by Bilinmeyen
“This is Gisil,” Cassia said, “Adalwulf’s woman.”
She shook her head, and then looked sad. “I’m not really … we are, and are not. It is complicated. It was already complicated before we left Germania.” I nodded in greeting, and she got up and spoke. “Freya’s blessing on you two. Frigg hear your prayers. And take care of her and your son, Hraban. Always take care of them.”
I thanked her with a frown as she left. Mathildis smiled at me wistfully, sitting in her tunica by a window. “She is a vitka. But, something happened back home, and she is odd. Not always, but sometimes when we speak about this child, she is upset and almost desperate. Holds the hem of her tunica with white knuckles. I don’t trust her.”
“She must have lost a child,” Cassia said gravely, her face pinched as she considered it. I pulled up and kneeled before her. She smiled at me bravely and ruffled my hair. “We won’t. But, if we will, we shall make many others.”
I looked at her in shock. It always surprised me how strong she was, how optimistic, how wise, and I felt unworthy of her. Livia was right. She was sturdy as a rock. I looked at Mathildis. “There’s a mule-faced bastard by the doors. He’d probably enjoy seeing you.”
She nodded and got up. “Beats the servant’s duties. They said we will help out here, until a place is found for us.”
“You won’t stay here?” I asked, confused.
She shrugged and smiled. “Forever? I doubt it. Eventually, we will have to move. And Livia won’t probably abide a screaming baby in her house for a long time. She looks the sort who disdains babies.” She hesitated. “And, if you would, can you tell Brimwulf I’d rather live in the city? I’ll gladly help out here with Cassia, but not forever.”
I frowned. “It’s not safe in the city without a man.”
She looked down. She had grown much wiser since I had first met her. She blew her red hair out of her eyes. She spoke softly. “I think we should all live in the city. You have coin. Ask Brimwulf to leave the guard and to stay with us. There is no telling how this will end. You know anything can, and will, happen in Rome.”
Cassia nodded. “It might be hard to refuse the hospitality of Livia, Mathildis. Insulting.”
A door opened. A girl, perhaps eight, peeked in and smiled shyly.
Cassia nodded at her and waved her in. She came with a small amphora of wine and cups. My wife ruffled her hair. “This is Flower,” she said.
“Hello, Flower,” I answered from my knees, but she said nothing, and took the amphora to the side. I looked at Cassia.
She shook her head “She is deaf. Cannot hear anything. And someone cut her tongue when she was very young. She cannot speak. But, she is kind and pretty, and serves me.”
I looked at the girl with pity, but she turned, bowed to me, hugged Cassia, and went to sit in the corner, and I thought she was happy enough.
Mathildis pushed me. “It might be insulting to leave this place,” she said nervously. “But, I’ve lived in a twisted household before. There’s something wrong with all of them. They smile and greet you kindly, but it is not unlike a monster that measures your worth, and that worth can be halved any hour.”
“Livia,” I said, “is fighting for her son’s life. That of her grandchildren. She has had a—”
“Hard life,” Cassia finished for me. “She will ask things of you, Hraban.” Her face was serious and gray.
I hesitated. “I heard. Keep it a secret.”
Mathildis hissed. She was in on the secret. “Seduce another woman? She’s a mother, I see that, but she should not think like that. Not at all. Her heart is made of stone! And to speak to Cassia about it, as calmly as if she was discussing the qualities of a chunk of cheese? She, along with the rest of them, is mad. They are not like us, not at all. Bedding someone is just pleasure and meaningless to them. Sometimes, a means to an end. I wonder if they love at all. Please consider what I said, Hraban. Set Brimwulf and all of us free, if you can. Then you don’t have to worry about us, if things get out hand.” She went quiet and bit her lip. “Think about it. I know you do this for Drusus, but the nobles of Rome are as bad as Segestes was. They only smile more.”
“I …” I began and wiped my face. “I will try to see how it might be possible. I’m not sure Brimwulf can leave the guard. But, I have begun to prepare, if things go wrong.”
