Simon Scarrow: Praetorian

Claudius frowned. ‘Two? Explain yourself.’

Narcissus gestured towards Cato and Macro. ‘My agents discovered the existence of a parallel plot, sire. The Liberators were not the only traitors working towards your downfall. The collapse of the dam and the attempt to disrupt the Naumachia were the handiwork of other conspirators. Those who hoped to turn the Liberators’ efforts to their own ends …’ Narcissus turned towards Tigellinus and paced slowly round him so that he could look back, in the direction of Pallas, before he resumed. ‘It was only with tonight’s attempt on your life that I began to grasp the scope of their plans. It was their intention to do what they could to help the Liberators murder you, sire. And then make use of the chaos to replace you with their choice of Emperor.’

Cato saw the blood drain from Pallas’s face as the imperial secretary outlined his thoughts. Pallas glanced quickly at Agrippina before he got control of himself and stared rigidly at his rival, Narcissus.

‘Who are these other traitors then?’ the Emperor demanded. ‘Who do they intend to r-replace me with?’

Narcissus turned and bowed his head towards Nero. ‘Your adopted son.’

Claudius sucked in his breath and turned towards Nero. ‘Is this true?’

The boy’s jaw sagged and he shook his head. Before he could speak, Agrippina jumped to her feet with a furious expression and stabbed a finger at Narcissus. ‘He’s a liar! Like all these Greek freedmen you choose to surround yourself with.’

Pallas winced.

‘How dare you accuse my son?’ Agrippina said furiously. ‘How dare you?’

‘I did not accuse him of taking part in the conspiracy,’ Narcissus responded loudly enough to override her protest. ‘I said that there were others who wished to use Nero to replace the Emperor. Presumably so that they could manipulate him for their own ends.’

‘Who are these traitors?’ Claudius repeated, his mind concentrating sufficiently to eclipse his stammer. ‘Name them.’

‘I can’t, sire. Not yet. Not quite,’ Narcissus apologised, even as he looked at both Pallas and Agrippina. ‘But I know the identity of one man close to the heart of the second conspiracy. Notably this officer.’ He pointed at Centurion Tigellinus. ‘My agents, Cato and Macro, caught him with the bodies of the two officers who led the attempt on your life, Prefect Geta and Centurion Sinius. He was with them then, and he fled with them, and it is clear that he killed them in order to cover up his part in the plot. Naturally, the centurion protested his innocence, and claimed to have chased them down and engaged them in combat before killing them.’

‘That is the truth, sire,’ Tigellinus cut in calmly.

‘No, it is a lie,’ Narcissus responded. ‘As will be proved when you are handed over to my interrogators who will find out exactly who your accomplices are. They have something of a knack for getting answers out of traitors.’

Tigellinus looked at Agrippina and she glanced at Pallas and discreetly made a gesture to urge his intervention. Pallas licked his lips anxiously and then stepped forward.

‘Sire, this man, Centurion Tigellinus, is innocent. I swear it.’

‘Oh?’ Narcissus could not help a small smile. ‘And how can you be so certain?’

‘He is working for me,’ Pallas replied. ‘He has been from the start.’

Claudius looked confused. ‘This traitor is your agent?’

‘He is no traitor, sire,’ Pallas replied. ‘I too had discovered that the Liberators were plotting to bring you down. Like Narcissus I decided to place a man inside the conspiracy to find out who was behind it. Is this not true, Centurion?’

‘That’s right.’ Tigellinus nodded steadily. ‘That was the plan.’

‘Even though we did our best to infiltrate the conspiracy, we were unable to achieve as much as my esteemed colleague and his team.’ Pallas bowed his head politely towards Narcissus who responded to the words of praise with an icy, hate-filled glare. ‘Tigellinus was still in the process of gathering intelligence tonight when your enemies struck, sire. However, he did manage at least to warn the Empress and Prince Nero before they could be attacked.’

Claudius held up a hand to still Pallas’s tongue, and turned to his wife. ‘Is this true?’

Agrippina nodded. ‘He entered my sleeping chamber to tell me and Nero to go and hide. He said he would try to save you.’

Claudius stared at her. ‘Nero was in your room? In your bed?’

‘He could not sleep,’ Agrippina replied steadily. ‘The poor boy had a headache and I was comforting him.’

‘I see.’ Claudius turned to Pallas. ‘And how did you come to know this?’

‘Sire?’

‘That Tigellinus managed to warn my wife?’

‘She told me, as we were waiting for you here, a moment ago.’

‘Very well.’ The Emperor scratched his chin. ‘I think I’ll hear the rest of it from the centurion’s lips. Speak up, Tigellinus. What happened next?’

‘I left the Empress, sire, and ran to catch up with the traitors, but they had already burst into your study to attack you. I heard sounds of fighting then saw the traitors fleeing. I recognised Geta and Sinius and pursued them. I brought them to bay at the far end of the garden. They were forced to fight and, by the grace of Jupiter, I overcame them. That’s when Capito and – I beg your pardon, sire – that’s when the agents of Narcissus turned up, together with the Praetorians. Too late to be of assistance, alas,’ he added in a regretful tone.

‘So you say,’ Narcissus intervened. ‘But the truth is that you murdered these two officers to prevent them from implicating you. Far from investigating the Liberators’ conspiracy, you were actually doing everything you could to further it so that your masters could seize power in the name of Prince Nero, after the Emperor was killed. It’s clear that you warned the Empress to hide in order to preserve her and her son, and had no intention of doing anything to save the Emperor.’

Tigellinus shrugged. ‘It’s a nice story, freedman. But it’s still just a story.’

‘Oh, it’s more than a story,’ Narcissus sneered. ‘It’s no coincidence that the Empress, the Prince … and Pallas were not with the Emperor the day when the dam was sabotaged.’

‘Was it sabotaged? I had no idea.’

‘Then why did you attempt to kill Claudius when the water rushed down upon us?’

Tigellinus frowned. ‘I did no such thing.’

‘Yes you did.’ Narcissus turned to Cato. ‘Isn’t that right, Prefect Cato? If you had not intervened and reached the Emperor first, he would have been murdered. Is that not so?’

Cato was acutely aware of every eye upon him and felt his heart quicken with anxiety. Even though the truth was that Tigellinus, Pallas and Agrippina had been plotting the death of the Emperor, he was shrewd enough to see that they were covering their tracks adroitly. So far Narcissus had cleverly avoided accusing Pallas and Agrippina directly and had focused his accusations on Tigellinus. Under torture the centurion would inevitably confess their involvement and Narcissus’s case against them would be complete. But what if the imperial secretary failed to bring them down? Cato knew that if that happened, he and Macro would be sure to join Narcissus on their list of enemies – a danger that Cato could not ignore. He cleared his throat.

‘It was peculiar that the centurion was alone in not being surprised by the wave. He had stripped off his armour and was the first to react. That is why I placed myself between him and the Emperor.’

‘I was as surprised as anyone else,’ Tigellinus countered. ‘Should I be blamed for reacting to the danger more swiftly than you? Have you considered that your preventing me from coming to the Emperor’s aid might have actually increased the risk to his life?’