He turned back as he opened the door. “The pirate who delivered the message gave me a deadline of sunset the day after tomorrow.”
Not much time. “All right.”
Siro left.
Kidnapped by pirates.The reality of the situation sunk in. And somehow Marcus hadn’t also been caught? No doubt her son would have a story to tell.
A fresh wave of worry spiraled in her stomach. Felix had said Marcus was safe, but she couldn’t truly relax until he was back here, until she could see with her own eyes that he was well. Hopefully, Felix was right that Marcus would return any day now, and she could find out the truth of what had befallen them.
Dihya returned, carrying a basket laden with baked delicacies that Lucretia now had no stomach for. “Hello, I picked up some—” Dihya stopped short as she caught sight of Lucretia’s face. “What’s happened?”
In a few words, Lucretia told her of Siro’s visit and the news he’d brought.
“Well,” Dihya said, eyes wide. “I suppose that’s a certain kind of justice for what Felix did, isn’t it?”
“What should I do?” Lucretia asked. “Does he even deserve my help?”
Dihya considered for a moment. “That fate is not one I would condemn anyone to lightly. Even my enemy. Even Felix.”
Lucretia nodded. Dihya, as a freedwoman, knew the painful reality of what Felix faced far better than Lucretia did.
“And, not that I would ever defend him, but to be fair, he didn’t actuallydoanything to you,” Dihya continued. “He thoughtabout it—he planned it—but he didn’t go through with it, did he?”
“You’re right,” Lucretia admitted. Perhaps she had been judging him too harshly. “He thought better of it in the end.”
Dihya tapped her fingers on her desk, considering. “If the situation was reversed, what would Felix do for you?”
The answer struck Lucretia like a blow to the chest. If she had been kidnapped by pirates, she knew with bone-deep certainty that Felix would not rest until she was safe. He would scour the Mediterranean to bring her home. He would use every last resource at his disposal to rescue her.
Her eyes filled with tears. “He would do whatever it took,” she whispered through a tight throat.
“So maybe you have your answer,” Dihya murmured.
Lucretia took in a shaky breath. “I know.”
She had two days to raise eight talents of silver, or Felix would be lost forever.
Lucretia spent a sleepless night worrying for Marcus. Her son was on a ship with strangers, traversing the open sea. She would have given anything—her ships, her house, even her life—to have him back safe. But she was powerless.
She forced herself to look at the situation with a shred of rationality. Marcus might be separated from Felix, but he must be on the same ship he’d departed on, with the same crew. Not strangers. He was no longer a child, but nearly a man. He could look after himself to a reasonable extent. With luck, his ship might be approaching the harbor even now. At first light, she’d go to the harbor, and she wouldn’t leave until she found him. She’d come back every day until he returned.
When she managed to untangle herself from her worries about Marcus, her mind turned to conjuring a plan to save Felix. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until Marcus was back with her, so she might as well use the time to think of something.
By morning, Lucretia had a fragment of an idea. Or rather, she knew exactly what she could do to save Felix. She only had a fragment of confidence that it wasn’t utter idiocy.
She was just preparing to set out for the harbor to await Marcus’s return when her son stepped through the front door. Relief choked her, cutting off her breath and filling her eyes with tears.
She ran to him and swept him into a tight embrace. “Oh, Marcus! I heard what happened to Felix—are you all right?” She pulled back from the embrace to look him over anxiously. He didn’t look to be injured, and he had even acquired a golden tan over his skin.
“You know about the pirates?” Marcus demanded. “How did you find out?”
“They issued a ransom demand to Siro,” Lucretia said, stroking his cheek to reassure herself that he was real, that he was truly standing before her, alive and unharmed. “They must be anchored somewhere close by.”
“So he’ll be saved!” A relieved smile lit Marcus’s face. “I-I didn’t know what would happen to him after they took him. I thought they might have killed him!”
“That would have been very wasteful.” Lucretia led Marcus to a bench on the edge of the atrium, where they could sit and talk. “Pirates want either money or slaves, which they can turn into money. Now, will you tell me what happened?”
Marcus relayed the story of how they had boarded a ship supposedly carrying a cargo of Serican silk. “It was all my fault,” he said, voice tight with anguish. “I insisted we go aboard. If I hadn’t been sostupid, none of this would have happened!”
