Man Eater

Even as she spoke the words, she knew…

And, worse, Macer knew…

‘Yes.’ He smiled, and it was not a pretty smile. ‘He told me.’

Idly, he turned to face the captain of his soldiers. ‘Arrest the bitch,’ he said calmly, jerking his chin towards Orbilio. ‘And him too, if he tries to interfere.’

*

Claudia Seferius didn’t think twice. Spinning on her heel, she raced across the atrium and out through the courtyard.

‘After her!’ yelled Macer. ‘Stop her! Any way you can.’

Vaulting the rosemary, she fled past the parrots and the topiaries and leapt over the fishpond. Torches that had previously been so welcoming became her enemy. They threw her fleeing figure into stark relief and gave her a thousand shadows. She jumped at each one.

Any way you can, Macer said…

Oh no! The gate’s locked! She rattled it, pushed it, then when it refused to budge, ran to the far gate. The soldiers were gaining. They did not have to cleave a path, negotiate obstacles. Like migrating geese, they only had to stay in her slipstream.

Damn you, Macer, damn you to hell! Because even as she was boasting of Salvian’s alibi, she realized the hole she was digging for herself. Of course, the boy would tell his uncle. Trusting, idealistic-he saw no reason not to. Any way you can. Dead or alive. It might yet prove a grave she had dug for herself. A thousand silhouettes flickered around her. A thousand hobnailed boots echoed in her ears. Shit! This gate’s locked as well! Finding a toehold in the woodwork, Claudia shinned over it, her dusky pink skirts billowing as she darted between the peach trees and the pears.

Shouts told her that the soldiers were splitting up, fanning out. Thinning out… She glanced over her shoulder. Three only in direct pursuit.

‘Fuck!’ A legionary, unfamiliar with the terrain, had tripped on the steps and was rocking himself as he rubbed at his ankle-the way people do, when the sprain is severe. One down, two to go.

Croesus, she was almost upon the labyrinth of sheds. She didn’t know her way well enough to tangle with them. Think, Claudia, think!

One of the soldiers had paused to check his colleague, but the third man was gaining rapidly. Merciful Juno, be praised! Claudia grabbed the hoe leaning against a walnut tree and ducked behind its ample trunk. Wallop! Right in the solar plexus! The running soldier gasped once, then pitched forward on to his face.

Two down, one to go.

At the end of the orchard, she paused under the full light of a brand burning in its bracket on the wall, as though unsure which way to turn. She glanced to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right. Fat lot of use, hoping Junius might suddenly spring to her rescue. Macer would have nabbed him long ago. Taken in for questioning, he would say.

Torture was the word.

For a second time she hesitated under a light, looking in all directions and hopping indecisively on the spot. Her pursuer was close now. But so was the first of the barns. Claudia spun to her left.

Junius was a stubborn cuss, he’d die rather than lie to the Prefect.

Timing her run, she jumped and swung upwards, her skirts barely clearing the branch as the legionary turned the corner. The blood in her temples pounded like thunderclaps, but he failed to connect the significance of a shower of soft, pink petals and Claudia sent a silent prayer of gratitude to Mars for setting brawn above brains for his warriors. The soldier swore loudly and then crashed his way into the first of the sheds. Banging and thumping told her he was searching the building, and she heard him thunder out of the other door. Straddling the smooth, grey bark she thought of Junius, bound in rawhide as one of Macer’s minions applied red hot irons on the soles of his feet…

Kill my bodyguard, she vowed, and I’ll kill you personally.

‘Cut her off!’

‘Get her before she reaches the sheds!’

Claudia timed her fall with the shouts. For the moment they had lost her. Now was the time to turn back, because Macer would not expect something so obvious.

Crouching along the shadows of the east wing, Claudia felt her way towards the south entrance where Macer’s horses were hitched to the posts. Ducking beneath Alis’ window, she heard loud wailing. The wail of a widow. Or was that Alis’ window?

Relief welled up in Claudia’s chest when she saw the horses were not only tethered, they were still saddled up. Dear, sweet Juno, I owe you one.

Third from right, he’s my mount. Can’t be difficult, can it, riding a horse? Just swing yourself up, dig your knees into the animal’s side and hey presto, the wind’s in your hair before you know it. And I’ll grab the reins of the others as I go, they can scatter when we’re clear of the valley.

Sprinting across the yard, Claudia failed to notice another figure.

Too late she heard the crunch of a boot on the cobbles.

‘Not so fast,’ a voice snarled in her ear.

Then the night shattered into a thousand fragments, and everything went black.

XXXI