by David Adkins
“Why are you asking me? I hope you are not accusing me of anything.” He turned defensive.
“I am not, but this is very important and I am asking you because you always seem to know what is going on.”
He thought for a moment. “There have been a few recent newcomers in the tangled web we weave but I do not wish to get one of my fellow guards into trouble.”
“You will not get anyone into trouble, I promise you that,” I assured him.
“Macer smuggled a new girl in last night but she had blonde hair. Cetius, our great lover, brings in a new girl almost every week and the last one was dark haired. Felix, much to my surprise, has also recently found himself a dark-haired beauty. These are the only recent new female acquisitions to the palace love and sex cycle that I know about.”
“It seems that I need to first speak with Cetius and Felix and see if that meets with any success,” I mused.
“You know the store room at the far end of the barracks?”
“I know it,” I said, surprised.
“You may know or not know that a couple of months ago it was transformed into a temporary love nest. The adaption has worked quite well.”
“I did not know,” I gasped.
“I think you may find Cetius in there now with company for the courtesans do not always arrive under cover of darkness, but if you think it indelicate to interrupt then you can always speak to Felix first, who is on duty at the gate.”
“I will speak with Cetius first and you can come with me.”
“It is nothing to do with me,” he groaned.
“If he is with Glyca then she is dangerous and would need to be restrained. Pick up your weapon and come with me.”
Cyprian reluctantly got to his feet, picked up his gladius, and followed me as I strode through the barracks until I came to the door of the store room. I knocked loudly. “Open this door now, Cetius,” I ordered. I could hear scrambling sounds coming from within and the door slowly opened a few inches.
Cetius peered through the gap. “What do you want, Hylas?”
“You have a woman in there. Tell her to put some clothes on for I wish to see her.”
He swore under his breath. “What the hell for? We are busy.”
“Just do it now and do not argue or I shall fetch Macro. I am sure you would rather deal with me than Macro,” I threatened.
He grumbled some more. “Wait a moment.” He closed the door and went inside. A few minutes later the door opened wide and I was looking at a half-dressed woman I had never seen before.
“Thank you, Cetius. You may now resume doing whatever it was you were doing.”
I heard another curse and the door slammed shut. I looked at Cyprian and shrugged. “That was not Glyca.”
I next went to see Felix at the gate. He was on duty with a fellow guard called Vinicius and they were both looking bored; gate duty was well known for its tedium. “Take a break, Vinicius, and I will take over from you for half an hour.”
“That is good of you, Hylas,” he said, smiling. He had not expected to receive this short but welcome break.
I sat down next to Felix. “I hear you have a new girlfriend you have smuggled into the palace.”
He looked at me warily. “Is that any business of yours, Hylas?”
“It is if her name is Glyca,” I replied.
“Her name is Lucilla.”
“Describe her to me,” I requested.
“She has a very beautiful face and dark hair. Why do you want to know?”
“Is she slim and of medium height with a slightly strange sounding Roman accent?”
“She is and she does have an accent I cannot place. What is this all about?”
“Where did you meet her?”
“I met her at the tavern across the road.”
“The one frequented by our guards?” I added.
He nodded. “Do you know her?”
“I think I might. Did she approach you?”
He thought for a moment. “I suppose she did.”
“I might well know her. I think your Lucilla may be a woman called Glyca who is an assassin hired by Marcus Gracchus to eliminate our guest Solanus Fuscus.”
He looked totally shocked and crestfallen. “That cannot be,” he muttered. “That is impossible.”
“Has she entered the palace?”
“A couple of times, and she was last here with me two nights ago.”
“Did she leave the palace?”
“Yes, I saw her leave by this very gate.”
“Did she do or say anything suspicious?” I inquired.
“No, she did not.” He was adamant. “I think you must be mistaken, Hylas. She is sweet and caring.”
“She is a good actress and I know that to my cost. When is she coming back?”
“She will return late this evening.” He still sounded in shock and seemed to be refusing to believe my accusations.
“I want you to know that I am working on the authority of Paulinus. You will be on gate duty again this evening. Make the arrangement to relieve one of the two scheduled to be on duty this evening. After dusk I will be close by the gate and watching. When she arrives take her to the barracks and I will follow so as to get a good look at her. If it is Glyca I will arrest her but if it is not I will leave you to your pleasant evening. There will be another visitor this evening called Aria, who is also coming around dusk, and you will let her in and tell your colleague of her expected arrival. Is that understood?”
“It is,” he looked bewildered at my revelation. The poor fellow was obviously infatuated and I well knew how he felt and how my words must have shaken him. So much so that he did not comment on the imminent arrival of Aria.
*
That evening Felix and another guard named Nepos were on guard duty and I was watching close by in the palace gardens. I was expecting two female visitors after dark and I wondered who would be the first to arrive, Aria or Glyca, though from what Felix had said I felt it was likely to be Aria. It was yet another warm and pleasant evening in this very dry summer and I settled down to wait for events to unfold. I found a comfortable place to sit and watch the gate as dusk fell upon what appeared to be a peaceful and tranquil place. I felt a searing pain to the back of my head as dusk turned to a black void and I slumped to the ground unconscious.
