being alive that I had not felt in many years.
Suddenly she broke from the kiss and slipped out of my arms. I cringed and felt my face turn hot. I had miscalculated the moment, after all. I had made a fool of myself-or had she made a fool of me?
Then, with a start, I realized that Rupa had entered the room.
He hadn't seen the kiss. Cassandra, her ears accustomed to the sound of his footsteps in the hall, had heard him coming and had pulled away from me an instant before he stepped through the curtain. Nevertheless, he was agitated about something and signaling frantically with his hands. Just as I had been able to interpret the signs Eco had used in the years when he was mute, so Cassandra could understand what Rupa was trying to tell her.
'Something's happening in the Forum,' she said.
'Isn't there always?' I said.
'No, this is different. Something important. Something big. I think it has to do with that magistrate who's been stirring up trouble.'
'Marcus Caelius?' I looked at Rupa, who answered with an exaggerated nod. Then he made the universal sign of a hand drawn like a blade across his throat.
'Caelius is dead?' I said, alarmed.
Rupa waved his hand. 'Not yet,' Cassandra interpreted, 'but perhaps very soon.'
Rupa seized her hand and led her out. Even then, confused as I was by the sudden turn of events, I wondered why a humble beggar like Cassandra should be so interested in the fortunes of a politician like Caelius. On both of the two previous occasions when Caelius had caused chaos in the Forum, she had been there. Was that due to simple coincidence?
I had no time to wonder, for I was caught up in the rush to the Forum, following after Rupa and Cassandra.
The closer we drew to the Forum, the more crowded the street became. As Rupa had promised, something very big was taking place, stirring excitement and attracting people from all over the city. News spreads quicker than fire in Rome, from rooftop to rooftop and window to window. People came rushing out of buildings and side streets to join the crush, like rivulets flowing into a river.
Where it emptied into the Forum, the street became completely jammed. People continued to rush up behind us, making it impossible to either advance or retreat. I felt a prickle of fear. If violence were to break out anywhere in the crowd, there could be a panic and perhaps a stampede. I cursed my bad fortune. For a month I had stayed away from the Forum, fearing just such a predicament. On the one day I chose to go out, I found myself quite literally in the thick of it.
But along with fear, I felt another kind of thrill, far more pleasant. Partly it came from the simple excitement of being in a crowd, but mostly it came from my proximity to Cassandra. I found myself pressed very close to her, feeling the heat of her body, smelling the scent of jasmine on her skin. She turned to look at me, and in her eyes I saw a mirror of the same fear and excitement I was feeling.
I looked around and saw a narrow alley leading off to one side. A few people were emerging from the alley, trying to join the crowd, but no one was entering it. The north side of the Forum is a warren of winding little streets that take unpredictable turns or lead to dead ends. I wrinkled my brow and tried to remember where that particular alley led.
'Come!' I said. 'Follow me.'
Rupa hung back, frowning, but Cassandra took his hand and pulled him along. I plowed a course through the crush of people, jostling elbows and stepping on toes, until at last we came to the alley and stepped free of the crowd.
'Are you feeling unwell, Gordianus?' said Cassandra.
I laughed. 'Is that why you think I wanted to escape that crush? I don't faint every time I'm in a crowd.' Though it would be worth it, I thought, if every time I could wake to see your face above me.
I led them down the alley, which twisted and turned like a serpent so that it was impossible to see very far ahead, especially when the walls on either side narrowed until I could reach out and touch both at once. The alley branched, and I had to pause to remember which way to take. Rupa grew increasingly dubious, shaking his head and making signs to Cassandra that they should turn back. I could see that she was wavering, no longer sure whether to trust me or not.
The alley came to a dead end. The walls on either side were solid brick. In the wall facing us, a narrow door was recessed in the stonework. Rupa gave a snort and tugged at Cassandra's arm.
'Wait!' I said. I knocked on the door. There was no response. I knocked again, harder. Finally a peephole opened, and a rheumy eye stared out.
'Gordianus!' I heard my name through the thick wood of the door. A moment later it slowly opened on creaking hinges to reveal the stooped figure of an elderly man leaning on a crutch. We had arrived at the back door of the shop owned by my old acquaintance Didius. The shop fronted on the Forum's north side. Didius sold various goods required by the army of clerks who worked in nearby temples and state offices-handles and twine for assembling scrolls, Egyptian parchment and inks, styluses and wax tablets, and other book making and record- keeping paraphernalia. He also specialized in copying documents; the work was performed by a small staff of scribes who labored day and night. Some of the documents that passed through his shop contained sensitive information, and Didius's profession often made him privy to more secrets than many of his customers realized. I had found him a useful man to know over the years.
'Gordianus!' he cried. 'I haven't see you in months. Not since you last came in with that copy of Pindar that had some water damage and needed a bit of repair.'
'Has it been that long? Didius, these are-' I hesitated. What should I call them? 'Two friends,' I finally said, 'Cassandra and Rupa. We're looking to pass through your shop into the Forum.'
'Oh, no,' said Didius. 'Too crowded out there. Too crazy! I've shut the doors and barred them. But if you want to watch, you're welcome to come up to the roof, along with everyone else.'
'Everyone else?'
'All my staff. They can't possibly work with this madness going on. And from the roof there's an excellent view of Caelius and Trebonius and their tribunals, or so I'm told. My eyes are too weak to see that far. Come, I'll show you. Hurry along! Who knows what may happen in the next few moments?'
He led us through a storage room and into his shop. The doors and windows were barred, casting the room into darkness. A ladder in the corner led to an upper story. Didius put aside his crutch and led the way. He hobbled a bit, but was surprisingly spry. We emerged in the room where the scribes worked; after the dimness below, the bright light from the tall windows hurt my eyes. I breathed in the smell of fresh parchment and ink.
Didius ascended another ladder. I followed, with Cassandra and Rupa behind me. Through the opening above I could see a patch of sky.
One of the slaves on the rooftop saw Didius hobbling up the ladder and reached down to help him. As we emerged onto the roof, the scribes crowded along the low parapet made way for their master and his guests. As Didius had promised, we had an excellent view of the rival tribunals in the Forum below.
'I see Caelius,' I said, 'but where's Trebonius? His tribunal's completely empty-no lictors, no clerks… no Trebonius.'
'Must have run off,' quipped Didius. 'I'm not surprised. Caelius's rhetoric against him was scalding hot. He was practically daring the crowd to pull Trebonius off his tribunal and tear him limb from limb. Probably Trebonius had the good sense to beat a hasty retreat while he still could.'
I looked down at the massive, seething crowd that surrounded Caelius, who was orating and gesticulating wildly. Above the noise of the mob, I couldn't make out what he was saying.
'What's he going on about?' I asked Didius.
'He's gone the distance.'
'What do you mean?'
'Caelius has made his ultimate gambit, or so I should think. It's hard to imagine how he could go any further to pander to the mob. It's because he's about to be arrested. Why hold back?'
'Arrested? How do you know that?'
'I know because yesterday the consul Isauricus came here and asked me to draw up several copies of the Ultimate Decree. That would normally be done by scribes attached to the Senate House, but I suppose Isauricus wanted so many copies drawn up in so short a time that he brought part of the job to me.'
