Requiem for a Slave (17 page)

I hope the gods enjoyed it. The mortals clearly did. The bread and cakes were perfect and the lamb was beautiful – so soft and tender that it had fallen off the bones. People were eating it largely in their hands (we did not have enough knives and platters for them all) and had to be careful not to spot their festive clothes, especially once the mead and watered wine was served.

But I confess my own enjoyment was a little marred. I was watching Maximus moving through the throng, offering a plate of sweet cakes from the town, when it struck me with some force that he was on his own and Minimus was not there to help him serve. I had to turn aside and walk outside the door so that my distress was not too evident to the guests.

Hyperius, I saw, was still standing at the gate, exchanging farewells with another visitor, and when he caught sight of me, he gestured with his hand as if to acknowledge that I was there and to invite me to come and speak to them. But I was still thinking of little Minimus. Aware that unmanly tears were welling in my eyes, and disinclined besides to be summonsed by a slave – even a slave of Quintus Severus – I waved the briefest of salutes, then turned my back on them and pretended some interest in the cooking-pit.

A few moments later I felt a hand upon my arm. Gwellia had seen me leave the roundhouse and had come to look for me. ‘What is it, husband? You look quite distressed.’ She looked into my eyes. ‘But of course. You are still worried about Minimus. Perhaps I should have known. But really, husband, you should come back to the feast. There is nothing you can do in any case until the guests have gone.’

I nodded. ‘Once this feast is over, I shall go straight to town and start enquiring – I’ll try at every gate. And Junio says that he will come and help.’

She squeezed my arm. ‘It’s only a pity that you have to walk. That servant of Quintus’s was offering a ride. He’d heard from Junio that you were going to Glevum later on, and he came to find me in particular to ask if you wanted to travel into town with him – but I said you couldn’t leave the bulla feast before the end.’

So that was why Hyperius was waiting by the lane and why he’d attempted to summon me across. ‘I saw him at the gate. I got the impression that he hoped to speak to me, but I was preoccupied with other things.’ I glanced at her wryly. ‘He has taken a hiring-carriage, I expect, and wanted someone to share the cost of it.’

She shook her head. ‘He’d come in his master’s carriage, so he said. It’s coming back to collect him in a little while. The driver has gone up to your patron’s house meanwhile, to deliver a message from Quintus Severus – something about a banquet on His Excellence’s return. It’s a pity you have to stay here for the guests; it would have saved you quite a walk.’

‘If he’s using his master’s carriage, there’ll be no hire to pay,’ I said, brightening, ‘so it’s possible he could wait for me a little while. We could even ask him to join us at the feast. Perhaps that is what he hoped. No doubt he would be flattered to join this company . . .’ I turned round, but the carriage and its occupant had already gone. ‘Too late! If that was what he wanted, I’ve disappointed him.’

‘You’ve disappointed him in any case, I fear,’ she smiled. ‘He was inordinately proud of travelling in such style and was obviously anxious to show off the fact by sharing it with you.’

I nodded. ‘I saw him talking to someone at the gate; perhaps he was still trying to find a passenger.’

‘Well, he’ll be doubly disappointed, in that case,’ Gwellia said. ‘I’m almost sure that it was Virilis that he was talking to, and being a military messenger, that young man will no doubt have a horse, back at the villa I shouldn’t be surpri—’

‘Indeed he has,’ a cultured voice behind me interrupted us. ‘The finest one the army could provide.’

I turned round to find the messenger himself, now wearing a handsome full-length woollen cloak over his uniform, which was why I hadn’t recognized him at the gate – though Virilis was a striking enough figure, by the gods. He was an unusually tall and athletic-looking youth, whose easy stride was almost swaggering, and he boasted an impressively square chin and chiselled cheeks. His wavy hair was swept back from his face, and his dark eyes were appraising me with shrewd intensity.

However, his manner was deferential when he spoke. ‘Excuse me, citizen, for interrupting your private conversation with your wife. But I did hope to speak to you before I leave, which, unfortunately, I’m obliged to do, as there are other duties to which I must attend. When I saw you standing here, I thought I’d take my chance to come and meet you properly. And your lovely wife, of course.’ He flashed a set of perfect teeth at Gwellia, who smiled.

