Widow's Weeds

Frustration was a dry and bitter taste in Livia's mouth, compounded by the hot sun of the late afternoon and the fact that they had made no progress in finding the Sassenid girl in the time they had been in the souks. Nobody knew her, it seemed. Nobody had ever seen her or anyone who looked like her. For all anyone in the souks was willing to say, there might be no girls between the ages of ten and twenty in the Sassenid section of the city at all.

"I think," said Darius cautiously, "that we'd better be off, lady. We don't want to be out past sundown, especially not here."

She nodded, admitting defeat for the moment. They were in the company of a boy named Gaius, a son of one of the cooks who knew this section of town. She'd thought he might be useful, and she was right. People who would not speak to her or Darius had a smile and a sweet for Gaius, and he did know several of the shopkeepers in the souks. Livia sighed, and said, "Let's head home. We can try again tomorrow."

Her feet and legs hurt from their ceaseless walking on the stone-lined streets, and her head swam with the sun. But if she thought she was going to have some time that night to relax, she was very much mistaken. When she returned, there was a message waiting.

The baths it is, tonight. There will be one of the private rooms in the women's section reserved for our use. I will be waiting after moonrise.

Julia

She stared at the note, a frown creasing her forehead. Another tack she was trying had borne fruit, more quickly than she had hoped. Julia had been Sextus' contact at Hagia Sophia; when she had read the name, a surge of irrational jealousy had nearly made her throw the book across the room. Her husband had been meeting with a woman, nearly every week for the last year. And he had lied to her about where he was.

She knew she had no reason for jealousy. But he was dead and she was alone, and at the moment it was very difficult to talk herself out of her suspicions. She swallowed and made an effort to smooth her brow. She is a mage, she told herself. She is probably old and wrinkled, terribly wise.

She composed herself and deliberately set down the message. Besides, Julia being female meant that there was a convenient way for them to meet, away from most prying eyes. The baths in the evening were reserved for quiet, mostly non-social bathing, and it was proper as proper for a woman newly in mourning to attend the baths in the evening. She chose her clothing with care, picking out her finest linen mourning stola and an equally fine grey palla. There was no reason in the world for the mage she was meeting not to know who she was, after all.

In another life, she would have called in a maid to arrange her hair, but instead she left her tangled curls to lie on her shoulders. She selected jewelry, her hands trembling. Almost everything in her collection of shining gold had been given to her by Sextus, and as she touched each piece she was assaulted by memory. This necklace, of instance, fashioned of linked gold hemispheres, he'd given her this a few months after Optata had been born. Her fingers brushed the hemispheres and made them chime together softly. They had been so happy; Optata had been her first pregnancy and had been riotously healthy since her first breath. They had looked forward to many more children, many more small feet pounding along the corridors of their home.

But it had not come to pass. Time after time, she caught pregnant and then sometime in her third or fourth month the babe would slip from her womb, long before it was large enough to take its first breath. The healers she had consulted had told her that there was some sort of malformation of her womb, something inborn that having Optata had made worse. They had told her that there was little chance of her ever carrying to term again.

She had cried for days after that piece of news. And quietly, stubbornly, she had continued to try again, not taking the preparations that the healers had offered her. She would have another child some day, she had been sure of it. It would be a son, this time. She'd had this feeling about it, a mother's intuition.

She wondered, now, if her longing had translated into that certainty, if she had been lying to herself, trying to keep her hopes up. Sextus had never seemed to mind, telling her they would try until they succeeded. "I have a child, Livia. She is enough," he'd told her. "Even if we never have another child, I am content with you and her. My girls."

She had never truly believed him. And now it was too late--far too late, for many things.

Livia swallowed and selected a necklace and a few bracelets, sliding her rings onto her fingers, washed clean of the grime of the day, the smudged dirt that she had used to hide the pale bands that marked where she habitually wore rings. Then she rose and knocked on the closed door of Darius' chamber, next to hers.

He answered the door and said, "Going to meet Julia?"

She nodded. "I'm taking the guards, I should be safe enough. Screams carry, in the baths. Tell me, what do you know of Julia?"

Darius shook his head. "Very little, I'm afraid. She was the one who reccommended me for this post when Constantius asked for a mage to investigate the happenings in your house. She's old Roman money, high-born, dark hair, very pretty. Perhaps a bit older than you, lady. She had some row with the other members of Hagia Sophia about using me instead of some others that were requested by Constantius."

Livia's expression was darkening. So much for the kindly older mage with a crown of silver hair she'd been envisioning. She made a sincere attempt to check her jealousy and asked, "How highly is she placed in Hagia Sophia?"

"She used to be on the council that ran Hagia Sophia, but she quit to pursue research. She hated politics, but she still has some hold on the council."

She quirked her mouth in a small smile. "Obviously, since she got you assigned to this detail. Do you know what her research involves?"

"A bit of everything. Item building and new spell research are her specialties." Darius leaned against the doorframe, seemingly contemplating Livia, weighing his words.

With that half-smile still on her lips, Livia replied, "For a minute there, I was afraid you were going to say demons."

Mildly, Darius replied, "She does know a great deal about that too, I am sure."

"It seems like everyone but me does, lately. Ah, well. I'll leave you to her spells and go meet her--it wouldn't do to be late."

"No, probably not. I will continue to work on the location spells, try to get a better fix on the girl's location and see if I can put together something that will track the gulagon."

She nodded, then fought the urge to bow slightly to the mage. What an odd thing to want to do, she thought. Aloud, she said, "I'll take my leave, then. I will see you when I return."

A covered litter took her to the baths, a great stone edifice that was one of the most beautiful buildings in Constantinople. Livia never got tired of these baths; beautifully decorated as well as wonderfully functional, they were one of the centers of social life in the city. She had exchanged so much gossip in the echoing stone rooms, found out so many interesting tidbits of information to take back to her husband. The evenings were quiet, the halls lit by oil lamps and the cooling air in the gardens aglow with small magelights. She made her way towards the back of the garden, to the small rooms that were little more than glorified alcoves at the very back. An attendant, when she asked, led her to the correct alcove. She stepped inside and the attendant slid a screen shut behind her.

On a low couch lounged a woman, her dark hair arranged in an unfussy style, her sharp dark eyes seeing to take in the entirety of Livia in one quick, comprehensive look. "Julia, I assume?" she asked.

"Of course. I invite you to have a seat, Livia Neria. I am glad to finally meet you."

