The Road to Rome

  Fabiola could take no more. ‘Fine,’ she snapped. ‘Find an honest farmer and offer him a contract to supply all our food.’

  Catus quailed before her anger.

  Fabiola gentled. He’d never been given this degree of responsibility before. ‘The doormen will be here for the foreseeable future,’ she explained. ‘We have to feed them. Getting our supplies direct is an excellent idea, and one you’re well capable of sorting out.’

  His chin lifted. ‘Thank you,’ he muttered.

  ‘Come to me when you’ve found the right man,’ said Fabiola. ‘I’ll have the lawyers draw up the correct paperwork.’ Leaving Catus grinning like a fool, she hurried off in search of Docilosa. It was good to sort out minor problems like this, but the sense of real urgency that had been tugging away at her would now not be denied.

  Fabiola would always wonder how the situation might have unfolded if the cook had not accosted her when he did. As she entered the long corridor, she heard a woman screaming. The noise was not like the ecstatic cries that some of the prostitutes used to encourage their clients. No, thought Fabiola in alarm, it was the sound of someone who was absolutely terrified, and in fear of her life. She broke into a trot. ‘Vettius! Benignus!’

  Ahead of her, Fabiola could see Docilosa, only a few steps from the reception area. Nearer to the source of the screams. Her servant’s head was turning from side to side, searching for the right room. Finding it, she moved to its door.

  Fabiola cursed. It was the one commonly used by Vicana, the new British slave with red hair and fair complexion. To her horror, Docilosa’s hand reached out to lift the iron latch. ‘No,’ screamed Fabiola. This was not what should happen. ‘Wait for the doormen!’

  Ignoring her, Docilosa pushed wide the door. ‘Stop it,’ she cried at once. ‘Let her go.’

  The volume of the screams grew deafening. Above them, Fabiola could hear a man cursing. ‘Bitch,’ he cried. ‘Just do what I tell you.’ There was a loud slap, and the woman’s cries stopped abruptly.

  Docilosa took a step inside. ‘Leave the poor girl alone,’ she muttered, her voice shaking. ‘Don’t hurt her.’

  ‘Mind your own damn business, you ugly old cow,’ snarled the man.

  Docilosa entered the room completely. ‘Stop it!’

  There was a chilling laugh. ‘Want a piece of this, do you?’

  Terrified herself now, Fabiola sprinted towards the doorway. As she did, the doormen appeared round the corner from the reception.

  Too late. They were all too late.

  There was a choked cry, such as someone makes when they trip unexpectedly. It was followed by the sound of a body falling to the floor, and then the air filled with screams once more. ‘Shut up, you little slut,’ cried the man. ‘Or you’ll get the same.’

  Fabiola slid to a halt in the doorway and her stomach turned over at the sight inside. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Please, no.’ Docilosa was lying quite still on the floor, her back to Fabiola. Blood was already pooling around her – damning evidence. Over her stood a naked man holding a reddened dagger, his grizzled features contorted in rage. Cowering on the other side of the bed was a sobbing Vicana, her tear-stained face white with fear.

  At first, the man didn’t even notice Fabiola. He seemed crazed, or drugged. ‘That’ll teach you,’ he muttered, poking a foot at Docilosa. ‘Interrupting my fun like that.’

  A towering fury took hold of Fabiola. She knew this creature, had slept with him on many occasions in the past. It was Memor, the lanista of the Ludus Magnus, from whom she’d wheedled information about Romulus. ‘You whoreson,’ she hissed, her nostrils flaring. ‘What have you done?’

  Memor looked up, and his eyes cleared. ‘By all the gods,’ he said appraisingly. ‘You’re a real beauty. Why weren’t you out there to be picked from? I’d have chosen you first anytime.’

  Fabiola didn’t answer. Although all her instincts screamed at her to run, she moved towards Docilosa. She couldn’t stop herself, nor could she help her temper. ‘A shame my brother didn’t kill you when he had the chance, you piece of filth,’ she cried.

  His eyes narrowed. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Romulus,’ she threw at the lanista. ‘The one who ran away. You told me about him.’ Confusion twisted Memor’s face, but then Fabiola saw the realisation hit. ‘By Mercury,’ he breathed. ‘I’ve fucked you before.’

  Fabiola hawked and spat in his face. ‘I hated every moment.’

