costume, not to mention my own mixed-up emotions. But now I knew with absolute certainty what I’d see when Star turned to face us; a girl with grey eyes, flyaway brown hair, and a dimple in her cheek.
My mistress wasn’t separated from one sister at birth, but two . The Christian girl, the Vestal virgin and the feisty gladiatrix were identical triplets!
I’ll probably never see two humans more astonished than Aurelia and Star when they finally set eyes on each other. First they were stunned, then disbelieving, then shocked. Then they flew to each other, squealing like little kids on Christmas morning. They hugged and cried all over each other, kissing each other’s hands and cheeks.
“I used to see you in my dreams,” Aurelia wept.
Tears streamed down Star’s face. “I saw you too!” she sobbed. “I knew you were real. But they beat me and told me it wasn’t true!”
I had to press my fingers against my lips to stop from crying. It broke me up to think these sisters had been communicating telepathically all these years.
Festus Brutus vanished tactfully into his house, loudly blowing his nose.
“We should leave,” Orlando whispered. “They’ve got some serious catching up to do.”
We went to sit under an olive tree in a white pool of moonlight. It felt a bit weird sitting so close to Orlando in the dark, but I just looked up at the night sky and listened to the cicadas singing somewhere in the bushes. I sensed that Orlando had something on his mind.
Eventually he cleared his throat. “I think it’s time I told you about the curse.”
My mouth fell open. “There’s a curse? As well as triplets!”
I think I mentioned the Roman tendency to curse everyone and everything that annoyed them? But the curse Orlando was talking about was in a totally different league.
“Ancient Romans see signs and portents in everything, as you know. If you spill wine at a banquet, you’ll have bad luck in business. If your child is born with a harelip, it’s because you’re being punished by the gods. In such a superstitious climate, even the birth of twin babies is seen as alarming. Surviving triplets are so unique that their very existence seems unnatural.”
I could tell we were going to be here a while, so I made myself comfortable against the nubbly trunk of the olive tree and listened to Orlando’s story.
“Fifteen years ago, in the poorest part of Rome, a woman gave birth to three identical baby girls. After a long, difficult labour she was too weak to hold her baby daughters in her arms. She died just hours after giving birth. These children weren’t just linked by the circumstances of their birth,” Orlando explained. “Their souls were connected too.”
“They were spiritual triplets!” I gasped. “That is SO special!”
Orlando nodded. “Our Agency had been expecting three extremely special children to show up at some point during this era. They just didn’t know exactly where or when. Unfortunately the local Opposition agent was quicker off the mark, and he grabbed the opportunity to do major cosmic damage.”
A passing moth brushed against my bare arm, making me shiver. “Go on,” I whispered.
“OK, you guys probably know from Dark Studies that a curse is basically a negative thought, delivered with intense force?”
Reuben and I nodded nervously.
“But if enough humans feed it with the energy of belief, a curse can become like a kind of black hole, sucking in more and more negativity until eventually it takes on a demonic life of its own.”
Reuben swallowed. “That sounds dark.”
“It gets darker, believe me,” said Orlando. “Like most uneducated Romans, the triplets’ grandmother was terrified of what she couldn’t understand. She had been jealous of her daughter-in-law, and was furious that her son expected her to feed and care for these freakish motherless infants. This made her a perfect target for the Opposition.”
“Oh-oh,” I said.
“This jealous old woman
My mistress wasn’t separated from one sister at birth, but two . The Christian girl, the Vestal virgin and the feisty gladiatrix were identical triplets!
I’ll probably never see two humans more astonished than Aurelia and Star when they finally set eyes on each other. First they were stunned, then disbelieving, then shocked. Then they flew to each other, squealing like little kids on Christmas morning. They hugged and cried all over each other, kissing each other’s hands and cheeks.
“I used to see you in my dreams,” Aurelia wept.
Tears streamed down Star’s face. “I saw you too!” she sobbed. “I knew you were real. But they beat me and told me it wasn’t true!”
I had to press my fingers against my lips to stop from crying. It broke me up to think these sisters had been communicating telepathically all these years.
Festus Brutus vanished tactfully into his house, loudly blowing his nose.
“We should leave,” Orlando whispered. “They’ve got some serious catching up to do.”
We went to sit under an olive tree in a white pool of moonlight. It felt a bit weird sitting so close to Orlando in the dark, but I just looked up at the night sky and listened to the cicadas singing somewhere in the bushes. I sensed that Orlando had something on his mind.
Eventually he cleared his throat. “I think it’s time I told you about the curse.”
My mouth fell open. “There’s a curse? As well as triplets!”
I think I mentioned the Roman tendency to curse everyone and everything that annoyed them? But the curse Orlando was talking about was in a totally different league.
“Ancient Romans see signs and portents in everything, as you know. If you spill wine at a banquet, you’ll have bad luck in business. If your child is born with a harelip, it’s because you’re being punished by the gods. In such a superstitious climate, even the birth of twin babies is seen as alarming. Surviving triplets are so unique that their very existence seems unnatural.”
I could tell we were going to be here a while, so I made myself comfortable against the nubbly trunk of the olive tree and listened to Orlando’s story.
“Fifteen years ago, in the poorest part of Rome, a woman gave birth to three identical baby girls. After a long, difficult labour she was too weak to hold her baby daughters in her arms. She died just hours after giving birth. These children weren’t just linked by the circumstances of their birth,” Orlando explained. “Their souls were connected too.”
“They were spiritual triplets!” I gasped. “That is SO special!”
Orlando nodded. “Our Agency had been expecting three extremely special children to show up at some point during this era. They just didn’t know exactly where or when. Unfortunately the local Opposition agent was quicker off the mark, and he grabbed the opportunity to do major cosmic damage.”
A passing moth brushed against my bare arm, making me shiver. “Go on,” I whispered.
“OK, you guys probably know from Dark Studies that a curse is basically a negative thought, delivered with intense force?”
Reuben and I nodded nervously.
“But if enough humans feed it with the energy of belief, a curse can become like a kind of black hole, sucking in more and more negativity until eventually it takes on a demonic life of its own.”
Reuben swallowed. “That sounds dark.”
“It gets darker, believe me,” said Orlando. “Like most uneducated Romans, the triplets’ grandmother was terrified of what she couldn’t understand. She had been jealous of her daughter-in-law, and was furious that her son expected her to feed and care for these freakish motherless infants. This made her a perfect target for the Opposition.”
“Oh-oh,” I said.
“This jealous old woman
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