Livia sat, looking at Julia. Her brows were proudly arched, crowning a face that was not necessarily classically beautiful but that was somehow compelling. She had a sensual mouth and a nose that turned up slightly at the end, a long neck and rounded shoulders. The rest of her, Livia noticed, was also magnificently rounded. But it was her eyes that drew Livia's gaze, and Livia found herself thinking that men would go to war for those eyes. Next to Julia, Livia in her stola felt positively dowdy, and she checked her hand as she unconsciously raised it to smooth her hair.

She also found herself thinking in despair that given his proximity to this woman, she would not at all blame Sextus for indulging in her obvious charms. She pushed the thought aside for the moment. She had things she needed to find out, and perhaps Julia could tell her about them.

There was no help for it; she would have to dive straight into the heart of the matter. "So, Julia. I'm trying to find out why my husband died, and I'm hoping that you might be able to help me look in the right direction. Can you tell me what you and he were meeting about?"

Julia pursed her lips, thinking. "Did your husband tell you anything about what he was doing?"

Livia looked away from her, trying to compose herself as she suddenly found herself drowning in sorrow--and guilt. She swallowed and answered, "No, nothing. I've been following a trail he left, and I found out that he knew he was going to die. But while he was alive, he told me nothing."

"He knew he was going to die? That's new. What I have to tell you will come as a shock. But the best way to get it out is to just say it." Julia drew a long breath, letting it out in a sigh. "Your husband was spying on Constantius."

Shock tumbled in a cold wave down her spine, and Livia sat up, her eyes wide and the blood draining from her face. "He was what? For who?"

"Hagia Sophia, Livia. He was spying for us."

Her mind seemed to have come to a complete halt. Livia struggled for words, finally stuttering, "How--how long?"

Julia's eyes were soft as they rested on the shocked woman who sat across from her, a pale ghost in her mourning grey. "Years, now. But only lately has he been called upon."

Livia had placed her forehead in one hand, and it took her a moment to get herself under control, to wipe away the tears that sprang to her eyes. "What did the Tower ask him to do?" she asked.

The other woman pursed her lips. "Constantius has always been a bit on the uncontrolled side. Obsessive and very quick to anger. We feared that he might try something rash to gain the throne."

"So you wanted warning if he was about to try something?"

"Yes, and we were right. Sextus started reporting about six months ago that Constantius was meeting with pagan temples and every assassin in Constantinople." Julia's voice was betraying a strange urgency, as if she was afraid that if she did not speak now, she would never get to. "Then the truly strange things started to occur. Constantius started making demands on the council, and the council complied. And the more he demanded the more the council complied."

Livia blinked. "I didn't think Constantius had that sort of relationship with Hagia Sophia. Nobody does--the Tower's mostly a law unto itself."

"No one should. Therefore, the council has been breached in many places, as it would take a majority of the twelve to meet his demands."

Her mind was starting to work again after the shock of finding out that her husband had been betraying their regent. She asked, "What has he been asking them to do?"

Julia shrugged. "The council is very tight lipped about that. But something that got Constans' son Esayis killed--or at last missing."

"The boy, I heard about him. Staged, I think, to make it look like something he'd been casting went wrong."

"Yes, but the web goes even farther. The room was destroyed by a pagan cleric."

Livia shook her head, thinking of what Darius had told her about it not being pagan magic at all. "I've smelled whiffs that there's a pagan priest or two involved in this. There was one with the people who I suspect called the demon that killed Sextus."

Julia's days eyes were serious, and she hesitated when she spoke again. "There are whiffs that lead back to the council as the people who ordered his death--that may have given him up to Constantius."

Her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to say, no, it can't be but the truth was that it could be. It could very well be. Sextus had been betraying the man both of them had counted among their closest friends, and Constantius, having found out about it...would have ordered him killed. It felt right. She knew Constantius, knew his temper. "So you think that Constantius may have been the one to order my husband killed?"

"I think, but can not prove, that Constantius found out about your husband as a spy and ordered the council to deal with it."

Livia found herself shivering and curled her legs underneath of her. She could not know that in that moment, she looked very young indeed, torn by grief and loneliness. Livia shook her head, trying to clear away the cobwebs that were creeping into it. "It's more of a theory than I had before, at least. Tell me, would that betrayal be enough to call a gulagon?"

She folded her hands. "Gulagons are called for revenge, and that is the angle that I cannot fathom. Constantius might have a strong enough will for revenge, for having been duped all these years, to get one but twice is a near impossibility."

"I think that the gulagon wasn't summoned twice. I think it may have been caged for a day and a night and then released again. Not only that, but the second time it came it saw me but didn't attack me." She looked down at her hands, and asked, "Do you know of anything else Sextus might have done to cause someone to have that strong of a will for vengeance?"

"Nothing that I know of. Caged, you say. It might not have completed its mission the first time then."

Livia's tone was nearly colorless. "No. Sextus bought some powders that make one invisible to demons a few days before he died. I think he may have used them on me and our daughter that night. It returned and shredded my daughter's room--fortunately, she wasn't there."

Julia raised one elegant eyebrow. "Was that a warning to you, then?"

She nodded. "It seemed to be. It actually spoke to me." She shuddered, and a feeling of nauseous fear swirled in the pit of her stomach, just like it did every time she thought of the nightmare that had stood in her home and spoken to her. "It said whoever sent it told it to destroy the line--but not me. I'm assuming that means someone wants to scare me."

The mage was fidgeting with her bracelets, seemingly an unconscious gesture. "No offense, Livia, but why bother? Kill the spy, kill the family and be done with it."

"That I don't know. I have no idea why anyone would just leave me alive and try to scare me off of something. Constantius appointed me as an advisor in Sextus' place--and why would he have done that if Sextus had been betraying him? Unless he knew that I knew nothing."

There was a small smile touching Julia's lips. "I am sure he thinks that you have no brain, lady. That is why. And if his plan went astray, by taking you in, it makes him look like the prince and savior."

"And he has my daughter. A hostage, if it comes down to it."

"Yes, he does." The small smile faded, and she leaned forward slightly. "Did Sextus give you anything before he died?"

She thought about it. She couldn't remember anything--but her memory of the last days before Sextus' death were hazy, blotted out by the massive stain that was the night that he died. "No, not that I recall. I found his private papers, and from them I've been following the trail he left."

"Does this trail lead anywhere else?"

Livia nodded. "A number of different places. A young Sassenid girl, who we're still looking for. A priest of Athena in a bad section of town. A mage with slitted yellow eyes, who may be the one who summoned the gulagon."

