Perfiditas

by Alison Morton

  The following morning, Superbus was due for an interview, with his lawyer in attendance. An hour before it started, I asked Fausta to find Lucy some regular smart clothes and have her report to the IS office. I grabbed my garment bag, changed into my civilian suit in the restroom. I’d done my hair in a formal chignon that morning in an attempt to look authoritative. I lifted the gold myrtle leaf and flower badge with its gold-embroidered purple ribbon out of the velvet case and looped it around my neck. The original junior badge had gone missing in the fourteenth century so this was a seven-hundred-year-old catch-up.

  Longina and others nearby stared at me when I came back in, wondering what was going on. I smiled, said nothing, and sat at the table in the corner. When Conrad appeared shortly afterwards, in a business suit, carrying a long thin velvet bag and pad and paper, most work stopped. Somna came out of her office.

  ‘Welcome, Legate.’

  ‘Better to call me plain Conradus Mitelus for this.’ He gave a half-smile.

  ‘What do you need us to do?’

  ‘Nothing for the moment,’ Conrad replied. ‘We’re waiting for our second family witness to arrive, but there’s plenty of time.’

  Somna glanced at her watch. ‘The lawyer isn’t due for ten minutes. Would you like to wait in my office?’

  ‘Thank you, but it’s better if we’re seen by as many witnesses as possible.’

  I spotted some movement at the other end of the office which turned out to be Lucy arriving. In a dark suit and with her hair contained in a ponytail, she looked older than her nineteen years. I nodded my thanks to Fausta.

  Lucy glanced up shyly at Conrad. She patted her hair nervously. ‘What are we doing here? I mean, what’s this about?’

  ‘Well, Carina and I have to interview Superbus under the Families’ Code, and we need a third Mitela.’ He paused. ‘It’s a bit archaic, but don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything; just watch and listen. At the end, I’ll ask you to sign the record to confirm you were present. Can you do that for me?’

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ she said. ‘I remember doing it in history at school. Um, there’s no fee for this, is there?’

  I frowned at her, but Conrad just laughed. ‘No, you do it for your family. And no giggling.’

  ‘Okay, cool.’

  Leaving Conrad to his role as cool friend, I turned to Somna. ‘We’re ready to start. Would you please have somebody take a handwritten record of the next few minutes?’

  To everybody else’s amazement, she bowed to me. Had she seen a Families’ Code interview before? Well, that was fine by me. I’d never done one before.

  ‘Paulina Longina will make a record.’

  Longina closed her mouth, grabbed a pen, and scrabbled around in a drawer trying to find a pad of paper.

  Conrad took a gold-tipped ivory staff out of the velvet bag. Around forty centimetres long, it had a rounded point one end and a flattened semicircle at the other: a symbolic stylus. He tucked it under his arm, turned to me and bowed. I nodded in acknowledgement and waved my hand in Somna’s direction.

  ‘Colonel Decima Somna, I am Conradus Mitelus, Assistant Recorder of the Family Mitela. I present Countess Carina Mitela, junior head of Family Mitela.’

  ‘I am here to exercise my right as set out in the Twelve Families’ Code,’ I said, ‘to question a delinquent member of my family, Gnaeus Mitelus Superbus. I demand that you hand him over to me for private interview with strangers excluded. The Recorder will make a written account of the proceedings. The second witness is Lucilla Mitela, here present.’

  ‘Countess Carina Mitela, I recognise your right under the Code and cede to you. Will you allow me to provide a suitable room?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Please follow me.’ We traipsed down to the interrogation suite and Fright Central. Longina checked everything was ready. The lawyer had arrived and the IS staffers were setting up the session.

  I laid my hand on Lucy’s shoulder. ‘Totally off the record, Lucy, if this gets too rough, you just have to suck it up. I think we’ll only have to scare him a little, but there may be a bit of shouting. Okay?’

  Her eyes bulged like tennis balls, but she accepted it. ‘This is the bigs, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yep, nothing bigger.’

  We reached Interview 4. Somna released the bioscan lock, I grasped the handle, pulled myself up to be as tall as possible, opened the door and swept in.

