Lionslayer's Woman

by Nhys Glover

  Taking her valuables and the small dagger Nexus had forced on her, she hurried out of their little room.

  The streets looked very different after dark, she knew. The narrow winding lanes, most not wide enough for more than a donkey to pass through, were like a huge, shadowy maze. Only the colonnaded street, which ran through the centre of the city from the Cherubim Gate in the west to the aptly named Eastern Gate to the east, was straight and wide. In the middle of that long road, which was at least a mile in length, was the forum. It was shortly after the forum that she’d have to turn off to the right. That would take her to the residential area where the Stoic lived.

  She had to get to the colonnaded road first and, as their inn was on one of the narrow lanes halfway between the western gate and the forum and she had no sense of direction in the dark, she was going to be in trouble.

  Once on the narrow lane outside the inn she stopped to check her surroundings. It was cooler outside than in but by no means cool. The air was heavy and still, and it smelled of animal dung, human waste and the sickly-sweet scent of night-blooming jasmine. She breathed through her mouth to keep from gagging, as she picked a direction and prayed that it was the right one.

  Through the dark streets she ran, terrified she wouldn’t be in time; terrified that she’d become so lost she’d never find her way; and even more terrified that if she did find her way, that she’d be caught by the Praetorians before she could successfully warn the family. More than once, she thought about going back and returning to her sanctuary. But each time that she did, she remembered that awful scene of death she’d witnessed in her own home a little over a week ago. She couldn’t let that happen again. The Praetorians wouldn’t get their prize tonight.

  The noise of a passing caravan finally led her to the central road she was looking for. For all the lateness of the hour, a caravan was moving slowly along the thoroughfare, seemingly unperturbed by the darkness around it. The bells on the oxen clanged as the beasts lumbered along, creating a strange exotic melody that syncopated with hundreds of hoof-beats and the squeak and grind of wheels on the stone roadway.

  Keeping to the shadows, she hurried along past the cavalcade as it moved inexorably toward the Western exit of the city. She tried to ignore the many sets of predatory male eyes that scanned the darkness for threat or prey, hoping none of them came to rest on her for too long. The oxen-drivers were the worst. Their malevolent glares seemed to strip the clothes right off her body, but they never budged from their wooden seats – only followed her with their eyes until she had raced past them.

  By the time she was on the other side of the forum, her legs were beginning to burn from the frantic pace she was maintaining. Her throat was as dry as the desert. She was starting to have serious second thoughts about her hasty, thoughtless actions. There were too many predators on the streets. She was a woman alone. If anyone of them gave her more than a moment’s attention, they’d immediately see her for what she was – the perfect target.

  She clutched at her small dagger and ran on, praying to gods she didn’t believe existed that she’d make it to her destination unharmed.

  By the time she’d passed the last of the wagons, she found she’d reached the marketplace just past the forum. It was deserted, the stalls of the ancient agora all closed up for the night. In a few hours, the first of the shopkeepers would begin to arrive for the day, but not now. Now it was empty and still, except for the scavenging dogs that fought for scraps along the way. The space seemed so big and ominous to her. If she’d thought the eyes of the silent oxen-drivers had been unsettling, then this absence of any sign of humanity was even more so. It made her aware of just how alone she really was in this dark, foreign city.

  Suddenly, out of the darkness stepped a dark figure, his size and bulk a frightening sight. Galeria let out a little yelp and skidded to a halt.

  ‘Little lady, what be you doing on the streets this late?’ The voice was deep and strangely accented. It held an oily, craven note that told her the man meant her no good.

  Instead of answering, she turned back and started running in the opposite direction toward where the last of the wagons in the caravan had disappeared from sight. But almost immediately, strong hands gripped her shoulders and she was dragged to a halt.

  ‘Don’t leave, little lady. I be very lonely and so must you be, wandering the streets without a protector. Let me be your protector. It will cost you little…’ he growled into her ear, his breath stinking of cheap wine and bad breath.

