Jack Whyte - The Eagles' Brood

"Donuil, that's just not possible."

"I know, Commander, and if I hadn't been the one to find him, I'd never have believed it myself."

"How old were you at the time?"

"As old as I am now! It was not three months ago." His voice was emotionless and I was impressed in spite of myself.

"So. Why do you think Lot would have sent these two here?"

"To cause death. Why else? It's what they do. It's all they do. I talked with some of their own men about the two of them. Do you know, even their own soldiers hate them and are deathly afraid of them? One fellow told me that they learned their heathen crafts in foreign lands far to the east, beyond the Saxon wildernesses. They know the secrets—all the secrets—of murder. They have poisons, they say, that can kill in a hundred different ways. They can burn a man to death without fire, just by cutting his skin!"

That one brought me erect. "Say that again?"

"I said, they can burn a man to death without fire, just by cutting his skin."

"What does that mean?" He heard the strain in my voice.

"I don't know, Commander. That's just what I've been told." I felt a grim determination settle over me as I thought about what Donuil had told me, but I kept silent as he continued. "I don't know what reason they've given you for being here, either, but it's a lie, whatever they told you. Lot keeps these two only to spread terror. Be sure of that, Commander. They are here to kill, and to spread fear." My mind was filled with imagined screams, and I saw Uther's soldiers writhing in agony. The faces of the two men grew vivid in my mind's eye as the voice in my head put names to each of them: Caspar and Memnon. I was barely aware of Donuil's next words. "They're not from Britain, you know, Commander? They're from some place called Egypt, beyond the seas."

Memnon and Caspar! My decision was there in my head almost before I was aware of it. I rose quickly to my feet. "Where are they quartered? Do you know?"

He shook his head.

"Stay here. I'll come back for you later." I went directly in search of Uther. One of the guards in the courtyard told me that he had seen Uther pass just a short time before, headed for the refectory with his two "guests." I made my way directly to the guardhouse just inside the main gates. Curio, the sergeant of die guard, saluted me as I approached.

"Centurion, I need a squad of twelve. Assemble them here immediately in full kit. Jump to it. I'll be back shortly." I spent that time looking for my father, but wherever he was, I couldn't find him. Curio had the men assembled when I returned, and the sound of our marching feet turned many heads as we approached the refectory.

Uther looked at me quizzically as I approached their table. Every eye in the room was watching.

"Cay? Something wrong?"

"Yes, Commander. Very wrong. Your company."

Both of them stared insolently at me, neither making a move to rise.

"What about my company, Commander?"

"I'm placing them under close arrest."

"On whose authority?" For a moment, I had the feeling he was going to dispute me. *

"My own."

He smiled and turned to his companions. "Gentlemen, my cousin here, Commander Caius Britannicus, has the responsibility for maintaining discipline and order within these walls. I'm afraid I have to yield you to his care."

They were both frowning now. Caspar looked at my troopers with disdain, and then at me. "You take a lot upon yourself, Commander. Since when has it become usual to treat ambassadors with such hostility?" I could hear the foreign tenor in his voice—not strongly, but it was there.

"Since I discovered who and what you are! Centurion! Search these two carefully. Strip them naked. Make sure that they have nothing left to them that could become a weapon. Keep their clothing, and issue them tunics to keep them warm. Then lock them up and hold them under guard." I looked each of them in the eye. "You can go now, on foot, with these men, or you can be carried. The choice is yours. Take them away."

They left, closely surrounded by their twelve guards. Uther had remained seated through the whole thing. When they were gone, he whistled softly to himself.

"All right, tell me. What was all that about?"

I seated myself across from him, feeling the tension ebbing slowly. "I've just been told, by a stranger who knew nothing of your story, that those two whoresons are Egyptian magicians, masters of poison, who can burn a man to death without fire, simply by cutting his skin. Does that remind you of anything?"

"By the Christ! Those poisoned arrows!"

"That's what I thought you'd say."

"Who told you this?"

"Donuil, my young Hibernian hostage. He saw these two in action, when they came to his father's hall, less than three months ago. He recognized them yesterday and hid from them, afraid that they would see him and kill him. He has a very healthy respect for their killing power. Did you find out their names?"

"Yes. They're called—"

I cut him off. "Caspar and Memnon?"

"Caspar and Memnon, that's right."

"Then that proves it. Those names are Egyptian, but more than that, they're the names Donuil gave me."

"How do you know?"

"I told you. He knows them."

"No, not that. I mean how do you know they're Egyptian names?"

"I read a lot, remember?"

Uther made a wry face and jerked his head to indicate he would never understand me. "Now what? Does Uncle Picus know about this?"

"Not yet. I couldn't find him. Once I knew who those fellows really were, I didn't want them running loose in the fort."

"Yes, I could see that." His smile was back in place. "Where's this Hibernian of yours?"

"In his quarters. Come on, I'll introduce you to him. You can hear for yourself what he told me."

"Lead on, Commander. I'm in a fever of impatience."

"There's one more thing to do. Their servants have to be arrested, too. Where are they?"

"In the barracks with the common herd. I'll have them picked up."

"Pick up their baggage, too, and have it sent to my father's quarters. It will be interesting to see what's inside it."

Uther summoned a trooper from another table and issued his orders, and as he was doing so it occurred to me that there was no longer any need to keep our preparations secret. As Uther turned back to me, I told him so. "This changes matters, Cousin. We can start moving the extra supplies into the fort openly now. I'd better get the word out."

"What if Lot has spies out on the hills watching us? Won't that warn him that we've guessed what he's up to?"

"I no longer care. We'll start moving the stuff in first thing tomorrow morning. Our column started moving out this morning. They'll be far to the north-east tomorrow. All that will be left for Lot's people to see will be the recall of our infantry and the gathering of our people and supplies. Even if he guesses we are ready for him, he'll never guess that we've already spirited an army out from under his nose."

He threw his arm over my shoulder. "Cay, my honoured Cousin, your shrewdness and your intelligence never fail to impress me. We'd better let Uncle Picus and the others know you've changed all their plans. They're going to be very pleased with you!"

In spite of my cousin's friendly sarcasm, my father and the others were pleased, after they had time to assimilate the changes and the reasons behind them. It took an hour to assemble my father, Titus, Flavius, Uther, myself and Donuil in the Armoury. Uther and I had thoroughly searched the baggage of the "ambassadors" before the others arrived, but it yielded nothing sinister or exotic. When everyone was assembled, I had Donuil repeat his story, prompting him myself on the points I wanted made clear. Uther supplied the translation into Latin for the others. When he had finished, my father and Titus directed a few questions at him, and then we let him go back to his own quarters. He stopped at the door, however, and looked at me.