The Flute Player by Albert A. Bell Jr

Author:Albert A. Bell, Jr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, rome, mysteries, flute, player
Publisher: Albert A. Bell, Jr

CHAPTER XIV

“This is the closest house of a praetor that I know of,” the priest Severianus said as he, Lorcis and Martial stopped across the street from a house in the shadow of the Theater of Marcellus. “He often helps us when abandoned slaves recover.”

“It would be better if I waited here,” Martial said. “It’s not necessary for me to go in, and I don’t want to attract attention to myself until Lorcis is legally free.”

Lorcis started to protest. “Don’t we need two witnesses?”

Severianus raised his hand. “I’m here, and we can find a free person in the praetor’s house, I’m sure.”

“Besides,” Martial said, “the praetor may recognize me, or know my name.”

“He will ask the name of any witnesses,” the priest said.

“All right,” Lorcis said. “But you’ll wait right here?” The fact that she was alive and free, the fact that Martial had come to find her—she couldn’t take it all in yet. She was afraid that if he got out of her sight, she would never see him again.

Martial squeezed her hand. “I’ll be here for as long as it takes.”

“The ceremony is brief,” Severianus assured them.

The emancipation ceremony was indeed simple, even businesslike. The praetor, Gaius Cornelius Scaevola, a dark-haired man with a squint, asked the priest a few questions about Lorcis’ illness and recovery, dictated a certificate testifying to her freedom, then called to a servant to knock off Lorcis’ fetter with a hammer and chisel.

She was surprised when the servant snatched it up before she could and handed it to Scaevola. “I wanted to keep that.”

“It’s still Regulus’ property,” Scaevola said, “even if you aren’t.”

“Are you going to return it to him?” she asked. She wanted Regulus to think she was dead, so she would have time to formulate a plan to get Erotion.

The praetor looked at Severianus, who said nothing but scratched his right ear.

“I have to return it. But don’t worry. There is absolutely nothing he can do to you, legally speaking. He has given up any claim he had on you. Of course, there need not be . . . any hurry about returning it. Things sometimes do get . . . misplaced for a while,”

Lorcis looked at Scaevola in disgust. She had lived in Rome long enough to lose all her provincial naiveté. To think that he would try to extort a few coins from someone as vulnerable as she was! A grave robber seemed honorable by comparison.

She started to protest, but Severianus touched her arm. “He has his duty to perform, my child, and he receives no salary. He fulfills this function from a sense of civic obligation. Besides, you’re in no position to bargain.”

Lorcis glanced at the floor, pursed her lips, and said, “Give me a moment, please.”

She found Martial waiting across the street, trying to blend in as a potential customer at the taberna there. Having no money pouch of her own, she had entrusted her money and the medallion to him. “Give me one of the gold pieces,” she snapped.

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