Empire of Alexandria by Carpenter Thomas K

Author:Carpenter, Thomas K. [Carpenter, Thomas K.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: steampunk, Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9781495336232
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2014-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Two

"I don't think they're going to come," said Sepharia, looking out from the entrance of the domus. The street was empty except for a merchant on his wagon passing by, snapping his reins and calling softly to his lead mount. The leaves had fallen from the olive trees along the street and she could smell the fires burning near the Forum for the Festival of Ceres.

Heron replied from the atrium. "If Aelia doesn't come then we'll know we're friendless."

Sepharia thought about Sextus' lips pressed against hers and grew warm, the feeling starting in her chest and traveling to her face. All this despite what she'd heard on the night in the Sacris College. She took a deep breath before joining Heron. She didn't want her father to know that she'd kissed Sextus or done any of those other things, at least until she determined if they were important or not.

"They'll come," said Sepharia confidently, even though she had doubts.

Heron limped to the table in the courtyard. Its surface was covered with terra cotta plates of various dishes: spiced lamb, pickled duck eggs, pomegranate sauce, and at least four kinds of breads.

"What a waste," said her father, looking at the spread. "I should have known we're alone."

"You should eat. You're wasting away to nothing. By the time we get back to Alexandria, you'll just be a bag of skin and a few loose bones," said Sepharia, trying to make a joke, even though her father's gaunt frame worried her. Heron had begun to go without the wrapping on her chest, since her breasts had long since disappeared. Only ribs and bony shoulder bones stuck out the front now.

Heron's hand drifted over a plate of fresh olives drowned in a lemon brine before coming to rest on the edge of the table. "I cannot eat with such worry in my head."

Desperate to take her father's mind off their lack of dinner guests, Sepharia spoke up, "I found something interesting about Caesar. If it still matters."

"Go on," said her father, "though it might not mean anything now."

After gaining Heron's attention, Sepharia hesitated. She hadn't yet told her father about the incursion into the Sacris College, nor the book she'd stolen, or the ominous conversation between Antonius and Sextus. She planned to do so after tonight, but had only delayed in hopes that the evening's dinner with Aelia and Sextus would clear up their possible guilt.

"You asked me to find out why Caesar had been killed. Caesar was loved by the people, but not by his fellow nobles. When the people called Caesar, King, the nobles objected." Sepharia paused trying to judge if this information was helpful, but Heron waved in a manner that said 'I already know this.'

"Some historians find it hard to believe that they murdered Julius Caesar. He'd been hugely successful in his Gaul campaign and they had every expectation that the next war against Parthia would go similarly. Many, including the revered Plutarch, believe it was simple jealousy that gave them cause for murder," she explained.

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