The Golden Dice - A Tale of Ancient Rome (51 page)

The lamp was enormous. A maenad’s face adorned it. Two slave boys were needed to unhook it from the ceiling. It would take hours to burnish.

Semni used the tweezers to extract the spent wicks from the sixteen nozzles, then with olive oil and elbow grease she set about removing the soot. She always hated polishing the bronze. There was so much of it: candelabras and incense burners, wine jars and rhytons. Her delight in the artistry of their decoration had palled the first time she’d cleaned the crevices of their engraved or embossed surfaces.

Her brief spell as a wet nurse had ended. Her short-lived sense of importance also. She thought the mistress’ decision premature. Thia was still hungry, her cries jarring everybody’s nerves. Yet she understood the mistress’ persistence to suckle her baby, and her resolve to keep all her children within sight, given Lord Artile’s malice.

Arruns had said the Roman was brave. Semni knew this was true. And since the confinement she’d come to admire the princip more and more. Lady Caecilia had showed courage in her lengthy labor.

In the birth chamber boundaries of class had been suspended. The lowly had rubbed shoulders with the highborn, and roughened hands had touched soft ones as she and Lady Ramutha held the mistress on the birthing chair. And for once there was no hostility from Cytheris as she issued instructions to fill the goat’s bladder or brew the acrid tea.

At least the foreboding that had loomed over the household had lifted. Yesterday Lady Ramutha had visited, trailing her brood of prissy daughters behind her, and had left hours later, having found a way for the mistress to thwart Lord Artile’s plot. Today, though, as Semni rubbed the grimy lamp, she could not help feeling a little resentful at the solution to Lady Caecilia’s dilemma. With a fortune of her own, the haughty Veientane could weather scandal. Her husband had accepted her illegitimate child. Now Lord Thefarie would have to cope with his wife adopting another man’s daughter. How different it had been for her. As soon as Velthur had spotted the blond patch on Nerie’s head he’d cast her aside. Raising a bastard was not so simple without rank and riches. And yet Semni could not truly grumble—at the end of the day her son would be raised in a princip’s house as well.

Nerie perched on the washroom bench beside her. His face, clothes and hands were covered in oil. Having grown tired of copying her he was now arranging the molded ladles and wine strainers in a row: griffins nudging centaurs, and docile lions next to deer.

Semni brushed her hair from her eyes with the back of her hand, glad for the day’s coolness and hoping that, after the searing summer, autumn might not tarry after all. For she had woken to a dismal sky. The prospect of the drought ending caused those in the household to smile.

The horses in the stable were neighing with a fractious shifting of hooves at the distant notes of war horns. Above their sound Semni heard a herald calling for all to gather. She lifted Nerie and hurried into the kitchen.

The youth was breathless. “Lord Mastarna is attacking the Romans at the northwest bridge!”

Message delivered, he departed, repeating it to all he met.

Keen to plunge into the crowd that would be heading to the Tinia Gates, Semni started towards the courtyard. Although she never again wished to view the aftermath of battle she relished the chance to join in carousing when victory was announced. It had been such a long time since she’d reveled.

Cook paused in adding salt to the cauldron. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“
To see General Mastarna and his soldiers returning.”

The woman pointed to the washroom. “You’re not traipsing after any rabble. Get back in there. When the master returns home there will be chance enough to celebrate.”

Pouting, the girl turned to resume her work. She ached for the freedom she’d once had to leave her potter’s wheel and share the thrill and heartbeat of the city. Yet she’d only taken a few steps when she heard cries of delight outside.

Fine mist was drifting from the sky. Smiling, Semni stood with the others in the yard enjoying the feel of droplets upon hair and skin. Nerie laughed, squeezing his fingers open and shut, trying to catch the sprinkles.

After a time the novelty faded and the servants retreated inside. Semni trudged to the washroom. Settling Nerie at her feet she resumed polishing the lamp. Rain pattered on the roof. And the creak of wagons and clip-clop of donkeys outside was proof that wetness was no deterrent for the curious heading to the Tinia Gates.

“
Hello, Semni.”

She froze, recognizing the voice.

Head covered with a shawl, Aricia stepped inside the doorway, flattening herself against the wall so she could not be seen.

Nerie laughed, lurching towards the nursemaid. Semni picked him up and swung him onto her hip. Her whisper was panicked. “How did you get here?”

“
The tunnel from Uni’s temple, of course.” The girl held up the wine cellar key. “Lord Artile had more than one of these.” She tilted her chin. “I’m going to Velzna to the Sacred College just as he promised.”

She was radiant, exuding sanctimony and smugness. Her blue-bordered chiton was not dirtied and she was still wearing the bracelets that had been retrieved from amid charred carcasses and charcoal. It was clear she had not suffered from the expulsion. Instead she was triumphant that any doubts about the priest were unfounded.

Semni remained skeptical, though. “I don’t believe you.”

“
It’s true. The haruspex is leaving the city today and is taking me with him.”

Astonishment was heaped upon disbelief. “But the mistress is on her way to tell him that Lady Ramutha is to claim Thia.”

Aricia frowned, unsettled by this news. She soon recovered. “Then she will find my lord missing.”

It was still difficult to believe the girl’s story. “And how are you going to get to Velzna? The Romans surround us. And now a battle is raging.”

“
There’s a tunnel to one of the sanctuaries outside the city. From there Lord Artile knows a way through the ravines. And he has coin enough to buy us passage through one of the remoter outposts. A priest and his family would pose no threat to the Romans.”

