Free A Bitter Chill by Jane Finnis Page B

invalid must be very tiring.” We were finding the healthy members of the party hard work after just one afternoon.
    “Oh, he’s not such a bad old boy.” He hesitated, as if deciding how much of his thoughts to reveal. “It’s the rest of them. They can be a little, well, argumentative.”
    “You’re a master of understatement. Are they always like this?”
    “Pretty much, though the journey has brought out the worst in them. These cold winters are enough to make anyone bad-tempered.”
    “I gather you haven’t been in Britannia long enough to get used to the weather?”
    “I’ve been away for five years, in Crete. That’s my original home.”
    “Crete? Where the archers come from?”
    “That’s it.” He laughed. “Where all the boys want to grow up to be famous bowmen. Luckily most of us grow out of it. But I still hunt with a bow when I can.”
    “So what made you become a doctor?”
    “I’d always dreamed of being one, and when I was fourteen I heard of an old Greek physician who was looking for a lad to help him because he was going blind. I offered to be his assistant. It was a wonderful chance for me, but it meant going to Londinium, because he was moving there with his patron. I was just a boy then, and leaving my parents and my sisters was very hard. But he was a brilliant physician—he taught me a great deal. We lived in Londinium for several years, and I got to like it. That’s when I first encountered the Plautius family.”
    I refilled his beaker. “Was Plautius a friend of your patron?”
    He nodded. “Some kind of distant relation, I think. My master was sent to look after Plautius once or twice—even in those days he didn’t have very good health. And after my master died, I was the one who was sent to treat Plautius.”
    “But then you went home to Crete?”
    “I got word that Father was seriously ill, and I thought I should go back to take care of him. And it coincided with a bad time for me here…I lost my girl. She was a slave, and a rich man bought her and wanted her all to himself. Without her, Londinium wasn’t the same. After Father died, I stayed in Crete for several years. But doctors are as common as cats in those parts, so I came back to Londinium last summer to find work. In September Plautius hired me as his personal doctor. By then he was really ill.” He shrugged. “I had a good idea what I was getting into. Compared with an arena full of lions and tigers, they’re not so terrible.”
    “I’d say they’re evenly matched.”
    “Look, Aurelia,” he said, moving still closer. “I feel I can trust you. I’ve been hoping for the chance of a quiet word.”
    “Well, here I am.” I didn’t add, “What can I do for you?” because from the look in his eye, he might have told me.
    “About Lord Plautius.” Oh well, I must have misread the look. “He’s been a bit worried about his personal safety for a while now. I heard what he said to you, and he’s said the same to me more than once.”
    “You obviously take good care of him. And he could have a guard at his door, if he’s so concerned.”
    “He doesn’t want that. The point is, don’t take it personally. It’s nothing to do with your mansio.”
    “Thanks, but I never thought it was. What’s behind it, do you know? When I asked him, he simply dodged the question—well, you heard. Does he have a real reason to be worried?”
    Timaeus smiled his dazzling smile. “If you’re asking me whether anyone is trying to kill him, the answer is, I’ve no idea.”
    “It’s all in his imagination?”
    “I didn’t say that. If you’re asking me who might like to try and kill him, the answer is, nearly everyone in our party.” His smile was gone, and his words struck a bitter chill in the room, despite the blazing logs.
    “You can’t seriously mean that, surely.”
    “I’m sorry, it was a touch over-dramatic. But he’s upset several people, with his talk of altering his will.”
    “His will?”