by David Drake
Priscus was badly overweight and nearly seventy, but his undeniable scholarship had not kept him from getting quite a reputation for gallantry in his younger days. A pity Varus isn't more like him, Hedia thought. We might get along better if we had something in common.
Hedia murmured something appreciative to the guest, then turned to a deputy steward-it happened to be Manetho-and whispered, "Go to Lord Varus-he's probably in the library-and tell him that the guests are arriving for dinner." Manetho nodded and vanished toward the back stairs.
Candidus was marshaling the members of Priscus' escort and leading them toward the kitchen where they would be fed with the household staff. There were probably as many more out in front, including litter bearers. Hedia was sure that Priscus hadn't walked here himself from his home on the west slope of the Palatine Hill.
Her husband and Priscus were chatting, waiting for Pandareus and perhaps Varus as well before they went up to the outside dining area, overlooking the central courtyard. Instead of permanent masonry benches built into the walls, wicker furniture was brought up from storage and covered with goose down pillows covered with silk brocade whose ridged designs made the guests less likely to slip off than slick surfaces would.
"The learned Master Pandareus of Athens!" Flavus said, butchering the words even worse, if that was possible, than he had the Senator's.
The servant who whispered the names of those arriving was a wizened Greek from Massillia in Gaul. He was extremely sharp-Hedia had never known him to misidentify a visitor-and would have been a perfect doorman if he hadn't had the face and posture of an arthritic rat. By Venus! the trouble the gods caused for a woman who simply wanted to present her noble husband with the proper dignity.
Hedia smiled more broadly by just a hair. She wasn't fooling herself, of course; but the experience of behaving normally for a woman in her position had thrown a little more cover over the figures of her nightmare.
The scholar entered, looking faintly bemused. He didn't have an attendant, and Hedia could only assume that the tunic he wore was his best. One heard of rhetoric teachers becoming very wealthy, but Pandareus had clearly avoided that experience.
I must remember to check with Agrippinus to make sure that Varus' school fees are paid.
Priscus greeted the teacher with obvious warmth. Varus had said that the men were friends despite the difference in their social position; this confirmed the statement.
Saxa glanced at Hedia and whispered nervously, "My dear? Do you suppose V-V…, my son, that is, will be joining us?"
"Yes, he'll be-" Hedia said. She stopped gratefully as Varus entered from the office with an apologetic expression. Two servants were trying to adjust his toga on the move.
"The noble Senator Marcus Sempronius Tardus, Commissioner of the Sacred Rites!" Flavus boomed.
There was silence in the hall, at least from the principals. Servants continued to chatter like a flock of sparrows, of course.
"What's this, Saxa?" Priscus said. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be inviting Tardus, not after that consular visit yesterday."
He didn't sound angry, though he probably felt that he should have been informed of who the other guests were when he was invited. There were senators who certainly preferred never to set eyes on one another.
"I didn't…," Saxa said, looking stunned. He turned to Hedia. "Dear one, did you invite Tardus? That is, I'm not misremembering something, am I?"
"No, little heart," Hedia said coolly. "I'm sure Lord Tardus will inform us of why he is gracing us with his presence."
Tardus entered the hall with attendants, crowding it again. No toga-clad citizens accompanied him, but the three men closest to the senator were the foreigners whom Hedia had seen with him in the theater. Close up they seemed even more unusual, especially the man with the stuffed bird pinned opposite to the roll of his long black hair.
"Greetings, Lord Tardus," Saxa said. "You are welcome, of course, but I confess that I was not expecting to see you today."
"I was equally surprised yesterday, Lord Saxa," Tardus said. "But your visit reminded me that we were colleagues with similar interests which we might be able to cultivate together."
Hedia didn't recall ever meeting Tardus before, and if she had seen him casually in the forum, he hadn't lingered in her memory. He would have merited the term "nondescript" were it not that his toga was hemmed with the broad purple stripe of a senator. He had the reputation of being not only superstitious but involved in kinds of magic that were discussed in secret if at all.
Hedia's smile was cold. She wasn't the one to talk, of course; not after the task she had given Anna.
