Scaurus poured each of them a cup, raising his own in salute.
‘Gentlemen, let’s drink to the successful completion of this latest little jaunt over the empire’s frontier.’
Seated across the room and feigning a dozing somnolence, having hurried to the bathhouse in time to have taken his place, the decurion called Dolfus watched the Tungrians through slitted eyes. Looking at each man in turn he muttered his comments on each to the men on his either side, two of them carefully oiling their limbs in evident preparation for the hot room, the other pair apparently engaged in a close game of dice. His words were clearly that of a man from the highest ranks of Roman society, clipped and precise.
‘Yes, they fit the descriptions perfectly. The tall one in the middle, hatchet face, black hair just starting to go grey, that’s Scaurus. Mark him well gentlemen, because if I’m not mistaken the governor bears a serious grudge towards the man. There’s bad blood there from something or other, and I don’t think it’s going to sort itself out without some kind of ugliness.’
He yawned and stretched luxuriously.
‘The big one with the beard a bird could nest in, he’s called Dubnus. He looks like a bit of a handful to me, and the men on the gate told me he carries an axe big enough to hack a man’s thigh in half. Blasted barbarians …’ He grinned at the man with the oil to highlight the intentional hypocrisy of his humour. ‘You’re all the same, aren’t you, all sharp iron and mad eyes?’
The trooper stared at him uncomprehendingly, and after a moment Dolfus shook his head and resumed his commentary.
‘Anyway, the Arab goes by the name of Qadir. Not worth much in a fight from the way he handles himself, but he’s a Hamian, so he could probably put an arrow into you from two hundred paces, if you were silly enough to stand still for him.’
He paused for a moment, looking at Marcus with a slight feeling of bafflement.
‘And the thin-faced, wiry-looking man is Corvus, although I’m told that’s a false name. Apparently he was the son of Appius Valerius Aquila …’ He looked at the uncomprehending face and tried again. ‘The son of a renowned senator who was falsely accused of being a traitor and put to death, after which Corvus is supposed to have carved a bloody path all the way from Britannia to Rome, killed all the men involved and then vanished like a ghost. He’s supposed to be sudden death with a sword, and better with two, although I’m damned if I can see it in him from the look on his face. But then I suppose we’ll have plenty of chances to find out, given what we’re being paid to do. As to quite who the other man is, I have no idea. There was no mention of him in any of the communications from Rome.’
He sat up, shaking off the torpor that was creeping over him in the warm room’s comfortable atmosphere.
‘And that’s enough exposure of our faces, I’d say. Give me that oil and we’ll go next door for a bit of a sweat while those gentlemen sit and drink their wine. They’ll be earning this moment of peace and quiet with their blood, soon enough.’
Ushered into the governor’s private office by a brow-beaten clerk, Scaurus and his two companions found themselves face-to-face with a big, bearded man dressed in the full panoply of his office, beautifully sculpted bronze armour over a perfectly tailored fine woollen tunic. His beard was worn full, in the imperial fashion that no senator would dare to ignore no matter how straggly his own facial hair might be, but trimmed so neatly that it was evidently the subject of daily barbering.
‘Ah, Tribune! Thank you for responding to my invitation so quickly! It’s good to see you after all this time!’
To his credit Scaurus didn’t miss a beat, stepping forward and saluting, while Marcus and his colleague Varus came to attention with impeccable precision.
‘Now gentlemen, please relax yourselves. Tribune, you, Centurion Corvus and I are old comrades in one of the most brutal wars of recent times, so we’ll not stand on ceremony. Steward, wine for my comrades and their colleague!
The four men stood in silence as the wine was served, and when each of them held a cup the governor raised his in a toast.
‘Gentlemen — we drink to comrades no longer with us.’
They raised their cups and drank, Scaurus eyeing the senior officer over the rim of his cup. The governor smiled back at him wryly.
‘I know, Rutilius Scaurus, harsh words were exchanged the last time we met. It would be fair for you to say that I’ve not behaved well towards you and your men of late, but I’ve had enough time to reflect on the matter to see that I was perhaps … hasty in my actions. I’m not too great a man to ask for your forgiveness, and a new start to our relationship, if you’re willing to allow a man to atone for his errors?’
Scaurus nodded, his expression still composed.
‘Of course, Governor Albinus. Neither myself nor Centurion Corvus have ever been men to carry a grudge any further than necessary.’
The patrician smiled broadly and held out a hand for Scaurus to clasp.
‘I’m so pleased. The terms under which we parted in Rome have troubled me more than a little. My bad temper might have caused so much harm, and so I was desperately relieved to discover that no harm had come to your wife and child, Centurion Corvus. I trust they’re in good health?’
Marcus stared at him for a moment before replying, unable to find any trace of guile in the senator’s question.
‘My son is well enough, thank you Senator, although my wife died in childbirth quite recently.’
Albinus’s face fell in what seemed to be genuine distress.
‘I’m sorry to hear that. The life of a soldier is hard enough without having to bear that sort of pain.’
He looked at Varus, essaying a tentative smile of welcome.
‘And this gentleman is …?’
‘A colleague from our recent campaign in the east, Senator. May I present Gaius Vibius Varus?’
Varus stepped forward and bowed respectfully, then took the hand that the governor offered.
‘Glad to meet you, Vibius Varus. Any relation to the Varus who commanded the emperor’s cavalry in the campaign against the Quadi?’
‘My uncle Julius, Senator.’
Albinus nodded approvingly.
‘I was only a junior tribune at the time, but your uncle led his men from the front, and had achieved a considerable fame by the time the barbarians had been put back in their place. He was also, I’m told, somewhat instrumental in helping to ensure that certain of the tribes that face us across the river remained firmly allied to Rome, as much through his somewhat muscular style of diplomacy as the application of gold. If you’re only half the soldier he was then you’ve an illustrious career in front of you!’
He sipped his wine again, turning his attention back to Scaurus.
‘So, Tribune, you’re clearly the emperor’s current favourite when it comes to performing the impossible, with your remarkable ability to summon the goddess Victoria to your side when all hope seems lost. I read your dispatch from Syria with great interest! And now here you are, with me none the wiser as to exactly what it is that your orders might hold.’
He fell quiet, waiting for the other man to fill the silence, but Scaurus’s tight smile of apology was no less of a rebuttal despite his reply being couched in the most diplomatic terms.
‘I’d be happy to share that information with you, Senator, if it weren’t for the fact that our mutual colleague the imperial chamberlain has absolutely forbidden me to do so. I am to procure whatever assistance I believe I need from you and then to proceed with my mission.’
The governor’s face took on a rueful smile.
‘And my instructions are to provide you with any help you request of me and, in the most diplomatic of wording possible given the nature of the message from Chamberlain Cleander, to mind my own business!’ He laughed tersely. ‘Which order I will of course follow to the letter, being both a good servant of Rome and quite fond of my current rank. After all, this may not be much of a province in terms of size or population, but it’s a mark of trust that I’m granted the command of two legions and twice as many auxiliary soldiers, even if half my command is across the water in Britannia. And so, Tribune, perhaps you’d better tell me what it is that you’re going to need from me. If it’s within my power then it shall be yours.’