Valley of Decision

by Lynne Gentry

  Once he was certain the soldiers were gone for the night, before he’d agreed to let Maggie take the first watch, he’d awakened her grandfather. The three of them had managed to move his mother’s loom from the door just enough for someone to slip in and out.

  “We tried waking you.” Kardide flipped a piece of meat that resembled a tiny chicken wing. “Thunder would not have awakened you.”

  The patrols had passed them by last night, but if they scoured the city and turned up nothing, they would return to do a more thorough inspection of the neighborhoods that bordered the city walls. If Barek couldn’t get their little entourage past the extra patrols policing the gates, it would be only a matter of time before he and everyone he’d tried to save would be discovered.

  “How long has she been gone?” he asked as he hurried to put on his shoes.

  “Long enough for this pigeon to cook.”

  “Something’s wrong.” Blood pounded in Barek’s ears as he tied his sash. “I’m going after them.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Lawrence offered.

  “Someone has to stay to protect the women.” But before Barek could lace his shoes, Maggie burst in, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “My father has been arrested! He’s being held hostage at his villa.” She threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Barek, I have to find my mother. She’ll know what to do.”

  Her body was slight but strong up against him. Her hair still smelled of smoke from the previous day’s fire. “Slow down.”

  “A woman at the well said”—Maggie leaned back but kept her arms wrapped around his waist—“the great solicitor of Carthage has been put under house arrest.” Terror suddenly froze her tears. Her body went rigid. “What day is it?”

  “Somewhere around Calends.” Barek’s heart quickened at the growing alarm in Maggie’s voice. “Why?”

  She grabbed the front of his tunic. “What is Calends?”

  Before Barek could explain the Roman calendar, Eggie inched through the door. “Hope this was my last supply run. Nearly got trampled out there.” His arms were weighted with a full water jug. “Right after Maggie heard about her father and took off, word hit the well that the ships of Titus Cicero have opened their cargo holds. There was a stampede toward the docks. Maybe we should get in on the grain run before it’s all gone.” He placed the jug on a table, then noticed the tension in the room. “What did I miss?”

  “Is it September, Eggie?” Maggie demanded.

  “Could be.” Eggie’s face looked puzzled, then he shrugged. “Last night was the new moon.” He lifted a cup left on the table and blew out the dust. “So dark, I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. Were it not for the soldiers’ cook fires I would not have found their camp. Don’t worry, I didn’t go near the flames.”

  Maggie let go of Barek and rushed to the table. “What does a new moon mean?”

  “Calends.” Eggie dipped the cup into the jug and helped himself to a big drink. “First of the month.”

  “What month?” Maggie was frantic. “What month?”

  “Here. Cool down, my princess.” Eggie offered her the refilled cup, but she pushed it away.

  “What month?” Maggie demanded.

  “I left Rome on the ides of August when the moon was full. Been here long enough it must be close to September by now.”

  She spun and found her grandfather. “I have only fourteen days.” Maggie began to sink. “Maybe less.”

  Barek scooped her up and sat her upon the stool. “Fourteen days until what?”

  Her grandfather left his post at his wife’s sickbed and came rushing to his granddaughter’s side. “Until Maximus kills Cyprianus Thascius.” He stroked Maggie’s hair from her face.

  She sniffed. “G-Pa, we have to save my father.”

  “I don’t know if he can be saved,” her grandfather said gently. “Not without changing history.”

  “But right now my father’s trial is in the future,” Maggie argued. “We’ve got to try. What about Titus? He’s rich and powerful. I know he’ll help us if we ask.”

  “Even a senator can’t stop an execution ordered by Maximus,” Barek said.

  “How do you know her father’s trial will end in a death sentence?” Eggie still didn’t understand Maggie’s distress. “After the mess Maximus had on his hands after her grandmother’s trial, he would be a fool to deny a pardon for the city’s favorite solicitor.”

  Tension sizzled in the silence. Barek couldn’t bear the worry shaking Maggie apart. He placed a protective hand upon her shoulder and confessed to Eggie, “She knows the future.”

