John awkwardly offered his condolences.
“Thank you,” Victor replied. “We tried to leave immediately after your visit, you see. We intended to sail on one of the ships father employed to transport marble, but as we made our way along the docks, a demon swooped down on us.”
A dark wave passed in front of John’s eyes. He blinked, but the dark mist remained. “A demon?”
“Oh, not a real demon, but it’s a good description. It was a black shape that struck out of nowhere. We were taken by surprise. The beast got in a telling blow and father fell into the water.”
Victor bowed his partially shaven head in sorrow, suddenly looking much younger. “I didn’t know what to do. Needless to say, nobody came to our aid. I should have grabbed the miserable creature. Instead I dived into the sea to try to save father, but he was gone. You wouldn’t think that such a big man could disappear like that. The water was so cold and dark. I couldn’t find him. It was as if Hades had swallowed him up the instant he hit the water. If I could just have found him…”
The thought of the greedy, dark water made John shudder. The importer of marble had indeed been swallowed up by Hades or at least by John’s idea of its antechamber.
“I saw your father when he was taken to the hospice, Victor, and he would have died whether you had rescued him or not. You acted bravely.”
Victor raised his head. His eyes were full of tears. “So he has been recovered? Then I must trust to others to bury him and honor him when I can. In the meantime, we are both hunted men.”
“The Gourd’s men must know that the labyrinth we fled through leads eventually to the docks. Before long there will be dozens of them here, searching every ship and warehouse for us.”
“We can leave by one of many exits.”
John made a sudden decision. “Help me to my feet.” His voice was fading.
Victor complied. “You’re very pale. You need medical attention, and soon. But where can we go?”
John managed to move his lips and whispered the only sanctuary that came to mind.
“The house of Senator Opimius.”
Chapter Thirty
“Why did you bring me here?” John demanded.
“You told me to,” Victor replied. “I pretended I’d come to work on the bath house and asked for Lady Anna. Just as you instructed. Don’t you remember?”
“No.” John struggled to sit up and failed.
He lay at the bottom of Senator Opimius’ private bath. The sunken room, usually filled waist deep with warm water, had been drained for repair. What little light seeped in wavered as a slight breeze stirred the vegetation half blocking the slitted windows. The rippling effect mimicked the missing water. John saw that not only was Victor present, but Felix and Gaius as well.
The physician, who had examined John, climbed to his feet with a grunt. “That’s likely the result of smacking your head on the ground. It’s made you groggy. Yes, there’s a nasty bruise there. Despite all the blood, that new cut is nothing. But I see you have some more serious wounds just starting to heal. You should not exert yourself for a day or so. No violent exercise. I’ll send achillea in case you start bleeding again. That’s what you have to watch for. The stuff is wonderful for stanching blood. In fact, what I always say is, if it was good enough for Achilles, it will certainly suit my patients.”
“That’s all very well, Gaius,” John said weakly, “but I have tasks to carry out. They can’t wait. Besides, staying here puts the senator and his daughter in danger.” Again John attempted to sit. This time he succeeded. He leaned back and shivered. The disused bath house was cold as a mausoleum. “I’d be surprised if everyone in the house doesn’t know we’re here by now.”
“Everybody’s in danger all the time in this city,” Gaius replied. “I’ve given you my medical opinion. Make sure you heed it. Next time we meet, you can buy me a cup or two of wine. We’ll consider that my professional fee.”
“I’ll take care of your fee, Gaius,” Felix said. “Lady Anna’s gone to get clothes for you, John. When you leave you’d draw attention in those bloody things and that’s the last thing we need. You were lucky you had a place to hide. Even luckier to be alive. When Victor arrived at the barracks, the first thing I thought was you’d been killed.”
“The second was that I intended to kill you next,” Victor said. “You practically had your sword in me before I could hand over that letter from the Gourd.”
“The Gourd’s signature is certainly a potent charm. It got you into the palace and as far as the barracks.”
“It didn’t convince you that you didn’t need to keep the point of your blade between my shoulder blades all the way here, though.”
“How could I be certain you hadn’t stolen the letter? You might have been leading me into a trap.”
“I should return to the hospice,” Gaius interrupted. “I’ll wager there’s been more than one unfortunate arrived since I left who really has been run through with someone’s blade.”
Felix agreed. “Victor, you’d better leave with Gaius. You’ll be safer if you go back into hiding for the time being. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve cleared yourself of suspicion by assisting John. But the Gourd’s men don’t know that. Now if we just knew who set them on John…”
“They certainly had an excellent description of me from the little I overheard in Dio’s studio.”
“So it seems. We’ll have to be careful, with eyes everywhere, but I think we can make it to Madam Isis’ house. She’ll hide us while we decide what to do next.” Felix looked around the stark, echoing space. “Speaking of which, this place must have seen some trysts in its time, although those other goings-on would have been a lot more enjoyable than our little illicit gathering.”
“You’re probably right,” came the reply in a woman’s voice.
Anna stood in the doorway, neatly folded clothing in her arms.
“Lady Anna, I apologize for my crudeness,” Felix said hastily.
“Do you suppose I don’t know what the servants get up to? Lack of privacy is the bane of their existence.”
As Gaius and Victor departed, Anna turned toward Felix. “If I could have a private word with John?”
Felix stepped outside and Anna descended the four steps into the dry bath. She sat on the lowest, facing John. She looked at him in thoughtful silence. It was the appraising look one might give a work of art, or a stranger.
“You appear more alive than when Victor brought you to the door,” she finally said. “I feared you were mortally wounded when I first saw you.”
“Lady Anna, I apologize, I wasn’t thinking clearly when I asked Victor to bring me here. However, it does give me an opportunity to warn you. I will be blunt since there is no time to waste. Despite what you might think, your father is one of those who opposes Justinian’s ascension. Worse, Justinian suspects.”
Anna’s only reaction was an almost imperceptible widening of her eyes. Her features remained frozen for several heartbeats. “How can you possibly believe such a slander?” she blurted out at last.
“I would not say it if I did not know it to be the truth. I observed your father at the baths with Trenico and Tryphon.” John quickly explained Tryphon’s lie and what he had heard from Fortunatus. Perhaps he was still not thinking clearly, not expressing himself well, because Anna merely shook her head.
“No, John. The very notion is impossible.”
“Lady Anna…” John began desperately.
Anna put her face in her hands and her shoulders shook with sobs.
“Don’t worry. Your father is a clever man. All you have to do is warn him. He will find a way to extricate himself.”
“It isn’t that,” came the choked reply.
When Anna raised her face the aqueous light filtering into the bath house glistened on the tears streaking her cheeks. “It’s because I can’t see you again, John.”
“Your father has banned me from the house. You must obey him.”