  ‘Leave me alone!’ She tried to shake off his heavy hand, but the more she struggled the harder he held her too him.

  ‘What’ve yer got?’ Another voice from behind them demanded drunkenly.

  ‘A little lady our master be likin’, I’d say. Speaks like a flash Roman,’ the big man said, his voice harsh now.

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘Do not know or care, my friend. She be worth money to me. That is all I care ‘bout.’ He gave a guffaw of laughter, as he began to drag her down one of the myriad lanes off the marketplace.

  ‘Can we ‘ave some fun first?’ The other man’s voice was younger and higher than his companion’s was and the heavy accent was different, but neither of them were Romans or Graecians. They didn’t sound like the Syrians she’d met on their merchant vessel, either. There were so many people from so many lands in this city. She didn’t have a hope of working out where these men were from.

  Not that it mattered. They were simply men who meant her harm. Her foolishness had led to the untenable situation. For such an intelligent woman, she couldn’t believe that she had thought to get away with this poorly conceived plan.

  ‘No. She may be virgin. The master gets plenty for virgins.’

  ‘Jus’ the use of ‘er mouth then. That won’t change ‘er value. Come on Jahr, let’s have a little fun wiv ‘er ‘fore we give ‘er ov’r. I ain’t ‘ad a woman in monffs.’

  Galeria felt the acid rising in her throat. She was going to be sick! But before she could, her captor tightened his arms around her middle and gave her a shake.

  ‘None of that now, little lady. Don’t be wantin’ no spew on us. See what you nearly did, you idiot? Makin’ her sick, you are. She be smellin’ real nice. Don’t spoil it with your filthy talk, now. The master be rewardin’ us well for this one. You be findin’ a whore then.’

  Galeria relaxed in the man’s arms, oddly grateful to her captor for keeping her from his friend. He wasn’t being kind, she knew that, he just had a better business head than his companion and more respect for his master, whoever he was.

  The way he spoke of her value, she had to wonder if he meant to sell her. Would it help her case to tell them she was a Roman citizen? No, not to these brutes, but maybe their master might pay attention. Maybe she might be able to convince him she was worth more to him returned to her ‘husband’ than sold into slavery.

  She thought of Nexus then and her heart turned over in her chest. How could she have let him down like this after everything he’d done for her! A million more questions followed on from that thought: How was his plan unfolding? What would happen if he got her mother back to the inn only to find her gone? What state would her mother be in when she wasn’t there to comfort her? What had she been thinking to play at being a heroine? She was a stupid, ignorant woman, and she had jeopardized their whole plan for people she didn’t even know.

  She continued to castigate herself as the big, foul-smelling man dragged her farther and farther into the maze of lanes and farther and farther away from her protector.

  Nexus hurried away from the inn feeling a deep sense of unrest that had nothing to do with his mission. It was wrong to leave her there alone. Something kept warning him to go back and get her, take her with him, keep her close and protect her at all cost, but that was crazy. He was going to be negotiating with the Praetorians who killed her father. She couldn’t be there for that. The safest place for her was the inn. The only place for her was the inn.
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  He pushed down the nagging fears and headed for the Western Gate that Titus had built to honour his victory in Jerusalem twelve years ago. It had a golden pair of winged creatures on the top that he’d been told were cherubim. That’s why they called the gate that name. The creatures had sat atop a precious container the Jews called the Ark of the Covenant, whatever that was, and when the city was sacked, Titus took this Ark and removed the winged creatures and positioned them atop the gates to Antiochia to honour Rome – or so his sources had told him.

  Nexus wondered what the Jews, who lived in the quarter not far from the gate, thought of the gilded embellishment. Did it cow them as was intended, or did it serve to make them more rebellious against the overlords who had desecrated their temple? Some things should never be done by an invading army, and desecrating another god’s sanctuary was one of them. Hadn’t history taught them the folly of such acts? Everyone knew the story of what happened to Odysseus after the sack of Troy.