  I focused all my attention on Superbus, signalling Conrad and Lucy to the side with a wave of my hand. ‘Strangers out,’ I ordered.

  The two IS staff goggled and looked at Somna. She jerked her head. They picked up their paraphernalia and fled. Superbus sat there, transfixed.

  ‘What the hell is this?’ a voice squeaked.

  Somna spoke from the doorway, addressing the lawyer. ‘You are required to leave the room immediately. Please comply.’

  ‘Over the Styx!’

  I switched my eyes to the hopping little irritant. ‘And you are?’

  ‘Claudia Vara.’

  It always had to be a Vara.

  ‘I am here representing my client,’ she said. She looked at us, panning round and glaring as if looking for potential threats.

  Her instincts were, of course, quite correct.

  ‘You can’t order me out. I’m this defendant’s legal representative. Now, if you don’t get the Hades out, I’ll sue you in the High Court, the Senate Court and anywhere further north.’

  ‘Look at me, Vara,’ I said in my coldest voice. ‘I am Mitela, here under the Twelve Families’ Code to question a delinquent member of my family. Strangers are excluded. If you do not comply, the head of your family and you personally will be subject to penalties. I’m sure Livilla Vara will be thrilled to pay. Currently, I understand it to be up to two years’ exclusion from the Families’ Council and ten thousand solidi fine. In any event, you are going to be reported for insolence to a family head.’

  I looked at Conrad. ‘Recorder, ensure that is noted.’ Conrad duly scribbled away.

  I saw it dawning on Claudia Vara that she was playing in fast traffic and had crossed a big fat lane line.

  ‘I didn’t know. I—’

  ‘Out.’

  The door shut and only the four Mitelae remained. I sat down and studied the unlovely Superbus. The flesh in his face rolled in greasy folds over one another. His blue eyes were shrunk in terror. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

  We waited a full five minutes. Lucy wisely stayed near the back wall. Standing behind Superbus, Conrad turned around to give her an encouraging smile.

  Predictably, Superbus broke first. ‘You can’t treat me like this! This is illegal. My lawyer will nail your hide to the side of the courthouse,’ he blustered.

  ‘Yes, she can. No, it isn’t. No, she can’t,’ came Conrad’s voice a centimetre from Superbus’s ear. Superbus’s whole body spasmed. His eyes puffed up. I thought he was going to have a seizure.

  ‘Superbus, look at me and concentrate.’

  Gods, he had foul breath. It oozed like a miasma from his thin lips, poisoning the air in front of me. I took the shallowest breath I could survive on and continued. ‘Firstly, as junior head of your family, my duty is to provide you with legal support. I’ll appoint a team to represent you at all hearings and at any other meetings. They’ll carry out any legal or administrative measures relating to your case. All costs will be paid by the family.’ His eyes lit up at that.

  Then he looked wary. ‘You’ll only appoint one of your own who’ll report back to you and sabotage my case. You’ll fix it to go your way.’

  Like a professional lawyer would do that, unless she wanted to lose her licence. I sighed. ‘So that you’re more comfortable with it, I’ll contact the Legal Guild and they can choose one and send them directly to you. Or you can even have Vara back, if you want. Is that satisfactory?’ I hated having to be polite to this vicious little turd, but remembered Nonna’s words about obligations and responsibilities. Just about. He nodde
d his head and I asked him to agree out loud to this so it could be recorded. He looked sullen, like a child, but complied.

  ‘Now we’ve agreed the support for you, it’s payback time, Superbus. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You know from a few days ago that I’m very efficient at dealing with tiresome sludge I find under my feet.’ I hoped he remembered how hard I kicked him with my steel-capped boot.

  ‘Our little cousin here looks innocent, but she adores cutting limbs off small animals. She’s good with a blade, and a bigger animal will be much more fun.’ Poor Lucy, that wasn’t very nice of me.

  ‘S’right. Where can I start?’

  I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Naïve little Lucy had darted forward and was pressing her nail file slowly up the side of Superbus’s neck. Suddenly, she jabbed the end in just below the skull line. She didn’t even break his skin, but he screeched like a banshee.

