Call to Juno (Tales of Ancient Rome #3)(70)

His composure was unnerving. “I was scared at first, but then she let me pass unharmed.”

Aricia stroked his hair. “But you were treading where evil had been interred, my pet.”

The expression in his gold-flecked cat eyes was calm. “A fulgurator should not be afraid to view the prodigy of a god.”

Semni shook his hand. “But you’re not a fulgurator. You’re a little boy!”

Placing the prince in front of her, she guided him toward the doorway. Now that her panic had lessened, she took more notice of the supplicants. A few were coughing, sweat beading their brows. A man was holding a little girl in his arms. She lay limp, her face and arms covered with bright-red splotches. Semni scanned the chamber. Children stood with swollen bellies and stick limbs. Their parents were also thin, clothes loose on gaunt frames. Her gaze traveled to the votives. Effigies of swaddled babies and the busts of children abounded. Semni felt her gut tighten. These people were not just seeking divine intervention to end this siege. They sought to save their children.

Desperate to escape from the disease, she gripped Tas’s hand and raced across the portico and down the stairs. She was frantic to reach the forum and the safety of the palace. She heard Aricia limping after her, calling for her to stop.

Tas struggled to keep pace. “Not so fast, Semni.” She didn’t heed him until he tripped, falling onto his knees. She halted, helping him to his feet, aghast his flesh was skinned raw from the cobblestones.

“I’m sorry,” she said, lifting him into her arms. He wrapped his legs around her waist, his arms around her neck, and rested his head upon her shoulder. He was heavy compared to Nerie. She placed her hands under his bottom, bearing his weight.

Aricia caught up, catching her breath.

Semni glanced back to the crowd in the sanctuary. “That child has the red scourge. I suffered from it when I was young. One of my brothers died from the same. Do you think there will be a plague?”

Aricia grimaced. “You’ve been spoiled living within the palace. The sickness is everywhere. Why do you think there’s a crush to seek divine protection? If it’s not to cure the pestilence, it’s to make offerings for those who have died. Here on the citadel where the rich live, you can’t see the heartbreak. But go below into the streets and marketplaces of the city, and you’ll see only despair and desolation.”

She pointed to the huge cistern in the square. “Look around you. We’ve water but no food. The enemy blockades were tightened after the king’s army broke through them. And those supplies that were bartered through the stockades for a time weren’t enough to feed a city. Veii is teeming with people. Peasants from the countryside have fled behind its walls to seek protection from the Romans who ravage their farms. The grain ration is too scant to sate hunger. The cattle have long ago been eaten. Now dogs and cats and even rodents have become food. Any bird that flies over the city is shot down. Some citizens are reduced to boiling nettles and eating snails and insects. If the king does not deliver us soon, the only rites recited will be those for funerals.”

Semni stared at her in horror, then surveyed the double gates of Uni at the end of the forum. A line of people was queued on the single road from the city. More of the ill, more of the anxious, more of those seeking hope.

She eased Tas to the ground, aware their conversation would be frightening him. He clutched her skirt, observing the crowd, eyes troubled. “Come on,” she urged. “I need to get you home.”

Reaching the steps of the palace, Semni could see Aricia’s confidence fading. The novice gazed with apprehension at the huge bronze-studded doors at the entrance. Semni was filled with sympathy for the girl. Tas had embroiled her in a predicament that was none of her doing. “I don’t think it’s wise for you to be seen. Let’s go around to the service lane.”

Aricia bit her lip. “No. I should make it clear to Lady Caecilia that I had no part in the prince’s outing.”

Semni wished that Cytheris could see how earnest her daughter was to prove she’d mended her ways. She rested her hand on her arm. “This is not the best time to press your case. I’ll give Lady Tanchvil’s letter to the queen and also tell her you were not at fault.”

“But don’t you want me to assure Lady Caecilia that you weren’t involved?”

Semni hesitated. She’d not thought that she might be seen as complicit. Yet the high priestess’s letter should also absolve her of being a conspirator. “No, it’s best you go.”

Aricia bent down and gave Tas a hug.

He clung to her neck. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“Promise me you’ll never try and see me again, my pet.”

Semni felt pity for the girl again. She reached across and pecked Aricia’s cheek after she extracted the prince. “Good-bye, my friend.”

Aricia smiled. “It means much that you think of me fondly.”

The sudden shouts of male voices drowned out further conversation. Semni turned. Foreboding in their black uniforms, Arruns and two lictors raced down the palace steps. The Phoenician glowered at the two girls. Under his scrutiny, Aricia backed away and then limped as fast as she could toward the sanctuary.

Trembling at the approach of the guards, Tas gripped Semni’s hand. “I think I’ve made a big mistake.”