"Plautus." I went cold with dread. "Where is he now?"
"He is where he should be. Out on the streets of the town with the Household Troops, co-ordinating the search."
I took a deep swallow of the spiced wine to cover my confusion. "I don't understand."
"Why not? It's very simple." He stood up and walked to the door of the room, opening it casually and looking out into the passageway in both directions before closing it firmly behind him and returning to his seat.
"Plautus told me the entire story this morning. I could not think of a safer place for him than co-ordinating the search in his official capacity, in full uniform. You were the one I had the problem with." He shook his head.
"Good God, Varrus. It's one thing to get angry at a man, but did you have to carve your initials on his chest? Knowing he was a Seneca? How would it look for Caius Britannicus if you were charged with this crime? It would put him on a par with Primus Seneca — someone who hires assassins to do what he dares not do himself. Caius would not thank you for that." I was abashed. His assessment was absolutely accurate and, until that point, it had not occurred to me that I had endangered the Commander's reputation. I took refuge in truculence.
"He's not a man, " I muttered, "he's a sick animal. And it was just one letter, 'V. ' It stands for Vae Victis. Don't you think that appropriate? That he should carry that warning — Woe to the conquered?" There was silence for a few moments, until I continued. "But you are right. It was unforgivably stupid of me. I acted without thinking."
"Hmmm. Anyway, you are safe for now. They will not look for you here."
"No? I'm not so sure, Tonius. If they search and ask questions, they'll find out about me — where I work, where I live."
He stood up abruptly. "That has been taken care of. They will find you and they will dismiss you. You were brought here unconscious in a covered cart under escort. The escort were all men trusted by Plautus. They will keep quiet. Nobody else saw you. Your partner at the smithy has been forewarned to send the searchers to your house. There they will find Publius Varrus. They will question him, and they will leave him alone."
"What? How?"
He smiled for the first time. "Have you ever met Leo, my major-domo?" I shook my head, mystified. He smiled. "You will. He has been with me since I was born. Before that, he served my father all his life. He is an old man — grey-haired, grey-bearded and crippled in his left leg, just like you. But he is too old now, and too feeble, to be capable of the crime you are being sought for. Today he is being Publius Varrus, in your house. "
I was amazed. "Why?" It was the only question I could frame, and it covered a hundred things.
He smiled again. "As you said, a man would have to be insane to do what you are accused of doing, without provocation. I know you. And I know Plautus. I do not know young Seneca, but from all I have heard of him, he is insane, and he is an animal."
"Let's not malign animals. That man's a monster."
"Exactly. So, he will not find you, nor will he find Plautus, and he will soon have to take his monstrous anger and his power back, all unsatisfied, whence he came. He is on a mission for the Emperor, apparently, and that means he has little time for seeking personal vengeance. In the meantime, you will have to stay here for a week or so."
"A week?"
"At least. Until this nonsense is over and forgotten. I'm sorry about your head, but I had little choice. No way of knowing who else is in the streets out there, spying for Seneca. He has offered gold for your capture. There was no time to tell you anything, or to argue with you. I wanted to get you here unseen. That seemed to be the quickest and safest way."
I shook my head carefully. "So be it. I'm grateful, and deeply in your debt, Antonius Cicero. What now?"
He grinned at me this time. "Now you will meet a woman I know. She does magical things for women, and she is going to do the same for you."
I squinted at him warily. "What kind of things?"
''She will transform you. She will change the colour of your hair and your beard to blond, then shave off most of your beard, leaving you with long Celtic moustaches. She will also darken your skin. By the time she has finished with you, not even Equus will recognize you."
I rose to my feet and began to move around the room, my aching head forgotten in the urgency of the situation. "No, " I said. "No, Tonius, it won't work. The younger Seneca may not know me, but his eldest brother does, and he is the fox of the family. I have to leave Colchester. I have to get away from here."
"Why? That is ludicrous. My friend will transform you, believe me, Varrus. You will be safe. No one will discover you. She will turn your hair blond, shave off your beard, darken your skin, and we'll bandage your leg. You'll be a veteran officer, a German mercenary, wounded in the northern campaign."
My response was low-pitched as I thought aloud. "Yes, and the trick will be successful for a while. Until they can't find me. And until Primus Seneca remembers that one man who fits the description perfectly is a close comrade of Caius Britannicus, and that he last saw him here in Colchester, with Britannicus, on the occasion when Britannicus accused Seneca publicly of using hirelings to do his killing for him." I felt bitterness welling up in me as I realized the futility of my situation. "No, Tonius, " I continued, "your initial evaluation was correct. I have endangered Caius, and my only hope of salvaging anything from this morass is to remove myself. The Household Troops may be duped by your man Leo, but the ruse will hang together only if I am gone. If Primus Seneca comes back here and finds me, then everything is finished."
He was staring at me in concern. "Then where will you go, Varrus?
Where could you go to be safe from the spies of the Senecas?" I grinned at him, for I had just answered the same question in my mind. "To the west. Britannicus has been forever nagging me to move to his part of the world, to help him start up his Colony when he retires. He has been almost five years in Africa. He should be home soon. When he arrives I shall be there, installed and waiting. In the meantime, no one would suspect that I'd go there in his absence."
Cicero raised his eyebrows and dipped his head to the side in a gesture of acknowledgement. "Well, I suppose you could be right. It seems reasonable. But what about your business? Your smithy?"
"Equus can run it without me. He does that now, most of the time. But you have a point. How long does a man have to be missing to be declared legally dead?"
He was frowning. "That is a strange question. Why do you ask?"
"I think I should die, " I said. "How can we arrange that?" His face went blank as he understood what I was saying, and he remained silent, deep in thought for a long time. "It can be done, " he said at last. "Corpses are found from time to time, and some of them are unrecognizable. I assume that is what you mean?"
I nodded. "If I were to leave you, as a friend, in possession of my will, you would be bound to produce the document upon my death, would you not?" He nodded slowly. "Good. Then I shall write my testament, bequeathing all that I own to Equus as my only heir and my partner. The smithy will then become his in all legality and may not be taken from him. I could also leave you something recognizably mine that could be placed in the possession of a suitable corpse."
He cleared his throat. "Like what?"
"Who knows?" I shrugged. "I haven't even thought about it yet, but we'll find something."
"Varrus, this is highly irregular..."
"Yes, Tonius, and so are the Senecas. This will work. I will disappear, presumed dead. You will find a suitably decomposed body from somewhere and declare my death to be official. It might take months, but that won't matter. Equus, in the meantime, will look after our mutual concerns and join me if he wishes to at a later date when it is safe to do so. In any event, Caius Britannicus will be safe from the calumnies of the Senecas, at least on my account."