The crossroads brotherhood (vespasian)

by Robert Fabbi

  Cassandros pursed the thumb and fingers of his right hand together and grinned. ‘I just need a bit of oil.’

  Magnus raised his eyebrows. ‘Unbelievable. Well, if that’s our only option we better get to it, it’ll be dawn soon. Have some lads search upstairs to make sure it’s clear and get the rest of them looking for cash and jewellery. Sextus, bring the dead Albanian. Lucio and Marius, you get Blandinus. Cassandros get the oil.’

  As Magnus led his brothers carrying the dead rapist down a corridor overlooking the garden, very similar in set-up to Terentius’ place, he stepped over the occasional body of a whore-boy or one of their masters.

  ‘In here lads,’ he said pushing the door to the last room open. It caught on the dead weight behind it but with a little additional effort he managed to slide it back far enough to slip inside. He pulled the body of its former occupant, lying face down on the floor in a bloody tunic, out of the way. ‘Strip Blandinus and put him kneeling on the bed, then get the Albanian behind him and this dead boy in front of him.’

  As Marius and Lucio removed Blandinus’ tunic and loincloth Cassandros came in with a small jug.

  Before long all the three bodies were lined up on the bed with the boy placed with his back to the wall. Blandinus knelt before him, a trail of saliva trickled from his mouth and he breathed shallowly.

  ‘Alright Cassandros,’ Magnus said pointing to the Albanian lying behind the tribune, ‘get it over with. Lucio, Sextus, hold Blandinus firm.’

  Cassandros smiled and, evidently relishing the prospect, began pouring the oil.

  Magnus turned his attention to other matters. ‘Marius run and tell Servius to get everyone out of here with whatever they’ve got and make sure that boy is still unconscious; give him a wound to the shoulder so it don’t look like he was left on purpose.’

  Marius nodded and left as Blandinus groaned and abruptly tensed, his eyes flicked open as his arms twitched but remained useless. He turned his head groggily to stare unfocused at Magnus.

  ‘Sorry Tribune.’ Magnus crashed his right fist into Blandinus’ face.

  He went limp and a few moments later Cassandros grunted deeply in satisfaction.

  Magnus winced. ‘Good, now stab him then slit his throat and then we can get out of here.’

  Cassandros expression of sexual gratification turned to one of uncertainty.

  Magnus put his hand on his dagger’s hilt. ‘Just do it,’ he hissed as he heard the brothers run down the corridor to the ladders. ‘If you could keep yourself under control you wouldn’t get the shitty jobs.’

  Cassandros took his knife from its sheath and, looking extremely unhappy at the prospect of such coldblooded murder, plunged it, after a slight hesitation, brutally into Blandinus’ naked back. Pulling the knife back out, releasing a flow of dark blood, he moved along the bed and as Lucio and Sextus held the shoulders firm placed the blade to the tribune’s throat and ripped it across. The wound began to gurgle and hiss as the innocent and hapless man started to drown in his own blood.

  ‘Well done brother,’ Magnus said approvingly. ‘That’s your debt paid.’

  Cassandros looked at Magnus wide-eyed and nodded vacantly.

  ‘Let’s go.’

  The brothers did not need to be told twice and immediately ran out of the room. Magnus paused for a final look at the tableau they had left and smiled grimly to himself, hoping that some good would come from this highly unpleasant deed. With a muttered prayer to Fortuna to keep him safe on the way home, he left the room without looking back and ran to the last of the ladders up against the roof in the garden as the first light of dawn stated to warm the eastern sky.

  ‘There you go my friend, that’s almost four hundred,’ Magnus said, slapping three heavy bags of coin down on the table in his back room.

  Aelianus looked greedily at his share. ‘That’s almost double what you guaranteed.’

  ‘We were lucky, they must have had a busy few days. How did the fire go?’

  Aelianus shrugged. ‘The Vigiles managed to save some of the stores because the depot was right next to the Tiber. They ran around for couple of hours pouring water on it until they finally got it under control. One of their tribunes was there putting the fear of death into them, marching up and down, shouting and kicking arses — nasty piece of work. I’m glad he’s not in the Cohort, we wouldn’t get a moment’s peace.’

