24. Frigid

Frigid

Luella

It’s not hard to sneak out of the Domus Aurea. I wear a different face, the black stones weighing down my pocket as I slip from the servants’ passage. There are enough faceless women here that no one questions me. Isn’t that nice?

I meet Mia in the Baths. I don’t intend to use them, having just washed the blood from me in the Domus Aurea, instead joining her in her favorite spot, the frigidarium. The large square pool is open to the air, the largest and coolest of the lounge pools here. Outside there are benches and stone lounges, open areas for sunbathing and drying. Beyond that are high arches leading to the other, warmer and therefore better, baths. There are also dressing areas and off to one side a small garden terrace overlooking where the side of the hill gives way to the Maero.

“I hate it in here,” I say, wading over to her in the cool water. I could just as well jump in the river if I wanted to freeze my tits off. Her dark purple chest wrap covers her full breasts, the color bringing out the depth of her dark skin. She doesn’t stand out specifically for her looks, but instead has the kind of beauty where the longer you look, the more you see.

“You hate everything,” she says. She’s not completely wrong and I snort my agreement. My wrap is the opposite of hers, a pale lilac shade that looks nearly white against this body’s tanned skin.

This is the co-ed area, but there are very few bathers and even fewer men. Mia doesn’t like crowds, preferring the Baths at the least busy time of day. I prefer to not attend at all. The things we do for our friends. And accomplices.

“He’s the worst,” I complain. “Thank the gods it’s only a few more clipses.” My stomach roils, but I don’t elaborate. My guilt is mine to bear.

“And to think you wanted two quads,” Mia reminds me. “Has he told you anything about… the reason you are there? Are you learning what you need?”

“No.” I can’t keep the despair out of my voice.

“So… you’ll call it off?”

I shake my head. “No, it still needs to be done. If nothing else, I’m learning about the… layout of my new domus.” It’s always best to assume someone is listening in spaces like this. They usually are, as Mia and I know too well. It’s one way we glean our information after all.

“Well Taln is adapting quite well, for a stray,” Mia says.

“You make it sound like you don’t like strays.” I smile.

“I don’t like to make a habit of taking them in.”

“Now we both know that’s not true,” I say, remembering. It’s been over ten years, but that room above the infirmaria had once been mine.

“And look at all the trouble that’s brought me.” Mia splashes water towards me.

“You’d be bored without me.” I splash back at her and she just rolls her eyes.

“There’s something else.” Mia moves closer, swimming up behind me and raking my brunette strands back with her fingers. “Two or one?” she asks, able to speak lower and softer with my ear right next to her.

“One.”

She sections my hair into three, pulling the ends taut as she loops them around each other, urging the strands to stay with tension. I let her twist my head this way and that, until she’s ready to speak.

“Remember how I hadn’t heard about his other friend?” I nod, knowing she means the Dominus. “Apparently he’s changed his tastes.”

“I just saw him on my way here… he offered to help me,” I tell her.

“Help you run away from… your betrothed?”

“Yes, said something about how he’s gaining power.”

“Power over the girls, maybe.” She’s whispering now, making sure no one can hear even though there’s no one near us. “I had one early this morning, says our new friend punched her and assaulted her. But…” She hesitates.

“But what?”

“Her injuries just weren’t what I’d expect based on her story. I think he’s just beginning. Like he’s working up the courage or something.”

“What do you mean?” And why did he offer to help me if he was the same as Ledo? Did he mean to play the savior, and then when I was thankful he’d beat me just a bit less than Ledo and think I’d be thankful?

“She didn’t have any internal injuries that supported her assault. That’s not necessarily a concern, because that assessment can vary so widely, but she said he punched her. Not hit, punched, with a closed fist.”

I can’t see her face so after a moment of raised eyebrows I just ask the question. “And?”

“And nothing was broken. She was just a bit bruised.” She’s whispering in my ear now. “I’ve seen the Dominus. He trains his men on the banks of the Maero sometimes. If he punched her with even a portion of his strength, something should have shattered.” Cassius was not just a general, he was The General. In charge of all of the Emperor’s legions.

“So you think she’s lying?”

“Or misremembering,” Mia says defensively and I regret my words. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I would accuse a victim of lying. “Or… that he let her see a healer.. Or he healed her. I don’t know, Lue. It just doesn’t match.”

I let out a long breath. “Can’t be too easy, can it?”

Mia gathers my hair back so she’s looking down at me. “You can still back out.” For the first time I notice dark lines around her eyes. Does this wear on her, too? My oldest friend. It must. She’s a widow, but unlike me she loved her husband. He was a good man. He built her the infirmaria, including the back door, because he saw how broken this republic was.

Widows who don’t remarry are considered the most matronly. That and her status as a blessed healer means Mia is relatively safe. Unless I bring her danger.

“Are you well?” I ask her, searching my friend. Would she tell me if she wasn’t?

She pushes my head forward again, resuming the plait. “I’m fine, Lue. I just don’t like you in that place.”

I don’t like it, either. We don’t talk about why, but it lingers between us, unspoken.

The reason for all of this.