One for Sorrow

Chapter Fourteen

The lengths one went to for women, thought Felix. He nervously ran his hand through his shaggy beard as he hesitated outside the entrance to Madam Isis’ establishment.

The square was deserted. The sun beating down had driven stray dogs into the shadows of doorways and colonnades. There was no sign of the mayhem he had been caught up in two days earlier. No one would have guessed a bear trainer and the Keeper of the Plate had both died here, within a few steps of each other.

“Come in out of the heat, Felix!” boomed a voice from Isis’ open doorway. “No reason to stand there shuffling your feet like a schoolboy.” Darius, the big Persian, grinned at him.

Felix shambled inside. “I see you’re still sporting dainty wings, Darius.”

Darius gave a snort, and reached behind his back to snap a finger against one of the wings. “If only these things worked I could fan myself with them. It might almost make up for feeling ridiculous.”

“Or you could simply fly away and find a more reasonable employer.”

“Sometimes I am tempted. Shall I tell Berta you’re here?”

“Not today. I’m here to see Isis.”

The doorkeeper led the way to Isis’ private quarters. The hallway vibrated with the lugubrious moaning of the organ.

“She’s been driving us mad trying to play that accursed instrument,” Darius muttered. “I’m surprised the urban watch hasn’t complained about the noise. If Justinian spent an evening here they’d be outlawed the next day from one end of the empire to the other.”

Before Felix could remark on the unlikelihood of the emperor passing the night in a brothel the groaning ceased and Isis answered Darius’ necessarily thunderous knocking.

She directed Felix to a chair and settled herself on the cushioned couch across from him. “My playing has been improving,” she said. “Perhaps Euterpe has smiled on me at last. What can I do for you, Felix?”

“I…well…commerce is not something I have a knack for and….”

“Have some wine.” She poured out a generous goblet full and handed it to him. He gratefully took several large gulps.

“So you are here on a business matter,” Isis prompted.

“Yes. It’s about Berta,”

Isis patted Felix’ knee with a plump hand. “You want to marry her.”

Felix simply stared. Isis laughed. “Many of my girls have loose tongues amongst ourselves. We all know about your intentions. We were beginning to think you’d never get around to asking.”

Felix reddened. “We won’t have to haggle?”

“No, no, no. I’ve already made a firm decision about Berta. I don’t want to part with her, but I’d be willing to sell her to you, Felix. Fifty nomismata.”

Felix choked down his mouthful of wine. “Fifty! I could buy a scribe for that!”

“Whatever would you do with a scribe? You’ll get more pleasure from Berta. Why, you’ve probably spent as much gambling on the races.”

“You aren’t selling her. You’re holding her for ransom.”

Isis waved a hand and her rings flashed. “What is such a small sum to the captain of the excubitors? You are a wealthy man. It costs more than fifty nomismata to keep a lady in silks!”

“Yes, I know. It isn’t the price, it’s the principle.”

“What does love have to do with principles? Is it true what they say? That you are having financial difficulties?”

Suddenly, despite her ample form and billowing silks, Isis did not look soft at all. Felix thought of a ripe plum. If you bit into it unwarily you’d break your teeth on the pit.

“There are endless expenses connected with property. It isn’t that I am short of money-”

“And gambling can be expensive too. The Hippodrome is enormous. All of Justinian’s gold could vanish into it.”

“You’ve been listening to the slanders being spread by my enemies!”

“If what is being said is untrue, the price I am asking should be a pittance. Besides, you don’t think I am concerned with the price, do you? I want the best for my girls. I don’t want to send Berta out into a disastrous situation.”

“I see. Very considerate of you.”

“You think you’re the only one interested in Berta? There may be a better choice waiting for her.”

Felix finished his wine and sat his goblet down on the table between them with a resounding thud.

“I am temporarily pinched, but I will get your price. Rest assured I will give her anything a lady could wish for.”

Isis smiled. “I’m glad to hear it, Felix. I’ll be happy to see Berta settled. I managed to save up enough to buy my freedom and go into business for myself. But Berta spends everything she earns before the coins are cooled. Where do you think most of that jewelry she wears comes from?”

“I’ve never asked her.” Felix admitted. He did not add that he didn’t want to know. “You’ll prepare the papers?”

“Certainly. Everything will be properly signed and sealed, and I shall settle the Curse of the 318 Fathers upon the document of sale, just to be safe.”