‘But we spoke in the roundhouse,’ I said ungraciously.

He countered that with a dismissive wave. ‘Of course, we did exchange a few words during the naming ceremony, but that hardly counts. It was purely official, wasn’t it?’ He spoke with the patrician accent of the imperial court, his perfect Latin putting my own to shame, and his long strong fingers, as finely manicured as if they were a girl’s, artlessly adjusted his ruby shoulder-clasp. I moved my own stubbled hands so they were out of sight.

‘I had heard so much about you,’ he went on presently.

That surprised me, but it was Gwellia who said, ‘From His Excellence?’

He did the smile again. ‘From His Excellence, of course. He is fond of boasting of your husband’s intellect and skill, and of how he relies upon him for advice – though he could not insult your family by offering a fee.’

I nodded curtly. That was more than possible. Praise costs nothing and Marcus is often very lavish with it. ‘It is an insult I would sometimes be prepared to bear,’ I muttered – which was foolish, since it was indiscreet and Virilis very clearly was in my patron’s confidence. ‘But it is true that I have helped him in solving several crimes.’

Gwellia was frowning warningly at me, but the young courier looked at me with sudden interest. ‘Which reminds me, citizen, there is something significant I could impart to you.’ He gave me a knowing little smile. ‘Apart from that note of introduction which you already have.’

‘You have news of my patron? Messages for me?’

He glanced at Gwellia and, almost imperceptibly, shook his head as if to signal that this conversation should not be held in front of her. ‘Nothing so formal, citizen, and nothing that cannot wait until a more appropriate time. I am staying in the villa until your patron comes, so we shall be near neighbours for a day or so – I am sure we can find an opportunity. In fact, I understand that you are going to Glevum later on – perhaps we can meet there. And now, I have taken too much of your time. Forgive me, both of you. I will take my leave and allow you to get back to your guests.’ And, with a little bow, he turned away and strode back to the gate.

His easy charm and his flashy dark good looks had clearly made a deep impression on my wife. She was staring after him with an admiring smile. She turned to me. ‘Did you know he was not just a freeman but a citizen? He was telling me his father was an officer with the legions years ago. Got his citizenship when he retired, and then married – as he was entitled to by then – so his children were naturally entitled to the rank.’

There was something strangely irritating in her open admiration for the youth, so I just said, ‘Really?’ But she was not deterred.

‘No doubt that’s why he’s risen in the army quite so fast. He’s very young to be trusted with dispatches, you’d think. But he isn’t just an average courier; he’s attached to the provincial governor’s household in Londinium and rides all over the country with the imperial mail. That’s how Marcus came to notice him and ask permission to obtain his services. Imagine if little Amato could grow up to have a wonderful career like that.’

‘Virilis probably has a powerful patron somewhere,’ I said sourly. ‘Or his father has opened a few doors for him.’

‘But he must be a splendid horseman all the same,’ she enthused. ‘And Marcus seems to think a lot of him. Did you see the note he sent?’

Of course I had. Virilis had given it to me as soon as he arrived. It had been more than fulsome. I was suddenly tired of the wretched messenger and his obvious ability to charm. ‘I would not put too much reliance on that note,’ I said. ‘Marcus has a fondness for handsome youths like that and is always complimentary about their aptitudes – usually rather more so than they deserve. This Virilis may prove to be another. But now, as you were saying before he interrupted us, it is more than time we got back to entertain Amato’s guests.’

And, without pausing for an answer, I went back into the house.

Fourteen

It seemed to take an unconscionably long time for the last guest to leave – and that was actually the priest of Mars himself, who seemed peculiarly reluctant to depart as long as a morsel of roast lamb or wine remained. No wonder he was such a portly man. But at last we got him bundled to the gate and into the hiring-litter which he had arranged – and which, it transpired, had been waiting quite a time – and with cries of ‘Don’t forget to tell your patron, citizens’, he lurched off down the lane.

I turned to Junio, who was standing at my side. ‘Now, perhaps, we can set off into town ourselves. If you are still willing to accompany me, that is.’

