The Skystone

by Jack Whyte

  Plautus smiled and shook his head. “You look bad enough normally to frighten a child, but you’re going to be appalling when you’re bald.”

  I grimaced. “Sorry I ruined your furlough.”

  “You didn’t. That other whoreson did. What was it you called him? A whore’s spawn?” He laughed. “You got your sexes mixed up, but not as badly as him.”

  I blinked, wondered, and said nothing.

  XIV

  I had been partially correct in my assessment of the reaction of the Senecas, but they did not hire just any group of soldiers to search for us; they hired the Roman army. For a week after our unexpected early return to Colchester nothing happened, and we said nothing to anyone except Equus. Then, leaving my house early one morning to go to the smithy, I was abducted. I remember a cloth of some description being thrown over my head and arms pinioning me, and then nothing.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on a couch in the private living quarters of Antonius Cicero, commander of the military district. I did not know where I was at first, but Cicero himself was standing over me in full uniform. I blinked at him, surprised.

  “Cicero?”

  He nodded in acknowledgement. “Varrus. How do you feel?”

  How did I feel? Confused. I moved to sit up and my head informed me immediately that it, at least, felt far from well. Wincing and groaning, I managed to struggle up.

  “What happened to me? Where am I? What’s going on?”

  “Here, drink this.” He handed me a cup of something hot and steaming. “You are in my quarters. You are in custody.”

  I took the brew, making no attempt to drink it. “In custody? For what? Are you serious? In custody for what offence? On whose authority?”

  “Deadly serious. I authorized it. You are here under arrest.”

  Wonderful! My head was pounding. I reached up tentatively and found a very painful area at the base of my skull.

  “Did they have to hit me so hard? What is this? Am I considered too dangerous to simply approach and take into custody? What am I supposed to have done?”

  He turned and walked away from me, picking up another steaming mug from a table and seating himself in a chair opposite me. From there, he looked at me in silence for a while as he sipped from his cup. I waited. Finally he spoke.

  “What would you say if I told you a story about a brutal and unprovoked attack on an important visitor to Britain? A young man who had come here to visit his family — his very powerful family — and who was engaged in the personal business of the Emperor at the time of this attack? What if I were to add that this young man is not only a senator and a friend of the Emperor but one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the entire Empire, and that his immediate family, his brothers in particular, rank among the most senior officers of the army in Britain? What would you say if I were to tell you that this man was savagely attacked and mutilated, here in my jurisdiction, less than fifty miles away in a common mansio, in broad daylight, while on a visit to some equally wealthy and august, although slightly more distant, relatives? Tell me, Varrus, how would you respond?”

  I was gingerly touching the bump on the base of my skull, but my mind was racing. Unconvincingly, I tried prevarication.

  “What kind of response do you want? What are you talking about, apart from far too much power and influence?”

  “Don’t be facetious, Varrus, you know what I’m talking about. I want an answer.”

  “To what? My skull is coming apart. I didn’t hear the half of what you were saying. Tell me again.”

  I drank the warm beverage — a spiced wine — while he repeated himself. I grimaced.

  “I would say you might be in trouble indirectly, because this happened within your military district, but I cannot see how you can be held accountable for every madman in the country. Unprovoked assault and mutilation of a senator? Whoever would do such a thing would have to be insane. What does this have to do with me?”

  “Drink up, Publius, and I’ll tell you.” He sipped again at his own spiced wine before continuing. “This entire town is being turned upside down at this moment in a search for a grey-haired, grey-bearded man with a pronounced limp. A very strong man. The search is being conducted from house to house by a cohort of the Emperor’s own Household Troops from Londinium. They arrived here yesterday, late in the afternoon, and their Commander was here in this room last night, informing me of his mission and formally requesting my permission for his men to search the town. His orders are to find this man, no matter how long it takes or how far his search may take him.”

  “Oh. I see. Do they have a name for this man?”

  “No. No more than a description.”

  “Who was the man he attacked?”

  “Caesarius Claudius Seneca.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is that all you have to say?”

  “What else is there? You arrested me because of the description.”

  “That, and the fact that I knew you were in that area when the attack occurred, accompanied by my own primus pilus, who just happens to fit the description of the second man perfectly.”