  ‘That’s for sticking your hand up my skirt last Family Day.’ She stamped hard on the floor right next to his chair. He flinched and threw his hands up in front of his terrified face. She smirked at him and walked calmly back to the corner of the room. Out of Superbus’s view, Conrad grabbed her and shook her, nodding his head violently. Then spoilt it all by grinning at her.

  ‘Now, Superbus, are you ready to talk?’

  ‘Keep that little fiend off me!’

  ‘Depends how talkative you are.’

  Once Superbus started, he wouldn’t shut up. Conrad wrote as fast as he could. Superbus had met Caeco in a men’s baths, and they’d talked about how horrendous women were and progressed from there. Superbus complained how he would have headed the Mitelae if there’d been any justice. I hated to disillusion him but there were fourteen other heirs, including males, with better claims. He burbbled he would have served in the military, except he had a medical condition. He’d been thwarted from displaying his obvious leadership abilities. Besides, women were always given priority. He’d been cheated in business, he claimed. His own daughter was disruptive; he put this down to marrying his first cousin. Her brothers were just jealous and ignored him, et cetera, et cetera.

  Gods! It was boring.

  Caeco had seen a Grade A bully and coward in Superbus, vain and easy to manipulate. The jewel in the treasure box had been that, although on the fringes of the family, he was a Mitelus. Gold strike for Caeco and Petronax.

  After the renewed threat of Lucy being let loose, Superbus admitted he’d had Aurelia and the children arrested by a military riot squad; a bunch of tough primates trained to face hostile crowds attacking them with razor balls, Molotovs and baseball bats. Perfect for a senior, a bunch of small children and their tutor.

  Eventually Superbus shut up. Silence dropped like a winter dusk. Conrad stood up, I thought to release some of his physical tension. He walked over to Lucy leaning against the far wall and gave her a vague smile. She placed her hand over her mouth and mimed an exaggerated yawn, then pinched her nose and made a face. I watched her. I was fascinated by her antics and her confidence.

  I dragged my eyes away and resumed my questions. ‘Now, Superbus, she’s still there and beginning to get a little restless. I want you to think very carefully about these next two questions. You see, Conrad might join in. He’s mighty pissed with you, and it’s only me stopping him.’

  To reinforce the point, Conrad came back to stand by Superbus’s right side and leaned into his face. If I was on the receiving end of that look, I’d be shaking in my sandals. I signalled him to back off.

  ‘Did you order the beatings by the Transulium guards?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘I need you to say that out loud.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Who did it?’

  ‘Specials, ordered in by Petronax.’

  I saw Conrad’s eyes glint and take a step back towards Superbus.

  ‘Their names?’

  ‘I don’t know – I really don’t.’

  ‘But you signed the access authorisation, didn’t you?’

  Conrad hovered behind Superbus like a starved vulture, claws and beak ready. For a long moment, Conrad stared at me. I understood how he felt. He wanted to pound Superbus into the ground, to smash every bone and snap every tendon in his body for all the hurt the conspirators had done him and his – both family and unit. Keeping my stare fixed on him, I shook my head. I couldn’t allow Conrad to challenge my authority as head of the family, especially in front of a heap of crap like Superbus. His stare intensified as if pulling in every bit of willpower to override me. After several tense seconds of locking eyes, he backed off. He sat down, hunched over the table, glanced at me once and wrote. I released my breath slowly.

  ‘Answer me, Superbus. Did you sign the access authorisation?’

  ‘Yes,’ he mumbled, looking down at the table.

  Conrad stopping writing, the pen immobile on the paper in mid word. Superbus glanced sideways and met Conrad’s eyes, and looked back down immediately. If a look could incinerate, Superbus would have been a residual pile of funeral ash. He slumped forward and covered his eyes with his pudgy fingers.

  But I hadn’t finished. ‘Lastly, where are the gold eagle and the silver frame from Conradus’s office?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Look at me, Superbus.’

  He peeled his fingers away from his face. I nodded as if to Lucy.

