Our Eternal Curse I (14 page)

“
So what did you say?”

“
What could I say?  Yes I will need many galleys,”
volunteered Gavius shrugging his shoulders

“
And what did she say?”

“
I can provide galleys at the right price to allow
you to move this cargo on the condition that you use my cargo fleet exclusively
in the future.”

“
And what did you say?”

“
Feeling lucky to be alive I agreed immediately and
without hesitation.”

“
Well that is interesting news,” mumbled Julia as
she walked away without saying goodbye.  Deep in apprehensive contemplation
Julia’s sharp mind surmised that Clitumna was seizing this newfound opportunity
in Hispania to legitimize her business.  Julia also pondered the fact that she
had not discussed her actions with the Captain which proved that she was in
command.  Her dealings with Gavius also made it clear that she had absolutely
no loyalty to their exclusivity agreement with Bromidus.

Growing fear of this incredibly
powerful woman drove Julia immediately to the jeweler’s shop for the sanctuary
of her “lions” and a jug of un-watered wine.  Clitumna was a potentially
dangerous adversary and Julia wondered if she would be able to maintain her own
anonymity if the pirate queen started looking for the power behind the
obviously incompetent Gavius.

Just a few days after the first
delivery of goods Bromidus sent many bags of gold coins to Gavius at his shop. 
He in turn called his own couriers and dispatched four of the bags to a tavern
nearby to pay the pirates as had been agreed in Hispania.

A vast amount of gold and silver
sesterces now lay on his counter in piles of ten and in three separate
clusters, even with the pirates share missing it was still a lot of coins.

Later that day Gavius would
deliver one of the heaps to the home of Gaius Marius to pay for the produce,
the second was for him to cover all of his commission and expenses.  The third
and by far the largest was for Julia.  In less than an hour she arrived and
behind a locked door he watched her handling the bright yellow discs with a
look of total wonder; it was like watching a child with their first doll. 
After a further hour of her playing, Gavius re-bagged her share and slid them
across the counter to where she sat sipping from a goblet of his best wine.

Sitting down Gavius expressed
his concerns about such an early drink of un-watered wine for such a young
lady.  He also expressed his concerns about their current state of affairs.
Bromidus had unwittingly paid the very pirates he had tried to cut out of the
deal and the very same pirates believe they had bypassed Bromidus.  Gavius
found himself covered in floods of perspiration as he thought about his
predicament.  If either found out the enormity of the double-cross he was lost.
He wondered how such a notorious coward could find himself in this ridiculous
and dangerous situation.

Julia, on the other hand, was
not entertaining such negative thoughts.  Everything she had planned was now
complete she had achieved her goal.  All loose ends tied, only one more task
had to be concluded then she would have her much longed for security.

Leaving her stool Julia unbolted
the door and beckoned to a young slave boy who happened to be walking past the
shop.  “Pick up these bags and follow me,” she said, totally ignoring his words
as he protested about being on an urgent errand for his master.

Unfortunately the boy could not
do the job alone so Julia grabbed another two lads and told them the same
thing.  These two also protested about having other duties but their words fell
on deaf ears.

Her first impulsive action was
to run to the little jeweler’s shop by the temple of Jupiter because the only
money she had ever earned was going to help her possess the only thing she
could ever love but the weight of so much gold prevented an all-out sprint, the
slaves could maintain a shuffle at best.

“
Come on boys! Faster! Faster!”  She was ignoring
all danger.  Anything could have happened to boys who carried such obvious
wealth but Julia didn’t give it a passing thought, all she wanted was her
“lions”.

When Julia burst into his shop
with her three exhausted slaves, Calpurnius the Jeweler was completely taken
aback by her new found ability to purchase his most expensive item.  When he
told her that the amulet had been sold he could only compare her response with
that shown by his wife after losing their two-year-old son to cholera.

Julia’s heartfelt despair moved
him spontaneously to tears simply because it was so reminiscent of his own
tragedy.  Every emotion came flooding back to him as though it had happened
yesterday and both of them wept sobbing tears holding each other while the
confused slaves stood uneasily by.

Eventually realizing the
ridiculousness of his situation the jeweler invited Julia to sit and join him
in a goblet of wine and after taking a sip he recovered his composure enough to
enquire if she would like to purchase anything other than the amulet.  Opening
his cabinets Calpurnius withdrew his most valuable items but nothing pleased
her.

It took a full hour of wiping
tears and holding the distraught woman before Julia spoke again, “I will pay
you more than you sold my ‘lions’ for if you get them back.”

“
A tempting offer but I happen to know that I will
be unable to get it back.” Calpurnius was sincerely regretting the sale which
just this morning he had been boasting about.

“
Double the price you sold it for!” snapped Julia
spontaneously.

