Air and Darkness by David Drake Page A

ease of long practice his other hand turned the catches where the front and back joined. “Your Ladyship, I mean.”
    â€œWere you hoping to find my brother, Master Corylus?” Alphena said.
    She winced as she heard the words come out of her mouth. I should have either shut up or just asked him directly. Mother can be arch and sound charming, but it’s just stupid from me!
    â€œAh, no,” Corylus said, becoming ill at ease. “Ah, Lord Saxa requested that I visit him.”
    Corylus paused; the three others in the room were looking at him. “He, ah, has offered me a position. I … well, there are a number of things to consider. Do you know when Varus and, ah, Lady Hedia are to return from Polymartium?”
    Alphena felt Pulto lift away the armor. She spread her right arm to make it easier for him, but she didn’t take her eyes off Corylus. “I believe Mother was planning to come back today,” Alphena said. “I suppose Varus will come with her since they left together, but I don’t know that.”
    She cleared her throat and went on, “What position would that be?”
    â€œI’m sure your father would tell you, Your Ladyship,” Corylus said. “But I think it would be better if you asked him, especially since I’m not sure of my own plans until I’ve had time to discuss them.”
    With Hedia and my brother. Or maybe just with Hedia!
    â€œPulto,” Corylus said, “I want to get back to the apartment. I have some thinking to do, and I’m scheduled tomorrow morning to deliver a set argument in class.”
    â€œThanks for the wine, buddy,” said Pulto, nodding to the trainer. He opened the door as servants vanished from the corridor into the house. He and Corylus walked toward the front and the street beyond.
    Florina, Alphena’s chief maid, had stayed in the corridor because she had a reason to be there. She squeezed against the wall to be out of the guests’ way, then bowed toward Alphena. She didn’t speak or enter the gymnasium.
    â€œI think,” Alphena said aloud, “that I’ll bathe here in the house. Is the bath ready, Florina?”
    â€œYes, Your Ladyship,” Florina said. “I saw to it myself!”
    The furnace in the bathing annex was always kept burning. Saxa’s wealth made this practical, but most people, even the very wealthy, preferred to walk a few blocks to the public bath where there was more space and the surroundings were more impressive.
    The original builder of this house had included a gymnasium and private bath. They hadn’t gotten much use until Alphena decided to train to become a gladiator. They were used even more often since Varus and Corylus had become friends. That also meant that Varus was getting more physical exercise than he otherwise would.
    Varus wasn’t a social youth, but he valued Corylus as a friend—probably his only friend. Though Corylus didn’t actively encourage Varus to train, his friend’s presence and example caused Varus to show interest in things he had never before considered.
    Florina called a sharp order down the hall. Two junior maids scurried into the gym and unlaced Alphena’s heavy sandals. When Alphena lifted each foot, they slipped on wooden bath clogs.
    Florina’s giving herself airs with the other staff.… But that was what people did. You could punish them for it, but why? It would be like punishing the sky for raining.
    â€œYour Ladyship?” said Lenatus with a worried expression. “Is something wrong?”
    â€œNo, not at all, Master Lenatus,” Alphena said as she walked from the gymnasium. “I was just realizing that because of the time I’ve spent talking to my brother and his teacher, I’ve begun to think about things that I didn’t used to.”
    Talking to Varus and Pandareus, and also to Corylus.
    Alphena took off her tunic in the steam room and sat on the