At that last, Julia hissed a drawn breath. "Geras. Gods, I had hoped he was dead."

"Alive and well and in the company of a pagan priest of some power, it seems." She took note of the mage's unguarded utterance; perhaps she was another who revered the old gods.

"That's a bad combination."

"And the trail appears to lead to Constans."

At that, Julia's eyes went wide, and she sat straight up. "Constans?"

"He was meeting with Constans. That is the connection I'm really worried about." She raised her finger to her lips, her eyes warning; she couldn't say any more, not that she knew much more than what she'd said. She'd forgotten, for a moment, that she barely knew this mage. Trusting her came too easily, and Livia was wary.

Julia nodded, taking her warning. "A Sassenid girl, you say?"

"A girl, possibly a young mage, who was hanging around our house the night the gulagon attacked the first time. I have a feeling she might be Sextus' daughter, from a couple of pieces of corroboration I've gotten."

Julia's dark eyes were sharply intent. "Did the demon just appear in your house or did it fight through the guards?"

"It just appeared. The guards didn't know anything until my screams brought them."

"And you found something strange. A few strands of hair not yours near your bed. Or something like that?"

Livia replied, "A fingernail, torn from a nailbed. Small, likely an older child's or a woman's. I think, if the Sassenid girl was his daughter, it might belong to her."

Julia sat back, nodding. "Daughter, niece, cousin, definitely blood related."

"Darius mentioned that was the method used to provide a gulagon with a means of tracking its prey." She spread her hands, recalling the dusty taste of frustration. "I'm trying to find the girl and talk to her, see what her story is. If nothing else, she may have seen something. The second time it came, it destroyed my daughter's room, tripped Darius' alarms probably on purpose, and spoke to me. I haven't seen it since, but it may only be a matter of time until it returns."

The mage nodded. "It may well be."

They sat in silence for a few moments, and there was a knock on the screen as an attendant brought in a flask of wine and a pair of cups. After taking a sip of hers--it was an excellent vintage, and she rather thought it was Julia's standing rather than hers that caused such consideration--Livia asked, "I actually wanted to speak with you about Darius. He said that you lobbied for him to be sent over the others the council wanted to send. Why?"

Julia smiled. "Darius, shall we say, follows his own rules from time to time. The council is involved with this on several levels and he may find that he will be going against them at some time in the future. I think that he would actually like to give it a try."

"You count him trustworthy, then?" she asked.

"I would trust few with my life and he is one of them." Her voice was filled with certainty, and silently Livia let out a sigh of relief. "He has a great advantage on most mages. He knows how to fight after he has exhausted his magic."

It was Livia's turn for a wry smile as she remembered yesterday morning. "And on occasion, before," she muttered.

Julia's musical chuckle rang in the small room. "He still does think like a fighter first sometimes."

She nodded, acknowledging the truth of that statement. "So you sent him to me because you thought...I was going to take up where Sextus left off?"

She shook her head. "I sent him because he wouldn't kill you in your sleep."

"That's always an advantage in a bodyguard, really. And you suspected that anyone else that the council would send might?"

"I wasn't about to bet your life on it. Or your daughter's." Her voice had dropped low, and her eyes were serious.

"Especially if the council is in Constantius' pocket, as you suspect." Livia shifted, pulling her legs in a little. Despite the warmth of the summer evening, her hands and feet were ice cold. "It is very strange to think that someone I've counted as a friend and protector may have been responsible for the death of my husband."

"I had to bribe several of them to send Darius. I would count on most of them being compromised. And Constantius...can be very deceiving." Julia took another swallow of wine, looking over the rim of her cup. "I know this is hard for you, but can you take up where your husband left off?"

Livia clenched her jaw. That was the question, wasn't it? She had put her feet on the road, and the safest thing would be for her to take her feet directly off of it and live out her days in quiet. But I have done the safe thing my whole life, she thought. And I need to know why Sextus died. She swallowed. "If I can. Not exactly where he left off, but...I think Sextus was in way, way over his head. There's a lot to unravel. I don't know if Constantius will let me close enough to know what he's going to do, unless he truly does think I'm harmless."

Julia's bracelet's clinked together as she ran her finger along the edge of one of them. "He might. Depends on how close you can stand to get to him." She looked for a moment as if she would continue but instead said, "The biggest question I have is what is Constantius really doing. I assume that he is trying to kill his brothers for the throne but something seems wrong besides that."

"I'd have to agree. I think that Sextus was working on finding something bigger than just a regent murdering his brothers. He has my daughter, and I won't give up having at least a place in her life. Otherwise...there are deceptions, and there are deceptions. I'll have to figure out how far I'm willing to go."

"His wife may prove useful if you can maintain your friendship with her. There are rumors that he talks in his sleep," Julia said.

She nodded. "I've always been friends with her; I'm pretty sure I'll be able to maintain that, especially if I....hide certain feelings. We have much in common, she and I." She turned that thought over in her mind. Fausta and she had always spoken warmly and unguardedly to each other. Through her, Livia knew some intimate details about the regent that she was sure he'd be mortified if he knew his wife had ever breathed a word of.

"Good, I would hate for you to actually have to resort to first hand accounts of that rumor."

The thought made her skin crawl. Get into bed with the man who most likely had given the order that had killed Sextus? She shuddered. "I'm...not entirely sure that I could do that, honestly. I'm not as cold-blooded as that, and I don't think I'm that good of an actress." And the thought of sullying the memories of her marriage bed with that--Sextus' shade would never forgive her.

Julia's voice was quiet. "This will be hard, probably one of the hardest things in your life to do, but probably it's the only way you will know for sure what happened to your husband."

"And I need to do it. Darius warned me already that this is going to take me places I'd ordinarily never go. And he's teaching me how to defend myself, on the assumption that I'll need it."

"I am sure that you will. Make sure you only talk to Darius and myself about this. No one from Hagia Sophia can be trusted."

Of course not. Well, better two known allies than to try to make allies out of enemies, she supposed. "I'll keep it in mind. And now that I know Darius is trustworthy, I can share a few things I've been keeping from him."

Her eyes flashed warning. "I know I said he is trustworthy, but make sure that you do so very discreetly. I would bet you are being watched and probably Darius as well."

Livia spread her free hand. "I was under the assumption that I was being watched. I'm afraid that whoever is watching me already knows I'm investigating something, but it can't really be helped."

"I know it can't but be careful. Find out what your husband had on Constantius. I can only think that he had something on him that made him stop from killing all of you."