  His lips peeled back with anger. ‘You told me that Romulus was your cousin!’

  ‘I lied. The same as when I told you that you were a stallion,’ she sneered. ‘Limp-pricked old goat.’ Fabiola’s heart lurched as the words left her mouth. She was only a few paces from Memor and his knife, and the doormen hadn’t yet arrived. Should have kept my mouth shut, Fabiola thought.

  She was right.

  ‘You whore,’ screamed the lanista, lunging forward with his blade.

  Chapter XIV: Sabina

  Panicking, Fabiola dodged backwards. Memor’s dagger whistled past, coming within a fraction of gutting her. She glanced back at the door. It was too far for her to reach. Where were Benignus and Vettius?

  ‘Prepare yourself for Hades, because that’s where you’re going,’ muttered Memor, his eyes staring madly. ‘Like this ugly bitch.’ He kicked Docilosa in the belly. She gave a faint groan.

  Fabiola could not take her eyes off his blade, which was covered in her servant’s blood.

  The lanista edged forward, leering. He wasn’t watching the floor, wasn’t prepared for Docilosa’s hand to reach out and grab weakly at his ankle. Memor stumbled. Then his other foot landed in the pool of blood, and he skidded. Losing his balance, he fell awkwardly to one knee. Furious, he stabbed Docilosa a number of times in the back and belly.

  Vicana screamed at the top of her voice.

  Hating herself, Fabiola retreated to the doorway. An instant later, she was manhandled into the corridor by the two doormen. Bundling into the room like a pair of raging bulls, Benignus and Vettius laid into the lanista with their metal-studded clubs. One of the blows alone would have crushed his skull, and the enraged pair landed more than half a dozen each before Fabiola managed to stop them. ‘That’s enough,’ she screamed. ‘Stop it!’

  Breathing heavily, and spattered in blood and grey brain matter, they stood back.

  ‘He’s dead,’ Fabiola shouted, looking down at the smeared mess of hair, flesh and bone fragments that was Memor’s head. Tears sprang to her eyes.

  Vettius was surprised by her reaction. ‘Of course he is.’

  ‘I wanted to grill the bastard about Romulus,’ Fabiola sobbed. ‘He used to be his owner.’

  A rattling breath from Docilosa attracted everyone’s attention.

  Overcome with remorse, Fabiola dropped to her knees by her servant’s side. Docilosa was alive – barely. Fabiola ripped open her dress, cringing at the first bloody, open-lipped entry point she saw. It was small, yet had caused so much damage. Memor’s knife thrust had been expert, entering her chest on the left side, just below the breast. Puncturing one lung, it had probably pierced the heart as well. A mortal wound. His other blows would have killed too, albeit more slowly. For now, they just increased the blood loss. Fabiola didn’t think that one person could have so much in them. Docilosa’s dress was drenched in it, and so was the floor around her. Her eyes were stretched wide, and staring into nothing. Her mouth gasped open and shut like a fish out of water, trying – and failing – to get enough air in.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Fabiola grasped one of Docilosa’s reddened hands in both of her own. ‘You were right. I should know better.’ She looked beseechingly at her servant. ‘This is my fault too. If we hadn’t argued, you wouldn’t have been in the corridor when Vicana screamed.’

  A stream of fine bloody bubbles dribbled from Docilosa’s lips on to the tile floor.

  Fabiola squeezed her hand, praying for a response. Some proof of forgiveness, to give her hope.
>
  There was none.

  Docilosa’s entire body gave a heaving shudder, and then relaxed.

  Fabiola threw herself down to catch her servant’s last breath. Then she gave into her grief entirely. Tears ran unchecked down her face, mixing with Docilosa’s blood. Fabiola didn’t care. The only person who had shown her real friendship and kindness through the worst years of her life was dead. Their unresolved quarrel doubled her feelings of guilt. She would never be able to change that now. Time could not be turned back. Yet Docilosa had tripped Memor; had saved her, even as she died.

