by Sam Christer
They wait until the seer’s powerfully built father wanders away and joins a group of other men leaving the temple. Then they move swiftly.
Arnza, the smaller of the two, does the talking. ‘Netsvis, on the orders of Magistrate Pesna you are commanded to come with us.’
Before the seer can object, they each have hold of an elbow and he finds himself being marched down the eastern side of the temple.
‘What is the purpose of this?’ protests Teucer. ‘Why such haste that I cannot take my proper leave of the people?’
The guards smirk at each other. ‘We are instructed to search you, using whatever force we see fit.’
‘Why so? Why do you have to search me?’
Masu waits until they have manhandled him away from the temple and into the thicket behind it. His breath reeks of day-old meat as he pushes his face into Teucer’s and sneers, ‘You have no idea who we are, do you, Netsvis?’
Teucer half stumbles as they let go of him. Finally his memory stirs. He now recognises their voices, even their smells.
Rapists. The men who held and raped his wife!
‘Disrobe, priest!’ Arnza draws his sword. ‘Take off those garments while we remind you of the cut you gave me and how you killed our friend.’
‘I know not of what you speak. I am but a blinded man. A man of the gods.’
‘We know who and what you are,’ says Arnza, using the point of his sword to prompt Teucer to lift his mantle over his shoulders. ‘Get on with it!’
There is a noise in the thicket.
The guard puts his sword to the priest’s throat and whispers. ‘Speak one word and I will spill your blood.’ He nods to Masu to check out the undergrowth.
The big man draws his blade, careful not to make a sound as it slithers free of its sheath. He eases his way through the tangle of twisting, hanging gorse. Twigs crack underfoot.
Teucer speaks in an un-hushed voice: ‘Your friend moves with the quietness of an elephant.’
Arnza presses the sword to his windpipe. ‘Be quiet.’
‘But the gods do not command me to be quiet. They command me to speak.’
The guard leans on his blade again. It nicks Teucer’s neck. A thin river of blood springs to the skin. ‘You’re not as brave now as when you killed Rasce and cut my face, are you?’
Another noise in the bushes.
Arnza spins round.
It is the split second Tetia needs.
She steps behind him and plunges one of Teucer’s ceremonial knives into the side of his neck.
She holds it there. Presses hard as he tries to fight her off. Uses both hands as he wriggles and kicks back at her. She keeps pressing until he hits the ground, gargling and choking on his own blood.
Now she darts forward to Teucer. ‘Husband, are you all right?’
He is on his hands and knees, feeling his way towards the guard. ‘Tetia! Thank the gods, you’re here. Pass me his sword – he has a companion nearby.’
CHAPTER 33
Present Day
Carabinieri HQ, Venice
When the briefing is over and the team leaders, forensic scientists and the ME and his assistants have all dispersed, Valentina Morassi walks Tom outside. At first he doesn’t realise that she wants to ask him something. Something personal.
Only when she’s walked considerably further than the front steps of the Carabinieri building does his pastoral instinct finally surface: ‘Valentina, is there something I can help you with?’
She struggles at first, unsure just how to unload the thoughts that are driving her crazy. ‘Do you mind if I walk with you? I need to clear my head.’
‘Don’t mind at all. In fact, I’d be delighted to have your company – you can be my guide. I’ve done this walk back to the hotel before but I’m geographically challenged and bound to get lost.’
She laughs. ‘People say getting lost is the only way to get to know Venice.’
‘Then I’ll soon be an expert.’
They stroll and talk about work for a while, including the tasks Vito has set them all. Tom has to find out more about rituals, cults and symbolism surrounding the liver. He jokes about it being his history, religious and biology homework but Valentina can barely muster a polite smile.
The sky is full of what Tom calls ‘old lady’ clouds, a greyness that seems to match the melancholia on his companion’s face. After a couple of bridges he tries to edge closer to what’s troubling her. ‘Valentina, I really admire your strength. How dedicated and professional you’ve been after the loss of your cousin. I can barely imagine how stressful it all is for you.’