"That has to be it, and there are a couple of people that might have the answer. unfortunately, they're...not exactly in reach at the moment." She thought briefly of Constans, and the leader of the Sassenids. "But I'll think of something."

Julia sipped her wine. "I will be here to help as much as I can."

There was genuine warmth in Livia's voice as she said, "Thank you. It means a lot to know I have two allies in this."

"Sextus was a good friend," said Julia, quietly.

And what else? said the suspicions in the back of her mind as they awoke and uncoiled from the place in which she had been keeping them. She saw Julia straighten and knew that there was something, some expression or movement, that had betrayed her thoughts. Could she deal with knowing the truth? Her mother had taught her to never to ask a question when she truly didn't want to hear the wrong answer. She closed her eyes, summing strength. I have to know, she thought. I have to ask.

"Ah. I really hate to ask this, but if I don't, my suspicions are going to bother me from now till Lethe. What, exactly, was your relationship with my husband?" Livia's voice shook, and she cursed her lack of control.

Julia's eyes were not laughing now, but were soft and quiet. "Friends, nothing more. He was as faithful a man as I knew."

Slowly, Livia let out a breath. She didn't know whether or not she could believe the mage, but on the balance, if it was a lie, it was a lie that she desperately wanted to believe. She chose to abandon her suspicions. "Thank you. At least, I was not mistaken in that. It has been very difficult to find out that he was involved in things he told me nothing of."

"I am sure that it was difficult to keep many things secret, but I understand the reasoning."

Livia found herself wondering if Julia was married, had ever been married. Mages often did not marry, at least not until they were older. Their art took much of their time and energy, and most preferred to devote themselves solely to it. She wondered if Julia had ever known something like this pain, this grief, but she did not ask. Instead, she said, I've found out so many things that it's made me wonder what else was a charade. At least that one thing was not."

Julia nodded and said, "He was torn up inside, this I know, but he never showed it."

Guilt was creeping into Livia's voice. "I suspected nothing, and I feel like I should have. But he kept it from me until he died, and left me a trail to follow." It was a relief to finally say these things, to admit that she should have known something was wrong, that she had been blind to so much.

"He knew you would follow, I suspect."

"He knew me. I'm certain he did. And he knew he was going to die; he as much as wrote me a note--and I've had it confirmed from another source. But I don't know why or how he knew."

"Someone blew his cover. Finding them may be your biggest challenge."

Livia considered. "He never mentioned a Sassenid girl to you, did he? Perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old, intelligent, a mage of some sort?"

Julia shook her head. "He never did, but Esayis did."

"Constans' son?"

"The same. He didn't say much to me, but said the council had given him an assignment. Tracking down a Sassenid girl."

"No mention of why? Interesting." Livia narrowed her eyes. "Oddly enough, both of them purchased certain dyes within four days of each other."

"What type of dyes?"

"The dyes used to inscribe the symbols that guide gulagon to their targets. There seems to have been a run on those in the last few weeks." She was not saying where she'd gotten the information from, but she saw in the incline of Julia's head that she knew exactly who had told her that piece of information.

"That is not unusual for Esayis. He was gifted in summoning. But a Sassenid girl?"

"Yes. Possibly the same girl who was watching our house the night Sextus died. Perhaps related to a woman named Merouk who went missing fifteen years ago. Definitely a mage, my source said. She knew what she was doing and what things were worth, and she was a good haggler."

Livia could see that Julia was putting together the same pieces she had. "And this is the girl with the missing fingernail?"

"I don't know, but I'm thinking that it might be. We're in the middle of trying to track her down to talk to her."

Seemingly satisfied, the mage nodded. "I would start there. If you find Esayis or his body, let me know before you contact Constans, if you can."

"I will, if I can. Hm. I wonder if the Sassenid girl is behind his disappearance? It seems oddly coincidental. Perhaps I'll find him when I find her."

The wry twist had returned to Julia's sensual mouth. "One hopes. Constans is demanding results."

"He's pushing for Hagia Sophia to find his son, I assume. Do you think he's still alive?"

Julia set her cup down on a low table near her. "So far the council said he was a runaway and not their problem. He might be alive, still. I don't know."

"Well, there was no body, evidently, so there's that bit of hope. He sounds like he was a nice kid."

"Being Constans' son may be the only reason he's still alive. Or he may have been totally disintegrated."

Livia started. "That's nasty. I'd heard mages could do that, but I thought that was mostly a "scare the children" story."

"Only some of the most powerful can do it, but it's possible." It was a confident statement, and Livia suddenly remembered that this woman had been on the Council of the Tower and had voluntarily left her position. She was undoubtedly one of those who had the power.

I have fallen into strange company, she thought to herself. I truly have. She straightened and said, "Well, I'll have to talk to the girl. We made some progress in looking for her today, but she doesn't really want to be found, it seems. I'm hoping my intuition is correct and we're looking for one girl instead of three." She gave the mage a small smile, one of the first she could remember touching her lips for what seemed like forever. Had it really only been three days since her life had been swept into nightmare? It felt like eternity.

"Good luck to you, Livia. Good hunting." Julia stood, and Livia followed suit.

Livia inclined her body towards Julia in the half-bow she had wanted to give to Darius earlier in the evening but had refrained from. "Thank you. I'll keep you informed, as i can." She slid the screen aside and slipped from the alcove, through the shadows of the softly lit garden, towards her litter, her guards, and her home.

As she rode among the cushions and the swaying curtains that surrounded her, she thought that once more she would have to face the night alone. She wanted her daughter badly, to hold on to her and reassure herself that she was still real, that her heart still beat and her childish voice still rang out fearlessly. I will make a visit to the palace tomorrow, she thought. Reassure Constantius that I am sufficiently frightened. Perhaps offer an explanation for why I have been in the souks yesterday and today--perhaps Sextus had a few gambling debts I needed to take care of. Perhaps he has a few still outstanding. She would not be able to officially visit--she would be spirited in and out of the palace like a ghost--but that was fine with her.

That thought alone sustained her on the trip home, a talisman against the knowledge of Sextus' betrayal of their regent. Of his betrayal of her. She wanted to be angry with him, but instead there was a yawning emptiness and a feeling that this was not the last of it, by a long way. Sextus had been in over his head, she reckoned.

And in his footsteps i follow, she thought. Only I have to survive. I cannot leave Optata here, without me.

But still, the questions haunted her. Two people now had asked her how far she would go to find the answers she sought.

And as yet, she did not know the answer to that question.