A sense of disquiet stirred. “What do you mean ‘family’?”

Aricia peeked through the doorway and back to Semni. “Tas is to come with us.”

“
But you can’t take him! He is the heir to this house.”

Aricia placed one finger to her lips. “Shh! I am doing what is best for him.”“You’re crazy. His father is fighting his way here at this very moment. You cannot deprive him and the mistress of their son.”

The girl drew her shawl from her head. Her eyes were intense. “Have you ever wondered why I shielded you? For certain it was not for love. Not after you made it clear that I mean nothing to you. I protected you so you could help me now.”

Semni swallowed, shifting Nerie further up her hip. “I’m sorry I hurt you, but I thought you knew we are only friends. I love Arruns. That doesn’t mean I don’t care for you.”

A glimpse of the old Aricia returned. “I would have done anything for you, Semni. Anything, if only you had chosen me.”

Compassion filled her for her friend’s unrequited love, but pity was not enough to convince her to abet Aricia in her plan. She was already remorseful that she’d aided the nursemaid in the first place. And she would never be able to bear Arrun’s hatred once he learned she’d been complicit in the abduction of a beloved child. She avoided the reproach in Aricia’s gaze by concentrating on Nerie. The boy put his arm around her neck and sucked his thumb.

“
I can’t. It would break Lady Caecilia’s heart.”

The girl’s expression hardened. She gestured towards Nerie. “He is safe because of me. You owe me a debt.” On hearing his name, the tot leaned forward and stretched out his arms for Aricia to take him. She ignored him. “I wish you to repay me now.”

Heat prickled Semni’s skin. She was being dragged into a conspiracy again. “I don’t understand. What do you want from me?”

Aricia glanced yet again into the corridor. “I want you to bring Tas to me.”

Semni stared at her, the request so astounding she struggled to understand.

“
The Roman never wanted him in the first place,” Aricia hissed.

Semni cuddled Nerie, thinking how she’d tried to rid him from her womb. Should she judge the mistress for not wanting to quicken? After all, people change. She thought of Arruns. If he was her husband, she would welcome, not dread, bearing his child. And everyone knew the story of how the Roman returned to marry the general for a second time. Would she have done so if she did not love him? If she did not want to bear his sons? And hadn’t she kept vigil over Tas and Thia with obsessive determination when they’d been threatened?

She studied Aricia. A girl who had never borne a babe. And in that moment Semni knew she could not assist her. As a mother she could not let her take another mother’s child.

Suddenly Nerie leaned so far forward she thought she would drop him. “Maa-sta.” He pointed at the doorway. “Maa-sta!”

Semni could not believe her eyes. Tas was creeping along the hallway. How had he escaped from Perca’s care?

Risking discovery, Aricia stepped into the corridor and called out softly.

Tas halted, the fear in his face dissolving when he realized he’d not walked into trouble. His nursemaid drew him into the washroom and hugged him.

His voice was squeaky with excitement. “You’ve come, you’ve come! I knew you would. I tried to visit the storeroom yesterday but Ati would not leave me alone. I wanted to go through the tunnel again.” He extracted himself from her embrace. “Can I visit Uncle now?”

Aricia nodded. “He has sent me to fetch you.”

For a moment, the boy’s anxiety returned. “He is not angry with me, is he? For not making sacrifice to Aita.”

“
Of course not, my pet.” She kissed his cheek. “He longs to see you.”

Semni realized that Aricia was not going to reveal the priest’s true intentions. Lowering Nerie to the floor, she crouched beside Tas. “Little master, Lord Artile does not just want you to visit him. He wants to take you to the Sacred College in Velzna.”

Tas knitted his brow. “Velzna? But that is far away, isn’t it?”

Aricia pulled him closer, putting distance between him and Semni. The boy clutched the folds of the nursemaid’s chiton, looking up at her. “I don’t want the Roman soldiers to get me!”

She stroked his hair. “Hush, you need not worry. Your uncle knows a way to keep us safe. This is your chance to learn how to be a prophet.”

Semni rose and reached down to touch the boy’s shoulder. “Little master, you might never see your mother again. Nor Larce or Arnth or Thia.”

In the dim light his pupils were dilated within amber irises, his expression wary. “Leave Ati?”

Semni nodded.

Aricia pressed him against her.

Conscious that the girl could still convince him, Semni persisted. “Do you hear those trumpets, Tas? That is your father’s army trying to return to the city. Don’t you want to see him?”

Aricia peeked around the corner, ready to scurry to the wine cellar. “We must hurry, my pet. Let’s go to the tunnel while we have the chance.”

Dazed, the boy would not budge. “Apa?”

Semni pitied him as his gaze swung between the two girls.

Aricia tugged at him, stepping into the hallway. “Come on.”

Desperate, Semni grabbed Tas’ other arm; then, with as much force as she could muster, she shoved Aricia’s chest. The girl tumbled, landing hard on her bottom. As the nursemaid sat stunned, Semni yanked Tas and ran, voice hoarse from the force of her shrieks. The boy did not resist her although he looked back towards Aricia. Frightened, Nerie began crying, toddling after his mother.

Semni burst into the kitchen, pulling short when she found a roomful of servants startled by her entrance. Cytheris was one of them. The relief on the maid’s face at finding the truant boy was followed by indignation that he was with Semni.

“
What are you shouting about? And what are you doing with the young master? I’ve been looking for him everywhere. That witless Perca did not notice he was missing until now.”

Semni glanced back over her shoulder, trying to catch her breath. “Aricia was trying to take him.”