She looks humbly at her feet. ‘Grazie. The work helps. It’s a welcome distraction – stops me thinking about him.’
Tom understands; he’s seen too many grieving relatives not to. ‘As the funeral gets closer, you’ll feel pain at its rawest. Probably you’re already experiencing a little confusion, maybe some anger as well?’
She rubs a hand through her hair. ‘All of that.’
‘It’s natural. Part of the grieving process. When you lose someone so close to you, it’s overwhelming, bewildering. It’s going to take a while to get your bearings.’
She manages a tiny smile. ‘Like being in a strange city, such as Venice?’
Tom smiles. ‘Glad you’ve still got a sense of humour.’ He walks a couple of steps then looks kindly at her. ‘I really believe you do have to get lost in order to eventually find the new self that you become. Especially when it comes to dealing with the death of someone who’s been such a big part of your life.’
She looks up, and now there’s no trace of humour. ‘What happens when we die?’ She narrows her eyes and gives away just a glint of anger. ‘I mean, is that really it? We just become dust? Ashes to ashes, and all that?’
Tom stops walking. It’s a question he’s been asked many times. ‘I don’t believe so. I’m sure there’s more to us than only decay.’
‘More of what? What more is there?’
‘More to existence than our mortal time on earth.’ His eyes make a connection with hers. ‘I believe our spirits live on after we’re gone.’
Until recently she’d have laughed at such a remark. Not now. Not since Antonio’s death. ‘I hope you’re right, but I’m not even sure what a spirit is, let alone whether I have one and where it might go after I’m dead.’ It hurts her even to say the word dead – a word she’s used on a daily basis since joining the police and only now understands the meaning of.
He takes her hand. ‘Trust me, you have a spirit. And though I didn’t know Antonio well, I know he had one too – a very good one.’
She blinks. No tears, but they’re close. ‘I loved him so much. He wasn’t only a cousin – he was a best friend – the big brother I never had.’ And now the tears come. ‘Shit!’ She fumbles in her pocket for a tissue.
Tom puts his arms around her and holds her for a moment. Over her shoulder he sees the labyrinth of canals leading to the scene of Monica’s murder. He rubs Valentina’s shoulders to comfort her. ‘Things will get easier. It will take a while, but the worst of the pain will pass.’
Valentina pulls gently from his embrace and begins to walk. ‘I’m sorry. I try to keep these moments private.’
‘No need to apologise.’
Her cellphone beeps out that she’s missed a message. She takes it from her coat pocket and sees the call was from Carvalho. ‘Somehow, everything seems to remind me of Antonio. I look at my phone and think it’s a text message from him, he was always wanting some favour or other. I go to make a call and I see his name on my directory – yet I just can’t bring myself to wipe it from the memory.’ She shakes her head. ‘Back home I still have answerphone messages from him on my landline.’
‘All that’s okay. It’s not time for you to let go yet.’
‘When will it be time?’
He holds her again. ‘Hard to say. Maybe after the funeral. You’ll know when it’s right to move on. You have to go stea
dy. One step at a time.’
Valentina looks up and over his shoulder. ‘Your hotel. I’ve delivered you safe and sound.’
‘Grazie,’ says Tom, aware it’s one of the few Italian words he feels confident enough to try. ‘Do you want to come in? I’m meeting Tina – we could all have a drink in the bar if you need some company.’
Valentina lifts her phone and shows the missed call. ‘Thanks, but I have to get back. My boss will be sending out search squads if he doesn’t see me shortly.’
Tom smiles sympathetically. He wishes he could do more. ‘Okay. Take care, and please call me – any time – if you feel you want to talk.’
‘Ciao,’ says Valentina, raising a hand in thanks as she turns and begins the walk back to headquarters. Part of her wishes she’d taken up his offer. She probably would have done if it hadn’t included Tina.
