Ovid

He stared at me. 'What the hell's got into you, boy? You okay?'

'You say Vela sent the letter to Asprenas?'

'Yeah. To Mainz, where he was stationed.' Agron looked blank. 'What's this about?'

'Asprenas was in Germany?'

'Sure he was in Germany. I thought you knew that.'

'No,' I said slowly. 'I didn't know that.' Gods! If Asprenas was in Germany then…

'He had a couple of Eagles. Not ones involved in the massacre, further up the Rhine. If it hadn't been for Asprenas the whole frontier would've collapsed.'

‘Yeah?' Jupiter! 'Tell me.'

He was still staring at me, which was pretty understandable. I must've looked as if I'd just seen the ghost of old Julius march in and do a slow strip on the table.

'Asprenas was one of the general's staff,' he said. 'He was upriver on garrison duty at Mainz. When he got the news of the massacre he force-marched his two Eagles back to protect the south bank of the Rhine. Like I said, if it hadn't been for him the Germans would've crossed over and chased us all the way to Gaul.' He paused, then said deliberately: 'Nonius Asprenas was the only hero we had in the whole fucking mess, Corvinus. So if you've got him in mind for your traitor you can stick it.'

I sat back and tried to stay calm. I could see what the guy meant, but he'd got it wrong. Sure, if his job had been to wreck the Rhine frontier totally Asprenas would only have had to put off his march for a day or so and watch the whole thing fall apart. Safe, no risks, and completely effective. Only that wasn't the idea, not at all. Not even Livia would go that far. She'd only wanted to disgrace Augustus. If I was right, and the massacre had been a doublecross on Arminius's part, then her agent wouldn't have expected it any more than Varus had. Fat Face's prompt action was an argument for guilt just as much as for innocence

Then I had another thought; and it wasn't a pleasant one. If Asprenas was the traitor then it explained why Perilla had been snatched so fast. I'd given the bastard his reasons myself. I'd shown him just how close to the truth I was. And how important it was to stop me before I made the final connections…

Fool!

Agron was still staring. The big guy didn't know, I was sure of that, unless he was the best actor I'd ever come across; nor did Quinctilia. And I couldn't tell them, because I didn't know which way they'd jump if they knew. Certainly not yet, not until I had proof…

The door opened. Bathyllus came in holding a scrap of paper.

'I'm sorry to disturb you, sir,' he said, 'but I feel you should see this.'

Domestic hassles I could do without at the moment. 'Bathyllus, look, we're busy, right? Tell me tomorrow.'

Then I saw the expression on the little guy's face, and I knew it was serious.

'From the kidnappers?'

He nodded. 'One of the slaves found it in the garden, sir.'

I grabbed the paper and spread it out on the desk. I'd never actually seen Perilla's handwriting, but there wasn't any reason why this shouldn't be genuine. I felt, suddenly, very cold.

'It was wrapped round a stone,' Bathyllus was saying. 'Someone must have thrown it over the wall.'

'When?'

'I don't know. It was lying beneath one of the rose bushes.'

The message was short and to the point:

Marcus: They say that if you haven't left Rome by the day after tomorrow they'll kill me.

There was no signature. Just that.

I'd seen the gardener weeding the rose garden myself, three days ago. Since then there'd been no reason for any of the slaves to have been outside, barring chance. This could've come at any time since Perilla had gone missing. And if it had been delivered before Scylax could set up his stake-out, then maybe I was too late already. Maybe Perilla was already dead…

My hand clenched, crushing the paper into a tight ball.

Fool!

37

The gym wasn't open when I got there early next morning, but I hadn't been waiting long when I saw the big Spaniard who'd brought me Scylax's message a few days before coming up the street chewing on a hunk of barley bread. Seeing me standing there didn't seem to hurry the bastard any. He ambled over, glanced at me from beneath brows that could've doubled as an outcrop of the Capitol, then produced a key from inside his greasy tunic and unbarred the gate. All this without a word or even a spark of recognition. Conversation obviously wasn't his strong point. Or maybe his vocabulary just didn't extend to good morning.

'Hey, Adonis.' I said.

'Daphnis.'

I'd been close, anyway. At least it wasn't Hyacinth.

'Whatever. Scylax due in?'

'Yeah.'

That was all I was getting, seemingly. He stood aside to let me pass, then took a rake from behind the gate and began moving sand around the training ground grain by grain. I left the guy to his executive duties and wandered over to sit down on the bench beneath the portico.

I was feeling pretty light-headed, not to mention depressed. I hadn't slept much the night before, and I'd come to a decision. Bathyllus was already busy packing. Given the choice between carrying the thing through and getting Perilla back, I had to choose Perilla, even though the very thought of doing a runner set my teeth on edge. Staying in the city was just too risky. A few months in Athens with Uncle Cotta wouldn't be so bad. If…when…Perilla got free she might join me. We might even settle there, because Jupiter knew there'd be nothing more for me in Rome. Nothing I'd have the stomach for, anyway. But first I had to tell Scylax to call off his dogs. He wouldn't like it, I knew — that was putting it mildly — but it had to be done.

This whole business had turned sour as hell. If I was right and Asprenas had set his uncle up then unless I had hard and fast proof there wasn't a thing I could do about it. The guy was a war hero, a highly respected politician and a personal friend of the emperor. If I were stupid enough to confront him he'd laugh in my face; and if I decided to do something really stupid like go direct to Tiberius I wouldn't have a face left to laugh in.

That was the clincher. Tiberius. With the Wart in on this I was way out of my league. Try to take the lid off this thing, accuse the emperor and Livia of multiple dynastic murder and high treason and I'd be floating down the Tiber with a knife in my back before you could say ‘liquidation’; and Perilla would be floating along beside me.

Slice it whichever way you liked I was beaten, and I knew it. No proof, no clout, no nothing. All I could do now was wave the white flag and hope it wasn't too late.

Shit. And I'd been so close! I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes…

I must've nodded off, because the next thing I remember was being shaken awake and Scylax's ugly mug grinning down at me.

'Hard night?' he said. 'She must've been good.'

I was still dopey. 'Yeah, she was. Who're we talking about?'

'Never mind. You look like you've been rolled the length of the Sacred Way and pegged out for the crows.'

I rubbed my eyes to squeeze out the sleep. 'They made contact. We have to talk.'

He was still grinning.

'I know that, Corvinus. Don't worry, we've got the bastard cold.'

The words took a moment to get through to me. When they did it was as if someone had dunked me in the public cistern.

'You've what? What did you say?'

'I said we've got the guy cold. Daphnis saw him heave a brick over your wall last night and followed him home.'

'Daphnis saw him? Daphnis?'

'Sure. I told you, you were staked. Daphnis was stretched out under a builder's cart in the alleyway behind your house and I'd two more lads round the front.'

I was wide awake now. 'Then why the hell didn't the bastard tell me as soon as I got here?'

'Maybe he's shy.'

'Maybe he's a sadistic sod.'