The Warrior's Princess Page 25

  ‘I can’t believe how pretty this is,’ Jess exclaimed in delight as she was gently pushed towards a cushioned wrought iron chair shaded by potted ferns. Nearby a wind chime played a gentle ethereal sequence of notes in the almost non existent breeze.

  Carmella smiled. ‘It’s better you’ve come here on your own. There are things we need to discuss alone, no?’ She brought two glasses of white wine and a dish of olives, setting them down on the glass-topped table. Then she went back into the living room. She reappeared with a woven bag which she set on the floor between their chairs. ‘My kit for chiaroveggente. Kim calls this clairvoyance. You have no word for it in English which is strange!’

  ‘Fortune telling; seeing the future. Prediction. Second sight?’ Jess said softly. ‘I think we have many words as we do for everything.’

  Carmella shrugged. ‘OK. Well, my kit has my cards. My sfera di cristallo, the I ching, everything I need for predizione del futuro.’

  Jess smiled. She felt safe for the first time in ages, relaxing back into her chair, strangely content to put herself and her future in Carmella’s hands.

  ‘I couldn’t do this in front of the others. They mock these things. They do them for a side show.’ Carmella leaned forward in her own chair and held out her hands for Jess’s. ‘Show me your palmi. We call this la chiromanzia.’

  ‘Chiromancy. Palmistry.’ Jess grinned.

  Carmella took her hands in her own and stared at them for a long time, tracing lightly the lines with the little finger of her right hand. Jess waited in silence. She felt nervous suddenly.

  At length Carmella let go of her hands. She sat back and smiled. ‘Your hands tell me about you. For your friend Eigon I need la sfera. She produced a black velvet bundle from her bag and reverently unwrapped a crystal ball. It was some five inches in diameter, filled with strange occlusions and rainbows as she balanced it on a small padded ring on the table in front of her.

  Jess gazed at it in awe. ‘It moves as though it is alive.’

  ‘It is. This was made hundreds of years ago. It was in my family for generations and my grandmother left it to me.’ Carmella looked up and smiled. ‘Don’t tell Kim. She would tease me for this as well. This bag,’ she gestured to where it lay at her feet, ‘stays behind the sofa when Kim comes to see me. She knows only about the cards.’

  She moved her hands gently across the surface of the crystal, cupping them against the sunlight. ‘Normally I read the ball in the dark by candlelight, but today we need the sun.’

  Jess was sitting on the edge of her seat watching closely. ‘Why?’

  ‘I want to throw light on the past, not dig in the shadows. Your Eigon wants to tell you her story. We do not have to spy on her.’

  ‘And Dan?’ It was a whisper.

  ‘Dan is in your cards and again in your palm. And he is in your head.’ Carmella looked up suddenly. ‘He is, isn’t he?’

  Jess’s eyes widened. She had said nothing about the voice in the park. ‘You know I heard him?’

  ‘You are a sensitive. It would be hard not to. His voice fills the space around you.’ Carmella shivered. ‘So. First, I will teach you to blank him out. Pouf! Like that!’ She snapped her fingers. ‘He is very afraid and a frightened animal is a dangerous animal, Jess. You have the power to ruin everything in his life and he is not acting with logic. He is in a panic.’

  The two glasses of wine sat untouched on the table between them, condensation running down the stems in the heat of the afternoon to pool on the glass of the table. A wasp flew towards the dish of olives, hovered for a moment and then veered away.

  Jess shivered.

  ‘Eigon is here. You are both afraid. Both running away from a man,’ Carmella said quietly. ‘Listen to her first. Hear her story. Then we will go on.’

