Jack Whyte - The Skystone

During those two weeks, I was to witness and be midwife to a miraculous birthing; I would remain forever after a nursemaid to the entity that was born then. There may be some who are inclined to scoff at those words and dismiss them as fanciful, but I am prepared to stand by the truth of them. My wedding feast was the occasion of the spiritual birth of what we came to call our Colony, and I recall clearly the circumstances that triggered the chain of events that was to reshape the destiny of all of us.

Caius had been talking for years about his ideas on the Empire and his fears about its future, not only to me but to each and every one of his friends and acquaintances.

Some agreed with his opinions; others disputed them; still others suffered them good-naturedly, humouring him and casting long-suffering glances heavenward whenever he launched into one of his diatribes. All would admit, however, under pressure, that he was partially correct; all was not right with the Roman world. Nevertheless, few could really bring themselves to believe that things were quite as black as Caius liked to paint them, and I counted myself among the doubters.

Terra and Firma Atribatus changed all of that in the course of one evening.

The brothers were identical twins whose real names were Terrix Polonius and Arpius Fermax Atribatus. They had grown fabulously wealthy as joint owners of the richest fleet of seagoing trading ships in Britain, and it was inevitable that their nautical activities should result in their becoming known to their friends as Terra and Firma. I did not know them personally, but they had been close friends of the Britannicus family since boyhood. Their names were high on the list of invited guests, so when they had failed to arrive by the end of the first week of the festivities, their absence had been generally noticed. They did arrive, however, after dark on the evening of the tenth day, and their welcome was the more tumultuous since, by then, they were no longer expected.

I met them very briefly and welcomed them with Caius, and then I returned to the open-air fire, leaving Caius to see to settling them in their quarters.

I had enjoyed these evening gatherings more than anything else except my new wife, for it was then that Caius and his friends were at their best, assembled by a blazing fire with a cup of wine or Celtic mead or a jug of locally brewed ale. Then it was that conversation and debate emerged and was enjoyed for itself. The talk from evening to evening might be of politics or philosophy, of religion or of poetry, or of agriculture and the weather patterns of past years, but always it was enjoyable. On this particular evening, before the arrival of the newcomers, we had been talking about the great Republic and the Roman way of life — the old days and old ways. Caius had been in his element, and even Plautus had thrown himself into the spirit of the debate, forgetting his normal reticence in the casual company of Tonius, his Commander. Without the catalytic presence of Caius, however, the conversation had become desultory. I was thinking lazily of seeking my new wife and hauling her to bed when Quintus Varo commented that it was taking Caius a damnably long time to bring the newcomers back to the fire. I stood up and stretched, yawning loudly, which earned me a round of laughter and lascivious comments. Gaius Gallus, another close friend of Britannicus, leaned elegantly forward and threw a small stick onto the flames.

"Tired again, Publius? So soon? Did no one ever tell you that beds are for sleeping in, too?"

I grinned, feeling peculiarly shy, and denied myself.

"Who's tired, Gaius? I'm bored, that's all. I'm going to go and find Caius and our new guests. We need some fresh wit to leaven the conversation around here. " I walked away from a chorus of jibes and pleasantries and went to look for Caius.

I found him in his private day-room, deep in conversation with the twins. Seeing their general demeanour and the intensity of their talk, I stopped in the open doorway, reluctant to interrupt them. I was turning to leave when Caius, who had seen me from the corner of his eye, stopped me with a peremptory wave of his hand. As I hesitated there, he half-turned his face towards me, keeping his eyes fixed on the twin who was talking. As soon as the man's voice reached a natural pause, another gesture of that upraised hand held him to silence momentarily.

"Pardon me, Terra. " He turned towards me. "Publius, you must pardon me, too. I had no thought of being ill-mannered, but I didn't want you to leave. Terra, Firma, this is my new brother-in-law, Publius Varrus. You met him earlier, but your arrival was rather hectic. Publius, these are two of my oldest and dearest friends, and you have heard me talk of them many times. This one here is Terra — notice the blue tunic. This one is Firma — white tunic. Tomorrow they may change clothes and confound us both. "

We all nodded to one another, smiling, and then I shook my head to Caius.

"I'm sorry, Caius, I had nothing important to say to you and I didn't mean to interrupt you. I was on my way to bed, and the others were wondering what had become of you. I said I would look in on you on my way and send you out, but you are obviously talking about important matters and so I'll leave you to it and tell them not to wait for you. " I moved to leave again.

"No, I want you to hear this, Publius. " He paused. "But then again, I think the others should hear it too. How many of the crowd are still there?"

I ran my eyes around the mental vision of the group I had left by the fire. "Gaius, Varo, Tonius, Plautus, a few others, about five. That's all. The rest left before I did. "

"Good. Those are the ones I want. " He turned back to the twins. "I think we should finish our discussion here and then tell Varrus and the others what you have told me. Do you. agree?"

The twins shrugged identical gestures of acquiescence and Caius turned back to me.

"My respects to the others and please ask them to wait for us. We will join them shortly. "

I smiled. "Does that include me? I believe my wife is waiting for me somewhere. "

He did not respond to my smile. "Yes, I'd like you to stay, too. We have a lot to discuss. "

I shrugged my shoulders, my curiosity aroused. "As you wish, " I said.

"I'll ask them to wait. "

I rejoined the others, and we spent several minutes in speculation about what could be so important that it must keep a new bridegroom from his duties.

Caius and the new guests came to the fire a short time later, to the severe detriment of a filthy story being told by Quintus Varo. Their three faces were sombre enough to put a mantle of seriousness on the greetings that were exchanged across the fire, and as soon as they had seated themselves Gaius Gallus asked the question we were all thinking.

"What's going on, Caius?"

Caius looked from face to face around the group before answering.

"Terra and Firma want to buy a villa in the area. Do any of you know of one for sale? Or two?"

There was a short silence, then Varo asked, "Two? Are you serious?" He looked at Terra and Firma, his face showing tolerant disbelief. "You two are looking for a retirement home? Here? Among the peasants? What about your villa outside Londinium? And your place in Aquae Sulis? And your island in the Aegean? Your palace in Constantinople? If I had your money and your youth, lads, I'd be basking in the sunshine, not trying to gull people into believing that I'd be interested in living in a quiet backwater like this. "

Firma grimaced. "They're all gone, Quintus. "

"Gone?" This was Gaius Gallus. "What do you mean, gone?"

"Just what I said. We no longer have those places. "

"You mean you had to sell them?"

"No. " The word was said with a rising inflection that demanded attention to the words that followed it. "We had to forfeit them. "