Chapter 2

David ben-Isaac

I entered the synagogue and sat down in the last row of benches. Ordinarily I had no time for the superstitious prattle of the rabbis, but I needed to arrange a chance meeting with Titus Flavius Aaron. I was a slave in the imperial palace, which meant that I had been able to observe everything that had happened there since the coup which overthrew the legitimate emperor. Aaron was free, a merchant, and a Roman citizen to boot, which meant that he could travel without anyone stopping him or wandering where he was going.

He came in and sat down next to me.

“I’m surprised they let you in here,” he muttered in Latin.

“I haven’t told them I’m in the emperor’s service.”

“Or how you serve his son.”

I supressed a laugh. The Jewish Law mandates the death penalty for catamites, and I was one of Lucius’ favorite concubines.

Aaron looked around. No one near us looked like they spoke Latin.

“I hear Nerva has moved into the palace.”

“Indeed.”

“They certainly move fast. Will you be serving him tonight?”

“When Lucius isn’t home I serve the Empress.”

“The real one or has Nerva found a bride to go with the purple?”

“The real one. As far as I can tell Nerva’s never had any use for women.”

“Getting a lot of use out of you then?”

“Luckily he’s too old to get much use out of anyone.”

“Blast. I had a present for you to give him.”

“What is it?”

He slipped a vial into my palm. “It’s aconite. Is there any way you can get it into his wine?”

“The steward is loyal to him. If I can slip it into the cup when he isn’t looking and they suspect him, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

The archisunagogos got up and began prating, which forced Aaron and I to keep quiet for the remainder of the ceremony lest we be shushed by the bearded old geezers in front of us. As we left I slipped a papyrus scroll into his tunic. It had the names of the conspirators and a succinct description of the plot written in Aramaic. Anyone who searched Aaron could be convinced that it was a religious text of some sort.

“The emperor’s legions are marching towards Aquileia, but the Praetorian Guard will catch up to them before you do. The password is ‘The only hope for the doomed, is no hope at all.’ Ask for Bernardus.”