Call to Juno (Tales of Ancient Rome #3)(48)
The boy stuck out his chin. “No.”
His insolence stung. She thought they had formed a special bond. Now with the appearance of Aricia, such affinity had taken second place.
The cepen rose, wobbling. “Don’t worry, Semni. I don’t plan to snatch him. I just wanted to see him.” She looked across to the younger boys. “I miss all of them.”
Larce tugged at Semni’s chiton. “Why are you so angry? Please let us stay.”
She patted his curls. “Do as I say, young master. I need to talk to Aricia alone.”
The prince’s shoulders slumped, but obedient, he followed Perca as she gripped the hand of the squirming Arnth.
Semni swung Nerie onto her hip. He clung to her, alarmed by the stridency in her voice. She glared at the seven-year-old prince. “Do as I say, Tas. Go with the others.”
Again he made no attempt to move. Aricia crouched down and stroked the boy’s cheek. “Listen to her, my pet. You can tell me more about your dream another time.”
The endearment grated. She felt a knot in her stomach at how quickly the two had fallen into intimacy. “What dream?”
“The wolf and the bull that are fighting underground. Queen Uni is watching them.”
Semni wasn’t prepared to interrogate him further about his vision in front of the novice priestess. “Why aren’t you with your tutor? Have you run away from him again?”
“No, he has a stomachache and is lying in bed. He told me to practice my writing by myself.” He pointed to a wooden and wax tablet on the table.
“Go and find your brothers. Now!”
Tas hesitated, looking at Aricia. She smiled and nodded assurance. “Go, my pet. Do as Semni says.”
The boy submitted with reluctant footsteps. At the doorway, he turned, avoiding the wet nurse to gaze directly at Aricia. He smiled, showing his new front teeth. “So I’ll be the greatest fulgurator in Veii one day? I’ll understand the gods’ wishes in lightning and thunder.”
“Yes, my pet. And a haruspex skilled in reading the livers of beasts.”
“Even though Apa says I must be a warrior?”
Semni sensed she was losing control. “Go!”
Once the boy had disappeared, she rounded on Aricia. “How dare you fill his head with nonsense again! How dare you cross the threshold of the House of Mastarna after what you did!”
“I came with Lady Tanchvil. She’s visiting the king and queen. I thought I could ask for their pardon, but they refused to see me.”
“So you decided to defy them again and find Tas.”
“It was you I wanted to find. I want your forgiveness. I want to seek my mother’s, too. There are so many whom I’ve wronged.”
Semni was disarmed by the girl’s candor. An image surfaced of the uncertain nursemaid who’d shared shy confidences and sought Semni’s love: an innocent with a crush on a rebel.
She glanced toward the doorway, aware that proximity to Aricia would unfairly condemn her if she were seen. Yet she was curious how this girl had survived after being evicted by Lady Caecilia, then deserted by the manipulative priest. “What happened with Lord Artile?”
“He betrayed me. He promised me he would make me his acolyte. He promised to teach me how to read so I might study the Holy Books. But he never planned to take me to Velzna to see the sacred spring. He used me to get to Tas. When I failed to bring the prince to him, he absconded, carrying the codex with him.”
“How did he escape?”
“There’s a shaft beneath the statue of Queen Uni in her temple. It leads to the bottom of the citadel cliff. And Artile knows the tunnels that snake through the ravines and hills that lead out of the city.” Tears pricked her eyes, the memory raw. “I hope the Romans caught him.”
Semni shivered, recalling the seer’s spellbinding eyes and voice, how he could cajole and flatter, or instill dread. Aricia had been enticed by him as easily as Semni had once seduced men with fluttering eyelashes and coy smiles. She pressed Nerie’s head to her shoulder, rocking him. He nestled close, sucking his thumb.
Aricia lifted the hem of her red-bordered chiton to reveal one leg. The flesh on the shin was marred by a long scar. “He was so angry when I failed to bring Tas to him.” She brushed the tears from her eyes. “The blows of his rod broke my bone.”
Sympathy welled at the sight of the injury. Semni was aware of others as well—the weals left by Cytheris’s whipping. Aricia had truly been punished for her transgression, both in body and in mind.
The girl reached for Semni’s hand, lifting it and laying her cheek against the palm. “I’ve been so foolish.”
Semni knew she should pull away, but her friend’s anguish stopped her. “Yet your dream has come true. How did you come to be Lady Tanchvil’s acolyte?”
Aricia’s smile was radiant. For a moment Semni wondered if the pain of betrayal had been replaced by a fresh infatuation.
“The cepens at the temple found me after Artile had beaten me. They tended to my wounds and let me stay in their workroom. Then Lady Tanchvil was appointed as the high priestess.” She picked up Tas’s writing tablet. “She took pity on me. She’s training me to join the College of Priestesses who serve Queen Uni.” Digging the stylus into the wax surface, she added some lettering. “I can read and write now.” She held out the tablet to her. “See, I’ve written your name.”