given me, but I said nothing of them. How many of the men in her forecourt were entertaining the same questions, and how many would feign jubilation and leave their doubts unspoken-for the time being?
'Remarkable news,' I finally managed to say.
'Is there nothing you wish to ask? No one you wish to ask after?'
I thought for a moment. 'What of Domitius Ahenobarbus?' He was one of Caesar's fiercest enemies. At the outset of the war, he had lost the Italian city of Corfinium to Caesar, botched a suicide attempt, and been captured. Humiliated by Caesar's pardon, he made his way to Massilia-where his path crossed mine-and took command of the forces resisting Caesar's siege. When Caesar and Trebonius took Massilia, Domitius Ahenobarbus had escaped once more, to join Pompey.
'Redbeard is no more,' said Calpurnia, with a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. 'When the camp was overrun, Domitius fled on foot and headed up a mountainside. Antony's cavalry hunted him down like a stag in the woods. He collapsed from fear and exhaustion. His body was still warm when Antony found him. He died without a wound on him.'
'Faustus Sulla?'
'Fausta's brother apparently escaped. There was a rumor he might head for Africa.'
'Cato?'
'He, too, eluded capture. He may be on the way to Africa as well.'
'Cicero?'
'Cicero lives. He missed the battle entirely, on account of an upset stomach. Rumor has it he's headed back to Rome. My husband is notorious for his clemency. Who knows? He may yet forgive Cicero for siding with Pompey.' She stared at me for a long moment. 'Why not ask what you most want to ask, Finder?'
Why not, indeed? I bowed my head and sighed. I tried to control the trembling in my voice. 'What news of Meto?'
She nodded and smiled, a bit more smugly than was warranted. 'Meto is well. According to my husband, he distinguished himself admirably throughout the campaign and most especially in the battle at Pharsalus. He remains at Caesar's side, traveling with him to Egypt.'
I shut my eyes and held them shut, to hold back tears. 'When did this battle take place?'
'Four days after the Nones of Sextilis.'
I drew a breath. 'The day Cassandra was buried!'
'So it was. I hadn't realized that.'
On the very day Cassandra turned to ashes upon her funeral pyre, the fate of Rome was decided. I thought of all that had transpired and all I had discovered in the time it took the news from Pharsalus to reach Rome. I thought of the women who had shared with me their secrets, none of us knowing that even as we raked over the past and agonized over the future, the battle between the titans was already decided.
'Why did you summon me here, Calpurnia, and bid me come so quickly? I should think that every man out there, shuffling nervously about your forecourt, is more deserving to be kept abreast of the latest news from Caesar.'
She laughed. 'Let those senators and magistrates grind their teeth and swap rumors and stand on pins awhile longer. I intended to call you here today, anyway, because of a certain other event. Rupa, step forward.'
He had been standing in the shadows. When he stepped into sight, the look I saw on his face was closer to chagrin than anything else. He put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a rather stiff embrace.
'So you're alive, after all,' I said. 'Where have you been all this time?'
He covered one hand with the other. In hiding. Who could blame him? Fausta had sent a slave to kill him. When he learned about Cassandra's death, he must have been as baffled as I was, not knowing whom to blame or whom to fear.
'He should have come straight to me, of course,' said Calpurnia. 'But I suppose he was afraid of me, thinking I might have had something to do with Cassandra's death. But ever since Fausta died, all sorts of rumors have been circulating about her death and her role in the insurrection, including a rumor about her poisoning Cassandra. Rupa heard it and decided to risk coming here to find out the truth. I told him of all your efforts to find his sister's killer, not to mention the care you took to see that she was properly cremated.'
Rupa looked in my eyes and embraced me again, less stiffly. At that moment he looked very much like Cassandra.
'He also came here to collect Cassandra's earnings, which I kept in trust for her. It's a considerable sum. But there's a slight problem. It has to do with you, Finder.'
'Please explain.'