"Well, I…," Saxa said, his words stumbling as he tried to understand the situation. "I'm pleased that you're, ah, reacting in that fashion, Marcus Tardus, but in truth this isn't a very good time… that is-"
"I see that you're gathering for dinner," Tardus said, nodding to the guests. The two senators and Varus wore their togas, showing that this was a formal occasion. "No doubt you'll have private matters to discuss, so I'll take myself away. Perhaps another time."
"Why, yes," Saxa said gratefully. "I appreciate your understanding."
Priscus jumped as though he'd been cut with an overseer's whip… which, if the stories about him in his younger days were true, had indeed happened on occasion.
My dear sweet husband doesn't have a clue! thought Hedia with a mixture of affection, exasperation, and fear. There was definitely reason for fear if this weren't handled properly-and at once.
"We would be delighted to have you join us for dinner, Lord Tardus!" Hedia said brightly. Smiling as though she had just received the gift of eternal youth, she went on to the major domo, "Agrippinus, have three more places set; Lady Alphena and I will sit upright in place of the third couch."
Lowering her voice, she continued, "And Agrippinus? Ask Lady Alphena to prepare for dinner. I'll be up in a moment to discuss jewelry with her. Please press upon her the urgency of the situation."
The major domo strode from the entrance hall, calling sharply to underlings. Hedia hoped Agrippinus intended to speak to Alphena himself rather than leaving the unpleasant task to a junior who might not understand its importance.
The men were all looking at her. Well, that wasn't the sort of thing that made her nervous. Saxa and Varus were puzzled, but Priscus was obviously relieved.
Hedia expected Tardus to smirk at his successful throw of the dice, but instead he seemed numbly accepting. The trio of foreign servants were sharply interested in everything around them but particularly, it seemed to Hedia, in Varus and herself. She couldn't tell how old they were. In their fifties, she had guessed from a distance; but close up, what she saw in their eyes suggested they were older than that, and perhaps impossibly old.
"Dear, is that correct?" Saxa said, completely at sea now. "I'd understood that you wouldn't be joining us. And Alphena, well, Alphena never dines with the family."
"Indeed, it's time that our daughter becomes more comfortable in polite society," Hedia said. "And what better place than a meal with erudite friends, discussing fine points of literature?"
She continued to smile. On the walls of the hall were death masks of ancestors going back almost two hundred years, and by Venus! some of those wax masks would be less obtuse than her husband was showing himself at the moment.
"Well, just as you say, dear," Saxa said. "Ah-"
"Take your guests to the dining room, my lord and husband," Hedia said gently. She wondered if her smile looked as brittle as it felt. "Lady Alphena and I will join you very shortly."
Leaving Manetho to take charge of chivvying the men to the outside dining area, Hedia herself strode briskly to the back stairs. These were intended for the servants, but Hedia needed to get to her daughter as quickly as possible. It wouldn't have done to rush up the main stairs ahead of three senators, and she certainly wasn't going to wait until they had shuffled in chatty, leisurely fashion to the couches set on the roof above the bl
ack-and-gold hall, with a good view of the central courtyard.
A quick-witted footman saw Hedia coming and sprinted ahead of her, bellowing up the back staircase in a Thracian accent, "Hop to, you wankers! Her ladyship's on her way!"
Hedia grinned wryly. She'd been announced in more gracious and mellifluous terms, but this had the merits of being short and extremely clear. When she got a moment to catch her breath, she would learn who the footman was and tell Agrippinus to promote him for initiative.
The stairs weren't clear when Hedia reached them, but servants who had been lounging there only moments before were scattering like a covey of quail. She lifted the skirts of her long tunic in both hands and trotted up.
Part of her was appalled to think of how embarrassing it would be if she tripped on her hem and broke her neck. Another part-the part that made her giggle as her slippers pattered on the plain brick steps-realized smugly that if she did break her neck, her own problems were over.
