Leah was the daughter of the leader of the Celtic tribe nearest to the Roman encampment, and when she was six or seven, she was “adopted” by an army general as one of these hostages.
She was mostly happy in the Roman encampment and liked her adopted family well enough. Her Roman father had actually been to the real, proper city of Rome when he was a young soldier. Everyone respected and admired him. The camp itself was clean, with good food and sanitation, and travelling theatre troupes for entertainment. She was even taught to read, write, and speak new languages. But despite that, she always wanted to go home to her Celtic family.
When she was a teenager, a promising young centurion named Fabian decided that the general might make a good father-in-law. He was determined to make his way up the ranks, and he would gain a lot from having the eye and ear of someone of a higher rank.
Fabian asked the general for his daughter’s hand in marriage over a fine dinner, bought with a month’s salary. Leah was fifteen at the time, meek and quiet, staring down at her plate and barely sneaking a peek at Fabian. But the girl was practically irrelevant. It was the father that Fabian needed on his side.
With much flattery and wine, a marriage was agreed. The girl said “Hello”, “Good morning” and then “I do” to the man who then became her husband. She could have objected. But nobody would have listened.
Fabian took his new wife to meet his younger brothers, Rufus and Vini. They congratulated him, teasing him for his keenness to settle down. They didn’t think much of the silent girl, but said she’d probably liven up with a little time. She must have barbarian blood in her somewhere, they said, loud enough for her to overhear.
For a while, the four of them got along well. Rufus, who was the fort’s priest, heard Aeliana singing one day while she brushed her hair. After that, the pair of them sang together after every evening meal, while Vini picked out his teeth and Fabian schemed.
Vini, never good with numbers, used to come to Aeliana for help with his coins. And Fabian – well, Fabian had many uses for Leah. He taught her how to get information from other soldiers’ wives – explaining what he wanted to know, and how to find it without suspicion. He made her steal papers and money, intercept letters and plant rumours, working his way up the ladder until he was ranked alongside his father-in-law.
There was always a new political goal, something he needed or wanted or wanted to avoid. Leah enjoyed the intrigue, even if nothing they achieved actually helped her. Fabian controlled everything from behind the scenes, planning out all of the three brothers’ moves in minute detail. Rufus had a lot of leverage as a priest, and he did everything Fabian told him to. Vini was the muscle, of course.
Even after Fabian made it clear that he didn’t love her the way that she wanted to be loved, all was not lost for Leah. She had a baby to give all her love to, anyway.
But good things don’t last. When Leah was seventeen, there was a rebellion in the local Celtic tribe. They were upset with the amount of taxes being taken by their Roman overlords. They infiltrated the encampment and killed everyone inside by putting poison in the water supply. Or at least that’s how the story goes. At any rate, it’s true enough that the five of us all died without warning on one cold evening.
That was just the beginning, of course.
Chapter 22
KASPER
“What do we do now?” Rima asked, once Norma had walked off down the corridor, with Harriet trailing after her like an obedient dog. Harriet’s grandmother was clearly taking delight in embarrassing her granddaughter in front of other people.
Norma was just like Harriet, Kasper realized. He’d seen that look before, in Harriet’s eyes: blank and condescending. There were two of them now.
“I don’t like this,” Felix said.
Kasper had no idea what they should do next. He wondered what would happen to their living arrangements if Mulcture Hall continued to acquire new ghosts at this rate. He would probably have to take in a roommate.
“Maybe she’ll calm Harriet down,” Kasper suggested, even though he suspected it was more likely to end in another battle. But Felix seemed like he was about to start hyperventilating.
Kasper was ready to fight now. He wasn’t scared any more. He almost wanted to thank Rufus, for giving him this ability to protect them. Now, he wouldn’t hesitate to do what was needed. He was willing to disintegrate to make sure his friends were safe.
“Is it just me, or was that thing with Claudia kind of weird?” Rima asked, baffled.
“It was.” Leah had her lips pressed against Claudia’s forehead, holding her tight. “We should be ready to use the eyelid to subdue Harriet if Norma can’t calm her down. Or worse, if she riles her up even more. I know we’re all hoping for the best here, but we need to prepare for the worst.”
Kasper nodded. “I don’t think this is over yet. Not by a long shot.”
They walked to Rima’s room in quiet shock, as they tried to process everything that had happened.
“How can one family be filled with so many creepy people?” Rima asked. “Her gran gives me the shivers.”
“But they both have such great hair,” Kasper added.
“How did Norma know what to do?” Leah asked, ignoring him. “She didn’t miss a beat. She knew exactly how ghosts work.”
“Maybe that’s her power,” Felix suggested, mainly joking. “Infinite knowledge of ghost mythology.”
Rima let out a tired laugh, trying to be appreciative but mainly sounding exhausted. “I hope not. That sounds like the last thing we need right now.”
Kasper couldn’t stop looking at the shape
