The First Protector

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

From Ma'el Report. Day 112,585…

In spite of the fact that I am in possession of more information on Rome and the other Imperial dries and centers of power on this planet as well as its places of learning, art, and culture, the Earth beings from whom I gathered the data firsthand have lived out their short lives or have added little to their stock of knowledge, so that a person like Brian is required to perform the necessary introductions that will bring me abreast of current developments. I have learned over the centuries to control my irritation when people of this kind assume that they know more and are therefore more intelligent than I am.

"Although considered a scholar and philosopher of repute among the learned of his own people, his interests in law, art, and drama are a pretense designed to serve his covert profession, and his first concern is the acquisition of knowledge and the second is the worldly riches it would bring. This is regrettable because otherwise he would have made another valuable servant and adviser in that which lies ahead..

"Instead I can foresee him taking many stupid risks which could make his short human life even shorter.

"But why do the healer, Sinead, and the protector, Declan, although their loyalty is unquestioned and their mental powers are potentially greater than any others of their kind that I have met, indulge in verbal violence at every opportunity…?"

–

While crossing the bridge over the Tiber and on the wide road into the center of the city the wheeled, mounted, and pedestrian traffic increased to the stagewhere their conveyance either stopped or moved forward at a slow walking pace. Their horse seemed to appreciate the chance to rest and the driver, in the manner of his profession, used the time to point out with pride the many architectural wonders of a city filled with the classic beauty of the forum, temples of gods both current and almost forgotten, the theaters, the coliseum, and the whitely gleaming mass of the recently completed Arch of Constantine of which he was justly and extravagantly proud, all of which would no doubt be of interest to visitors of importance. But he spoke with enthusiasm of other places as well, establishments managed by relatives of his which would offer more varied and amusing if less-learned diversions to servants such as themselves who were obviously visiting this wonderful and wicked city for the first time.

Declan was reminded of Padraig of distant Cashel, the friendly old tailor whose relatives had a finger in every commercial enterprise in the town, and laughed aloud. But the sound had an embarrassed edge to it because the driver was becoming specific about the entertainments that were on offer and did not suspect that the person on his other flank was female.

"… A well-built and mature man like yourself would have no difficulty in finding a beauteous companion, or companions," the driver went on, nudging Declan knowingly in the side. "But with gentle intuition a boy can grow into a man very quickly in this most sinful of cities. For example, there are the young female slaves who serve in the Baths of Appolyon in the Street of the Silk Vendors, fair-haired Teutons, sloe-eyed Orientals, and dusky Nubians who are particularly adept at…"

Sinead's lips were pressed tightly together and her face was deepening in color. When Declan pointed at and asked about a particularly ornate, two-horse chariot that was crossing their path, she gave him a grateful look, but the driver said that it was one of the charioteers that they could see racing in the Coliseum on the morrow, and resumed giving her the benefit of his experience.

"… You look uncomfortable and red in the face, boy," he went on releasing the reins to clap a large, hairy hand on her knee, "as I was the first time. But there is no need, you will be experiencing the greatest of all delights for a man young or old. Naturally you will be eager, but be gentle also and curb your natural inclinations because then the rewards will be greater. In your case it might be better if you confessed that it is your first time because some of the young women, although they will appear and may truly be younger than you are, may feel like mothering you and will…"

"If you please, enough," Sinead broke in, her face flaming into the redness of a setting sun. "1 thank you for your advice, driver, but it does not interest me in the slightest. The physical attraction that you describe and that you think I am feeling would, if it was present, be directed at a handsome young man."

For the first time since they had boarded his vehicle the driver was silent for a few moments. Then he looked from one to the other several times, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Declan forestalled him.

"He speaks the truth," he said, fighting hard to keep a straight face, "although I am a little too old to arouse such feelings in him."

The quiet, choking sounds that Sinead was making were covered by the driver's hasty words of apology.

"Please believe me," he said quickly, "I meant no insult to either of you. The city caters to all tastes. Should you wish an introduction to others of your kind, young man, there is an establishment on the Street of the Green Arches that…"

Declan cut him off with a raised hand. 'To avoid giving further offense," he said, "perhaps you should confine yourself to describing your city's beauties of stone and marble."

"Yes, please," said Sinead with quiet fervor.

