“I’ve made an offering to Fortuna, to give us luck,” Sabina said. “And sacrificed a rather nice pearl bracelet for hard coin, in case we need to bribe a nosy slave.”

“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” Vix gave in to the grin, unbuckling his sword and tossing it into one corner.

“Why do you think it took me so long to come back from Baiae?” Sabina sat up and began taking the pins out of her hair. “You wouldn’t believe how much groundwork I had to lay. In the first place it took quite a few days planting clues so my father would offer you the bodyguard job—”

“I thought that might be your idea.”

“Of course it was, but he had to think it was his idea, and he’s quite clever so I had to take my time about it.” She shook her hair down around her shoulders. “Then I had to find out what I could do to prevent babies—”

Vix coughed. “What?”

“Babies, Vix. This is what causes them, or so I’m told. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to find out what worked. Calpurnia wants a dozen children so she doesn’t use anything, and she doesn’t have any of the more loose-moraled friends who might be informative. My mother must have known a useful trick or two… anyway, I finally had to consult some helpful whores. They recommended a sort of pessary from Egypt, supposed to be infallible—”

Vix dived onto the bed, pinning her down. Sabina obliged him by struggling, and he forced her arms apart effortlessly. He kissed the space between her collarbones, his favorite spot, then followed his way up to her ear. “You’re a born schemer, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes.” Sabina kissed him back for a while and then started to tell him about the rest of her scheming—she really felt quite smug when she thought how handily she’d managed everything, and wouldn’t have minded a little applause. That trip to the brothel for advice about babies had been hair-raising in some parts, though the whores themselves couldn’t have been more helpful once they realized she was there for information and not some exotic perversion. Nice girls, really, and after giving her a jar of that Egyptian pessary they’d added all kinds of helpful tips for her upcoming seduction, including one demonstration on a wooden flute that had been quite eye-opening. But Vix started to look uneasy when she talked about her scheming.

“Do you realize what kind of trouble you could have landed yourself in?” He shifted his weight over her. “And how long have you been planning this, anyway?”