  ‘No!’ he gulped. ‘They’re in my safe at home.’

  ‘Combination, please.’

  That was all I needed. I leaned back in my chair and took a deep breath from the side. ‘Now, Superbus, it wasn’t so bad, was it?’

  ‘You’re not going to kill me?’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous – you’re not worth the paperwork.’

  He grabbed my hand, bleating gratitude. Tears, dirt and sweat ran down his face. Just to complete a perfect session, the smell of faeces spread from him through the room.

  After he’d finished writing, Conrad read the statement aloud to Superbus as the law demanded. Conrad’s voice was even, but terse and full of repressed energy. He thrust the document across the table at Superbus and told him to sign. Superbus flinched. After glancing at Conrad’s face, he signed it with a hand that trembled like a Parkinson’s case.

  I countersigned, Lucy witnessed, and Conrad completed the document, adding the wax seal. He picked up the ivory staff, writing kit, took Lucy by the arm and stalked out.

  Superbus was pitiful – a petty thief as well as a bully and a coward. He didn’t have a scrap of dignity. It was embarrassing to think he shared blood with me.

  ‘You were a total dumbass, Superbus, getting mixed up with those people.’

  ‘You don’t understand a thing, you and the old lady. Even that Cassia woman—’ He sucked his lips in and shrank back.

  Juno! Cassia?

  ‘What about her?’ I asked in the most casual tone I could muster.

  He bent his head down and muttered, ‘Nothing, nothing.’

  ‘C’mon, Superbus, you can’t tease me like that. What about this Cassia? How is she involved?’

  He shook his head. He wouldn’t look at me.

  I waited for some minutes, but he stayed slumped in his chair, terrified and silent.

  Somna and her team stood back as I exited. I thanked her formally and apologised for the mess my family had left. I asked if she would kindly have Superbus cleaned up and checked over by a doctor. The Mitela Family Recorder would appreciate a copy of the medical report and photographs. She bowed once more and we were done.

  I leaned against the grey plaster wall for a few moments breathing in the clean air. Upstairs in the IS office, Longina said nothing as we appeared, just thrust a cup of coffee into my hand.

  ‘That went well,’ Conrad said, and perched on the edge of desk. He looked calmer, but not completely relaxed. ‘Your first legal act as head of family. How do you feel about it?’

  ‘A lot better than I thought I would. Superbus is a miserable piece. It was almos
t too easy.’

  ‘I’d be in dangerous waters if I said you were so like Aurelia that it was uncanny.’

  I glared at him to make the point, but secretly I was flattered.

  Aurelia had executed legal acts, made Families’ Codes judgements and been a true family head since she was in her late twenties when her mother had been unwell. To me she was a natural: she had presence, decisiveness, authority. I was definitely the junior partner, always afraid I’d be found out and be dismissed as a light-hearted insignificance. But maybe, today, I’d convinced myself I could do it.

  ‘No, I’m wrong,’ he said, and smiled. ‘You’ve found your own authority. I realised it when you forbade me to attack him. It felt like a strong wave about to flatten me.’

  ‘It would have ruined it all.’

  ‘I know.’

  He’d had such a lousy time in the Transulium that I felt bad about cheating him of retribution. It was a shock to realise that I’d put the interests of family and state before those of my love. He understood why, he’d been raised here in Roma Nova, but to me it was a revelation one of those moments when you scared yourself.

  Conrad kept his gaze on me, oblivious to the interested stares of others. I tried a smile and received one back. A huge weight seemed to fall off my back. He left the edge of the table and came to sit in a chair beside me, his leg not quite touching mine. He said nothing.

  ‘Where’s Lucy?’ I asked to break the silence.

  ‘She says she has to fix her mascara. It ran down her face,’ Longina said from across the room.

  Oh gods, had she had hysterics and was now traumatised? I remembered I’d heard a strange noise in the background. I’d never be able to look Dalina in the face if I handed her back a shocked and damaged daughter.

  ‘She’s fine – really,’ Conrad added. ‘She says she’s never laughed so much as watching Superbus. She held it in, as promised, until we finished, then couldn’t stop.’