She looked deep into my eyes. “If you fail, if you die, we’ll be sent away. Gods only know as to what will happen to us. Don’t fail,” she told me. “My man was outside?”
“He is,” I said, and she went to seek him out, rather than learn her duties. She was right. Livia would not hurt them, if I failed, but Rome might. They’d have no purpose, would be set adrift, and my friends didn’t know the city. If I failed her terribly, perhaps they would die. Rome was cruel.
I got up, crawled on Cassia’s bed, and settled next to her, and nearly choked on my cloak as it got stuck under my knee. She giggled and lay next to me, and went serious after kissing me gently. She shooed Flower away, and she went with a small, absentminded smile.
I looked deep into her eyes. What had Livia told her? Everything? She was bravely ignoring my look. She stroked my face. “How come they allowed you out here? I’d imagine it would be like it was in the legions? Training, digging, and farting?”
I smiled and shook my head. “I just spent the night guarding Julia Caesar.”
She nodded gravely and looked thoughtful. I cursed because I had spoiled the fine, loving moment. She took a ragged breath. “She is cold but beautiful. Like Livia. They are much alike. I like Antonia, but she’s leaving for a while.” She sighed. “Julia. She is why we are here, eh?”
I spoke softly. “I have to find what she has done, and with whom. I wanted to try to find the gladiator, but they insisted I stay close to her, because she might be open to me for being the son of her lover. I have to—”
She placed a finger over my mouth and looked up at me. “I know you love me.”
I nodded, the answer choking in my throat.
She stroked my face gently. “I mean it. I know. And I forgive you, unless you enjoy it.”
I looked away from her, relieved, thankful, and angry, and still fearing what might happen, would ruin the best thing in my life. She sighed again, and pressed herself to me. “Three weeks. Then, you have a son.”
“You sure it’s a son now?”
“Gisil said it is,” she whispered. “Will you do it?” I knew what she meant.
I nodded. “I will try not to. I will try to be her friend, rather. I think it’s enough.”
She shook her head gently. “Thank you for saying that, but I doubt you are right. It won’t be enough for her. And I hear you have trouble in the Guard,” she said. “I heard them speaking of it here. The Prefect, I hear, is giving you hard time.”
“He is,” I said. “There was an incident.”
She pulled me closer. “Look, I asked around a bit after they gossiped. The servants know a lot in this house. There is some kind of a scandal in this Kleitos’s past. Someone said a medicus of the Block was involved. Gray-haired, tall man. Ares by name. Might be something to look into, if he is getting on your nerves.”
Medicus? “Thank you,” I said. “I’m happy you are useful, and not only sitting around here, doing nothing.” I’d look into it, since I was not only being given hard time, but a hard point of steel.
She spoke gently. “Come, and be with me, in silence.” She hugged me, I loved her, kissed her gently, and, in an hour, I left her.
Wandal and the others walked after me. “Back to the barracks?”
I hesitated, glanced at Rochus, who shook his head, white of face. He spoke. “Look. We must go back to the Block. Don’t go and make any—”
“No, I’ll want to see the Circus first,” I said, and begged the gods would forgive me and give me what I wanted. I needed to find a man who might know Istros. Then, I had to find the medicus.
I had one day, because I did not wish to betray
Cassia’s love. The thought was unbearable.
The others were merry, save for Rochus, who was frowning, unhappy I was taking a risk. I was risking his neck and future as well, but he walked along, last of the group of merry guards.
We headed for the Circus. I had a man to find.
CHAPTER 11
We took the steps down the ancient stairs for the bottom of the Palatine. They were long and winding stairs, and the morning was becoming unbearably hot. Tudrus nodded at a building near Julia’s, and I guessed that was the place Livia’s men were using to watch her by night. We would eventually know the place intimately. We passed a hut of ancient make, oddly out of place under the shadows of the great houses of the Roman nobility. At the bottom, we proceeded by a temple complex, Lupercal, and peeked inside to see a freshly completed statue of a she-wolf and two twins suckling at its tits. There were still rubble around it, and the artist was hovering over it, giving it finishing touches.
