"Now tell me how I can help you, Palta and Larry," Siglind said as we ate. "You are in great trouble, of course. I saw how quickly you turned away when you saw the soldiers in front of your house. I am thinking perhaps you—or your masters—stole that magical weapon. I am thinking it belongs to the priests, and you did not bring it from your homeland. But you don't need to tell me this. Here is what I want to say. My father will be very interested in this weapon. I would like you to show it to him."
Did Siglind understand that it was this weapon—or ones like it, anyway—that had been used to destroy her ancestors during King Harald's revolt? I figured maybe she did. Palta and I looked at each other; I didn't know how to respond.
So Siglind kept talking. "You know," she said, "if you are in trouble in Roma, the best thing for you to do is to leave the city. It is no good here anyway. In addition to being hot and dirty, the people smell bad. If you come to Gallia, you will be safe. We love to fight, but we are just, and we do not harm our friends. You will be our honored guests, and that will be very fine. Palta, eat some beef. Is it not good?"
Palta tried a bite and forced a smile. "It is good," she said. I wondered if she had ever eaten beef back on Gaia.
"So what do you think?" Siglind went on. "Come to Gallia with me?"
I tried to think. But I was exhausted, my body hurt all over, and the bath and the food were making me even sleepier. Palta and I were on our own now; we couldn't afford to make a mistake. "You are very kind," I replied. "But we will have to discuss this. Can we rest first and talk later?"
"Of course! We have excellent beds here—too soft for Gallic warriors, but still very nice. Rest, and we will talk some more."
She summoned servants, and we were escorted upstairs to beautiful rooms overlooking the atrium. The beds were as soft as Siglind had promised, and they were surrounded by thin curtains that billowed gently in the warm morning air.
We went into Palta's room and sat on the edge of her bed. "Gallia is far away," she pointed out. "And we know nothing about it."
"But how can we stay in Roma?" I asked. "We have no money, no friends, and everyone is looking for us. How do we survive? How do we get back to the portal?"
Palta tugged at her earlobe and said, "I don't know. I miss Affron."
I sighed. "We're safe here for now, I guess. Let's get some sleep, and then we'll figure it out."
"Yes, of course." She squeezed my hand.
I went to my room and lay down. I wasn't at all sure we would figure it out. I had saved Palta, but now I had less chance of getting home than ever. And maybe less chance of surviving. I took the gant out of the pocket of my robe and placed it next to me on the bed. And then I closed my eyes and fell fast asleep.
It seemed like no time had passed when I felt someone shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw Siglind looking down at me, holding an oil lamp. Behind her the room was in darkness. "Ah, Larry, I'm sorry to awaken you," she said. "But we must talk. There is danger."
I sat up. "What danger?" I asked.
"You didn't tell me that every soldier in Roma is looking for you and Palta. I think you really should not have that weapon. We must save you, before it's too late."
Chapter 18
We roused Palta, and Siglind brought us downstairs to a large torch-lit room where Venerix sat at a table covered with papers. He stood and bowed when we arrived, but now he didn't look like he wanted to kiss our feet.
We sat opposite him.
"Speak," Siglind ordered Venerix.
He bowed again and sat back down. "The Princess Siglind mentioned your names to me," he said to us. "I have encountered those names—Larry and Palta—before. The priests of Via have ordered your arrest. Posters seeking information about you and three others, including two viators, have been distributed throughout Roma for some time now. I presume that you know this."
He paused, waiting for us to respond. I just shrugged.
"I certainly know about the viator Affron," he went on. "One could not walk through the city in the past few weeks without hearing about him or seeing his name scrawled on walls. But I don't know who you are or why the priests want you. And now I find that you are here, in our embassy."
"Get to the point!" Siglind demanded.
I saw annoyance flicker on Venerix's face. He's angry, I realized.
"The Princess Siglind did not mention exactly how you managed to save her from those slavers," he went on. "I wish she had. Trust me, news like this has a way of spreading quickly, even in a city as large as Roma. Another of the girls you rescued last night told her parents the complete story—about a young man who arrived and made the slavers disappear using a magical device that could only have belonged to the priests. The parents recalled the posters. Their daughter's descriptions matched that of the young man and woman on the posters. They brought this information to the Roman authorities, who have apparently redoubled their efforts to find you as a result. Governor Decius is not happy about you."
"Do you know what happened to Affron?" Palta asked.
Venerix shook his head. "He is dead, I assume, or soon will be. My understanding is that he and Decius were in league against Tirelius, and now they are enemies for some reason. Decius does not let his enemies survive. But I do not care about him. I just know that you two are our guests here, and if the priests discover that we are harboring you, this will be profoundly dangerous for all of Gallia. Gallia's loyalty to Urbis is always being called into question. The priests will suspect the worst if they find out."
Siglind nodded. "That is all very well," she said, "but I have told Venerix that if he tries to turn you in to the priests I will cut off his testicles and make him eat them for dessert."
Venerix bowed to her. "The Princess Siglind has been kind enough to make her wishes clear to me."
