The Divining (54 page)

     Nero thought about this, then said, "We will have it authenticated. If your bracelet carries a star fragment, and you give it freely to me, this woman is yours and you may both leave."

     "Caesar, these people have done you no harm," Sebastianus added, pointing to Rachel and Primo. "As you can see, they are members of the general populace who are so fond of you. By releasing them, and the remains of the widow's husband, you confirm what all of Rome already knows: that you are the protector and benefactor of the masses."

     Nero waved a hand. "You can all go. What is it to me? But first my astronomer must examine the stone."

     The chief astronomer, his three assistants, and three respected astrologers were brought before Nero. They took the bracelet and withdrew behind a plain door, to emerge now and then with questions: Where precisely did the star fall to earth? What was the exact date and hour? From which direction did the star-shower come, and what was its duration?

     Sebastianus was filled with confidence as he awaited the verdict, knowing that Nero would accept the bracelet, for it was just as the Chaldean in Babylon had foretold, that Sebastianus would be parting with his most cherished possession.

     The astronomers finally returned to confirm the stone's authenticity, as records showed that precisely such a shower of stars occurred in that exact location and at that exact moment. The astronomers were also familiar with the feel, weight, and appearance of fallen stars.

     Nero said, "I wish to have this stone as it must contain great power that makes it, as you say, more priceless than any gemstone in my possession."

     "Then I give it to you freely," Sebastianus said.

     As Nero slipped the bracelet onto his wrist, pausing to admire it, he said, "Sebastianus Gallus, I find you guilty of treason and I order your execution in the arena."

     "But ... we have an agreement!"

     "You yourself said that this stone came from the gods, Gallus, and as I am now a god, I take it back on behalf of my fellow deities. And I will think of an amusing entertainment for the masses, among whom you say I am so beloved. Yes, the common people love me. I lowered taxes, I lowered the price of food, I give them free bread and free games in the arena. And the people love nothing more than to see the mighty brought down. A man of your fame and wealth and stature will bring record crowds to the Great Circus. Half the population of Rome will cram itself within its stands in order to watch your execution."

     Before Sebastianus could protest further, Ulrika spoke up, saying, "Mighty Caesar, you asked for a demonstration of my powers. I will give you one. But only if you set this man free."

     "What is this?" Nero quipped. "Market day? Suddenly I am being bargained with as if I were a seller of wine."

     His aides laughed.

     But Ulrika remained unfazed. "I can communicate with the dead, as you were told, Caesar. But it comes with a price. If you are satisfied with my demonstration and believe that my gifts are genuine, then I will stay here and be your channel to the realm of the dead. But only if you let Sebastianus Gallus go free."

     Nero said archly, "You will give me a dead man for a living man?" and one of his advisors, a portly senator wearing a purple-edged toga, said, "The dead man is invisible, Caesar. How do you know you are getting a fair exchange?"

     His comrades laughed. Another quipped, "Perhaps what the girl 'sees' is with her mind's eye!"

     "Well said, Marcus."

     Ulrika turned to the one called Marcus and stared at him for a long moment, slowing her breath, clasping her scallop shell and imagining her inner soul flame. After intense concentration, she said, "Then how do you explain the boy I see at your side, perhaps ten or eleven years old? He is speaking to me. He says his name is Faustio."

     The aide named Marcus blinked and his smile fell.

     "Shall I go on?" she said.

     Nero waved a hand. "You are inventing a fiction! There is no way to prove what you claim."

     But Ulrika noticed that Marcus no longer smirked.

     "Can you read objects?" Nero asked. "Among my seers is a man who can see the future when he handles a personal object."

     "I have experience, Caesar."

     "You will do a reading for me, and I have the perfect object," the emperor said, delighted with himself and this new amusement.

     He handed his emerald monocle to an aide, who gave it to Ulrika.

     "Can you see the future?" Nero said impatiently.

     Ulrika cradled the sparkling green crystal in her hands. The gem had been set in a frame of delicate gold filigree, with a long handle fashioned from ivory. All eyes turned to her as she looked down at the gemstone. The chamber grew quiet.

