Lionslayer's Woman

by Nhys Glover

  ‘Mmmm. My Galeria has the wits and courage of a man. She might do such a thing. Could she have convinced them to take her to Rhodos? Said that was where her family was?’

  Nexus thought quickly, his brain functioning in the fevered way it did when action was called for. ‘Why do that? She was more likely to tell them I… that I’d ransom her. She knows I have access to great wealth if required.’

  Papia frowned. ‘She wouldn’t tell the slaver about Antoninus would she?’

  Nexus let out a strangled gasp. Antoninus! A slaver would consider an obsessed, high-ranking noble a better source of payment than a low-ranking liberti. But Antoninus was in Ephesus. Surely it would take time and effort to get a missive to the man.

  His heart turned over in his chest as the pieces started to come together. ‘They’re taking her to Ephesus. They’re taking her to Antoninus so that she can be sold to her obsessed suitor. A man who has killed for what he wants will also pay richly for what he wants.’

  ‘But Antoninus has no money of his own. Everything is his father’s.’ Papia was twisting her hands convulsively now, her eyes wild. There was no doubt that she had realised her daughter was now in the kind of danger she had been in such a short time ago.

  ‘The slaver doesn’t know that. If he knows he’s the son of a Proconsul, then he’ll think he has wealth aplenty.’ Nexus was grateful to have another mind at work on this with him. And even though this woman had been through hell so recently, she seemed perfectly lucid now.

  ‘But a Proconsul wouldn’t condone the unofficial sale of a citizen. Because that’s what this is. And Antoninus can’t possibly think Galeria would marry him after all this. She’ll leave him the first chance she gets,’ Papia said.

  ‘The father might be in on the purge. He may have been the one who informed Caesar.’ Nexus scrubbed his hand through his short-cropped hair and fleetingly wished he had bathed sometime during the day. But he had far more important matters to contend with than his personal hygiene.

  ‘But he wouldn’t condone kidnap… would he?’

  ‘I don’t know of the man. I have no insights into his character.’ Nexus couldn’t help biting off the words in frustration.

  ‘He has a reputation as a hard but just man. From some of the things Antoninus has said over the last year, I think he holds no high regard for his son. But his reputation is everything to him…’

  ‘Then he wouldn’t want his son’s part in this known. Especially to Caesar.’ Nexus narrowed his eyes as the thoughts began to coalesce into some semblance of order.

  ‘He might kill Galeria to save the threat of embarrassment to his family. While ever she can talk, someone might listen…’ Papia’s voice had raised several notes in her anxiety.

  ‘Then he doesn’t get his hands on her. I’ll get to your daughter before the slavers have a chance to hand her over. Never fear. I won’t let anything happen to Galeria.’ Nexus knew his voice sounded deadly. It was just how he felt.

  ‘Go then. This is Antiochia. I have been thinking of what to do all day once I realised there was something wrong. I have a cousin who lives here. She’s the wife of a lesser government official. I can go to her and ask for shelter. You don’t have to worry about me. Get to my daughter as fast as you can, Nexus.’

  ‘You can’t tell them about any of this. Caesar wants this kept secret. He wouldn’t have had the Praetorians kill every witness if that weren’t so.’

  ‘I’m not a fool, young man. I may be a woman without the education of my daughter but I am wise, for all that. If the emperor even suspects that I was there that night, I’m dead. So I have been visiting friends in Alexandria… and on my way home, my slave was killed and my money stolen. I found my way to Drucia. I look the part.’ She indicated her filthy clothes and dishevelled appearance. ‘She won’t question me further.’

  Nexus didn’t like to leave the woman in Antiochia alone but his first concern was Galeria. And the longer he waited the farther ahead of him she would get. It felt dreamlike, that he should be turning in his own tracks now, heading back to where this whole disaster started. And instead of chasing the mother, he was now chasing the daughter. And the stakes for him were even higher than they had been on the journey out.

