Free Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Antoinette May Page B

Isis."
    She jumped, nearly dislodging the basket from her shoulder. "Your parents would kill me!"
    I laughed at the idea. "Mother fusses a lot, but wouldn't hurt a bug." I paused, considering. " Tata 's a soldier. What he does, he does for Rome--not himself. Besides, he'd think it poor business to injure his own slave."
    "I know that," Rachel said. "Your mother reminds me of my own. Had life been different, had they met at Herod's court, they might easily have been friends. Your father's a fair man. More than fair, he's kind; but if either of them thought I'd wrongly influenced you, they would sell me. I couldn't bear that, not again. I want to stay with your family forever."
    "I want you to," I assured her. "Often I forget that you're a slave. I was so lonely after Marcella was taken--" I paused, overcome by sudden emotion, then continued. "We'll go tonight when they're asleep. No one will ever know."

    CHAPTER 6

In the House of Isis
    E ven in the dim lamplight, I saw that Rachel's skin was pale, her jaw tense. I pretended not to notice as we stole out into the night. We were dressed simply. I wore Rachel's threadbare palla, not the new one that Mother had given her after the banquet. It was as though I wore a costume. Having never been out at night without my parents, I found the prospect thrilling.
    Walking briskly, we passed unnoticed and soon reached the market square where many stalls remained open. Crowds still jostled. The air was heavy with the scent of roasted lamb, temple incense, and human bodies at work. Rachel rushed me forward, her eyes constantly watching, wary as a cat.
    After much bargaining, she hired a litter. I wondered if the rickety frame would hold together, then fretted over the slow, clumsy bearers. Behind the soiled curtain, confused by the many twists and turns, I lost all sense of direction until I smelled the sea. I pulled the curtains aside to look out, but Rachel yanked them back. "No, no, you must not," she admonished me, her voice anxious. "What if someone were to recognize you."
    At last the litter was roughly deposited on the ground; Rachel and I climbed out unassisted. I paid the bearers, then looked up expectantly. Before us a broad flight of stairs led to a garden illuminated by at least a hundred torches. I caught my breath at the sight. Ibises and peacocks strutted along walkways of green serpentine bordered by multitudes of many-hued roses, their scent hovering seductively on the balmy air. I pushed back the hood of my palla as an unexpected sense of familiarity swept over me. The faint sound of chanting grew louder as we passed row upon row of fluted columns, then entered the temple's anteroom, where Isis's many trials were depicted in mosaics on the floor. I shivered in anticipation as I read the words inscribed in gold beside them.
I am the first and the last
    I am the honored one and the scorned one,
    I am the whore and the holy one
    Beyond, gauzy draperies stirred gently in the soft breeze. The splendor of lights, great circles and squares, arcs and clusters of lamps hanging from the vaulted ceiling, dazzled me with their luminosity.
    People stood talking softly in small groups or sat on marble benches. Men as well as women. Some were dressed fashionably, but not all, yet even the most simply garbed appeared immaculately clean. Many recognized Rachel. I was surprised by the smiles and friendly nods she exchanged. How could it be that a mere slave could be accepted, even welcomed, into such a grand place?
    As I looked about the large marble room studying the people gathered there, I became aware that I, too, was being watched. Beneath a broad column a young man sat alone. The scroll that he'd been holding slipped unheeded to the floor as his eyes studied me. Intense eyes, great, dark, filled with...what? I shivered. Straightening my shoulders, I turned away. Who was that man, how dared he look at me as though...as though he could see into my very soul?
    I looked back, couldn't