Hanno was far from happy. If Aurelia’s guards have seen, they might turn and run.
To his immense relief, a soldier pushed his way past the priest. He was followed by a stone-faced Aurelia, carrying a small, cloth-wrapped bundle. Elira was next, and then an officer whom Hanno recognised, but couldn’t place.
There was a savage curse from behind him. ‘Agathocles! If he spots me, I’m fucked.’
Shit! thought Hanno. The officer was Kleitos’ acquaintance, the one they’d met with the group of female slaves. Yet another risk factor had been added to their enterprise.
Right on cue, Bear and the rest of his urchins appeared from behind them. They swept towards the first soldier, who let out a scornful laugh. ‘Don’t make me kick your arses!’ He hadn’t seen the rest of the children, who were swarming in from both sides.
‘Remember what I told you!’ Bear shouted at his companions. Darting in before the surprised guard could react, he grabbed the man around the back of one knee and jerked it forward, upending him on to his backside. Four urchins leaped on top of the guard, pummelling and kicking.
Hanno and Kleitos sprinted out on to the street. Elira had begun screaming, but Aurelia scarcely seemed to notice the mayhem. Agathocles elbowed his way past them, his hand already pulling at his kopis. ‘What in Hades’ name is going on?’ he roared. ‘You little bastards!’
It went against all of Hanno’s training not to look at the enemies he faced, but he kept his gaze fixed on Aurelia, who still seemed unaware of what was going on. It wasn’t until he reached her side that she even saw him. With a sad smile, she lifted the bundle in her arms. ‘This is Publius. You’d have liked him.’
‘Aurelia. Come!’ He took her arm.
‘I have to hand him to someone at the gate. I’m not to be allowed to leave the city. To see him cremated.’
Hanno hadn’t considered that her grief might have rendered her dazed. ‘We can make the arrangements later,’ he said gently, pulling her away. ‘But we must go. Now.’
She didn’t move, and Hanno began to panic. The first soldier was behind him. From the grunts of pain and the shouts of glee from the urchins, he was receiving a good kicking, but Agathocles, who had also been floored, had somehow struggled to his feet again. He’d seen what was going on. It was the heroic efforts of Bear, who had slit his baldric with a knife and hurled his sword down the street, that had prevented him from wading into the fray with a weapon. Armed or no, he was heading in Hanno’s direction. Bear and three other urchins were darting in and out around him, but Agathocles swatted them away like annoying wasps. In desperation, Hanno grabbed Publius’ body from Aurelia. She gasped in shock, and he hissed, ‘Follow me!’ before turning and running for the alley. He kept his eyes locked on Kleitos and Elira, who were a dozen paces in front of him.
Hanno had all but reached the safety of the passage when he realised that she wasn’t behind him. Spinning, he was stunned to see Aurelia seize a dagger from one of the urchins and plunge it into Agathocles’ groin, below the protection of his pteryges. Agathocles roared in pain, and she stabbed him twice more. ‘You whoreson!’ she screamed.
‘What the fuck is she doing?’ cried Kleitos.
‘I don’t know,’ Hanno replied as Aurelia left Agathocles to collapse to his knees, blood running in thick streams from his wounds. With great calm, she walked to the first soldier, who was still lying on the ground. Her blade rose and fell, rose and fell, and the man’s shouts came to a gurgling end. There was a clang of metal off stone as she let the knife drop. At last her gaze travelled towards Hanno, who had stepped outside the alley again.
‘This way!’ he urged.
Aurelia’s face was serene as she walked, not ran, towards him. Around her, confusion reigned. The urchins had vanished from sight, but shopkeepers stood in their doorways, craning their necks to see what was going on. One man had gone to Agathocles’ aid, but the other passers-by stood in shock, mesmerised by the sudden, random violence. ‘Hurry!’ urged Hanno, pulling up the cloth hiding his face.
When she reached him, Kleitos gave her a sharp look and then headed into the alley, Elira by his side. ‘Get a move on!’
