The Golden Dice - A Tale of Ancient Rome (60 page)

For Camillus, the wolf, skulked outside her city ready to wreak annihilation. And when he was no longer in office others would follow with the same intent. She knew she was an emblem of sedition and could expect death if they succeeded. So could Mastarna. After today, though, she finally understood that her children would not be spared either. For certain no humanity would be shown to the Veientanes.

Vel’s
dice box sat on the side table, retrieved from his cloak when the slave boy had collected his master’s soiled clothes. Caecilia shook the golden tesserae onto her palm, feeling their worn smoothness.

The dark mastery of Artile over her had ended but there was always the specter of his prescience. Somehow he’d known the result of the throw pointed to Rome, and that she had disobeyed Nortia. Once he’d gulled her into believing she could delay her destiny. And as much as her husband told her she must surrender to fortune, the vestiges of her younger self remained. The hope that she could influence the goddess had never truly left her. It was ingrained in her to chafe against the strands of fate. To try to weave them to her purpose.

Yet
Uni, Veii’s protectress, had sheltered her city today. The goddess that she still called Juno sent hail when disaster beckoned. There must have been a reason for this salvation. Had the Veientanes been rescued so that they might smite their enemy? After all, Thefarie was mustering Rasennan forces. Veii could yet march on Rome. And Etruscan kings had ruled there before.

Caecilia traced the symbols on the golden dice with a fingertip. What if her pathway back was via the Veientanes making the Romans their subjects once again? What if her family could pass through the gates of Rome not as captives but as conquerors?

Vel stirred beside her, wakening to pain. Mouth parched, he lay with bloodshot eyes open, disoriented until he saw her. She laid her hand on his forehead checking for fever.

“
Don’t fuss.” His voice was hoarse.

“
I am allowed to worry.” She helped him sip some water laced with poppy juice to soothe the pain. “Does it hurt terribly?”

He closed his eyes briefly with the effort of movement before he examined his injured arm. “If I am to be a cripple it might be better if I’d died.”

“
Don’t say such a thing!”

Seeing her stricken face, he reached over to cup her face, tracing the curve of her cheekbone with his thumb. “You are gaunt, Bellatrix. Was the labor very hard?”

“
No,” she lied. “Although our daughter was a little reluctant to fight her way from the womb.”

Vel ran a finger along the birthmark on her neck. “I think, perhaps, that you are not being truthful. I think you have suffered.”

Raising his hand to her lips, she kissed his grazed knuckles. “I’ve forgotten any travail now that we have our healthy child.”

“
Thank you, Bellatrix, I could have no better wife.”

“
Nor I a better husband.”

He was tiring, shifting his weight to ease the discomfort but finding no relief. Caecilia laid the dice on the bed before propping some pillows behind him. Mastarna gathered them up.

“
Ah, I’m glad I did not lose these. They are my luck. They brought you back to me.”

Caecilia paused, uncertain if she should confess what the dice had truly determined. But this was not the time. Later, though, she would tell him that she was prepared to stand in the citadel square and declare to all her intention to wage her own war on Rome.

Seeing his weakness, she rose to let him sleep
, but he held fast to her hand. “Lie next to me.”

Her clothes were stiff with stain and smell, her bodice crusted with what little milk she had, her hair disheveled. “I must bathe first.”

“
Stay.”

Slipping off her ruined shoes, she slid beneath the sheet and curled up beside him, no gap between them. Head resting on his shoulder, she remembered how once she’d lain in her white bridal tunic on their first wedding night, hair still braided, terrified of consummation, loyal only to Rome.

Soothed by the beat of his heart and his scented skin as he slept, she too grew heavy-lidded.

It was nearly dawn, the eastern sky shot with color, the sun’s rays bathing the leaves of the grapevine with light. Soon they would be bright with autumn’s colors. In winter, when the boughs were bare, Camillus would no longer be a consular general and, by the grace of the gods, Mastarna would be strong again.

Sleep stalking her, Caecilia eased the tesserae from Vel’s hand, tightening her fingers around them. Truly a Rasennan. Faithful to Veii. Enemy to Rome.

