From Unseen Fire by Cass Morris

Author:Cass Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2018-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

XXI

As October waned, Latona considered her circumstances. True to her word, Aemilia had ensured that Latona could not acquire the texts she needed to study: the priests at the Temple of Saturn and the Basilica Tullia alike refused her entry. The evening after the last rejection, she had been so furious that she had accidentally caused an oil lamp to overheat and explode before she got her temper under control.

It had, however, redirected her focus. Clearly, rediscovering the strength of her emotions and allowing them space to breathe was detrimentally affecting the discipline she had held close for so many years. ‘Escalation in one requires escalation in the other.’ Fortunately, Latona knew who could help her with that, and so the day before the Kalends of November found Latona sitting by a small fire in the garden of the Temple of Venus with the goddess’s High Priestess, Ama Rubellia, sharing fruit and gossip over a bowl of mulled wine.

Latona was about to turn the conversation to her request for aid when a group of young acolytes came into the garden, all in matching wheat-colored tunics and red belts. They were shepherded by a priestess, who glanced over at Rubellia as they came in; Rubellia waved her permission for them to be about their business. One of the girls looked familiar, it took Latona a frowning moment to figure out why. There, arms linked with one of her companions, was the first girl that Latona had rescued on the night of the Esquiline riot.

Rubellia followed her gaze. “Pontia said she had been sent here by a golden-haired paragon,” she said. “I had wondered . . .”

“How is she?”

“Healing. Slowly, but healing.” Rubellia reached over and gave Latona’s hand a comforting squeeze. “You did the right thing, sending her here.”

“I only thought it might bring comfort,” Latona said. “I didn’t think she would decide to stay.”

Rubellia nodded. “She and her mother talked it over. Her mother was concerned . . . Well. There might have been rumors, and a nasty stigma attached to her name. But there’s no virtue lost if she’s dedicated to Lady Venus. If she wants to marry someday, well, her people are of the Fourth Class, and she should have no trouble finding a good man to match her. And if she never wants to, there will never be a need. She will always be cared for here.”

“You took her on charity?” Most families sent “donations” to pay their children’s way into the temples, but a family of the Fourth Class was unlikely to have so much to spare without advance planning.

“We did.”

“I’d like to make a donation,” Latona said, her eyes still lingering on the girl, “towards her boarding.”

Rubellia was quiet a moment, then: “You don’t feel you’ve done enough.” As was her way, it was not quite a question; she spoke through intuition.

Working in pairs, the acolytes were cleaning out the dovecotes at the far end of the garden. One of the other girls flung a fistful of feathers at Pontia’s head, and she laughed, shaking them from her hair.

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