Siglind laughed. "Venerix is a wonderful ambassador," she said to us. "But you see the problem. You cannot stay here in our lovely embassy—too many people will notice you. If the priests discover that we are hiding you, they are the ones who will cut off Venerix's testicles."
"If the priests discover that we are hiding these two, my testicles will be the least of our problems," Venerix murmured.
Palta and I looked at each other. "We will leave the embassy if you want, of course," I said. "We have no wish to put you in danger." I didn't want to say that, but I figured I had to.
"No no no!" Siglind exclaimed. "You must come with me back to Gallia!"
"Even that will be a problem," Venerix pointed out. "Just getting you out of the city may not be easy. The reach of Decius is long, and the reach of the priests is even longer. There are priests in Gallia, too—the king's chief minister among them—and the king must heed their desires."
"My father does what he pleases, not what the priests tell him to do," Siglind said angrily.
"Of course, my lady," Venerix responded. I got the sense that he was just being polite, though.
Siglind made a face, as if what she really wanted to do was cut off the testicles of some priests. "Larry and Palta will be safe in Gallia," she asserted. "My life is owed them, and my father will make sure the debt is paid."
"As you say," Venerix replied. "But first we must get them to Gallia."
Siglind didn't seem worried by this. "You will think of something."
Venerix inclined his head to her. "I am honored by the trust you place in me," he said.
"We must leave in the morning," she announced to us. "Early. Every moment you are here, more servants will see you. They will have a chance to whisper to each other. Perhaps one of them will mention something to the fruit-seller, or to the Roman boyfriend who does dirty things to her behind the tavern. You must leave with me."
My eye was throbbing. Had it been only a day since the guy had punched me in the colonnade—since I had killed him and everyone else who had kidnapped Palta? It was hard to think, but the answer seemed clear: We had no choice. We had to leave Roma. Palta nodded to me. "We are very grateful for the of
fer," I said. "And we're sorry for the trouble we're causing everyone."
"No trouble at all!" Siglind exclaimed. "You will love Gallia! And then, perhaps, we can find a way to get you to your homes in Barbarica."
We got up to leave, but then Venerix said, "Can you show it to me—the weapon?"
I hesitated, and then took out the gant and put it on the table. He stared at it. He touched the barrel, and then quickly took his hand away, as if the thing had burned him. "It is from the priests, yes?"
I nodded.
"I won't ask how you got it or why you have it," he said. "I don't want to know. I am very glad that you could use it to save Princess Siglind. But I will tell you that this is a weapon of evil. Do you know the story of King Harald?"
"I have heard some of it," I replied.
"My grandfather was in King Harald's army. King Harald did not want to destroy the priests of Via. He had no wish to rule their empire. He just wanted the priests to respond to the pleas of his people for justice. We in Gallia are different from Romans, and we needed to be treated differently. And what did the priests do? They ignored those pleas; instead they rained death on Harald's army from the walls of Urbis. Worse than death, because there were no bodies left to bury, to treat with reverence and honor. It was as if those brave men had never existed. It was a sorry day for Terra when that happened."
Siglind reached out and patted Venerix's hand. "We will avenge those deaths someday," she said.
"Yes, my lady. But in the meantime I must do my job and keep you—and Gallia—safe."
"Ah, you are a good and wise man, Venerix. We leave tomorrow morning, and that will make your life so much easier."
Venerix inclined his head to her once again. "Easier, my lady," he said, "but much less interesting."
I put the gant back in my pocket, and Siglind brought us back upstairs to our bedrooms. "All will be well," she told us. "Venerix will not let us down."
"We are very grateful," I replied.
And then Palta and I were alone once again. "I don't want to go," Palta said.
"I know. But we don't have any choice, do we?"
She didn't answer. "Terra is not the world I had hoped it would be when Affron brought me here," she said.
"I know," I said again. We sat in silence for a while, and then Palta went off to her room.
I had a hard time getting to sleep. My body's clock was out of whack, I suppose, and people were making a lot of noise—getting ready for the princess's departure, I figured. But mostly I was thinking about home, and how this would be one more step further away from it. And then I had a twinge of speckness, as I thought of Affron and Valleia and Carmody, and all the other people I would never see again, on this world and every other one.
Had Affron and the others already been hanged on that scaffold in front of the temple of Via? Was there a world in which they had survived? Was there a world in which I would make it home to my family and tell my story to Kevin?
The twinge passed, and finally I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke much later, Palta was there beside me.
* * *
Siglind roused us early in the gray pre-dawn light. It was going to be another hot day. The embassy was in an uproar, as wagons were loaded and soldiers were mustering and Venerix was giving orders to everyone. The three of us went down to the dining room and ate breakfast. "I am so excited!" Siglind said to us. "I am sorry that you are not going home. There is no feeling like it."
Palta and I didn't reply.
"They will tell us when they are ready for you," Siglind went on. "The fewer people who see you, the better, of course. Venerix knows what to do. At first I hated him, with all his rules. But if I had followed his rules, I would not have gotten into trouble. And yet, if I had not gotten into trouble, I would not have met you."
"We are very grateful for his help—and yours," Palta said.
