone the night before. Sigefrida currently stood in front of the loving newlywed couple and frowned. She had a hard time explaining her feelings at the moment. Though she found herself dreadfully excited watching her man sleep with another woman the night before, now all that filled her heart was bitter resentment and jealousy.

It was as if, after the sexual thrill wore off; she became filled with envy. It was late in the morning, and noon was just around the corner. Because of that, Sigefrida felt it was time for the newlywed couple to awake from their dreams. Her need to wake them up from their pleasant dreams had absolutely nothing to do with the jealousy that plagued her heart at this moment. Or so she told herself as she doused Marcellus and Placidia with a bucket of water.

Marcellus woke with a start as he felt the water splash all over his face and body. Who in their right mind would do something like that to him? He immediately reached for his sword, which sat in its scabbard on the edge of the bed. To treat him with such disrespect, there was only one punishment worthy of the crime, and that was death.

However, as he unleashed his blade from its sheath, he gazed over at the perpetrator, only to see Sigefrida glaring at him with daggers in her eyes. Naturally, Placidia woke as well, and instantly screamed at the blonde bimbo for daring to wake her up.

"What the hell, Sigefrida? Why would you do something like that?"

Sigefrida forced a smile on her face as she informed the two of them that breakfast was ready.

"It's almost noon. If you sleep too long, it will be bad for your health. Besides, the two of you are covered in sweat and other bodily fluids. I figured I'd give you a nice bath before you joined me for breakfast."

Sigefrida was exaggerating with her words in an attempt to justify her errant behavior. The vicious gaze she gave Marcellus as she spoke these words caught the man off guard. He had never seen Sigefrida so furious at him before. He thought for sure out of both of his women, Sigefrida would be the least jealous of the two. Despite understanding the woman's feelings, her actions could not stand. It was simply inappropriate for her to wake him in such a disrespectful method.

In fact, this event enraged Marcellus. If he tolerated such a thing now, then Sigefrida would feel it was appropriate to treat him so disgracefully in the future. That was simply the nature of women, and because of this, Marcellus would correct the woman's errant behavior. As Sigefrida turned to leave the room, Marcellus grabbed hold of her wrist, and backhanded her across the face.

The impact was enough to leave a red mark on Sigefrida's pretty cheek. The busty beauty gazed in astonishment as she witnessed the fury in Marcellus' olive green eyes. She had never seen him so angry before, at least not towards her, and was beginning to understand what she had done was a mistake. However, it was too late. She had thoroughly enraged her man. Marcellus had every urge to slap the woman again. He struggled to contain the wrath in his body as he clenched his fists tightly. After a deep breath, he calmed his nerves before scolding the woman.

"Never before in my life have I been so compelled to hit a woman... I have always treated you fairly for as long as you were my slave. However, your recent freedom seems to have gone to your head if you think you can treat me with such utter disrespect. If you dare behave in such an uncouth manner towards me again, I promise you I won't respond with a simple slap the next time!"

Placidia gazed upon the scene that was occurring before her and was astonished. She, too, had never seen Marcellus treat Sigefrida in such a vicious manner. Though she had to admit the woman was out of line to behave in such a way, she didn't believe that the barbarian beauty deserved such rough treatment. However, before she could speak up in Sigefrida's defence, Marcellus had pointed to the kitchen and told the woman to leave.

"Get to work. I don't want to see your fucking face for the next hour!"

Sigefrida could only run off in tears. Naturally, as a woman, she felt that she was being mistreated. Which, when contrasted with any man's perspective, couldn't be any more far from the truth. For the shit she pulled, Sigefrida deserved far worse than a mere slap for her indiscretions. Marcellus had been merciful with a simple backhand.

Marcellus took a few deep breaths to calm himself and then sat on his bed in silence. Placidia got out from under her covers and approached the man before expressing her view of what she had just watched.

"You were too harsh with her..."

This statement invoked Marcellus' ire as he glared at his new bride and spoke to her with contempt.

"If you actually believe that, then feel free to join her in the morning chores. I will eat by myself today. I thought better of you, Placidia..."

The young bride was at a loss for words as Marcellus stormed off. She quickly called out to him to see where he was going.

"Where are you running off to?"

Marcellus did not look behind, and simply informed his wife of where he was headed.

"To take a bath!"

Placidia thought about what had happened in silence for a while before sighing. Sigefrida had done something uncalled for, most likely out of jealousy. It would take quite a bit of effort on the woman's part to gain Marcellus' forgiveness. Since that was the case, Placidia decided to join Marcellus in the bath, and take his side in the dispute. After all, wasn't that the wife's job? To side with her husband?

The young woman grinned as she thought of this. Sigefrida's actions had accidentally caused her rival to get ahead in the polls, so to speak. Placidia could easily win over her husband's favor at the expense of his concubine's scandalous actions. Thus she ran off and followed Marcellus to the bath, where she made sure to assist him in cleaning every inch of his body.

Sigefrida was left alone, sweeping up the kitchen, and crying to herself. She did not know why she acted so horribly. She knew that there was obviously something seriously wrong with her if she felt the need to wake her man up with such disrespect. However, ever since Marcellus married Placidia the day before, her emotions had become unstable. She had always secretly hoped that she and Marcellus would get married one day, but in the end, the man took her as a mere concubine and married a much younger woman.

Ultimately, Marcellus would live up to his word and avoid Sigefrida for an hour. He would not apologize for his actions, instead he expected the woman to come crying to him about how sorry she was for behaving so disrespectfully towards him. Which eventually she did. He would not forgive her so easily, and would require her to make amends before he accepted her apology. Though his wedding day was nice, the day after was filled with needless drama.