“But what about the words of the uncanny voice?”
“They became lost in the argument. The king and the Grand Magus remembered them one way, I another. I turned to Metrodorus, knowing he must recall every word that was spoken, but the Rome-Hater had an inexplicable lapse of memory and refused to back me up.”
“Then we failed,” I said.
“Not entirely. You saved the girl.”
I looked at Freny and Amestris across the room, still embracing. I turned and gazed through the black scrim at the Romans outside. “Only one life, compared to so many. The life of a single slave, compared to so many Roman citizens-”
“How is one life any more or less valuable than two lives, or three, or a thousand?” asked Kysanias. “All lives begin and all lives end. There is no scale upon which to weigh the value of one life against another, or one life against many lives. You did what you could, and thanks to you, Freny is still alive and her sister is filled with joy. Whatever Freny does from this moment on, however she affects the lives of everyone she meets, will owe something to you.”
I sighed and looked outside again. “How soon will it begin?”
“Very soon, I suspect. First there is to be-”
“Gordianus!”
I turned to see Antipater. Apparently he had just emerged from a hole in the floor, for the trapdoor was still open and Zeuxidemus was following him through the hatchway.
“I’m so relieved to see you!” Antipater threw his arms around me. “I feared you might suffocate inside that altar.”
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
“From the room below. I wanted to see for myself the mechanism that turns the pedestal upon which the statue stands. It’s simple, really, but I was surprised that a single man could turn it so easily. Very clever. But not half as clever as you, my boy. I’m told that your performance last night was flawless. You truly looked possessed. Young Zeuxidemus tells me he almost wet himself, watching you mime the lines I spoke.”
“I never said that!” protested Zeuxidemus.
“Antipater is known to take poetic liberties,” I said. Suddenly I was very hungry. “Is there anything to eat?”
“We have bread, water, and wine,” said Zeuxidemus.
“Have you any of that sleeping potion?”
Zeuxidemus cocked his head. “Why do you ask?”
“Freny had a restless night. She needs to sleep. And after the horror of what was done to her, I don’t think she needs to see yet more horror. It would be a blessing if she could sleep though the day, never hearing or seeing what’s about to happen.”
“You speak wisely,” said Kysanias. “Those who sleep in this chamber do so with the blessing of Artemis. I’ll see to it that Freny receives the wine we give to dreamers. Perhaps you should drink some of that wine yourself, Gordianus.”
“No. For better or worse, I’ll stay awake, if I can.”
“As you wish. Brace yourself.”
XXXIV
I was given bread and water. Freny was given bread and wine. I watched her fall asleep in her sister’s arms amid the cushions at the foot of the pedestal, where I had watched Zeuxidemus sleep before.
Amestris continued to hold her sister for a while, then gently extricated herself. She saw me watching her and came to me. Bethesda was elsewhere, and so was Anthea, so that Amestris and I had a moment to ourselves.
“Thank you, Gordianus, for saving her.”
“My reward was the look on your face when we came in the room.”
Her eyes glimmered with tears. “I was heartbroken when they took her. Now I have to say good-bye to her again.”
“It’s decided, then, that she has to leave?”
“Freny can’t stay in Ephesus, or anywhere else in the kingdom. Can you imagine what might be done to her if Mithridates or Monime ever saw her? No, she’ll go with you when you leave. Samson promises to look after her. We have freeborn relatives in Tyre who might take her in.”
I nodded, then touched her arm. “What about you, Amestris?”
“Me?”
“When I decided to come to Ephesus, I hoped I’d see you again. I’ve thought of you often since … our night together. When I finally did see you, the other night-it ended so wretchedly, with the queen’s visit. But before Monime arrived, there was something you said to me. I can’t get it out of my mind. It was about meeting me, the first time-you said it changed your life. If you have such feelings for me, Amestris, then perhaps.…”
She narrowed her eyes and looked at me with something between a grimace and a smile. “Oh, Gordianus, you lovely man! I think you misunderstood me. Yes, that night when you and I saved Anthea did truly change my life, because that was the first time I knew what love is.”
“Oh, Amestris-if things had gone differently … If Antipater and I hadn’t left Ephesus so quickly…” I cast a sidelong glance at Bethesda, who was across the room, eating a bit of bread and talking to Samson.
“Gordianus, I think you still misunderstand. That was the night I realized I was in love, and always will be-with Anthea.”
“With … Anthea?”
“Of course. I’m in love with Anthea, and she’s in love with me.”
“But … she’s a freeborn woman.”
“Yes, just as you’re a freeborn man. And are you not in love with a slave?”
“I…”
“I should have thought that our love was obvious to you, from the way we talk and touch, just as your love for Bethesda must be obvious to all who meet you.”
“I hardly think-”
“Anthea and I will live together here at the temple of the virgin goddess, where Anthea’s virginity is greatly prized. Only virgins can perform certain rituals of purification-and after what is about to happen, there will be a great deal of pollution, requiring much purification. But-did you hear that?” She turned her head sharply, toward the round window with its black screen.
We all heard the noise-all except Freny, who was soundly asleep. Without saying a word, everyone in the room gathered before the black curtain and gazed out the round window. Bethesda stepped beside me. Without a thought for what others might think, I took her hand in mine.
“That sound,” said Samson. “Like a roar. What is it? Where does it come from?”
“It comes from the theater, I think,” said Zeuxidemus.
“Yes, it’s the sound of many voices,” said Kysanias. “Criers ran through the city at daybreak, calling everyone to the theater. His Majesty will have staged some sort of spectacle for the people-something to rile them up and get their blood boiling. That captured Roman general probably had a role to play; the king will have humiliated him in some horrible way, if he hasn’t killed him. I was supposed to attend and give my blessing, but I refused. I told His Majesty that my place today must be at the temple and nowhere else. Whatever happens here, I must bear witness, as high priest of the goddess.”
“They’re chanting something,” said Antipater. “My ears are not what they once were. I can’t make it out.”
“‘Death to the Romans,’” I said. “They’re chanting, ‘Death to the Romans,’ over and over.”
I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach as I peered though the black cloth. If I could hear the chant, then so could the people below. I saw a sudden flurry of movement, as if an ant bed had been poked with a stick. Those who still slept were quickly roused. People began to rush this way and that, with nowhere to go, for beyond the sacred precinct were the trenches that had been dug, and beyond the trenches a ring of soldiers had encircled the entire area. Their upright spears had the appearance of a spiked fence.
Suddenly, responding in unison to a shouted command, the soldiers all lowered their spears at once, pointing them inward.
The crowd panicked. People ran toward the temple. From below us, I could hear the stampede of feet on the temple steps as they rushed inside. But the ring of spear-bearers did not advance. They stayed where they were.