‘I would have trouble arresting a ghost.’ I gave her a very limited account of what I’d seen so far – enough to satisfy her curiosity, I hoped, but nothing that would be the seed of gossip. The last thing I wanted was for rumour to spread in one quarter of the city, attracting the king’s interest. I knew how fragile his mind was over this situation, and I was reluctant for him to send his soldiers chasing gossip.
‘That wasn’t so hard, was it?’ Titiana said.
I contemplated the view once again before glancing at Titiana, beguiling Titiana. Words could not express all my hopes and frustrations right then. I had of course lain with other partners in the past, but either because my life was one continuous journey or I could not let go of the past, none of them really compared to her – or at least my memories of her.
‘Where do we go from here?’ I asked. ‘I want to see you again, but you’re married. That said, you’re certainly someone who seems to care less about being seen with me today than she did last night. Does this mean I am forgiven?’
‘You apologized to me for what you did,’ she replied eventually. ‘That was something you were too proud to do the first time around.’
Titiana pulled back on my arm as I was about to step up onto the horse. Her eyes seemed even more enchanting in the light of the midday sun. I felt an awkwardness develop between us.
‘You’re married,’ I said. ‘It’s as simple as that. I get it. You have a reputation to protect, as do I.’
‘It doesn’t matter. I wear a wedding bracelet and nothing more.’ She faced away from me now, and towards the city. ‘I barely see him. I barely see anyone but my family. They say if you’re a rich woman you can rise to the Senate these days. Well, not from where I am you can’t. A woman’s place lower down the city is confined to her husband’s shadow.’
‘It doesn’t have to be like that.’ I longed to tell her of what it was like for women in places like Locco, where men and women shared the responsibilities of raising a family, lest it bring shame on him; even Dalta, where women ruled the nation, not just the home. Not everywhere was reluctant in leaving behind the ghost and structures of its empire. ‘Titiana, right now I can promise little more than I did all those years ago. At least, not until the Lacanta murder is solved. After that, who knows? I have money now and no parents to dictate my actions.’
‘Will you ever find the killer though?’ Titiana brushed her hand along the side of my head and I held her wrist in place, hoping she would never let go of me. ‘The way you speak about it, you might as well be looking for a ghost.’
‘Perhaps I am.’
Her lips rushed to mine and I felt the surge of intensity in my chest. For that endless moment, on that hillside with the dead looking on behind us, nothing seemed to matter. The years fell away and it seemed as if I was enjoying the carefree times of my youth – no pressures, no concerns, just the present moment.
My hands moved down to her waist and I pulled her against me. Meanwhile the breeze came in tenderly from the sea, bringing with it the invigorating scents of the landscape.
We rode back in a comforting silence, Titiana in front of me, my arms around her waist. Occasionally I would kiss the back of her neck and she would tilt her head forward to permit me access.
Her tunic was of an impressive quality and I wondered if she had brought out one of her better garments today. Sometimes one could read too much into what a potential lover might wear, constantly divining for truth in the slightest of details.
She said that she wanted to make her own way back, alone, to her neighbourhood, so I left her just inside Vellyum, on one of the better streets. I asked where she lived but she wouldn’t tell me ‘in case I turned up drunk one night pining for her company’. She was smiling, but it was clear that I was not to go with her, and I thanked her for coming with me this morning.
She disappeared through the hectic lanes before I even had the opportunity to ask when we could meet again. I imagined – and hoped – that she would find me soon enough.
The final stretch of the journey, to return the horse and reclaim my deposit, was spent in melancholic thought. Titiana’s departure had left me feeling rather isolated and I quietly prayed to Polla that my goddess might spare some of her light for me.
Leana was standing in the shadow of a Temple of Festonia, a block-like building quite unlike the other temples in the city, and one that was in much need of renovation. The two-headed goddess had lost one of her arms, though I assumed the statue’s angry expression was carved before someone broke it off. It seemed a shame to treat the gods with so little respect, but that was the least of the district’s problems: a couple of crippled old women limped by, while skinny, almost-naked men prostrated themselves before tavern owners or merchants for coin – the men of business standing over them were the new gods in this district.
‘How did it go?’ Leana asked, still examining the people milling about the courtyard.
‘I’ve put my father to rest now,’ I replied. ‘Anyway, what have you seen today?’
Leana walked me around the area in which General Maxant would be making his declaration to the neighbourhood about his intention to go into the Senate on their behalf, all the time explaining what she had seen.
‘He is to make his speech from a balcony behind the local Temple of Trymus.’
‘So Maxant moves to prove his loyalty to the city’s founding gods,’ I suggested. ‘A safe tactic.’
‘You can see the recent graffiti on these walls,’ Leana continued. ‘There are political slogans about his conquests and his suitability for the role. Look carefully around the paint; there is writing that is insulting to other men.’ She showed me one example, which suggested, in rather more crude terms, that a man called Gerrantus liked to commit sexual acts with animals. ‘Gerrantus is the senator of this contested neighbourhood. More over here, also.’
Leana showed me several other pieces of graffiti along these lines, and some with the curious allegation that Gerrantus was responsible for killing Lacanta by summoning evil spirits.
‘I’d have to check, but I don’t recall his name being present on the list that night,’ I replied. ‘He’s certainly not on the one Veron gave me, of those who were close to Lacanta.’
‘It would not be the first lie on these walls,’ Leana said. ‘More.’
We walked behind buildings, away from the main traffic of the city, towards a cluster of men who were loitering beside a pastry stall, eating and generally laughing and joking in an easygoing mood. They were dressed in the kind of everyday clothing that people wore around these parts, grubby tunics, ripped trousers and sandals.
‘What are we looking at?’ I asked.
Leana moved me to a position alongside a rusted brazier. She kept her back to them while I faced them. ‘Pretend we are friends or lovers, smile at me, and keep watching.’
I glanced up every few moments, until another man came along, dressed the same: they stood taller as he walked up to them, and they exchanged nods before he marched on.
‘Maxant’s veterans?’ I whispered.
‘Yes,’ Leana replied. ‘I only noticed them when I saw the same group of men walk by the same point three times.’
‘They’re patrolling the place to make sure any rivals are kept at bay. I suppose they’d have every interest in their general making it into the Senate, where he could start granting them all sorts of pensions or extra land. Maxant is no fool.’
We strode back towards where the full spectacle was building up, and kept ourselves in the shade of the ruined temple to observe the event.