The Temple of the Muses(66)

And there was that old Gaulish saying about two birds with one arrow or something of the sort. The traitorous Hypatia had to be disposed of anyway, so why not let her be my poor, innocent victim? And that turned my mind down other channels. Had her treachery been detected, or had it been planned by Achillas from the start? She might have been given a role to play, not understanding, of course, that she was to be paid with a dagger through the heart. An Athenian hetaira receives training comparable to an actor’s, and she knew well how to keep me off guard, lusting for the mysterious book and her skilled body alternately. And she knew that a beautiful woman cannot fail to control a young man by letting him know that she finds him irresistible. Or an old one either, for that matter.

I was distracted by a noise from the top of the stairs. The door opened and shut and there was a glow from the top step.

“Whoever you are, I hope you’ve come to let me go. I am innocent!”

“It’s Julia.”

“How did you get here?” I asked.

“I walked, idiot.”

“Oh. Ah, Julia, it might not be a good idea to bring that lamp too close. They dragged me from bed and didn’t give me a chance to dress. I’m, well, the only way to describe my condition is naked.”

She came on relentlessly. “If we’re to be married, I’ll have to learn the awful truth sooner or later. Besides, I believe that was also the state of that poor woman they found in your bed. Oh, Decius, what have you done now? I knew that you were reckless, but you’ve never murdered anyone before.”

“Do you believe I did?” If my betrothed thought I was a murderer, I was really in trouble.

“I know it can’t be, but the circumstances are so damning! The story is all over the Palace.”

“And I’ll bet I know who’s spreading it. Julia, Asklepiodes has to examine that woman’s body while it’s still in my room, if it hasn’t been moved already. I think Rufus has gone to get him, but I can’t be sure.”

“I’ll see about it,” she said. “Now tell me everything that happened.” So I did. She frowned deeply when I got to the part about going to the Daphne.

“You are telling me that you took a prostitute to Alexandria’s most notorious scene of debauchery?”

“Julia,” I protested, “she was my informant! I had to keep her happy!”

“How convenient! Would you have felt so compelled if she had been old and ugly?”

“Julia, don’t speak foolishly. Would the Parthian ambassador have an old and ugly concubine?”

“Listen to me, Decius. I will do what I can to get you out of this alive, but I am beginning to doubt your sanity. A man who can get himself into a situation this grotesque makes a very doubtful prospect as a husband, even without consorting with prostitutes.”

“I have to get that book, Julia,” I insisted. “It must be the key! With that I can prove the conspiracy, I will earn the gratitude of Ptolemy, I’ll be the latest savior of Rome and all will be forgiven!”

“You are pinning a lot of hopes on very little. The woman may have been lying about the book.”

“I don’t think so. I think this was a case where telling the truth was the easiest lure.”

“You are in no position to get hold of it,” she pointed out.

“Alas, yes. Not only am I chained like a recalcitrant slave, but security is probably tighter at the Parthian embassy than it is at the Roman.” Then something occurred to me. “Julia, didn’t the Parthian ambassador depend on Hypatia to help him in translating correspondence?”

“According to her, yes.”

“Well, women are not allowed in the Parthian embassy! So where did they carry out all this work?”

“You tell me.”

“He kept her in a house somewhere near the Palace. That is most likely where they went over the book from the Library, and it may still be there!”

“Surely Achillas would have collected it by now if it is so incriminating.”

“Not necessarily. Achillas thinks he had solved all his problems. He has no need to move swiftly now. I have to get that book!”

“How?” she said, practically.

“If this were Rome, I could just ask Milo and he would put a dozen experienced burglars at my disposal.”

“You will have noticed that this is not Rome.”

“That means I’ll have to do it myself.”

Idly, she fingered the chains that hung from my limbs.

“Yes, I admit that there are complications. I have to get free. Let me concentrate on that. You just find out where the house of Hypatia is to be found. The court women gossip a lot; some of them must know. She said she had many friends in the Palace.”