Alphena was leaning over the mezzanine railing, watching Tardus' entourage being escorted toward the kitchen. Hedia approached her from behind, swallowing her initial flash of irritation. Florina and a bevy of other maids fluttered around the girl, afraid to warn her that Hedia had arrived but obviously afraid of what would happen if they didn't say something. Agrippinus stood by the public stairs, bowing as Saxa and his guests passed in their stately fashion.
"Come, daughter," Hedia said in calm, cultured tones. "Let's get you ready for dinner so that their lordships don't feel that you're insulting them. Syra-"
She turned her head slightly. Her maid, as expected, stood at her elbow; she panted, probably more from nervousness than the exertion.
"-go to my suite and fetch my jewelry box. I'll pick out pieces for Lady Alphena while she's getting into her synthesis."
"I've set out the violet one, your ladyship," Florina said. "It would be ever so nice with a set of amethyst ear drops."
Hedia looked at the maid. She whined like a stray cat, but that was a good suggestion.
"Yes," she said. "I believe I have a pair that will work." Then, to Alphena, "Come dear. This is really quite important."
Alphena allowed herself to be guided back into her room by a gentle touch, though she looked back over her shoulder once. Hedia wasn't approaching the limits of her patience because she couldn't allow herself to lash out in these circumstances, but she was certainly finding the business trying.
The girl doesn't understand. I must remember that the girl doesn't understand.
"Mother, did you notice the servants with the senator who just came?" Alphena said.
Hedia had untied the simple sash as they entered the suite. Now she lifted the tunic over Alphena's head, ignoring the girl's squeak.
"Yes, dear," Hedia said. "Now, be quiet for a moment why the family needs you at dinner as soon as possible."
"I don't see why-" Alphena said, her voice muffled until Hedia flung the tunic toward a corner of the room.
"Be quiet!" Hedia repeated. "The senator who arrived uninvited is Marcus Tardus. He is not your father's friend. He-"
"But-"
"Be quiet!"
Florina and five other maids-unexpectedly junior to Florina, whom Alphena had suddenly chosen to make her permanent attendant-were holding the violet dinner dress and a variety of possible undergarments. They had no idea of how Lady Hedia would choose to display her daughter, and they were rightly worried at what would happen to them if they guessed wrong.
Alphena had flashed angry, but she had quickly controlled that. Now she radiated a mixture of concern and defiance.
She's learned to trust me, Hedia thought. Thank Venus for that mercy.
"Tardus announced that he would leave because he saw that your father and his senatorial friend wanted to have a private meeting," Hedia said. "Do you understand what that means?"
Alphena's mouth dropped open. "But that's crazy!" she said, showing-rather to her mother's surprise-that she did understand the threat. "Saxa wouldn't plot against the Emperor. He'd never do that!"
"No, he wouldn't," Hedia agreed grimly, "but it's very hard to prove that you haven't done something. I prefer not to take that chance, so I invited Tardus to join us."
The notion of wealthy senators plotting to overthrow the Emperor might not seem crazy to someone who didn't know Saxa personally; and the Emperor must certainly was crazy on the subject of possible threats to his life and government. A whisper in the wrong ear-which could be any ear in Carce nowadays-could mean a visit from the German Bodyguard and a quick execution in the basement of their barracks.
"But me?" Alphena said. She wasn't protesting now, and her curiosity was reasonable.
"One moment," Hedia said. To the maid holding the black bandeau and briefs she said, "Do you have gray?"
The maid-all the maids-looked stricken.
"Never mind," Hedia snapped. "Syra, bring a set of mine, they'll do in a pinch. And bring Lucilla too. There isn't time to do the hair properly, but Lucilla can manage something."
"Your ladyship, they're here," Syra said. "The clothes too."
Hedia looked around in surprise. At least a dozen of her personal servants-the line extended out onto the walkway-waited with undergarments ranging from pale gray-blue to dark gray, plus two caskets of jewelry and apparently-this was beyond the doorway-wraps and stoles.
She chirped a laugh despite the tension. Her staff had instantly realized what Hedia had forgotten: Alphena's wardrobe contained nothing suitable for formal occasions except the silk dinner tunics that Abinnaeus had delivered the day before. Why, up until a moment ago the girl had been wearing a single knee-length tunic as though she were a field hand!
