Marc Antony’s Woman: Truth and Lies

Marc Antony’s Woman
By Misha

Disclaimer- Not mine.

Author’s Notes- This took me longer than I expected it, because I wrote my first draft and hated it. I finally realized I needed to include some of the Caesar bits, so I did that, but then that last week was incredibly busy and I didn’t have time to sit down and write it. Special thanks to wughhumans for listening to me whine when I hated my first draft.
Pairing- Marc Antony/MC, Julius Caesar/MC
Summary- Portia takes Caesar to her bed, but her heart and mind remain loyal to Antony.
Rating- M

Chapter Eight: Truth and Lies

Caesar looked at me carefully, appraising me and I got the feeling he was trying to decide if I was more than a pretty face.

“I have been gone for over a decade,” he mused, “Rome may be the Eternal City, but even here things can change in such time. I had been thinking to ask Antony what I can expect. But perhaps you’ll offer a more honest view.”

“Honesty isn’t what most men want from me,” I pointed out, racing my hand to his chest.

Caesar caught it and covered it with his own. “Indulge me. What do you think of how Antony has managed Rome? Was I wrong to trust him to rule?”

I paused, considering my words. I didn’t want to speak against Antony in any way, but I didn’t want to seem blindly loyal to Antony either, an obvious spy. So I chose my words carefully.

“Antony is shrewd. He knows how to win the plebs and scare the patricians in equal measure.”

Which was true. The plebs adored him and the patricians were too terrified of him to do anything about him, no matter how much they hated him.

Caesar nodded, considering my words, his hand still wrapped around mine. “But there is more to governance than games and speeches,” he pointed out, “Can Antony put aside the glory and do what he must?”

I fought a smile. Caesar knew Antony well. Which shouldn’t surprise me, after all they had spent many years together.

“I think Antony cares for more than making grand promises than figure out to execute them,” I said carefully, knowing a defense of Antony would be out of place, besides I didn’t want to boost up Antony too much, because I didn’t want Caesar to think of him as a threat to his power and remove him from his inner circle.

Luckily, Caesar changed the subject from Antony to Cleopatra.

It was some time before Antony came up again, not until Caesar and I were in the baths, my hands massaging oil onto his bare shoulders and back.

This time, I was the one to broach the subject, figuring that his guard may be down enough for me to get some of the answers Antony wanted. “Now that you are back, what will become of Antony?”

Caesar stiffened, his eyes filled with sudden suspicion. “You care for Antony, then?”

This was dangerous territory because if Caesar suspected I cared at all for Antony, he would know where my loyalty truly lay and would suspect both Antony and I. Of all the lies I was going to tell, this might be the most important.

“No more than any other patron,” I said with a shrug,  “I’m merely curious, after all, he hardly seems the type to walk away from power.”

I poured more oil on my hand, running them up the back of his neck, trying to draw him back to me, to keep him from examining my words too carefully and questioning my motive.

“Antony is too much of a hedonist to be a true leader,” Caesar answered after a moment. “But he need not fear, he’ll have power enough for any man. I have few enough I can trust, I can’t afford to lose him.”

So Antony’s position in Caesar’s inner circle was secure, at least for now. Which was what I wanted to hear. It was funny, once I would have said that Antony’s closeness to Caesar was what I hated most about him and now I was working to preserve it, at least for the time being.

Caesar stood abruptly, the mood broken and I realized that information would have to wait, I needed to lure him back, so I discarded my gown, watching the way his eyes lingered over every curve, silently reveling in the power I held over him.

His touch was not unpleasant, despite the revulsion I felt for him as a man, but it did not stir be beyond the physical and as he led me from the bath to the bedroom, his touch hot and possessive against my skin, I was always aware of why I was there.

“I didn’t expect a gift like this from Antony,” Caesar mused, his hands caressing my breasts.