  17

  They had visited the goldsmith and again stayed longer than they should. It was growing late and darkness was nearly upon them as they made their way back to where they had left the horses. The gates were open and already the wagons and carts, banned during the daytime, were beginning to make their way into the city, increasing the noise and congestion tenfold. Flavius kept looking round, nervously scanning the crowds. He had a bad feeling about this. The whole area seemed too busy. The atmosphere everywhere was volatile and angry. He wasn’t sure what was happening. The mob was gathering and this was not the time to be out in a public place, never mind with two vulnerable young women and a couple of unarmed slaves. He had grown careless, bringing them out on these excursions, each time wondering if it was safe to let Eigon wander the streets against her mother’s wishes. But nothing had happened. Time had passed. Four years of study for her which had been hard. She deserved her excursions. And they gave him plenty of time to spend with Julia. No one had ever approached them though several times he had had the feeling they were watched. Wordlessly he moved closer to them. He strained his ears to try and hear what people were talking about. The Emperor. The young Emperor and his friends were out in the streets again, fighting and carousing and causing chaos as they taunted the mob. Cursing silently, Flavius hurried his charges on, dodging through gaps in the crowds. Then almost in front of them they saw a fight break out. A dozen young men surged towards them, shouting. The leader seemed to be looking straight at them. Flavius’s blood ran cold. They were heading for the girls. Grabbing Eigon’s arm he dragged her off the road, looking round frantically for an escape route. Behind him the slave Demitrius had seized Julia’s hand. They huddled together as they ran and behind them the young men changed course after them with a shout of anger.

  ‘Fend them off!’ Flavius screamed at the second slave, Vulpius. ‘Give us a moment’s start!’ The mouth of a dark alleyway opened up near them. Flavius headed for it desperately, shoving the girls into the shadows as the gang of youths reached Vulpius and pushed him out of the way. Behind them more men were surging in their direction. Shouts turned to screams. Someone grabbed a flaming torch and pushed it into the faces of the combatants; someone else set about them with his fists and Flavius found himself forcing his way back to Vulpius’s side. ‘Run!’ he shouted over his shoulder. ‘Run, now!’

  Terrified, Julia and Eigon shrank away into the darkness. They stopped, transfixed with terror. ‘We can’t go without Flavius!’ Julia cried. ‘Go on. Run. I’ll wait for him.’ Vulpius had gone down. For an instant Flavius saw the man’s anguished face beneath a scrum of heaving bodies, then it was gone. He couldn’t even see where he was. Desperately he tried to fight his way back out of the crowd, away from the angry flying fists, his nose running with blood. Then Julia was there. Behind them the crowd bayed as someone else fell to the ground. Julia clutched at Flavius’s arm and dragged him into the shadows. ‘This way! Quick!’

  ‘But Vulpius! We can’t leave him!’

  ‘We have to. There’s nothing we can do!’ It was Demitrius who took the lead. ‘This way. They won’t follow us in the dark, they’re too interested in the fight.’

  Somehow they had ducked away from the crowds into a narrow cut between two buildings then on down another alleyway, doubling back away from the Forum. Eigon reached for Julia’s hand. Behind her Flavius pounded at their heels, glancing over his shoulder. In seconds they had left the noise behind. When at last they stopped they were gasping for breath.

  Flavius wiped his nose on the edge of his sleeve. ‘Are you all right? Did you see what happened? Someone had a knife. What on earth was that all about?’ He put his arm protectively around Julia’s shoulders. ‘Come on. If we go this way we can work our way round the back to the horses. I’ve got to get you out of here!’ He glanced behind him again.

  ‘What do we do about Vulpius?’ Eigon cried. ‘We can’t abandon him.’

  ‘We can’t help him, either. I’ll get you home, then Demitrius and I’ll come back and look for him.’ Flavius wiped the blood from his face again. ‘This way. We’ll try and work our way through the backstreets.’ He thought they were in the Subura area now, rough even
in daylight. He cursed under his breath, looking round. If they could head eastwards up the Esqualine Hill it would be safer there.

  It was not long before they realised that they were completely lost.

  ‘We’ve been down this alley before, Flavius.’ Demitrius gestured at a house sign. ‘At the sign of three goblets.’

  Eigon nodded. They were all panting. ‘He’s right. I can’t hear the crowds any more either in the distance. It’s almost too quiet.’

  Huddling together they looked round at the crowded buildings. The lane was barely more than the width of a man’s outstretched arms. The sky was a narrow strip of stars between the uneven roofs.

