CHAPTER 6
Secretary Vestinus's tents were buzzing with activity and ablaze with light.
Chamberlain Alcibiades had returned with two slaves for the investigative team's service. Vestinus had assigned a further top-notch scribe to support Strabon in the wax-pad transcription chores, while the Praetorian Tribune Macedo had delegated the Alexandrian Centurion Quintus Urbicus to be an investigative agent to the team, accompanied by two troops.
Urbicus's translation skill had already proven useful with the fishermen. He seemed a sharp fellow suited to Suetonius's temper.
Standing in the background behind the two guards under Macedo's command was a further figure draped in a hooded travelling cloak and carrying a large carpetbag. When the figure dropped back its head cowl it revealed a mound of auburn hair dressed in the high woven style worn by ladies of fashion. Suetonius realized it was Surisca, the young entertainer from the House of the Blue Lotuses. His heart leapt a beat. His pulse raced. His groin stirred.
"The woman Surisca of Antioch," announced Macedo. "Delivered as demanded after considerable effort. It needed a team of twenty Guards and six ferrymen to traverse the Nile at night with flares, torches, and special skills to collect this female from her place of employ, negotiate a fee, and repeat the journey back to this encampment, at very considerable expense and danger to all."
He was rubbing it in, probably justifiably.
"My officers had to buy out the fee for her client tonight, and a double fee for each day until we return her to her contractor, plus a large inconvenience fee. She wasn't cheap."
Macedo announced this in Latin. He was certain Latin would not be her first language so it might pass her by. From the restraint expressed across her features, Suetonius suspected she clearly understood his words.
Surisca stood regally at the doorway to the rooms. She wore her bearing with unexpected dignity. She glanced around at the elegant luxury of this itinerant, fabric-built metropolis. Her eyes settled upon Suetonius across the chamber and, on recognizing him from only that very afternoon, smiled in a sweetly shy way that one wouldn't usually expect of an entertainer. Perhaps she had no idea who her purchaser had been, and was relieved to see a familiar face.
She was taller than Suetonius remembered and wasn't painted with her bordello colors. Her hair was held high by a Syriac headband and combs, but still folding down her back. She wore simple vestments more suited to the Forum than her whore-house duties, and with her ample bosom taped fulsomely in the Syrian way she looked more her real age of the high teens.
Her earlier skimpy costume, face paints, and tart's frivolous manner had added five years to her appearance at Hermopolis. Without the professional decors she presented a wholesomely healthy look, Suetonius mused. She was both more natural and more appealing to him at the same time. He spied Clarus, Vestinus, and Urbicus giving her a good looking over, and could sense their unspoken approval, perhaps even envy.
"Surisca, my dear!" he called as warmly as possible in Greek amid this nest of Latins, sounding as though the two had known each other for decades. "Welcome to the Imperial Household!"
He tried to offer reassurance in these unfamiliar surroundings. She would have no idea of what was expected of her in this all-male environment of people far above her class. Perhaps she thought she was going to have to perform sexually for a whole gang of Roman party-goers, or worse?
"I said this afternoon I would be seeing you soon, but I had no idea it would this soon. Please come and be seated among us. Are you thirsty or hungry? Would you enjoy some refreshments?"
Surisca entered the chamber hesitantly and accepted the invitation to take a seat.
For a sex worker to be seated among her class superiors and receive their hospitality was a marvel in itself. This was indeed an unexpected turn of events for a woman of her trade. She lifted back her demure headscarf and dropped it to her shoulders to reveal the full sheen of her auburn locks. Such a public display of a woman's hair before strangers was a novelty in itself.
Suetonius waved at the two service-slaves to find something to eat and drink, and they quickly disappeared into the complex. It was then that he identified a familiar waft of the faint fragrance of myrrh or frankincense oils emanating from her skin. These had impinged on his mood so effectively earlier that afternoon.
"You have been contracted, my dear, to give my companions here and myself advice on the customs of the local inhabitants and to help translate for us. We also hope you may provide some other guidance as we embark upon an urgent project on behalf of Great Caesar," the biographer explained. "It will take several days to complete. But, as my personal assistant, you will endeavor to stay close to me throughout. You will sleep in my bedroom for the period too, if you understand my meaning?"
Instead of expressing surprise, Surisca visibly relaxed. The final notion and Suetonius's politeness had reassured her how she hadn't been hired to be available to all-comers without limit, as can occur at men's drinking parties. Yet Suetonius wasn't deceiving anyone, either.
The staff arrived with dried fruits, cheese, nuts, and bean-mash pastes with fried bread to dip. Honey pastries and crushed almond halva followed. They were laid on a low table for self-service as required. The wine from Vestinus's larder was now a simple local Fayum wine of drinkable quality.
Surisca rose and delicately helped herself to the foods. She was hungry, though the professional entertainer in her saw her select tidbits and morsels arranged on a platter accompanied by a knife, which she brought to Suetonius. She then poured the Fayum in a 50/50 watered mix into cups for each of them.
Suetonius thought silently to himself, oh yes, my impulsive demand is going to work quite well. The others probably wondered why they hadn't thought of it themselves.
They each knew it was unusual for a woman to be in the company of strangers unaccompanied by a protector, husband, brother, or eldest son. Women of the elites across the East, and very often at Rome too, are secluded within the home and only appear in public in the company of male guardians.
Yet considering Surisca's trade including being a foreign non-citizen, this fact did not apply in this circumstance. Due to the Special Inspector's interest, perhaps she automatically assumed a role as an 'honorary male' for the immediate duration.
She had barely uttered a word thus far. But when she did respond to her benefactor's queries, the quality of her voice was a surprise. Unlike the shrill, mischievous harlot he recalled from the House of the Blue Lotuses, Suetonius realized she unexpectedly possessed a much lower vocal register which communicated an extremely level-headed quality. This raised Suetonius's pulse another beat or two.
The earlier harlot's voice could well have been a merchandising ploy from a sex worker's grab-bag of seductive tools. Suetonius appreciated he was in the company of more than an expensive trollop who you wouldn't trust with your purse.
But attention now returned to Lysias.
"Lysias, we are to question you on aspects of your relationship with the deceased, Antinous. Your personal testimony will be recorded for report to Lord Caesar," Clarus opened the formal interviews. "Please remember we possess the authority of an inquisitional Court, so you are obliged to tell the complete truth on these matters at penalty of severe imposition."
Macedo and Vestinus had departed the chamber and left the central team to their chores. This lightened the atmosphere no end. Clarus initiated the interview.
"You will begin with an oath of truth, then state your full name and origins, your status in relationship to the Imperial Household, and then describe under what circumstances you met and know of the deceased. On completion of these details, you will await further questions."