Requiem for a Slave by Rosemary Rowe

Author:Rosemary Rowe [Rowe, Rosemary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery, Historical-Fiction, Crime, British-Literature
ISBN: 9781780100418
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2010-01-31T18:30:00+00:00

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.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.