The Snake Catcher

by Bilinmeyen

  I turned to look at Antius, and got up.

  The man scrambled out from under the table, frowning, sweating. Two Parthians followed him with their bows, but didn’t shoot. Antius had no place to run into.

  I watched Antius pick up a sword.

  I walked for him, Woden whispering of death, not sated yet with the crops we had sown.

  Antius was gathering up his bravery, begging for the gods to aid him, and the blade cut in the air as he charged. I blocked the swing, and Nightbright slashed to his arm, severing tendons. He whimpered, and bit back the pained sounds as he slumped back at the feet of Sabinus, who was out cold. He was shaking his head weakly, not begging, but lamenting his lack of luck.

  “Speculatore, spy, killer, negotiatore, Gaius Antius Pollio,” I said softly, “who used his brother to write a recommendation letter when he began a new career as a servant to the murdering bitch who killed Drusus. You once told me both me and Gernot were useless bits of gristle, but I think my brother and I have both proven our worth finally.”

  “I suppose you have,” he said weakly. “Everyone makes a few mistakes in their lives.”

  I toed him. “I found the scroll,” I told him. “One written by Kleitos. I sent it to Tiberius as he had asked me to. Do you think he already had a hunch?”

  He shrugged. “Tiberius is dutiful, but not stupid,” he answered. “He knew Iullus and Drusus were friends. Best of friends. Antonia wasn’t happy with her half-brother Iullus, and the affair he had had with Julia. Antonia knew about it, and had hard time forgiving him. That’s why they were estranged. But, Tiberius and Augustus both felt there was more to the whole affair than Iullus’s greed for power. Iullus would have never conspired to kill Drusus. Never. It didn’t add up, not to Tiberius. Not to Augustus either.”

  I was nodding, suddenly tired. “But, Iullus tried to kill Augustus and Tiberius. That was no lie.”

  He sighed. “No, that was no lie. Iullus lost Drusus, and planned on taking the place of Tiberius. Whether he planned on using Julia to restore the Republic, or had changed his mind about restoring the Republic and tried to take Augustus’s place, I know not.” He eyed me disdainfully. “Such a pain in the arse you are, boy. First, you were but a minor pest in the way of Maroboodus, who was to slay Drusus and then elevate the successor to his armies by letting him destroy the Germani. You survived all of that. You attached yourself to Drusus, and fought well.”

  “I did,” I snarled.

  “And still, Drusus died, as planned,” he chortled. “That should have been the end of it. And yet, there was danger to Tiberius. Julia’s conspiracy was dangerous and real. She threatened Tiberius, Hraban, and we only knew Julia was involved, and didn’t know who else. There were so many who could have been guilty. You, our enemy, were the solution. Your father worked for us, but, for some reason, Julia had loved him passionately. It was a good chance she would open her heart to you as well. You were a precious tool to discover which of Julia’s dozen lovers she was conspiring with. Iullus, Hraban, was but one of them. You did well, in the end. Too bad you were so important, for I would have had you killed as soon as possible.”

  “Kleitos tried,” I growled.

  “Kleitos,” he scoffed, “wanted the honor of finding out Julia’s plans on his own. He saw you as a threat, and he was a fool. He tried to kill you twice, before he was told to step down. By then, you already had clamped your teeth on him.”

  “Rochus poisoned him?” I asked him. “To silence him?”

  “Yes,” he said simply. “We killed Marcus as well. Though Eyes was killed by Grim, who wanted out.”

  I swallowed bile. “The scrolls. I went after Kleitos, I found his scrolls, and that’s when you tried to murder me and my friends. You worried so much about the scrolls, or that one scroll, that you tried to kill us all in haste. You tried to kill us all, and failed. I survived, and you had time to think, and decided to keep me alive after all. You found I was still useful when Julia still asked for me. A vengeful, humbler Hraban delivered her and Iullus to you, and Tiberius was safe. And still, there were the scrolls. You sought them for a long time. Tried to find Grim.”

  “Yes,” he said. “We tried to kill you after the scroll debacle. Then, it came clear Grim had them, was playing his own game, and you were still useful. I wish we had killed you after you exposed Iullus.”

