Steven Saylor - A Mist of Prophecies

"No? Someone else must have told me."

"Who?"

She shrugged. "What was it you said to me last time? 'You're not entirely unknown in the Forum.' Neither are you, Gordianus. People know you by sight. They know your reputation. Perhaps I was a little curious about you after having you here in my room. Perhaps I asked a few questions here and there. I know quite a few things about you, Gordianus the Finder. I think that you and I are very much alike."

I laughed. "Are we?" Staring into her blue eyes, acutely aware of her youth and her beauty, I could hardly imagine anyone with whom I had less in common.

"We are. You seek the truth; the truth seeks me out. In the end we both find it, only in different ways. We each have a special gift. That gift wasn't something we chose; it chose us. The gift is ours whether we want it or not, and we must do with it what we can. A gift can also be a curse."

"I'm not sure I understand. People say that you have the gift of prophecy, but what's my gift?"

She smiled. "Something far more valuable, I should think. I'm told that people feel compelled to confide in you, to tell you secrets, even when they shouldn't. Something in you draws the truth out of them. I should think that must be a very powerful gift indeed. Has it not provided all that you've gained in life? Your fortune, your family, the respect of powerful men?"

"My fortune, such as it was, has been swallowed up by a certain greedy banker. My family has been torn apart. As for the respect of powerful men, I'm not sure what that's worth. If you can show me a way to eat it, I'll prepare it for dinner and invite you to take the first portion."

"You sound bitter, Gordianus."

"No. Just weary."

"Perhaps you need to rest." She drew closer. Her freshly washed body smelled slightly of the jasmine perfume used to scent the cold plunge at the women's baths. Bethesda sometimes returned home from the baths carrying the same scent. Cassandra's hand brushed against mine.

"Where is Rupa?" I lowered my voice, for she had drawn very close.

She answered in a whisper. "Out scavenging, like everyone else. I don't expect him back anytime soon."

Many thoughts crossed my mind at once. I thought of the foolishness of men, especially men of my age, when they confront a beautiful young woman. I considered the implications of taking advantage of a woman subject to fits of insanity. I stared into Cassandra's eyes searching for some sign of madness there, but saw only a flame that drew me like a moth.

I put my hands on her shoulders. I bent my face to hers. I touched my lips to hers and slid my arms around her. I pressed the slender warmth of her body firmly against mine. I felt an exhilaration, a thrilling sensation of being alive that I had not felt in many years.

Suddenly she broke from the kiss and slipped out of my arms. I cringed and felt my face turn hot. I had miscalculated the moment, after all. I had made a fool of myself-or had she made a fool of me?

Then, with a start, I realized that Rupa had entered the room.

He hadn't seen the kiss. Cassandra, her ears accustomed to the sound of his footsteps in the hall, had heard him coming and had pulled away from me an instant before he stepped through the curtain. Nevertheless, he was agitated about something and signaling frantically with his hands. Just as I had been able to interpret the signs Eco had used in the years when he was mute, so Cassandra could understand what Rupa was trying to tell her.

"Something's happening in the Forum," she said.

"Isn't there always?" I said.

"No, this is different. Something important. Something big. I think it has to do with that magistrate who's been stirring up trouble."

"Marcus Caelius?" I looked at Rupa, who answered with an exaggerated nod. Then he made the universal sign of a hand drawn like a blade across his throat.

"Caelius is dead?" I said, alarmed.

Rupa waved his hand. "Not yet," Cassandra interpreted, "but perhaps very soon."

Rupa seized her hand and led her out. Even then, confused as I was by the sudden turn of events, I wondered why a humble beggar like Cassandra should be so interested in the fortunes of a politician like Caelius. On both of the two previous occasions when Caelius had caused chaos in the Forum, she had been there. Was that due to simple coincidence?

I had no time to wonder, for I was caught up in the rush to the Forum, following after Rupa and Cassandra.

The closer we drew to the Forum, the more crowded the street became. As Rupa had promised, something very big was taking place, stirring excitement and attracting people from all over the city. News spreads quicker than fire in Rome, from rooftop to rooftop and window to window. People came rushing out of buildings and side streets to join the crush, like rivulets flowing into a river.

Where it emptied into the Forum, the street became completely jammed. People continued to rush up behind us, making it impossible to either advance or retreat. I felt a prickle of fear. If violence were to break out anywhere in the crowd, there could be a panic and perhaps a stampede. I cursed my bad fortune. For a month I had stayed away from the Forum, fearing just such a predicament. On the one day I chose to go out, I found myself quite literally in the thick of it.

But along with fear, I felt another kind of thrill, far more pleasant. Partly it came from the simple excitement of being in a crowd, but mostly it came from my proximity to Cassandra. I found myself pressed very close to her, feeling the heat of her body, smelling the scent of jasmine on her skin. She turned to look at me, and in her eyes I saw a mirror of the same fear and excitement I was feeling.

I looked around and saw a narrow alley leading off to one side. A few people were emerging from the alley, trying to join the crowd, but no one was entering it. The north side of the Forum is a warren of winding little streets that take unpredictable turns or lead to dead ends. I wrinkled my brow and tried to remember where that particular alley led.

"Come!" I said. "Follow me."

Rupa hung back, frowning, but Cassandra took his hand and pulled him along. I plowed a course through the crush of people, jostling elbows and stepping on toes, until at last we came to the alley and stepped free of the crowd.

"Are you feeling unwell, Gordianus?" said Cassandra.

I laughed. "Is that why you think I wanted to escape that crush? I don't faint every time I'm in a crowd." Though it would be worth it, I thought, if every time I could wake to see your face above me.

I led them down the alley, which twisted and turned like a serpent so that it was impossible to see very far ahead, especially when the walls on either side narrowed until I could reach out and touch both at once. The alley branched, and I had to pause to remember which way to take. Rupa grew increasingly dubious, shaking his head and making signs to Cassandra that they should turn back. I could see that she was wavering, no longer sure whether to trust me or not.

The alley came to a dead end. The walls on either side were solid brick. In the wall facing us, a narrow door was recessed in the stonework. Rupa gave a snort and tugged at Cassandra's arm.

"Wait!" I said. I knocked on the door. There was no response. I knocked again, harder. Finally a peephole opened, and a rheumy eye stared out.

"Gordianus!" I heard my name through the thick wood of the door. A moment later it slowly opened on creaking hinges to reveal the stooped figure of an elderly man leaning on a crutch. We had arrived at the back door of the shop owned by my old acquaintance Didius. The shop fronted on the Forum's north side. Didius sold various goods required by the army of clerks who worked in nearby temples and state offices-handles and twine for assembling scrolls, Egyptian parchment and inks, styluses and wax tablets, and other book making and record-keeping paraphernalia. He also specialized in copying documents; the work was performed by a small staff of scribes who labored day and night. Some of the documents that passed through his shop contained sensitive information, and Didius's profession often made him privy to more secrets than many of his customers realized. I had found him a useful man to know over the years.