A Voice in the Wind

As Atretes sails into the harbor of Ephesus, his new owner, Sertes, points out the grand temple of Artemis. Unlike the Roman version of Artemis (Diana), Ephesus’s Artemis is “a mother-goddess of the earth who blesses man, beast, and our land with fertility” (382). Atretes sees similarities between Artemis and Tiwaz, the German war god, and asks if he is permitted to worship her. Sertes answers yes.

Once they disembark, Sertes takes Atretes on a tour of the temple which also serves as the treasury for the city’s vast wealth. He leads Atretes to the inner sanctuary where he views the grand stone carving of the goddess. Atretes notices her headdress is engraved with a rune common to Tiwaz, and he falls to his knees in worship. Overwhelmed by the sights and smells, Atretes stumbles out of the temple, gasping for air. Sertes then offers him a choice of sex workers, and he chooses one, but afterwards, he finds little peace or contentment.

Once the Valerians have settled in their Ephesian villa, Hadassah explores the city while running errands for Julia. One day, she chances upon the temple of Artemis and is shocked to find so many worshippers in thrall to “a stone idol that was without life or power” (385). She feels even more alone than she did in Rome. Scanning the crowd, she notices a familiar face—the apostle, John who knew her father—and she runs into his arms weeping with joy.

Marcus has noticed a change in Hadassah recently; she is more joyous than he has seen her in a long time. He summons her to his chambers, demanding she acknowledge her love for him. When she refuses, claiming that to act upon it would be a sin, he grows angry and carries her to his bed. In the throes of violent passion, he tears her tunic, and she cries out to God to save her. Suddenly aware of what he is doing, he stops, horrified at his own dark impulses. Hadassah recovers, telling Marcus that God will bless him for controlling himself; Marcus, frustrated, curses her god, claiming that to deny two people who love each other from being intimate is cruel and senseless. Despite his denial of her god, he is curious: “I want to know what it is in you that makes you cling to this unseen god of yours” (390). For Hadassah, the answer goes beyond mere words, which frustrates Marcus. He wants to understand but cannot. If they both love each other, he reasons, why would God prohibit them from expressing it? Hadassah reminds him of Bithia, the servant he made love to but did not love. Marcus’s capriciousness in his romantic affairs, she implies, cheapens his definition of love. Marcus sees the situation clearly: To have sex with Hadassah, he would have to order her to his bed, but that would destroy both her and whatever love she may hold for him. Marcus decides to buy his own villa, to move away from Hadassah.

Julia summons Hadassah, ecstatic. She has seen Atretes at the Temple of Artemis and wants to meet him. Julia meditates over one of the crystals purchased at the Roman market, and within the hour, she concocts a scheme to do just that. Assuming the guise of a temple sex worker, she waits for Atretes, and when he sees her, he is both desirous and hesitant. Eventually, however, his attraction to her gets the better of him, and she leads him to an inn where they make love. Afterward, Atretes questions her motives, identifying her by name. She claims her ruse was the only way she could meet him. She asks when she might see him again, and, unable to resist her beauty, he tells her, “Whenever you find a way” (398). Before he leaves, he tosses his money pouch on the bed.

At one of Marcus’s frequent parties, Julia mentions that the daughter of the proconsul, a governor of a Roman province, has eyes for him. She suggests he take advantage of it, but Marcus, uncharacteristically, views her suggestion as “corrupting” the young woman. Julia has changed, he believes; she is no longer the naïve youth he once had to protect but a predator stalking the room for prey. None of the guests are to her liking, so she summons Hadassah to fetch Atretes from the ludus in exchange for a gold bracelet. As they walk back to Marcus’s villa, Atretes remembers her from a time when she and Julia watched him train. Hadassah senses the presence of a tortured soul in his gaze, “buried beneath the cold, ruthless face of a trained killer” (401). Hadassah takes his hand, wishing God’s peace upon him. She escorts him to a rear entrance where he waits for Julia. She arrives, breathless, and they make love, but again, Atretes is unfulfilled, any sense of freedom “illusive.”

Hadassah visits John and confesses her feelings of fear and failure, hoping for solace. John admits that he too felt fear during Jesus’s trial and execution, but he reassures her that God has given her all the strength that she needs.

Calabah shows up at Julia’s door unexpectedly, and Julia is shaken by this reminder of her past deeds. Calabah comforts her, reassuring her that her actions were justified. She also informs Julia that her affair with Atretes is quickly circulating around town. Julia protests that they love each other, but Calabah is skeptical. She plans to attend Marcus’s party that night as a guest of Primus, one of the proconsul’s close advisors. Once again, Calabah has gained her protégé’s trust.

Decimus’s illness worsens, and no treatment—holistic, bloodletting, nor creative visualization—seems to help. He contemplates suicide, but having lost faith in the gods, he can only imagine “oblivion” after death, and he is afraid. When all else seems hopeless, Phoebe prays to Hadassah’s god.

Sertes informs Atretes that a special event is planned: 12 pairs of fighters will battle in the arena, and the winner earns his freedom. This may be Atretes’s last chance, and he contemplates what he will do with his free status if he should win. He once assumed he would return to Germania, but Julia is a powerful incentive to remain. As Hadassah escorts him to his latest rendezvous, Atretes grows tired of his clandestine meetings with her. She leads him to Calabah’s villa, where he is greeted by her rather than Julia. Calabah takes him to Julia’s door, but she tells him to wait: “She’s not ready for you. Wait here and she’ll summon you when she is’” (412). Angry at being treated like her servant, Atretes bursts into Julia’s room and sweeps her into his arms. When she protests his rough treatment, Atretes claims she is behaving as if he was her “harlot.” Julia claims they have no choice but to meet clandestinely because of the difference in their social status. Insulted, he storms out, but once on the streets, he does not know the way back to the ludus. Hadassah appears, offering to show him the way, but he chooses to follow his own path for a time.

Atretes walks the streets until he ends up at the arena. He stares at the clean, smooth sand, soon to be soaked in blood. He suggests that death may be his only freedom, but Hadassah rebuffs him, admitting her Christianity and suggesting that belief in her god is the only path to freedom. Their conversation is interrupted by Roman guards who take Atretes back to his cell. Hadassah vows to pray for him, hoping they will meet again.

Calabah continues her manipulation of Julia, asserting that she does not deserve such treatment from a mere gladiator, and that she must exert more control over the relationship. Assuming Atretes wins his freedom and chooses to marry Julia, he could kill her for infidelity if she grew bored and sought other lovers. The solution, she claims, is to marry someone who would allow her to take Atretes as a lover. She proposes marriage by usus, the “least binding” form of marriage in Roman society which would allow Julia to regain control of her finances. She suggests Primus, a gay man, as a potential option. Primus would have few financial demands and would allow her the freedom to carry on with Atretes. Julia agrees to consider it, but Calabah feels certain she will consent.