  “You should have. I found Grim’s scroll. I sent it to Tiberius.” I wanted to step on his windpipe, but held my murderous intent in check. “The only person I told about the scroll, and what I had done with it was Cassia. I told her alone I’d travel here to find Antius. But, there was one more. There was a small, deaf and dumb girl in the room. A spy, no?”

  “Hraban—”

  “I just want the truth, Antius,” I growled brutally. “Just that. Flower, eh?”

  “Flower,” he answered. “She wasn’t born mute. She lost her tongue when she lied to her previous mistress. She is well trained. Can write. Just one of her spies. She did well.”

  “And Gisil?” I asked.

  “Poor Gisil’s guiltless,” he said softly. “She is like Cassia.”

  “Like Cassia?” I asked him.

  “A mother,” he whispered. “You’ll see.”

  “What about the slave boy of Julia’s?” I asked him. “The one who was killed in the Circus.”

  He shook his head. “He was Livia’s slave, knew about Flower, you see? Her brother. Couldn’t risk you finding out your wife was being spied on by Livia. He was weak, afraid, and could have said anything.”

  I nodded. “What was in the scroll of Kleitos?”

  He rolled his head tiredly, trying to make his fingers move, but they didn’t. He frowned at that and spoke at length. “Kleitos was suspicious, even paranoid. Maroboodus, his turma, Ulrich, Grim, many others on our side were. We all served whom we thought would likely rule Rome next. It was an investment, and a risky one to betray Augustus like this. But, he wasn’t afraid of Augustus. He was afraid of our employer. If the plans succeeded, Kleitos wanted to hold on to something which might save his life, if we began disappearing one-by-one at some stage. I’m sure most of us have written down such a confession. In that scroll, he spoke of what he knew about the death of Drusus, why it was accomplished, why it had been necessary, and the name of the one who ordered it. It was not Iullus, who was after Tiberius and Augustus.”

  I smiled at him as I placed the sword over his gut. He flinched. “In a moment,” I said, “you will go to your gray afterlife. So, now, tell me the rest.”

  “If you mind,” he said respectfully. “Not like him.” He nodded at Istros.

  “My family died,” I said tiredly. “Thousands died. And you ask me for favors?”

  “Yes,” he said, preparing.

  I was nodding, rage burning inside. “Fine. But, now, for the truth. Drusus was killed by someone else than Iullus,” I said with a snarl. “He was slain by someone who wanted her favorite son to take the throne. This lady is a clever one, and my father, you, Adalwulf, Kleitos, and the rest all saw her plans had great merits. Drusus, threat to the world Tiberius was to rule, was killed by a woman of power, a woman of ambition, a woman who married for influence, and a woman who stops at nothing.”

  “Right in all accounts, save for one. She holds Adalwulf hostage,” Antius said fearfully, staring at Nightbright. “She has his child. He and Gisil had one when he came to Rome. She has him. Rochus was just power hungry, but Gisil and Adalwulf are as much victims as you are. She has Cassia, and your child.”

  I cursed him profusely. “And now you think this will save you?”

  He shook his head desperately. “They found them, just after Gernot was caught. The boy will live, obviously. She doesn’t kill for no reason. But, now, you know, and they are in danger. I wish you would have been happy with your lot, Hraban. But, you never were. I know I’m going to die, but so must you, if you wish to keep your family safe.”

  I shook my head. “I have a plan still. Name the bitch,
” I said. “Name the bitch who was willing to kill one son to raise the other. Even Tiberius was so horrified by the truth, he retired and buried himself in silence in the middle of nowhere. Name her, and I let you go easily.”

  He breathed, prepared to die. “Livia”

  I pressed the blade into his heart.

  CAMULODUNUM, ALBION (A.D. 42)

  Togodumnus has decided to abandon Camulodunum. The whole town has been evacuated, youngsters and elders are gone, and bands of thousands of warriors are preparing for war.

  It has finally arrived.

  Roman fleet is preparing and nearly ready, and a swift ship, with a spy, arrived in the city two days ago, and the man told the King how the legions have been practicing boarding the ships.

