Sparrow by James Hynes

Author:James Hynes [Hynes, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-28T17:00:00+00:00

Balbina dwindles in front of me, and my fate is decided. She gives me the briefest glance, then looks down at her feet, as if ashamed.

‘Let’s drink on it,’ rumbles Audo.

‘Let’s all drink on it,’ says the aedile, and Audo produces two more cups. He pours one for himself and one for the aedile. Renatus makes no move to take his cup, and Audo pushes it toward him with the tip of his finger.

‘It’s what you wanted,’ says the aedile’s slave.

The aedile and Audo take up their cups and salute each other. Still wheezing, his hand shaking, Renatus finally raises the cup and lifts it gingerly to his lips.

‘He goes to the baths, though,’ says Audo, his cup poised just below his chin. ‘With the other wolves.’

The aedile pauses his cup and looks at Renatus, who has already taken a sip. The baker chokes on the wine and waves his finger vehemently in the air. Balbina opens her mouth to speak, but the aedile lays his hand on the baker’s shoulder.

‘That’s fair,’ the aedile says, and before Renatus can object, he drinks. Audo drinks, too, and the two men place their cups on the counter at the same time. Renatus, sputtering, puts his cup down, but before he can speak, the aedile has stepped back from the counter.

‘Thank you, citizen,’ he says to Audo, dipping his head, and he and his slave turn and sail out of the tavern, into the sunlit street, and out of sight. Renatus lifts his finger again, as if he has one more thing to say, but he’s still choking a bit on the wine that went down the wrong way. Balbina tugs at his elbow, and Renatus stiffens.

‘Brother,’ she murmurs, ‘it’s over. Let’s go.’

Audo watches the baker from his stool, and he puts his hands on the counter again. The baker’s eyes widen at the flexing hands on the countertop, and he backs away. He stands, breathing heavily, Balbina hovering to the side, not quite touching him. Then he whirls and grabs her arm and marches her out of the tavern, nearly jerking her off her feet.

‘God loves you, child!’ she calls out as they disappear round the corner. ‘I’m sorry!’

The early drinkers exhale and smile at each other over their cups.

Audo sighs heavily. Then he turns to me in the corner, where I’m still as a statue and just as numb. He lifts his chin at the three cups on the countertop.

‘Clear these away,’ he says.

‘I’ll have to buy another kitchen boy, Your Honour,’ Audo says to Calidus, later that afternoon. They are talking in the garden, which is already cooling in the shadow of the mountain. Audo has temporarily shuttered the tavern so he and Calidus can confer. I am standing to one side, as if on display on the slaver’s stage. Melpomene has joined them, and I can’t tell if she was invited or came out on her own initiative. She is already made-up and scented for the evening, wearing the

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