  “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, coordinating 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 provoc
ation. 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.”

  “You trust him that much? Equus?”

  I smiled. “Implicitly. Until today there were only three men in whom I would ever have dreamed of placing complete trust: Equus, Plautus and Caius Britannicus. Now you have made it four.”

  “Hmmm. You place me in fine company. Thank you. When will you go?”

  “Soon, but not too soon. The hunt is at its height right now. I’ll wait for it to die down. Perhaps two weeks, no more. Much less, if Primus Seneca comes here. If he does, I’ll leave immediately.”

  He made a coughing sound deep in his throat. “Very well, then, you shall stay here in the fort until the Household Troops leave Colchester. That should be by tomorrow or the following day, since they will hunt for you in vain. Stay here in my personal quarters. I’ll have Plautus fix up a campaign cot for you in the other room. But you’ll have to stay out of sight until I give you the word to emerge, and Leo will remain at your house until then, too.”

  I bent my head to him in agreement and acknowledgement of his generosity.

  I spent only one night in his quarters, for the Emperor’s Household Troops left the following morning. Tonius informed me that they had visited my house and had accepted Leo as me, and as too old and feeble to be their man. They had also dismissed Equus as a potential culprit because he was too big and fair-haired to fit the description of the second man they sought.

  I spent the next two weeks making preparations for my journey to the west, and left a small bar of silver with my name on it in Cicero’s possession so that he could use it to substantiate my death if and when his men ever found a suitable corpse My last will and testament was brief and to the point, and this, too, I left in his possession. It read:

  Since the occasion of the night attack on Caius Britannicus, when I could have lost my life without preparation or warning, I have thought much about dying. I am aware that, in the event of my death, my friend and partner, who is known to the world as Equus, would have no way of demonstrating that the smithy we operate together is rightfully and legally his property, since I would have no further use for it and am without heirs. If and when I die, if Equus remains alive, the smithy and all it contains belong to him, to deal with as he sees fit.

  I leave this document for safekeeping in the hands of my noble friend Antonius Cicero, Military Governor of this District.

  Gaius Publius Varrus

  Three days before I was due to leave, I went into my weapons room and took down my grandfather’s great African bow from the wall. It measured five and a half feet from tip to tip unstrung.

  I had made several strings of gut for it, and a sheaf of arrows from the straight stems of young spruce trees. These I had shaved and then dried in the forge, tying them first tightly together in bundles so that they would not warp in the proce
ss of drying. Equus had been surprisingly knowledgeable about the art of flighting arrows, and had spent hours working on them, lovingly splitting the ends of the shafts and gluing lengths of eagle pinions into place. The finished arrows were just about a full arm’s length long and were tipped with the finest iron barbs, made in my own forge.

  The bow itself was a composite of three layers of wood, horn and sinew, with the wood in the middle and the sinew on the outer curve. At first, in spite of my smith’s arms, I had been unable to pull it, but Equus had shown me the trick of how it was done, and my arms had soon adapted to the unusual muscular tensions required. Once I had mastered the knack of controlling it, I found that the weapon could throw an arrow hard enough to pierce a tree at almost two hundred paces.

  In the two weeks since the Seneca incident I had not drawn the bow, but I decided to take it with me on the road — the bow, my skystone dagger and a serviceable sword made by my own hand.

  I bought three fine horses from the garrison, two for riding and the third for packing my gear. The sale was strictly illegal, of course, but my friends in the fort, Cicero and Plautus, agreed that, as a former primus pilus and a valued supplier, I was entitled to arrange a long-term “rental.”

  Finally, on a beautiful day in late autumn, I was ready to set out on my journey. A squadron of light cavalry would escort me for the first third of the way, from Colchester to Verulamium, where they were to relieve a detachment who had been on extended duty in that town. Equus bade me farewell at the smithy, and Plautus met me there and rode back with me to the fort to pick up my escort. As he wished me Godspeed he grinned, more to himself than to me, and I was intrigued.

  “What are you grinning about?”

  Plautus’ grin grew wider. “Oh, mere passing thoughts,” he said. “Give my love to Phoebe.”

  “Phoebe? What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ll be going through Verulamium, won’t you? Give her a stab for me.”