  We are praying, drawing plans, and it all seems hopeless, as the weather favors the Romans, and there is no storm forthcoming to drown the invader. Claudius is ready, and our time is nigh.

  And so you and I, and a woman I met, my lord, we will flee the army.

  There is space enough to flee into, the lady will guide us, and her son will make sure we won’t get caught. When the time is right, we will stop to ponder our situation.

  But, one thing is certain.

  We will not flee west, to the depths of Albion.

  Instead, we will cross the sea over to the north, if the gods are willing, and make our way where they are not looking for us. You have healed. Now, you will go home. I will see you to the lands of the Cherusci, and there we will find you a place to live in. We shall not tell anyone who you are, and you will serve some lord, and then your life is in your own hands.

  And I shall hide myself in the hills of the north, where we came from. I will go back to Gothonia, cross the northern sea, and find the home I never saw.

  That is the plan.

  Now, as I write in the Codex the Jewish merchant had held in his bag, I will have to draw up the plans very well indeed.

  As for the story, there is much more to tell. And we are nearly out of time.

  Varus destroyed the rebellion. The rebels were divided, and though many would continue making life hard for Rome, most were hunted down and butchered. We returned to Rome, though we made a stop.

  In one and half weeks, in the semi-dark evening, I stood in Livia’s garden.

  Adalwulf was nearby, and Rochus was there as well. Livia was pruning the fig tree, as usual, probably thinking deep on my fate, knowing I was there because Cassia was a hostage, and she knew I knew everything. In the end, she shook her head regretfully. “Now you know.”

  I said nothing. She had had Drusus killed. In her desperate bid for power, she had killed him, her son. She had recruited Maroboodus, made him promises, and created an elaborate, dangerous plan, where Tiberius would inherit the glory of Drusus. She had built a web of conspirators in the Guard, found the best men she could find, and had done well. Later, she had cleverly used me to expose the greatest danger to her best loved son. She was the cause of all of it, all the suffering. She probably hated Augustus, she wished to see her son elevated, and gods knew how mad she was, but no sane mother could stand there, pruning a tree after performing such dark, desperate deeds. Her calm, her calculating mind made me shiver with loathing and hate. She had done it for Tiberius. And now, even Tiberius was a broken man.

  “My son,” I said, with as neutral a voice I could summon. “Will I ever see him?”

  She nodded. “Adalwulf sees his. It takes place in a neutral location. I will hold them until Tiberius is the Princeps. Then, none of it matters. It will finally be over.”

  I spoke. “My mother, my grandfather, my friends, my people. Maroboodus is your creature. Rochus is, Antius is. Kleitos. You have worked tirelessly.”

  She nodded and smiled gently. “Yes. They all saw the promise, or were blackmailed.”

  “You hold children hostage to gain playthings in your game,” I said spitefully. “And thus are your dreams made of filth.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Gisil. Did you know she went mad back in Germania? She lost a child to disease, and Adalwulf helped her, and Tiberius helped both. They had another one here, and I took him, to gain Adalwulf. I took yours as well, to make sure you are quiet. I don’t smell the stench of filth, when I merely do what I must. I have endured a struggle in a storm, Hraban, where the strongest, most brutal swimmer will survive. If I did that to Gisil, and killed my own son, I would happily slit the throat of Saturninus as well. So you will refrain from speaking your mind, Hraban. You will speak to me with respect.”

  “Children hostages,” I said thickly.

  She nodded at the corners of the building. There, Ubii Guards stood with bows. “Careful, I said.”

  “Father,” I said. “Maroboodus Is he one of us? A hostage?” Was this the choice he spoke of? The choice in Rome I couldn’t understand?

  She nodded. “He will get Postumus when Tiberius is in the throne,” she said. “Perhaps.”

  He was like us. That is why I had not seen Postumus? They were all hostages. I frowned. Father had chosen his Roman son over his Germani ones, and that made him filth, but still, he had been forced—

  She chuckled as she saw my struggle. “Do not forgive him. He was onboard fast enough, and I think he would have been, even if there was no Postumus. He hated his father, and wanted to settle scores and heal sores. That’s what he did. He gave us Germania, and he achieved the impossible. He let Drusus conquer, took his life, and let Tiberius steal the honor of the golden son of Rome.” She frowned. “And you wonder how could I do this to my son.”

