'Like this ugly bitch.' He kicked Docilosa in the belly. She gave a faint groan.
Fabiola could not take her eyes off his blade, which was covered in her servant's blood.
The lanista edged forward, leering. He wasn't watching the floor, wasn't prepared for Docilosa's hand to reach out and grab weakly at his ankle. Memor stumbled. Then his other foot landed in the pool of blood, and he skidded. Losing his balance, he fell awkwardly to one knee. Furious, he stabbed Docilosa a number of times in the back and belly.
Vicana screamed at the top of her voice.
Hating herself, Fabiola retreated to the doorway. An instant later, she was manhandled into the corridor by the two doormen. Bundling into the room like a pair of raging bulls, Benignus and Vettius laid into the lanista with their metal-studded clubs. One of the blows alone would have crushed his skull, and the enraged pair landed more than half a dozen each before Fabiola managed to stop them. 'That's enough,' she screamed. 'Stop it!'
Breathing heavily, and spattered in blood and grey brain matter, they stood back.
'He's dead,' Fabiola shouted, looking down at the smeared mess of hair, flesh and bone fragments that was Memor's head. Tears sprang to her eyes.
Vettius was surprised by her reaction. 'Of course he is.'
'I wanted to grill the bastard about Romulus,' Fabiola sobbed. 'He used to be his owner.'
A rattling breath from Docilosa attracted everyone's attention.
Overcome with remorse, Fabiola dropped to her knees by her servant's side. Docilosa was alive — barely. Fabiola ripped open her dress, cringing at the first bloody, open-lipped entry point she saw. It was small, yet had caused so much damage. Memor's knife thrust had been expert, entering her chest on the left side, just below the breast. Puncturing one lung, it had probably pierced the heart as well. A mortal wound. His other blows would have killed too, albeit more slowly. For now, they just increased the blood loss. Fabiola didn't think that one person could have so much in them. Docilosa's dress was drenched in it, and so was the floor around her. Her eyes were stretched wide, and staring into nothing. Her mouth gasped open and shut like a fish out of water, trying — and failing — to get enough air in.
'I'm sorry.' Fabiola grasped one of Docilosa's reddened hands in both of her own. 'You were right. I should know better.' She looked beseechingly at her servant. 'This is my fault too. If we hadn't argued, you wouldn't have been in the corridor when Vicana screamed.'
A stream of fine bloody bubbles dribbled from Docilosa's lips on to the tile floor.
Fabiola squeezed her hand, praying for a response. Some proof of forgiveness, to give her hope.
There was none.
Docilosa's entire body gave a heaving shudder, and then relaxed.
Fabiola threw herself down to catch her servant's last breath. Then she gave into her grief entirely. Tears ran unchecked down her face, mixing with Docilosa's blood. Fabiola didn't care. The only person who had shown her real friendship and kindness through the worst years of her life was dead. Their unresolved quarrel doubled her feelings of guilt. She would never be able to change that now. Time could not be turned back. Yet Docilosa had tripped Memor; had saved her, even as she died.
Paralysed by her grief, Fabiola lay there, ignoring the doormen's pleas for her to get up. Jovina tried to help too, but to no avail. The old madam soon hurried back to the reception. 'Customers could come in at any time,' she muttered. Fabiola was oblivious to all of this. She wanted to die, longed for the floor to open up and carry them both off to oblivion. Even that thought was tainted by bitterness. Docilosa wouldn't be going where she was headed: Hades. Where else did she deserve? First Sextus had died, and now her blameless servant. No matter how hard Fabiola wished it, though, nothing happened. She thought vaguely of picking up Memor's dagger and using it to open the veins in her wrists. Death wouldn't take long that way. Then there would be no more pain, no more suffering. But she didn't. A short while later, when her nightmare of earlier returned to haunt her, Fabiola knew why.
She had a purpose in life which was greater than her own misery.
