Anthony Riches - The Emperor's Knives

He turned his attention back to Scaurus.

‘You leave me with only two alternatives, Tribune, given that I won’t be the only person with the wit to connect the events of the last few days and come to an accurate conclusion. I can wrap the protection of the state around you, and make you part of the organisation that runs the empire for a ruler who is, to be brutally honest with you both, far more interested in the contents of his bed than the incessant demands of governing one hundred million people. Or I can unearth your conspiracy to murder imperial officials and assist a known traitor in evading justice, with the inevitable result that you and your officers, and their families, will all be subjected to the full weight of the emperor’s justice. What do you think?’

Scaurus pursed his lips, looking back at the chamberlain with a steady gaze.

‘If it were my choice, I’d be tempted to take the hard way out.’

Cleander nodded.

‘I can see it in your eyes. But it isn’t simply your choice, is it, Rutilius Scaurus? And even you, seemingly without dependents, still have a sponsor whose eminence in Roman society might be more than a little dented were I to make it my business to take an interest in his doings.’

‘No, it isn’t my choice.’ The tribune shrugged. ‘What is it that you want from us, Chamberlain? I think I can speak for my officers when I tell you that we won’t be party to any “confiscatory justice”.’

The other man smiled wryly.

‘Oh no, I have something rather better suited to your particular collective skill set in mind.’ He held out a hand to his secretary for a pair of scrolls. ‘Here.’

Scaurus took them, opening the first and staring at it for a moment before looking up in genuine amazement.

‘ Legatus? ’

Cleander smirked at him.

‘It’s a strange feeling, I’d imagine, to have your life’s impossible ambition offered to you as an alternative to execution, and by a man for whom you feel nothing better than contempt? And the other scroll?’ He waited while Scaurus opened and read the second order, grinning at the look that the tribune shot him after a moment’s perusal of the contents. ‘And I think your young colleague’s somewhat charmed life as a fugitive from his father’s crimes should be put on a slightly more regular footing. I’ve therefore decided to appoint him to the tribunate, under your command of course, Legatus Scaurus, and by doing so to confirm that Marcus Tribulus Corvus is a trusted servant of the throne. Or rather, of mine. His previous life shall be our little secret, and shall remain so just as long as you both provide the emperor, and more importantly myself, with the appropriate combination of loyalty and effective service. He will be formally elevated to the Equestrian order, and thereby enabled to act as a military tribune under your command. As long as the pair of you perform effectively, you will be under my personal protection. Fail to do so, or display even the slightest sign of biting the hand that has chosen to protect you, and your falls from grace will be spectacular.’

‘What …’

‘You? Lost for words, Legatus?’

Scaurus shook his head.

‘No, Chamberlain. I’ve long since passed the point of amazement, I was simply gathering my thoughts. What is it that you want from us?’

‘There is a legion, Rutilius Scaurus, in a distant and rather warm part of the empire, that needs a firm grip on its collective neck. You are to relieve the current legatus, take command, and act as you see fit to restore Roman authority to that legion’s operational area without delay. Our frontier is being disregarded, Legatus, and I want those men who find it entertaining to display their contempt for us stamped flat, as an example for their kindred that won’t be forgotten for the next fifty years.’

Legatus and tribune stared back at him for a moment before Marcus found his voice.

‘And my family?’

‘Your family, Tribune Corvus, will stay here in Rome under my personal protection. And in any case, I wouldn’t have thought you’d want them with you, not where you’re going.’ Cleander stood, smoothing his toga out with his hands. ‘As to your men, Legatus, you can decide what to do with your Tungrian cohorts. Send them home, take them with you, it makes no odds to me, although I think having some friendly faces at your back might be a sensible idea, given the depth of venality to which your new command has succumbed of late. Who knows what form their resistance to your assumption of command will take? And now, gentlemen, you’ll have to excuse me. The emperor does so hate it when I’m late for our meetings. I’ll be sure to stress to him just how pleased I am to have delegated this small matter to such consummate professionals.’ He nodded to the leader of his freshly assembled group of assassins. ‘Escort the legatus from the palace.’

Scaurus and Marcus were led back through the palace’s maze, finding themselves on the steps of the Palatine Hill once more. Both men stared out over the Great Circus’s grandstands with mutual bemusement for a moment before Scaurus spoke, his voice flat and emotionless.

‘Legatus.’

Marcus looked at him, seeing the disgust in his face.

‘You do have a choice.’

The older man laughed, his amusement hollow.

‘Do I? Think about it for a moment, and you’ll come to another conclusion. If I refuse this honour, this pinnacle of a military man’s career, this impossible honour for a man of my class, then I make hostages to fortune of every man under my command. You will be executed, be under no illusions about that. Your family …’ He shook his head, unwilling to speak the words. ‘And the fifteen hundred men we brought here? I can imagine numerous ways to make every last one of them wish he’d never volunteered, and none of them will ever see their homeland again. Nor can I leave them here, at the mercy of every officer with a gap to fill in his ranks. There’s no choice for either of us, Tribulus Corvus. I must accept this position, and smile at the taste of ashes it will leave in my mouth, and you must accept the reality that you may never again use your family name in public.’

Marcus nodded, looking up at the sky above them.

‘In which case, Legatus, I suggest we go and break the good news to my brother officers. What was it that Cleander said? “Distant, and rather warm?”’