Tudrus laughed. “I bet they have never seen a wolf, eh? The beast would have run away from two such terrible children, or eaten them, if it were winter. The original was probably a small cow?”
I pulled him out before some scowling priests would try to throw us to the street. In the crowded lane, we looked around, bewildered. The massive porticos of the Circus rose above us.
Wandal tugged my sleeve. “Let’s ask there, eh? And eat something? I bet you had something in Livia’s. You were there for an hour.”
Tudrus snorted. “He had Cassia, you idiot.”
“Wandal was fed by a slave girl,” I teased him. “But, sure, let us.”
I saw what I took to be a tavern across from the Circus. It had a steady number of people running in and out, some holding chunks of rough bread, as they rushed to get to work. We walked that way, and I pulled a chair before a thin man could sit on it, and scowled like I would to an enemy in the shield wall. I conquered the table as the enemy fled. I turned to go inside as the others took their seats, which was a cumbersome feat, considering the spears and the shields.
“I’ll help,” Tudrus said, as the rest finally settled. I pushed inside, and Tudrus helped me. We made our way to the busy desk, with holes on the top. Food and drink were served from those holes, as there were steaming vats inside.
I pulled at a sleeve of a girl who looked startled as she saw us in our gear. “Yes?” she asked tentatively.
“Bread, wine, to that table,” I said, and held a coin to her. She shook her head, and I added another, then a third coin, until she was happy. Feeding so many people was not cheap. Tudrus grinned as he helped her carry it all.
I waited by the desk. I scowled at a peddler trying to sell me fruit, but he was very persistent. I slapped his fingers off my sleeve repeatedly. I considered slapping him, until the maid returned and drove the man away with hissing expletives. I was about to ask her for instruction, but she lifted a finger, and so I waited. I scowled and looked around. My friends were enjoying themselves. Rochus sat easily, touching the side under his armor, where I had once wounded him terribly. He was silent, glancing around casually, smiling at a sultry woman sitting nearby, and Wandal was mocking his efforts with Tudrus. I turned to see the girl had gone and a bald man with blue eyes was staring at me.
“You need something specific?” he growled.
I pointed a finger at the gigantic Circus across the street. “I’m looking for a man who knows everyone. A man who takes bets for living? Know you one?”
He nodded and squinted. “Many. But, the oldest one is a pimp by the name of Castor. He sells flesh and takes bets under the Blinking Eye, a tavern inside the Circus. It’s there, in the middle section of this side. You don’t read, do you? Look for a half-closed eye.”
“I read,” I yelled, as there was a group of merchants demanding service. He opened his hand. Gods, they all wanted to get paid, I thought. I gave him some bronze coins, and then a silver one, wondering how long I’d have money. “Thank you.”
He hesitated and pulled me closer. “Look,” he whispered with a low, conspirator’s voice. “Your hounds are all Guards, eh? And I don’t know what you are doing, but you are clearly up to no good. There’s a man across the street looking at you lot. Has been since you arrived.” I was about to turn, but he pulled me back. “You paid well, so I’ve paid you back. He wears a rag hat and faded yellow tunic. He looks like a beggar, but he reeks of a servant. I’m no fool, and I know my business. No man stalks the Guards, unless he works for someone up the hill. They have filth and secrets aplenty up there,” he nodded towards Palatine, “and filth rolls downhill. You eat, and take him somewhere else. I need no trouble here.”
“Thank you,” I said, and went to sit with my friends. I grabbed a bit of focaccia and cheese, and drank wine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man—it had to be a man—peering from under the shadows of a giant portico of the Circus.
“Any luck?” Rochus asked. “Did he know this name?”
“I didn’t ask him. We’ll ask someone who is sure to know,” I said.
Tudrus nodded towards the Circus. “In there?”
“In there,” I concurred.
“They might not want to speak to a man wearing the Guard’s armor,” Rochus pointed out. “Just saying.”
“We will get some answers, Guards or not. We will get them, and go back, and gods help us, we have to stay up at night again.”