  “How can she know the future?” Eggie’s eyes darted between Maggie and her grandparents. “She is a goddess. I knew it.”

  “She knows the future because she comes from there.” Barek could see Eggie’s mind wrestling with the ludicrous idea. He still deliberated the impossibility of a child disappearing one day and returning the next a beautiful woman. In this, their common struggle bound them more than their competition for Maggie’s love tore them apart.

  “And in this future, do you know of me?” Eggie asked Maggie.

  She shook her head.

  “Then you shall.” Eggie straightened. “There is one man who can save your father.” All eyes fastened on Eggie. “My grandfather.”

  “What are you talking about?” Barek asked.

  “Valerian issued the order to murder Christians. As long as he is emperor he is the only one who can rescind the order.”

  “If your grandfather rescinds his order, it will change your history as well.” Maggie’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

  “Make no mistake,” Eggie said, “the only history my grandfather cares about is his own. If I agree to give him my devoted service, he’ll do whatever I ask to ensure that his blood flows through the successor to his throne.”

  Eggie gave them no time to argue. “I remember when my grandfather was a great man, respected among the populace for his many good deeds. But then he fell under the influence of a man named Macrianus, the high priest of the Egyptian magi. When my father saw how Macrianus was turning the great Valerian from all he held true, he tried to warn my grandfather to be careful. But it was too late. Macrianus had already seduced the emperor with all kinds of sorcery.”

  Eggie began filling a burlap sack with a few of the food provisions he’d stolen from the soldiers. “There is only one power I know that will break the spell of Macrianus.” He stopped and looked at Barek. “The power of your one God.”

  “But what if your grandfather refuses to see you?”

  “I have seen your God’s might demonstrated in the hands of your people. In the way they serve even those who are their enemies. It is a power stronger than that of the gods of my grandfather. If you pray that Valerian is feeling generous, he will be.”

  “Then we’ll pray, won’t we, Barek?” Maggie said.

  Barek stared at him, both surprised and irritated. How dare Eggie make promises destined to break Maggie’s heart? “There’s not enough time to find your grandfather, have the edict rescinded, and get back here before Maximus executes Cyprian.”

  “If I leave on the next ship, a good tailwind will put me in Ostia in two to three days. Another half day afoot will put me at my grandfather’s palace in Rome.”

  “But going home means you’d be giving up your freedom and dreams of becoming a sculptor,” Maggie said. “Why would you do that?”

  Eggie’s fingers lightly brushed away Maggie’s tears. “My love of beauty.” The sleeve of his cloak fell to his elbow, once again revealing the mark of his royal bloodline, the destiny he’d risked his life to escape.

  A lump formed in Barek’s throat. “What if your grandfather is not in Rome?” he asked. “There is war on nearly every border.”

  “Then I shall inquire as to his whereabouts, secure one of his swiftest horses, and find him.” Eggie’s gaze surveyed the stunned disbelief on every person in the room. “My friends, if you wis
h to help, beg your one God for favorable winds and a calamity to delay the trial.” To Maggie he said, “May the future speak as well of me as it will of your father.”

  Barek’s urge to drive his fist into Eggie’s smiling face vanished. The hope Eggie’s promise brought to Maggie’s eyes was something for which Barek was grateful. Of course Maggie should be delighted. Eggie was offering something he’d never have the influence to do.

  “Your sacrifice is more than we deserve, Eggie.” Barek’s admission of gratitude was as much for Maggie’s sake as his own. She may never love him as he’d grown to love her, but he couldn’t bear it if Maggie thought him a stubborn fool who’d ruined their best chance of saving her father. “Our problems are not yours.”

  “My problems were not yours and yet you pulled me from the depths of my despair and restored me, body and soul.” Eggie clapped Barek on the shoulder. “What kind of a man forgets that kind of sacrifice?”

  47

  MAGGIE PLACED HER PALM on her grandmother’s forehead. Jaddah was much cooler and more alert than she’d been the day before. She’d even managed to hold down some chicken broth. “Guess those were some powerful herbs Eggie stole from the soldiers.” She kissed Jaddah’s cheek. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” She and Barek had decided to go with Eggie to the docks in case they needed to create some kind of diversion that would allow him to stow aboard the first boat lifting anchor. No fires. And then they would go on to find Maggie’s mother.

