Medicus

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"I was there when Merula told him," Bassus continued, ignoring the interruption. "He said we'd got to shut the girl up."

"What did he mean by that?"

"How should I know? I did what I always do when they act up. I explained a few things to her for her own good. In a way that would help her remember. Only instead of being sensible she went and wrote a letter asking for help and tried to send it to the legate. What was I supposed to do then?"

"I don't know," said Ruso. "What did you do?"

"I went to the management," said Bassus. "I told them we ought to be careful. With her being a citizen."

Unlike the unfortunate Daphne, thought Ruso, whose talkativeness had been cured with a sharp knife.

"I'm only the head doorman," continued Bassus, nodding toward his employer. "I gave the letter to him. Then it all happened like I told you."

"He's lying," insisted Priscus. "I never saw any letter. I had nothing to do with what happened to that girl. I told you, I leave all that to the manager."

"But Merula couldn't deal with this, could she?" said Ruso. "The girl wanted protection from a legionary officer."

"I don't know what she wanted!" snapped Priscus.

"And when an officer wrote back to her, offering to help, she didn't have the sense to realize it was a trap." Ruso turned to Bassus. "Did she really give you the slip, or were you told to let her out?"

"What do you think?" growled Bassus. "You think I can't do my job? 'Course we were told."

"Not by me!" insisted Priscus.

"No," agreed Bassus. "But I don't reckon Merula dreamed it up by herself. I reckon she thought you were letting the girl go."

"Letting her go?" demanded Priscus. "Merula would know better than that! The girl would have gone back to her family, raised a complaint, created a scandal-you would all have been in serious trouble!"

"So would you," pointed out Bassus. "You bought her."

"Nonsense!" retorted Priscus. He turned to Ruso. "You see the difficulty I'm in, Ruso? My staff made a terrible mistake and tried to cover it up. I only found out when it was over. It was too late to save that poor girl, and now they're trying to save themselves by blaming it on me."

"It weren't me what killed her," insisted Bassus. "And it weren't Stich either." He glowered at Priscus. "We just got orders to go and clean up your mess. Again."

The hand that rose to smooth Priscus's hair was shaking. "I am not responsible for any of this," he insisted. He turned to Bassus. "If you try to claim I was involved, I will tell the whole story and you will be tried and executed. And as for you, Ruso-you've been trying to undermine me ever since you came here. If you attempt to pass this slander on to anyone else, I will sue."

"Fine," said Ruso. "And I'll produce the evidence of the letter, and we'll let the governor decide."

"There was no letter!"

Ruso shook his head. "The trouble with terrorizing your staff, Priscus, is that they're too scared to bend the rules. I don't know what you said to the clerks, but one of them was so thorough he made sure your reply to Saufeia was entered in the official record."

"You're joking!" exclaimed Bassus. "He used the official post?"

"Shut up!" Priscus scowled at Ruso. "You're lying."

"You said she wasn't going to bother us again!" shouted Bassus. "You said you'd dealt with her and nobody would know!"

Priscus leaped to his feet. "Keep your mouth shut, you fool! He's lying!"

They were both looking at Ruso now. He paused, savoring his sud- den feeling of power and wishing he had the money to back it up. "You know what I'm like with administration, Priscus," he said. "Not my strong point, is it? Do you really think I would have dreamed up a tale about post logs? And before you start to think about strangling me in a back alley…" he glanced at Bassus, "or performing tongue surgery, or arranging any accidents, you should know that I've followed your example and made a file copy of all this." He made his way toward the kitchen door. "It's to be opened later this evening if I don't return. So," he added, "I'll be leaving with Tilla as soon as she's finished."

He left them to argue. The last words he heard as the kitchen door swung shut were from Bassus. "The official post? Are you really that stupid?"

The kitchen was still empty. The staff seemed to have abandoned the mess and retreated to bed. There was no sign of Merula either, nor the wine she had gone to fetch. Beyond it, the corridor that led to the back of the building was in darkness. Ruso paused, waiting for his eyes to adjust, listening for any sound from Daphne or the child. There was none. Suddenly he had the odd conviction that there was someone else there with him.

He held his breath. His right hand moved slowly and silently toward his knife. From behind him came the faintest rustle of fabric. He spun around, knife pointed at where someone's throat might be. "Don't move!"

"Don't hurt me!" It was Merula's voice.

He said, "Why are you hiding?"

"I thought you might be one of the others."

Ruso lowered the knife. "How's Daphne?"

"I don't know," she said, "and I don't care." She bent down and heaved up some sort of bag. "This place is finished. I'm not staying around to take the blame for what they did to that girl."

Ruso said, "Did they kill Asellina as well?"

"That was Priscus. The gods alone know why That's what started all this. We had to find a replacement."

"So you did a deal with Innocens?"

"It wasn't me. I'd have had more sense. I worked my way up here, Ruso. Seventeen years in the trade: I know what I'm doing. Then Priscus went and bought the place and started interfering. Never paying full price for anything. I told him, if you're going to run a business like this, you have to invest. But he wouldn't listen."

Ruso slid the knife back into the sheath. "Was it you who put Saufeia to work?"

"We all make mistakes, Doctor."

"True."

"I should have left when Priscus took over."

"Yes," agreed Ruso, "I know exactly what you mean."

He was on his way to the end room when he heard the squeal of a hinge out in the yard and then the gate slam shut. Ahead of him was the angry, scratchy cry of a newborn child.

75

Tilla sat back against the wall, clutching her arm to try and ease the ache. Beside her, Daphne lay exhausted but alive on the bed that was soaked with blood and the water of the birth. Phryne was kneeling by the bed, holding a blanket around the squalling and slimy child they had laid on its mother's belly. Now that the thick cord joining mother and baby was no longer blue, the other girl tied it as Tilla instructed. They had not been able to find anything suitable in the room, so the cord was strangled with the leather thongs removed from her boots.

Tilla leaned forward and wiped her hands on the filthy bedspread. Her work was almost done. Soon the men would come back for her, and she would have to decide what to do.

So many days had passed since she had met the medicus, and yet her choice was the same as before. She was not afraid of death. The poison had failed her today on the road. Startled by her capture, she had not thought to reach for it before they tied her arms. Now, at last, she understood. The goddess had kept her in this world not to save Phryne but to welcome Daphne's child. Praying now for Daphne who had been kind to her, she closed her eyes.

She was wakened by the medicus's voice outside the door. Startled, she rubbed her eyes. She must not sleep. They knew now about the poison that was her freedom. As soon as she dropped her guard, they would take it away from her. She had to leave for the next world tonight, or find a reason to linger in this one.

He was banging on the door now. Calling her. The girls were looking at her, and at the bar across the door, not sure what to do.

She straightened her back. "Are you alone?"