“I am here by my choice, not Antony’s,” I told him, knowing it was a lie he needed to hear. Every man wanted to believe that he was the only one a woman wanted, that she was with him by choice, not because it was a duty. He didn’t need it to be true, he just wanted to hear it. After all, if it was one thing Lena had taught me, it was that men liked pretty lies.

As I drew Caesar closer to me, letting him claim me,  had the fleeting thought that this is what it should have been like with Antony, a physical act meant to enthrall and gain favor, leaving me untouched inside. Instead, Antony had destroyed all my barriers and won me, heart and soul, so even as I lay beneath another man, my thoughts were with him.

I was doing this for revenge, for my tribe, but I was also doing this for Antony. Not to give him information to rise in Caesar’s esteem, but to get close enough to destroy him and just maybe find a way for Antony and I to be together…
**

Several days later, Antony joined me at the scholae, this time in the dead of night when no one could see him, slipping into my chamber.

“I have gained great favor from Caesar,” I told him as he wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. I snuggled against him, wanting to be as close to him as possible, hoping to blot out the memory of Caesar.

Antony scowled, “I had no doubt you would.”

His jealousy made me smile and I move my hand from his chest to his face. “I have only done as you commanded.”

Antony smiled ruefully. “Not one of my better ideas…” He tugged me towards the bed, taking a seat on the edge and then pulling me onto his lap. “So tell me what have you learned?”

I paused, considering what information to share. I had learned much in the last week, but not all of it was information I was willing to pass on. I had learned that Caesar enjoyed control as much as Antony, but was less concerned about his partner’s pleasure, but I knew Antony would not want to hear about my time in Caesar’s bed, even if he did come off favorably. I had learned that Caesar did not consider Antony a threat to his power but did value his loyalty, information I would not pass on because I wanted to destroy that loyalty.

So instead, I would talk about Cleopatra. That was the easiest topic, one that would please Antony and his need for information without compromising my private agenda.

“Caesar is tiring of the queen,” I told him, “she is pushing him too hard.” In the week that Caesar had been back in Rome, he had sent for me three times, which could not bode well for Cleopatra’s place in his affections. “He still thinks of himself as a man of the Republic.”

Antony nodded, obviously pleased by the information. “In the Senate, he will discuss Cleopatra only as a vassal queen of Rome,” he told me, “he will hear nothing spoken against her.”

“Because a criticism against her is one against him in his eye,” I said, looping my arm around his neck, “he will not appear weak, to show that the alliance is failing in any way.”

“Yes,” Antony agreed, his hand tangling in my hair to pull my head towards his and then kissing me deeply. “That is why I appreciate your insight so much. You are my eyes into a side of that he lets no one else sees.” His hands roamed over my back. “Even if it pains me to think of you with him.”

I could see the truth of the words on his face. Antony was pragmatic and ruthless enough to send his own lover to Caesar’s bed if it would get him the information he needed, but he hated every moment of it. I could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice and feel it in his touch. There was nothing Antony desired more than power, but I might be a close second.

And I would use that to my advantage,

Antony kissed me again, this time more gently. “Is there a way to draw him from her, do you think?” He asked, his hands tracing patterns over my back.

I knew that was Antony’s goal, he wanted to separate Caesar and Cleopatra to solidify his own position at Caesar’s right hand and make sure that Caesar’s focus was on Rome alone. I didn’t know what long term role I had in this plan, but it didn’t matter because I had my own plans.

I smiled up at Antony lovingly, making sure to conceal my hatred for Caesar and the fact that I had an agenda all my own. “I am certain there will be a way to part them soon enough…l”

“Excellent,” Antony said, pushing the straps of my dress down my shoulders, “now that is settled, I can think of better ways to occupy ourselves.”

“I agree,” I told him, before lifting my mouth to his, meeting his kiss hungrily, our hands pulling at clothing impatiently and caressing bare flesh as we fell back onto the bed, our bodies tangled with each, all thoughts of Caesar temporarily banished as we got lost in the pleasure of being one once more.

**