Free Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor Page A

rather, slaves pick up such phrases from their masters."
    "I see. Did you hear anything so direct from the lips of the Claudii themselves?"
    "No, Master, not I. As it turned out, I was confined almost exclusively to the kitchen, with hardly a moment to catch a breath of air.
    Claudia's head cook fell ill—"
    'So she mentions in her letter."
    "As you might imagine, I was quite busy the whole time. I hardly saw any of her guests, only their slaves invading my—that is to say Claudia's—kitchen."
    And you two?" I asked, nodding to his assistants. They drew themselves up nervously, looking at each other.
    - 45 -

    "Well?"
    "We helped Congrio in the kitchen much of the time," said one of them. "It's as he says; there were rude jibes from some of the visiting slaves, veiled insults regarding our new master—which is to say yourself, Master. But we didn't spend all our time in the kitchen. We were also called upon to serve during the family council and the dinner that followed. Your name was mentioned . . . "
    "Yes?"
    They displayed acute discomfort. One of them had a rather bad complexion, with pimples scattered over his cheeks. I was surprised Claudia had chosen him to serve, since most Romans prefer to look on something pleasant while they dine. I put this down to her general eccentricity; Claudia seemed always determined to go her own way.
    "You," I said to the boy with the pimples. "Speak up! Nothing you say will surprise me."
    He cleared his throat. "They don't like you, Master."
    "I know that. What I want to know is what they might be planning to do about it."
    "Well, there was nothing specific. Name-calling mostly."
    "Such as?"
    He made a face, as if I had waved something foul-smelling under his nose and demanded he taste it. " 'Stupid young fart from the city'?"
    he finally said, wincing.
    "Who called me that?"
    "That was Publius Claudius, I think, the old man who lives across the stream. Actually, he did state a specific intention, sort of. He said you ought to be dunked upside down in the stream and made to catch fish with your teeth." He winced again.
    "That's pretty harmless," I said. "What else?"
    His companion chewed his lower lip, then timidly raised his hand for permission to speak. " 'Stupid nobody with no ancestors, who should be put in a cage and carted back to Rome,' " he offered. "That was Manius Claudius, the man who lives up north beyond the wall."
    "I see. Still, nothing more than idle grumbling."
    The young man with the pimples cleared his throat.
    "Yes?" I prompted.
    "The youngest one, the one named Gnaeus—"
    The Claudian whose own rocky, mountainous property would not support a farm and who, by all expectations, should have inherited Lucius's farm, I thought. "Go on."
    "He said that the family should hire some assassins in the city to come up on some dark night and leave a bit of blood on the ground."
    This was more serious, though it still might be only more idle talk.
    "Did he say anything more specific?"
    - 46 -

    "No, those were his words, exactly: 'Leave a bit of blood on the ground.' "
    "And he said this where you could hear?"
    "I don't think he knew what household I came from. I don't think any of them knew, except Claudia. They really didn't seem to notice us at all. Also, there was a lot of wine drunk that night, and Gnaeus drank his share."
    "But you should probably know, Master," said the other slave, "that Claudia spoke up in your defense. She answered each of these insults and threats, and told the others that there was no point in nursing their animosity because everything had been settled in court."
    "And how did her cousins respond?"
    "Not very warmly, but she did shut them up. Her manner can be rather . . . "
    "Brusque," concluded Congrio. "And remember, it was in her home that the family conclave was being held; she is very much the mistress under her own roof. I think that Claudia suffers no challenges to her authority on her own property, even from her blood relations."
    I smiled