  ‘Go! Give me enough to pay off your children. One of them can get me to Drucia in the morning. Get my daughter back! She is precious to me.’

  Nexus paused for a moment and studied the woman’s fierce features. This was a lioness protecting her young. Even though he knew from Galeria that this proper Roman matron found her eldest daughter a disappointment, she still loved her with the kind of ferocious dedication his own mother had felt. The guilty knife twisted in his chest once more.

  He handed her the silver the Praetorian had paid him and grabbed up his few possessions. With a jerking nod of farewell he strode away. Whatever it cost him, he would bring the daughter back to her mother. This mother would not die of grief as his mother had. Nexus swore by all the gods of his people and of hers that she wouldn’t have to grieve the loss of this child as his mother had grieved the loss of him.

  Seleucia Pieria, SYRIA

  The outer harbour at Seleucia Pieria was used for the mooring of larger vessels and for those crafts laying over for more than a day. It was to this harbour that Jahl made his way with his three companions and the drugged woman in tow. He was excited by this break from the routine and more than pleased with the payment received so far for his services. A piece of gold for a few hours’ work? It was very rewarding indeed. And the transport of one unresisting female was hardly difficult labour. No, this was more holiday than work and he planned to enjoy himself.

  His master owned a small, fast-moving vessel that he used only for special journeys – clandestine missions. Although Karibilu was, on the surface, a respectable slave trader, beneath that he was a very accomplished pirate. In his younger years he’d been the bane of the Roman navy that policed these waters. Only when he’d earned sufficient from his illegal activities did he turn legitimate.

  Jahl had been with his master back then. In those days, he’d really been his master. But several years ago Karibilu had freed him so that he could move more easily around the eastern provinces. So, strictly speaking, his master was really his patron now, even though they still operated in the same way as they always had: Karibilu gave the orders, Jahl carried them out.

  It worked well for them both. Karibilu had the mind of a sharpened dagger, Jahl had enough wit and brawn to carry out his master’s often-brilliant plans. There was no way Jahl could have come up with the kind of lucrative schemes that Karibilu did. So it worked for them both. Together they had all the brains and brawn to run successful legal and illegal businesses.

  Karibilu had sent ahead to have the Almaqah readied. It was a sleek craft fitted with twenty oars and two sails. The oarsmen were the fittest slaves in the empire and kept that way so this small craft could move in and out of trouble with speed and deftness. That all the slaves had been made mutes by the removal of their tongues only safeguarded Karibilu’s activities further. No one was allowed to know the full nature of the slaver’s clandestine activities but Jahl.

  As Jahl had the girl stowed in the small deck cabin, he made his way to the ship’s master, who was already ordering the mooring ropes released. The man was tall and skinny, more bone than flesh, his aging face skeletal and leathered like tanned cow hide. He was Sabaean, like Karibilu, and had sailed the southern oceans as a pirate his whole life, until Karibilu had made him master of this ship. It had taken time for the man to learn the coastlines, winds and currents of the Mediterranean, but he was a natural. Men like him were rare and precious. And he was loyal and close-mouthed, qualities that their master valued more highly than gold.

  ‘Ephesus.’ The skinny man said. It was more a statement than a question. He would have already been informed of their destination. It would be on the ship’s manifest as this was not a covert activity.

  ‘Yes. How long?’ Jahl like
d to talk but this man said little, and with a crew of mutes it seemed an excess to say more than was absolutely necessary.

  ‘Eight days. Seven if we push hard. Do we need to push hard?’

  ‘No. This be not time sensitive. We get there when the gods will it.’

  The ship’s master nodded silently and went back to work. It was now almost fully dark and they needed dinghies fitted with torches to guide them out into the open sea. The oarsmen were readied. No sails were unfurled for the moment. Not that it would have helped. There was barely a breath of air moving along the coast at that moment. Hopefully there would be more out in the open waters. But if not, then the oarsman would cover the distance. It was slower that way, but not as slow as being becalmed and totally dependent on the whims of the gods. That was the nightmare most merchant vessels had to deal with.

