Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King

Author:Crystal King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone

PART VI

10 C.E. to 11 C.E.

PARTHIAN CHICKEN

Draw the chicken from the rear and cut it into quarters. Pound the pepper, lovage, a little caraway, pour on liquamen, flavor with wine. Arrange the chicken pieces in a ceramic dish, put the sauce over the chicken. Dissolve fresh laser (silphium) in warm water and put it straightaway on the chicken and cook it. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

—Book 6.8.3, Fowl

On Cookery, Apicius

CHAPTER 16

Rúan’s absence made life difficult for all of us in the first months after that fateful night. Not only did I lose a constant friend and trusted assistant, but despite my newfound freedom, I was busier than ever. Because I was still, in many ways, the de facto coquus, we had never found Rúan an assistant. That meant while I was in charge of running the school, with Rúan absent, I took on many of my old duties in the household. By the end of every day I was exhausted.

The better part of a year had passed and we still hadn’t found a cook to replace Rúan. Or rather, we hadn’t found a cook to satisfy the high standards both Apicius and I had. There were a few slaves we purchased for the task, but in the end, they were always relegated to other parts of the kitchen. So it seemed that while I was free, I was still not free. At least now I was well paid, far more so than I could ever be if I were to leave and be on my own.

• • •

One morning during the salutatio a messenger arrived at the door of the villa. His tunic was muddy, as though he had come from a great distance.

“I come from the family of Numerius Cornelius Sulla,” he said, presenting the scroll to Apicius. He waited while Apicius read the note.

I wondered at the contents of the scroll. Sulla, of the great gens Cornelia, had been betrothed to Apicata several years ago. Of late Apicata had been asking more about her future husband. She found it hard to fathom marrying someone almost four times her age, despite his wealth and his position as a general in Caesar’s army.

Apicius waved the messenger off. “No reply.” The man left as quickly as he came.

Apicius handed me the scroll. “He’s dead.”

“What happened?” But Apicius did not respond. He walked past me to return to the seat where he greeted his clients, irritation wrinkling his brow. I opened the scroll to discover that Sulla had died in the early part of October at the hands of robbers when he was returning to Rome from Germania after a shoulder injury discharged him from service.

I understood Apicius’s silence. He now had the new worry of choosing a suitable husband for his daughter.

Passia told me that Apicata said little about the incident when Aelia gave her the news. However, I noticed a new sense of relief that floated about her in the weeks after the news came to us. I did not blame her—the man had been older than her father.

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