Valentina thinks about calling her boss. She unlocks the phone and then determines to do something else first. She scrolls through the directory and finds the entry marked Antonio. She takes a breath, selects Options and then hits Delete.
CAPITOLO XXIX
666 BC
Atmanta
Masu rushes from the thicket and finds his friend Arnza dead. The blind netsvis is on his knees scrabbling in the dirt beside his corpse.
What he doesn’t see is Tetia.
With surprising force she swings Arnza’s sword in a broad sweep at his back.
Sensing the danger, Masu turns as the blade scythes towards him. Instead of catching him full on, it slices into his side. A long wound, but not severe enough to stop him.
Tetia backs away, gripping the sword with both hands.
Masu advances.
He feigns a sweep to his right and then switches his body angle.
Tetia doesn’t even feel the cut. But she knows it’s there. Long before the pain arrives, the look in his eyes tells her his steel has found flesh.
Blood dribbles down her right arm from a wound just above the elbow. Suddenly, shock springs through her body. Arnza’s sword falls from her hands and the world spins fuzzily around her.
Masu knows she’s powerless. He looks towards the netsvis, the man who’d helped her kill his friend, and he can already taste revenge on his lips. He swings his sword at the arterial junction of Teucer’s neck and shoulder.
Blood spurts from a severed vein.
He shifts position and lunges. Smiles as steel slices through the priest’s stomach and bursts out through his back.
It is a fatal blow.
In his mind Teucer sees Tetia as she was on the day they first met. She is shy and beautiful and he aches to hold her face and kiss her.
A kick to his shoulder sends him sprawling to the ground.
Teucer can’t breathe.
Can’t feel any more.
He sees his wedding night. His wife’s robes falling from her shoulders. Tetia’s naked body lit by the fire in their hearth. She is waiting for him.
The cold tip of a blade noses into Teucer’s heart.
Now there’s only blackness.
Blackness layered upon blindness.
Tetia is mouthing her vows but he cannot hear her.
Everything is mute.
In the soft, pillowed darkness, with the door to the afterlife half open, a demonic noise comes screaming towards him.
The cry of a newborn.
The child he’ll never see.
The seed the rapist has sown in his wife’s womb.
Rooted to the spot by loss of blood, Tetia can only watch as Masu wipes Teucer’s blood from his hands. He picks up his sword and grins, baring his yellow teeth. ‘Killing you may indeed prove even more pleasurable than raping you.’
Tetia painfully picks up Arnza’s fallen sword. Her wound makes it impossible for her to wield it.
Masu sees her weakness and takes half a step forward. He’s going to enjoy this. Slice by slice he’s going to slowly hack the life out of her.
He begins his swing.
But never completes it.
Tetia’s sword arrows upwards and finds the front of his throat. His eyes widen as it severs his windpipe and protrudes through the back of his neck.
Even as he falls, he wonders how a dying woman could have moved so quickly and powerfully.
Tetia’s wondering, too. The explosive, violent force that surged through her is now gone. There’s a deep ache of pain in her womb, as though the spent energy has come from her child. She drops the blade and slumps beside her husband.
The darkness is coming for her. It’s galloping towards her like black stallions in a thunderstorm. She drags herself up and puts her hands across Teucer’s chest. Her fingers brush a blood-soaked cord threaded with a ceramic keepsake, one she’d given him on their wedding day. She remembers making it for him, kissing it as she tied it there in the morning. She gasps for air as she holds it.
People are approaching.
She determines to hold on – keep breathing – keep her child alive at all costs.
She hears footsteps down the side of the temple.
Voices to the left and right of her.
Through a mist of blood and sweat she sees Venthi’s horrified face as he lifts her in his arms.
CAPITOLO XXX
The Eastern Silver Mine, Etruria
Pesna and Kavie dismount at the gates of the mine. A ragged group of bare-chested slave boys rush forward to take their horses from them. Brushing dust from his tunic, the magistrate hisses, ‘When this is over, Larth must be removed as quickly as possible. I no longer have faith in the man.’
