‘That’s settled then. I’ll speak to Senator Veron first thing in the morning.’
After the meal and a wash in cold water, I reclined on a cushioned seat in the garden on my own, enjoying once again the scent of the flowers that opened themselves at night, whilst watching the ripples of the moon in the fountain. I wondered whether or not I used to do this ten years ago, and what I might have been thinking about at the time. My mind inevitably drifted to my work.
It was reassuring to have a satisfying theory for the key in the lock, and that at last there was a new direction to explore. However, seeing Maxant’s men perform so ruthlessly in the courtyard made me realize that I could not simply blunder in and accuse him of being a part of something, without first having any hard evidence. All I had at the moment was the most likely occurrence. There were still many more facets of this mystery to work out.
Tomorrow was the Blood Races. Senator Veron had sent a message for me saying that he would meet me in the morning and walk me to the Stadium of Lentus; I realized this would give me the perfect chance to speak to the other senators who were intimate with Lacanta. I would have to think of subtle ways to press them. Certainly, they would fear being quizzed by the Sun Chamber, but I wanted them to think they were not under suspicion so they opened up.
There was a knock at the main door to the house. I rose from the garden and headed inside to the hallway, noting the moonlight through the roof. If the elections were to be held after a full moon, there were only ten or eleven days to go.
Bellona had already opened the door, and she looked at me not quite knowing how to act next.
Titiana stood in the doorway, in a soft gown, waiting with that same unreadable half-smile on her face.
‘It’s OK, Bellona. I know who this is.’
I beckoned Titiana inside and took her hands in mine. Bellona muttered that she would prepare drinks, but I said it would be OK. ‘If our guest needs something, I’ll prepare it – I’m not completely useless in the kitchen. Anyway, please – have some rest.’
Bellona shuffled away out of the hallway.
‘You came back,’ I whispered to Titiana.
‘Did you think I wouldn’t?’ she replied.
‘You’ve every right not to see me again.’
She inclined her head ever so gently. ‘My head appears to have been overruled tonight.’
I guided her into the garden, breathless with anticipation, and began hastily to light some of the lanterns.
‘Oh, what a lovely place.’ Titiana wandered around between the small, lush bushes and looked up at the sky. ‘I just about remember coming here all those years ago when your father was out of the city. We sat on that fountain together.’
‘You pushed me in it, if I remember correctly,’ I replied.
Titiana beamed, as if all the years had fallen away. This was how I remembered her. Dark hair fell across her broad, tanned face, as she crouched down to regard the edge of the fountain pool. She ran her hand through the cold water with a child-like sense of wonder.
‘Part of my hatred for you,’ she began, ‘was merely envy. It doesn’t hurt to admit it now, but it didn’t seem right that you could retain all this wealth, this property, these luxurious pleasures – and all on your own, while I had fallen so far. I built up a resentment for that.’
‘I can understand,’ I replied. ‘Though it doesn’t help you at all, I do feel bad about all of this wealth, and I intend to put the property to good use.’ I quickly explained my plans for the cohort. ‘But for now, it is just myself, Bellona – who is a splendid cook – and Leana, my… I never know how to describe her. My assistant. My bodyguard, I suppose.’
‘You have a female bodyguard?’ Titiana glanced up at me, a look of surprise on her face.
‘You’re thinking that it seems rather effeminate of me, I know, or that there might be shared attractions between us.’
Titiana turned her attention once again to the water.
‘That’s not the case. I like to think of us as siblings.’ I explained Leana’s background and how she’d helped me over the years, but it seemed impossible to sufficiently explain our bond, let alone telling her just how skilled Leana was in combat. ‘In all of my travels across Vispasia, a man has never yet bettered her in a fight. I would rather have someone with those odds on my side, than against me.’
Titiana and I enjoyed another pleasant silence for a moment. Our sharing this space, simply being together, seemed enough to delight each of us.
‘Was it really ten years ago?’ Titiana asked. ‘How far our lives have grown in different directions.’
‘I know it sounds a ridiculous thing to say, but it doesn’t feel as though we’ve really been apart.’ I took a step closer and sat on the edge of the fountain. ‘We get on, more or less, precisely as we used to. And I still feel, more or less, precisely as I used to.’
Titiana placed her hand on my leg as she slowly eased herself nearer to me. Both the unexpected and the desired happened: she placed her hand on my chest and moved in towards me, and all I could do was focus on her broad, sensual lips. Then I closed my eyes…
And she pushed me backwards into the fountain.
The cold shock of the water brought me back to my senses. Titiana laughed at me as I struggled to haul myself out, levering with my legs until I was back onto firm ground. I was soaked, my clothes sticking to my skin.
‘You deserved that,’ Titiana laughed, holding her hand to her mouth as if she had surprised herself. ‘After all you’ve done, allow me that.’
Standing there, dripping with water, I drew her in close to me and she did not flinch at my wet clothing, or even tense up. She was still smiling as my hands grew accustomed to her figure, still smiling as our foreheads came together, remaining there for a moment longer.
Titiana’s lips touched mine. With a lantern in one hand, and Titiana’s fingers in another, I led her back through the house and into my bedroom. I kicked the door closed, placed the lantern on a table.
There, Titiana pulled up my wet shirt; she traced the lines of muscle on my body and noticed a few wounds of my own that would probably never fully heal.
She turned and raised one knee up onto the bed, in silence.
With her back to me, she unbuttoned her clothing and allowed it to slip slowly from her shoulder, down her back. Even in this light, the scar that had been wrought by the whip was painfully clear. She was waiting to see what I made of it; I closed my eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply, allowing the guilt to catch up with me. Kneeling beside her on the bed and, with my hands slipping around her front to her stomach, I began to kiss down the back of her neck, around her scar, confident that it wouldn’t hurt now. Not physically, at least.
Admiring the fine musculature of her dark and sensual back, I moved around to her front and became lost once again in her body. When our flesh touched, there was no difference between us. It had been such a long time since I had felt the warmth of her skin – indeed the skin of any woman – that time lost its perspective. The taste of her body, the smell of her perfume, the soft touches from her hands: everything was worth the wait. What happened next was led by a desire to express ourselves only in our actions.
Words can only achieve so much.
Afterwards we lay in naked splendour beside each other, with the side of my head on her breast and my leg across hers, listening to the night sounds of Tryum together. We talked like we had not done for a long time: not of the arts or philosophy, or of the great affairs and figures of the city, but of trivial, unimportant things, and I felt all the better for it.