"Swaddling you wouldn't keep you out of mischief," she told me. "Have you got her?"
I had somehow tied Helena's stole around the baby and knotted it to hang around my neck.
"She's got me." My offspring was now gripping the front neck of my tunic hard. Half throttled, I rode on.
When we reached Noviomagus, I decided we would follow the King's example from yesterday: we would rest here and stay overnight at Helena's uncle's house. Another mile to the palace might not seem too much, but it was a mile along a road frequented by men from the site. I was exhausted and ill-placed to tackle trouble. Besides, I was in no mood to restrain myself with any fool who tried to take me on.
Helena wanted to see her brother Justinus too. Rather to my surprise, he was actually at home; I thought hard living must have paled. But I was wrong; his hard-living cronies had merely come to him. Once it was clear that Helena and I were not in transit but staying, Aelianus and Larius both sneakily emerged.
"It's been a long day, with some bloody episodes," I warned them.
i _ 245I was past even berating them for breaking the rules and leaving base. I could not face a noisy group discussion about recent developments. I had thought things through on the long ride here, but still had some pondering left to do- the kind I could accomplish best when fast asleep.
All three young men volunteered with great courtesy to go out for the evening. They might be home-loving types, but felt they could amuse themselves at some respectable venue so Helena and I might have some peace. The trio promised to return to the house with extreme care and quietness.
"And don't be late," ordered Helena. They solemnly nodded their heads. "Who is looking after Maia Favonia?" she then enquired. The lads assured her Maia Favonia was well able to look after herself.
We had to hope it was true.
XLVIII
No, we didn't. I caught the lads as they were skipping out the door. With Perella still on the loose, Maia needed guards. "Aelianus and Larius, you are to go back to the palace now. Make sure my sister is all right."
"Maia is perfectly safe-' Aelianus began stroppily. After his sojourn in the woods, he wanted a treat.
He might be right. Perella's sole target might have been Marcellinus. But he could be wrong.
"If anything happens to Maia while you have bunked off partying, I shall kill you, Aulus. That's as in disembowel you with a meat cleaver." He was still looking rebellious so I said curtly, "Marcellinus had his throat slit by that dancer we thought was tailing Maia."
He did reconsider. "And now the woman is on the loose again?"
"Stupenda?" Justinus joined in, with a quick glance at his crony Larius. "She won't have energy for Maia. She will be resting. She has a long night ahead of her tomorrow."
Larius explained: "Tomorrow night is billed as Stupenda's farewell appearance." As I stared at him, he added lamely, "Virginia tipped us off."
Tomorrow was nearly here. "You're done in, Falco," Justinus said quietly. "Aulus and Larius will certainly go back now and guard Maia. I'll try to find out from the management at the bar if they know where the dancer stays. If they don't know, we can all join the audience for her final show."
"What, and arrest her in front of a baying crowd?" I knew nothing works out that easily. But I was so tired I was powerless. "She won't appear."
"She had better,"Justinus replied grimly. "The men are all keyed up for it. If she fails to arrive there will be a riot."
I grinned wanly and said well, none of us would want to miss that.
XL
I slept badly. My tooth hurt. And when you most need rest, it refuses to come.
I felt events were either running towards a climax or, more likely, shooting out of my control. The palace project was well in hand. I had identified enough of what had been going wrong for officials to screw things back in line. It could be done painlessly. With both Pomponius and Marcellinus dead, the two architects could jointly be blamed in reports for inefficiency and the theft of site materials. Magnus' part in trying to trace losses would support my recommendation that he be given greater authority. A new title might help, say prefect of the works. Cyprianus would act as deputy. Strephon could be given a chance to lead the designers; he might develop well. If Magnus was correct that the clerk, Gaius, was honest, he could be made the senior; the others could be smartened up or replaced, so cost control and programming would then be pulled back on target. That was fine.
I still wanted to identify for sure who killed the two dead architects and why. Other deaths on site were either natural events or safety issues; firm management would help stop unnecessary accidents.
I still wanted to safeguard my sister, in a way that would deter Anacrites permanently.
I still wanted to find Gloccus and Cotta.
Shocking death stays with you. Bloody sights affect your dreams. When I did drift off to sleep, nightmares that sprang from the killings here, oddly combined with low moments from my own past, leapt from my tired imagination. Waylaid by terror, I woke, needing to sit up and detach myself. Helena, unused to riding long distances, slumbered deeply at my side. I had to stay awake, knowing the nightmares would stalk me if I relaxed again. By the morning, I felt grim.
Justinus appeared as fresh as a bird during my late breakfast. He was even sober enough to notice my silence.
"I've been out on reconnaissance. Everyone thought "Stupenda"
I was lodging in a dive near the Calleva Gate, Falco. Not so, apparently. I searched, but she was not there." "How do they contact her about bookings?"
"She comes to see them."
"So are they confident that she is still on for tonight?"
"Apparently."
I ate my bread gloomily. Helena, who was feeding the baby while seated on a leather box-backed couch, looked over. "What's wrong, Marcus?"
"Something's not right. Perella does not act this way. If she was sent by Anacrites specifically to eliminate Marcellinus who knows why? -then her normal behaviour pattern would be: stake out the ground; move in for the kill; then vanish."
"Well, she has disappeared," said Justinus, though Helena stayed silent.
"I meant, vanish from the whole area. Probably from the province."
Justinus pushed back his dark floppy hair. "You suspect that Perella has not yet carried out her full mission?"
"That's one theory," I replied cautiously. "One I don't want to think about. Let's stick with the hope that promising she will dance for the boys tonight is just a ruse to give her time and space to make a getaway."
"She must be stuck. People can only leave this province by sea," Justinus pointed out. "You're at the mercy of tides and sailing ships for a fast exit."
I managed a grin. "Sounds as if you've thought about this."
"Every minute since we arrived, Falco!"
I drained a cup of lukewarm flavoured wine, checking with Helena that she was ready to leave for the palace. "I'll spend a day at the site, Quintus. You can come if you like, if you've nothing on here. There's not much to lose now if people realise you're on my team."
"I would like to see the palace, after travelling all this way."
"We can take it easy, then return to Novio this evening, when the floor show is due to begin."
"Wonderful."
I grinned at Helena. "Your brother, who has graceful manners, manages to pretend he'll be happy chaperoned by a chaste older man."