  “I do,” I answered. “He was your son.”

  “He,” she said scathingly, “was the son of his father, who was a fool, an undependable fool. I helped Augustus build this new Rome. It is mine. And none shall take it away. Drusus would have tried. What kind of a loving son would do that to his mother? He deserved his fate.” She smiled at me. “To imagine Julia could have killed Tiberius. It would have made it all for nothing. Happily, Drusus gave me you. You were truly the only one who could make Julia’s secrets float to the surface.”

  “Antonia?” I asked chokingly. “You—”

  “Antonia?” she asked dreamily. “It was a risk. That idiot Istros declared himself, when he was only supposed to kill one of the children to convince you to stay and help me. Istros, Hraban, was as idiotic as you and Kleitos.”

  There was a silence, and she sat down.

  “You will have to kill us when the time is right,” I said.

  She shrugged. “Indeed. But, tell me, why would I not do it already? You came here to beg for your child’s life. I grant it. I don’t kill for no reason. But, the truth is, where Adalwulf has been manageable, you have constantly risked everything. I say you die now, Corvus. I even have the scroll Cassia was supposed to give my husband. You have nothing.”

  I heard the bows getting pulled.

  “Unfortunate, my lady, that your living son hates you now,” I said neutrally.

  She lifted her hand, and I heard the bows being put down. “It is your fault,” she said with such a scathing voice, I flinched. “Your fault. I’ll never forgive you for it.”

  “You will set Gernot free,” I told her. “He knows nothing of this. You will make sure Cassia and my son are safe, and the women my friends love.”

  “Why?” she asked suspiciously. “How can you make such demands, Corvus?”

  “Because,” I said steadily, “I do have a scroll. I visited Rhodes as we sailed back. I visited it, and I have a scroll Augustus might find interesting.” I smiled at her wickedly. “Tiberius hates you enough to hurt you, lady. He gave it to me, to save my family, to save my life. It is his small rebellion against you.”

  She glowered at me and waved with her hand. The guards left the garden.

  She spoke carefully. “Such a confession in the wrong hands might indeed destroy me.”

  “It would,” I told her.

  “But, it would not destroy Tiberius,” she said, and I was surprised to see a
tear in her eye. “For him, I have worked. He will see it in the end.”

  “I doubt Augustus would spare him either,” I whispered, half to myself.

  She stayed silent for a time, and then wiped her hands together, as is scrubbing away dirt. “Fine. Your family is safe,” she told me. “I will set your brother free, but not Cassia, nor your son. If that scroll ends up in the hands of Augustus, or after his death, the hands of some famous senator who opposed him, you will see your family in Hades. In fact, you will go to Augustus, and tell him it was always Iullus, after all.”

  I nodded stiffly.

  “After Tiberius takes the place of Augustus, you and I will trade, Corvus,” she said carefully, like a snake sizing up a mouse.

  “But, aren’t Gaius and Lucius going to inherit his power?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No, that is not part of my plan. Not at all.”

  Silence. I dared to say it aloud. “Gaius and Lucius,” I said softly. “We are to kill them.”

  “Yes,” she said simply. “The sweet boys must fall. Antonia’s whelps will be adopted by Tiberius. And when Tiberius comes home, after he sees how much his mother loves him, we must think about the next steps. Drusus is gone, Iullus and Julia chained. And yet, there are people still out to kill my precious boy. There are men who are making Gaius and Lucius fear Tiberius, and I need men to guard him still. I need men to kill the young gods.” She got up and went to work on her garden. “Do these things, and your child is returned to you. One day.”

  ***

  And with that, my lord Thumelicus, I shall take a break. I’ll stop with Livia’s words. We have plans to make, scores to settle, before the Romans arrive in Camulodunum.

  As for Cassia and my son, I had to rescue them. What did that take?

  It took the lives of high nobles, it took a dangerous game I had to play in the shadows between Augustus and Livia, and in the end, it took Armin the Cherusci, who had not forgotten his home or Thusnelda.