The boy examined his feet rather than look at Semni.
“Thank the gods,” she murmured, then curtsied before the high priestess.
“You have come for the prince? Aricia was about to deliver him home.”
Semni was relieved the hatrencu was honorable. “I’m glad, my lady. Thank you.” Then she waggled her finger at Tas. “You’ve been very naughty. You shouldn’t have run away like that.”
“I came to tell Aricia about my dream.”
Semni glowered at the acolyte. “How dare you tell him to find you again?”
Aricia reddened. “I didn’t. He came of his own accord.”
“Silence!” The augur pivoted and walked back into the workroom. “Let’s speak in here. The whole of Veii need not know of this matter.”
Semni glanced over her shoulder to see the inquisitive expressions of the people in the queue.
The table in the workroom was cluttered with paterae dishes and boxes of incense—not the heady scent of expensive myrrh but cheap ground pine and juniper bark. In the corner, the great eagle perched on its stand. It swiveled its head to fix the women with its cold eyes. The sacred geese of Uni were corralled in a covered pen, scrawny and subdued. Usually they were plump and vocal, allowed to roam free in the sanctuary. Perhaps Lady Tanchvil thought it too great a temptation for the hungry to commit sacrilege and add them to a pot.
Semni was daunted at being in close proximity with the high priestess, who towered over her in statuesque elegance. Her white chiton was plain, decorated only with a broad border of scarlet. A single crimson tassel hung from one shoulder, a symbol of the princip’s status. As the augur took her seat on a stool, Semni caught a glimpse of short red laced boots on broad feet.
The hatrencu beckoned Tas to stand in front of her. “I found Vel Mastarna Junior creeping into my temple. I’ve spoken to him severely. I did not realize there was a secret passageway.” Her tone was stern. “Don’t try to come here again, Tas. I will not have my temple infiltrated even by so small an intruder.”
He nodded, voice solemn. “Yes, Lady Tanchvil.”
“Good boy.” The priestess’s eyes met the wet nurse’s. “You should take better care of your charge.”
Semni bristled at the admonishment, feeling it unfair. How was she to know Prince Tarchon had not identified all the passages? And she’d no idea Tas would be so disobedient. She grasped his hand, shaking it. “What were you thinking going through the tunnel?”
He stuck out his chin. “I wasn’t afraid. Uncle Artile and Aricia showed me how to use the passages safely. Once I reached the Great Gallery, I found the tunnel from our old house to the temple.”
“Great Gallery?”
“There’s a cave where various tunnels beneath the citadel intersect,” said Aricia. She crouched beside the boy. “My pet. What you did was very dangerous. It’s a warren down there. You could’ve become lost. What if your torch had blown out?”
Lady Tanchvil clapped her hands to gain attention. “Enough. It’s time the prince was taken home.” She leaned over the table, selecting a fresh sheet of papyrus from a pile, and then picked up her stylus to write a missive. “You must give this letter to the queen, Semni. I must explain that Aricia had no part in this.”
Semni curtsied and took the scroll. “Come with me,” she said, taking Tas’s hand. To her annoyance, the boy twisted away, remaining next to the hatrencu. “Please, what about my dream?”
The seer frowned and placed her hand on his shoulder. “What you’ve told me about the bull and wolf was just a nightmare, my prince. Such visions aren’t delivered by the deities. The Veiled Ones speak to the gods, who then send omens by lightning and thunder, or reveal celestial will in the livers of beasts or the flight of birds.”
“But I want to be a soothsayer.”
She smiled. “Perhaps one day. But for now you must heed your mother and father and not run away from your nurse.” She gestured to Semni. “Take him. I have work to do.” She flipped open the fold of a linen book lying on the table. “I still hope to solve the mystery of Lake Albanus.”
Aricia stepped forward. “May I accompany them to the palace, my lady?”
Absorbed in her study, Lady Tanchvil did not look up. “Very well,” she muttered. “But don’t linger, Aricia. The evening rites need to be performed.”
Semni was unimpressed, still suspicious of Aricia’s intentions. She pulled Tas behind her as she walked into Queen Uni’s chamber. Aricia picked up her pace and grabbed Semni’s elbow, leading her into a corner away from the statue and worshipers. “Please understand,” she whispered. “I didn’t know Tas would come here.”
The wet nurse glanced around her, conscious she did not want to be overheard. “I don’t believe you. Did you encourage him when you visited the palace that day?”
“No!”
Tas tugged Semni’s chiton. “I found the tunnel myself. I’ve been searching the house for months for symbols of the sphinx. Tarchon didn’t find the one in the storeroom.” He smiled at his former nursemaid. “I missed Aricia. She’s the only one who understands I want to be a seer.”
Aricia patted his head. “Nevertheless, you should not have tried to find me, my pet.”
Semni kept her voice low. “Tas entered a cursed room because of his need to tell you of his vision.”
“What do you mean a cursed room?”
“One with an entry hatch decorated with a gorgon’s face. Inside there was a vanth guarding a pile of burned bricks.”
Aricia blanched. “Mother told me about this. Before the war began, a thunderbolt hit the palace. Because it was an ill omen, the lightning was buried and the place where it struck sealed. Expiation rites were conducted, but the demoness must still stand guard.” She crouched in front of Tas. “Weren’t you frightened by the vanth?”
His composure was unnerving. “I was scared at first, but then she let me pass unharmed.”
Aricia stroked his hair. “But you were treading where evil had been interred, my pet.”
The expression in his gold-flecked cat eyes was calm. “A fulgurator should not be afraid to view the prodigy of a god.”
Semni shook his hand. “But you’re not a fulgurator. You’re a little boy!”
Placing the prince in front of her, she guided him toward the doorway. Now that her panic had lessened, she took more notice of the supplicants. A few were coughing, sweat beading their brows. A man was holding a little girl in his arms. She lay limp, her face and arms covered with bright-red splotches. Semni scanned the chamber. Children stood with swollen bellies and stick limbs. Their parents were also thin, clothes loose on gaunt frames. Her gaze traveled to the votives. Effigies of swaddled babies and the busts of children abounded. Semni felt her gut tighten. These people were not just seeking divine intervention to end this siege. They sought to save their children.