Gladiatrix (39 page)

You don't want to underestimate crocodiles. I'd learnt that lesson from watching a twenty-footer rip apart a shark, while I was working on a fishing boat up in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

They'd out-thrived the dinosaurs, the biggest and smartest carnivores this world has ever seen, exactly because they're a perfectly adapted stalking machine. Cunning, mercilessly quick, and endlessly patient. They'll watch for years, and then take you when you've forgotten they're there.

They look at us in the same way we consider an open refrigerator.

If I knew for certain that the door was unlocked, I'd just run for it and take my chances. But once there, if I had to pause, even for a heartbeat, it'd smash my legs to pieces with its too-powerful jaws, and drag me back into the pool to drown.

I shook my head. No, there had to be some way of getting beyond its reach.

Up above my head was a wide shelf cut into the wall that held statues and other ornaments; it ran right around the room. Including over the top of the door.

Quickly I knocked clear a space, the ornaments crashing into the pool, then stepped onto the back of the lamp base, and boosted myself up.

The crocodile burst up and out of the water below me. Lunging up the wall it snapped at the foot still resting on the lamp base. I pulled my leg up, to stand shaking on the shelf. Hell! I was just out of its reach!

I inched sideways towards the door, trying not to watch below as I went. After a final futile lunge the crocodile dropped back into the pool and crawled up the slope to stop in the shallows near the door.

It stayed there watching me. Waiting.

Just as I reached the point where the ledge met the door, a head appeared at the aperture. It was a man, maybe mid-thirties, dark brown hair. Before I could ask for help, he saw the crocodile, noted where it was looking, and shoved his head through to look up at me.

His nose was nearly crushed into his face. Fabius! Now I knew why everyone had noticed it.

He gave a sly grin. ‘So you made it through? Good. Now you can tell me where the Isis dagger is.' His broken nose had changed his voice, made it too nasal.

‘Open the door, and I will, Fabius.' I finally had him!

Well, I'd have him soon.

‘You think you're a smart bitch, don't you, knowing my name? Well you don't know anything. Tell me where the dagger is first and I'll let you out.'

‘Yeah that's going to happen. You'll just let me die in here.'

He glanced back at the waiting crocodile. ‘Sebek hasn't been fed since yesterday, I think his patience is wearing thin.'

‘What I really want is to know where Victoria is. Tell me that, and I'll take you to the dagger.'

He stared up at me, calculating how best to proceed.

The sound of sandalled feet rapidly approaching. echoed off the walls.

Fabius pulled his head back through the door, banging it in his hurry. Several voices exclaimed at once, and then someone began shouting for the guards.

There was the noise of a scuffle, and then feet running away from the door.

A new man stuck his head into the room, saw the crocodile, and quickly withdrew.

More shouting.

The crocodile just sat there, calmly waiting. I wasn't fooled.

The door shook, and a key turned in the heavy lock. Two men wearing ceremonial crocodile masks and long green robes slipped quietly into the room. Using encouraging prods with a long stick, and a series of clicking noises they managed to herd the huge crocodile out of the water and back into its enclosure.

It went, answering them with an eerie series of hissing coughs.

As soon as they'd passed me, I was down and out the door, slamming it shut behind me. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew I wanted a wall between me and that reptile.

The next room was crowded, full of arguing people also wearing god masks and in full ceremonial robes. Around them stood a ring of temple guards bearing spears and waiting for a command.

Fabius was nowhere in sight.

The crowd shifted and I caught sight of Alex. He was in full fury. He demanded they produce me now,
or risk the consequences! Next to him a tall, thin man in white robes wore the only Isis mask in the room. And he held the Isis dagger.

As I pushed through the crowd, Alex saw me. His face turned a somersault, from a man on a mission, to complete relief.

He said, ‘Are you all right?' Then jerked me into his arms so hard the breath was crushed out of my lungs.

The man in the Isis mask came up behind him, and said gently, ‘Thank the Goddess! My child, we thought you'd been killed.'