Kavie is taken by surprise. ‘Removed – as in killed? Or removed as in promoted and given far-off lands to manage?’
‘That man cannot manage his own bowels, let alone anything of consequence. His ambition outruns his intelligence and makes fools of us all.’
‘What you ask will not be easy.’
‘But still it must be done.’ Pesna stops and turns to his aide. ‘You saw the way he challenged me. He had treachery in his eyes.’
Kavie tries to shrug it off. ‘He was humiliated, that’s all. Larth is a proud man, a former soldier. It is hard for him to be chastised in front of a lowly driver.’
‘No matter. Arrange his exit.’
‘Very well,’ says Kavie thoughtfully, ‘but I shall need many – and I do mean many – loyal men to remove a monster like Larth.’
‘Then make sure you have them. He is a liability, Kavie, and we are entering a time when we cannot afford such liabilities.’
Dry tracks lead them to the first and the biggest of six interconnecting silver mines. Most of the workings are outside: great craters in the earth, fenced off and guarded to the hilt. Some of the mines are below the surface, where chiselled biceps swing heavy iron picks into the dense rock.
Aranthur, the site manager, stands outside the entrance, shielding his eyes and squinting into the sun and dust. He is small, bald and fat. Three thick silver chains adorn the neckline of his cream tunic. Each finger is embellished with a silver ring and he nervously clicks the bands together as he steps forward to greet them. ‘May the gods be with you, Magistrate. All is arranged.’
‘Good!’ barks Pesna. ‘We’re late, so take us inside and show us the gifts.’
Aranthur had hoped for longer with Pesna. Perhaps at the end of a successful day he’ll be able to press his claim for more power and influence over the way the mine is run. Sensing the magistrate’s mood, he does not attempt to detain him now but pulls open the weathered entrance door. ‘This way, please.’
Kavie glances back into the low dazzling sunlight. ‘The first of our guests are arriving. We must hurry.’
The area they enter is a vast outbuilding normally used by the workers for changing, washing and sleeping. In the centre is a table where slaves sit to devour their scraps. Today, however, it is laden with silver plates, goblets, bracelets, rings and chains. ‘This is excellent.’ Pesna runs a hand over the glittering gifts. ‘We will let the p
igs sink their noses in the trough and whet their appetite for more.’
Aranthur sees an opening: ‘Since you so wisely improved our production methods, output has increased threefold. I believe I now have the honour of running the most productive silver mines in all Etruria.’
Pesna grants the sycophant his first genuine smile of the day. ‘Well done. At a future date we will talk more about this. Now, make sure our guests are refreshed before we give them the tour of the mine. Show them the ore and let them fill their pockets.’
The manager waddles back to the door and hurries out into the sunlight.
Kavie points at the silver. ‘I feel uncomfortable with all this wealth in one place.’ He glances around.
Pesna pats his shoulder. ‘Do not worry. It won’t be here for long. Besides, did you not arrange extra guards to stand watch both outside and inside the mines?’
Kavie bites his lip. ‘I did. But given our recent conversation, perhaps it is timely to remind ourselves that Larth was the one who oversaw this matter. It is Larth who always oversees such matters.’
Pesna’s smile disappears.
CHAPTER 34
Present Day
Luna Hotel Baglioni, Venice
When Tom gets back to Tina’s room his mind is awhirl with Valentina’s grief.
Tina can tell he’s distracted. Since he came in he’s hardly said a word. It’s certainly not the mood she was hoping for, the mood he needs to be in for the chat she’s been planning. ‘Ground Control to Major Tom, are you still in my orbit?’
He looks up from the chair he’s slumped in. ‘Sorry, I’m mulling over bits of this case.’ He wonders why he didn’t mention Valentina.
Tina goes over to him and puts her arms around his neck. ‘Use my laptop. Google whatever it is and get it out of your system. I’m going to shower before dinner.’