  ‘So, what do you suggest?’ Flavius tried to steady his breath. He wiped his nose again, trying to hide his growing unease. He was responsible for these two girls, they were already late, he had brought them to hideous danger and they were all hopelessly lost in an area of slums and brothels to which he would never have exposed them even in daylight with an armed escort of the Praetorian guard.

  There was a burst of shouting suddenly from the end of the street. A crowd of figures appeared in the distance wielding torches, baying like hunting dogs.

  ‘I don’t believe it. They can’t have followed us! Come on. Round the corner so they can’t see us.’ Flavius set off at a run. The others pounded after him ducking down another even narrower alley into total darkness. Demitrius crept forward ahead of them, his eyes like a cat’s in the dark. ‘This is a dead end.’ He paused and turned to face them. ‘We’re trapped.’

  ‘Keep quiet then,’ Flavius murmured through gritted teeth. ‘Maybe they won’t see us.’

  ‘Did they go down here?’ a voice called behind them, echoing between the buildings and for an instant they saw a figure silhouetted against the flame as someone held a torch up high above his head. The light ran up the walls. It almost reached them as they cowered into the shadows, but not quite. ‘Where are they, did you see? We can’t go back without her. We have to find her or our lives won’t be worth living! I saw people running away. They must have gone down here.’ He was heading down the alley after them, the torch held high above his head when a shout from the main street stopped him in his tracks. ‘This way! We’ve spotted them. Come on!’

  The figure hesitated. Eigon and Julia were holding their breath. Eigon could feel herself trembling. ‘I don’t think so,’ the man went on. His voice was quieter now, projected in their direction. He held his torch even higher. ‘I think there is a band of frightened little mice hiding up this passageway, and I think I’m going to catch them!’

  Julia gave a moan of fright. There was nowhere to go. They pressed themselves further into the shadows. Eigon could feel the unyielding stone against her shoulder-blades, then level with her hip a smooth colder protuberance from the wall. It was a ring. Turning with a little gasp of hope she fumbled at it and found a door handle. Desperately she grabbed at it and turned it and behind them a small wooden door creaked open. In seconds they were through it, pushing it closed behind them over rough paving stones which caught on the wood.

  ‘Is there a bolt?’ Eigon scrabbled desperately at the back of the door in the darkness. ‘Help me! I can’t find one. It won’t close properly.’ She felt a hand cover hers, then rough fingers gripped the handle as Demitrius put his shoulder to the wood. A bolt rasped into place and the door was secure.

  ‘Thank the gods,’ she sobbed as Julia clutched her arm and the two girls clung together, turning to survey the darkness around them. It was hard to see anything, but from the cool air and the sound of running water and the scent of flowers they seemed to be in a small garden. On the far side of the wall they heard shouting. It was followed by a volley of thuds and crashes as someone tried to force the door open. A stream of obscenities echoed over the high wall.

  ‘Greetings, friends.’ Another door had opened suddenly behind them. Light flooded into the garden and they stood blinking as a figure appeared in the doorway at the top of a steep flight of steps leading up towards a house, a torch in his hand, the flame streaming sideways in the draught. ‘I gather you are in need of sanctuary. Please come up.’

  The four of them climbed the steps and found themselves in another world. It seemed they had climbed out of the slums and into an area on the higher slopes of the hill which housed a world of calm wealth and elegance. They trooped into the house and stood huddled together as their rescuer closed the doors behind them and locked them. He was tall and dark-haired, with a thin aesthetic face, perhaps a year or two older than Flavius and far better looking. ‘Grandfather, it seems we have guests.’

  As their eyes grew used to the lamplight they realised that an elderly man was sitting at the end of a long table in the room to which they had been led. Various maps and scrolls were spread out before him, a goblet of wine at his elbow.

  Felicius Marinus Publius nodded at them graciously as though dishevelled, frightened visitors frequently arrived in the middle of the night via his besieged garden. ‘How delightful. Please, come and sit down.’ In one movement he had gathered all the documents together and swept them into an untidy pile and taken in the condition of the newcomers. ‘Julius, my boy, one of these men is hurt. Will you call Antonia to bathe his face? And these young ladies seem distressed. What’s happened?’ Suddenly he became alarmed.

