I tasted nothing but apricot, a fine, ripe one. If it held poison, I couldn’t discern it.
Severina decided that feeding me was enjoyable. She seated herself next to me, her silk stola brushing my bare thigh with warmth. Morsels came at me: the pastry cases that enclosed spiced meat; almonds covered in honey; the vinegar-soaked bread. All of it was savory, the sweet nuts and cool bread a good match for the warm well-seasoned meat. Fortunately, she didn’t feed me the garum-soaked greens.
“I want you to be full and happy.” Severina shoved another almond into my mouth and licked honey from her fingers. “A sated man is a gentle man. You are so strong.” She ran a sticky palm over my upper arm, pressing at the muscle there.
Women liked to trace the arcs of my arms, finding the firmness of them pleasing. Usually, I didn’t mind, but I wondered if Severina concealed a pin in her hand to scratch the poison into me that way.
I felt nothing but the smoothness of her fingertips. The food all tasted as it should, nothing odd. I recognized that Severina had a talented cook.
The servants slid in to remove the empty dishes and serve the second course. They brought platters of meats with or without sauces; a dish that contained pork, spices, and mint; and pastry cases of all shapes and sizes including one of a phallus stuffed with ground nuts and cream. Severina laughed with excitement when she had me bite the top from that one. To me, it was nothing but fried dough and nuts, but her eyes flared with longing as I ate it.
Eventually, Severina grew tired of feeding me and began to drop food into her own mouth. She lifted the morsels high, parting her lips and lacing her tongue around them to pull them inside. I suppose she meant to entice me. When she obviously wanted me to feed her, I obliged, she licking my fingers at every chance she could.
Severina ate exactly the same food I did. None of it tasted wrong, and none was gilded.
Next came wine. More servants carried in jugs to pour wine without dilution into a series of cups. It was very good wine, and Severina drank plenty.
If Severina imbibed the same wine from the same jugs as I did, then any poison would be in the cup itself, put there before the servants brought it into the room. Instead of drinking from the fine gold vessel offered me, I seized Severina’s half-drunk cup and drained it myself.
She started, rage flickering across her face, then the anger cleared, and she laughed in delight. She called for more wine, which she poured across her neck and expected me to lick it clean.
As I did so, ignoring her pawing hands, jingling bells and the soft but steady beat of a drum announced that entertainment had arrived. A very familiar beating of a drum.
Once Severina finally released me—shoving me impatiently away—I sat up again and swiveled to survey the dancers.
I stilled for one heartbeat before I arranged my face in neutral lines. The musician was Gaius, tapping a wide drum tucked under his arm, and the dancer, clad in thin linen, bells on her wrists and ankles, was Merope.
Chapter 19
Gaius never looked at me, only watched Merope, keeping his beat steady. Merope had her eyes half-closed, dreamily following the music.
What were the chances that Gaius and Merope had managed to have themselves hired in this very house this very night? I had the feeling I knew exactly how Merope and Gaius had come by their invitation.
Cassia had been wise, I decided as I imbibed another cup of wine. If Severina sent in her men to kill me as I lay in a drunken stupor, Merope and Gaius could run for help. No one paid attention to dancers when they weren’t performing—they could slip out unnoticed.
Very wise.
“Pardon?” Severina was against me, her face near mine. Her breath smelled of garum.
I realized I’d mumbled the words out loud. “Fine,” I amended. “The meal is very fine.”
“Of course it is. What did you expect?” She sat up and clapped her hands, very loudly, next to my ear. “Clear it off. We’re tired of it. Bring the sweets.”
Severina collapsed against me as the servants scuttled in to remove the dishes as quickly as possible. The moment they disappeared, another set of lackeys scurried in with platters heaped with fruit and dates, more pastries coated with honey, and nuts broken and whole.
Severina drizzled honey from a pot onto my shoulder. “Let me feast onyou.”
I held myself still while she cleaned my skin with her tongue. Gaius glanced swiftly at me then away.
Severina did this several more times. In between she pressed more wine on me, the rich taste making my head lighter and lighter.
After a time, Severina swung on Gaius and Merope, bringing her hands together in another loud clap.
“Enough,” she shouted. “Go. The noise is making my head ache.”
The drumming instantly ceased. Merope spun to a halt, gracefully bowing low. Severina took no notice of her. Merope ran out to the passageway, jingling softly. Gaius, with another surreptitious glance at me, followed her.
The room quieted. The servants had gone, except for the bodyguard in deep shadow, his eyes glittering.