‘Ignore what’s underfoot,’ said Hanno to Aurelia. ‘It isn’t far to the other side.’
‘I knew you would come,’ she breathed.
‘How could I not, knowing you were captive here in the city? I’m sorry that it took so long.’ His eyes fell to his burden, Publius. ‘If only I could have done it sooner.’
Kleitos beat a criss-cross path away from the ambush, for the most part taking alleys that led from one thoroughfare to another. With their masks removed, few people paid them any attention, but Hanno didn’t want to leave things to chance, so he wrapped Publius in the old cloak that Elira had been wearing. Kleitos’ circuitous route meant that he lost all sense of direction, and it wasn’t until they emerged on to a main artery that led to Epipolae, the western part of the city, that he regained his bearings. Kleitos rounded on Aurelia almost at once. ‘Why did you kill those men?’ he demanded in Latin. ‘They were guarding you, not taking you to your execution.’
‘What do you care?’ she shot back with more spirit than Hanno had expected.
‘They’re Syracusan, like me. I also knew the officer. There was no need for them to die. The urchins had them distracted.’
‘Agathocles didn’t just select me to be Hippocrates’ property. He forced me to lie with him. He wasn’t gentle either. Elira suffered the same from him, and from the soldier. What have you to say to that?’ Aurelia’s eyes blazed, and her face was distorted with fury.
‘I see,’ Kleitos said heavily. ‘I am sorry.’
But Hanno was glad that Agathocles was dead. ‘They can’t talk to anyone, which reduces the chances of us being found out.’
‘I suppose I never liked Agathocles much,’ admitted Kleitos with a shrug. ‘There’s not much we can do about it in any case. Let’s hope that Hippocrates has more things to worry about than seeking vengeance for this.’
Conversation ceased until they had reached the room that Kleitos had rented. He went on ahead, waving to them when the coast was clear so they could go up the rickety stairs without the inn’s landlord seeing them.
‘The less he knows, the better,’ said Kleitos to Hanno as he ushered them into the small, dingy space, which contained little more than two beds, a table and one chair. A chamber pot sat beside the tiny window that opened on to the street below. ‘It’s not much, but it will do.’
‘Thank you,’ Elira ventured in poor Greek.
‘Forgive me. I spoke sharply earlier,’ said Aurelia. ‘I’m very grateful for what you’ve done. This room might not be large, but it’s ours, and it’s not a prison. That counts for more than you could know.’
Kleitos inclined his head. To Hanno, he said, ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
Hanno gripped his shoulder. ‘My thanks, brother.’ In a whisper, he added, ‘We’ll need to bury or, better, cremate the child. D’you think that’s possible?’
‘Inside the walls? You never have easy problems to solve, do you?’ Kleitos sighed. ‘Leave it with me. We’ll talk later, or tomorrow.’
When Kleitos had gone, Hanno laid Publius on one of the beds. ‘We’ll arrange his funeral as soon as possible.’
Aurelia had grown calm again. ‘What then?’
‘I’m not sure. A lot depends on Hippocrates’ reaction.’ The best thing would be to stay here, he decided. Besides, where could they go? He had no friends in Sicily apart from Kleitos.
‘Can we not leave?’ she asked. ‘It’s well known that the Roman blockade is incomplete.’
He coughed. ‘It may well come to that, but we’d best stay where we are. For the moment.’
‘Because they’ll be looking for us?’
‘Partly that. And partly because Hannibal sent me to serve Epicydes,’ he said uncomfortably, before adding with even more reluctance, ‘… and Hippocrates.’ She didn’t reply, which added to his discomfort. Maybe she didn’t want to be with him, he thought. Maybe she desired nothing more than to be reunited with her husband, and to grieve over their dead child. He had to respect that. ‘Things will have calmed down in a couple of days. I’ll see about finding you a boat that can carry you to the Roman positions. They’ll make sure that you reach your husband,’ he said heavily.