  He pushed such thoughts from his head as he hurried toward the gate.

  Another of his young spies came out of the darkness ahead of him. As he continued walking, the lad trotted at his side.

  ‘Soldier asked for a slaver who deals with the east. I told him I could fetch a good one who lived close by, so he’s expecting you. Did I do good?’ The child’s upturned face was not clear in the shadows but the voice pleaded for approval.

  ‘You did very good and you’ll be compensated well for your part.’

  Everything was working well. Why then did he feel that something was very wrong? The last time he felt like this was when Vesuvius spewed ash like snow on the ground. He’d known something terrible was coming then.

  But unless he knew what it was, there was nothing he could do to stop it. The best he could do was get on with the plan and hope that when the time came, he’d be able to handle whatever the crisis was that occurred.

  As the gate came into view, he saw the Praetorians clustered in loose ranks just inside the wall. There were six of them, just as he remembered from Rhodos. With the boy skipping along at his side, acting as if he’d fetched him in a hurry, he made his way toward the guard.

  A quick glance had him spotting Papia, slumped against the wall, asleep or unconscious. She looked like a broken doll some child had thrown away. His heart broke at the sight.

  He strode up to the leader of the guards and put on his most obsequious façade. He’d spent time earlier in the day watching the slave traders at work. They were no different to any he’d had the misfortune of dealing with in the past. All of them were consummate businessmen and knew exactly how much fawning was required to make the most of each sale.

  ‘Mighty Sir, you sent for this humble merchant?’ he asked as he reached the man, his head lowered deferentially.

  ‘You are a slaver who trades out of the empire?’ The Praetorian came quickly to the point as he’d expected. They had a mission to complete and taking the time to offload an unwanted woman was time away from their task at hand. This negotiation would be fast.

  ‘I am, Mighty Sir. How may I serve you? I have many fine slaves from the Far East. What do you need? A few pretty girls for your men? Pretty boys, perhaps?’ It was important that he didn’t move with more haste than any good businessman would. He wasn’t supposed to know what the guard wanted or that they had more important matters to contend with than this negotiation.

  ‘No. I’m not buying. I have a woman.’ He made a negligent gesture to the crumpled form against the wall. ‘She needs to be taken out of the empire and sold to a good family as a nurse or other house slave. I’ll pay you well to do this quietly. If it becomes known that you did not do as I say, you’ll awake one morning a eunuch, if you wake at all. The eyes of Caesar are everywhere, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of that.’

  ‘I know of a good household here in Antiochia that would suit…’

  ‘No. It must be outside the empire. This woman cannot be sold until she is beyond the province. Do you understand?’

  ‘How much are we talking here?’ Nexus tried to make his voice wheedling as he’d heard slave merchants use with him when they thought they could get a better deal.

  ‘Twenty denarii, and then you also have whatever you can make on her sale. She’s refined. She’ll make a good house-slave, a nurse to children. But she must not be allowed to talk about herself or how she’s come to be here.’

  ‘I understand, Mighty Sir, I understand. But to care for her on the long journey east will require much money. Twenty denarii is not enough to keep her fed and travelling comfortably in a covered wagon. I would have to make her walk and feed her what the other slaves get if I am to make a profit from this important and secret mission.’

  ‘I haven’t got time for your haggling, man. I’ll offer you thirty with the warning again that Caesar’s eyes are everywhere. If she is mistreated or sold into a poor situation, we will know, and you will suffer…’

  ‘Yes, yes, Mighty Sir, I understand completely. It will be done as you command. Jahal d’Ghar is a man of his word. For thirty denarii, it is agreed; it is a fair price for the care I will take with this one. May I take the woman and payment now? I would not wish to keep the Mighty Sir any longer.’

  ‘Yes. Take the woman now and here’s the silver. Look after her. And keep her quiet.’

  Nexus took the proffered bag of silver and didn’t stop to count it. He hurried over to Papia, gently eased her into his arms and lifted her up. She felt as light as a broken-winged bird and she didn’t as much as stir in his arms. His heart sank.

