“This,” I guided Bronwen to it, “isthe lectus medius, the couchwhere the most important guests eat.” I raised my voice and assumeda haughty air as I pronounced, “Naturally, this is where we will beseated.”
“Her, yes; you Legion scum,” Septimushooted, pointing to the lectussummus, “are over there.”
“And who’s going to be sitting oneither side of her?” I challenged, and I was not a bit surprisedwhen he grinned and pointed to himself.
“Don’t pay any attention to them,”Miriam commanded, falling into the spirit of the game as she saidloftily, “I am the one whodecides who will sit where, just as it’s always been.”
“She’s always been like this,”Septimus complained to Bronwen, rolling his eyes. “When we wereyoung, she was a tyrant to Gaius and me.” The instant the wordswere out of his mouth, I saw the flash of pain in his face, as didMiriam, and I saw her give his arm a surreptitious pat, but sheaddressed Bronwen. “Don’t believe him, Bronwen. I was the bestsister in the history of sisters.”
Septimus was a bit pale, but he made aretching sound as he clutched his stomach, and I know that onlythose of us who had been present at that terrible moment noticed.Bronwen was laughing so hard, her eyes were sparkling from thetears as she allowed Miriam to guide her to her proper spot, butwhen she tried to step over the couch so that her legs would be onthe table side of the couch, I stopped her. Flopping down onto mystomach on the couch, I reached out for her hand, but she washaving none of it.
“I do not believe that you eat on yourstomachs,” she scoffed, but when we all assured her that this wasexactly how it was done, she shook her head in amazement, then inan exact copy of me, fell down onto the couch as the rest of userupted in cheers.
Miriam had not been lying, as she veryefficiently moved people into their spots, but as she was guidingGaius to the fourth couch, I called out to her, pointing toBronwen’s other side.
“He’s eating with us,” I told her, andit was difficult for me not to laugh at the sudden rush of color tohis face, or how quickly he moved, then lowered himself verycarefully onto the couch.
“I will not bite you, Gaius,” Bronwenlaughed as he settled himself down, then I heard her voice turnserious, “unless you try to steal my food.”
He grinned and assured her that he wouldnot; then the food arrived, but the surprises were not over yet,when Birgit appeared with the first course, which was being servedby the couple, both of whom were beaming, presumably at the newsthey were once again employed.
“Today, when we went to the market, Istopped at one of the spice merchants and asked him for advice onhow to prepare dishes that use those peppercorns and thekinnamon you brought back fromAlexandria.”
This got our attention, but when I glancedover at Bronwen, I saw the look of consternation on her face, and Inudged her.
“I’m sure that Birgit didn’t just droppeppercorns in the food,” I teased.
She had not; in fact, there were only twodishes of the seven or eight where the peppercorns had been used,and as I guessed, the peppercorns had been crushed and sprinkledinto the garum that covered the fresh fish. The skin of the roastedpork, which Birgit had proven was an expert in cooking it so theskin is quite crisp, had been coated with a honey concoction thatused it as well, and it was not long before I was groaning fromboth pleasure and the discomfort of a swollen belly. By unspokenconsent, the topics were light, mainly about all that we had seenin Alexandria, but when we did not mention Aviola’s fate, it wasactually Miriam who brought it up.
“I want to know everything,” she said this with a quietintensity that was impossible to misinterpret, but I turned toSeptimus, indicating with a nod that he be the one to inform hissister that the man who had led Gaius Pullus down a path that ledto his death had been removed from this world.
I have to say that it was a bit unsettlingwhen she openly expressed her disappointment when Septimus told herthat Demeter had been advised by us not to flay the man, as shesaid flatly, “He didn’t suffer enough.”
This caused me to glance over at Servius,who gave me a wry smile, shrugged, and said, “I learned a long timeago that making Miriam angry isn’t a good idea.”
“She would have been the bestLegionary of all of us!” Septimus proclaimed, his words slightlyslurred as he held up a cup towards her.
The rest of us all raised our cups,shouting our agreement as she glowed with pleasure; this was themoment where I felt a stab of anguish at the thought that, once wewere finished, I had to tell them everything. When the sweet coursearrived, we learned that adding kinnamon to stewed apples makes them even moredelicious.
“This was all the children wanted toeat.” Birgit laughed.
They had been the only ones relegated to thekitchen, but when Miriam got up the first time to attend to them,Birgit stopped her, saying firmly, “Placidia and Horatius haveeverything under control. You need to stay here and enjoy yourmeal.”
The manner in which she said this, and moreimportantly, the manner in which my fiery aunt meekly obeyedreminded me that Birgit had been Miriam’s nurse, and had protectedher when the family had been ambushed by the Latobici when myfather and his family were returning to Siscia. It was somethingthat I had observed before, but on this night, it was brought hometo me how intertwined these people, who, if I was being honest, Ihad only known for a relatively short period of time, were witheach other, and how they looked out for each other, withouthesitation. Despite myself, I felt tears filling my eyes, and Icould not blame the wine, since I had insisted on drinking onlywater. Thankfully, only Bronwen noticed, or more likely, she wasthe only one willing to let me know she had noticed, and she turnedfrom her conversation with Gaius, who was becoming
