I dozed off before morning dawned and woke late, sandy-eyed, and irritable.
“I will return to the building site this morning,” I announced over the stale bread from yesterday. It was hard and unpleasant, but I hadn’t allowed Cassia to go on her usual early errands. We drank our last drop of wine as well.
“A good idea,” she agreed. “I can question the goldsmiths while you do.”
“No.” I snapped the word. “You will come with me. I don’t want you out of my sight.”
Cassia frowned as she tried to come up with arguments to overrule me, then she subsided. “Very well.”
I knew she’d not meekly agreed because I’d given her an order. She’d have thought through all outcomes of all possible actions she could take and chosen the one that suited her.
I kept her close beside me as we navigated the crowded city, making our way to the Emporium. Assassins could lurk in the masses of people moving from one side of Rome to the other. Men and women, young and old, flowed through the streets, a few leading goats, one family surrounding a cow. Wiry-legged children scampered among them.
Most wore cloaks against the continued rain, and a few men sported togas. Faces of every color mingled in the crowded lanes, from the startlingly pale of the barbarian north to the deep black of Nubia. All swirled into the vortex that was Rome.
Any cloak could hold a knife, and any child might trip the unwary so an adult could drag them away. I kept a firm hold of Cassia’s elbow as we passed the huge warehouses and at last reached the cleared space that would hold Gallus’s creation.
The workmen had arranged some of the foundation, and more blocks now waited to be put into place. After that, the forms for the walls would be built and the concrete poured. Once the concrete cured, we’d face the walls, to both make them stronger and give a pleasing facade to the building. Even warehouses were meant to decorate the city.
I found Gallus and explained to him why I’d not turned up the day before. Gallus’s eyes widened.
“Juno defend us.” His gaze went to Cassia, who was studying the arrangement of the foundation. “Are you both safe here?”
“I think so,” I said. “As long as she is looked after.”
“Of course.” Gallus’s worry turned to delight. “I could use the talents of a scribe such as Cassia today, if she is willing.”
Most men of intellect liked Cassia and felt a bit sorry for her to be stuck with me.
“Let me show you some scrolls I’ve stumbled upon.” Gallus addressed Cassia when she approached him. “I’d appreciate your opinion on them.”
I reluctantly relinquished her, and she followed Gallus to the boulder he used as his desk. Soon their two heads bent over a scroll, one modestly cloaked, the other with graying black curls tossing in the wind.
I went in search of Vibius.
The man was examining the new foundation blocks, instructing the foreman which to start with first. I watched him a while, silently agreeing with his choices.
When Vibius spied me, he broke from the men and came to where I stood.
“Ah, Leonidas. You survived the night at my brother-in-law’s, I see.”
“You might be in grave danger,” I said without preamble. “You and your wife.”
Vibius’s brows lifted. “You are dramatic. You mean because of the ring? It’s nothing to do with me now, is it?”
“Others might not realize that.” I told him about the dead man fished from the river and Vibius’s mouth flapped open. “You should take your wife and leave Rome for a time.”
“But I never picked up the ring,” Vibius continued in his obstinate way.
“No, but Duilius approached you and made you part of the plot. What is your connection to Duilius? Why did he ask you to help?”
“I met him at a taverna once. I’d admired his acting and stood him a cup of wine. Nothing more.”
“You’re an Equestrian.” Not many of the higher classes would be seen drinking with someone as lowly as an actor, no matter his talents.
Vibius shrugged. “What of it? My wife is of the patrician class. If I conversed only with Equestrians all day, I’d soon have enough of them.”
True, Vibius had always spoken to me without arrogance, as though both of us working as Gallus’s assistants made us equals. Maybe his fluidity between classes was another reason his wife liked him.