  Maybe this was what his worries were for. Maybe Galeria’s mother had been traumatised into madness. Hadn’t he seen it often enough in the past? He prayed this wasn’t Papia’s fate, for Galeria’s sake. And for his own sake, a little voice added.

  With a nod to the soldiers, who were already forming ranks, he hurried off into the night with his burden.

  It had gone like a dream.

  Too easy, a little voice in his mind told him. It had all gone too easily. He ignored the voice and hurried on, his burden barely registering as weight in his arms.

  Back at the entrance to the inn, Nexus placed the woman over his shoulder like a baby, so he could remove a handful of denarii from the bag the Praetorian had given him. He used it now to pay off the children who had come flocking to his side, their task completed. These little street urchins deserved what he paid them and more. He’d always found children like this useful for tasks such as these. They were the eyes and ears of any city, and they needed the money he gave them to keep food in their bellies for a few more days.

  As he carried the woman up to the room he shared with Galeria, his spirits lifted. In moments, mother and daughter would be reunited after the nightmare that had been the last nine days. They’d cry and hug and he’d leave them to it until morning. Then they’d plan the next stage of their journey back to Leonis, Cyra and the child. It would all work out just as they planned, and then he could go his own way with a clear conscience.

  The idea of never seeing Galeria again made him feel slightly sick, but he shook the sensation away. They were always fated to go their separate ways once their task was completed. She was never going to be a part of his life after this.

  He had no life after this.

  Nexus knocked softly on their door, when there was no sound from the other side he knocked again. Surely she would be waiting for him and be ready to unbar the door for them? Could she have fallen asleep? He hadn’t been gone that long, and she would be too worried to sleep. The bad feeling that had been with him since he left the inn was now digging its claws into his gut.

  He tried the door. It gave way easily. Not barred then. What was Galeria thinking? She knew it wasn’t safe. Hadn’t he impressed that upon her often enough since they set out?

  He pushed the door inward and felt his heartbeat jump erratically in his chest as he took in the empty room. Galeria was gone! Where would she have gone in the middle of the
night when she knew he was bringing her mother back to her?

  Panicking, he laid the woman on the pallet and closed her into the room. Then he scrambled back down the stairs, looking for the same imps who’d clung to the shadows at his arrival. He saw one boy and he called him over.

  ‘My woman is missing. Has she been seen? Has someone taken her?’

  The child frowned and shook his head. ‘I was watchin’ for the soldiers as you wanted. But Hassim was here. He’s gone home now with his money. Will I go find him?’

  ‘Yes. And hurry. You know I’ll be grateful for whatever you can find out.’

  He knew he should go up to Papia and try to make her comfortable. The boys would come to him when they knew something, but the idea of dealing with a traumatised woman in that moment when his fears for Galeria were screaming for him to act was just too much.

  Galeria, where are you? Who has taken you from me? Your mother needs you! And the last insidious thought… I need you!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Galeria was pushed into a small, pitch-black room that smelled of mice and grain. The dust made her sneeze and she covered her face with her hand to reduce the noise she made. It was ridiculous. She should be yelling and screaming for help, not trying to be quiet, but even as she considered such an option, she knew it was a waste of time. No one would help her, even if they could hear her through the thick walls of the storeroom.

  She edged around in the darkness, feeling her surroundings thoroughly. Yes, she had been right. A small room no longer or wider than an adult man was tall. Arranged in neat rows were hessian sacks of some kind of grain. They were all sown closed, so she couldn’t feel the grain to identify the type of cereal they were. Not that it mattered, she supposed. Unless she were kept in here so long she had to chew on the grains to stay alive.

  The floor was hard packed dirt and the walls had no cavities to indicate a window. The door was a rough-hewn, heavy-duty construct with no handle on the inside. The ceiling was low, about a couple of inches over her head. Someone like Nexus would have to bend over to enter a room like this.