Path of Smoke Read Online Free

you want to explain to your domina that one of her instruments has gone missing.”
    â€œFine. Don’t talk to the guests.”
    They walked through a dim corridor. The only light came from the lararium, where someone had lit candles and left a few scraps of oil-soaked bread. Flies buzzed around the crumbs, and tears of wax obscured the image of the lares. All he could make out were eyes and claws, indistinct against a peeling background. It was good luck to leave a coin, but he couldn’t spare anything. He stopped, briefly, to rearrange the bread crumbs. Fel looked at him strangely but said nothing. Then they kept walking until they reached the atrium.
    Every lamp in the domus had been lit, and even with the fresh air coming through the skylight, the room was hot. People lounged on triclinia, drinking, sucking oysters, and dipping crusty bread into bowls of fish sauce. The smell of the food was overpowering. Trestle tables had been set up throughout the room, and they were covered with delicacies: roasted boar, spiced quail eggs, and dormice rolled in honey. There were delicate mushrooms, and cow udders that had been stuffed with something that he’d rather not know about. He put a few mice into his tunica, before Fel could notice. Something nudged his foot. He looked down and saw a tiny frog machina, its gears whirring as it brushed against his toe.
    â€œSorry. He got away.”
    Julia emerged from the crowd. She was wearing a head scarf, but a few strands of red hair had escaped, and they fell across her eyes. Brushing them away, she knelt down and retrieved the mechanical frog. It trembled in her hands.
    â€œSo I’m not the only entertainment,” Babieca said.
    â€œWhat can I say? Drunken idiots go wild for things that hop.”
    â€œI thought you didn’t like playing with toys.”
    â€œI like the feeling of a full purse.” Julia looked up at Fel. “It’s nice to see you both. I suppose it’s been a while.”
    â€œMore than a month,” Babieca said. “Not that we’re counting.”
    â€œI meant to send you a tablet.”
    â€œIt’s fine,” Fel replied. “We aren’t—” She searched for the right word. “You know what I mean. There’s nothing that binds us together.”
    â€œNot anymore.” Babieca examined the frog. “It may be a toy, but it’s still a bit of genius. Did you make it?”
    She looked a little embarrassed. “I had help. But yes.”
    â€œWell done. Now, all you have to do is equip them with poison darts, and we’ll have a truly interesting party.”
    â€œThat’s actually not a half-bad idea,” Fel observed. “You could make a fortune if you partnered with the Gens of Sicarii.”
    â€œI’ve got enough problems without involving assassins in my life.” Julia looked down at the metal amphibian, which strained against her hand. She was awkwardly silent for a moment. Then she smiled at Babieca. “Well, I should look for the rest of them, before they crawl under the domina’s bed. May Fortuna smile on your music.”
    â€œIt’s not mine,” he said. “But thanks.”
    Julia disappeared into the crowd. Babieca felt a strange sadness as he watched her go. An artifex would make four. Not quite the same, but still, they’d be a company once more. There’d been a moment, after the grim business at the harbor, when he’d thought that Julia might join them. But she wouldn’t step into the shadow of the auditor. Babieca didn’t blame her. They were under the wheel now, their faces pressed into the mud. Joining them would have been folly. Better to hang on, even if it meant chasing frogs.
    â€œI’m going to patrol the undercroft,” Fel said.
    â€œAll you’ll find are people fucking in the hypocaust.”
    â€œWell, it’s a living. Are you going to be fine?”
    â€œYes.” He