The traffic thinned and they continued in silence until the driver halted at an arched entrance to a many-pillared villa that was built from delicately veined marble. The impressive figure that advanced to meet them wore polished, dark brown leather armor that was several shades fighter than his skin, matching boots, and a helmet the dazzling whiteness of whose plume was repeated in an ankle-length cloak whose folds did not quite conceal the presence of a dagger and a gladius, both of which looked bright, clean, and very sharp. He towered over Declan even though he was on the raised driving seat and the other's feet were on the paved roadway, but his attention was on Ma'el and Brian.

"Your pardon, citizens," he said politely in a thick and strangely accented form of Latin that Declan had never heard before. "Who are you and what is your business at the home of the noble Marcus Grappilius Medina?"

Brian's manner was equally polite but with a trace of condescension as he replied, "I am Brian O'Rahailley, traveler and scholar and known to your master these many years, and this is my traveling companion, Ma'el the Magician, for whose good behavior I can also vouch. We are recently arrived from Hibernia and crave the boon of an audience, as well as surcease from the dust and smells of the city and a little light refreshment. Kindly inform your master of our presence."

There was a sound of hurrying, sandaled feet from somewhere behind him as the other bowed, stepped to one side and gestured toward the villa entrance as he said, "News of your arrival is already being conveyed to my master, who will doubtless wish to welcome a friend and far traveler without delay. Please step down and enter, citizens, a slave will conduct you to his presence.

"Regrettably," he added with a glance at the driving seat, "in these unsettled times I am required to search and disarm your slaves."

"Of course," said Brian, and added quickly in Gaelic, "Easy, Declan. Slave and servant are the same word here, so do not take offense; allow the search without argument."

Declan laughed and jumped to the ground. Speaking in Latin so that the enormous guard would hear and understand him, he said, "Ease your mind, Brian. I take no insult nor would 1 dream of starting an argument with this polite black mountain of a man. Will Ma'el and yourself be safe without us?"

"In the home of the foremost lawgiver, advocate, and magistrate in Rome," Brian replied, smiling as he also returned to speaking in Latin, "your master could be in no place safer."

At the guard's polite direction, Declan unbuckled his long-axe harness and sword belt and placed them on the ground before dropping his cloak and helmet on top of them. Quickly and thoroughly every pocket and fold of the cloak was searched, then the enormous black hands with their pink palms moved to cover the surface of his clothed body before the guard stood up and turned to Sinead.

"That one is a healer," said Declan quickly, hoping to save her physical embarrassment, "and bears no weapons."

"An admirable calling," said the other. His smile was as broad and white as that of Seamus, Declan thought, except that this one's face was black rather than just the beard. In an apologetic voice he went on, 'if you were discovered to be bearing concealed weapons inside the house, regardless of the one committing the offense and whether or not you were using them at the time, both of you would be instantly slain, and I would be severely chastised with whips for dereliction of my duty."

He paused several times while his hands were patting Sinead's clothing, but when he stepped back he made no comment other than to say, "Please follow me. Your weapons, cloaks, and helmets will be returned on your departure. Until then you may eat, bathe, and rest as you wish in the slaves' quarters. My name is Klum'bgaa, and I have questions which I hope you will be kind enough to answer. You are the first Hibernians I have seen…"

"And you the first Nubian we have seen," Declan broke in, smiling, "so it is likely that the questions will be many and come from both directions. I am called Declan by friends and this is Sinead. If I may presume on your kindness by asking the first question

…" he stared at the man walking beside him from head to toe, "… why is there not a Nubian empire to rival that of Rome? You have the body and the bearing of a soldier, a commander of men and a person of rank rather than a slave…"

He broke off as for a moment Klum'bgaa's dark features became as still and hard as polished obsidian. When he spoke his voice was so quiet that it carried no farther than to Sinead and himself.

"Have a care, Declan," he said. "In this city, slaves do not speak in this manner to each other even, and especially, if the words they speak are the truth. But I will tell you that in my lands there are stories told of a great civilization of my people called the Nok that covered much of central Africa long before the Pharaohs held sway…"

The other's voice remained quiet but the hurt and anger in it could not be concealed as he went on. "… It was broken up, as so many cultures are, and the pieces were conquered by invaders until they lost everything but the memories of past glories. I was the defeated chief of one of the largest pieces, and then I became the greatest and most valuable gladiator in all Rome, until I succumbed to the malady called Christianity which teaches that might is not always right and that the greatest wrong of all is to kill another man.