  ‘But you’re in the clear, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yeah, mate. I was doing my best impression of a quartermaster who considers all the stores as his personal property — which of course they are — and even made a couple of heroic forays into the building to save a few things.’ He showed Magnus a burn on his right forearm to prove the point. ‘I was almost in tears over my loss.’

  Magnus grinned. ‘I bet it was the loss of your ledgers that upset you the most.’

  ‘Too right,’ Aelianus replied solemnly, ‘if only I could have saved them. Now I’ve got no record of what was in there.’

  ‘Or not, eh?’

  ‘Yeah well, you bringing it forward a day meant that there was slightly more in the building than I intended there to be, but this will make up for it.’ Aelinaus patted the bags on the table in front of him as the door opened and Servius stuck his head into the room.

  ‘Senator Pollo has sent a slave to escort you to his house, Brother. Marius and Sextus are waiting for you in the tavern.’

  ‘I’ll be right there,’ Magnus replied, standing to show Aelianus out.

  ‘Give me a shout when you think that we can exploit their moment of madness again, mate,’ Aelianus said hefting his coin bags into a leather satchel.

  ‘Of course,’ Magnus confirmed, gripping his forearm, ‘it’s always good to have someone honest to do business with.’

  Aelianus returned the grip and then, slinging his satchel over his shoulder, walked past Servius with a brief nod and out of the room.

  ‘A useful mate,’ Magnus commented.

  ‘Very,’ Servius agreed. ‘Trustworthy?’

  ‘As much as you or me. On that subject I’ve been thinking about what to do with Aquilina.’

  ‘Don’t trouble yourself Brother, it’s done.’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘I realised that we couldn’t risk her working here when Aelianus told us how persistent she was at asking questions. If Sempronius had any suspicions about what occurred she’d have got it out of one of the lads in no time. Just imagine what Sextus would say if she had him by the cock?’

  ‘That’s the conclusion I came to. Where is she?’

  ‘All over the place.’

  ‘Shame,’ Magnus said walking through to the tavern, ‘she had a pretty smile.’

  The ancient doorkeeper showed Magnus into Gaius’ study. ‘Magnus, my friend, come and sit down. A cup of wine would slip down a treat, I’m sure.’

  Magnus took a seat across the desk from Gaius as his host poured him a full cup of wine and passed it over, unwatered.

  ‘Thank you, Senator,’ Magnus said after taking a gulp. He smiled inwardly as he noticed that it was not the finest of vintages.

  ‘My friend, it’s me that should be thanking you. I had a visit this morning from the Lady Antonia’s steward, a Greek by the name of Pallas. A man of discretion and considerable influence with his mistress, despite his slave status.’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve come across him.’

  Gaius’ moist lips pulled back into an appraising smile. ‘Yes, of course you have. He came to tell me how pleased his mistress is today. Very early this morning, apparently, one of Sejanus’ tribunes, by the name of Blandinus, was found dead after a raid on an establishment close to the Viminal Gate. You might know of it?’

  Magnus shrugged noncommittally.

  ‘Well, the only survivor of the raid, one of the boys, swore that it was men in Urban Cohort uniform that had attacked them. A handcart, with Cohort insignia branded on it left outside and a Cohort sword embedded in the owner of the establishment confirmed to Sejan
us that it was indeed the Cohort who were responsible. As you can imagine that caused rather a stir. Sejanus accused the Urban Prefect of heavy-handed tactics against premises frequented by his officers and the Urban Prefect accused the Praetorians of burning down his Cohort’s depot in mistaken revenge for an act that they didn’t commit.’

  Magnus shook his head slowly. ‘Nasty business.’

  ‘Indeed, but what makes it nastier is that Sejanus did eventually believe the Urban Prefect’s word that they were not involved. He went immediately to the Lady Antonia and accused her of murder; something, Pallas informed me, that she vehemently denied.’

  ‘I can imagine.’

  ‘Yes, so can I. She asked him what grounds he had for such an accusation and the good prefect replied that it was the manner in which Blandinus was found. He said that the raid must have been set up as a screen to disguise the murder.’

  ‘That seems overly fanciful, Senator,’ Magnus observed proffering his cup for a refill.

