Page 8 of Sea of Love

“Gods,” Troy said and rubbed his eyes. “No wonder everyone has laughed at us. We’ve been asking them to help us commit suicide.”

“I fear someone is sporting with you most unkindly,” Otho said. “But there may be another cause for their hilarity.” He turned to Summer. “I beg your pardon before I name it, lady.”

“You cannot shock me, sir,” she said.

“I think I shall,” the stable master said and folded his hands. “There is a brothel near the water beyond the city. It is a place of great depravity, even by our standards. This place is also called the Temple of Neptune. The females who serve its patrons there are very strange, and often said to be his worshippers. An offering made there would be, well, you, madam. And since you are a free woman, and married…” He stopped and patted her hand. “My dear, such things are simply not done here. We Romans honor and treasure our lady wives.”

Summer closed her eyes for a moment. “That’s why the women kept looking at me like I’d lost my mind.”

“Why are the prostitutes considered strange?” Michael asked.

“I have never visited the place myself, but I have heard that for a certain fee they will service a patron in the water,” Otho said. “The whores are said to transform into otherworldly creatures that are half-human, and half-fish. They become mermaids.”

Chapter 4

MICHAEL CHECKED THE horses before Otho stabled them. Six in all, there were a couple that looked as if they could go to war. He and Shelton would take those.

“They are spirited,” he said as he returned to Summer and Troy. “But they are well-kept. The stable master will lend us the saddles, such as they are. Prepare yourself for leather-clad wood frames, with four horns and no stirrups. They will be fitted to each mount.”

“You’re sure we can’t go now?” Summer asked.

“We have only a few hours of light left, and we must first find the Templars and Elettra.” He nodded at the sun, which was sinking rapidly toward the horizon. “Riding in the dark over unfamiliar land is asking for a fall, and they may close the city gates at night.”

“I just wish I knew what was out there,” Summer said as they began the long walk back to the inn. “Could this brothel be connected to RainLance?”

“It might explain how the women are being transformed,” Troy said, “if that is even true.” He halted as a group of young boys darted across his path. “We’ll have to consult with Elettra when she returns.”

Michael watched the boys laugh as they roughhoused and disappeared into an alley. As they passed it he peered into the shadows and heard their laughter echo. He might have smiled except for a memory of the plaster casts made of the volcano’s victims. Too many had been children. He looked away.

“I hate this.”

“I know it’s hard,” Summer said and tucked herself against his side. “But we were never supposed to meet Floronius, or Otho, or that boy. That we have allows us to remember them when we return to our time.”

“If it’s still there,” Troy said. “You may have saved a few lives today by calming that mare.”

Michael eyed him. “Such as ours?”

“If the future had disappeared because of Michael’s intervention, we wouldn’t be here to argue about it,” Summer said firmly. “Regardless of where or when we are, we can only do our best to be true to our faith, and protect our world. That is never a mistake. I believe the Goddess will sort out what we leave behind––otherwise she would not have summoned us to this quest.”

As they made their way into the heart of the city Michael brooded on his lover’s wisdom and his own feelings of helplessness. As much as he tried to embrace a more spiritual life, he remained what he had been trained to be for centuries: a man of acts, not words.

Don’t beat yourself up, Troy thought to him through their link. If you hadn’t caught that mare, I would have. We never had to think about such things as time travel and paradoxes.

All I could see was the horse, Michael thought back. I must open my eyes to the world now.

Elettra met them a short distance from the Hermes, and limped over to hand Troy her basket. It was packed with fruits, nuts and a huge round loaf of dark bread.

“They give you bread for nothing,” she said. “Did you know this? As much as you like. The bread-giver said it is from the Roman emperor. He must have a great deal of flour, and nowhere to put it.”

Summer made a soft, hurt sound. “What happened to your feet?”

Elettra looked down at her burned, swollen toes. “The streets and dwellings here are full of iron. It does not agree with my Fae hide. It also keeps me from sensing the nearness of the crystal.”

“It may not be here in the city at all,” Troy told her. “We’re riding out to the shore in the morning to check on one possible location.”

“Come,” she said. “You may tell me all about it in our rooms. We should also try the emperor’s bread with the peaches I bought. The seller told me they come from Persia, which I think was a lie after he said how far they travelled, for surely they would be bruised. You can see how they are perfect. No, I think these peaches are from Pompeii, and I paid too dearly for them.”

The Fae woman kept chatting as they went upstairs to their rooms. While Michael sorted out the contents of the basket Summer tried to inspect Elettra’s wounds. But the Fae assured her they were only minor, and would be gone by morning. While shopping she had purchased the ingredients for a poultice.