As she rode back to her home, the swaying motion of the litter caused a return of the swimming head that she'd had that afternoon. Mostly, she was feeling a great fatigue, but she clung to consciousness grimly. By the time they reached the house, she was half-asleep. When she disembarked from the litter, she stumbled, to be caught by one of the guards. "Have caution, lady," he said. "It is dark out."

She nodded and straightened. Darius was waiting in the vestibule, evidently having been fetched when her litter was sighted along the street. "Good evening, lady. Was it a successful visit?"

Livia nodded and her vision sparkled. "I need--to speak with you, Darius. I..." But she lost track of what she was going to say, and gritted her teeth. "There are arrangements-"

"Lady, your pardon, but you are dead on your feet. Can whatever it is wait till the morrow?" Livia nodded. "Ladies--" and he turned to the pair of maids who stood nearby, "--please take her to her chambers." Unresisting, Livia let them lead her upstairs, leaning on them. Why was she so tired? It was more than unaccustomed walking, it had to be.

I have not slept more than a few hours since Sextus died. And would she sleep tonight? She had no idea. The next few minutes were a blur as she was undressed and put to bed by the firm hands of her maids, both older women who Livia had hired for both their trustworthiness and discretion.

After a few moments, after only one oil lamp was burning low and the maids had left the room, she felt a presence by her bed. A large hand slid under the back of her head, and something was put to her lips. "Drink, lady," Darius instructed. "Just a swallow." She did so, coughing at the bitter taste. The next flask that was put to her lips was sweeter, tasting strongly of honey. Then Darius put her head back down and she closed her eyes, too tired even to wonder.

"The first draught is for pain, and to send her to sleep. The second is to keep her asleep without dreams," she heard Darius say as she began to drift off, feeling as though clouds were winding themselves around her. There was a murmur from beyond the doorway, a question, the voice indistinct. In reply, Darius said, "It is not addictive if only used occasionally. She needs a respite from her grief, I think."

Anything else he might have said was lost to her as she fell for a very long way, tumbling into blackness.

Livia woke, surrounded by softness. She rolled over, a smile on her lips, reaching for her husband. "I had the strangest nightmare, love. I dreamed you were dead..."

The other half of the bed was cold and empty.

Livia suddenly remembered that the nightmare was no dream, and gritted her teeth as the grief returned. She sat up, blinking and rubbing her eyes. She did feel better this morning; sleeping had done her some good, it seemed. But the light that was coming in the windows was strange, somehow wrong. "How long did I sleep?" she wondered, her voice thick.

"It is past noon," said Orla, one of her maids, as she bustled into the room. "We wondered if you would sleep the entire day."

Livia groaned. She'd had things to do today, things to arrange, and sleeping away the morning was a disgraceful display of laziness that she hadn't indulged in since she'd been a child. She remembered the night before, and said, "Darius dosed me with something, didn't he?"

"He said it would make you feel better, to actually sleep. You will need your strength, lady. There is a meal being prepared, so out of bed with you."

Livia smiled as she climbed out of bed. Orla alone would dare to speak to her like this, would dare to bully and chivvy her when she needed it. She occupied a unique position in the household, having been Livia's maid from the time she was twelve, and having chosen to follow her mistress when she married into a new household. Livia trusted her absolutely, and she many times had proven worthy of that trust.

As Orla dropped the tunic that went under her grey stola over her head, Livia asked, "What do the servants say? What is the gossip now?"

Orla unfolded the stola and shook it out. "We all miss the master and the small mistress, lady. But Mora's cousin works at the palace, so we will hear news of Optata before you do, I'm guessing. Mora is planning to send some of her special sweets over tomorrow." Mora was the head cook, a woman with something of a weakness for small children.

"And of me? What's said?"

"You, lady, all feel sorry for you, so young and left widowed. We know how much you loved him, it showed in everything you did. We were afraid, when Optata was adopted away, that you were preparing to do something...well, something you didn't do."

The fabric of the stola muffled Livia's voice as the maid pulled it over her head. "You thought I was going to commit suicide."

"We are all glad you didn't, lady. Odd payment arrangements for us or no." Orla's hands smoothed the stola down, and then picked up a comb and prepared to attack Livia's hair. "Sit down, lady, this will take some time. There has been some wondering about you leaving the house, wandering the Sassenid section of town. Not quite seemly for someone in deep mourning."

Livia yelped as the comb found and dragged through a tangle. "Ow! I am trying to find out who sent the demon, Orla. A charge from the regent himself. I am not having much luck."

"I thought it was something like that, lady. And is the demon going to return again? Several of us are having nightmares that it will return to murder us all in our beds."

"It might, but the rest of you are safe, you're not of Sextus' line. I and Optata are the only ones in danger. She's safe."

"And you, lady?" Orla's voice was quiet.

Livia winced as the comb found another tangle. "I am as safe as I can be. I have Darius, after all."

"Ah, yes, the big one. A couple of the younger maids have quite the crush on him. Not to my taste, myself."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is he indulging himself with them?"

"To judge by their plaints of unrequited love, no. He's an odd one. Keeps to himself, doesn't mix with us any more than he has to." Orla smoothed the hair back from Livia's brow and began to twist pieces of it up, securing them with pins. "Not expecting to be here very long, I don't think."

Livia stilled. "Why do you say that?"

"He doesn't act like someone joining a new household, lady. He's a man with ambitions, that one. You can tell by his eyes."

"He's here on the Tower's assignment. It truly is only temporary." Livia closed her eyes as Orla's competent hands arranged her hair in a style much simpler than she usually wore. "It's too bad. He seems entirely competent. But I suppose I'd find his price too dear to keep him on the payroll permanently--and you're right about those ambitions."

The maid shook her head. "It looks strange. That he joined the household only a day after the master died, that he isn't truly a servant, that you and he spend nearly every moment together. People are going to talk, dear. You know they will. You can't stop them. I know you trust him, or at least those that sent him, but--be careful. A woman's reputation is--"

"The brightest jewel in her diadem, I know." She had been given this lecture many a time when she was younger and wilder; her mother and Orla cautioning her away from any number of boys she'd found intriguing. They had all been too low--or in the case of her short-lived fascination with the eldest son of the emperor, Constantine the Younger, too high--for her station. She'd often thought that if she'd been allowed to choose her own husband, she would have made a complete botch of things. It was something to keep in mind for her next marriage. "I'm not sure it can be helped, Orla. He's my bodyguard. And you've seen him with me, I know. The very picture of respect. Maybe you should encourage the younger girls to try harder to seduce him, that might cool a lot of suspicions."