He gave me the old familiar grin. ‘Of course. I am as anxious as you are to find news of Minimus. And even if we do not succeed in doing that, I can at least help you finish the Apollo piece today. I know that you are anxious to be paid for that.’

‘Especially after that expensive feast,’ I teased. But it was not entirely a joke. Even with this payment from Pedronius, money – or rather the lack of it – would be a problem soon. I had been relying on the Quintus contract for a handsome fee and had actually turned down several small commissions on the strength of it. The earnings from the Apollo piece would help to see me through, but I was glad to know my patron was returning very soon. Marcus might be very careful with his own expenditure, but he had enough influence with other purchasers to ensure that my household did not starve, however much ill omen was attaching to my shop.

Junio was laughing at my sally, though. ‘At least we shall not require to be fed before we leave! Let us go and tell the women what we plan.’ He led the way into his house again.

Cilla was sitting on a stool beside the central hearth, looking exhausted after the excitements of the day, but flushed with a triumphant pleasure too. Gwellia, assisted by the villa slaves, was busy collecting bowls and spoons to wash in the water that Kurso was no doubt collecting from the spring. Amato – the centre of all this activity – was back in his sleeping hammock, dreaming peacefully.

I looked at Junio.

‘That was a successful ritual, I think,’ he said. ‘But now . . .’

‘You are going to go and look for Minimus, I hope,’ my wife replied. ‘Take Maximus to help you. We can manage here. With the slaves from the villa, we have a lot more hands to help than we would have done if Minimus was here. So you go and find him, and good luck to you. Kurso, where’s that water?’ And she plunged her hands into a metal bowl and set to work to scrub it with a handful of rough sand.

We took this as a signal to depart. We did not change out of our togas – we would get more respect from sentries and people as we were, and we could soak down to our tunics if we went to the villa to strip the linen off the plaque. However, we did pause to seize a cloak and staff apiece, and I took a few
sesterces
from the household store so that I could settle with Radixrapum when he came. Then Junio and I set out to walk to town, with Maximus trotting after us with my box of tools and the spare birrus which Kurso had worn home.

It is a long walk, even in daylight, and – though of course I do not often travel at this time of day – the old track through the woods seemed unnaturally empty. Yet the forest was full of disturbing rustling sounds and a distant howling which might have been a dog or wolf, but – to my over-anxious ears – could have been a rebel signal from somewhere in the trees. Moreover, for a long time we scarcely saw a soul: only a farmer with a panniered donkey lumbering along, who moved grumblingly aside to let us pass. Of course, there were three of us and we were armed with staves, but I could not keep the thought of brigands from my mind.

So when I heard the sound of hoof-beats following, my heart began to pound. I glanced at Junio and saw that his face was set and tense, and – though neither of us voiced our fears in front of Maximus – I knew he shared my thoughts. This section of the lane route is muddy and particularly steep, and it is rare to find a horseman who will choose to come this way at all. But the hoof-beats were coming closer and ever closer still, until they slowed and seemed to follow us.

I stole a furtive glance and saw a hooded figure on a horse.

He came up beside us, reined his mount and stopped.

‘On your way to Glevum, citizen?’ the rider said, and I recognized the cultured tones of Virilis. He was smiling down at me with that over-charming smile that my wife had found so irresistible. ‘I would have offered to take you if you had been alone – I’m sure that my horse could have accommodated us both.’

I thanked him as politely as I could, in a voice still weak with shock. ‘But I have not been on a horse at all for many years and certainly never riding pillion.’ It was true. I would never have considered such an offer anyway – particularly from an over-pampered pet like him.

He laughed. ‘Then perhaps it’s just as well. It would not in any case have been a comfortable ride – this route is much more steep and winding than I had supposed. No wonder so few horsemen seem to come this way.’ He paused. ‘Well, if you’re sure there’s nothing I can do? Your patron would expect me to help you if I could. Perhaps I could take that box for you, at least,’ he went on with a smile. ‘It is heavy for your slave. I could easily leave it at your workshop later on – I have to pass that way in any case.’