  Jaddah clasped her hand. “Your mother needs you now, more than ever.”

  “Not so sure about that.”

  “Don’t underestimate Lisbeth’s ability to forgive.” Jaddah’s voice was thick with tears. “When she found out I’d chosen to stay, it was hard for her. But she managed to forgive me. That’s how I know if you have anything to be forgiven of, she’s already done it.” She squeezed Maggie’s hand. “Your only crime is growing up.” Jaddah brought Maggie’s hand to her cracked lips. “Because your mother loves you, she’ll let you become your own woman when the time is right. Whether she can bear it or not.”

  Maggie couldn’t pretend that she didn’t want to believe her grandmother’s words. Lugging around the shame of the many tragedies her actions had caused was exhausting. To be free of the guilt would be more than she deserved.

  But she didn’t want to be free of her mother.

  Not really.

  Maggie wanted them to be friends the way Mom and Jaddah were now. While they didn’t have medicine in common, it had been eye opening helping her mom tend Quinta and her grandson. The experience had given Maggie a peek into the heart of a woman she’d always wanted to be like. Jaddah was right. Her mother was a woman with a huge capacity for love.

  In preparation for their trip to the docks, Barek checked the food and water supplies for those staying behind. He showed Tabari and Iltani his mother’s secret stash of extra oil and wicks for the lamps. He snuck out the back and restocked a bin with bits of wood for the brazier. Maggie followed Jaddah’s instructions and changed the bandage on Kardide’s head. G-Pa and Kardide promised to barricade the door immediately after they left.

  Maggie withdrew her phone and asked her grandfather to take a picture of her standing between Barek and Eggie. Then she snapped a picture of her grandmother and grandfather together. “So Mom won’t worry,” she said, although deep down she knew the picture was for her. In case something happened and she couldn’t get back to them.

  The moment the sun set, Maggie slid the phone in with the manumission papers she kept in her pocket. Her heart beating fast, she kissed her grandparents and then joined Barek and Eggie to set off for the docks. Barek’s prediction of added patrols proved correct. Fortunately, his knowledge of the back alleys of Carthage kept them from detection. When they reached the harbor, lit torches flickered above the huge crowds crying out for food and pressing toward a large grain freighter.

  Maggie grabbed Eggie’s arm. “Maybe you shouldn’t go.”

  “My ride’s waiting.” Eggie pointed out an imperial freighter anchored fifty yards away from the nearest pier. “See that ship sitting low in the water? It’s full of grain. If those sailors know what’s good for them, they’ll lift anchor and hightail it to Rome before this mob swamps them too.” Eggie kissed her hand and winked at Barek. “I’ll be back before either of you have time to miss me.”

  The wind whipping off the water sliced through Maggie’s cheap tunic and reminded her how little time she had left. She didn’t need a calendar to know fall was swooping in with a vengeance and it had brought the wrath of Rome to Carthage. She moved to the protection of one of the large concrete pillars, waiting in the shadows while Barek and Eggie pushed off in the homemade skiff hidden in a secret slip by Titus’s stable hands.

  “Godspeed, Eggie,” she whispered.

  Eggie was smooth and daring. Barek was cautious and bristly as a dried-out toothbrush. And yet they’d become an odd little family, the three of them, hiding in the deserted dye shop, foraging for food and supplies under cover of darkness. Everyone doing what he or she could to protect the fugitives and nurse Jaddah back to health. Maggie couldn’t bear the thought of facing the days ahead without either man.

  A commotion around the docked grain freighter drew Maggie from her worries. People pushed and shoved, fighting with the last of their strength to gain a place in line. She spotted a scarecrow of a man exiting the ship with a little sack of grain held close to his chest. He elbowed his way past those accosting him on the gangplank. But the moment the poor man set foot on the dock, a gang of starving vultures descended and tore his sack from his clutches. The bag ripped open and grain spewed into the air. Fifty people dived for the grains raining down upon the warped planks. Stones from a slingshot flew through the air and hit the man in the head. He staggered backward, his body teetering hopelessly on the edge of the pier.

