XXIX
A ragged handful of tired figures pulled themselves from the waters of the channel onto the rocky shore below the fort. Helmeted faces peered down at them from the towers and shouted threats, commanding them to remain where they were or be cut down by a hail of arrows. A squad of spear-wielding legionaries appeared at the palisade gate and began descending the path towards them.
Lucius and Marjanita were among those emerging from the waters. Lucius carried the half-conscious woman over his shoulder and gently laid her down onto a dry rock. She was slowly coming to now, and as she did, she realized that her hands were bound.
"Where are we?" she asked dismally. "Where have you stolen me off to?"
"Not stolen, girl – saved," Lucius replied, pointing to the channel and the burning wreck of the Faun, aground and collapsing.
“Saved me?"
“Aye, girl. And that after you tried to kill me with that knife of yours.” He bore his thigh to her, revealing the long gash that still dripped blood from the wool wrapping he had applied. He smiled and added, “You should thank me."
She shot him an annoyed scowl as she struggled against the bonds. They had been placed there by the Faun’s sailors, and Lucius was now glad that he had decided to keep them on her.
"You lying dog!" She spat after finally giving up trying to break free. "My mistress instructed you to kill the senator! Not the aide!"
Lucius shrugged. "I didn't like the aide."
"You betrayed my mistress! You betrayed me, just as I knew you would. I should have cut your heart out last night!"
"Hold on, lass! My deal was with Lady Calpurnia, not with a slave."
She looked up at him defiantly, but there was something else in those eyes beyond venom, something deeper that told of personal pain.
"A slave paid your price!" she finally said in disgust.
Lucius had been light-hearted with her up to that moment, but now he saw that he had gone too far. He saw that the moniker of slave had struck a chord with her, and he regretted it, for he wished the woman no ill will. In all of the many slaves Lucius had encountered in his travels, he had known very few that did not yearn for freedom. Certainly, the life of a house slave for a great family like the Calpurnii was comfortable when compared with that of a wheel walker deep in the silver mines of Gades. But for one with the soul of an adventurer, like Marjanita, any bondage, no matter how lenient, must be unbearable. The tattoos across her shoulder and breast spoke of a time when she had enjoyed freedom. He had noticed them last night in the dim light, and now he saw their true magnificence under the light of day. Horse, shield, lance, and bow were depicted there in decorative splendor, all renderings that a man might wear, but these were adorned with intricate and deliberate curves that made them distinctively woman’s. In his youth, he had read of the Amazon warriors of the great plain, the women who loved and slew men as lustily as the swashbucklers of the pirate coasts. They chose honor before life, and would never let a gift go unreciprocated or an infraction unrequited. Were these the trappings of her former life?
After Lucius’s dart had skewered Flavius instead of the senator, Marjanita had come after him, as expected, brandishing her sinister dagger. He had been ready for her, meeting her wild jabs with counter-punches learned in countless fights in taverns and army camps. But Marjanita's moves had been far more adroit than those of any tavern brawler. She side-slipped his attempts to restrain her arms, slashing at him with a few strokes that might have killed him had they been a hand’s breadth closer. She had nicked him a few times, and had managed a stinging slash to his thigh, before Lucius had adjusted his defense. He had fought the warrior women of the German tribes once, and had learned after much pain how very different those women fought in hand to hand combat. They were difficult to pin down, and deadly accurate with their weapons, often using an attacker’s own momentum and brute force against him. Marjanita was much the same, and he quickly realized that he had to wait for her to attack, not chase her. It was during one such attack, after he had deflected a strong thrust of her dagger, that the Faun's sailors struck her across the head with a belaying pin, knocking her unconscious. The captain had ordered it, probably more in the interest of bringing order to his deck than helping Lucius. A runner had arrived from Libo, ordering the ship to get underway, and the captain was consumed with that task. He had instructed Lucius to stay out of the way and had paid him no more attention after that. After the vessel had grounded on the rocks and had come under the intense hail of flaming missiles, Lucius saw the Faun's captain and several sailors crushed under the weight of a falling yard. When the rest of the crew abandoned the ship, Lucius did too, but not before scooping up the still form of Marjanita.
Now, as they sat with the rest of the survivors waiting to be taken as prisoners, Lucius contemplated his circumstances. Should he identify himself as a centurion of the Tenth, he would surely be taken before Antony. How might he explain to the general his presence aboard the Faun? How might he preserve his own life should Antony denote him as a traitor and use this as an excuse to get rid of him? Then, a thought suddenly came into his head.
He nudged the still irate Marjanita and pointed out the legionaries clattering down the path towards them.
"They will take us captive, girl. When they discover who I am, we will be separated. I will go back to Antony's army, and you will go with the other prisoners." Lucius paused to let her contemplate all of the implications of that, and her simmering eyes told him she understood. "I can help you."
"I need no help from you, dog!" she snapped. "I would kill myself first. I deserve to die, for failing my mistress so."
"There is another choice."
She looked at him reluctantly, and he continued.
"Look out there," Lucius gestured to the fleet out on the sea, the giant Argonaut clearly distinguishable amidst the other black shapes. "Out there, on the flagship, your mistress is now alone and unprotected. How long do you think before Postumus figures out who was responsible for messing up his little deal with Antony? How long do think it will be before he arranges her murder?"
She eyed him balefully.
"I suspect he'll have her eliminated at the first opportunity." Lucius paused and then looked her in the eye. "But that does not have to happen. If Postumus and his friends in the Senate are defeated…"
She looked at him with reluctant interest. "How?"
Lucius looked up at the approaching soldiers. They had only moments now.
"I will demand that we be taken before Antony." Lucius smirked. "That should spoil the bastard's breakfast."
Marjanita was unimpressed. "How does this help my mistress?"
"Antony will recognize you as the same messenger who delivered the last message from the Raven. We'll pretend that I don't know anything, that I was captured and you sprung me from my chain at the oar so I could convey you to Antony. You just explain to him that the deal was foiled by Libo and Postumus, that neither of them ever spoke for the Raven, and that the true Raven still seeks to make an arrangement. If you are convincing enough, Antony may find the whole thing plausible. Tell him you've come with a new message and new instructions. Can you do that?"
"I suppose," she shrugged, curiously skeptical. "What then?"
"Why then, lass," Lucius smiled craftily. "Then you must say exactly what I tell you to."
XXX
“Our scouts ashore have signaled again, Admiral,” Naevius broke into Libo’s concentration. “Still no sign of the enemy, no sign of Antony’s cavalry, and we’ve been here nigh on eight hours. Blessed Juno, at this rate, we’ll fill every cask to bursting.”