The Bow of Heaven - Book I: The Other Al - By Andrew Levkoff Page 0,72
out of this tragic narration. “She would not let me inspect the blue and purple flowers she was growing there. She intimated they preferred shade, but I know for a fact that lykotonon will thrive in full sun as long as it is irrigated well. The only reason, then, to plant it so far from the house was if she did not want anyone to know she was growing it. And when I first approached, she dropped what I at first thought was a bundle of rags, but which now I surmise must have been gloves with which to handle the lethal plant. Do you deny it?”
“I do not,” Sabina answered.
“But,” Crassus said, “you have still not established that she was growing this lykotonon.”
“If someone will ask me,” Sabina said, “I will answer.”
“Are you growing this flower in our woods?” Crassus asked.
“Yes. I was.”
“You were growing it,” I said. “But not anymore, for your purpose has been achieved. Dominus, last night, I went back into the woods, taking Drusus Malchus with me. The site which Sabina had refused to show me had been concealed. We had to dig up the entire plot to discover this solitary flower. No leaves, no roots, just this single bloom. It is clear that Sabina did not want the place found.” Malchus affirmed that I spoke truly.
“This herb,” Sabina interjected, “has many beneficial uses, dominus. It can reduce fever, excessive beating of the heart, and I have used it many times to reduce the pain of scrapes and superficial wounds. But the atriensis is correct to say that it can be highly poisonous if misused. Naturally I planted it far from the house so that no one would come in accidental contact with it. And once I had harvested an ample supply for the clinic, what else should I do but remove all trace of it? I planted it far away from the house and discarded the remains so that no one would accidentally come upon it and make themselves ill.”
The household stirred, leaves rustling in a wind that had turned against me. Crassus said, “Alexander, I don’t know what petty grievance you may have against our healer, but I am disappointed in myself to find that I may have misjudged you.”
“Dominus,” Sabina called out above the murmuring of the familia. “Alexander had good reason to wish me ill, if you will hear it.”
“Go on.”
Sabina spoke of her plan to buy her freedom and that of her daughter, of my love for Livia and of the fact because of Sabina, the two lovers must eventually be parted.
Crassus shook his head slowly from side to side. The familia grew quiet. Finally dominus said angrily, “Get those dogs out of here.”
“May I speak, lord?” Drusus Malchus said. He was holding a rake.
“What is it?”
“With humbleness, to end this hearing now would be unfair. Our proof is not yet complete.”
“What more do you have to say?” Crassus asked impatiently.
“Sabina,” I said, earning an instant glare from the master that made me stutter, “Sabina was jealous of Tessa.” While I spoke, Malchus began scraping away the top layer of soil in the flower bed closest to the tablinum. “I noticed it the first day I came before Pío.” I spoke rapidly. “Tessa stormed into the house, right through your tablinum. I remember because she did not stop to put on house slippers. She was barefoot.”
When Malchus had cleared a sufficient space he picked up one of the bitches who, as he neared the flower bed began whining, complaining and struggling against him. Malchus forced it down in the cavity he had made, kneeling to hold it still with his massive arms.
“I can’t remember a time I ever saw Tessa wearing sandals,” I continued. “The day of the Vulcanalia, Sabina and I passed each other in the atrium. She had her cleaning supplies and must have been returning from Ludovicus’ quarters where she had been tidying up. She loves to clean,” I added weakly. “As she passed me, she was muttering angrily to herself, but one word was plainly clear: ‘barefoot.’” The whispers swelled again. “Sabina was clutching something in her free hand, something which I believe Malchus and I discovered last night in the woods.”
“Yes, Crassus said, irritated. “We know all about the poisonous flower.”
“No, dominus. It was this.” I reached inside my tunic and dropped the cut and mangled daisy onto the table. Everyone craned to see it, and everyone knew instantly what it meant.