I woke up lying on the bunk in my room and saw the worried face of Aria peering down at me. I moaned softly as I felt the pain in my battered head. I remembered sitting in the palace garden but nothing after that, though I was aware that I must have taken a blow to the back of my head. “What happened?” I asked.
“You tell me. It took a considerable time for me to persuade the guards to let me in and then they wouldn’t let me leave the gate until they had found you. They said that if my story was true then you would have to come and fetch me.”
“Was the guard Felix at the gate?” I asked, fighting the pain in my head.
“I do not think so. I think the names of the two guards were Nepos and Macer. Anyway, another guard found you unconscious in the gardens when he was walking to the gate to have a chat with his colleagues. Two of them helped me to carry you to your room and here we are,” she explained.
“How long have I been here?”
“You have been here a few hours. It is now the middle of the night and there has not been any sign of the fun that you promised me,” she said, smiling.
I did not return the smile. “We have got to find Felix.”
“Who is Felix?”
I tried to sit up. “He is the guard who should have been on duty. He is the guard who should have allowed you entrance to the palace. He is the guard who was expecting the arrival of a woman, probably Glyca. That was why I was waiting in the garden until a blow on the back of my head brought my vigil to a close. I was going to identify her.”
She looked shocked. “You mean Glyca is in the palace?”
She helped to support me as I tried to stand up. “She probably i
s and that is why we need to find Felix and make sure Solanus Fuscus is safe,” I replied.
I struggled to the barracks with help from Aria. Men were asleep on the bunks as I charged in noisily followed by Aria. “Where is Felix? I yelled.
“He is not to be disturbed.” A voice shouted an answer to my question.
“The love room,” I exclaimed.
“What room?” Aria replied.
I rushed through the barracks as fast as I could manage until I stood before the store room. I pushed the door open and Felix was motionless on the bunk. His throat had been cut from ear to ear and his blood was all over him. I rushed out of the barracks as fast as I could manage and raced back across the empty palace gardens in the moonlight towards the grandeur of Domitian’s palace. The pain in my head was severe but I kept going, closely followed by Aria. I knew where Solanus was residing in the palace and that was now my destination. I scrambled upstairs and along corridors and to my relief I saw that there were three guards on duty outside his room; I realized that he must be safe. I slowed down and caught my breath and once again fought against the pain in my head. Aria was alongside me, still offering me her support. “I am fine,” I assured her unconvincingly.
“What are you doing here, Hylas?” Cyprian stood up holding a flagon of wine in his hand.
I looked at it in horror particularly as he was raising it to his mouth. “Stop, don’t drink,” I screamed and went rushing towards him.
He looked startled as I knocked the flagon from his hands and the contents spilled all over the floor. “What are you doing, Hylas? Have you gone mad?”
I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye in the shadows further down the corridor. A figure scuttled out of sight and disappeared around the corner. “Did you see her, Aria? It was Glyca.” I tried to pursue the fleeing figure but fell to my knees. The intense exertion after the head injury had caught up with me.
“Which way did she go?” Aria shouted at me.
“That way,” I pointed and Aria set off in pursuit.
Krymos, one of the guards, suddenly slumped to the floor, paralysed. He had obviously already drunk from the flagon. Cyprian and Laetus, the other guard, were hovering over him wondering what on earth was wrong with him. Solanus Fuscus was suddenly standing at the open door. “Has anybody else drunk from that flagon?” I shouted.
They all shook their heads as Krymos died and I passed out.
*
Once again I was on the bunk in my room when I woke up. This time I had Paulinus, Macro, and Cyprian looking down at me. “Are you feeling better?” Paulinus inquired. “I think you used up too much energy after your head wound and it was all too much.”
“I am. Where is Aria? Did Glyca escape?” I had so many questions.
“Keep calm,” advised Macro. “That is a nasty lump on the back of your head. How exactly did you get it?”
I tried to relax slightly and realized that my head did not hurt quite so much as it had. “I do not know but someone must have crept up on me when I was in the garden. How long have I been unconscious?”
“About an hour. Glyca did escape but I think your friend Aria went after her,” Paulinus informed me. “While I slept and while Macro slept much was going on in the palace and I have two dead guards, presumably murdered by this Glyca.”
“I told you she was dangerous,” I answered. “Is Solanus safe?”
“He is safe, thanks to you. I presume that she attempted to poison the three guards on duty after slitting Felix’s throat. Once the guards had died she would then have tried to slit the throat of Solanus while he slept.” Paulinus shook his head in disgust at the events that had passed in the middle of the night.
“You saved me just as I was about to drink that foul liquid,” said a grateful and relieved Cyprian. “She brought the flagon of wine to us and said it was a gift from Felix to ease the boredom of our all night watch. We were dubious about drinking on duty but she urged us to drink, saying that if we quickly drank a third of the flagon each nobody would see and such a small quantity would have little effect on us. Krymos drank first and then he passed it to me. I would have drunk next and I would have passed it to Laetus but you intervened just in time to save both of us.”