Orla patted her hair, smoothing the last stray hairs into place. "We'll see. He said he would see you after you had broken your fast. You're done here, dear. Go eat."

Livia nodded and rose. Time to go face the world once more. Her stomach clenched with a reluctance that was quickly becoming familiar, a desire to simply shut herself away until she had forgotten everything, until it had stopped hurting. She did not really want to find anything else that Sextus had been hiding. And yet, she would. She would chase his trail down until she found the person responsible for the murder of her husband. At the moment, she rather thought that she was being set up to think that her regent was behind it. Nothing more than rumor, she thought. Nothing concrete. She was loyal, and would remain so unless she received actual proof.

And when she did find the person responsible...

I will set them on fire, she thought. I will set them on fire and watch them as they burn. That thought was a strangely comforting one, the only fitting vengeance for the infliction of such pain.

Contemplating vengeance warmed her, and she sat down to eat with the first evidence of appetite that she'd had in several days. Food still tasted like ash, but today, she would hopefully get to see her daughter. And with any luck, find the Sassenid girl, and see where the girl would lead her.

But neither of her hopes came to pass. Constantius replied to her message by saying that it would be impossible to get Livia into the palace without a great deal of fuss at the moment, but she could come in three days. Darius looked for the girl but without much success. The enforced idleness wore on Livia, and she found herself becoming extraordinarily short-tempered. She spent more time going through her husband's papers, combing them for clues she had missed before, finding nothing.

The next morning, Darius came to her. "Lady, I have found her--her residence, at least. It seems her name is Diya."

A small, nervous fluttering was beginning to form in Livia's chest. "We should go pay a visit, then. Let me change."

An hour later, they were in a section of Constantinople that Livia had never seen before, a place populated mostly by merchants, the buildings brick and mud with curtains for doors. The sun was beginning to be hot, beating down on their heads with a fierce and urgent light. Darius led her to a house that looked little different than the rest on the street, and stopped in front of the door. "This is the place, lady."

Livia nodded. Taking a deep breath, she called, "Hello at the house! Diya, are you at home?"

The response from within was the voice of an older woman, cracked a bit around the edges. "Sextus, is that you? You are very early this year."

Livia glanced over at Darius, who lifted an eyebrow. Oh, dear. She swallowed and responded, "Not Sextus, but one who knew him well."

Before them, the curtain twitched and then parted, revealing a dim room beyond briefly. It was the merest glimpse, but Livia saw what had to be an older woman lying on a cot of some sort. Then the one who had parted the curtain stepped forward, and Livia stared. Standing in the doorway was a young woman, her hair covered by a veil. She had Sextus' dark eyes and gentle mouth, a mouth that was set in a scowl that was so like his that she found herself swallowing tears. "What do you want?" the girl said, her voice low and rapid.

"If you are Diya, I need to talk to you. I mean no harm by coming here, but I have questions that I think you can answer."

Still that scowl. "I know you. You are Sextus's wife. What questions do you want answered besides that I didn't kill him?'

Livia spread her hands, entreating. "A number of things, none of which should be discussed on the street. I know you didn't kill him, and I believe I know who did--but I don't know why. Please, is there anyone we can talk?"

There was a long moment, a pause while the girl weighed and judged her. Finally, Diya said, "You can come in."

They stepped in after her, to the cool dark of the house. Diya had gone to the side of the woman who lay on the cot, weakly pushing against the blankets that covered her. "Mother, we have guests, don't rise." The woman's reply was inarticulate and Diya brushed her hand across the woman's hair and murmured something too low for Livia to hear. Then she rose and came to where Darius and Livia had seated themselves. Diya's gaze was direct, sweeping across the two of them, weighing the both of them in her mind. She gave them a small, smug smile and sat down herself.

"I know you were near our house the night Sextus died. I would like to know what, if anything, you saw," began Livia, deciding that the girl's impertinent gaze was provocation enough for a direct question.

Diya tilted her head. "How do you know that I was there?"

Oh, two could play this game. Calmly, she replied, "The guards described you, and other people I've talked to since have mentioned you, not by name but by description."

Another of those weighing, challenging gazes, and the girl admitted, "I might have been. But like I told you, I didn't kill Sextus."

"I know you didn't. My suspicions are currently lighting on a man with slitted eyes as the one who summoned the demon." She leaned back a bit, holding the girl's eyes with hers. "Circumstantial evidence all, but if I were here to accuse you of murdering my husband, I wouldn't have come with only one person in tow."

Diya glanced at Darius, and Livia saw him looking back at her, utterly impassively. She gave a small sigh, and then said, "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"I need to know what, if anything, you saw that night."

The girl frowned, and licked her lips slightly. "A flash of light in your window. Then the screaming started. I saw two men carrying a third away from the front gates and three more running from around the back. They went in different directions. Then the guards chased me away."

Oh, ho. Interesting, indeed. "What did the men look like? Did you recognize any of them?"

"The one they were carrying was Esayis. I am sure of it. The other two I didn't recognize. The three running, ran strangely, like they don't normally stand up to run." Her voice was flat but her eyes were alive with something--anger, sorrow, pain, Livia couldn't tell. "The two carrying were Roman or close enough. Big men, probably mercenaries or bodyguards to someone important. The others wore cloaks and I didn't get a good look."

Livia checked her urge to lean forward and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. There was something going on here, something unsaid. "Esayis. You know him, I assume?"

She nodded. "I did--do."

"What happened to him, do you know? Have you seen him since that night?"

Diya's jaw clenched, her mouth firming. For a moment, she looked far older than her years. "He came here on the night of the...murder. Told me that we had to go tonight and he would be back in one hour. I haven't seen him since I think they carried him off."

A story was coiling in the room, close enough to touch, Livia could feel it. "You had to go? Go where?"

She looked away. "We were leaving for someplace, any place away from here."

The pieces fell together in Livia's mind. Esayis telling Julia that he'd been assigned to find a Sassenid girl. Diya's familiarity with him. Like mother, like daughter, she thought. She shook her head. "But he was...captured before you could go. You've been looking for him, I assume."

"Yes, I have. I don't know if he is dead or alive." Her tone betrayed fear and anger.

Had he kept his identity secret from her, perhaps? "You know who he is, I assume, who his father is."

