I was not the only one. Behind me I could hear the smothered sobbing of my slave. Brianus. Of course, he was under threat as well. If he was discovered now, he was in danger of his life — my testimony as a criminal would be no help to him. But there was a chance for him. Brianus was purchased in Britannia, so Voluus’s widow did not know his face, and neither Florens nor Servilis had seen the boy before — it was Porteus’s bodyguard who caught and questioned him.
I looked Florens in his pink-rimmed eyes. ‘Well. You have caught me. Take me to the court. And you have a case against my son, if he survives. But let the others go. They have done nothing.’
Florens looked scorning. ‘Nothing except break into my property.’
‘They broke into nothing. The doors were all unlocked. They simply sought shelter in a deserted farm. How could they possibly have known that it was yours?’
I could see that he was tempted. There was nothing to be gained by his detaining them — he could not pretend that they had helped me with the crimes, because they almost certainly had witnesses to prove that they had not, and in any case they could not be tried with me. As non-citizens they would need a separate court — at, of course, additional expense.
Florens frowned. ‘Who are they anyway? What are they doing here?’
‘This man is Biccus, from a farm nearby,’ I was already beginning to explain.
But Brianus interrupted me. ‘He doesn’t know me, master, but I’ve seen him before. I saw him at the mansio, when Voluus was here.’
Florens pounced on the implication instantly. ‘You are the lictor’s slave! The one that ran away. So, Libertus, in addition to his other crimes, has been harbouring a fugitive as well. More indication — if we needed it — that he had friends within the household who could have helped him plot!’ He smirked. ‘And when Voluus is murdered you are both found nearby! I think the court will find that quite significant.’ He turned to me and smiled. ‘So, citizen, I don’t think we can agree to your request. I think we’ll have your two companions taken to the jail. Gagged and bound, I think, so they can’t run away. And listen — there is the sound of wheels and hoof-beats in the court. Here are the very people to take care of it. I think you’ve met my private escort, citizen?’
My throat was too dry to make any reply, Behind me, Brianus was weeping quietly. ‘I am sorry, master, I have let you down.’ Biccus was saying nothing, as was often the case.
Florens was already striding to the door, raising his voice and shouting to his men. ‘Come in here, lads, and take these three away. Don’t be too gentle, they’re thieves and murderers — we caught them in the act. Make sure you bind them most securely and keep them at knife-point all the way, though if your hand should slip I shouldn’t fret too much. We’ll claim that they were trying to avoid arrest.’ He peered out into the strengthening light. ‘Come on, then. Get on with it. We haven’t got all day.’
TWENTY-SEVEN
There was a rattling of hobnails and half a dozen running men stormed in. I braced myself but it was not the shattering surge of Florens’s brutal bodyguard. This group was in formation and were carrying drawn swords, and their leader was a breathless and plump centurion.
‘Emelius!’ I breathed. I had never been more relieved to encounter anyone. ‘What are you doing here?’ Then I remembered my conversation at the garrison the evening before. ‘The commander has sent you to investigate?’
‘Nothing of the kind,’ he said without a smile. ‘I was sent here to arrest you. You were supposed to be sleeping at your patron’s flat, but you got out somehow. When they found you missing, they came back to us and the commander guessed where you had gone. And when we went to requisition a larger vehicle. .’
My heart sank, but I nodded. ‘I’m sorry about that. And, of course, your suspicions were confirmed.’
Biccus was gaping at me. ‘You mean you didn’t have permission to take that cart at all? Dear Jupiter! And to think that I agreed to come with you! I hope you’re satisfied. Look what troubles you have made for all of us.’
Emelius looked stern. ‘Well, he won’t be making trouble for you any more. I’m under instructions to take him to the court. No doubt there’ll be a few more charges to answer after this.’ He turned to me. ‘I hope for your sake that we get there before your accuser does; otherwise your patron will be liable to a fine. He won’t be happy — he is threatening to disown you as it is.’
I was past desperation, so I simply said, ‘My accuser will be there. He’s standing right behind you.’
The centurion whirled round. ‘Of course. I recognize the face. The councillor who brought you to the garrison. A thousand pardons, Worthiness, I did not know you in those mourning robes.’ It was understandable. Without the resplendent purple stripe, Florens looked almost insignificant.
His personality was undiminished, though. He waved a lofty hand. ‘I am expecting a cart-load of my slaves to arrive at any time. I was going to escort this villain to the courts myself, and his companions, too. I am going to charge all three of them with robbery and assault — but now you can deliver them instead.’ He nodded to Servilis. ‘You can let the prisoner go. Go and guard the lady until the others come — fortunately I’ll be able to leave them here with her, as planned.’
‘Lady? What lady?’ Emelius looked around in puzzlement. In other circumstances, it would have made me smile. Even Servilis was smirking as he bowed and left.
‘The lady Alcanta is under my protection now that her husband is unfortunately dead, centurion,’ Florens told him rather haughtily. ‘She has been enjoying the hospitality of my residence in town, but of course that cannot decently continue very long. Voluus did leave an apartment in the town, but after what has happened she’s afraid of living there — especially with an infant child to think about. It happened that I recently acquired this farm. .’
‘You?’ I interrupted. ‘Biccus told me that it had been bought by somebody from Gaul, who was intending to build a new villa on the site.’
Florens looked pitying at me. ‘I assure you that it’s mine. Her husband did express an interest in obtaining it — his wife, he said, would like a country property — but at the time the owner was not prepared to sell. When I heard it was available I purchased it myself, hoping I could tempt him into it. But when Alcanta came, and it was obviously unsafe for her to move into the flat, I brought her out here to see if she would like it as a temporary home, until more permanent arrangements can be made for her. No one but ourselves would know that she was here. Even so, with all the threats to Voluus, I thought that she required a guard.’
It was so sweetly reasonable that I almost believed the words myself. Emelius, though, had practical concerns. ‘But the lady will surely have a guardian under law, under the terms of Voluus’s will?’ he said with courtesy. ‘Should he not be consulted, before such plans are made?’
‘Voluus has left everything to his wife and child, and I am nominated as their guardian in Britannia,’ Florens said. ‘I can produce a document, under Voluus’s seal, confirming it. And here is the lady now; she will tell you the same thing.’
I turned. Alcanta was coming through the door into the barn, framed in the first golden rays of sun and I heard a stifled gasp as the soldiers took in how beautiful she was. Beautiful, but perhaps indecorous, it was not her fault that she was not at home, but a mourning widow should wear a veil and weep, not wander freely round the premises when there were men about. Calvinus had called her ‘wilful’, I recalled.
‘Florens!’ She went to him with little tripping steps. ‘I came to warn you that the boy you hit is slightly stirring now. Servilis is with him to make sure he doesn’t bolt. It’s just as well we went to look at him. I got tired of waiting for you in the house. What has detained you?’ She looked around and seemed to notice the armed soldiers with alarm. ‘Who are all these guards? What are they doing here? They haven’t. .?’