“Some of us will be in that house near Julia,” Tudrus chortled. “If you have to go somewhere at night, there are men who will guide us, but try not to get lost.”
I squinted up the hill and shook my head. I could see Julia’s domus. Tudrus’s smile disappeared at the look on my face. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“That’s what we are doing here, eh?” Wandal asked. “You hope to solve the problem this very day?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “In the Circus, I’ll find some answers.”
“Ah, our good luck,” Rochus chortled, though there was a queer look in his eyes, as if he were worried. “I’m going to see if I can find myself a bet to place. Maybe we can go see if there’s a race this morning?”
“Questions,” I growled, “and then, we might have something else to do. Depends on this Castor.”
“Don’t overstep, Hraban,” Rochus said softly and ate.
We finished quickly and got up. I nodded at Brimwulf and whispered to his ear. He nodded back, and then we left. We crossed the street and entered a portico, only to be assaulted by echoing yells, excited speech, the weeping of a drunk, and a myriad of smells, piss not the least of them. People, no matter how early it was, streamed the alley inside of the Circus. We stood there like flowers in the middle of a desert, conspicuous and out of place.
“Look for a tavern’s sign,” I sighed and pushed to take our place in the middle of the walkway. We pressed forward, and it felt like wading in waist-high water.
“Odd,” Rochus said, as he looked around at some men staring at us with hostility. “Very few have swords or weapons.”
“Rare in Rome, I guess,” I said, happy with the fact. “Here, come this way.”
I pulled them after me, and passed stairways leading up and some going down. I clutched my coins, and skirted past a crowd of loud men, who went quiet as they saw the hulking men staring down at them. There were people pissing in urinals, while arguing loudly over the qualities of some horse. I stopped to stand near a merchant of jewelry, and a bald man, who was probably a moneylender. Rochus looked anxious as he listened in to two men discussing, and he probably understood some of the discussion, until the two men cursed him. They were discussing some fact about a horse. They began to whisper in another language, probably Greek.
“This way,” I said, and we went on, lost as babes in woods. We navigated through the crowds. Then, there was a huge scream of horror, and then, of joy, echoing up on the Circus, where someone had probably fallen from his saddle, or had even been beaten down.
“They also ride chariots, you know?” Tu
drus muttered. “No rules, they say. I’d like to see such a sight.”
I stopped them. “That’s the only sight I need right now,” I muttered. “Look”
A red-painted eye, on a small plaque, hung over a smoky doorway, leading to the bowels of busy tavern. The eye was not blinking, but it was an eye. We walked that way, using our spears shafts to make a path. I poked my head inside, and saw filthy tables and men throwing dice. There was another stone desk with holes, and jars of wine. Two worn looking women with stained tunics were pouring drinks to customers, who ranged from toga wearing nobles and wealthy merchants, to crafters with scuffed hands, and desperate men hoping to make it big with their last coin.
And in the corner, there was a man, with a very thin jaw and hugely curly, black hair. His eyes were sunk deep in his skull, and he looked like the bet taker of Hel. He was leaning forward, listening to the requests of men standing in lines. Then he nodded, picked up a stylus, scribbled something down on a small piece of wood, and handed it back to the man. There was a harried, bald man writing down sums at the man’s back. He was so near, in fact, they looked like they were joined at hips.
“Well,” Rochus said softly. “This hive of villainy is one nasty hole. Seen cleaner bear caves.”
I stepped in. “Keep the scum away while I speak to the bastards,” I said, “and if someone complains, show them the blade.”
“We are going to get popular, I guess,” Tudrus smiled. “Upset men, angry women, dead lords, and Adalwulf will tear you a new arse. Hraban’s in Rome. Just a matter of time before it burns down.”
I shook my head at him and circled the tables. The shield was useful in the press, though the spear’s shaft was too long, and got in the way. I heard Rochus, Tudrus, and his brothers pushing through behind. There was a chorus of complaints, then silence. The Quadi had that effect on people. I noticed people were going quiet as they saw us approaching. Most men looked at us unkindly, others with scared expressions, and I guessed the Guard didn’t have a reputation for gentleness.