Page 111 of Firebird
Doro caught up to Rhea and pulled her to a stop by the arm. “Where are we going?”
“To Euphemia’s. Malina needs something important,” she said pleadingly. “Then a quick stop at the Temple of Minerva. It’s on the way home anyway.”
Doro peered down, frowning, then eyed me with skepticism.
“Doro.” Rhea clutched a hand in his homespun tunic. “Please. It’s for our new friend.”
My heart cracked at her declaration. Not “the new slave girl” but “our friend.” How Rhea could shine so bright and be so kind living in the devil’s house, I’d never know. But I admired her for it.
Finally, Doro nodded, then we were off again. Rhea took two more turns down narrow alleys until we seemed far away from the hustle and bustle of the Aventine. We passed a brothel with giant phalluses painted over the door. A woman’s laughter floated out of an open window.
Rhea stopped in front of a doorway next door to the brothel and told Doro, “Please wait here.”
He nodded, then she led me up two steps into a shop with the wordpharmakopolespainted beside the door framed by decorative green-painted palms. I didn’t know the translation of the word in Dacian, but instantly realized this was an apothecary’s shop.
Rows of herbs in jars and wrapped bundles dried along the wall. Potted plants lined three shelves on another wall and spiced incense burned on the counter and perfumed the air. The lamp oil flickering on the counter to my right seemed to give off a floral scent as well. A thin, gray-haired woman wearing kohl on her eyes entered from a back room and through a curtain made of strips of sparkly, sheer cloth.
“Rhea! So good to see you, my dear.” She stepped behind her counter in front of us. “You aren’t low on silphium already, are you?”
“Oh, no.” Rhea blushed and cast me a sideways glance. “I have plenty of that for now.”
I recognized the name of the drug. Women used it to keep from conceiving.
“Euphemia, this is my friend, Malina. She needs something special.”
Euphemia narrowed her soot-lined eyes at me, staring down her long nose with severe calculation. She cocked one eyebrow.
“I am assuming you speak of my special collection, yes?”
“Yes. You can trust her. I promise.”
“You vouch for her, do you?”
“I do.”
Euphemia hadn’t stopped staring at me the entire time. “Why do you need a precious prize like my special collection?”
I instantly bonded to her essence. It was warm and bright and welcoming, despite her dark and fragile physical appearance.
Wiping away the fear I’d felt when I woke this morning, I said, “Because I need Minerva’s help. She can help me in my cause.”
“What is this cause? To seduce a lover? Or to kill an enemy?”
“Neither. It is greater than that. Yes, I will ask for protection for the one I love, and to kill an enemy. But not just one enemy…allenemies to the downtrodden.”
The three of us standing here were all certainly the downtrodden of Rome. A time was coming when the powerful would fall, I sensed it. But I couldn’t say more to Euphemia or Rhea, too afraid to trust too much.
“I must beg a favor of the goddess,” I pleaded. “Today.”
She stepped from behind the counter to approach me. She was short and thin, but she exuded strength.
“Give me your hands, girl.” She held out her own, palms up.
I placed mine into hers.
“I read auras, and I can tell if you’re lying.”
Wanting to smile at her threat to use a mystical ability on me, I nodded. “Ask me your question.”