'At some point, Cassandra gave Rupa a letter addressed to me, to be delivered only in the event of her disappearance or death. Rupa can't read, and of course he didn't dare to show the letter to anyone besides me, so he's had no idea what's in the letter until today, when he delivered it to me. I've read it to him and discussed what it means. He's agreed to its terms, but I can't be certain that you will.'
'I don't understand. The letter mentions me?'
'Yes. Shall I read it to you?' Without waiting for an answer she produced a scrap of parchment and read aloud:
TO CALPURNIA, WIFE OF GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR:
IN RECENT DAYS, I HAVE FOUND MYSELF THINKING A GREAT DEAL ABOUT MY DEATH. WERE I TRULY GIFTED WITH THE POWER OF PROPHECY, I MIGHT ALMOST SAY THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED A PREMONITION OF DEATH. PERHAPS I AM ONLY SUFFERING A NORMAL MEASURE OF TREPIDATION, GIVEN THE INHERENT DANGER OF MY WORK FOR YOU.
BUT IF YOU ARE READING THESE WORDS, THEN I MUST INDEED BE DEAD, FOR MY INSTRUCTIONS TO RUPA ARE TO DELIVER THIS LETTER TO YOU ONLY IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH, OR IF I SHOULD DISAPPEAR UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES SUCH THAT MY DEATH CAN ALMOST CERTAINLY BE PRESUMED.
IN SUCH AN EVENT, THIS IS MY DESIRE REGARDING THE DISPOSITION OF THE MONEY I HAVE EARNED FROM YOU AND WHICH YOU ARE HOLDING FOR ME. BECAUSE RUPA HIMSELF WOULD BE ILL-DISPOSED TO HANDLE SUCH A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY, I WISH FOR THE ENTIRE SUM TO BE GIVEN TO GORDIANUS, CALLED THE FINDER, A MAN WHO IS KNOWN TO YOU AND TO YOUR HUSBAND, UPON THIS CONDITION: THAT HE SHALL TAKE RUPA INTO HIS HOUSEHOLD AND SHALL ADOPT HIM AS HIS SON. IN RETURN FOR ASSUMING A FATHER'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR RUPA'S WELLBEING, GORDIANUS MAY DISPOSE OF THE MONEY AS HE SEES FIT. I KNOW HE HAS GREAT NEED OF IT. I HOPE IT WILL COME AS A BOON TO HIM AND TO HIS FAMILY.
THIS IS THE WISH OF YOUR LOYAL AGENT, CASSANDRA.
Calpurnia put down the letter. 'I'm not sure about that last bit-her loyalty, I mean. She did conspire with Fausta to induce Milo to raise arms against the state. One might argue that she was a traitor in the end, and that I would be entirely justified to seize all her assets-including the money I was holding in trust for her. But I ask myself: What would Caesar do? And the answer is obvious, for no leader of the Roman state has ever shown as great an inclination to clemency as Caesar. Cassandra cannot be made to suffer any more for her collusion with Fausta; she paid for that mistake with her life. I see no reason why Rupa should also suffer, and I have no wish to take from you, Gordianus, the money that Cassandra wished for you to have. You did me a great favor when you uncovered Fausta's perfidy, and while I suspect you don't wish to be paid for that effort-that would make you my agent, wouldn't it? — I do hope that this audience and its outcome may mark the first step toward a complete reconciliation between you and my husband, as well as those who serve my husband… including young Meto.'
I stared at her, not sure how to answer. 'What is the sum you hold in trust for Cassandra?' I asked.
She named it. The amount so surprised me that I asked her to repeat it.
I looked at Rupa warily. 'Do you understand the amount of money that your sister earned?'
He nodded.
'Yet you accept the terms she laid out in her letter? That you should receive none of that money, and instead should become my son by adoption?'
He nodded again and would have embraced me a third time had I not stepped back. I looked at Calpurnia. 'Perhaps it would be fairer if Rupa and I were to split the amount,' I suggested.
She shrugged. 'Once you receive the money from me, Gordianus, you can do with it whatever you wish. But you'll receive it only if you agree to adopt Rupa, as Cassandra requested. You appear to be a bit taken aback by her