"When the most feared gladiator in Rome," he went on, the anger fading from his voice, "began refusing to kill or even seriously injure an opponent in the circus, my former owner sold me for a handful of coins to the present one, who is not a Christian but is sympathetic to them, and I became the fearsome gate ornament that you see."

"I'm sorry," said Declan. "The answer to my question has caused you pain. I shall ask no more. If you would ask any of me, I will be happy to…"

"1 have a question," said Sinead, looking up at the enormous figure beside her. In a quiet but very serious voice she went on, "If Declan had decided to attack you, as a Christian would you have, well, turned the other cheek?"

Klum'bgaa looked uncomfortable for a moment, and Declan decided that if his face had not already been as black as ink he would have been blushing as he said, "Perhaps. But I confess to not being a very good Christian."

Sinead and Declan laughed quietly and, after a moment of uncertainty, Klum'bgaa relaxed and joined them. They were still smiling together as they arrived in the surprisingly large and comfortable slaves' quarters, and Declan was answering one of the guard's questions to the effect that it was only certain deranged Britons rather than the Hibernians who painted their skins with blue woad before going into battle when the other held up a hand for silence.

"That is fortunate," he said, still smiling, "because otherwise you would have been asked to scrape your skins clean and wash yourselves from basins in the yard before entering the baths, lest a foreign dye should permanently stain the master's decorated tiling which is of exceptionally beautiful craftsmanship. The baths are in that direction, you can see the steps leading down to the pool, and there is an antechamber where you both may disrobe and leave your travel-stained clothing to be freshened, after which you should follow that corridor; your noses will give you the direction as well as your eyes. In the kitchens you may rest and eat and talk about yourselves, bearing in mind that the more you satisfy the slaves' curiosity, the more generous will the refreshments be… Is there something amiss?"

Sinead was shaking her head firmly and slowing to a stop while she looked in the direction of the kitchens. "I- I would prefer to eat and rest now," she said, changing to Gaelic speech and staring at Declan. "You bathe first."

He shook his head and made a sound that had too much impatience in it to be a laugh. "Brian tells me that in Rome the baths are public places, whether large and maintained by the city or those within homes that are privately owned. It is the custom here. Do you want these people to think that you have unclean habits? You can hear the voices of others who are already bathing…"

"That," she replied in a quiet, angry voice, "is not what concerns me, and well you know it."

"Don't be an amadan entirely!" he said angrily. "You are not a fool and should not talk like one, and I am not a rampant animal in heat who would lose control of myself at the sight of the wet, scrawny body of a near child…"

"Scrawny!" she broke in angrily. "You have the decorum of a, a… And you should talk. That time I saw you in Cashel, I thought your body had more stitches than a patchwork quilt…"

The angry words raged between them until Klum'bgaa raised a hand and cleared his throat loudly.

"Normally it would be considered unmannerly for you to speak in my presence a tongue that I do not understand," he said when they fell silent, "so I assume that you are having a personal dispute of some kind that is no concern of mine. From the heat of your faces and anger in your voices it is fortunate that neither of you are armed. When the disagreement is settled you know where you are to go and what is expected of you.

–

"I must now return to my post."

In the event it was Sinead who bathed first while Declan talked to the kitchen and household slaves. It was plain from the beginning that the limbs revealed by their short, sleeveless clothing bore no marks of the whip and that their love for their master far outweighed any fear of him. They ranged in age from mature adults to young children and it was obvious that some of them had been given permission, which they told him was unusual for a slave, to marry. Declan was hoping that he would get a chance to meet the strange pagan saint who was their master when Sinead reappeared muffled in a white, togalike garment, and it was his turn to bathe.

He found that Sinead had elected to await his return before eating, and so had the others. It became a very pleasant evening among people who behaved as if they were the friends and family he had never known, but it was cut short by the arrival of Klum'bgaa who no longer looked like a gate ornament.

The sharp, bright weapons were still at his belt but the white plumed helmet and matching cloak had been replaced by darker and less decorative wear and with boots that did not shine and trod the floor without sound.

"Your master, Ma'el, has expressed the desire to visit the catacombs under the Via Latinum at a time before dawn when few citizens will be about to see you, and my master has acceded to his wish. The noble Marcus Grappilius and the other Hibernian visitor, Brian, are engaged in conversation and feasting that will doubtless last the night, and I have been instructed to serve as a guide and guard to your master and yourselves during this excursion.

"Your weapons will be returned to you at the gate," he added, looking at Declan. "You are advised to wear them."