They heard voices. Shostra returned a few moments later. He produced a key from his belt and unlocked the gate.
‘Master wants me and your man to go on to where you’re staying — get the horses stabled and the house ready. You can go in.’
‘Thank you so much,’ replied Cassius. ‘Go ahead, Simo.’
Once Indavara had removed his weapons from his saddle, Shostra led Simo and the horses away down the street. Cassius and Indavara walked up to the villa. Unsurprisingly, there was no one to meet them at the door. As they stepped inside the hallway, Cassius looked down at the multicoloured mosaic set into the tiled floor beneath their feet: WELCOME. He nudged Indavara and nodded down at it.
‘Not so far.’
Indavara frowned.
‘Can you read?’ Cassius asked him.
‘Ah, there you are! Come, come in.’
Abascantius had appeared at the end of the hallway. ‘You two look stiff,’ he remarked as they walked towards him. ‘Not surprised with all that riding. Don’t tell me you’ve been strolling around the city with that in your hand, Corbulo.’
Cassius looked down at the spear-head; he’d been holding it since the gate.
‘Gods, you’ll not be much use to me here if everyone knows who you are. Thank Jupiter it’s late. Nobody important will have seen you at least.’
Cassius didn’t particularly like the sound of that; it seemed Abascantius already had more work in mind for him.
They were standing in a large atrium with an air of faded grandeur. Under the rectangular opening in the middle of the room was a circular basin half full with rainwater. The sides of the basin had turned green. The few items of furniture looked new but the frescoes on two of the walls were in dire need of repainting and an extravagant mosaic — a trio of peacocks — had lost many of its pieces.
Abascantius looked Indavara up and down. ‘And how was our monosyllabic friend here?’
‘Monosyllabic,’ said Cassius. ‘We’re having to educate him in the finer points of riding, eating and conversation but he’s done his job well enough.’
‘Good, good,’ said Abascantius. ‘We shall keep him on for the moment then.’ He turned to Indavara. ‘We shall sort out your money later. Wait here for now. Come, Corbulo.’
Abascantius looked even fatter than Cassius remembered him. As he followed him around the basin to the other side of the atrium, he looked at the rolls of flesh hanging over his belt, and his hairy, mole-covered calves. He really was a singularly unattractive man.
They passed along a corridor with a number of smaller rooms on either side then emerged into a spacious courtyard. Beyond was a neat orchard of apple trees and the rear gate. In the middle of the courtyard was a large, waterless fountain and — rising from its centre — a bronze statue of a bearded, contemplative god.
‘Hermes or Dionysus?’ queried Cassius.
‘Palmyran,’ Abascantius sneered. ‘I keep meaning to knock it down.’
‘You’ve not been here long then?’
‘A month or so. The previous resident was a man who did rather well out of the occupation. Gave up two of my best operatives to the Palmyrans. I had him. . evicted.’
‘I see.’
In front of the fountain was a marble table and two wooden benches. Abascantius picked up a bottle of wine, topped up his own glass and poured a full one for Cassius.
‘So the Emperor’s policy of clemency has its limits,’ Cassius said as he sat down.
Abascantius pushed the glass over to him. ‘Exceptions can always be made.’
One end of the bench was next to the wall of the fountain, with two cushions propped up against it. Abascantius sat there, glass in hand.
‘What about Gregorius?’ he asked. ‘Do you know anything?’
Cassius found he couldn’t keep his eyes on the older man.
‘Yes, sir. Not good news, I’m afraid.’
Now Abascantius looked away. He took a long swig of wine.
‘You may start. Leave nothing out.’
It took Cassius almost an hour to relate the events of the last nine days. He did leave something out: the incident with the Celts at Palmyra, and he made a mental note to tell Indavara to keep quiet about it too. Abascantius listened carefully, sometimes pressing Cassius for details. His wide, ravaged face remained largely impassive until Cassius described what they’d found at the mine. Cursing, he sprang up and kicked out at a chair. It skidded away across the tiles and on to the grass. He stood still for a time, then leaned over the fountain with his hands on the surround.
‘They’ll pay,’ he whispered through clenched teeth. ‘By Jupiter they’ll pay.’
‘Why do you think they kept him alive, sir?’
Abascantius backed away from the fountain. ‘Sounds like the legionaries fought on to a man, but Gregorius knew how important it was that he live — wait for a chance to escape, get word to me. He was crafty. Resourceful.’
‘He may yet have helped us, sir.’
‘Indeed.’
‘He had a wife?’
‘No. And no children, thank the gods. But he lived with a woman. I shall have to tell her.’ Abascantius looked down at Cassius and ran a thumb across his chin. ‘You have done well, Corbulo, all things considered.’
Cassius agreed; but did his best to appear magnanimous.
‘If I may, sir, I do have some ideas about how to proceed. This two-fingered man, obviously. And the gatehouse — they sometimes keep records of incoming traffic. Or the silver and gold markets. We might see if-’
Abascantius held up his hands. ‘Wait. Wait a moment. Those matters should be followed up, I agree. But you’re forgetting the counciclass="underline" the only men who knew of Gregorius’s mission.’
‘The only men apart from Venator, Lollius and this character Tarquinius.’
‘Who probably took his share — whatever he could carry and safely keep quiet.’ Abascantius shrugged. ‘Good luck to him. Lollius too, if he did likewise. There’s not a chance Venator’s involved: he’s been chasing a seat in the senate for ten years, and his family are the eighth or ninth richest in all the Empire.’
‘Sir, I don’t believe for a moment that Venator had anything to do with it, nor Lollius if I’m honest. But the man who sniffed out the treasure in the first place. .’
‘Assuming for a moment that a Roman officer would allow ten of his fellow soldiers to be killed, how would he organise such a thing?’
‘I have no idea. But a haul like that would provide a powerful incentive. And attract a good deal of help.’
Abascantius didn’t look convinced. ‘If this Tarquinius was behind the raid he’d be long gone by now, and Venator himself told you he was back in Zeugma. I’m afraid you’re missing the point, Corbulo. It’s not about the trinkets or the silver or the gold. It’s about the flag. What we must focus on is who’s pulling the strings. I’ve only been back a few days and my resources aren’t what they were, but I’ve made a little progress. We’ll follow the council members day and night if need be, leave no stone unturned.’
‘Who exactly is on this council?’
Instead of answering, Abascantius stared thoughtfully down at Cassius. ‘Do you have a good toga with you?’
‘Yes, sir. Why?’
‘You can see the council first-hand. Act as my eyes and ears. Don’t look so worried, Corbulo. After all those days in the desert I’m sure you’ll enjoy a cultured evening with the great and the good of Antioch.’
‘Sir?’
‘You’re going to a dinner party.’
The villa they were to stay in was another of those liberated from one of Abascantius’s ‘evictees’. Cassius knew he shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the agent talk of such a thing in so dispassionate a manner, but it disturbed him to think what the man might truly be capable of.
Before he and Indavara left, Abascantius summoned three messengers and dispatched them to various locations. He told Cassius to meet him at the eleventh hour by Hadrian’s Bridge, and that he should make himself as presentable as possible.
The villa was located half a mile south of Abascantius, closer to the centre of the city, in a similarly anonymous area. As Cassius and Indavara walked through the streets, Antioch seemed to reawaken after the quiet of noon. Glancing to the right, they caught glimpses of crowds and the grand buildings at the city’s heart.