"Yes," Hedia said aloud. She pointed to the palest gray combination and said, "Those."
Maids began to dress the girl. Her staff had taken over from Alphena's. Florina seemed briefly to have considered arguing. That wouldn't have been a good idea, because Hedia would have welcomed a way to reduce tension.
"As for why you and I will be present," Hedia said, feeling herself relax as her staff transformed Alphena from hoyden to young lady, "well, perhaps we needn't be, but this isn't a situation that I want to be blase about. Nobody has ever imagined that I give a hoot about any government official-"
She paused, considered, and went on with a wicked grin, "Except in some cases for what they have between their legs. And you, my dear, have the reputation of being even less political than I am."
"Oh," said Alphena as the synthesis drifted over her like a violet cloud. "I guess I see."
Maids cinched the thin silk under her bosom. She looked at Hedia and with a perfectly straight face and said, "I'll be sure to talk to Tardus about the fine points of swordsmanship, then."
Hedia's expression froze. Then she realized the girl was joking and burst into laughter.
"Here," she said, extending her arms to Alphena. "Hold me and raise your feet one at a time so that they can put your slippers on."
The girl's feet were too wide for Hedia's shoes, but she had a pair of black cut-work sandals which would do. I really must get her properly outfitted, tomorrow if possible!
"Then as soon as Florina-"
The maid had done a creditable job in caring for her mistress, given her limited resources. Hedia was making a point of not denigrating her in front of the other servants.
"-puts in the amethyst ear drops, we'll be ready to go."
Though Hedia hadn't expected to eat with her husband tonight, she had dressed to greet the guests. That was a blessing, though she had enough experience with throwing on-or throwing back on-formal clothing in a hurry that she could have managed.
Alphena raised her other foot. "But mother?" she said. "Those men with Tardus? I've seen them before."
"Yes," Hedia said, frowning slightly at the return of a matter of no importance. "They were with him in the theater. I noticed them at the time."
She stepped back and looked at her daughter, then beamed. "You look l
ovely, dear. Just lovely! Now, let's join the men."
Alphena followed without protest, but as they reached the main staircase she said, "Mother, I've seen them somewhere else than the theater. And I don't think I like them."
***
Alphena was excited to be dressed up like this-like a fine lady. She wouldn't have admitted that to a soul, certainly not to her stepmother and only in the very depths of her heart to herself, but she knew it was true.
"I don't see why I have to wear such a long tunic, though," she muttered to Hedia as they walked arm-in-arm down the mezzanine corridor toward the main stairs.
"Tush, dear," Hedia said easily. "Be thankful that you're not a man and having to wear a toga. And besides-"
She glanced to the side, assessing Alphena with the dispassionate precision of a trainer judging a coffle of gladiators.
"-you look quite nice in a long tunic. You move gracefully, and the sway of the fabric sets that off."
Alphena glowed with pleasure, though that embarrassed her. "Ah…," she said. "Ah, thank you, mother."
They reached the staircase. There was a flurry of motion within the cloud of servants surrounding them. Two maids snatched the front hem of Hedia's synthesis-it was a white as pure as sunlight on marble-and lifted it slightly as they skipped up the steps ahead of her; two more raised the back.
Oh! thought Alphena. She hadn't considered the difficulties of going up or down stairs in a garment that broke at her ankles. I could have tripped and fallen! Oh, gods, that would have been awful!
Then she wondered if Corylus would be dining with them. That thought made her so angry that she glared. She wasn't really looking at anything, but one of the maids her lifting the front of her skirt began to whimper. The girl didn't stumble or let the fabric slip, but the sound brought Alphena back to an awareness of her surroundings.
Servants had set poles supporting vertical wicker lattices on the west side of the dining alcove. Lamps would be necessary before the meal was over, but for the moment the shades were keeping the sun out of the eyes of the diners on the central, west-facing couch. Priscus, the chief guest, reclined there, and a place for Tardus had been added below him.