     She studied the surface of the emerald, rough in places and smooth in others. It was irregularly shaped, with cloudy spots inside. But it was a stunning green such as she had never seen before, and the small spaces that were clear all the way through shot back captivating highlights.

     Spirit of the emerald, she silently prayed, please send me a message. Give me a sign, or words that I can pass on to this man who holds my beloved husband's life in his hands.

     The imperial audience chamber grew silent, it faded from her peripheral vision, and another vision entered Ulrika's line of sight.
Soft fabric ... panels of diaphanous material ... Hangings over a doorway. Ulrika is on the
other side, looking into a sumptuous bedroom. A woman is there, at her vanity table, removing cosmetics from her face. Agrippina, widow of Claudius and mother of Nero. She is suddenly startled. Interrupted. Someone enters. A man. He carries a dagger. She jumps to her feet. Not frightened, defiant. She knows he has come to assassinate her. She turns to him and says contemptuously, "If you must do this deed, then smite me in the womb and destroy that part of my body that gave birth to so abominable a son."

     The vision disappeared and Ulrika swayed briefly. Sebastianus caught her. Pressing her hand to her forehead, Ulrika drew in a breath and steadied herself.

     Nero leaned forward on his throne. "Well?" he said. "What did you see?"

     She trembled. She knew she had just witnessed Empress Agrippina's murder, and that her son had been watching from behind bedroom drapes. Ulrika recalled the rumor that Nero had hired an assassin to kill his mother and then had himself killed the assassin to keep the man from speaking.

     No one knows what Agrippina said in her last moments. But Nero knows. And now I do, too ...

     Ulrika glanced at Sebastianus, at Timonides and Primo and Rachel. She felt hundreds of eyes upon her, and those of the emperor, as they narrowed in suspicion. She did not know what to say. Nero wanted her to tell him something that only he could possibly know and that would therefore prove that she did indeed have a gift. But what the emerald had told her was something that put herself in danger—any hint that she knew it was he who had had Agrippina murdered jeopardized her own life.

     "Speak up!" Nero barked. "What does the emerald tell you?"

     But proof of my powers will set Sebastianus free because Nero will not be able to deny that I have indeed communicated with the spirit world.

     "Great Caesar," Ulrika began. "I see a woman—"

     Suddenly, the massive double doors that were the main entrance to the audience chamber crashed open, and all heads turned.

     When legionaries tramped in, their hobnailed sandals striking the marble floor, Nero shot to his feet and shouted, "Who dares to barge in unannounced and without my permission?"

     Ulrika turned and her eyes widened when an impressive man appeared
behind the unit of soldiers, massive red plumes rising from his shining helmet. He wore a white leather breastplate with a golden lion emblazoned on the front, a white tunic underneath, edged in gold. The greaves on his shins, and cuffs protecting his forearms, were also made of gold, making him a blinding sight as he marched forward with long strides, stiff and confident, right hand clasping the hilt of his sword.

     "Sebastianus," Ulrika whispered as the man drew near. "It is General Vatinius!"

     Nero's look turned to one of puzzlement. "Vatinius? What is this all about? You come without invitation, without announcement. Explain yourself!"

     "I bring a special gift for Caesar," the general declared in a voice that rose to the domed ceiling. Vatinius turned and outstretched his arm, and another unit of soldiers entered the audience chamber, with a manacled prisoner at their center.

     "Great Caesar," Vatinius cried, "in honor of your Jubilee Year, I give you the insurgent Barbarian who has led campaigns against Rome for thirty years. Wulf, who claims to be the son of Arminius!"

     Ulrika reached for Sebastianus as the man in chains was led through the crowd. She filled her eyes with the sight of him—he was tall and broad, his long blond hair in tangles and braids and streaked with gray, his beard long and gray. He wore a dark brown tunic of rough homespun cloth, leather leggings, and fur boots that reached his knees. A man in his late fifties, he walked with an erect posture, and a proud bearing of his head. He looked neither right nor left, but directly at Caesar.

