The five enforcers lined the captives up in front of the fountain, facing the house. Cassius now saw that the family resemblance went far beyond the long black hair. Little more than an inch or two in height separated them and they all possessed the same muscular build, heavy brow and deep-set eyes. The eldest brother approached Cassius, knife at the ready.
‘Kushara, don’t do anything hasty,’ said Ulixes. ‘Remember it was you that jumped us.’
One of the other brothers darted forward and tickled Ulixes’s chin with his knife. ‘Shut up or I’ll skewer your tongue to the top of your mouth.’
Ulixes obeyed.
When Kushara got within a yard of Cassius, Indavara stepped in front of him.
The enforcer stopped, knife close to the bodyguard’s belly. ‘Move.’
Indavara did not.
‘Kush!’ The female voice came from the villa. Cassius looked but could see no one. She shouted a few more words in Nabatean and Kushara reluctantly withdrew.
He spat at Indavara’s feet then waved his blade at the front door.
‘Inside.’
If anything, the villa’s interior was even more luxurious than the exterior, the atrium stuffed with well-polished furniture, exotic glassware and a spectacular set of wall paintings. The artist — or perhaps the owner — seemed to have a preference for birds and cherubs. Even the floor was ostentatious; hexagonal stones coloured blue and green.
Cassius, Simo, Indavara and Ulixes sat together on a long couch. The other four brothers had disappeared but on the couch opposite were Kushara and a bulky, middle-aged man who was missing virtually all his teeth. Attached to the other end of the studded leash in his hand was quite possibly the largest dog Cassius had ever seen.
‘Molossus,’ he whispered to Simo.
‘Sir?’
‘Used for hunting wolves.’
It was essentially an oversize mastiff; hugely powerful in the shoulders and neck with pale fur and a fleshy black muzzle. Cassius wasn’t fooled by its dopey expression.
‘My uncle had one,’ he continued, ‘though not quite so big. One day it decided to attack my aunt’s cat. They had to stick eight spears in it to stop the bloody thing and even then they couldn’t get the teeth open.’
‘Oh gods,’ said Ulixes. ‘Here she comes.’
Though certainly over forty, Zaara-Kitar moved with a purposeful, sensual grace. Her sleeveless, dark green tunic reached almost to her ankles and was embroidered with swirling gold as bright as the dozens of bangles upon her wrists. Her hair was cut short at her collar and almost as black as her sons’. Only when she came close did Cassius see the powder upon her face and the wrinkles on her upper arms. Wrapped around one of them was a silver serpent. Trailing along in her wake, head down, was a young maid clothed in the dullest, most shapeless tunic imaginable.
Kushara and the other man stood up.
Zaara-Kitar headed straight for Ulixes. She bent over, put her hand softly on his cheek, then raked her nails down it.
‘Uh! Gods, you-’
Rage flashed in the lady’s eyes. ‘You what? Say it — I dare you!’
‘M-my apologies,’ stuttered Ulixes.
The dog was growling. Zaara-Kitar glared at the gambler, her narrow chest heaving. Cassius spied streaks of blood upon one of her nails. He also noticed that one of the fingers on her other hand was missing. She pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.
‘I don’t believe I have ever been made to wait so long for a debt to be repaid.’ Her voice was a soft purr, her accent that of an easterner for whom Greek was a foreign language. ‘I hope for your sake you have something for me.’
She turned to Cassius. ‘Who is this handsome fellow?’
‘Master Crispian,’ said Ulixes. ‘A business associate.’
Zaara-Kitar seemed rather amused by this concept. She turned her attention to Indavara, examining him from head to toe. ‘And you’re the bodyguard. It has been known for certain individuals to put one or two of my sons down but I don’t recall anyone ever managing four. Are you available for hire?’
Indavara shook his head. So did Kushara.
Zaara-Kitar pointed at an ornate high-backed chair which the maid brought over. She sat down and crossed her arms. ‘I have an appointment at the ninth hour.’ She turned towards Ulixes. ‘Give me a number.’
‘Fifteen aurei.’
‘My bookkeeper tells me twenty-five, when the correct amounts of interest are taken into account. Considering the trouble you have caused me and the incident today we shall call it thirty.’
‘My original debt was five!’
She turned to her son, who — like the dog handler — had sat down again. ‘I do believe he’s arguing.’
Ulixes held up both hands. ‘No, good lady. I am not. May I discuss the matter with Master Crispian?’
‘You may.’
Cassius and Ulixes were sitting at opposite ends of the couch. With a wary glance at the mastiff, Ulixes got up and swapped places with Simo.
‘Well?’ he whispered, brow now beaded with sweat. ‘Do you have that much?’
‘Yes. But you do understand it will come out of your fee?’
‘Of course.’
Ulixes looked across the atrium at a small central courtyard. He wiped his brow and turned to Zaara-Kitar. ‘We have it.’
‘I don’t see it.’
‘We can have it here in-’
‘One hour,’ said Cassius.
‘You two will stay here,’ said the lady.
Cassius gestured for Indavara and Simo to get up. ‘Be as quick as you can.’
Zaara-Kitar clicked her fingers and aimed a finger at an hourglass on a table. The maid turned it over.
The moneylender smiled at Cassius. ‘Quite right, Master Crispian, because if there aren’t thirty gold coins here before that sand runs out, your “business associate” will be taking a trip to the garden.’
‘What?’ asked Indavara.
‘Just go!’ ordered Cassius.
As the pair hurried away, Ulixes clasped his hands and appealed to his host. ‘Please, no. Don’t even say that.’
‘People talk,’ said Zaara-Kitar as she stood. ‘They know you owed me. They know you didn’t pay. You have made me appear weak.’
She walked over to Cassius. ‘Do you see my missing finger, Master Crispian? I shall tell you how I came to lose it. My father loved sayings, expressions. He used them to teach us. Well, that and some other methods. As a child I loved honey; I couldn’t get enough of it. I won’t touch the stuff now — for reasons that will become obvious — but it was my favourite thing in the world. So sticky, so sweet. When I was three my father caught me dipping my finger into a pot. He sat me down and told me that if I ever did it again he would chop that finger off. I didn’t believe him. So I did it again. And he did exactly as he’d said he would. Can you guess what my father’s favourite expression was?’
Cassius shook his head.
‘Actions speak louder than words.’
With that she strode out of the room, the maid not far behind.
Cassius looked at Ulixes. ‘What’s in the garden?’
The gambler was too busy praying to reply.
Kushara threw his head back and unleashed a throaty, savage laugh.
XV
Indavara thought he and Simo had done pretty well. Once at the bottom of the villa’s drive and back in the city streets their only real obstacle had been a busy slave auction. Once through this, a combination of asking directions and educated guesswork got them back to the inn.
‘How long did that take?’ he asked as they jogged past the auxiliary Mercator had left on guard.
Simo had to take a deep breath before replying. ‘Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.’
Ignoring old Jabbal — who was sweeping up — Indavara hurried along to their room. He dropped down, reached under his bed and pulled the barrel out. Once the stopper was unscrewed, he began clawing out the coins. Simo grabbed a skin of water and poured its contents down his throat.