I shoved her away from me so violently that the boat rocked. "How dare you ask me that?”
“Why not? I thought you didn’t believe in astrology,” she said, quite archly.
“But everybody else does. That’s why it’s so dangerous.”
Very quietly, Epicharis began to cry. "I’m asking because I'm in love with you, that's why I dare. My informant is the man I thought I loved before I met you."
"Mela?"
"I can't give you his name. When I told him that I'd fallen in love with you he flew into a terrible rage and threatened to denounce you. I begged him, on my knees, to tell me why. That's when he said you’d taken some documents from Agrippina's study and that Nero's horoscope was among them."
I caught myself too late. "I never knew -"
Apparently she didn’t catch my slip. "Epaphroditus, he's a man of honor but he's desperate. He has good reason to believe that the emperor is about to order his suicide. He's racked by anxiety and will do anything to escape it. He's convinced that a comparison of his chart with Nero's will resolve the issue, one way or the other."
"How can I-"
Her voice was as soft as a dove's, her hand ran down the inside of my thigh. "I know this man, I respect him. The secret will go no further, I swear it. Then you, too, will have peace of mind because you'll also have me."
Another step I couldn't stop myself taking it. "I only glanced at it. All I remember is that the Sun was on the eastern horizon."
She gave a little cry of pleasure, then she was in my arms. I undid her breast band. Her lips gorged themselves on mine, her tongue slipped into my mouth.
How sweet it was, the kiss of death!
Bewitched
March 18 – March 19, 65 A.D.
Atargatis's love potion had unhinged me. Or I'd been put under a spell by Epicharis who was probably a fully initiated member of the secret sorority of witches. I was busy pondering which of these best excused my astonishing blunder when a flying grape struck my cheek.
Nero popped the next one into his mouth. "What's the matter, Epaphroditus? I’ve never seen you with such a long face.”
A crooked smile hobbled about my lips. "No dominus, the organization of the festival -"
Nero's eyes twinkled merrily as he cut my lie short. "No use trying to hide your peccadilloes from me. Cavorting late into the night with that hot pepper Epicharis, eh? What! Forgotten all about Rachel so soon?"
"No dominus."
"Of course you have, you dog! Now go take a nap under the stand. I don't want you nodding off when I'm singing."
While Nero sang late into the night I ached to see Epicharis so that I could sort out the tangle of passion and suspicion she aroused in me. It was nearly midnight before I could get away.
Seneca's gatekeeper pocketed the coin I gave him with a practiced air. "Epicharis? No, she hasn't come in yet. Don't expect her neither."
"She is staying here?"
He gave me a sly smile. Like everyone else in Baiae he was half drunk. "Off and on, on and off. You know what it's like."
I had to check the impulse to strike him.
I was woken shortly after dawn. There was some sort of emergency. Someone called Volusius Proculus, a vice-admiral of the fleet at Misenum, was in the atrium demanding an urgent audience with the emperor. He said he had important information that couldn't wait.
A large hairy man, legs like tree trunks, turned towards me as I entered. I recognized him immediately. He'd been the captain of the boat that had taken us to Agrippina that fateful night, the one who'd clubbed her to death. It must have been he who'd seen me take the scrolls from her office and who had reported the fact to Euodus. Euodus must have made the assumption that they were astrological charts because that's what Agrippina would have been consulting in her moment of crisis. That’s what had sent him bursting into my cubicle, catching me with the charts in my hands.
In order to keep him quiet, Tigellinus had purchased the captain's goodwill. But promotions hadn't followed fast enough and resentment had built up to the point where the captain once again began wondering aloud what papers I'd taken. This time he'd done it in bed.
My mind cleared as the vice-admiral crushed my hand. Epicharis was his woman, not mine, or perhaps she was simply her own. Right from the start all she'd wanted out of me was Nero's birth time. The pick-up at Seneca's reception, the night of Atargatis's love potion, the use of threat and promise to extract the secret from me, all executed with ruthless efficiency. So much for her but what about Proculus? What was he going to tell Nero?
