Jacob stiffened at the movement, head ducking automatically as if to become a smaller target, and tried to pull back and away. None of this was helping. He couldn't deny that it somehow felt right and his doubts were slowly easing away, but it was all too much, too fast, without the proper mindset to take it all in.

Considering how long ago it was when Jacob's memory stopped, he wasn't surprised to hear the implication that he was a slave. That wasn't uncommon, although it was certainly something odd that Jacob had then gone on to become Roma, first emperor of Rome itself. If he had known that past, Jacob doubted he would have gone into office with as much bluster as he had. Did he really want to deal with all those memories? They were never something he considered he might get back, much as natural curiosity gnawed at the missing edges.

"You said something about eating?" he asked. It was a completely indelicate change of topic, but there was no way he was going to delve into all of this with an empty stomach. Besides, it would buy him time.