     Ulrika struggled for breath. There stood the man she had dreamed of since she was a child, had fantasized about, had yearned to meet. He had filled her girlhood thoughts and blazed across her imagination in heroic proportions. She had searched for him. She had been told he was dead.

     She saw a look of keen pleasure on Nero's face and she was suddenly sick to her stomach. She knew what that wicked smile meant.

     All of Rome gossiped about Nero's failure to secure victories in his name. The war with Parthia had ended the year before with Rome agreeing to a truce, and while Nero had been successful in quelling the revolt in
Britain led by Queen Boudica, he had been robbed of a victory celebration when Boudica had committed suicide. Everyone in the audience chamber understood the significance of Vatinius's surprise gift for his emperor.

     Nero made a show of rising from his throne and approaching the general. "How is it I was not informed of this?"

     Vatinius smiled. "The capture is recent, Caesar, and the few men who knew of it were sworn to secrecy. I wished to make it a surprise."

     "Well done, noble Vatinius!" Nero said as he circled the prisoner, looking him up and down in satisfaction. "I will hold games in your honor, General. You are a hero of the empire."

     The onlookers erupted in cheers and Ulrika felt herself go cold with fear.

     "For you, Barbarian," Nero said with glee, "we will have a special punishment in the arena. Perhaps I will pit Sebastianus Gallus against you. Barbarian against Roman patrician. And see who wins!"

     Ulrika's heart went out to her father. She wanted to run to him, embrace him, and protect him.

     Thirty-three years ago my father was taken prisoner during a battle in Germania and sold on the slave market. Three years later, he left my mother in Persia, at her urging, to return to the Rhineland and fight General Vatinius. And then, a mere ten years ago, General Vatinius dined in Aunt Paulina's house and bragged about his military strategy against my father, vowing to end the German insurgency once and for all. And now here we are.

     
It must not end this way.

     Finding her voice, Ulrika said, "Great Caesar, the emerald has spoken to me. There is a woman here who wishes to be heard. A very powerful woman with a message for you. But I must now demand a higher price in exchange."

     Vatinius turned and gave Ulrika a perplexed look.

     The Barbarian also turned. He stared for a long moment at her face, a look of puzzlement in his blue eyes. And then Ulrika saw his lips move, and she read the one silent word he mouthed: "Selene ... ?"

     Nero frowned, displeased at the interruption, but intrigued also. "I do not bargain. And if I am satisfied that you possess the powers you claim to, I will keep you here in the palace, as my conduit to the spirit world."

     Ulrika shook her head. "No, Caesar, you cannot steal me as you did
Sebastianus Gallus's star-stone. I cannot be forced to use my gift against my will. I have a message for you from the spirit world. If you wish to hear it, I insist upon the freedom of Sebastianus Gallus. And then, Caesar, if you are convinced that I possess the power to speak to the dead, to be a messenger between this world and the next, I will stay willingly in this palace and serve you for the rest of my days. But as I said, my price is now higher. Not only do I ask that you set Sebastianus Gallus free, great Caesar, but the Barbarian as well. In return I will speak to the dead for you, I will receive their messages and deliver them to you. I will show you the future. I will tell you whom you can trust and whom not."

     When General Vatinius began to protest, Nero silenced him. "Show me what you can do. If I am pleased, then I will grant your wish and let these men go. Who is this powerful woman who sends me a message?"

     Forgive me, Sebastianus, she thought. Perhaps this is why the Goddess brought me to this place at this time—to set you and my father free.

     "Great Caesar," Ulrika said, as everyone watched, anxiously anticipating her message from the spirit world. As she braced herself for the emperor's reaction to his mother's final words—"Smite my womb"—she was distracted by movement at the corner of her eye. Had someone stepped forward? She turned.

     The wolf was there, sitting beside her father. Golden eyes fixed on her.

     Ulrika stared. Was it indeed her wolf-spirit?

     "Get on with it!" Nero snapped.

     Yes, it
was
the spirit, because no one else saw the creature.

     He is here for a reason ...

     She looked at her father and thought: His name is Wulf. And twenty-nine years ago, at the hour of my birth, I was given the name Ulrika, which means "wolf power." There was a reason for it, and now I know what that reason is.