She had not flouted the goddess.

Nortia brought her back for a reason.

Glossary

Cast

Elisabeth Storrs has long held an interest in the history, myths and legends of the ancient world. She is an Australian author and graduated from the University of Sydney in Arts Law, having studied Classics. She lives with her husband and two sons in Sydney and over the years has worked as a solicitor, corporate lawyer, governance consultant and is now a business writer.

The Golden Dice
, the sequel to
The Wedding Shroud
is the second novel in the
Tales of Ancient Rome
series set in Ancient Rome and Etruria. The third volume,
Call to Juno
, is currently being written.
The Wedding Shroud
was judged runner-up in the international 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards for general fiction.

Elisabeth would love for you to connect with her on
Facebook
,
Twitter
or via her blog,
Triclinium
. And you are welcome to visit her
website
for more information on her books. And here’s a link to sign up for
news and special offers
.Word of mouth is crucial for any author to succeed, therefore, if you enjoyed
The Golden Dice
, please consider writing a review at the point of purchase. A line or two can make a big difference and is much appreciated.

Rome

Pinna (Lollia): A prostitute

Marcus Furius
Camillus:
Patrician consular general

Marcus
Aemilius Mamercus Junior: Aemilius’ son, Caecilia’s cousin

Appius Claudius
Drusus:
Friend of Marcus, Caecilia’s former admirer

Marcus
Aemilius
Mamercus Senior: Caecilia’s uncle and adopted father

Genucius: Plebeian consular general

Calvus: Plebeian people’s tribune

Sergius: Patrician consular general

Verginius: Patrician consular general

Fusca: Pinna’s mother

Lollius: Pinna’s father

Veii

Caecilia
(Aemilia Caeciliana): Born in Rome, Mastarna’s wife (nickname Bellatrix)

Vel
Mastarna
Senior
:
Etruscan nobleman, Caecilia’s husband

Artile
Mastarna: Soothsayer, Mastarna’s brother

Tarchon
Mastarna: Adopted son of Mastarna

Tas
(Vel Mastarna Junior): Caecilia and Mastarna’s firstborn son

Larce
Mastarna: Caecilia and Mastarna’s second son

Arnth
Mastarna: Caecilia and Mastarna’s youngest son

Thia
(Larthia) Mastarna: Caecilia and Mastarna’s daughter

Ramutha
Tetnies: Caecilia’s friend

Thefarie
Ulthes: Ramutha’s husband, Mastarna’s friend

Vipinas: Chief magistrate (zilath) of Veii

Caile: Grandson of Vipinas

Kurvenas: King (lucumo) of Veii, Mastarna’s rival

Sethre
Kurvenas: Son of Kurvenas

Lusinies: A general

Semni: A potter, servant in Mastarna’s house

Arruns: Mastarna’s Phoenician bodyguard

Cytheris: Caecilia’s maidservant

Aricia: Cytheris’ daughter, nursemaid

Perca: Junior nursemaid

Velthur: Semni’s husband

Metli: Ramutha’s daughter

Arnth
Ulthes:
Murdered zilath of Veii, Mastarna’s friend

Tulumnes
:
Former king of Veii, Kurvenas’ cousin

Seianta: Mastarna’s first wife

Aule Porsenna: Zilath of Tarchna

Italicized names are used more commonly than full titles.

The Gods

Nortia/Fortuna: Goddess of Fate

Uni/Juno: Goddess of marriage/mothers/children—queen of the gods, wife of Tinia/Jupiter

Tinia/Jupiter: King of the gods, husband of Uni/Juno

Turan/Venus: Goddess of love

Aita: God of the Afterworld (his worshippers follow the Calu Cult)

Fufluns/Dionysus: God of wine and regeneration

Mater Matuta: Goddess of the dawn

Mars: Roman god of war

There is a hyperlink to the cast at the end of each chapter.

Acheron:
In Greek mythology, the river of sorrow in the Underworld; in Etruscan religion, the “Afterworld” or “the Beyond”, a place to which the dead journeyed over land and sea.