“Who is it, Amestris?” called another familiar voice from inside the room.
“See for yourself, mistress.” Amestris let go of my shoulders and gestured that I should step inside.
Anthea sat in a chair with her hands in her lap. Clusters of lamps hung from bronze stands to either side of her, so that the brightest light in the room fell upon her pale face and golden hair. Apparently she was in the midst of having her hair attended to by Amestris, for on a nearby table I saw various combs and pins. The arrangement remained incomplete, for some of her tresses were done up and some were not. She sat motionless, but smiled broadly at the sight of me.
When I had last seen Anthea, she had been only fourteen, about Freny’s age. Now she must be eighteen, and truly looked like a woman, not a girl. Like Amestris, she was even lovelier than I remembered.
“Gordianus!” she said. “Oh, I would get up to hug you, too, but-well, as you can see…” She gestured helplessly to her hair, which apparently was in such a delicate stage that she dared not disarrange it.
She guessed my reason for being there at once. “You’ve come to see Antipater, of course. Or Zoticus, as we’re supposed to call him, since the king insists that he maintain his masquerade.”
“Yes.”
Her face darkened. “Have you come from Alexandria? That’s where Antipater told us he last saw you.”
“Yes.”
“But why, Gordianus? Do you not understand the situation here in Ephesus? You’re a Roman-yet you’re not in a toga.” She scrutinized the yellow tunic the Megabyzoi had given me. “No Roman is safe here.”
“I realize that. Still, I’ve come to see Antipater.”
Anthea sighed. “I fear I have to disappoint you. He’s staying here, yes, but no one has seen him since early this morning. Am I right, Amestris?”
“Yes, mistress. Zoticus is not in his room and his attendants don’t know where he’s gone.”
“His attendants?” I asked.
“His two personal servants,” Amestris explained, “supplied to him by the royal household. They look after all his needs, which is why we sometimes hardly see him for days. But earlier today I sent Freny to find him, since of course he should be in attendance when our special visitor arrives.”
She exchanged a knowing look with Anthea, who raised a pale eyebrow. “Perhaps dear Zoticus wishes to avoid seeing her. As will I, if my hair is still only half-done when she arrives!”
Amestris laughed softly-the sound of that laughter sent a thrill through me-and picked up a comb from the table. “Don’t worry, mistress, we’ll be done before you know it. And you shall look very beautiful.”
“As beautiful as our visitor?”
“I’m sure she won’t think so!” said Freny. “The master says he’s never met such a vain creature-”
“Sister, enough of that!” said Amestris.
“Yes, Freny,” said Anthea. “You really must learn to curb your tongue.”
Freny put a finger to her lips to show that she understood. Then she commenced chattering again. “But sister, surely you want to visit with Gordianus. Let me finish the mistress’s hair. I can do it as well as you, if not better.”
“Who’s vain now?” said Amestris.
“You know it’s true.”
“So it is,” said their mistress. “Freny is right. Go find a quiet room, Amestris, and spend some time with Gordianus. Freny can finish my hair.”
“If you’re sure, mistress…”
“Go!” said Anthea. She smiled and shook her head, then stopped herself, reaching up to hold in place the delicate arrangement of her golden hair.
Carrying a lamp, Amestris led me down a hallway and into a room that startled me with its familiarity. I had lost my bearings in the house, but now I regained them, for this was the room where I had slept when I was a guest of Eutropius-the very room where I had lain with Amestris, and known the pleasures of coupling for the first time. Had she led me here to continue what we began those many months ago?
By the soft lamplight, she looked incredibly alluring. Her dress was modest, yes, but fitted her in such a way that the play of light and shadows displayed the contours of her hips and breasts to perfection. The sight of her took my breath away.
At the same time, I felt a stab of guilt, for what would Bethesda think if she were present? I tried to banish this most unRoman thought from my mind. Bethesda was my slave, after all. I was a free man and free to do whatever I pleased in pursuit of pleasure. If Amestris were willing, why should I not begin by kissing her? Looking at her lips, the desire to kiss them was irresistible.
But as I stepped toward her, she stepped back. A coincidence-or did she deliberately avoid my kiss?
“Amestris,” I said, “I’ve thought about you many times since we parted. I’ve pictured you in my mind, just as you look now-only you look more beautiful than I could imagine.”
There was something dismissive in the smile she gave me. Did she think I was merely paying her a pretty compliment? The words I said were heartfelt and true.
“And you look just as I remember,” she said. “Only…” She touched a fingertip to my forehead and traced the small scar. “I don’t remember this.”
“Oh, that,” I said. “It’s from a lion I met in the Nile Delta.”
“A lion!”
“This is the very fang that caused the scar,” I said, pulling the necklace from inside my tunic and showing her the talisman. She touched it with genuine wonder, and looked again at the scar.
Had I been entirely honest, I might have explained the series of events that resulted in that scar, which perhaps were not quite as perilous as she imagined. But if she saw my scar as a measure of manhood and the fang as a trophy, why not? How many men can say they were wounded by a lion’s fang and survived to tell that tale?
“The Nile Delta?” she asked. “So you’ve traveled in Egypt?” She sounded impressed.
“Oh, yes. I’ve been living in Alexandria. Before that, Antipater and I traveled all the way to Babylon.”
“Babylon! My mother told me that our people came from Babylon.”
This came as no surprise. Amestris was a Persian name, and so was Freny. Both sisters possessed the elegant features and dark beauty I had seen in such abundance among Persian women.
I proceeded to name some of the other exotic places I had visited, and to recite a few of my more colorful adventures. Again, why not? Not every man can claim to have seen all of the Seven Wonders of the World.
But for all my bragging, the next time I moved toward her, with kissing on my mind, she eluded me again.
“What about you, Amestris?” I asked, realizing all the talk had been about me. Perhaps my boasting had put her off.
“Oh, little has changed for me, Gordianus. But I can’t complain. I’m quite happy here in the house of Eutropius, surrounded every day by those I love.”
“Ah, your little sister.”
“Yes. And Anthea.”
“It’s good that you have such a close friendship with your mistress. But who is this special visitor you’re expecting, the one for whom Anthea feels obliged to do up her hair in some extraordinary fashion?”
“Why, Queen Monime, of course. Did we not say?”
My heart lurched in my chest. Of course, neither Anthea nor Amestris had any way of knowing that I had met the queen, or that if Monime saw me in the house of Eutropius when I was supposed to be sleeping in the Temple of Artemis it would be the end of me. “Why is the queen coming here?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think anyone in the house knows what the queen has in mind, not even the master. A messenger arrived earlier today saying the queen would pay us a visit after nightfall. The household has been in a flurry ever since.”