"Do you remember me?" he boomed.
I oiled my tongue. "Greetings Proculus! Of course I remember you and your loyalty to the emperor during a time of crisis. Rest assured that if you have come to his assistance a second time, on this occasion I'll personally make sure that you receive a reward worthy of your loyalty."
The sailor worked his lips as he nibbled at the implied bribe. There was no way of being sure, but it looked like he would take it, if he could.
"What have you heard?" I asked.
Proculus's eyes narrowed under his bushy brows. "What I have to say is for the emperor's ears only."
"But what if he's heard it already? Would you wish to have him shaken out of his bed at dawn on a holiday to be told something he already knows?"
Nero was drying off the cold water he'd just splashed on his face when I showed Proculus into his bedroom. The beam of sunlight which came in with us burnished his hair red gold.
I didn't have to remind him of the vice-admiral's name. "Ah, Volusius Proculus, nice to see you again, at least I hope it is," he said as he shook his hand. "What's the matter?"
"Augustus, I have reason to believe that your life is in danger."
Nero looked at me for confirmation and I nodded my head with a little sideways movement to indicate that there was something in it, although not very much.
Nero raised an eyebrow. "You mean as we speak?"
"No, sometime in the near future."
"Why?"
"The information comes from a woman I know, who has connections with the highest ranking members of the Senate."
Nero frowned, turning his frown on me too, for making light of what could be a serious threat because the Senate was where his successor would come from. "The Senate's involved?"
The vice-admiral swallowed. "That I don't know for certain, Augustus. The woman advised me to put my ships on stand-by so that I could advance my career by acting decisively during the political tumult that would follow your fall."
Who is this Cassandra?"
"Epicharis, Caesar, an ex-slave of Mela's."
Nero squinted at me. "Epicharis! Now there's a coincidence, Epaphroditus, if there is such a thing. Do you think she knows more than the sweet nothings she's been whispering in your ear? She may, you know, since Mela is Seneca's brother. Arrange for Tigellinus to have a talk with her. No whips and chains though, I'm sure you'll make that clear."
"Yes Caesar." I hoped he didn't notice the relief in my voice.
Tigellinus was being shaved when I took Nero's instructions to him. There were two very pretty young women still asleep in his bed, neither of whom I'd seen before. His smile was as sharp as the razor scraping off the bread paste that covered his face. "Epicharis? Where have I heard that name before?"
"She's Mela's freedwoman."
"Ah, of course, the Stoic connection. Wasn't she the one who took you on that little pleasure cruise?"
I'd prepared myself for the possibility that he'd know. "That's right, I know her slightly and that's why I know she's someone who won't frighten easily, as long as she's given the opportunity to prepare herself. What I suggest is this: I go with the Praetorians, reassure her that she's not in trouble, that all you want to do is see if she's picked up any scraps of information. That way if you throw Proculus's accusation at her you might catch her off guard."
Tigellinus chuckled. "Look at you, bedding a senator's mistress one minute, an
d then plotting how to frighten the life out of her the next. You've come a long way, Epaphroditus. We might make a man out of you yet!"
I didn't want to throw Epicharis off her guard. What I had to do was warn her that whatever else she told Tigellinus, for her sake as well as mine, she must on no account mention Nero's horoscope.
She kept me waiting for nearly an hour while she completed her toilette. The effect was ravishing. The flush of danger had complimented the craft of her make-up artist and her eyes glowed even more brightly than when she was simulating the expression of love.
I could feel my resolution slipping away. "Epicharis, I apologize for intruding."
"Intruding? What sort of talk is that? You know you're always very welcome, although I wouldn't have thought Baiae so dangerous that you needed a Praetorian escort."
"I'm afraid this isn't a social call. Someone called Volusius Proculus has gone to Nero with the story that you say he's about to be assassinated."
Epicharis's took my hands in hers, her expression one of concern, not for herself but for me. "Oh darling, no wonder your hands are like blocks of ice! You've guessed it, haven't you? Proculus, he's the naval officer who caught you stealing Nero's horoscope!"