Diya raised her chin. "Yes, that is why we were leaving. His father didn't approve of our betrothal. "

"Betrothal?" Livia's voice betrayed her shock, and she very quickly checked it. Esayis had wanted to marry Diya? It seemed impossible. "Ah. Well, then. I think it's safe to say that his father isn't the one who took him, unless he's a better actor than anyone gives him credit for."

A sly smile crept onto Diya's face, and she leaned back. "His father is a good actor. He still has the court convinced he likes women."

Livia raised her eyebrows. That was a small piece of information that went far beyond established rumor. "So you have no idea what made Esayis think that that night was the time to go? And how did you end up at our house?"

"Esayis was afraid of something or someone. I assumed it was his father. But it might have been someone else."

Damn these men and their habit of not telling their women what they were afraid of! Stupid to leave us ignorant of dangers coming our way. Mildly, she said, "Well, I'm assuming his father wouldn't want to lose his heir, at least."

"As for ending up at your house, that was a guess. There are two reasons you need a fingernail. One, to quickly recall yourself to the person, or two, to do a demon summoning for a blood relative. I guessed at the latter."

Livia glanced down at Diya's hands, and saw that her left middle finger was indeed missing a nail. She winced in sympathy. That had to hurt, still. "He took one of yours? Well. That complicates things."

Diya nodded. "Complicates things how?"

"It complicates things because I suspect that Esayis is far more involved in this than I thought. As far as you knew, did Esayis have something against Sextus that he wanted revenge for?"

The girl folded her arms. "No, I don't think he even knew my father. Esayis wouldn't kill him. He didn't like demon summoning."

"Interesting, considering the fact that someone who knows him at the Tower is under the impression that he was--is--a gifted summoner."

Diya twisted her mouth, her arms still folded. "He was gifted, but he hated it. He was many years ahead of people that worked on it all their life. Some of the council of twelve were jealous of his control of demons. He found them nasty and disgusting creatures."

Livia wondered if that was the truth, or just what he had told Diya. "The one I've met was, certainly. You know, this is all leading me to someone I really don't want to have to confront. If they knew that Esayis had your fingernail somehow...they may have taken him with them to keep him quiet."

"But where, and what are they going to do with him?" Her soft question was fearful and despairing, and Livia found herself abruptly in sympathy with the girl. If someone had kidnapped Sextus, she would have felt much the same way.

"Both excellent questions. Have you found any leads at all?"

Diya lifted her hands spreading them. "Nothing but a old man that says he saw two men dragging a third younger one, about three hours after I did. "

"What section of town were they in?"

"Noble section. On the same street as Constans, Constantine and Constantius."

Livia drew in a breath. Of course. More suspicions, and no specifics. "Might have been his father's people dragging him home. Might have been someone else. The old man didn't mention anyone else with them, did they? A big man who kept himself well hooded?"

Diya frowned. "Said he saw the devil himself. Big man, slitted eyes. Said he was there and wasn't there at the same time."

"Anyone else? Someone maybe that seemed to not stick in his mind well?" It was Geras, Livia would put money on it. Geras, who she strongly suspected was the instrument of the vengeance that had been exacted against her husband.

"Didn't mention it. He did say he was seeing double though, he thought from all the mead."

Livia shifted, wanting to draw her feet up under her. "Well, I have a name for the guy with the slitted eyes, and I suspect he has--or had--Esayis. But I don't know who he's working for."

A flare of interest lit Diya's eyes, and she leaned forward. "Any way I can help?"

"If you have the name, can you work on finding him from this end? You can go places I can't. I'll look for him from my end, but I'm a bit--constrained in what I can do, at the moment."

"I can try." There was a strange sort of consuming hope in the girl's eyes as she looked at Livia, a look that made her shoulders go cold with a fear she didn't understand. Livia wanted to find the boy so she could use him to get to Constans. But to do that, she would be denying this girl something she desperately wanted. Despite her evident calm, Livia could tell she was afraid, and alone.

Just like me. Aloud, Livia said, "The name is Geras. He's evidently scary. Walk carefully."

"I will. Do you want me to come to you, or are you coming to me, when I have information?"

She thought about it for a moment, then said, "I'll come to you. I assume my house is being watched. I wouldn't endanger you more than I need to."

Diya nodded, shifting and brushing her veil back over her shoulders. "It's easier that way, anyway. I have to take care of Mother."

Livia glanced over her shoulder. She both wanted to know this story, and wanted to run away from it. But if she were to understand what her husband had been doing, she needed to know. "Pardon me for asking, but...her name is Merouk, is it not?"

The girl fixed her under a steady gaze. "It is."

"Is she ill?"

"Very ill."

Livia twisted her hands together. "I am sorry. I would have....liked to speak with her for a time. She, and you, knew a side to Sextus that I've likely never seen."

"You can try." Diya shrugged and looked over at the woman who lay so still on the cot across the room. "She has moments of clarity."

She shook her head. "I won't disturb her. But I would like to know what you know of the story, if you're willing to tell me."

"What happened fifteen years ago?"

"Yes, that." Livia firmed her mouth, looking at Diya. The girl's shoulders rounded, and she was still looking at her mother.

"My father met my mother. She said it was love at first sight. But she was Sassenid and he Roman." The words came tumbling out, as if she could not help the flood of them. "His father found out and forbade him to see my mother. But it was too late. She was pregnant with me. My father's father gave her a lot of money and told her to twig me out. She couldn't. He gave her more money and put her on a caravan to Ankara." She took a long breath, finally looking back at Livia. There was hurt in her eyes, and anger, but no blame. "We lived there for eight years. My father came looking for us. He found us and tried to bring us back, but it was too late for my mother. She had gotten raped by several men, demons she called them. One of them, or maybe many of them, gave her a disease. She has been losing her mind ever since. Sextus bought this house and kept her in medicine and paid for my education. He prolonged her life, but she is dying now."

"And he never told me any of it. He left me to find out after he died." A strange anger was rising in Livia. There had been too many surprises, too many things she hadn't known. She'd always liked surprises, but she was quickly growing to despise them.

Diya shrugged. "My mother insisted."

"This happened when I was very young. I don't think I would have held it against either of them. Why did she insist, do you know?"

The girl shrugged again, her eyes back to calmly weighing Livia's reactions. "She didn't want you to have the shame of having a Sassenid stepdaughter."

"I don't feel particularly ashamed, but...perhaps when I was younger." She spoke the truth, she realized. She didn't feel ashamed to be related to this girl, Sassenid or no. It was simply a truth, a fact, something to be assimilated along with the rest.

