Oh dear.
'Like I said. Several contacts. I would need to consult my records on that one, so if you'd care to make an appointment-'
'Suppose I save you the trouble?' The Spaniard cracked his knuckles, and for a man who claimed it would be madness to make threats, he was doing a bloody good job. 'You contracted to ship Sualinos one hundred and thirty-four amphorae of wine, each containing eight gallons, for a total cost of two thousand seven hundred sesterces, including shipping, at fifty per cent in advance and the balance upon delivery.'
Credit where it was due. This Gabali was a stickler for detail.
'Standard terms,' she said lightly.
'Hm.' He steepled his fingers against his lip and smiled at her through hooded eyelids. 'But what is not standard, I think, is that Sualinos received a message, telling him that the ship had been raided by pirates.'
Claudia forced her lips into a reciprocal smile. 'Sadly, Aquitania is not considered a primary destination for exports, and though I believe it's the Emperor's intention to protect supply routes as of next year, one still runs the inevitable risks.'
'You don't seem very concerned about the loss.'
'Insurance, Gabali. That's what insurance is for.'
'Indeed.' He nodded slowly, and why did she have a feeling she'd just walked into his trap? 'Insurance.'
As he paced the atrium, Claudia considered how much dodging the Guild's dirty tactics had cost her. More than she could keep tally of, certainly, which meant offsetting those losses with a number of measures which might not, strictly speaking, be termed legal. She looked upon this as a mere stumbling block, a hurdle to be overcome, but somehow the State viewed tax evasion in a rather different light. In fact, three unsmiling tax officials paid her a visit just last month, she recalled, and left her with a straight choice.
Pay up or be exiled.
With no cash in the coffers, there was only one way to settle the dispute, recompense the State with Seferius wine; it was an arrangement the State was perfectly happy with, but it left nothing to ship to Suo-what's-his-name in Santonum. Swindling Gauls wasn't intentional, but let's face it, Aquitania was three hundred miles away, that hoary old tale about the ship being raided by pirates hadn't failed her in the past, and just look at the advantages! Suo-what's-his-name's thirteen hundred and fifty sesterces put smiles on the faces of numerous creditors. The threat of exile popped like a bubble. And having her wine served at State banquets wasn't doing Claudia's reputation any harm, either.
'Let me tell you about another man.' Gabali stopped pacing. 'A man known throughout Aquitania as the Scorpion.'
'Funnily enough, his name cropped up several times during the course of my visit last autumn,' she said. 'Some sort of fanatic, as I recall.'
These types were commonplace throughout the Empire. Disgruntled militants who thought they were heroes, or else failures in search of fame and attention, each and every one of them claiming they could single-handedly free the conquered territories by uniting the tribes against Rome. Of course, not one of these deadbeats ever found fame or glory, and usually there was some personal axe to grind at the root of their disaffection. In the Scorpion's case, it was shunning. His very own tribe had voted this loser invisible — meaning that, in their eyes, he didn't exist.
'Spearheading an uprising seems a pretty effective way to make yourself visible again.'
'Do not underestimate this man, Merchant Seferius. The Scorpion, he is dangerous. As cunning as he is ruthless, no one betrays him and lives. Especially,' he added quietly, 'young widows who double-cross him without conscience.'
Shit.
'Are, um — are you saying Sualinos is the Scorpion?'
'It is one of his names, yes.' The Spaniard turned his head sideways and looked at her from the corner of his eye. 'And I, as it happens, am his insurance.'
Shit, shit and double shit. Claudia ran her tongue over her lips. If she sold the gold plate that she used to entertain her richest clients, she might be able to raise a quarter of what she owed, and the contents of her jewel box would probably bring it up to the half. But then word would get out that she was panic-selling, and what was left of her business would crumble to dust at her feet 'I will not be intimidated, Gabali.' She clasped her hands firmly behind her back lest he saw that she already was. 'If your scorpioidal boss feels hard done by, he has my sympathy, but it's not incumbent on me to make restitution for piracy. However.' She flashed what she hoped was a generous smile. 'On this occasion, I am prepared to split the insurance settlement.'
The Spaniard walked towards her on the softest feet she'd ever heard. 'Please do not insult my intelligence. There were no pirates, therefore there is no insurance.'
She swallowed. 'He wants the full fifty per cent back… with interest?'
Thirteen hundred and fifty times twelve per cent divided
^b y 'No.' Gabali drew a deep breath and held it. 'He did not send me here for the money, Merchant Seferius. Like I said earlier, and I'm sure you were listening, no one betrays the Scorpion and lives.' He held her gaze with his penetrating brown eyes. 'Now do you understand the nature of this appointment?' He paused. 'The Scorpion sent me to kill you.'
Two
The night was warm, the honeysuckle was sweet and Claudia was oblivious to both. Sinking down on a marble bench in the garden, she was unaware of Hercules striding through the constellations or Bootes the Herdsman prodding his celestial cattle. She did not hear the owl hoot from the oak tree next door, or smell the sweet blossoms of the myrtles in flower, or notice whether the moon was waxing or full.
She sat, rigid and mute, while her mind whirled like a mill race.
'Surely the Scorpion isn't going to kill me for thirteen hundred stupid sesterces?' she asked, though there had been no disguising the quiver that time.
'Thirteen hundred and fifty,' the assassin corrected, 'and do you not imagine that people have been killed for less? Uniting the tribes to push Rome out once and for all requires fundraising on an enormous scale, and the type of criminals the Scorpion employs need to be kept in check by something more than a spank on the bottom. Come.' He'd held out his arm. 'Let us take that walk in the garden.'
How much time had passed since Claudia had linked her elbow through his? Seconds? Minutes? A lifetime-?
'You were wise not to wake your steward,' he said, leading her to a seat beneath an acacia.
Claudia already knew that. Instinctively, she had realized that if she'd raised the alarm, he'd be left with no choice. Not tonight, not tomorrow, but some time he would come back and fulfil his contractual obligation. She shivered. Gabali wasn't the type who fed off the fear in his victim's eyes as they died. He was calculating, clever and detached, not sick. Had he not wanted something else from her, she would already be dead…
A faint light appeared in the sky over the Viminal Hill. Any minute now, roosters would start crowing and she realized with a jolt that the Spaniard had been in her house for twenty-four hours. Apart from a faint hint of stubble, he was as fresh as the dew.
'What do you want, Gabali?'
Her legs were weak, her heart pounded like thunder and there was something wrong with her breath. But she had to know…
'What do you need from me?'
His stillness lasted for an eternity, or maybe a heartbeat. Then he knelt down to face her, his penetrating eyes at a level with hers.
'Help,' he said carefully. 'There is a college of priestesses near Santonum known as the Hundred-Handed, a revered and powerful order, not unlike the Druids-'
'With the same attitude to human sacrifice?'
A muscle contracted in the Spaniard's cheek. 'When I kill, I kill cleanly,' he said. 'There is no question of sending you to be burned alive inside the wicker man, or indeed enjoying any of the other hospitalities that are practised in some of the remoter regions of Gaul.'