“Cassia is very precise,” I said.
Decimus chuckled.“She is indeed.I promise you, Father, I am committing no conspiracy to keep you alive.If someone is, though, I’d like to meet him.And thank him.”
Priscus flushed.“You are kind, my son.”
“A son can love his father,” Decimus said cheerily.“Even an adopted father.”
I broke in.“The trouble is, a person out thereistrying to finish off Nero by finishing off you.He succeeded in having Decimus captured, and nearly killing you when you went to pay the ransom.”
Decimus tucked in his lips and nodded.“That is true, Father.I was abducted as I walked home late at night and taken on board a ship.Rather unusual pirates, I thought—though some do raid the shorelines.But how would they know my family had the money to pay?I dress rather plainly and draw little attention to myself.I concluded they’d followed me for some time and discovered who I was, but still it is strange.But if it was part of a plan to attack my father and through him, Nero …” He rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
Priscus snorted.“Farfetched.”
“Not necessarily.”Decimus turned to me.“I thank you for telling us, Leonidas.I will certainly put more guards on my father, and on myself, if they are using me to reach him.”He gestured toward the house.“I will walk out with you, Leonidas.You, Father, need to go back in before Aquilinus infuriates the senator and ends up in prison.He’ll expect you to pay his way out.”
Priscus made an exasperated noise, bade me a polite good night, and made for the dining room at the other end of the peristyle.I watched him square his shoulders before he shoved open the door and marched inside.
“I adore my father, but he can be hard-headed,” Decimus said.
“He’s a soldier.He keeps telling me that.”
Decimus looked amused.“He uses it as an excuse to avoid the social graces.Not that I blame him.I find the social graces tedious as well, and prefer to spend my time among books.I inherited that from my mother, may the gods cradle her.”
He made a reverent gesture to the shrine of his ancestors as we entered the atrium.Cassia emerged from the shadows, hugging her cloak around her.Kephalos and Celnus were nowhere in sight.
Decimus softened his voice.“I will take care of my father.Thank you.May I call on your services if I need more might to protect him?”
“Yes,” I said simply.Even if Nero hadn’t ordered me to look after Priscus, I’d agree.I found that I liked the unworldly Priscus.
“Godspeed on your way home.Wait—take a lantern.”Decimus moved to a table where lit lanterns had been set, presumably to light the guests’ ways home.
Decimus handed me a glowing grill dangling from an iron stick.I accepted it with thanks, though I thought smacking a thief with it would be more effective than scaring him off with the light.
Cassia said nothing at all as I bade Decimus a final farewell and we stepped into the street.A litter surrounded by nervous slaves swept by, moving swiftly through the darkness, and then the road was quiet.
I hefted the lantern, which threw a feeble spangle onto the cobbles.By this I saw Cassia’s face, and her smug expression.
“What did you discover?”I asked.More than I had, I wagered.
“Something very important.”She adjusted a fold of her palla over her mouth, but not before I saw the smile.“It will explain much, I think.”
I wanted to demand she tell me everything, but I knew that wasn’t wise in the middle of the road winding down the Esquiline.
We hadn’t gone far before running footsteps sounded behind us.I and Cassia stepped aside to let whoever it was pass, but a sudden rush of movement had me pushing Cassia into the doorway of a closed shop.I whirled with my lantern, ready to strike.
The pursuer charged straight at me.I slammed the lantern into him, with a quick, hard smack, pushing him into an alley.He stumbled but was quickly up again, lithe and agile.The light of the lantern, before it fell and flickered out, showed me the face of Avitus.
He tried to get around me, but I blocked the way.Avitus knew the city well, and the way he danced from foot to foot, trying to move past me, told me that this tiny lane had only one outlet.
I caught Avitus and threw him into the wall.I crowded him, grabbing his hands before he could go for a knife.
“Leave off,” Avitus cried.He struggled mightily, trying to kick me, but he was slow, and I anticipated and stopped every move.“Let me go.”
“Not until you cease trying to kill me,” I growled.
“I’m not trying to kill you.”Avitus’s breath smelled of garum, which did not improve my temper.“You’re trying to killme.”
“You paid Floriana to send me to the gods while I slept.”I pressed my hand around his throat when he started to protest.“Don’t deny you were there—Lucia saw you.Which is why you’re after her too.”
