'Tonight,' instructed Fabiola. 'Get rid of Memor first, though. Now.'

They hurried off to do her bidding. Fabiola remained by the door to her office, listening for any signs of Antonius wakening. She was pleased to hear only snores.

Soon the doormen reappeared, carrying the bundled-up blanket between them. Fabiola had already slipped the bolts on the front door and pulled it open. 'Be quick,' she urged.

They hurried towards her.

From Fabiola's office came the distinctive sound of a glass breaking on the floor.

Like murderers caught in the act, Vettius and Benignus froze.

'Outside,' whispered Fabiola frantically.

'Fabiola?' Antonius' voice was sleepy but truculent. 'Where in Hades have you gone?'

The pair of slaves had half made it out of the doorway when Antonius emerged, rubbing his reddened eyes. Pushing Vettius outside, Fabiola flashed her most brilliant smile. 'You've woken up,' she trilled. 'I was just going to get a blanket for you.'

Perhaps it was Antonius' military training, or her guilty manner, but all signs of drunkenness dropped away from him. 'Vulcan's prick! Was that a body?'

For once, Fabiola was at a loss for words.

In a heartbeat, Antonius was by her side. Pulling wide the door, he stared at the two doormen who were spotlit by the torches on either side of the entrance. Like most slaves in such a situation, their feet were rooted to the spot. 'What have you got there?' Antonius barked.

There was a pregnant pause.

'Answer me!'

'Nothing, sir,' ventured Benignus. 'An old blanket.'

Antonius whirled around to Fabiola. 'Was someone killed here tonight?'

Fabiola struggled not to break down in front of him. Today was proving to be the worst day of her life. Could things get any worse? 'Yes,' she muttered.

'Who?'

'Nobody. A lowlife who started roughing up one of the girls. He killed my servant as well.' Fabiola's grief over Docilosa surged up, out of control. 'He deserved to die,' she snarled. 'Like anyone who crosses me,' she added in a whisper.

'What did you say?'

Panicking, Fabiola looked away. 'Nothing.'

If Antonius had heard her final words, he chose to ignore them for the moment. 'Whose body is it? Tell me!'

Fabiola quailed at his fierce expression. 'Memor, the lanista.'

Antonius' eyes widened. 'An important man. I see your need for secrecy. So you waited until there was no one about, and then ordered your goons to get rid of the evidence. Clever. Except I saw it.'

Fabiola didn't answer.

Antonius turned back to the doormen. 'Go on, piss off.'

They goggled at him.

He raised a fist. 'Beat it!'

Unable to believe their good luck, the pair hoisted their burden and disappeared into the darkness.

Fabiola exhaled slowly, knowing that the danger wasn't over yet.

Pushing her before him, Antonius shut the door. The bolts slid home with an ominous sound. Straightening, he looked at Fabiola with new respect. 'Quite the siren, aren't you? Who'd have thought it?' he said softly. 'Come too close, and you'll end up shipwrecked. Or dumped in a sewer.' He laughed at his own joke. 'Should I be worried? After all, it's not as if I've never knocked a woman about.'

Fabiola began to feel afraid. Antonius was a big, powerful man. He could kill her with ease, and there was no one about to stop him. She backed away, but he followed and grabbed her by both arms.

'A word in your ear.'

Terrified now, Fabiola bent towards him.

'Before getting any ideas, you should know something. Your little quarrel with Scaevola is no secret to me.' He smiled at her surprise. 'Been wondering why things have quietened down on that front? It's because I told him to back off.'

Fabiola looked at Antonius, dumbstruck. That's why he'd had no guards with him.

'The fugitivarius knows that I'd kill him if he touched a woman I was fucking,' Antonius confided amiably. His expression hardened. 'But if I was tired of her and thought she had ideas far above her station? He'd bite my hand off to be slipped from the leash!'

He did hear what I'd said, thought Fabiola. She could hardly breathe. Mithras, she prayed. Help me. There was no response, and her hopes fell away into a dark abyss from which there was no return. She was unsurprised. This was her punishment for all that she had done. In that instant, Fabiola knew also that she didn't want to die. Not like this.

Antonius took her by the throat and squeezed. His blue eyes glittered cruelly, mocking Fabiola for her weakness. 'Or I could just strangle you myself.'

Choking, she began to lose consciousness.

Abruptly Antonius relaxed his grip, and Fabiola staggered away. Feeling like a mouse injured by a cat, she waited to see what he'd do next.

'I'd rather fuck you,' he ordered. 'Find a bed.'

Numbly, Fabiola led him away.

Docilosa had been right all along. Why hadn't she listened? If she had, her servant would still be alive instead of lying cold on a table in the kitchen.

Antonius groped at Fabiola's crotch, revolting her. Yet she made no effort to stop him.

This was her lot. Seeing the priestess being thrown out of the Lupanar thoroughly confused Tarquinius. The guards looked most unhappy as their huge companion roughly pushed her away from the entrance. They quailed when she cursed the building and all its inhabitants to Hades. The haruspex was perturbed and intrigued by this. Few people would dare to treat one of Orcus' followers in such a manner. For it to happen meant that someone – probably Fabiola, as she was in charge – was extremely confident of herself. Long after the priestess's outline had vanished into the darkness, he sat pondering the significance of what had transpired.

Tarquinius' conclusion came more from his powers of deduction than any sign from the wind or stars. All kinds of scenarios went through his head, but few made any sense. Docilosa wouldn't throw her own daughter out in the middle of the night, especially when she had come with a warning. Neither would Jovina, for fear of her new mistress's reaction. Why would Fabiola do it then? The haruspex dwelt the question for an age, and eventually reasoned that Docilosa had been the woman screaming earlier. Had she been hurt, or even killed? A portent of this might have brought her daughter hurrying over. Arriving too late, the priestess's reaction would have been extreme, prompting Fabiola to have her thrown out.

Had Memor been the violent customer? What had happened to him?

Before there was any chance of finding answers to these questions, Tarquinius' attention was drawn by the noise of footsteps. It sounded as if at least a dozen men were approaching the brothel, but only one man emerged into the arcs of light by the entrance. Weaving from side to side, he drew amused smiles from the guards, who didn't appear to have noticed anything untoward. The newcomer's companions stayed in the darkness, making Tarquinius very uneasy. Who were they? He was careful not to move from his position. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice him.

'Let me in!' demanded the powerfully built man. 'I want to see Fabiola.'

'Marcus Antonius?'

'Who else?' he sneered.

At once the guards opened the portal, allowing the noble to enter.

Tarquinius' interest in what was going on deepened. Fabiola had two lovers then: Decimus Brutus and the Master of the Horse. Given that he hadn't seen Antonius visit the brothel before, the men probably didn't know about each other. That meant Fabiola was playing a very dangerous game. Why? Again he scanned the sky, hoping for some information. Could he have been mistaken in his presumption that his disturbing dream involved his murder of Caelius? Perhaps it had happened tonight?

Tarquinius' hunch became certainty a short time later. The two enormous doormen emerged, carrying a lumpen shape wrapped in a blanket. Fabiola stood by the open door, hurrying them on. Their burden was clearly a human body, and was in all likelihood the man who'd caused someone to scream earlier. Clever, thought the haruspex. Wait until everyone is in bed, and then get rid of the evidence. He was pleased. Fabiola was a woman of some ability.