  Gaius obliged him. ‘According to Pallas, the Lady herself said something along those lines. She then asked Sejanus what was it about the way in which Blandinus was found that had led him to such a bizarre conclusion, at which point the prefect exploded in anger. He almost screamed at her that his tribune had been found with his head languishing in a dead, naked boy’s lap, his throat cut, a stab wound in his back and an easterner’s arm, with its bearded but deceased, trouser-wearing owner still attached to it, hanging out of his backside.’

  ‘What some people get up to, eh?’

  ‘I know. Shocking isn’t it? As you might well expect from a lady of Antonia’s breeding she was appalled by the image and suggested to Sejanus that in future he should spend more time looking to the moral standards of his officers and less time involving himself in the politics of her family.’

  ‘Good advice. Did he take it?’

  ‘Pallas didn’t know because Sejanus stormed out at that point, but he rather doubts it. Still, as the Lady Antonia said after he had taken his leave: “He can’t say that he hasn’t been warned.”’

  ‘Well, the machinations of the powerful are nothing to do with us, eh, Senator?’

  ‘Indeed not Magnus, but I thought that I’d tell you because now that establishment on the Viminal has been closed down I would assume that Terentius’ place will be making a lot more money, a goodly percentage of which will come your way I believe. That should please you tremendously.’

  ‘Yes but Sempronius, my counterpart on the Viminal, won’t be so thrilled.’

  ‘Oh I wouldn’t worry about him. I guessed that might be his reaction so I shared my worry, as your patron, with Pallas, without reference to your name of course.’

  ‘That’s very good of you Senator.’

  Gaius waved his hand airily. ‘Don’t mention it. Pallas has promised that should Sempronius come to the mistaken conclusion that it was not the Cohort who was responsible for his loss of income, then the Lady Antonia will see to it that he is fully compensated. Until, of course, he has set up a new business — she doesn’t approve of whore-boys. The offer will naturally come with a warning to him not to look too deeply into her affairs.’

  Magnus inclined his head acknowledging the favour. ‘That should do it. So no more whore-boys on the Viminal and Sempronius will think that it was either the Cohort or the Lady Antonia. That’s a very satisfactory conclusion, Senator.’

  Gaius beamed. ‘Yes but what makes it even sweeter, from my point of view, is real the reason for Pallas’ visit this morning. It wasn’t just to share idle gossip.’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Apparently the Lady Antonia has been put into such a good mood by all this that she will be inviting me to an intimate dinner in the very near future. Not one of those lavish affairs with scores of guests where one can never get a chance to speak privately to the hostess, just myself and a couple of close friends.’

  ‘A step closer to the consulship.’

  ‘Yes, and a chance to promote my nephews’ careers. They should be arriving any day now.’ Gaius took a self-congratulatory swig of wine and stood up to show that the interview was at an end. ‘Where would we be without patronage, eh Magnus?’

  ‘It makes you wonder, don’t it Senator,’ Magnus said getting up and heading towards the door.

  ‘Before you go, my friend,’ Gaius said, stopping Magnus as he opened it. ‘As I’m sure you’re aware, being a keen supporter of the Greens, there are races tomorrow. I’ll need you and some of your lads to be here soon after dawn to escort me and my clients down to the Circus Maximus.’

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then, Senator,’ Magnus said, stepping out into the atrium and closing the door behind him.

  ‘Having our very own tame senator so close to Antonia has to be a good thing surely?’ Servius said, shaking the dice cup vigorously.

  ‘I wouldn’t call him tame,’ Magnus replied, taking his eye off the street to watch the dice roll across the table. ‘Ah, two threes and a two. Eight. Double it, Brother.’ He slammed four sesterces down and scooped up the dice in his cup. ‘Like all rich men he just wants more power and more wealth.’

  ‘And poor men don’t?’

  Magnus grunted, acknowledging the point, as he made his cast. ‘Pluto’s balls, four, three, one. Eight again. And anyway, being in Antonia’s favour may be lucrative but along with that comes some high expectations. He’ll have to work hard to maintain his position with her and that will mean some rough jobs for us.’

  A raucous shout of satisfaction from the crowded table next to them indicated a large pot had been won. Lucio snapped his fingers under a glum-looking Cassandros’ nose and Sextus chortled, slapping his palm on the bench, as Jovita stepped out of the tavern carrying two plates of roasted pork and bread.

