be screwed.'
'What do we do with the witch's body?' said Suzie. When in doubt she always retreated to the immediate practical problems.
I looked around and spotted what looked like a municipal dump in one corner of the square. It was a large dump, piled high, and surrounded by flies and dogs and other things. I pointed it out to Suzie, and she nodded. She bent down and slung Nimue's body casually over one shoulder again, and I retrieved Merlin's heart from where I'd thrown it. The dark muscle was already decaying into mush. We dumped both the heart and the body on the pile of accumulated refuse. Thick clouds of flies sprang up around us, buzzing angrily at being disturbed. Up close the smell was almost overpowering. In and among the city's piled-up garbage there were quite a few other bodies, in varying stages of decay. Some were human, some very definitely weren't, and there were a surprisingly large number of dead dogs and wolves. Small furry and scuttling things moved over and through the pile, feasting on the tastiest bits.
'No-one will notice one more body,' said Suzie, satisfied. 'I guess only Citizens get buried in this age.'
I nodded, staring at Nimue. The crooked arms, the bent-back head, the staring empty eyes. 'She died because of me,' I said. 'Just a kid, with a bit of ambition and an eye to the main chance. Who really did love her old sugar daddy, at the end. Dead and gone now, because I talked her into helping us.'
'You can't save them all,' said Suzie.
'I didn't even try,' I said. 'I was too wrapped up in my own concerns. I used her... to get what I wanted. I don't think I much like the man I'm becoming, Suzie.'
Suzie sniffed. She'd never had much time for sentiment, with good reason. 'What do we do now?' she said briskly.
'We need information,' I said, glad of an excuse to push aside my conscience and concentrate on the here and now.
'There must be someone, or more probably Something, in this Nightside with enough power to send us further back in Time, to where and when we need to be. There must be.'
Suzie shrugged. 'Can't say I know of any, off-hand. Most of the Powers we know haven't even been born or created yet.' She looked around at the various temples. 'I suppose we could always pray to the gods. The Roman gods were quite keen in interfering in human affairs.'
'I don't think I want to attract their attention either,' I said. 'They'd be bound to ask questions, and the answers would only upset them.'
'We have to go to the Londinium Club,' Suzie said abruptly.
'Why?' I said.
'Because the Doorman in the sixth century remembered that we did. So whatever it is we do, when we meet him, it must make one hell of a first impression.'
I scowled. 'I hate that kind of circular thinking. I say we break the circle, so that nothing is certain any more. I don't have to go to the Club, if I don't want to. I say we go straight to the oldest bar in the world, whatever it's called in this period, and make our enquiries there.'
'We could do that,' said Suzie. 'Only, how are we going to find it, when we don't know its name, or where it's located? I take it you don't feel like using your gift...'
'No, I bloody don't. The Lilith of this time would almost certainly notice ...' I stood and thought for a time, while Suzie waited patiently. She's always had great faith in my ability to think my way out of any problem. 'We need directions,' I finally decided.
'Sounds like a plan,' said Suzie. 'Want me to start grabbing people at random, and stick my shotgun up their noses?'
'There's an easier way,' I said. I knelt beside the unconscious Roman Legionnaire I'd decked earlier and brought him back to consciousness by only somewhat brutal methods. I helped him sit up, while he groaned and cursed, then smiled at him encouragingly. 'We need directions, Tavius. You tell us how to find the oldest bar in the world, and we'll go away and leave you, and you'll never have to see us again. Won't that be nice?'
'The oldest bar?' the Legionnaire said sullenly. 'Which one? I can think of several that could make that claim. Don't you have a name for it?'
I sighed, and looked at Suzie. 'I suppose it hasn't been around long enough to establish its reputation yet.'
'Then we go to the Londinium Club?'
'Looks like it. You do know where that is, right, Legionnaire?'
'Of course. But it's only for Citizens. Strictly Members only, and protected by the whole Roman pantheon. There's no way the likes of you will ever get to see the insides of it.'
I punched him out again, and then spent a while walking round in small circles, nursing my wounded hand and swearing a lot. There's a reason why I try to avoid brawls, which is that I'm really crap at them. Suzie very wisely had nothing to say.
We set off through the Nightside, following Tavius's directions. The first thing I noticed was that the air was cleaner and clearer in Roman times. I could see the Nightside sky clearly, without a hint of smoke or smog. And then something really big flew across the face of the oversized moon, actually blocking it out completely for a moment. I stopped and watched, genuinely impressed. Every now and again I needed reminding that this wasn't the Nightside I knew. They did things differently here. Even more than the sixth century, this was a dangerous time, where Powers and Forces walked freely and unopposed, and humanity was a barely tolerated newcomer.
The only light came from torches and oil-lamps, firmly bolted to every suitable structure, but there still wasn't enough of it. The shadows were very deep and very dark, and many things seemed to prefer them. Crowds of people and others bustled back and forth through the narrow streets and alleyways, intent on their own business, and there was hardly any distinction between the street traffic and the pedestrians. The traffic itself was slow and stately; some wagons, some horses (with slaves following along behind to clean up after them), and what were clearly upper-class people, being carried around on reclining couches by what I thought at first were slaves, but from their dead faces and staring eyes were quite definitely zombies.
'You're the expert,' I said to Suzie. 'What are those couch things called?'
'Palanquins,' she said immediately. 'I thought you said you watched I, Claudius!'
'I watched it, but I didn't take notes. Did you spot the zombies?'
'Of course. They're called liches, in this period. Maybe there's a shortage of good slaves, or maybe the slaves got too uppity. You don't get back talk from the dead.'
Tavius's directions had been extremely explicit, so much so I'd had to write them down. (Tavius had been really impressed by my ballpoint pen.) They did seem to involve an awful lot of going back and forth and around and around, often for no obvious point or reason. In fact, it was taking us ages to get anywhere, and I was getting really fed up with having to plough through the unrespecting crowds. So when I saw the opportunity for an obvious short cut, I took it. I strode down a perfectly ordinary-looking street, got almost to the end, then was suddenly right back where I'd started from. I stopped and looked around me. Suzie looked at me patiently, while I considered the matter. She wasn't above saying
'I get the feeling,' I said finally, 'that space in this new Nightside hasn't properly settled down yet. Directions can be arbitrary, and space can actually fold back upon itself. I've heard old stories about that, but it hasn't happened in our Nightside for ages. The Authorities tend to keep such things constant because it's good for business. So... I guess we'd better stick to Tavius's directions exactly, from now on.'
'I would,' said Suzie.
'You're dying to say
'I wouldn't dare.'
We pressed on, following the directions exactly, but we hadn't been walking for ten minutes before we walked right into a trap. We were strolling through a suspiciously deserted square when it suddenly disappeared, and we were Somewhere else. The change hit us like a blow. The air was viciously hot and sticky, and smelled of spoiled meat. The light was dark purple, and when I looked up, I saw a big red sun in a sickly pink sky. And all around us was a jungle made of flesh and blood. It stretched away for miles, trees and bush and hanging lianas, and all of it made of meat. All of it moving, slowly, as it reacted to our sudden presence. Suzie already had her