Alex unclenched his arms long enough to say, ‘Kannon, this is the Hierophant, not Fabius. I found him by accident, he was upstairs getting ready for your real initiation. When I worked out what was going on, I told him that Fabius had stolen the dagger. And that he was trying to kill you, because you'd taken it back from him. When I gave him the dagger from your bag he believed me.'

I blinked. Andromache had been right. But I'd needed the dagger to save myself, not Victoria.

‘My dear, my dear.' The Hierophant took my free hand and clasped it, saying, ‘We had no idea this person Fabius was such a villain. He was here at the Iseum masquerading as a visiting priest. Until your young man here told us what was going on, we had no reason to suspect he was so dangerous.'

He raised the dagger. ‘Or that he was a thief. I hope you can forgive us for your cruel treatment?'

I looked around, pushing against Alex's loosened grip. ‘Where is he? Where's Fabius gone? I have to find him.' He couldn't slide away now.

The Hierophant tried to soothe me. ‘Don't worry. We have guards chasing him, my dear. They'll catch him for us.'

I looked up into the mask. A beautiful queen's face looked down, but the eyes were lined with wrinkles. Kind eyes, humane ones.

There was the sound of marching boots and a temple guard leading a squad of Praetorians thumped into the chamber.

Hell! Out of the frying pan …

Alex and I both automatically took a step back, at the same time the Hierophant turned to greet the newcomers.

The leader of the Praetorians spotted us behind the Hierophant, and smiled unpleasantly. From his smug expression it was clear he'd expected to see us here.

‘Sir.' He saluted the Hierophant. ‘We've come for the gladiatrix and her slave. Domitia Crassus told us she'd be here.' Then his eyes widened with chagrin when he saw that the Hierophant held the Isis dagger.

Before the Praetorian could unload the belly of fury his face predicted, the Hierophant willingly placed the dagger in the soldier's hands. ‘Yes. Yes. It's been recovered after all. We know who the thief is. Please return it with my great respect and humblest apologies. I can't forgive myself for allowing it to be taken. We will help you find the man who stole it.'

I exchanged a look with Alex, and whispered, ‘How are the Praetorians connected to the Isis dagger? If the Hierophant doesn't own it, who does?'

‘I don't know,' Alex whispered back. ‘He didn't say it wasn't his when I gave it to him.'

‘Who stole it?' barked the leader of the Praetorians. ‘Was it these two?' He pointed at us.

‘Is there another way out?' I hissed.

‘No. Only up the stairs behind them,' whispered Alex.

The Hierophant moved firmly between us and the angry soldier. ‘No. They're innocent bystanders. My guards should have caught the thief by now. We'll bring him to you.'

‘You just see you do that! After losing the dagger you deserve …' He didn't finish the threat.

The Hierophant's voice was calm when he said, ‘Please offer my most humble apologies …' But his hands were shaking.

The Praetorian stared for a moment at the Hierophant's masked face. As though he wished to see through it. Then said, ‘We're taking these two as well. They're wanted for questioning.'

Alex touched the front of his tunic. Underneath it, a leather pouch hung from his neck. ‘I've got the gun and the phactor. I took them from the bag you left upstairs. Do you want to try and fight …'

I shook my head. ‘Not now. They'll have Fabius soon and send him on to where we are. Then we can fight our way out, after he tells me where Victoria is.' Everything hinged on finding Fabius.

As they dragged us away I shouted to the Hierophant, ‘But where are they taking us? Who owns the dagger?'

He just stood there, hands helpless at his side.

They'd come prepared.

We were bound, gagged, then heaped together in a curtained litter carried by slaves. The litter I didn't understand. Why did the Praetorians care if we were seen leaving the Iseum with them? Or was it more a question of where they were taking us?

It was clear now. Augustus had to be the owner of the dagger. But then why did the Hierophant have the dagger in the first place?