"His idea is to pack you up like clothing in a chest—I hope it won't be too uncomfortable. He is worried that the Roman soldiers will spot you if you are just sitting in one of our wagons. We will be inspected at the city walls. They may question everyone—I don't know. I am a princess—they shouldn't do such things to my people."
I didn't like the idea of being stuffed into a box, but I supposed the plan made sense.
Finally Venerix appeared in the dining room. He bowed to us. "We are ready, my lady," he said.
Palta and I stood up.
"I am sorry to have to do this," he said to us. "But you understand the danger."
"We understand," I replied. "Hiding us is a good idea."
We left the dining room and went into the atrium. Two beige-colored robes were draped over chairs; Palta and I put them on, and I transferred the gant to the pocket of my new robe.
Beside the chairs were two large chests with lions painted on them—one for Palta, one for me. Siglind gave each of us a hug. "Oh, my friends," she said, "we will keep you safe!"
We shook hands with Venerix. Then we got into the chests, and he shut the lids.
The chests were large, but not quite large enough for me to be comfortable in mine. There was plenty of air—someone had cut holes in the lids—but I had to pull up my knees and bend my head, and I knew I was going to get claustrophobic after a while. And hot.
I heard Venerix give what sounded like an order, and then a couple of people picked up my chest and carried it, with me swaying inside. What if I threw up from the motion? What if I needed to pee?
I could sense when we were outside, and then the chest was shoved somewhere. I heard a door shut. I heard men and women talking in a foreign language, the sounds of horses shuffling and snorting. People moved past me. More doors slammed. I started to sweat. And then Siglind was whispering through one of the air holes. "It will be over soon, Larry," she said. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," I lied.
"You are very brave. I must leave you now."
Another door shut. Someone yelled a command, and then we were in motion.
I heard the sounds of the city as the horses clopped along: people talking and arguing, music playing, a herald announcing who had won the races at the Games yesterday. Was he going to say anything about Palta and me? Be on the lookout for a young man and woman...
Before long we started to move faster. Heading north, towards Gallia. Had I been to this part of the city? I had probably seen very little of Roma, despite the time I had lived in it. Would I ever see it again? I had no desire to. Like Siglind, I thought it was dirty and loud and crowded, even in the nice neighborhoods. But I had gotten used to it, just as I had gotten used to Carmody's world, with its chamber pots and drikana, that awful disease. It was just another way of living.
Meanwhile, I was dripping with sweat. My left arm had gone to sleep. My groin ached from where it had been kicked. I felt awful.
And then we slowed and stopped.
"Salve!" a man's voice called out. I heard footsteps. "Returning to Gallia?" the voice asked, closer now.
I couldn't make out the response.
More footsteps, very close now. What if I sneezed? What if the guy could smell my sweat? What if he decided to open a chest just to show he was the boss?
I held my breath. The footsteps moved away.
"Have a safe voyage!" the voice called out. Someone replied, and then the carriage started moving again, even faster now, and I felt every bump as we sped along.
Were we out of the city now? Or would there be more checkpoints to pass through? We kept going. I felt like I was becoming dehydrated from all my sweating. What if I passed out? Maybe it would be better if I passed out, so I wouldn't have to endure any more of the motion and the heat. Either I'd come to, or I wouldn't. If I didn't, would that be so bad?
Finally the carriage stopped again. I heard footsteps, and then people were lifting the chest up and placing it onto the ground. The lid opened, and I was staring up at Siglind. She reached down and pulled me up out of the chest. "Larry, you look terrible!"
"I just... um... just need to, um..." I realized that I didn't know the Latin word for "pee."
"Yes, of course. We must hurry, though. We are still near Roma."
We were on a wide road bordered by trees, and beyond the trees were fields. The road went off into the distance in both directions. I stretched and walked over to the trees. Palta was already squatting down behind one. Her robe was soaked with sweat, like mine. I peed against a tree.
"That was awful," I said.
She nodded, but she didn't look as bad as I felt. Perhaps she was used to this sort of thing on Gaia. We walked back in silence. The chests were gone from the roadway. In front of us I saw half a dozen Gallian soldiers on horseback. Behind us were carts filled with servants and baggage, as well as a string of pack-mules. In the carriage, Siglind smiled at us.
"Come into the carriage with me," she said. "You are safe. We will not be stopped now."
"Won't your people wonder about us getting out of those trunks?"
Siglind waved her hand dismissively. "I will make up some story if they ask. We have left Roma behind. The danger is gone."
I wasn't going to argue. The carriage was ornate, with the familiar lion crest on the doors. We climbed inside. Lafreia was sitting there, wearing a gloomy black robe despite the heat. She glanced at us with distaste, but Siglind ignored her and poured some water from a jug for us, and we drank it down greedily. Then the carriage started up, and we were underway again. The carriage seats were cushioned, but still we jounced and swayed and felt every bump on the road. The road was long and straight; alongside it I saw a lot of what looked like tombs. Was this where Romans buried their dead? I also saw inns and cattle and flocks of sheep and distant villages.
"I would rather ride a horse," Siglind was saying, "but my father insists on the carriage."
TERRA (The Portal Series, Book 2) Page 15
