'Will you join us?' asked Trebonius.
Brutus chewed his lip. Beside him, Fabiola scarcely dared breathe.
Marcus Brutus pushed back his chair and stood. 'Our ancestors rid this city of its last tyrant. Now the time has come to repeat that painful task. It is our duty to be part of it,' he declared.
There was a long silence.
Fabiola burned to say something, to persuade Brutus of their righteousness, but she held back. Much as she wanted him on board, this was his decision alone. The others knew that too – she could feel it – but would her lover's strong moral sense win out over his fierce loyalty to Caesar?
Marcus Brutus extended his right hand. 'What do you say?'
There was the slightest pause, and then Brutus took his cousin's grip. 'Count me in. For the good of the Republic.'
A combined sigh of relief filled the air. Fabiola's was loudest of all. At this late stage, the conspirators could not allow their cover to be blown. If he'd refused, Brutus would have signed his own death warrant.
'When is it to happen?' Brutus enquired.
'Tomorrow,' replied Marcus Brutus. 'Where the Senate meets.'
To his credit, Brutus barely blinked. 'I see,' he said. 'Caesar is ill, though. Are you sure he'll attend?'
'He might need some convincing,' admitted Longinus. 'We were just wondering who could visit him in the morning.'
'I'll do it,' Brutus offered.
'You're sure?'
He nodded firmly.
'Good,' said Marcus Brutus with a smile. 'The rest of us will assemble at the Senate early. We've got a good reason too – Longinus' son is to assume the toga tomorrow.'
'Should we attack him the moment he arrives?' mused Basilus.
'I think not. We don't want members of the public to see it happen,' interjected Longinus. 'Let the tyrant descend from his litter and make his way inside.'
'I'll go in close,' volunteered Cimber, a former Republican. 'Request he allow my brother back to Italy.'
'We can surround him, all pleading the same case,' added Marcus Brutus. 'Allay any suspicions he might have.'
'Then produce our weapons,' said Longinus with an evil grin. Opening the long wooden case for his stylus, he produced an ivory-handled dagger and thrust it forward viciously. 'Finish the job.'
Everyone's gaze was drawn to the oiled blade, but not one man spoke against their intended course.
'What about Antonius?' asked Brutus a moment later. 'He's not likely to stand by while Caesar is slaughtered. Should we kill him too?'
Longinus' eyes narrowed. 'Why not? He's such an arrogant bastard.'
'Good idea,' agreed Galba. 'Gods know how he'll respond if we don't.' Antonius' fierce temper was renowned throughout Italy.
Thank you Mithras, thought Fabiola, delight filling her. I will be rid of two monsters at one stroke.
'No,' declared Marcus Brutus loudly. 'We are not a band of common thieves. This is being done for the Republic. Once Caesar is dead, free elections can be held and the Senate will be able to run matters as it always has. Antonius will not argue with that.' He glanced around the room, daring anyone to challenge him. Few had the willpower to hold his gaze for long.
'If you're sure,' said Longinus, looking doubtful.
'I am,' growled Marcus Brutus. 'So we need someone to distract Antonius – detain him outside maybe.'
'I can do that too,' Brutus offered.
'You don't want to be in on the act itself?' asked Marcus Brutus.
'Killing Caesar might be the best thing to do, but that doesn't mean I actually want to stick a knife in him,' said Brutus.
'No,' his cousin agreed. 'Fair enough.'
'Hold on,' frowned Trebonius. 'You and Antonius hate each other's guts.'
'Exactly,' Brutus retorted with a smug look. 'It's time to kiss and make up.'
Longinus swore. 'Antonius will never forgive you when he discovers why you did it.'
Brutus laughed sourly. 'Do I care? He'll have to live knowing that he might have saved Caesar if I hadn't stopped him.'
Fabiola suddenly realised the damage that her dalliance with Antonius had done to her lover. He was good at hiding it, except at moments like this. She moved her hand to touch his. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered.
Brutus gave her a small nod, which eased Fabiola's pain a fraction. Expert at reading his emotions, she could see that he was still torn by his decision to join the conspirators. His anger at Antonius was in part a knee-jerk reaction to this. Things were moving too fast for him to stop and think, though.
'It is agreed then. My cousin will persuade Caesar to attend the Senate, and then he'll also distract Antonius,' said Marcus Brutus, pressing on. 'When the tyrant enters, Cimber will approach him first, imploring clemency for his brother. The rest of us will close in, adding to the clamour.'
'What signal should we use for it to begin?' asked Longinus. 'A special word, perhaps?'
'I'll pull his toga off his shoulder,' announced Casca, a stout man with a red face. 'To give us more of a target.'
Growls of approval left the nobles' throats. Euphoric that her long-held dream was about to be realised, Fabiola closed her eyes and thanked Mithras and Jupiter from the bottom of her heart. Mother will be avenged. Tomorrow.
What of Romulus, her inner voice suddenly asked. What if he's right and you're not?
Ruthlessly, Fabiola shoved the thought away. She would countenance only one possibility: Caesar was the guilty one, and tomorrow he would pay.
Chapter XXVII: The Ides of March
At first Romulus thought he would go straight to the Lupanar to have it out with Fabiola. After his initial shock had abated, a cold fury had swept his soul at her boldness. He had to admit that it was unsurprising that his sister had the courage to carry on with her plan. Their mother had to have been immensely strong to survive the life of torment she'd led, and her blood flowed in Fabiola's veins just as it did in his. Velvinna had been trying to do her best for them, and Romulus doubted that he could have endured what she had. Yet his twin had done so for years by constantly having sex with men against her will. Fabiola had eventually done well from prostitution, but that didn't mean that it hadn't caused her irreparable damage. Maybe that was where her ruthless streak came from. Plotting her revenge must have been the only way Fabiola had managed to survive, Romulus concluded.
In his mind, it still didn't excuse planning to murder the Republic's leader. Without Caesar admitting to Velvinna's rape, how could Fabiola really know? She couldn't, and Romulus simply wasn't prepared to murder a man on a hunch, especially when it was the person who had granted him manumission. If at all possible, he wasn't going to let his sister and a gang of disgruntled nobles do so either.
Romulus decided that it was too risky approaching Fabiola at this late stage. If she was prepared to take the final step of killing Caesar, then she wouldn't let him stop her. The heavies outside the Lupanar didn't give a damn who he was. He didn't want to end up with his throat slit. Damping down his anger, Romulus resolved to take Tarquinius' advice and visit Caesar's palatial domus early the next morning. He would make no mention of Fabiola. Romulus didn't want his twin executed. He would deal with her later himself.
Returning to the veterans' residence, he went looking for Secundus. The one-armed ex-soldier was the Pater of the Mithraeum, which meant that he was the leader of more than fifty hardbitten men who'd served in the legions for many years. In his brief time there, Romulus had come to like the pensive, middle-aged figure who often listened rather than spoke. When Secundus did open his mouth, his words were invariably wise, which reminded him of Tarquinius. Romulus had not been surprised to find that the two knew each other from the past. He found Secundus in the large courtyard, enjoying the watery spring sunshine.
'Well met.' Secundus smiled. 'Is Tarquinius with you?'
'No,' Romulus replied awkwardly. 'I left him at the temple on the Capitoline.'
Secundus raised an eyebrow.
Romulus let it all out. Seeing the hen's blood and feathers moving east, but learning little else from it. The kid he'd bought. Tarquinius' alarm at what he saw in its liver.