After about twenty minutes of being shaken around in the litter it stopped. The curtains were pulled aside, and we were both tipped out onto a crushed rock walkway. Alex fell backwards, landing on his head with a muffled groan. I fell face first, grazing my knees and unprotected face.

I managed to roll over and a look around. We were in the grounds of some run-down villa with a high wall and overgrown trees and shrubs. The place was derelict. Abandoned.

That wasn't good. This wasn't Augustus' home. Or his official offices. Or anything remotely official looking. This was someone's hideaway.

They jerked Alex to his feet and began dragging him towards the villa. I soon followed, my bare feet scraping painfully on the sharp rocky ground. We reached a darkened doorway and went down a narrow set of basement stairs. The stairs ended abruptly in a stone alcove lit with a cluster of torches. There were three doors, two of which were iron-barred entryways into tiny cells hardly big enough to hold a person lying down. The third and middle door was solid iron with a huge lock and solid hinges.

One cell was already occupied. The grey-faced woman slumped inside looked up in fear as we were carried past, but they flung us in the opposite cell before she could speak. The soldiers slit free our ropes and locked the heavy barred door behind us with a clang.

Underground and trapped again.

I stared out through the bars at the woman in the cell opposite. She was heavily pregnant. Lying on her side on a dirty, thin mattress on the cold stone floor. We looked at each other, but didn't speak.

I pushed my face out between the bars and called Fabius' name up the stairs. But there was no response other than echoes.

The woman said, in a hoarse voice, ‘There are only two cells down here. Your friend is either dead, or being questioned in the room below.'

I nodded my thanks, then whispered to Alex, ‘I'm so sorry, this was a big mistake. We should've fought our way free, and gone after Fabius instead.'

‘Forget that,' said Alex. ‘When we need to, we can get out of here with your gun. We just wait until the
guards come back, and take them when they unlock the door.'

‘Good plan,' I nodded. ‘Have you got any idea where we are?'

He shook his head. ‘The villa walls were too high to judge our location, but it's too quiet here to be close to the centre of the city.' He looked around the cell. ‘I'd say whoever got us here wants to make sure the chat is very private.'

‘It has to be Augustus, doesn't it? He must own the dagger.'

Alex frowned. ‘Well it'd be like him to be involved in magic. And to be two-faced about his attitude to Isis worship. But why are we here? He's got his dagger back.'

And why the litter?

‘I think he's trying to cover up what he's doing. Doesn't want anyone to know he's involved in using Egyptian magic rituals to gain occult power.'

‘That'd make sense. Particularly now. Hard for him to publicly celebrate killing Cleopatra, and be caught worshiping Isis.'

The pregnant woman had closed her eyes, and was rubbing her heavy belly with tender hands. What on earth was this poor soul doing here?

As I watched, her eyes opened.

She stirred under my gaze, to ask, with surprisingly little interest, ‘Why are you here?'

I stood up, clutching the bars for support. ‘We're not sure, but we think Augustus is trying to cover up a scheme of his.'

‘Augustus?' That really startled her. ‘Why do you think he has anything to do with this place?'

Alex moved closer to the bars, ‘Where are we?'

She leant her head back against the wall for a moment, as though the answer was too horrible to
contemplate. ‘You're in the basement of Livia's private villa.'

‘Livia's the wife of Augustus,' murmured Alex.

‘I know that,' I said, automatically. But what had Livia to do with all of this?

‘Who are you?' she asked me.

I gave my cover. ‘I'm Bellona, a free gladiatrix, and I don't know why Livia …'

‘So you're Domitia's fighter,' came the cynical response.

‘How did you …?'

Alex cut in, ‘You look familiar. Who are you?'

This question caused her as much pain as his first question. ‘I am Julia.' She said it as though that one name was all that was needed.

And she was right. There was only one person she could be.

‘You're Augustus' granddaughter?' I asked, wondering what the hell this twist could mean.

Alex said, ‘But she's been exiled from Rome, taken away under guard.'

‘My maid was veiled and took my place. Livia arranged for me to be brought here.'