"You are noble born, lady. Scandals like that have a way of coming back on you. My father's career might have been hindered as well." Diya's mouth twisted. "She had her reasons."

"True enough. But I am likely about to be up to my neck in scandal. It seems unfair, but I understand."

"See, I told you." Diya smiled at her, and for the first time Livia found herself smiling back. She liked the girl, she admitted to herself. There was a lot of Sextus in her. She found herself regretting that he had not seen fit to introduce her to Diya before, much to her startlement. "Anything else I can answer for you, lady?"

Livia tilted her head. "I don't expect you to know the answer, but...did your father confide anything in you about what he was doing?"

"No, he didn't stay long when he came. Just a few minutes. He was in a hurry the last time I saw him. Said he had a meeting outside of town, beyond the wall. He then did something he has never done, which was kiss me on the head. Said something about a Lukas and was off."

"How long ago was that?"

"The day before he died."

She nodded, taking a breath. "He knew he was going to die. As far as I can figure, he told nobody about this."

There was a wry smile on Diya face. "That was your husband and my father. He kept things to himself."

"I'm becoming more aware of that. It's odd--I thought we shared everything. Yet everything I'm finding says that he told me very little." She shook her head. "I thank you for your time. This has been enlightening, in more ways than one."

"Come see me in a day or two. I might know more."

"I will. I have a few days yet before I am expected to take up my official position." Livia rose. She kept a close eye on Darius; she didn't want a repeat of the episode with Zamed. This was a resource she was going to need to have a care to not frighten. "Thank you, both of you, for your hospitality." She extended a hand towards Diya, and after a bit of hesitation, the girl took it. "I am glad to have met you."

Diya inclined her head and smiled. Livia's lips twitched, but she successfully managed to smother her grin. Someone had taught this girl well, taught her charm and tact. That particular motion was one she herself had been taught, as a substitute for gracious words that might not leap to her tongue. She will need it, she thought. She will need it, if she's to survive. She released Diya's hand and took a few steps to the cot on which Merouk lay so still. She looked into the face of the woman Sextus had loved long before her.

The woman's face was deeply lined, small sores speckling the skin around her drawn and raddled mouth. Her breathing was labored, her hair thin and lank. But there was evidence of the beauty that had once been there, the proud bones that Livia could imagine had been lovely when there had been more flesh softening them. What could she say to this woman?

Merouk opened her eyes, reaching out with thin fingers and snagging Livia's hand. "Livia?" she said, her voice cracking.

Livia did not pull away. Merouk's dark eyes were filmed, giving her the appearance of blindness. "Yes?"

"He loved you, Livia, more than me."

Livia blinked away tears, her own voice unsteady. "Thank you, Merouk." With her free hand, she reached out to touch the side of the other woman's face.

Merouk fumbled at her neck urgently. "He gave me this to give to you, this first time I saw you." She pulled a chain away from her neck, pulling hard enough to break it, and pressing the pendant on it into her palm. Livia looked down at it. It was a small key, shining dully in her hand.

"Do you know what it unlocks?" she asked.

Merouk blinked. The film over her eyes seemed to get thicker, and she stared at Livia, evidently sightlessly. "Unlocks what? Oh, that thing. Just a lock, I'd guess, whoever you are." She dropped Livia's hand and closed her eyes once more.

Livia nodded to Diya once more and stepped outside, Darius following her closely. The sun hit her like a hammer pounding down on her head, as she adjusted her palla. She took a deep breath and started walking.

"Are you all right?" asked Darius, catching up with her.

Livia swallowed. She was shaking, she noted absently. Everything seemed very bright and remote. "It's just that the farther I get into this, the more I realize that there are whole worlds that I have no idea even exist. I'll be fine, I just need a bit of time."

The look Darius gave her made her think that he possibly didn't quite believe her. "Some useful information there. Lukas Orwelius."

"You know who he is?"

He nodded, casting a quick glance around. Few people were in the streets at this hour of the afternoon, most people preferring to stay inside when the sun was at its hottest. "Certainly. Constantine the first was going to have him killed for heresy against Christianity. A crowd pulled him down from the post he was to be burned on and out into the desert. He was a pagan healer, the best one around. Many owed their lives to him."

Livia's eyebrows shot up. "He's still alive, it sounds like. He would likely be a useful person to speak to."

"Yes, if we can find him and convince him we aren't going to kill him or turn him in." Darius paused, looking around again. "This way." He turned at the corner they were at and Livia followed.

"Wonder how Sextus managed it? Hm. Would that Ares priest, Iraeus, know how to find him?" She dogtrotted a bit to catch all the way up. Darius seemed to keep forgetting that his legs were much longer than hers.

Darius nodded. "Probably. Question is, what did he want with him? Damn, too many questions, and every time you answer one you get ten more."

"That's for sure. Like the girl, and Esayis. I'm guessing one of the three regents has him, but which one, is the problem."

"Yep or the Tower is still holding him. Left, here." They turned once again. Livia, not familiar with this part of town, could only hope that he was taking them out via a circuitous route. She was suddenly and hopelessly lost.

Livia replied, once she'd caught up again, "That's another possibility. They're stonewalling Constans, which may be because they have him. But why them, unless this yellow-eyed fellow isn't the rogue I think he is?"

A line had appeared between Darius' eyebrows. "Geras is a dark mage for hire. He will rape or kill for money, and sometimes just for the pleasure of it."

She shivered a bit. "Hagia Sophia sometimes works with the likes of him, then?"

"Sure does, for the sticky assignments. And many others as well." There was a warning in his voice, and Livia shivered again. The Tower was, indeed, a law unto itself. People who crossed those who ran it tended to find themselves very, very dead.

They turned again, and Livia said, "I think this counts as a sticky assignment. But now I have a better picture of what happened the night Sextus was murdered. Though it does bring more questions."

"The biggest one to me, is what were those other three doing?"

"Or even what they were. She said they didn't seem human." She shifted her palla, sighing. She longed to be inside, in the shade. "It sounds like they maybe weren't together. There may have been more than one person trying to kill Sextus that night. The gulagon may have gotten there first."

"Very odd. Too many people, too many questions." Darius shook his head, and they fell back into silence.

They eventually made their way home, Livia's mind turning over possibilities in her mind. What could walk on two legs but preferred four? No natural creature, she assumed.

And what if they returned? Or, worse, what if they went to the palace, to attack her daughter?

Livia clenched her fists and kept walking. When she saw Constantius, she was going to have to act scared. At this point, though, it was much more than an act...