  Paralysed by her grief, Fabiola lay there, ignoring the doormen’s pleas for her to get up. Jovina tried to help too, but to no avail. The old madam soon hurried back to the reception. ‘Customers could come in at any time,’ she muttered. Fabiola was oblivious to all of this. She wanted to die, longed for the floor to open up and carry them both off to oblivion. Even that thought was tainted by bitterness. Docilosa wouldn’t be going where she was headed: Hades. Where else did she deserve? First Sextus had died, and now her blameless servant. No matter how hard Fabiola wished it, though, nothing happened. She thought vaguely of picking up Memor’s dagger and using it to open the veins in her wrists. Death wouldn’t take long that way. Then there would be no more pain, no more suffering. But she didn’t. A short while later, when her nightmare of earlier returned to haunt her, Fabiola knew why.

  She had a purpose in life which was greater than her own misery.

  Her mother Velvinna had always been vague about her rape, but she’d been insistent that a noble was responsible. While Caesar had never actually raped Fabiola, he had tried to. His words then had, in her mind and heart, proved that he was the man who’d violated her mother. Deep down, however, Fabiola had to admit that this was no more than her strongly held suspicion, building on his strange resemblance to Romulus. Caesar was only one of a thousand possible suspects. Yet he was also similar to the countless noblemen who had paid to use Fabiola’s body, plenty of whom had seen the fear and reluctance in her thirteen-year-old eyes and carried on regardless. Fabiola needed someone to blame for that degradation, which had been repeated innumerable times. Her hatred of such men festered within her; punishing a guilty party would give her some ease, and thanks to his assault on her, Caesar fitted the bill perfectly. Telling herself that he was her father helped to focus Fabiola’s rage. If she committed suicide, he would escape her vengeance.

  Fabiola pushed herself upright.

  The doormen gasped.

  She looked down at herself. Their reaction wasn’t surprising: her dress was saturated in blood. Her hands and arms were also covered in it. ‘I look as if I’ve been stabbed,’ said Fabiola.

  Benignus made the sign against evil. ‘Don’t say that,’ he muttered.

  Vettius helped her to get up. ‘No point bringing more bad luck on yourself,’ he agreed.

  Fabiola grimaced. ‘Hard to see how I could do that.’

  Neither man answered.

  ‘Best prepare a table in the kitchen,’ she said, forcing herself to remain calm. ‘We must lay out Docilosa, and clean her up. Put on her best dress. Vicana can get the hot water ready.’

  Taking the shivering British girl by one hand, Vettius disappeared.

  Benignus pointed at Memor’s body. ‘What’ll we do with this piece of shit?’

  ‘Wrap him up in an old blanket. Then wait until all the customers have gone,’ said Fabiola. ‘Carry him to the nearest sewer and drop the son of a whore in it. Let the rats feed on him. It’s no more than he did for plenty of others. Tomorrow you can visit his second-in-command. I’ve heard that he’s eager for promotion. Now his chance has come. A fat purse should help him forget all about Memor.’

  Benignus nodded. He’d done things like this before.

  A short time after the lanista had entered, Tarquinius heard muffled screaming coming from inside the brothel. Unease filled him, but he could discern nothing of what might be going on. The response of the huge doorman outside was instant, though. Leaving his companions to hold the fort, he dived through the front door, his club at the ready. He was gone for a long time, which aroused Tarquinius’ suspicions even more. He watched and listened intently, but the thick walls opposite muffled virtually all sound. He wondered if the screams had been anything to do with the lanista. His senses were telling him nothing, but the haruspex did not panic. Fabiola was unlikely to be in any danger. If a customer turned violent, it was far more likely that one of the prostitutes would get hurt. A quarter of an hour passed, and Tarquinius began to relax. No one had been ejected, which probably meant that the matter had been sorted amicably. Of course there was another, darker possibility, but Tarquinius could detect no hint of bloodshed overhead. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t happening, of course. Mithras, he prayed. Help me. Keep Fabiola safe.

  The silent figure which emerged from the gloom of the alleyway a moment later made him jump. It was a woman. On her own. The haruspex’ eyebrows rose in surprise before he took in the newcomer’s grey robe. Confusion reigned in his mind. What was a priestess of Orcus doing here, and at this time of night? Although few lowlifes would hinder the passage of someone who served the god of the underworld, the priestess had risked her life to venture out alone.

  He watched as she walked straight up to the front door. The four guards there looked quite taken aback by her sudden appearance. Scared too. The young woman said nothing, which disconcerted them further. ‘Yes?’ one ventured at last.

  ‘I wish to visit my mother,’ said the priestess.

