The Divining

     But Sebastianus said, "I will not stand before Caesar in chains. And I especially will not have my wife paraded in chains. We are free citizens of Rome and deserve to be heard before we are found guilty." He rubbed the bronze stubble on his jaw. "The problem is how to get into the palace without risking arrest? For if we are arrested, we could languish in prison fordays or even weeks before we are brought before Caesar and our case is heard. We need only get in the door. But how?"

     "Sebastianus," Ulrika said. "Primo told us that he said in his report to Nero you went to Judea to find hidden treasure. You need only appear at the entrance and give them your name. If Nero is truly desperate for money, he will have you brought into his presence at once."

     "But you have nothing to give him," Timonides protested. "I have seen the visitors arriving at the palace. They bring fantastic gifts for Caesar. You will not be allowed to enter empty-handed."

     Sebastianus smiled. "But I do have a gift for Caesar. A very rare and unique gift that only I can give."

     Timonides wrinkled his nose. "What might that be?"

     "You yourself gave me the idea, old friend, in something you just now said. But we must hurry."

     They went first to an i

     Before they left the i

     "Sebastianus, what is your gift for Caesar? He has taken everything. We are left with nothing except the clothes we wear."

     "Do not fear, my love. From what I have learned of our emperor, it is something he will not be able to resist."

     It was a short walk to the Forum and the base of the Palatine Hill, but the way was crowded with onlookers lining the wide avenue to gawk at the visitors who continually arrived in the hopes of an audience with the emperor. But Sebastianus managed to get himself and his two companions through the maze of stewards and chamberlains, and finally into the palace itself.

     The waiting hall outside the imperial audience chamber was so crammed with people and animals it was nearly impossible to make one's way through. Visitors hoping to impress Nero had brought extravagant and fabulous gifts, filling the colo

     The fat steward who had the final say-so at the enormous double doors looked them up and down. He held a tall ebony walking staff tipped with gold, intended to be rapped on the floor for attention. "You say you have a gift for Caesar? You do not appear to be carrying anything."

     "It is for Caesar's eyes only," Sebastianus said.

     The man waited, sucked a tooth, shifted his heavy staff to the other hand.

     "I will not bribe you," Sebastianus said. "I will simply send word to Caesar that, due to the negligence and greed of a certain steward identified by araspberry mark on his neck, one of Caesar's oldest and dearest friends was kept from presenting him with a prize above all others."

     The chamberlain met Sebastianus's eye with the air of one who had faced many an arrogant, and threatening, visitor to the palace.

     "And you are to personally escort us," Sebastianus added.

     The chamberlain's brow arched in frank surprise. He sucked his teeth again, taking the measure of the unusual trio, then he said, "I think I shall call a guard instead. I see no gift for Caesar. Especially none more valuable than any of these," and he gestured toward thirty African slaves bearing massive elephant tusks on their shoulders.

     "Apparently," Sebastianus said calmly, "you enjoy a special intimacy with our emperor to know what he would prize above all else."

     Sebastianus kept his eyes on the chamberlain, who met his gaze for a moment, and then he faltered, looking away, clearing his throat until he said, "Come this way."

     Going through a smaller door, they followed the chamberlain into the audience hall, remembered from ten years prior, and joined a cacophonous press of colorful humanity. Nero's guests were mostly from the Roman patrician class, judging by their elegant gowns and togas, and the ladies' hairdos, which seemed to compete for height and number of curls. They stood about murmuring amongst themselves, turned every now and then when a foreign guest was admitted, and ogled the gifts laid at Nero's feet. Young slaves in pale-blue and silver tunics moved among the guests with platters bearing cups of wine, or tasty treats such as roasted sparrows and figs dipped in honey.

     Ulrika was flung back to the last time she had stood in this hall, ten years prior. She recalled seeing the same apparition that had appeared to her in the countryside when she was twelve—a woman ru

     The crowd was dense, so Sebastianus allowed Timonides and Ulrika to go first as they followed the chamberlain, with Sebastianus behind them,shielding them from elbows and feet. Ulrika tried to glimpse the emperor at the other end of the domed chamber, but she could not see him over the heads of so many.

     One personage, however, caught her eye.