The jeweler knew that this was
no idle boast because he had looked in the bags sitting on his counter where
the departing slave boys had left them.  “This is very frustrating situation
indeed because I sold the amulet only moments before your arrival.”  He was
genuinely devastated.  After so many years of just looking he believed that
Julia would never be able to afford it.  Calpurnius had willingly broken his
promise never to sell it to anyone else because she was a simple house-slave.
Where
was she ever going to find that sort of money?
 
Where indeed had she
found that kind of money?

“
Who is the buyer?” asked Julia in a hollow growl
which sounded more like the snarl of an animal then the voice of a young woman.

Calpurnius backed away in real
fear of being hit by the heavy goblet. “I don’t know the name of the man
because he would not tell me but I happen to know that the amulet has left
Rome.”

“
How?”  Julia was becoming even angrier.

“
The man was Greek and he was leaving Rome today.” 
His words provoked Julia to a new level of anger but he dare not give even a
clue to the identity of the amulet’s new owner in case she somehow tracked them
down and caused bloody mayhem.

Adopting the stance of a
gladiator defending himself from a lion in the Circus Maximus, Calpurnius
decided not to let the bags of gold walk out without a fight and bracing
himself for her next verbal attack he made Julia a proposition.  “I can have
another amulet made in a few weeks.  I know a craftsman who could do the job.
He is old but I am sure I can convince him to work again, for the right sum of
course.”

“
It won’t be the same, it won’t be my ‘lions’.” 
Julia no longer saw her “lions” as an object and offering to replace them was
as futile as offering to replace a dead loved one.

The hours went by and Calpurnius
alternated between comforting her and defending himself.  A vast quantity of
wine was being slurped down but it did not have the calming effect he hoped for
because her mood was swinging like a flag in a gale and having seen nothing
like it before he used a combination of instinct cunning and commonsense in an
attempt to win her gold.  His heart told him to escort her home but his
business sense told him that there was money in great supply if only he could
land her gently.

Julia felt beaten yet again. 
She gave her heart to the “lions” because she was absolutely determined never
to love another living thing again.  She viewed each beautifully crafted
character on the amulet as a member of the family she would never dare to
have.  Each had a name even a personality and because they would never die or
use her for their own ends, Julia trusted them completely.  The faced amulet
was the only thing Julia allowed in and the grief of losing it was unbearable. 
Unable to move for the pain which filled her body and mind Julia allowed
herself to sink into the goblet which Calpurnius kept constantly replenished.

In time darkness fell and the
jeweler was still unable to finagle a decision.  Julia was in no mood to make
one—she was distraught and very drunk.  He had even sent out for more wine in
order to keep her there because he believed that all would be lost if those
bags of money were allowed to leave his shop.  As a last resort Calpurnius
offered to hold the bags in safekeeping and was bracing himself for the
negotiation when much to his amazement Julia walked out without a sideways
glance at the money.  For her it had only one purpose and that was the
possession of her “lions”; she simply cared very little about anything else.

Shipments continued to arrive on
a regular basis but Julia extracted no pleasure from her success because even
though many months had passed she remained in the constant pain of lost love. 
The amulet dominated her thoughts and those thoughts refused to be ignored,
concealed or forgotten.

If she kept herself busy the
agony could be pushed to the background but every single thing in Rome seemed
to remind her of the “lions” and their faces always found a way back to the
forefront of her mind.

By way of an escape Julia
returned to the work that kept her busy during Gavius’s tour of Hispania and
attempted to drive out the debilitating pain by filling her head with new
information.   She visited almost every merchant stallholder and trader in the
city with the intention of learning everything they knew.  Julia talked to
people who held information for as long as it took to extract it and in the
course of distracting her mind became the foremost authority on every aspect of
food distribution in Rome.

Due to her worsening insomnia
Julia regularly walked around the wholesale markets which traded during the
early hours of each morning and occasionally while watching traders bid for
boxes of produce the auctioneers’ babble helped her find momentary peace.

When the sun came up and the
auction closed, Julia followed the traders back to their stalls where she
compared the meager supplies they had purchased at the market with the food on
display.  She reasoned that the extra goods must have been purchased from the
black-market and comparing the two allowed her to calculate the size of
Bromidus’s business.

Her produce from Hispania could
now be seen all over the city and comparing what she sold it for with the
retail price allowed her to estimate both Bromidus’s and a merchant’s profit
margin.  Over time Julia used this research to learn everything about how
prices and profits were calculated.

At the end of her research Julia
concluded that the simplest place to sell any kind of produce was at the
legitimate markets.  Bromidus controlled all of the black-market and the
traders clearly resented dealing with his style of bullyboy salesman.  She
believed that when the shortages inevitably come to an end the black-market
would die and with this conclusion firmly in her mind Julia went looking for
struggling wholesalers.

Always hooded she spent hours at
the markets just watching for vendors who could not compete with the bigger
providers.  Julia struck up conversations with these men and in a subtle
attempt to ascertain how bad their situation would throw in the odd comment
such as “How expensive Rome was these days,” and “How hard it is to make a
living.”  They all tried to put on a brave face but Julia could tell the ones
who were finding life hard.

