David Drake - Out of the waters

"Greetings, Lord Tardus," Saxa said. "You are welcome, of course, but I confess that I was not expecting to see you today."

"I was equally surprised yesterday, Lord Saxa," Tardus said. "But your visit reminded me that we were colleagues with similar interests which we might be able to cultivate together."

Hedia didn't recall ever meeting Tardus before, and if she had seen him casually in the forum, he hadn't lingered in her memory. He would have merited the term "nondescript" were it not that his toga was hemmed with the broad purple stripe of a senator. He had the reputation of being not only superstitious but involved in kinds of magic that were discussed in secret if at all.

Hedia's smile was cold. She wasn't the one to talk, of course; not after the task she had given Anna.

"Well, I…," Saxa said, his words stumbling as he tried to understand the situation. "I'm pleased that you're, ah, reacting in that fashion, Marcus Tardus, but in truth this isn't a very good time… that is-"

"I see that you're gathering for dinner," Tardus said, nodding to the guests. The two senators and Varus wore their togas, showing that this was a formal occasion. "No doubt you'll have private matters to discuss, so I'll take myself away. Perhaps another time."

"Why, yes," Saxa said gratefully. "I appreciate your understanding."

Priscus jumped as though he'd been cut with an overseer's whip… which, if the stories about him in his younger days were true, had indeed happened on occasion.

My dear sweet husband doesn't have a clue! thought Hedia with a mixture of affection, exasperation, and fear. There was definitely reason for fear if this weren't handled properly-and at once.

"We would be delighted to have you join us for dinner, Lord Tardus!" Hedia said brightly. Smiling as though she had just received the gift of eternal youth, she went on to the major domo, "Agrippinus, have three more places set; Lady Alphena and I will sit upright in place of the third couch."

Lowering her voice, she continued, "And Agrippinus? Ask Lady Alphena to prepare for dinner. I'll be up in a moment to discuss jewelry with her. Please press upon her the urgency of the situation."

The major domo strode from the entrance hall, calling sharply to underlings. Hedia hoped Agrippinus intended to speak to Alphena himself rather than leaving the unpleasant task to a junior who might not understand its importance.

The men were all looking at her. Well, that wasn't the sort of thing that made her nervous. Saxa and Varus were puzzled, but Priscus was obviously relieved.

Hedia expected Tardus to smirk at his successful throw of the dice, but instead he seemed numbly accepting. The trio of foreign servants were sharply interested in everything around them but particularly, it seemed to Hedia, in Varus and herself. She couldn't tell how old they were. In their fifties, she had guessed from a distance; but close up, what she saw in their eyes suggested they were older than that, and perhaps impossibly old.

"Dear, is that correct?" Saxa said, completely at sea now. "I'd understood that you wouldn't be joining us. And Alphena, well, Alphena never dines with the family."

"Indeed, it's time that our daughter becomes more comfortable in polite society," Hedia said. "And what better place than a meal with erudite friends, discussing fine points of literature?"

She continued to smile. On the walls of the hall were death masks of ancestors going back almost two hundred years, and by Venus! some of those wax masks would be less obtuse than her husband was showing himself at the moment.

"Well, just as you say, dear," Saxa said. "Ah-"

"Take your guests to the dining room, my lord and husband," Hedia said gently. She wondered if her smile looked as brittle as it felt. "Lady Alphena and I will join you very shortly."

Leaving Manetho to take charge of chivvying the men to the outside dining area, Hedia herself strode briskly to the back stairs. These were intended for the servants, but Hedia needed to get to her daughter as quickly as possible. It wouldn't have done to rush up the main stairs ahead of three senators, and she certainly wasn't going to wait until they had shuffled in chatty, leisurely fashion to the couches set on the roof above the black-and-gold hall, with a good view of the central courtyard.

A quick-witted footman saw Hedia coming and sprinted ahead of her, bellowing up the back staircase in a Thracian accent, "Hop to, you wankers! Her ladyship's on her way!"

Hedia grinned wryly. She'd been announced in more gracious and mellifluous terms, but this had the merits of being short and extremely clear. When she got a moment to catch her breath, she would learn who the footman was and tell Agrippinus to promote him for initiative.

The stairs weren't clear when Hedia reached them, but servants who had been lounging there only moments before were scattering like a covey of quail. She lifted the skirts of her long tunic in both hands and trotted up.

Part of her was appalled to think of how embarrassing it would be if she tripped on her hem and broke her neck. Another part-the part that made her giggle as her slippers pattered on the plain brick steps-realized smugly that if she did break her neck, her own problems were over.

Alphena was leaning over the mezzanine railing, watching Tardus' entourage being escorted toward the kitchen. Hedia approached her from behind, swallowing her initial flash of irritation. Florina and a bevy of other maids fluttered around the girl, afraid to warn her that Hedia had arrived but obviously afraid of what would happen if they didn't say something. Agrippinus stood by the public stairs, bowing as Saxa and his guests passed in their stately fashion.

"Come, daughter," Hedia said in calm, cultured tones. "Let's get you ready for dinner so that their lordships don't feel that you're insulting them. Syra-"

She turned her head slightly. Her maid, as expected, stood at her elbow; she panted, probably more from nervousness than the exertion.

"-go to my suite and fetch my jewelry box. I'll pick out pieces for Lady Alphena while she's getting into her synthesis."

"I've set out the violet one, your ladyship," Florina said. "It would be ever so nice with a set of amethyst ear drops."

Hedia looked at the maid. She whined like a stray cat, but that was a good suggestion.

"Yes," she said. "I believe I have a pair that will work." Then, to Alphena, "Come dear. This is really quite important."

Alphena allowed herself to be guided back into her room by a gentle touch, though she looked back over her shoulder once. Hedia wasn't approaching the limits of her patience because she couldn't allow herself to lash out in these circumstances, but she was certainly finding the business trying.

The girl doesn't understand. I must remember that the girl doesn't understand.

"Mother, did you notice the servants with the senator who just came?" Alphena said.

Hedia had untied the simple sash as they entered the suite. Now she lifted the tunic over Alphena's head, ignoring the girl's squeak.

"Yes, dear," Hedia said. "Now, be quiet for a moment why the family needs you at dinner as soon as possible."

"I don't see why-" Alphena said, her voice muffled until Hedia flung the tunic toward a corner of the room.

"Be quiet!" Hedia repeated. "The senator who arrived uninvited is Marcus Tardus. He is not your father's friend. He-"

"But-"

"Be quiet!"

Florina and five other maids-unexpectedly junior to Florina, whom Alphena had suddenly chosen to make her permanent attendant-were holding the violet dinner dress and a variety of possible undergarments. They had no idea of how Lady Hedia would choose to display her daughter, and they were rightly worried at what would happen to them if they guessed wrong.