Jack Whyte - The Skystone

"I don't. My brother did. He worked for him before he died."

"And this Deus is his nephew?"

"No, not a nephew, but related in some way. Perhaps a cousin."

"But the man at the mansio said that two of that gang were Nesca's nephews."

"So? Must have been two of the others. That probably explains why the whoreson's here in Britain. Visiting the family."

"Family?" I shuddered again. "A family suggests home and hearth to me. Values. Worthiness."

"Oh, they have values. They're just different to other people's. One of their ancestors, I forget his name, was actually removed from the governorship of a province for cruelty. Not unprecedented, I suppose, except that it was Caligula who recalled him. Caligula! Can you believe that? How bad must he have been?"

"Do you think they'll search for us?"

"The Senecas? You tell me. You carved your initial on one of them, the family favourite, with his own sword! Of course they'll be looking for us. But they won't know where to start. He can have no idea who we are. since no names were mentioned. Were they? Did you give them your name while I was away?"

I shook my head.

"Well, then. How can he find us? He'd never think of looking for me in a centurions' mess, and I doubt if he visits too many smithies. He knows you by your hair and beard. Shave them off for a month or two. Go bald and barefaced. You'll probably look years younger if you do. Remember, he thinks you're an old man."

"What about you, Plautus? What made him take after you?" Plautus spat into the fire. "Who knows? I told you, he's mad. It's one of his well-known attributes. He just likes to kill people. Let's get some sleep and be on our way before dawn. We're still a long way from Verulamium."

"Verulamium!" I felt uncomfortable. "Do you think we should still go there?"

"Why not? That's where we're headed for."

"Only to deliver the cross, and it's ruined. I think we should head home to Colchester."

He looked at me speculatively. "Are you sure?"

I thought about it. "Yes. I'm sure. I think you're right. He and his people will be looking for us, and if he's as wealthy as you say he is, he can afford to hire a lot of people. I want to shave off my hair and beard."

Plautus smiled and shook his head. "You look bad enough normally to frighten a child, but you're going to be appalling when you're bald."

I grimaced. "Sorry I ruined your furlough."

"You didn't. That other whoreson did. What was it you called him? A whore's spawn?" He laughed. "You got your sexes mixed up, but not as badly as him."

I blinked, wondered, and said nothing.

XIV

I had been partially correct in my assessment of the reaction of the Senecas, but they did not hire just any group of soldiers to search for us; they hired the Roman army. For a week after our unexpected early return to Colchester nothing happened, and we said nothing to anyone except Equus. Then, leaving my house early one morning to go to the smithy, I was abducted. I remember a cloth of some description being thrown over my head and arms pinioning me, and then nothing.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on a couch in the private living quarters of Antonius Cicero, commander of the military district. I did not know where I was at first, but Cicero himself was standing over me in full uniform. I blinked at him, surprised.

"Cicero?"

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Varrus. How do you feel?" How did I feel? Confused. I moved to sit up and my head informed me immediately that it, at least, felt far from well. Wincing and groaning, I managed to struggle up.

"What happened to me? Where am I? What's going on?"

"Here, drink this." He handed me a cup of something hot and steaming. "You are in my quarters. You are in custody."

I took the brew, making no attempt to drink it. "In custody? For what? Are you serious? In custody for what offence? On whose authority?"

"Deadly serious. I authorized it. You are here under arrest."

Wonderful! My head was pounding. I reached up tentatively and found a very painful area at the base of my skull.

"Did they have to hit me so hard? What is this? Am I considered too dangerous to simply approach and take into custody? What am I supposed to have done?"

He turned and walked away from me, picking up another steaming'

mug from a table and seating himself in a chair opposite me. From there, he looked at me in silence for a while as he sipped from his cup. I waited. Finally he spoke.

"What would you say if I told you a story about a brutal and unprovoked attack on an important visitor to Britain? A young man who had come here to visit his family — his very powerful family — and who was engaged in the personal business of the Emperor at the time of this attack? What if I were to add that this young man is not only a senator and a friend of the Emperor but one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the entire Empire, and that his immediate family, his brothers in particular, rank among the most senior officers of the army in Britain? What would you say if I were to tell you that this man was savagely attacked and mutilated, here in my jurisdiction, less than fifty miles away in a common mansio, in broad daylight, while on a visit to some equally wealthy and august, although slightly more distant, relatives? Tell me, Varrus, how would you respond?"

I was gingerly touching the bump on the base of my skull, but my mind was racing. Unconvincingly, I tried prevarication.

"What kind of response do you want? What are you talking about, apart from far too much power and influence?"

"Don't be facetious, Varrus, you know what I'm talking about. I want an answer."

"To what? My skull is coming apart. I didn't hear the half of what you were saying. Tell me again."

I drank the warm beverage — a spiced wine — while he repeated himself. I grimaced.

"I would say you might be in trouble indirectly, because this happened within your military district, but I cannot see how you can be held accountable for every madman in the country. Unprovoked assault and mutilation of a senator? Whoever would do such a thing would have to be insane. What does this have to do with me?"

"Drink up, Publius, and I'll tell you." He sipped again at his own spiced wine before continuing. "This entire town is being turned upside down at this moment in a search for a grey-haired, grey-bearded man with a pronounced limp. A very strong man. The search is being conducted from house to house by a cohort of the Emperor's own Household Troops from Londinium. They arrived here yesterday, late in the afternoon, and their Commander was here in this room last night, informing me of his mission and formally requesting my permission for his men to search the town. His orders are to find this man, no matter how long it takes or how far his search may take him."

"Oh. I see. Do they have a name for this man?"

"No. No more than a description."

"Who was the man he attacked?"

"Caesarius Claudius Seneca."

"Oh."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"What else is there? You arrested me because of the description."

"That, and the fact that I knew you were in that area when the attack occurred, accompanied by my own primus pilus, who just happens to fit the description of the second man perfectly."

"Plautus." I went cold with dread. "Where is he now?"

"He is where he should be. Out on the streets of the town with the Household Troops, co-ordinating the search."

I took a deep swallow of the spiced wine to cover my confusion. "I don't understand."

"Why not? It's very simple." He stood up and walked to the door of the room, opening it casually and looking out into the passageway in both directions before closing it firmly behind him and returning to his seat.