‘But how would you know who I am?' I was mystified.

‘Because Livia visits me,' she said, through quivering lips. ‘And taunts me about everything. My downfall, my mother's disgrace …'

‘But how does Livia know about me?' I still couldn't see how I fitted into this Roman cauldron of treason and conspiracy.

‘Because that Crassus bitch tells her everything.'

I narrowed my eyes. Domitia strikes again. ‘Wasn't Domitia Crassus your best friend?'

‘That's what I thought. We grew up together.'

She hunched her shoulder. ‘But Domitia and Livia have been working together for years. I discovered this after she betrayed me. She introduced me to my stupid lover. Helped him seduce me, and then arranged for Augustus to catch us. In Domitia's own bath house.'

The story was poisonous, but she couldn't get the words out fast enough. ‘Domitia was my sister! In all but blood …'

Julia must've been alone for too long. Now we were here to listen, it all just poured out.

‘But after my mother's fall, it was clear to her who the real power in Rome was. My step-grandmother … Livia,' she said the name through gritted teeth.

‘Livia told me how she'd assembled the trap. For years after my mother was banished Domitia tried every way she could to win Livia's favour. But Livia let Domitia dangle until she was desperate enough to do anything. That's when she told Domitia to find me a man. Someone I'd love enough to lose my head over. And she did …'

Julia, face bereft at the betrayal, gazed down at her round stomach. ‘Poor little one. Your mother's a fool and your father …' She stopped herself.

‘But why do you know about me?' I insisted. I was missing a connection here.

‘Because of the Isis dagger. Domitia found out you had it right under her own nose all this time. So then Livia sent her Praetorian thugs looking for you. You see, Livia's been combing Rome for the dagger ever since it was stolen.'

‘So the Isis dagger is Livia's? But why? What does she need it for? She's not an Isiac, is she?'

‘Livia is whatever will bring her more power,' Julia said, with feeling. ‘She's even more superstitious than Augustus, and even more obsessed with power.
She knows once Augustus is dead her enemies will rise up and kill her. She works behind the scenes, but even so she's stabbed too many people in the back, poisoned too many people's lives, to survive his death. For years now she's been doing everything she can to make sure her son Tiberius rules after Augustus. Getting rid of me and my mother is only one of the ways she's destroyed my family. And Augustus' line of rightful heirs.'

Alex was thunderstruck. ‘Every one of Julia's sons has died, or been exiled. Are you saying Livia was responsible for all of them?'

Julia gave him a cynical look. ‘Three healthy young men, each toppled one by one. Who else do you think profits? Who is now in line to succeed my grandfather?' She answered her own question. ‘His stepson. Livia's son, Tiberius.'

‘But how does the dagger come into all this?' I was missing too many pieces of the puzzle.

‘Magical power of course. The only sorcerer Livia has ever feared was Cleopatra. You see, she met Cleopatra when she was in Rome with Caesar, years ago. Long before I was born. Livia told me that the Egyptian queen could summon great power, perform great magic. All from her ability as Pharaoh to call on the goddess Isis. And Isis and Cleopatra proved their power by nearly defeating Augustus. More than anything, it was the stupidity of that drunkard Antony that cost Cleopatra the war. So when Egypt fell Livia started searching for the dead queen's secret rituals, and in particular her power to command Isis.'

Alex whispered, ‘This all fits in with what Mersekhet told us.'

I nodded. It was all coming together.

‘When our soldiers invaded Egypt,' said Julia. ‘They searched everywhere …'

‘But Augustus would've had to know this was going on.' I wasn't convinced. ‘This can't just be Livia's little mission.'

Julia gave a sad smile. ‘Oh, it was done at his express order. Or rather the search was started at his command anyway. He feared Isis too. In those days the whole of Rome feared Isis. If Cleopatra had won … Well what would Rome be like now?'

She shrugged. ‘My grandfather undertook the search because he knew how close he'd come to being defeated at Actium. And he wanted to make sure another Egyptian pharaoh didn't use the ritual to take Cleopatra's place.'