  Jahl joined his men mid-ship and settled in next to the one hatch that led below deck. He pulled out a skin of wine he’d had the foresight to buy before setting out. The Master would have the ship well provisioned for the journey and they’d only have to go ashore for fresh water and bread every few days. But Jahl knew the Master carried no alcohol. He didn’t believe in it. And he allowed none of his slave crew to drink either. So Jahl had to supply his own needs and that was fine with him.

  Stretching out on the hard deck, he watched contentedly as the slaves silently drew their oars through the water in carefully choreographed movements. The backs were heavily muscled and shining already with a fine layer of sweat. Good bodies these slaves had. Maybe he would take one of those bodies when they took time ashore. He liked his partners to be real men. And silent men? Well that was only one more thing in their favour.

  Nexus knew he was pushing the horse too hard. It was wheezing and foam was lathering its sides and his bare legs. But he didn’t care. Nor did he care that he’d pushed himself past his own physical limits. Only the spike of adrenalin kept his body moving now.

  At the port he made his way to the authorities. The night staff were on duty and these men were easily bribed to tell him what he needed to know. There were only two non-Imperial vessels leaving port that evening, both from the outer harbour. One was a private vessel called the Almaqah, heading for Ephesus, the other a fishing boat setting out for night fishing off the coast.

  Nexus could have cheered. They’d been right. Ephesus! Karibilu was sending Galeria to Antoninus.

  He made haste to the fishing boat that was just about to set sail. The captain of the four-man crew seemed disconcerted when the big black man jumped down into his craft, but his eyes brightened when he saw the coins the man produced.

  ‘Take me to the next port farther north west where I can join a faster larger ship at dawn. I’ll give you more than a full catch would be worth to you and with a lot less effort.’

  The captain was quick to agree and they were soon underway. Then, as the last of his energy petered out, Nexus curled up with his bags, out of the way of the crew, and sunk into a deep, exhausted sleep.

  17 June 82 CE, Pyramos River, CILICIA

  The captain shook Nexus awake as the first rays of the sun lightened the sky. As he sat up, the fresh sea breeze lashed his face, bringing him immediately to full wakefulness.

  ‘Pyramos. You’ll find a ship to take you on from here.’

  Nexus remembered Pyramos as the place they’d first found out that the Praetorians were, in fact, headed this way and might be falling behind them by diverting to Tarsus.

  He could only hope that this place would prove just as lucky for him this morning. He didn’t know if he was a long way behind the slaver’s ship or not. But he knew that unless he found another faster ship sailing to Rhodos, at the very least, he’d never catch Galeria up in time.

  After paying the fisherman well, he jumped ashore to wade in through the shallow waters. Then he ran along the beach to the docks, looking for a large craft that might be about to set sail. He found just what he was looking for and the name on the side of the craft gave him hope it was going his direction. It was an Achaean vessel called the Arrow of Artemis.

  The look the ship’s master gave him as he jumped aboard would have wilted a lesser man. It made no impression on Nexus. All he cared about was that the craft was heading in the right direction.

  ‘Where are you bound?’ he demanded of the man.

  ‘Isthmia.’

  ‘Via Rhodos?’ Nexus started opening his still full pouch to draw out the kind of coin he knew this journey would require. He wasn’t sure he’d have enough coins on him to get all the way to Ephesus, but the jewellery he had from Galeria might be used to for that purpose if he got desperate. He’d prefer not to use her family’s precious stones, but he knew the pieces he carried had less sentimental value than those Galeria had carried, so if it became necessary he would use them.

  ‘Yes. You want passage? I’m almost fully booked…’

  ‘To Rhodos. Yes. I have the price here.’ He dropped gold aureii into the man’s outstretched hand and watched as the man closed his fist over them with something close to glee.

  ‘Find yourself a space somewhere. You have no food? We don’t dock again until Anemurium in two days.’