Her mother Velvinna had always been vague about her rape, but she'd been insistent that a noble was responsible. While Caesar had never actually raped Fabiola, he had tried to. His words then had, in her mind and heart, proved that he was the man who'd violated her mother. Deep down, however, Fabiola had to admit that this was no more than her strongly held suspicion, building on his strange resemblance to Romulus. Caesar was only one of a thousand possible suspects. Yet he was also similar to the countless noblemen who had paid to use Fabiola's body, plenty of whom had seen the fear and reluctance in her thirteen-year-old eyes and carried on regardless. Fabiola needed someone to blame for that degradation, which had been repeated innumerable times. Her hatred of such men festered within her; punishing a guilty party would give her some ease, and thanks to his assault on her, Caesar fitted the bill perfectly. Telling herself that he was her father helped to focus Fabiola's rage. If she committed suicide, he would escape her vengeance.
Fabiola pushed herself upright.
The doormen gasped.
She looked down at herself. Their reaction wasn't surprising: her dress was saturated in blood. Her hands and arms were also covered in it. 'I look as if I've been stabbed,' said Fabiola.
Benignus made the sign against evil. 'Don't say that,' he muttered.
Vettius helped her to get up. 'No point bringing more bad luck on yourself,' he agreed.
Fabiola grimaced. 'Hard to see how I could do that.'
Neither man answered.
'Best prepare a table in the kitchen,' she said, forcing herself to remain calm. 'We must lay out Docilosa, and clean her up. Put on her best dress. Vicana can get the hot water ready.'
Taking the shivering British girl by one hand, Vettius disappeared.
Benignus pointed at Memor's body. 'What'll we do with this piece of shit?'
'Wrap him up in an old blanket. Then wait until all the customers have gone,' said Fabiola. 'Carry him to the nearest sewer and drop the son of a whore in it. Let the rats feed on him. It's no more than he did for plenty of others. Tomorrow you can visit his second-in-command. I've heard that he's eager for promotion. Now his chance has come. A fat purse should help him forget all about Memor.'
Benignus nodded. He'd done things like this before. A short time after the lanista had entered, Tarquinius heard muffled screaming coming from inside the brothel. Unease filled him, but he could discern nothing of what might be going on. The response of the huge doorman outside was instant, though. Leaving his companions to hold the fort, he dived through the front door, his club at the ready. He was gone for a long time, which aroused Tarquinius' suspicions even more. He watched and listened intently, but the thick walls opposite muffled virtually all sound. He wondered if the screams had been anything to do with the lanista. His senses were telling him nothing, but the haruspex did not panic. Fabiola was unlikely to be in any danger. If a customer turned violent, it was far more likely that one of the prostitutes would get hurt. A quarter of an hour passed, and Tarquinius began to relax. No one had been ejected, which probably meant that the matter had been sorted amicably. Of course there was another, darker possibility, but Tarquinius could detect no hint of bloodshed overhead. That didn't mean that it wasn't happening, of course. Mithras, he prayed. Help me. Keep Fabiola safe.
The silent figure which emerged from the gloom of the alleyway a moment later made him jump. It was a woman. On her own. The haruspex' eyebrows rose in surprise before he took in the newcomer's grey robe. Confusion reigned in his mind. What was a priestess of Orcus doing here, and at this time of night? Although few lowlifes would hinder the passage of someone who served the god of the underworld, the priestess had risked her life to venture out alone.
He watched as she walked straight up to the front door. The four guards there looked quite taken aback by her sudden appearance. Scared too. The young woman said nothing, which disconcerted them further. 'Yes?' one ventured at last.
'I wish to visit my mother,' said the priestess.
Tarquinius pricked his ears. To his knowledge, there were only two women in the brothel old enough to have a child in her mid-twenties. Jovina, and the servant he'd seen previously.
The guard coughed uneasily. 'Who would that be then?'
'Docilosa,' came the reply. 'Fabiola's servant.'
'It's very late for a visit,' he said, glancing at his companions for confirmation.
She wasn't to be put off. 'It's urgent. She may be in danger.'
'Docilosa?' The guard unsuccessfully tried to hide his smirk.
