The Eagles Prophecy

He let the words sink in, staring at the centurions intently with his dark brown eyes, sunk deep beneath his plucked brow. Cato stared back, angry and afraid, as he knew that he and Macro were being thrust into new perils by the Imperial Secretary. Cato swallowed nervously before he replied.

'Unless we do your bidding.'

'That's right.' Narcissus nodded. 'You'll do my bidding, or be fodder for the carrion before this day is done.'

Macro sneered at him. 'And what is it you'd have us do for you? An assassination? Make someone disappear? What?'

'Nothing so easy,' Narcissus laughed. 'I have plenty of men for such menial tasks. No, for what I have in mind, I need two resourceful officers. Ruthless men who are also desperate enough to succeed at all costs. Men who know their lives are forfeit unless they carry out their orders. In short, men like you two. I won't demean your intelligence by offering the job to you. You'll do it, or you'll die here and now. All that remains is to tell you the details. Understand me?'

'Oh, we understand all right… sir.'

'Very well.' Narcissus leaned back in his chair and drew his thoughts together. 'A month ago a merchant ship was captured not far from the coast, off Ravenna. It happens from time to time. Someone fancies his chances as a pirate and starts preying on shipping. We can afford to overlook the loss of the odd vessel here and there, but if they get too greedy we send a squadron after them to scare them off. Only this time, the pirates captured a ship which happened to be carrying one of my most trusted agents. He was on a mission of the utmost sensitivity. He was taken prisoner, and tortured. They sent word that they want a ransom for him. Together with his ring finger. I assume that's some kind of pirate tradition to show they mean business.'

'You want him back?' Cato asked. 'Is that it? Is that all?'

'Not quite all. My agent carried within his baggage some items of great value to the Emperor.'

'Treasure?' Macro frowned. 'You want to send us on a treasure hunt?'

'Treasure? Yes,' Narcissus replied.'But treasure that has far more worth than all the gold and jewels of Egypt.'

'Really?' Macro sniffed. 'I somehow doubt that.'

'What kind of treasure are we talking about?' Cato interrupted his friend.

'Scrolls.' Narcissus smiled. 'Three of them. The pirates want ten million sestertians for the return of the scrolls.'

'Ten million? Just for three scrolls?' Macro laughed and shook his head. 'You're not serious, sir.'

'I've never been more serious in my life.'

Macro's laughter died in his thoat as he beheld the intent expression on the Imperial Secretary's face. 'These scrolls – what's so special about them?'

Narcissus stared at him. 'You don't need to know. You will be told more, if the situation requires it. Suffice to say that if I gain possession of them then a great danger to the Emperor will be averted. For now, all that need concern you is your mission. You will find and recover the scrolls and bring them to me here. If you can manage it, I also want the rest of my agent returned. But if that should jeopardise the safety of the scrolls the agent must be regarded as expendable.'

'Who else knows about this?' asked Cato.

Narcissus thought for a moment. 'The Emperor. My clerk and one other.'

'Who is he, sir?'

Narcissus smiled and shook his head.'You don't need to know. For now. In the meantime I have arranged for you both to be posted to the naval base at Ravenna. We're sending a column of marine reinforcements for operations against this new pirate threat. You can join them. The prefect has been told to find and destroy the pirates' lair. Your job is to make sure that you recover the scrolls, and my agent, once the pirates are defeated. You are also to make sure that any of the pirates who have read, or been in contact with the scrolls, are not taken alive. One last thing.' Narcissus leaned towards them again.'It is possible that the pirates may have approached other parties with a view to selling the scrolls. If that's the case, my enemies will stop at nothing to get hold of them. You must trust no one. Understand?'

The two centurions nodded.

'When do we leave?' Macro asked.

'You already have. The reinforcements left Rome at dawn. You'll have to catch up with them once I've finished with you.'

Cato's mind reeled. 'What about all the paperwork? Our orders?'

Narcissus waved away the questions. 'My clerk has it all in hand. He'll give you the required documents as soon as you leave my office. Now, if you don't want to get any unnecessary blisters, I suggest you get moving, gentlemen.'

'Just one thing, sir,' said Macro.

'Yes?'

'Money. We'll need some to cover our expenses as far as Ravenna, sir.'

'I see. Very well. You can draw some petty cash from my clerk.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'That's all right.' Narcissus smiled. 'You can settle up, if you survive. Now, on your way.'

Narcissus leaned back and crossed his arms, clearly indicating that the meeting was over. Cato and Macro turned towards the doors. Before they could reach them the doors were swung open by a Praetorian on each side. Narcissus' clerk was waiting at his table, a wax tablet in each hand. As the centurions marched into the corridor, he held out the tablets. Cato took his and was busy tucking it into his knapsack when he glanced across the corridor and froze. Macro noticed his reaction and glanced round. Seated in the niche opposite was a heavily built man, running to fat. He wore the toga of a senator, and smiled slowly as he recognised the two centurions.

'Why, if I'm not mistaken,' he chuckled, 'it's my old comrades in arms, Centurion Macro and his little pet optio.' He paused as his eyes fell on the transverse crest of the helmet hanging from Cato's yoke.'Centurion Cato? I don't believe it.'

Cato dipped his head in formal acknowledgement of the other man's rank, and he replied in an unusually cool voice, 'Tribune Vitellius, I wondered if we would meet again.'

06 The Eagles Prophecy

CHAPTER SEVEN

'What the hell was that bastard Vitellius doing there?' Macro grumbled as he shifted his pack and adjusted his stride.'I hoped I'd never lay eyes on him ever again, after that business back in Britain. Just goes to show. When you've really fallen in the shit, you can always count on someone to pile on another load.'

Cato grunted his assent at his friend's quirky fatalism. Life was like that. He'd already seen enough of it to know. Macro was right to be worried. The fact that the man had been waiting to see Narcissus immediately after them implied some kind of connection with the mission they had been forced to undertake. It might be a coincidence, Cato reflected. After all, Narcissus must be overseeing many operations. Even so, Cato could not shake off the feeling that their presence and that of the treacherous former tribune of the Second Legion were somehow linked. They had foiled a plot by Vitellius to assassinate Emperor Claudius, but after the event the wily tribune had left them with no evidence to bring against him, and so compelled their silence. Cato was certain that Vitellius was merely biding his time before he arranged for fatal accidents to befall Macro and himself.

The revival of this danger added to his existing fears, and Cato could not shake Vitellius from his mind as he and Macro trudged along the Flaminian Way. Even though it was a cold day, and a chilly breeze cut through the air, there were only patches of cloud in the crisp blue sky. After the first mile on the road, the exercise had warmed their muscles and Cato no longer shivered. They had left Rome at noon, pausing at the Sanqualian Gate to fill their canteens, and only with the walls of the city falling behind them had Macro felt safe enough to speak his mind. On either side of the broad paved road, tombs and mausoleums jostled with more modest memorials to the generations of the dead who had been buried outside the walls of the city.