  Tarquinius pricked his ears. To his knowledge, there were only two women in the brothel old enough to have a child in her mid-twenties. Jovina, and the servant he’d seen previously.

  The guard coughed uneasily. ‘Who would that be then?’

  ‘Docilosa,’ came the reply. ‘Fabiola’s servant.’

  ‘It’s very late for a visit,’ he said, glancing at his companions for confirmation.

  She wasn’t to be put off. ‘It’s urgent. She may be in danger.’

  ‘Docilosa?’ The guard unsuccessfully tried to hide his smirk.

  ‘The god has sent me.’

  The priestess’s words wiped the smile off his face. Silently he opened the door.

  Tarquinius’ stomach knotted with worry as he watched her hurry within. Something was going on, but his senses were not picking it up. Fabiola could be in mortal danger for all he knew. What chance had he of gaining entry, though? Clenching his teeth with frustration, the haruspex cast his eyes to the strip of night sky framed by the buildings above. After a few moments, he relaxed a fraction. Blood had been shed inside, but it wasn’t Fabiola’s.

  ‘What’s that?’ Fabiola craned her neck and listened.

  There was a loud, insistent voice arguing with Jovina. It belonged to a woman.

  ‘One of the prostitutes?’ queried the doorman.

  ‘No. None would dare disagree with her.’

  ‘True,’ Benignus replied. ‘Who then?’

  Fabiola moved to the door, which was ajar. ‘No, you can’t go back there,’ she heard Jovina say. ‘Come back!’ A chill of premonition struck her, and she stepped outside.

  Sabina was coming down the corridor. Seeing Fabiola’s appearance, her hand rose to her mouth in shock. ‘Sweet Jupiter, what’s happened?’ she asked. ‘Where’s Mother?’

  Fabiola didn’t know what to say. This nightmare was going on and on.

  ‘I knew something was wrong!’ Sabina ran the last few steps. ‘Whose blood is it?’

  Fabiola couldn’t answer.

  ‘One of your . . . girls?’

  She shook her head in denial.

  Sabina’s head turned, and she peered in through the open door. For a moment, the young priestess didn’t take in what she was seeing. Finally, though, it sank in. ‘Mother? Mother?’ she screamed in disbelief. She darted in to kneel by Docilosa. Sobs racked her thin frame.

  Following, Fabiola laid a hand on her shoulder.

>   Sabina jerked away as if a snake had bitten her. ‘You did this!’

  ‘No,’ Fabiola protested. ‘It was him.’ She indicated Memor’s body.

  Sabina jumped to her feet. ‘You’re lying!’

  ‘Why would I harm your mother?’ Fabiola cried, aghast. ‘I loved her.’

  From nowhere, a knife appeared in Sabina’s right hand. ‘How did such a lowlife get his hands on her then? Mother was a freewoman! She had no right being in a filthy place like this.’ Her eyes glittered with malice.

  ‘After Brutus bought her freedom, Docilosa chose to stay with me, and to come here,’ Fabiola explained, desperate that Sabina should believe her. ‘She just happened to be passing this room when Vicana cried out for help. Her bad luck.’

  With a terrible scream of pain, Sabina launched herself at Fabiola. ‘Why did I stop the fugitivarius?’ she hissed. ‘Better to have let him kill you too.’

  Sabina was quickly stopped by Benignus, who grabbed her arms from behind. Fabiola stepped forward to snatch the blade, letting it clatter to the floor. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

  ‘Heartless bitch,’ spat Sabina. ‘It should be you lying there, not my mother.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ agreed Fabiola sombrely. ‘But it isn’t. My time is not today.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ snarled the other. ‘Your life will not be long, though.’

  Fabiola was struck dumb. Sabina sounded like an oracle.

  ‘I curse you to deep unhappiness,’ the priestess snarled.

  Fabiola’s jaw hardened. She could take that. She deserved that.

  ‘Brutus will not stay by you either.’ Sabina laughed at Fabiola’s surprise. ‘Nor will the other you open your legs for so easily.’

  Docilosa must have told her about Antonius, thought Fabiola, reeling from shock. How else could she know?

  ‘As for your brother—’ Sabina began.

  ‘No,’ shouted Fabiola in panic. ‘Shut her up,’ she ordered Vettius.

  At once the doorman placed a meaty hand across Sabina’s mouth. She did not try to prevent him, but her eyes still glinted with venom.