Fannia laughed. “Oh, you silly man. That’s simply not true! A good wine will enhance the flavors of your food. You are too much of a purist!”
“Hmm.” I looked back at the crowd. We had to turn up a good portion of our gardens to be able to set up more than sixty couches to accommodate 540 guests. At the head of the feast was a larger triclinium with cushions of sumptuous red and purple silk set up for the emperor and his most important guests. Flanking the Imperial couches were two monstrous gilded bronze statues, one of Neptune and one of Diana.
I was about to return to the kitchen when I saw Sotas emerge from behind Diana’s shining skirt. He lifted one massive arm and waved it to make sure we saw him.
“Apicius sent me to tell you Tiberius and Livia are here,” he said when he arrived. “Sejanus sent a messenger ahead.”
“Wasn’t that kind of him?” Fannia smirked. “It’s not often you get fair warning before the Hydra strikes.”
I shook my head at her remark and turned back to Sotas. The big man jerked his head in the direction of the couches. “Apicius wants us waiting at the dais when Tiberius and Livia arrive.”
“Onward!” Fannia gestured for me to lead the way. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to follow. Mixing Livia and Fannia was like mixing oil and water, and, as a result, Apicius had been trying more and more to distance himself from his old mentor. Plus I was beginning to suspect Fannia was a little in her cups.
My former master and his wife waited for us at the Imperial triclinium. Aelia wore a golden-edged white silk stola fastened at the shoulder with a ruby-studded pin of gold. Her palla, also edged in gold, was draped lightly over her head and shoulders, obscuring most of what looked to be an elaborate weave of curls pinned to the top of her head. Apicius wore a brand-new toga and sported new gold rings on his fingers, each of which held a large gem in its center. I marveled at how much younger he looked than his forty-nine years—younger than I looked, and I’d been born ten years after him. I suspected it was the extra layers of fat on his body, giving his face a rounded countenance, devoid of wrinkles.
“I’m surprised they are arriving so early.” I took my place next to Aelia in the line to receive Tiberius and his company.
“We are too.” Aelia squeezed my arm in greeting.
Fannia defiantly took a spot next to me. Apicius glanced over with a look of horror. He motioned to me, as though I would be able to say something to convince her not to stand with us. I shrugged. I couldn’t control his friend.
Panic began to fill Apicius’s eyes, now wide and staring at me. Horns sounded at the entrance, marking Caesar’s arrival. “Thrasius!” Apicius hissed at me in a low tone filled with fire.
The crowd began to cheer and moved to line the aisle in the center of the garden to watch Caesar pass by. I looked away from Apicius and back toward the procession. Fannia was oblivious to Apicius’s concerns, her eyes fixated on the Imperial family walking toward us.
Apicius gave Aelia a message to whisper loudly in my ear. “She does know she can’t sit with us, doesn’t she?”
I whispered back, “We spoke about it earlier. We’re seating her in the front, but off to the side, with friends of her choosing.”
She relayed the information to Apicius, who looked as though he were about to ask Fannia to depart the receiving line. He hesitated too long, however, and then it was too late. Tiberius advanced toward us, his mother on his arm, and his son Drusus with his wife, Livilla, behind. Sejanus and Apicata followed the Imperial family with several Praetorian Guard in tow.
Tiberius strode past us all and greeted Apicius with a hearty arm clasp. He appeared to be in much better spirits than he was earlier. “My good Apicius! I am a hungry man ready for a feast! What do you have in store for us?”
Apicius launched into a description of the dishes to come, but my attention was seized by Livia, who was greeting each of us in the line as etiquette dictated. That was as far as etiquette went. She did not kiss or hug Fannia, only nodding at her when she passed. Drusus, however, took Fannia’s hand and kissed it grandly, causing the old matron to blush. Livia offered a hand to me, which I kissed, noting the blue veins under her pale skin. She kissed Aelia on the cheek and stood back, waiting for Tiberius to finish his conversation with Apicius. Apicata looked radiant and she greeted us all warmly.
Sejanus shook hands with Apicius and leaned in to hug Aelia, who froze when he touched her. As his cousin, a hug would not seem untoward, but I noticed the hand that caressed one of her breasts when he pulled away. Aelia gave away nothing, turning after the hug to make small talk with Apicata. Sejanus smirked and turned away to give his guard and Imperial body-slaves their orders for the feast. I began to run through my head all the foods I could feed him that would make him ill, perhaps deathly ill. Then I saw Apicius talking with Tiberius and knew that I could not do anything to mar this occasion. Instead I dug my nails into my hands, which were curled into fists that I wished could meet with flesh.
Drusus made his way through the line and joined his father in the conversation with Apicius. “I trust you have some cabbage tops boiling up for me, Apicius? I fancy a good bowl of them about now.”
Apicius shook his head gently at the man. “No, Drusus, there are no cabbage tops at this feast! It would not do to have the masses see you eating such common food! But, if you like, I’ll have Thrasius bring you some on the morrow?”
Drusus chuckled. “Common food? I guess I didn’t realize.”
“You’ve been eating with the soldiers more than the senators,” Tiberius mused.
Livia sneezed, loudly, with a high-pitched note at the end. “Salve,” I said instinctively.
“Salve,” Aelia, Apicata, Drusus, Livilla, and Tiberius echoed.
Fannia merely smiled at Livia. Apicius had also failed to say the word and, distracted, continued to tell Drusus more lofty ways to eat cabbage. Aelia seemed unaware of her husband’s mistake.
Livia’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Fannia and waited for the customary response. I held my breath and willed Fannia to do the right thing. To withhold the word for good health was wishing tremendously bad luck on the person who sneezed.
Fannia smiled sweetly at her cousin. She was not going to budge. Livia looked at Apicius but there was no response there. Tiberius and Drusus didn’t notice that Apicius hadn’t responded. Aelia seemed to realize the mistake but she was no longer standing close enough to Apicius to nudge him.