  Maggie bolted toward the man who’d been robbed. She heard her named called above the din of people scrapping like dogs over a bone. Had she not been so stinking mad she would have been more alert. She would have known it was not Barek who called her and she would have pretended not to hear. But she couldn’t help herself. She stopped and turned, searching for the one who knew her. A cloak swept over her head and strong arms locked her arms to her sides.

  “Come with me. Now.”

  48

  MAXIMUS PEERED THROUGH A window high in his palace. Below, hysterical men with sticks in one hand and blazing torches in the other had left the smoldering theater ruins and blanketed the royal grounds. They shouted threats and obscenities. Maximus closed the shutter and dismissed his concern. He’d doubled his guard. If the residents of Carthage attempted to storm his doors, they would face the same fate as Cyprianus Thascius.

  Maximus trudged down the stairs. All he had to do was hang on until the emperor granted his leave. He’d sent a sealed request to Valerian the morning after the fire. In it, he’d explained the chaos the Christians had caused and his plan for vengeance. He would do what he should have done when he first arrived and eliminate their leaders. He’d ordered his soldiers to tear this city apart until they found that murderous woman healer. After he nailed her to a cross, he’d execute the man who’d dared defend her.

  Once Cyprianus Thascius was dead, there would be no one left to defend these heretics and troublemakers. Without someone to come to their legal rescue, the Christians would be forced to return to the passive, peace-loving citizens Titus Cicero claimed them to be.

  Maximus tightened the sash of his robe. The thought of making someone pay for the hurt he had suffered gave him great pleasure. Once he had order restored, he was certain the emperor would be more than happy to grant his transfer back to Rome. There was still the problem of what to do about Hortensia. She would not be happy his term had been cut short.

  In the atrium, the birds fluttered in their cages, protesting the unease they sensed in the province.

  Maximus reached inside the golden cage and removed one o
f the multicolored birds. These foul creatures had pecked and cackled at him for the last time. He was a new man. His own man. The emperor would reward his performance in Africa.

  In one swift, decisive move Maximus snapped the bird’s blue-ringed neck, then tossed the limp creature at his feet. He hated Aspasius’s pets almost as much as he hated his mother-in-law. With the emperor’s gratitude behind him, Hortensia could not stop him from returning to Rome, secreting his wife in the middle of the night, and sailing to the edge of the earth.

  Until then, Maximus would remain barricaded in his palace and entertain himself.

  “My lord?” The voice belonged to one of guards he’d added to fortify his security detail.

  “Not now.” He stuck his hand back into the cage. Riled birds mocked him as they flew to the safety of the highest perches. “See what you’ve done?” He turned to see the red-faced soldier holding out a small scroll. “What is it? Speak, man.”

  The soldier stared at the dead bird at Maximus’s feet. “An urgent message from Rome.”

  “Finally.” Maximus slammed the cage door and yanked the scroll from the soldier’s hand. “Wait for my reply.” He ripped the waxy seal and began to read.

  With his troops weakened by plague, Emperor Valerian suffered a major defeat. He was taken prisoner by the Persians and executed. Delay your departure until further notice.

  Gallienus Augustus, the newly proclaimed emperor of Rome

  “NO!” MAXIMUS cursed and jammed his fist into the bars of the nearest cage. The birds fluttered in a frenzy. He was stuck here forever. Trapped like the frightened parrot he was. He no longer had the luxury of waiting until the healer was found to exact his revenge. If he was to acquire any satisfaction, he would have to act and act quickly. Squeezing the paper in his hands, he pondered his next move.

  “You will tell no one of this, understand?” Maximus eyed the guard as he wadded the paper, opened the birdcage, and tossed it inside. “Bring the solicitor Cyprianus Thascius to me at once.” He held up his hand. “No. Send two officers to remove him from his home. Insist they use discretion. Keep him in one of their houses for the night. Then once I have assembled the Senate, bring him to me quietly. I do not want the masses to disturb a moment of my pleasure.”