  ‘It was kind of your grandson to let us in. He saved our lives.’ Eigon stepped forward as Julia and Flavius both looked at her and she realised suddenly that even though Julia had instigated their excursion and Flavius had organised it, now at least she was the designated leader of this bedraggled party. ‘Please don’t be alarmed. We were going home from the city when some sort of riot developed. A group of men were fighting and they started chasing us.’ She paused. They were chasing her. The realisation made her blanch. She bit her lip and ploughed on with the story. ‘We tried to dodge them and we lost our way. I don’t know what we would have done if your door hadn’t opened. I think they would have killed us.’ She tried to steady her voice, overcome with weariness and fear. ‘One of our number, our slave, Vulpius, was caught by them …’ Her explanation trailed away miserably into silence.

  Julius frowned. ‘The door should not have been unlocked. It seems that God was on your side. We’ll send out a search party for your slave tomorrow – I fear it is unlikely anyone will find him now in the dark and with the streets so full of people.’

  Eigon glanced at him gratefully. ‘We were foolish to be out so late. All because Julia couldn’t decide which bangle she wanted to buy!’

  There was a trace of sharpness in her voice. She had already noticed that the younger man’s gaze was turning almost involuntarily towards her friend and she watched as at her words he glanced towards Julia again. What was it that Julia did to so effortlessly attract men’s gaze? And why did she care? Cross with herself at so unworthy a thought at such an inappropriate time, she was completely unaware of the coquettish little toss to her head which she gave or that the movement had caught the eye of the handsome Julius as he turned his attention thoughtfully back to her.

  It was only a short time before food and wine had appeared and Flavius’s face had been attended to by Julius’s sister, Antonia, who had brought towels and a basin of warm water. At his protest she smiled. ‘Who else would attend you but me?’

  ‘Ask a slave, please, don’t dirty your hands, lady –’

  She grinned impishly. ‘I would trust no one to do this but one of us and you would fare better at my hands than those of my clumsy brother or a servant, I assure you!’

  Julius grinned broadly. They were clearly fond of each other and it was he who took away the bowl and towels. As they all approached the table a few minutes later Demitrius hung back. ‘Perhaps I should join your slaves, sir,’ he mumbled. ‘It is not appropriate that I sit here.’

  The old man frowned. ‘If that is your wish. But I feel that as you have shared your experience with the others and risked your life with them, it is right that
you should share food with them now. Do you not agree?’ He fixed his gaze on Eigon’s face.

  She nodded. ‘Demitrius has been very brave.’

  ‘They are worried, Grandfather, about another member of their party. Vulpius was separated from them in the riot,’ Julius reminded him. He smiled at Eigon. ‘I suggested that there is nothing we can do while it is still dark.’

  The old man looked concerned. ‘Then we will pray for him. Please, come to the table.’

  As they took their places the old man raised his hand for silence. ‘We should give thanks to God for the food and drink set here before us and for your safe delivery, my friends, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray that your companion Vulpius is delivered safely back to you.’

  There was a brief moment of silence. Julia and Eigon exchanged glances. Flavius frowned. He leaned forward. ‘You are Christians, sir? My father has spoken about people like you.’ He broke off abruptly and looked down at his plate, embarrassed by his own tone.

  ‘And not very complimentarily, obviously, if your expression is anything to go by, young man,’ Julius’s grandfather chuckled. ‘Have no fear, we are not going to proselytise. Nor will we make you a human sacrifice as I believe you may suspect. Eat. Enjoy. Then our servants will escort you safely home.’

  As the evening progressed however the sound of rioting in the streets surged closer. Several times they heard banging on the door as the mob poured down the street outside and once Eigon was sure she heard her own name called. She shuddered and glanced round. The others appeared to have heard nothing beyond the general noise but slowly one by one they set down their knives and spoons and nervously pushed the food away.

  ‘You can’t let them go out tonight, Grandfather,’ Antonia said at last. ‘They must stay. The crowds will grow tired of all this in the end. They’ll disperse as daylight comes. It will be safer then and perhaps we’ll find out what all this is about.’