shall always be indebted to you. Your letters to me were not acts of betrayal. We know you love us, as we love you. But dominus and I made our choice long ago; did you think your writing alone could cause a reversal of heart? I could not dissuade him in Rome; as his wife, the only path left open to me was to encourage him. I knew we were wrong then. I know we are wrong now. And when it is over, I will live the rest of my days knowing the terrible mistake we made.” Domina reached across to take my hand, then released it. “Sweet Alexander, I did not come to Antioch to change my husband’s mind.”
“My lady?”
“Dominus is as you described him. Even the mighty Crassus cannot conduct three wars at once: against the Parthians, his age and his memories. My poor love is tired. Why should his wife not be near? There is nothing on the Palatine for me now; the Regia is as good a home and better. If I must wait for Marcus, I would be in a place where he can find me if he needs me. You know me, Alexander: I am a stubborn woman. I would travel twice as far to steal even a few more days with my husband.”
“I thought I could convince you to write him to bring him home. I had no thought that you yourself would make the journey. I have ruined everything.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I will keep your secret.”
I woke up, suddenly realizing that time had collapsed into something squat and hard and finite. There was little of it left to say what I must. “Listen to me, domina. They will come for me soon. I forged a letter in your hand.”
“What?!”
“Please! I assumed you would remain in Rome. I thought to convince dominus in your voice that he should call off this war and return to the city and the family that needed him more than the deserts of the East.”
Tertulla considered. “The letter sounds innocent enough, though I would have had a lesser man flogged.”
I shook my head. “Domina, I will not be flogged. You must not protect me. You must deny any knowledge of—”
“Why should I not help you? Were you not trying to save my husband?”
“Domina, I tell you, you must not defend me.”
“I will not betray you. I will claim the letter as my own.”
“You cannot. There was a copy. Curio has taken it from my quarters, here in the Regia. As soon as he brings it to dominus, I am undone.”
Domina stood. “I will see to this!”
The ring of marching footsteps approached, and two legionaries appeared at the entrance to the balcony. One of them looked vaguely familiar, but his name escapes me. You would think I would remember it, since he spoke the words that ended my thirty-three years of bondage. “Forgive me, mistress. Alexander, slave of Marcus Crassus, you are under arrest. Come with us.”
As I stood to accompany the guards, lady Tertulla said, “Do not lose faith. I will speak with dominus.”
“Domina, tell Livia what has happened. I beg of you, keep her and Hanno safe. And if you love us, free our son.”
The soldiers each grabbed an arm and marched me off.
Domina then said something I wish she had kept to herself. “I have him here. Felix is in Antioch.”
Chapter XXXV
54 BCE - Fall, Antioch
Year of the consulship of
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Appius Claudius Pulcher
Curio was no fool. Had he taken the balled up forgery to dominus, he’d have run the risk that the matter might be handled discretely and quietly by the familia. No one likes a scandal. Well, no one likes a scandal without lurid details and horrifying public consequences, and that was just the kind of exhibition Lucius Curio had in mind. It must be said that once having decided to discredit me and insure his place in the house of Crassus, Curio set about it with a zeal and dedication I would otherwise have found enviable in a domestic. He had not only brought the letter to Publius Crassus instead of dominus, but had suggested to him the venue for its public airing which would have the most salient political impact.
The Great Hall of the Regia was built to impress. It was a rectangular space the size of a small forum, supported by a double row of gilt columns painted lapis blue that divided its length into thirds. The floor and