“How did she get into the palace?” asked Paulinus.
“She made a friend of Felix in the tavern across the road and he has been smuggling her into the palace for nights of fun. The first couple of times she was probably checking out the geography and tonight she must have decided to act,” I said grimly.
“Does this go on much?” He looked accusingly at Macro.
“From time to time. I believe the men need a little recreation,” replied Macro nervously.
“Recreation should be suspended when we have a guest in the palace such as Solanus, and do not forget the Emperor also has to be protected. We will look into this later.”
Macro nodded, looking subdued.
“You said that Aria went after Glyca,” I said.
“Another woman in the palace.” He sighed. “Yes, Nepos at the gate reported that Glyca left and a few minutes later she was followed by your accomplice, Aria. He let them both leave without questions because he thought they were simply departing after entertaining members of the guard.”
“Did any of the guard go after them?” I asked.
“No, it was too late to try and follow them into the heart of the city because they had too good a start.”
“I must go and find Aria,” I said, and started to rise.
“There are still a few hours before dawn. I suggest, Hylas, that you rest and try to sleep and then, if you feel strong enough, at daybreak you can go in search of Aria and hopefully find Glyca as well. I want this woman, this assassin, and I hold Gracchus responsible for the deaths of two of my guards.”
I started to protest but Macro interrupted. “You can do nothing now, Hylas. Wait for morning.”
“I will come with you,” added Cyprian. “Felix was a friend and he was butchered by a woman he was infatuated with.”
“No, I will go alone to the gladiatorial school where Aria is training as a gladiatrix. I hope I will find her there and she will have some information for me. I fear for her though, because as I have said all along this Glyca is very dangerous and an efficient assassin.”
They all nodded agreement and left me to try to sleep and recover. It was not easy to sleep; I was worried about my little sister though I knew she could look after herself. I just hoped that she would have taken no unnecessary risks if she had managed to catch up with Glyca.
Chapter 20
I did not get much sleep but at least I had a few hours rest. I then quickly had something to eat and, though my head still ached a little from the blow of the previous night, I was ready to depart the palace soon after daybreak. I was worried about what had happened as Aria pursued Glyca through the moonlit avenues of Rome at night. Had she caught up with her or had she lost her? I made my way quickly down the Via Sacra just as the city was still waking up from its nightly slumber. My head continued to ache but I made good progress and was soon standing before the large iron gates of the gladiatorial school.
I was just about to ask the guards on duty for entrance to the gladiatorial den when the doors opened and there was Aria standing before me. I was very relieved to see that she appeared in good health. “I was just about to come to the palace to see how you were,” she said.
“I have just about recovered,” I assured her. “What happened last night?”
“I chased Glyca out of the palace and pursued her for some time down many narrow alleys south of the palace. In her effort to escape from me she fell very heavily on the cobbles which gave me the opportunity to capture her.”
“You captured her!” I exclaimed.
“Indeed I did, Hylas. I led her by the point of my blade back here to the school.”
I hugged her. “Where is she now?”
“We have some prisons under the barracks normally reserv
ed for errant gladiators and she is languishing in one of them, being looked after by a couple of my gladiatrix comrades.”
“Are you sure you are unhurt, Aria?” I said, still feeling concerned.
“There is not a scratch on me. Glyca fell very heavily on the cobbles and had no fight left in her to put up any resistance.” Aria was obviously feeling pleased with herself.
“Can you take me to her?” I asked.
“Sure, follow me, Hylas.”
I followed Aria across a large courtyard and into the barracks, which were not unlike the ones at the palace for the Praetorian Guard. We then descended some steps and emerged into a gloomy corridor. Within a few minutes we stood before a cell. “Has she been well behaved?” Aria asked the gladiatrix who was guarding her.
“She has not made a sound. Do you wish to go in?” was the response.
Aria nodded and the gladiatrix opened the cell door. Aria drew her dagger from her belt and entered. I paused for a moment before confronting the woman that had poisoned me in Singidunum and then I went in. Glyca was sitting on the floor looking very sorry for herself and clearly in some pain. Her face was bruised and there was hardened blood around her right ear. When she moved she groaned; the fall had obviously bruised her ribs. I stared at the woman who had tried to kill me who seemed to ignore my presence.
“She did have a heavy fall,” I observed.
“I must take the credit for the bruising to her face,” Aria said proudly.
“You beat her.”
“Just a little,” she replied. “She more than deserved it.”
I could hardly disagree. “She certainly did.”
“It was also the start of my efforts to make sure that she testifies against Marcus Gracchus, but unfortunately I did not have to try very hard.”
At that Glyca looked up. “I do not know how you still live, Hylas. What she is trying to tell you is that I have offered a deal.”
“Are you in a position to offer a deal?” I asked.
“Certainly I am. You want me to testify that I work for Marcus Gracchus and to tell the court how he hired me to assassinate Solanus Fuscus. I will tell them everything on certain conditions.”