"I was with him when he spoke to Nero. He didn't mention anything about that."
"See! Didn't I tell you that he was a man of honor? Don't worry, I won't breathe a word about it either. You're safe. You have my word on that."
I was astonished, how quickly she'd turned the tables on me. However, since I couldn't think of anything else, I pursued the gallant strategy I'd planned. "It's not me I'm concerned about, it's you. Tigellinus wants to interrogate you."
Suddenly it was there in her eyes, a darkness, the fear of torture.
I pressed my advantage. "No, Nero has forbidden him to hurt you, I saw to that. Now you must tell me the truth. What are you trying to do with Nero’s horoscope?"
Her eyes were suddenly wet with tears. "How could you even imagine that I would lie to you? Every single thing I've told you is true, especially the way I feel about you. The moment I saw you at Seneca's reception, so handsome and so proud, I knew that you were the man the stars have promised me. You see, you and I, our destinies are interwoven."
This was no time to tell her that this was precisely what I was trying to avoid. "In which case it's absolutely imperative that you under no circumstances, under no inducement or threat, ever reveal what I told you about Nero’s horoscope,” I said. “Once that’s out, I promise you we're both doomed."
Epicharis smiled. "Don't be afraid my love, nothing could induce me to betray you."
Although she was clearly as slippery as her fish goddess Atargatis, I believed her. She hadn't extorted Nero's birth time out of me just to blab it to Tigellinus. She had bigger fish to fry: Mela, even Seneca himself. But why had she put everything in jeopardy by telling the sailor that revolution was around the corner?
This was the question that preoccupied me as I listened to Tigellinus question Epicharis. Eventually the answer came to me. She hadn't asked the hairball Proculus to bring his fleet on alert because of love, she was one of those who used love like Tigellinus used the rack. She'd alerted him out of ambition fed by something she'd found when she cast Nero's horoscope using the birth time I had given her, something that made her so certain that he was about to fall that she'd attempted to recruit the commander of the naval base of an area completely dominated by the sea. She'd miscalculated, out of vanity probably. She must have convinced herself that she was destined to become a very powerful woman, an empress, perhaps. Ambition had blinded herself to the fact that Proculus had no more intention of throwing in his lot with her than I had.
All the same I admired her for the cool way she fended off Tigellinus's badgering questions. It was palpable, his desire to torture her. "Why did you say that the emperor was about to be deposed?"
"How many times do I have to repeat myself? I never said that. Like everyone else I pray that no harm will come to the emperor's person or fortunes."
"The testimony of a senior naval officer contradicts yours. He swears that you advised him to prepare for revolution."
"Prefect, the senior naval officer and I have had a brief love affair but last night we fell out - "
"Out of bed?"
Epicharis flattered Tigellinus's stab of humor with a demure little smile. "Frankly, yes. This is Baiae, Prefect. His masculine pride has been injured. He'd say anything to take revenge on my indifference. He just has."
Tigellinus nodded pointedly at me, as if congratulating me on supplanting the massive sailor. "And that's all there is to it?"
Her eyes were as innocent as pools of holy water. "Yes, I swear it."
"She's lying, I know it," Tigellinus told Nero. "Let me put her to the test and we'll soon have her singing like a nightingale."
Nero went back to coaxing a tune out of the bagpipes he was learning to play. "I'm sure," he said when he put them down, "but will it be the truth? There were no witnesses to what went on between her and Proculus, it's her word against his and either way I don't think there's anything to it."
"Augustus, we must keep in mind her connection with Seneca and the rest of the Stoics. She may have overheard something. Let's not throw away what could be a valuable asset. Who knows, something might unravel. Let me keep her in custody, just for a while. Surely she's done enough to deserve that?"
Nero glanced at me. "Let Epaphroditus decide. He knows the woman, we don't."
