My two erstwhile companions looked at each other uncertainly, wondering what I was up to, but I clinched it by offering a golden aureus to the one who seemed to enjoy it most when I returned with Uther. Even in a society where money is not used, gold is a powerful persuader. I left them settling down to experiment and made my way directly to Titus's quarters.
He was working on his records and looked up at me in surprise as I entered. "Shouldn't you be in Council?"
"I should, but something came up. Is anyone else around? I need to speak with you alone."
"Right now?"
"Immediately."
"Speak then. There's nobody here. What's going on?"
"I'll tell you everything later, Titus. For the moment, I can only ask you if you trust me enough to do something for me at once, without explanation."
"That's a silly question, Cay. What's up? What do you need?"
"A squad of men you can trust completely. I want you to come with me to the games room and help me abduct four women."
"Only four?" He was smiling.
"I'm serious, Titus. I'll tell you what it's all about later. Have you seen Uther today?"
"No. Why?"
"Never mind, it's not important now. Will you do what I ask?"
He looked at me appraisingly for three long counts and then rose to his feet. "It'll take me a little while to round up some men I can rely on. I presume you want men who can keep silent?"
"Yes, I do, above all else. I've got some things to round up myself. I'll meet you in the courtyard in a few moments."
When I opened the door and stepped inside with Titus in tow, the looks on the four girls' faces ranged all the way from lively interest to disappointment.
"Where's Uther? And where's our food?" the long- tongued one asked.
"The food is coming, girls. Uther's left the fort on emergency business. Now, sit up, all of you, and listen carefully to what I have to say. This is important." They sat up and stared at me, beginning to wonder what was going on. I perched with one buttock on the edge of the table and looked at them, considering what I was going to say, how I was going to phrase it. These young women were creatures of pleasure. I reached into my tunic and brought out a leather bag, heavy and rich-looking, and dropped it onto the table top with a solid, metallic thud.
"Gold," I said. "Uther and I have a proposition for you ladies." I opened the drawstring of the bag and poured a stream of gold coins onto the table. "There are eighty gold; aurei here—twenty for each of you. That's enough money to see all of you set for life. At current value, you are looking at about forty thousand silver denarii." All four pairs of eyes were fastened on the pile of gleaming coins. I produced another bag and poured a second stream. "Twenty more for each of you. But there are conditions. You have to earn it." All four of them together could not have earned twenty aurei if they had serviced an entire legion on their backs for five years.
The Tongue licked her lips. "What.. .conditions?"
"You leave Camulod now, immediately, saying goodbye to no one. I'll provide an escort for you as far as Glevum." That was more than sixty miles. "Once in Glevum, you will buy a house, set it up for...your own purposes, shall we say?...and keep it warm and welcoming for Commander Uther and myself and the Legate Titus, here. As you know, we returned yesterday from a long patrol. We found no entertainment in Glevum. For a while there, in fact, we were beginning to look attractive to each other."
None of them smiled at my attempt at humour. One of them, one of the two who had been mine, asked in a husky voice, "When do we get the money?"
"Now. It's yours as soon as you agree to the terms."
"Why would we have to leave right now? What's going on here?" This one's voice was sullen with suspicion.
"Going on?" My mind was racing. "That's an easy question to answer. I'll tell you what's going on, if you really want to know."
"Well? We really want to know."
I cleared my throat and charged ahead with the lie that had come to me. "Uther and I decided to do this when we were in Glevum. To set up a house there, I mean. This morning, at breakfast, we decided that if we are to do it at all, we have to do it quickly, today, in fact. General Picus, my father, is due back today. He would forbid it, totally. He spends much time now with the Christian priests and talks of the pleasures of the afterlife. He disapproves of our casual ways with women, and he would have apoplexy if he thought we were dispatching soldiers on such escort duty. If you leave now, immediately, you will be gone by the time he arrives and he will never know. But you must leave now, and you must go secretly, for if anyone suspects what we are doing, and the word gets back to General Picus, he'll have us court-martialled and our lives won't be worth living. Neither will yours."
The sullen one was still not convinced.
"Of course," I went on, bluffing with all my power, "if you don't like the idea, you can all stay here and there's no harm done. I'll return the money to the treasury and we'll forget the whole thing." I picked up a handful of coins and let some of them slip through my fingers back to the table top. That did it.
"How do we get there?" one of them asked. "I can't ride."
"Don't be silly, girl. We'll send you in comfort, in a wagon with seats and an awning. You'll go in haste, but in style, too."
"What about your soldier boys," asked the Tongue. "Aren't you afraid they'll blab?"
"No," I smiled. "Not until they get back. After that, when they know they stand to lose their visiting privileges: in Glevum and be in trouble with the General, I don't think they'll say too much. And I'm sure they'll have a pleasant journey, at least one way."
It was her turn to smile.
They were aboard the wagon within half an hour, their money in their hands, with enough rations to feed an army. Titus had instructed his men on their duties as escort, and together we watched the party proceeding through the gates and down the hill road. Uther's games room was empty. Every skin and fur and cushion had gone aboard the wagon.
When they were safely out of sight, Titus turned to me with a slight smile. "Aren't you amazed at my patience? What is going on, Cay? You just gave away an emperor's ransom. What's it all about?"
"Rumours and reputations, Titus, that's what it's all about. Let's take a walk where we can't be overheard and I'll tell you the whole sorry tale."
He was gazing closely at me now, his mind working quickly. "Where's Uther, Cay? There's something here I can't grasp."
"Huh," I grunted. "There's something here that will stink in the nostrils of God, my friend."
We walked down the hill and I talked for half an hour, telling him everything I knew. He was as shocked and profoundly disturbed as I had been. When I had finished talking he stopped and caught my elbow, turning me so that he looked me in the eye.
"You don't really think it was Uther, do you?"
I turned away and started walking again, letting my words drift back over my shoulder. "What else can I think, Titus? I've told you what I saw and heard. It all adds up to Uther, and Uther is nowhere to be found. Am I wrong?"
He caught up to me. "You must be, Cay. You have to be. Uther couldn't be capable of the bestial savagery you're talking about."
"I know, Titus. That's what I would have said, until ,today. But you have to admit he is capable of savagery. You've seen him enraged; we both have. He can be a killer."
"Of course he can, in battle. We're all killers then." He shook his head. "No, I can't see it. He might have beaten her after she bit him, while he was so angry, but not like this! Not in cold blood." His face cleared suddenly, and hope gleamed in his eyes. "But you said she was raped, front and rear. He couldn't have done that, with a bitten cock."