‘You know perfectly well why, if indeed you were even in bed after what you’ve been plotting this evening.’
‘Plotting, my dear prefect? You’ll have to enlighten me. I’ve spent the evening with my secretary Caenis, writing letters.’
‘You lying bitch, she was a prisoner at Livilla’s house and you sent a rescue party there to free her.’
‘If that were true how would you be able to prove it without admitting that you and Livilla kidnapped her in the first place? I am sure that the Emperor would be very interested to know why you and my daughter would want to take Caenis prisoner.’
‘Three of my men are dead.’
‘That, prefect, is nothing to do with me. As I have told you, I was writing letters with my secretary all evening – unless you would prefer your version of events to reach the Emperor’s ears? Do you feel strong enough yet to admit to the Emperor that you are still having an affair with Livilla, an imperial princess, sister of the great Germanicus, whom Tiberius has already forbidden you to marry knowing that if you did it would make you a possible heir to him and therefore his rival? I think not, Sejanus. Now leave.’
‘You’ve not heard the last of this. I saw one of your murderers this evening and if I ever find him I shall use all means possible to link him to you.’
‘An empty threat, prefect, it would still prove nothing.’
‘That may be so, but it won’t stop me enjoying it.’ He hit the door in his frustration, which without much weight behind it opened a fraction.
‘Locked, you say? Well, it seems to be mysteriously unlocked now.’
Caligula signalled Sabinus and Vespasian to stay behind the door and walked around it. Sejanus grabbed Caligula’s ear in the dim light of the doorway and pulled him roughly to his knees.
‘What have we here then? A little spy?’
‘Ow! Get your hands off me, you bastard.’
‘That, Sejanus, as you should well know, is my grandson, Gaius Caesar Germanicus. You would do well to let him go immediately and ask him to forgive an assault on a member of the imperial household.’
Sejanus let go of Caligula’s ear as if it were a red-hot iron, gave Antonia a look of utter hatred and stormed off down the corridor. Antonia smiled and then walked into the room and looked behind the door.
‘I thought so,’ she said, seeing Sabinus and Vespasian in the gloom. ‘Out you come.’
The brothers obeyed, looking extremely sheepish.
‘Well, I suppose you heard all of that?’
‘Yes, Grandmother; and I thought that you dealt with him brilliantly.’
‘I said that it would be a galling experience for him and I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, Vespasian, you are definitely not safe. If he were to catch you, you would be wishing for death throughout the long days of life that he would ensure remained to you.’
Vespasian blanched slightly. ‘I’d better go north, then; has Asinius fixed my appointment?’
‘I shall find out in the morning. Now I really am going to bed, as should you, gentlemen. Goodnight to you all.’ With that she disappeared off down the corridor.
Vespasian closed the door of his room, sat down on the bed and assessed his situation. He needed to be out of Rome for a good while until Sejanus’ image of him faded. Four years’ military service should do it, but that would be four years with no chance of seeing Caenis; but she was a forlorn hope anyway and he would do better to forget her. Four years should be long enough to do that as well.
His mind made up, he stripped, pulled back the blanket, got into bed and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the roar of the wind outside. There was a knock on the door.
‘Who is it?’ he asked.
The door opened and Vespasian took a sharp intake of breath. ‘Caenis, what are you doing here?’ He felt his mouth go dry.
‘My mistress said that I should come and thank you for what you did this evening.’ She approached the bed.
‘Well, that’s good of you, but you already thanked us all earlier,’ he replied, his heart pounding causing his voice to shake slightly.
She sat down at the end of the bed. ‘I know, but my mistress said that I should come and really thank you.’
‘Oh, I see,’ he said in a thin voice.
He’d had women before, quite a few in fact, but they’d always been slave girls owned by either his parents or grandmother. Slave girls who could not say no for fear of punishment. Caenis was different. She was a slave girl, yes, but she was also the first person who made him feel intoxicated by just thinking of her. He wanted her more than anything but he was not going to have her against her wishes; and her mistress had ordered her to come to him.
Caenis slipped her loose tunic over her shoulders exposing the exquisite breasts that he’d caught sight of at dinner. He felt his scrotum tighten and the blood rushing to his groin.
‘Caenis, you mustn’t,’ he whispered.
‘Why not?’ she asked, standing up so that the tunic fell to her ankles. In the dim light of the single oil lamp he could see the gentle roundness of her belly, the smooth curve of her hips and delicate softness of her labia, plucked clean of all hair. She stepped out of her tunic and came closer.
‘Because I don’t want you to do anything against your will,’ he replied breathlessly.
‘Who said that I’m here against my will?’ She sat on the bed next to him and put a hand on his chest.
‘Antonia ordered you to come.’
‘My mistress did suggest that I come and thank you, but she also gave me permission to stay. I am her property; I would not give myself to you without her consent, but now I have that I want nothing more than to be with you tonight.’
She moved her hand down across his stomach and over his erection and smiled. ‘Mmm, I think that you too are willing to give your consent.’
He raised a hand and gently brushed the back of it over her nipples; she shivered involuntarily and sighed with pleasure.
‘I do give my consent,’ he murmured, putting his hand behind her head and bringing her closer. Her fingers tightened around his penis and she looked into his eyes.
‘Vespasian, you are beautiful,’ she whispered.
‘So are you, Caenis.’
He smiled at her and, stroking her thick, perfumed hair, pulled her into a kiss that he felt could last for ever.
CHAPTER XIV
Vespasian awoke after a brief but rejuvenating sleep. The wind had died down and it had stopped raining. He felt the warmth of Caenis’ body lying next to him and turned on his side to admire her beauty in the thin dawn light. He ran his hand over her back and on to her buttocks, cupping one gently, letting his fingers probe the warm crevice between them. She moaned softly and then resumed breathing quietly. Thinking that he would wake her in the lover’s favourite way he nuzzled the side of her neck with his mouth and worked his fingers lower. She turned and put an arm around him and, drawing herself closer, kissed him on the mouth. Opening her eyes she looked at him with love.
‘How did you sleep?’ she asked gently, then she suddenly looked around the room and sat up. ‘Minerva! My mistress will be furious.’ She jumped out of bed and pulled on her tunic.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s way past dawn, I should be attending to my mistress, laying out dresses for her to choose from for the day and getting things ready to do her hair.’
‘Shall we see each other before I go?’ Vespasian asked, realising that it could be four years before he saw her again.
‘I don’t know, but even if we do we won’t be able to talk.’ She gazed at him with eyes so full of love that he felt his heart stutter. ‘I will wait for you, Vespasian. Who knows but in four years, if I work hard for my mistress, I may be freed; she is not ungenerous.’
‘But Augustus set the minimum age limit for freeing a slave at thirty.’
She stepped into her shoes and leant over to the bed; she kissed him briefly but passionately. ‘I know, but I live in hope that the law doesn’t always apply to the people in power.’ She stroked his cheek. ‘I must leave now.’