  Nexus shook his head, not caring if he had food as long as he got the water he required for the two-day journey.

  ‘You’re lucky. I always pack more than I need. For a price, I’ll give you what I don’t eat.’

  Nexus shrugged and agreed. Now that he’d had a few hours’ sleep and was well on his way to finding Galeria, he knew he had time to meet his physical needs. It wouldn’t serve him to let his body weaken. He’d need it by the end of this trip.

  Finding another sheltered spot away from both sailors and other passengers on deck, Nexus once more slipped into a deep and regenerative sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  19 June 82 CE, Anemurium, CILICIA

  It was late in the day when their vessel docked at the small port of Anemurium on the eastern flank of the jutting southern-most point of Asia. Leonis had been feeling edgy all day, and he wasn’t certain if it were something significant that was driving him, or if it were just the enforced inactivity finally catching up with him. They’d been at sea almost the whole time since they’d left Isthmia. Their only stops had been to drop off small amounts of goods and to pick up stores along the way. That included Rhodos.

  Leonis was pleased they hadn’t had time to do more than visit the market in Rhodos for supplies. He could feel how heavily weighed down Appius seemed to be by the sight of his old home and how Cyra seemed to close up inside herself as well, as if she were remembering that terrible night, yet again. He’d become so sensitive to her moods in the last week, it was almost as if she were an extension of his own emotional self. When she smiled, he felt happy. When she looked bleak and heartbroken, he felt devastated. That strange bond unsettled him more than he was willing to admit.

  Now, as they headed into the dock of the modest Roman city knowing their next stop would be Seleucia Pieria, he felt his heartbeat speed up. Maybe this was where they’d meet up with Nexus and Galeria on their way back. They’d been carefully studying all the ships’ passengers they’d come across on the journey up to this point, but it had never seemed feasible that the pair could have reached their goal and be on their way back so quickly.

  Now it was possible. There’d been time for the Praetorians to have reached Antiochia, and time for Nexus to have pulled off some clever plan that would see them heading back this way again.

  ‘Pretty little place,’ Cyra said, coming up to stand at his side at the railing as the ship drew alongside the wooden dock. She looked up at the emerald green slopping hillside above the neat walled settlement. Those high, rolling hills dipped right down to meet the azure shoreline, leaving little room for the necessities of port life. ‘Pompius told me they’ve just started minting coins here. It’s become one of their most traded commodities next to glassware. Maybe we should raid the mint and replenish our pouches.’ Cyra
laughed at her own joke. He took the opportunity to put his arm around her thin shoulders and rest his head on the top of hers. It settled him just doing this one simple thing. It was almost as if the world were a more stable place when she was beside him like this.

  ‘Keep your eyes open. We aren’t here long, but it’s the first real chance we have of crossing paths with Galeria and Nexus.’

  She nodded and leaned into him. It was becoming easier for her to accept these little gestures of affection and connection. At first, she’d been wary and stayed at his side as a filly not yet schooled. At any moment, she might have made a break for it, nipping at him to escape the confines of his love. But now, all that skittishness was past and even though they hadn’t had a chance to be alone since the inn at Isthmia, he felt their bond was forming ever more tightly with each passing day.

  How was he going to keep her in his life after all this? Could he try to take her home with him after they took Gali to Amaseia?

  The risks for one runaway slave was extreme enough to consider, but two? He might risk crucifixion for himself but he would never risk it for Cyra. In that moment, when Antoninus had claimed that she was a runaway and the men on the dock had come at her like a pack of hungry wolves, the thought of her already mutilated body nailed to a cross had been more than he could bear. His duty to his homeland was not enough to risk that for her, and he would not go home alone.

  But if he stayed in slavery, what surety did he have that he could remain with her? She belonged to Galeria and he belonged to Livianna Honoraria. As he understood it, having his death sentence rescinded had committed him to a lifetime of slavery. He couldn’t be given his freedom no matter how his mistress felt about it. Might one or other of their owners sell them so they could be together?