Centurion

'What do you think you were doing, questioning my authority like that?'

'I have a duty to express my professional opinion, sir.'

'Damn your professional opinion! You are a subordinate officer, and merely an acting prefect at that. Why do you think I chose to send you and Macro out here in the first place? Because you were the best men for the job? Wake up, Cato. I chose you because you were expendable. Because I wanted you out of the way. Permanently.You two are little more than Narcissus' pet spies.You're not real soldiers at all. It's a miracle you ever made it through to the garrison. The pair of you have the most damnable luck. Maybe it's as well that you will join my army.Your good fortune may rub off on us.' Longinus paused, and for the first time Cato sensed that he had some doubts about his decision to pursue Artaxes.

'Have you finished with us, sir?' Macro asked gruffly.

Longinus stared at him fixedly for a moment and then nodded. 'Have your men ready to march.You can fall in at the rear of my column, where you belong. Now get out of my sight.'

Sempronius leaned back in his chair and shook his head. 'There's nothing I can do about it, Cato. I'm only an ambassador. I was sent here to conclude a treaty with King Vabathus and that's all. Longinus has a far greater authority than mine in this situation. If he's determined to press ahead with his campaign then he will.'

'But it's foolhardy,' Cato responded. 'He's going after Artaxes with a few days' supply of food and water. If there's no immediate contact then he'll be forced to retreat. If he leaves that too late then who knows how many men he's going to lose on the way back.'

'Longinus must know that,' Sempronius replied. 'He's no fool, Cato. I know the man well enough. He's just ambitious.'

'Ambitious?' Macro laughed bitterly. 'Oh, he's more ambitious than you can ever know.'

Sempronius stared at Macro for a moment.'What do you mean by that?'

'Nothing.' Macro waved a hand dismissively. 'Just tiredness speaking. I didn't mean anything by it. Well, just that he's a glory-hunter, like most of his kind.'

'I see,' Sempronius replied evenly. He turned to his daughter, who was sitting next to Cato.'My dear, would you mind finding us a jar of wine?'

'Wine?' Julia looked surprised. 'Now?'

'Of course. These men are about to march off to war. They deserve a drink. Find some of the good stuff. I believe the steward has a few jars left.'

Julia frowned. 'Why don't you send someone else to fetch it, Father?'

'I'd like you to go, my dear. Right now.'

For a moment Julia did not move and her father looked at her intently. With a frustrated sigh, she rose from her seat and strode towards the door, shutting it loudly behind her.

'Was that necessary?' Cato asked.

'She is my daughter. I will do all that I can to protect her. Which means there are certain things she must not know, for her own safety. Like this business with Longinus.You are not being straight with me, either of you.What is going on?'

Cato smiled. 'As you said, sir, there are certain things it is dangerous to know.'

'This is bollocks,' Macro said in a sudden burst of frustration. 'I've had enough of this, Cato. I'm a bloody soldier, not a spy.'

'Macro!' Cato warned him. 'Don't.'

Macro shook his head. 'I'll have my say, damn it. If that bastard Longinus is going to lead us into disaster then I want someone to know why. Someone who can go back to Rome and tell the truth.'

'What truth would that be?' Sempronius asked.

'Longinus has a taste for the purple,' said Macro. 'That's how ambitious he is.'

'Is it true?' Sempronius asked Cato.

Cato glanced angrily at Macro and then took a deep breath and resigned himself to explaining the situation. 'We think so. We don't have enough evidence to prove it. He's been good at covering his tracks.That's what I think all this is about. He wants a victory. To build his reputation and prove what a good servant he is of Rome, a man worthy of the title Emperor. It's also why he sent me and Macro out here ahead of the main column. We weren't supposed to succeed. It seems we were supposed to die. Just another incriminating detail disposed of.'

Sempronius looked at them both before he spoke. 'If that's the case, he's going to rather a lot of trouble to get rid of you.'

'He has good reason to want us dead.'

'You're not just ordinary line officers, are you?'

Cato did not reply and shot a warning glance at Macro, who just shrugged and looked out of the window.

Sempronius let the awkward silence drag out for a while and then cleared his throat. 'I'll have you know that I am a loyal servant of Emperor Claudius. I can be trusted. But there's something else. I'm well aware that there is more than a passing friendship between you and my daughter, Cato. Julia has told me everything. Everything, you understand? Now, I assume that means that you wish to take her as your wife?'

Cato's mind raced to grapple with the unexpected direction the conversation was taking. His intense feeling for Julia was thrown into conflict with the need to keep secret the true purpose of his and Macro's being sent to the eastern Empire. Sempronius sensed his dilemma and continued.

'Like Longinus, I am no fool, Cato. I can sense the hand of Narcissus behind all this. I am Julia's father. Before I can consent to her marrying you, I need to know that she will be safe.That she will not be in danger if she binds herself to you. I'm well aware of the risks of being a soldier. I'm also aware of the far greater risks a man runs in serving Narcissus. All that I ask is that you are honest with me. Are you an imperial agent?'

Cato felt trapped.There was no easy way out of this. No glib answer that would save him from revealing the truth. Besides, Sempronius had obviously guessed almost as much as Cato could have told him. He must already know that the two officers were working for the imperial secretary.

'We were sent east by Narcissus to report on Longinus,' Cato admitted wearily. Ever since Narcissus had pressed them into his service Cato and Macro had been thrown into situations as perilous as any they had faced in the ranks of the Second Legion. Cato wanted, more than ever, to return to a military career free of the secret plots and political infighting that made up the world of the imperial secretary. He drew a deep breath and continued. 'Narcissus suspected that the general was preparing to use the eastern legions in a bid for the imperial throne. Macro and I managed to upset his plans, and now he's covering his tracks. If anything happens to us, you should tell Narcissus that he was right, but we had too little evidence to prove it.We're not imperial agents, sir. Macro and I are soldiers. Somehow we just got caught up with Narcissus.'

Sempronius smiled sadly. 'You wouldn't be the first men that had happened to. That's how Narcissus operates. Some men he recruits directly. Some he bribes. Others are threatened into working for him. Men like you are just slowly sucked into his world of plots and conspiracies. My advice to you is to get as far from him as you can, if you live through this campaign. Whatever rewards he offers you, go back to soldiering, and nothing else.'

'That'll be the day,' Macro grumbled.

'Nothing would please us more,' said Cato. He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table. 'And Julia?'

'Julia?'

'Do I have your permission to marry her, sir?'

Sempronius looked at the young officer for a moment. 'No. Not yet.'

The answer struck Cato's heart like a hammer blow and he bit back on the wave of bitterness and despair that threatened to engulf him. 'Why?'

'By your own admission, you are facing great danger in the coming days. However, if you live, if you return to Palmyra unharmed, if you can complete your work here in the eastern Empire, then I would give my consent. But only then.'

Cato felt the relief wash through him, but it was tempered by the knowledge of the odds stacked against him, and he nodded sombrely. 'I will live.'