After a few weeks of
continuously probing Julia short-listed four wholesalers who she observed to be
extremely able but also the most desperate in the market.  She approached her
list in the order of their ability and made the same offer to each of them in
turn.

“
I will provide you with large quantities of the
best quality olives, olive oil, wine, grapes, wheat flour and oranges in the
short term.  I will then deliver other fruits and vegetables within one year. 
What is more, I will give you best prices and credit terms with which to
purchase your first shipment.”

Much to her annoyance the first
two simply laughed.  The only thing their masculine minds were able to see was
a beautiful young woman and in their limited world women ran homes not
business.  They would live to regret that in time but for now Julia persevered
with her short-list.

The response from her next
prospect was entirely to her liking.  Upon hearing the offer the man called
Antonius looked deeply into her eyes and saw such resolve that all he could say
was, “How do I win the right to represent you?”

Relieved by such a respectful reply
Julia returned his smile saying, “Do nothing for the moment, carry on as normal
and I will return with instructions within two months.” Then she turned and
walked away.  Antonius was shortly to become one of the richest traders at the
market simply because he had been open-minded enough to listen to a woman.  He
would never know it but his respectful reply was going make his descendants one
of the richest families in Rome for many, many generations to come.

In a constant state of tired
anger Julia was moving to a very important and dangerous stage in her plan but
before it was implemented she wanted to tie up some loose ends.  She held no
doubt that if what she was about to do failed, her life would be over and Julia
did not want to die without seeking revenge for some of the wrongs she had
endured.  It was time for others to share in her debilitating pain so on one
chilly morning Julia deliberately bumped into the lad who had just delivered
oil to Gavius.  He was a cocky young man who seemed fairly intelligent and he
knew her only as the lady who had asked a few questions one year before.

“
I want you to take a message to your master,” said
Julia with authority.

“
Who is my master?” he replied arrogantly in his
course accent.

“
Bromidus.”  As he was about to protest Julia held
up her hand saying, “Do not argue just pass on this message.”

The boy could feel her eyes
burning into his as she said, “Tell him that I want Joseph the Jewish spice
trader cut off from his supply.  He trades within the Cuppedenis market and his
stock must be reduced slowly over a period of many painful months.  No harm is
to come to him but he must feel squeezed as he is prevented from trading.”

With her face chillingly free of
emotion Julia went on, “If this message is not delivered you will be put to
death!”

He had lived his whole life
under the shadow of a violent death but that pleasure-less expression and the
last unexpected sentence turned his veins to ice.  The young urchin had no idea
it was just an act which caused Julia terrible emotional damage all he knew was
the woman seemed to be pure evil and he was on his way to the tavern to see
Bromidus.

A few days later it became clear
that the young man had delivered the message correctly as gaps began appearing
on Joseph’s stall.  Week-by-week he had less to sell and each time Julia walked
surreptitiously by another spice would be missing.  Joseph could have no idea
what provoked his fall from grace he had been selling black-market spices for a
long time and he never broke the rules, always paid on time and never told
anyone where he purchased his stock.

Every time he asked why his
orders were not filled completely the delivery boys would respond abruptly with
“shortages” or “not available today” but he was never given an explanation which
he could understand.  When he pressed them they told him to think himself lucky
that he was getting anything at all.

Joseph was in deep trouble and
Julia knew that he would be very worried because the money he made in Rome
supported his family in Judea, if he failed his whole family would starve.  She
watched secretly from across the market but annoyingly received no feelings of
pleasure from his discomfort, all she felt was sympathy for him and disdain for
herself.

Angered by her own pathetically
sentimental nature Julia left Joseph to wallow in his pity while hoping that
the total destruction of her next victim would provide her longed-for feelings
of satisfaction.

The person Julia most wanted to
feel her wrath was her treacherous jeweler but when she and Marcus stormed into
his shop Calpurnius took the wind out of her sails with a few lucky words.

“
There you are,” he smiled. “Look here I have your
money and of course your interest.”

Stopping in her tracks Julia
enquired angrily, “Interest?  What is interest?”  Then holding out her arm
Julia stopped Marcus as he advanced on Calpurnius and added, “You have seconds
to explain how this, interest, affects me.”

When he explained a few of the
intricacies of finance Julia asked, “How do you know such things?”

“
I am a jeweler as you know but also a money
lender.”

“
Tell me about money?” she snapped. Then turning to
Marcus she added, “Wait outside but don’t go anywhere I may need you yet.”

Pushing the half-removed dagger
back into its leather sheath Marcus turned and walked out without speaking.

“
Well, go on!” snapped Julia.

With a very worried look on his
face and a wary eye on the villain standing outside his doorway Calpurnius
explained the complexities of commerce.

Completely intrigued Julia let
her temper pass realizing for the first time that money was not just for buying
and selling things it could also be used to wield power and influence.  With
pure innocent luck Calpurnius had saved himself with his extensive
understanding of finance.