Jack Whyte - The Eagles' Brood

I did a quick calculation. "Six days."

"Hmm! Well, even if she was not in shock then, she certainly is now."

I was looking down at her body as it lay there on the couch in front of me. Her skin was white and her body small, but she was not as emaciated as I had suspected. Her thighs were rounded and full, and her breasts small, but firm and plump. I felt another stirring of desire and was filled with disgust at myself.

"Are there any bones broken?"

"No. No fractures. Only contusions, as you can see, both front and rear. And perhaps internal bleeding. Whoever did this is an animal."

"Aye, there's no doubt of that. How can you tell about the internal bleeding? Do people bleed internally?" I had never really thought about that before. His raised eyebrow was an eloquent mockery.

"Aye, Commander, that is what causes bruising. At times, however, a severe blow will rupture a major blood vessel and cause heavy bleeding into the body's cavities."

"And what does that mean?"

Again the shrugged shoulders and the peculiar gesture. "It means the person will probably die."

I squeezed my temples with my left hand, feeling as though my head might burst apart. "What time did this happen, do you know?"

"Sometime in the night. We do not know when. But the blood was congealed when they found her."

"What about the guards?" I was speaking to myself, more than to him. "Didn't anyone hear anything? Surely to God she must have screamed?"

. "Not if she's truly mute, Commander."

I heaved a sigh that was part sob and jerked my eyes away from the girl's ruined body, fighting to bring my anger and revulsion under restraint and keeping my back to Lucanus until I could control the muscles of my face. Finally, I calmed down enough to hide the roiling sickness in my soul and to speak evenly.

"Thank you, Lucanus. You have done well. Where are the men who found her?"

"I sent them back to their duties."

"Hmm! So word of this will be all over the fort by now. Whoever is responsible for this will know she is still alive. I want guards posted outside every door to this place. I'll see to it myself. As soon as you know whether she will live or not, I wish to be informed. In the meantime, you will stay here with her. Don't leave her alone for a moment. That's an order." He nodded his head and I made myself go on, "If Commander Uther should return today I'll send him over. Do what you can for her, Lucanus. She did nothing to deserve this." Not if she'd bitten it off, I added to myself.

He stopped me at the door. "Commander?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"How do you know her name?"

I frowned at him and then realized what he meant. "We don't," I told him. "It's our name, not hers. She seemed tragic enough, even then, to be Cassandra of Troy. Uther named her."

"I see."

I grimaced, deciding in mid gesture that I had no smiles in me. "No, Lucanus, you don't see." Because you did not see what I saw, my mind added.

Outside again, in the bright sunlight, the image of that bruised body still tore at my eyes. I started to walk towards the Council Hall, but when I saw my fellow councillors thronging in that direction and thought of the dry, bloodless, boring trivia on that day's agenda I knew I couldn't cope with it in my present frame of mind. I turned aside and walked off, fighting to keep my face blank and my mind empty, and nodding to the people who greeted me at every step. I ended up beneath the scaffolding against the inner wall, where the masons were at work adding new quarters abutting the main defences of the fort. I sat there in the shadows undisturbed for a long time, thinking this whole mess through.

Had I been the only one who knew the circumstances of this affair, I would have sat on my knowledge until I could face Uther with it privately, but I was not the only one who knew. Our four consorts of the previous night had witnessed the whole thing and would lose no time in airing their knowledge. Struck by a sudden thought, I stood up quickly and made my way back to the games room. It was not yet noon.

As I approached the door, it opened and two of the girls came out. I stopped them with a stiff, insincere smile on my face, and open arms, and asked where they were going. To eat, they told me. They had not yet broken fast? No, they had just arisen. And where were the other girls? Still abed. In my relief, I almost betrayed myself, but managed to guard my features like a hardened liar. I turned them both around, led them back inside, told them to take their clothes off again and promised to bring food, wine, a masseur and Uther back with me shortly. They were surprised, but complacent. I fondled the one with the long tongue—I never could remember her name, but I never forgot her—and asked her if she had tasted the other two as she had the one with whom she had shared Uther. She had not, she said, but was willing to, if they were.

My two erstwhile companions looked at each other uncertainly, wondering what I was up to, but I clinched it by offering a golden aureus to the one who seemed to enjoy it most when I returned with Uther. Even in a society where money is not used, gold is a powerful persuader. I left them settling down to experiment and made my way directly to Titus's quarters.

He was working on his records and looked up at me in surprise as I entered. "Shouldn't you be in Council?"

"I should, but something came up. Is anyone else around? I need to speak with you alone."

"Right now?"

"Immediately."

"Speak then. There's nobody here. What's going on?"

"I'll tell you everything later, Titus. For the moment, I can only ask you if you trust me enough to do something for me at once, without explanation."

"That's a silly question, Cay. What's up? What do you need?"

"A squad of men you can trust completely. I want you to come with me to the games room and help me abduct four women."

"Only four?" He was smiling.

"I'm serious, Titus. I'll tell you what it's all about later. Have you seen Uther today?"

"No. Why?"

"Never mind, it's not important now. Will you do what I ask?"

He looked at me appraisingly for three long counts and then rose to his feet. "It'll take me a little while to round up some men I can rely on. I presume you want men who can keep silent?"

"Yes, I do, above all else. I've got some things to round up myself. I'll meet you in the courtyard in a few moments."

When I opened the door and stepped inside with Titus in tow, the looks on the four girls' faces ranged all the way from lively interest to disappointment.

"Where's Uther? And where's our food?" the long- tongued one asked.

"The food is coming, girls. Uther's left the fort on emergency business. Now, sit up, all of you, and listen carefully to what I have to say. This is important." They sat up and stared at me, beginning to wonder what was going on. I perched with one buttock on the edge of the table and looked at them, considering what I was going to say, how I was going to phrase it. These young women were creatures of pleasure. I reached into my tunic and brought out a leather bag, heavy and rich-looking, and dropped it onto the table top with a solid, metallic thud.

"Gold," I said. "Uther and I have a proposition for you ladies." I opened the drawstring of the bag and poured a stream of gold coins onto the table. "There are eighty gold; aurei here—twenty for each of you. That's enough money to see all of you set for life. At current value, you are looking at about forty thousand silver denarii." All four pairs of eyes were fastened on the pile of gleaming coins. I produced another bag and poured a second stream. "Twenty more for each of you. But there are conditions. You have to earn it." All four of them together could not have earned twenty aurei if they had serviced an entire legion on their backs for five years.