  ‘We can afford to take on a few new faces with what we got last night plus the extra income that’s sure to come from Terentius, that should help,’ Servius pointed out, taking his turn. ‘Twelve! Double it again.’

  Jovita placed the food on the table as Magnus matched the bet. ‘Festus has slipped back into unconsciousness again,’ she said wiping the grease off her hands onto her tunic, ‘and the wound’s started to ooze. There’s nothing more I can do.’

  ‘Call for a proper doctor, then,’ Magnus said, shaking the dice cup. ‘We owe it to him and it ain’t as if we can’t afford it.’

  Jovita nodded and walked off.

  Magnus slammed the cup upside down on the table, keeping the dice hidden. ‘What about Tigran and his cousin? They did well last night and they’ve got nothing, so they’d be loyal if we give them a chance.’

  ‘They ain’t citizens.’

  ‘We’ll give them less of a percentage then, like auxiliaries, if you take my meaning?’ Magnus lifted the cup slightly towards him, peered under and cracked it back down. ‘Shit! Fortuna spent the last of my luck last night.’

  Servius scraped his winnings towards him. ‘Then I can’t see a problem. I’ll send one of the lads to find them later.’

  ‘Marcus Salvius Magnus.’

  Magnus looked up to see Terentius standing at the end of the table, holding a purse.

  ‘I’ve come to thank you for looking after my interests,’ he said placing the purse in front of Magnus, ‘and to assure you that I won’t tell anyone what I know about the events of last night.’

  ‘That would be wise, for both our sakes, Terentius.’ Magnus pushed the purse back. ‘There’s no need to pay me, it was covered by your percentage.’

  ‘This isn’t a payment, Magnus. This was Blandinus’ purse that he brought to spend with me yesterday. It would be wrong for me to keep it. I’ve heard how he was found and I’m sorry that I was, in a way, responsible.’

  ‘Yeah well, that’s the thing about patronage, it goes both ways and you never get something for nothing not even if you’re the emperor.’

  Terentius nodded, smiling sadly. ‘Still, one good thing came out of Blandinus’ death: that bastard Macro has
got his wish, he’s taken Blandinus’ position. I shan’t be missing that particular Tribune patrolling our streets. Keep the purse.’

  Magnus picked it up and felt its weight. ‘Perhaps I’ll use it for what it was intended for and spend it in your house.’

  ‘You’ve no need to bring any money if you visit me. As I’ve always told you: you can have the run of my establishment for free.’

  ‘I know, Terentius my friend; but as we all know, no one gives something for nothing.’

  Terentius inclined his head, turned gracefully and walked away.

  ‘Are you really thinking of giving that a try?’ Servius asked, taking a mouthful of pork.

  ‘Why not? Don’t judge it until you’ve tried it and besides, change pleases. And it would be on Blandinus.’ Magnus grinned and tipped out the coins onto the table. His eyes widened in surprise. ‘That’s forty Denarii or so.’

  ‘Blandinus must have been planning quite a night.’

  ‘Yeah. And Terentius must be feeling very bad about him to give up that amount of money.’

  ‘Strange morals for a whore-boy master.’

  Magnus looked up and watched Terentius walking away along the Alta Semita. ‘Very strange,’ he agreed as a party of travellers on horseback followed by a litter, coming towards him, caught his eye. He picked up the dice and threw them. ‘Three sixes, Venus. Fortuna’s back with me.’ He looked over to his brothers still playing dice on the table next to him. ‘I’ll do this one lads, they’ve got guards and a litter; I’d say that they could well afford our services. Stay alert.’

  He studied the party as they approached. Behind three mounted guards rode an equestrian in his mid-fifties flanked by what looked to be his two sons. He was talking animatedly with the youth riding on his right who had a look of awe on his round, sun-tanned face as he looked about.

  Getting up off the bench, Magnus timed his walk so that he got between the party and their guards and stood, full-square, in front of the leading traveller’s horse, forcing it to stop. Magnus looked up at the man, his face set hard and menacing. ‘You’ll be needing protection, sir, if you’re thinking of going down that road.’