‘But if Augustus really fears Isis so much,' I asked, ‘why on earth was he rummaging through Egypt for her secrets? Wasn't that poking the bear a bit too much, even for him?'

‘No, he had to. He saw it as a matter of survival,' Julia said. ‘Because of the Sibylline books. He keeps the evil things in the new temple to Apollo. The one right in front of his house. He still goes in there at night, and broods over them.'

Alex explained, ‘They're a set of ancient prophecies, that the Romans pinched from the Greeks about four centuries ago.'

‘And they forecast that one day the son of Isis will rule the world,' completed Julia.

Hmm. Which for Rome meant the Roman Empire.

‘Augustus believes Apollo helped him defeat Isis at Actium,' said Julia. ‘So that's why he keeps the prophecy that her son will rule the world in Apollo's temple.'

‘So Apollo can keep an eye on it?' Now that was superstitious.

‘My grandfather gave up the search after the first few years.' She paused, ‘But when Livia couldn't produce a
living son for him, and my grandfather began to favour his daughter's line, Livia secretly restarted it. Now she wants the magic ritual for herself. The ritual that Pharaoh would use to command the gods. The magic ritual that made Pharaoh a god.'

I looked at Alex. ‘That's what's on the text in the handle of the dagger. That's the same magic ritual.'

Julia was shocked. ‘How do you know that? Did the Hierophant tell you?'

‘No, how's he involved in this?'

‘Right in the middle of it.' She licked her dry, bluish lips. ‘When Livia's agents finally found the dagger in a secret tomb, they couldn't find anyone in Egypt who could properly translate the papyrus. It used sacred hieroglyphs that only a specially trained priest could identify.'

‘And Cleopatra had them all killed before she committed suicide,' I said.

Julia's face changed. ‘Gladiatrix, you know far too much for an innocent bystander,' she said, with venom. ‘Who are you really? Did Livia bring you in here to trick me? To torture me?'

‘No. Nothing like that,' I protested. ‘I only know about the text because I met one of Cleopatra's own priestesses this morning. One that survived the massacre. I have nothing to do with Livia. Or her schemes.'

‘If you're not, then why are you so interested in the dagger?' she accused. ‘And why did you have it in the first place?'

How to explain? ‘It was my mother who stole the dagger from the Hierophant. And now she's missing. I was trying to use the dagger and the text to find out who had her.'

Julia didn't look convinced.

I continued. ‘My mother was the real Bellona. I took her place trying to trace her movements. I didn't know about Livia at all. I believed the Hierophant had her and that I could only find him through Domitia.'

‘If that's the truth …' She stared into my eyes. ‘Then may the gods have mercy on you and yours, because you'll never leave here alive. Livia is getting rid of anyone who's even seen the dagger.'

I wasn't going into why we weren't going to be anyone's victims, so I just said, ‘After the dagger was discovered, Livia went to the Hierophant for help, didn't she?'

‘No,' said Julia. ‘She went to Domitia. Livia couldn't be seen anywhere near the Iseum. As the wife of Augustus she can't worship any gods but Rome's. So Domitia acted as go-between. She gave the Hierophant the dagger, and the ritual text, but he wouldn't help. After he translated the ritual, and realised what it was, he even destroyed his translation. He refused to have anything to do with the ritual.'

So that was where the Moral Legion's copy of the ritual came from? The Hierophant must have lied to Livia, and kept the translation hidden.

‘And while the Hierophant had the dagger, my mother stole it,' I said.

‘Yes. Thank the gods,' she said with deep feeling.

‘How could it affect you?' asked Alex.

She looked away as she spoke. ‘Because the ritual requires a human sacrifice. A sacrifice from the ruling bloodline.'

‘No!' I said.

Julia turned back, her eyes full of despair. ‘That's why she's kept me here. She's been waiting for the Hierophant to bend to her will, and perform the ritual on me.'