My thoughts raced. If Epicharis were set free the vice admiral would feel slighted and quite likely share all his suspicions with Nero. That would certainly be the end of Epicharis, it might even be the end of me. Clearly Proculus's mouth had to be kept tightly shut which meant that Epicharis had to stay locked up.
"Caesar, I agree with Tigellinus. She ought to stay in protective custody, at least until we return to Rome."
Nero inflated the bag and played that eerie tune of his, the music of the spheres, on the pipes. "Make the arrangements."
I arranged for Epicharis to have a room in the guests’ quarters of Nero's villa and had the door fitted with a good lock. That night I went to see her.
Her eyes were large and liquid. She was sitting upright on the couch, hands clasped together. When she saw me she gave a little cry of pleasure, jumped to her feet, her head tilted backwards and her lips trembling, expecting to be kissed. "Epaphroditus, thank god, I was so worried about you. I thought you'd gone and told Nero everything and he had...I don't even want to think about it."
"Everything? What do you mean?"
A fleeting smile which asked if I were joking, a little frown which said that I couldn't be because this was no occasion to joke. "You know, about his horoscope."
"That's what it was all about from the start, wasn't it? Nero's birth time. Who did you give it to?"
Her eyes widened with shock at the coldness of my voice. "How can you believe that's all there was? How dare you _"
I cut her off. "Epicharis, who was it for?"
"What's the point in telling you anything if you think that I'm a liar?"
"You're toying with your life, do you realize that?"
"It's you, Epaphroditus, who are in danger, not me. If I'm not able to pass on the information to this acquaintance of mine, I'm afraid -"
"You mean you haven't given it to him yet?"
"No. He's in Rome. He'll wait until we get back unless of course he hears that something has happened to me."
"So this was all planned in Rome, this blackmail. You told me that Proculus was the one who needed Nero's horoscope."
A flash of anger. "I told you that to protect you, because the less you know the safer you are." Tears. "You don't understand, but you ought to. Do you know how long I've been in love with you? Never mind, you obviously didn't take any notice. Just another ex-slave making sheep's eyes at you and why should you, the vice-regent, yes, that's how people talk of you, some go further, they say that you now wea
r the mantle once worn by Burrus and Seneca, that you rule the empire, that it's you who are Caesar and Nero is nothing more than your puppet who -"
I felt the heady flush of hubris but I cut her off anyway. "Rubbish!"
"Perhaps. But I believed it. I still believe it. You, an ex-slave like me, ruler of the world! It made me feel so proud, it still does. It was that pride which made me fall in love with you. Then I made the mistake of telling him, the man who needed Nero's horoscope, how I felt about you. He warned me to stay away from you because you had made a powerful enemy who was on the point of destroying you, and that when you went down you'd drag down all those near you. I begged him to tell me your enemy's name. I actually fell down on my knees and begged him! That's when he made me the offer: Nero's birth time for the name of your enemy. I didn't hesitate to accept it. I still wouldn't."
Although I wasn't emperor, I certainly did have a horde of enemies, almost every blue blood in Rome for a start, so part of her story rang true. "When did you plan to make the exchange?"
More tears. "Soon. But first you must promise me that you won't, won't let them ... put me to the test. I couldn't stand that. Kill me if they are going to do that, because I don't know how long I'd be able to keep quiet ... about you. You'll kill me before they force me to betray you? Swear you will!"
A dreadful calm followed this storm of words. I believed her and I didn't believe her. In fact the two convictions roosted together in my head as happily as two hens on the same perch at sunset.
"No one's planning to do that," I said. "They just want to keep you in protective custody until -" I was about to say "until the truth comes out." Instead I said, "until this whole thing blows over. I'll make sure that you have everything you need. But I won't be able to see you very often, that wouldn't be advisable."
She squeezed my arms. "I don't care about myself. Only about you. That's why you must take care of me first, if they decide to..."
The horror in her eyes obliterated my suspicion. "Epicharis I give you my word that even if I tell Nero everything, I won't let them hurt you."
The Nero Prediction Page 24