Domina Triumphans

Chapter 25: 48 AD, Rome, Gergovia, and Londinium

Afranius sat by himself in a corner of one of many triclinia or dining areas of Messalina's estate in the Gardens of Lucullus of central Rome. Heady fragrances made the air palpable. Musicians pounded drums and shrilled on flutes. In the center of the room, men and women, all nude, drunk, and drugged, writhed around on the floor, playing at being snakes. The Empress was in the middle of a group of men, all anxious to mate with her as Salus, a snake goddess of magic. Locusta wailed before an altar lit with candles and stacked with phalli of various sizes. Senator Gaius Silius won the competition, and as he took the Empress on the bare floor, the men and women worshipped. Afranius just hoped he would not be asked to join in, or wind up sick.

...

Antonillus came through his front door, tossed his cloak on a chair, and picked up two wriggling, furry bodies. Gobbos and Ocras yapped a welcome as Indus hung up the cloak. There were letters piled on a side table, and Antonillus hoped one was from Sego with an anticipated arrival date. The dogs settled down and he reached for the letters. Sego had written.

...We are in Bodona, staying in what was to be your room. Severillus and his wife are with us. We are waiting for Aetius and, once he arrives, will cross over. This will be my last unless something comes up....

Antonillus picked up Bolt's letter next.

...I got your latest and I share your distaste for the pettiness. But it is part of garrison life. As more and more provincial men come into the various units, the Italians will turn up their noses. So be it. But you need to go easy on Tullia. The main line of the Cicerii is gone, but some cousin lineages remain and they do not like our family....

Bolt would not be pleased at how how Antonillus had unloaded on Tullia tonight at a banquet Plautius gave to formally inaugurate the port of Londinium. Plautius and his wife were a younger couple and open to the provincial leaders. Blaesus and Nasicus were likewise gracious and Nasicus' wife, Corbula, followed suit. Carus' wife, Tullia, could not be bothered. Uinda, Moira, Cartimandua, Boudicca, and other native women were just not up to her standards. Tonight she had singled out Boudicca and Cyllin's beautiful Briganti wife Maedh and Antonillus snapped.

In the months since hecame to Londinium, Plautius' wife Pomponia, a patrician woman with Julii connections, used him as a social aide. It was his job to translate, as well as to keep conversations flowing and make everyone welcome. Boudicca, a tall, large-framed woman with flaming red hair and freckles, was a direct, no-nonsense type. Idle chitchat irked her, but Antonillus could often draw her out. Cyllin's wife was just the opposite, a smiling, talkative person who liked being in the mix. Neither could speak Latin or Greek and relied on him to bridge the gaps at gatherings.

The banquet was going along just fine until the dessert course, when everyone got up to mingle. Tullia was already drinking and well on her way to too much. She noticed a necklace Maedh was wearing, a series of chains with smoky quartz pendants. Reaching over, Tullia grabbed one of the pendants, jerking the necklace.

"That's not a real gemstone," she snapped. "It's just a glass bead."

Maedh pulled the necklace away from her as Antonillus explained.

"I don't think she's seen such quartzes as these."

Maedh sensed the polite lie as Tullia turned to Boudicca, who had on a wrap made of red fox fur.

"Which officer are you with?"

Antonillus explained that Boudicca was married to King Prasutagus of the Iceni.

"She looks like a tart," Tullia slurred.

Antonillus stepped across her path.

"All of these women here tonight are respectable matronae," he said. "They are wives, mothers, and queens. Maedh's mother is a ruling queen of her people as is Moira."