Camillus had taken the bait and Javenoli smiled at how easy it had been to convince Camillus that the gods weren’t happy with the men at their feet; it seemed that he had found Camillus’ weakness after all. His devotion to the gods would be the way to manipulate the man, just as Pompeia had said. Again, he allowed himself to smile as he sipped at the cool water in his hand, closing his eyes momentarily at the thought of the braid-haired woman.
Overnight he’d sent out messengers to bring priests to Rome to check the sacrifices, stating that they must return that day before the elections to make sure that everything could be done to verify the readings prior to the final electoral sacrifices. Istros had confirmed that the animals had been fed the final batch of poisoned food and that everything was in place as he had requested, once again the Thracian was proving his worth. He considered the next steps in his plan. Capitolinus came to mind. What was he going to do with the man? Their business deals were almost non-existent now as Capitolinus had started to call in all his money to pay the debts of the plebeians he continued to sponsor. Camillus offered better opportunities for an alliance, the man’s star continued to rise; as did his own, he thought, his mind going to Pompeia once again. She had suggested a closer alliance to Camillus, although Javenoli had argued that the man was too straight to offer serious profits. It had been Pompeia’s suggestion that Javenoli found a way to work his way into his alliance, to profit from being seen as working more closely with the ex-dictator. He’d understood this, and started to plan ways to manipulate his way into his circles, the poison being his first foray into gaining understanding of what made the man ‘tick’. The readings had been an eye-opener, maybe their own future wasn’t as different as Javenoli had initially thought. The man wanted to develop the city, expand into new territories to protect his own family and Rome itself from future attacks. Expansion was good, thought Javenoli. Pompeia and he had already agreed some further joint projects which, if he thought it through correctly, he could now link to Camillus’ expansion of Rome. He smiled as he rubbed his hands together and looked to the fresco on his wall, where Jupiter, Juno and Mars stood, half-finished, with their cool eyes watching him. He let his bottom lip protrude and rubbed it with his index finger as he started to curl his lips into a smile. Maybe Jupiter was watching over him, as Pompeia had said. Maybe Capitolinus was just a plaything sent by Jupiter to help him, Gaius Javenoli, achieve his dreams. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander; what did the gods have planned for him.
A sudden noise made him open his eyes. Looking around he saw Garvi moving across the garden outside, his movements were unusual, as if he were up to no good. He frowned as he stood, slowly, and crept to the window, moving behind the wooden shutter to see what the boy was doing. The boy slipped to a small doorway at the back of the garden, the one used by slaves when heading to the river to wash, but Garvi didn’t seem to be heading for the river as he held no extra bag for clothes and his continued searching looks back towards the house told of more sinister deeds. Moving quickly, more silently than he had done for years, he headed towards the rear rooms and whispered for Istros, who appeared in a loin cloth as if he was about to bed down for a few hours’ sleep. “Quick, I need you to follow a slave” he whispered as Istros nodded a heavy-lidded reply and disappeared into the dark rooms behind him to regain his clothes.
It took a few moments for Istros to catch up with the boy, whom he knew well from his time in Javenoli’s household. Following him was easy enough, the trick was to ensure that nobody else was following them both. Garvi was clearly no master spy as he walked quickly through the streets with no attempt to check whether he was being followed. He soon ended up at the rear door of a brothel, which by coincidence was one of Javenoli’s own better class establishments. A dark-haired woman opened a window to his four short knocks and he whispered into her ear before she handed him a small pouch, which Istros assumed held coins. Watching Garvi turn and head back towards Javenoli’s house Istros decided to wait and see if the dark-haired woman would lead him to the person behind this mystery. After only a quarter hour the woman had appeared, Istros almost missing her as she exited with two other women and all three wore cloaks with hoods pulled up over their heads against the chilly morning. The dark-haired woman peeled away from the other two after a few hundred yards and threw back her hood for a moment, releasing the dark hair which she quickly bundled into a clasp and pulled the hood back over her head. Istros smiled. The woman headed across the flat land towards the Quirinal Hill before swinging left and into a densely housed area which stank of the lower level quarters it held. He knew the area, though he didn’t frequent it very often. The stench of urine and faeces was strong enough that Istros had to pull his scarf up over his nose as he moved more swiftly to watch the woman. She had entered a tavern, one he had known many months ago as it was cheap and out of the way when he wanted a fairly quiet night of drink and a room to sleep off the wine. He knew the landlord, so he waited until the woman left and then sauntered up to the doorway, pulling aside the heavy cloth which acted as a door.
Inside was almost pitch black and as his eyes adjusted to the gloom he stood with one hand on the doorframe and one on the cloth, blinking. The room was just as he remembered it, and inside were three people. The landlord’s daughter, sat with her back to him and poking the fire with a long iron rod. A man who had jumped as he had entered and then quickly huddled up over his drink and tried to make himself small, and a man in a dark cloak who had clearly fallen asleep drunk at some time of the night and was half lying across a bench with his mouth wide open in a deeper sleep than Istros had had for a month. He smiled again. The daughter turned at the light from the doorway and grinned, her two missing teeth making her seem older than the seventeen he knew she was.
“Hey Maxi” she called “not seen you for a while” she stood and grinned at Istros.
“Been busy” he said in a heavy Latin accent, which he used along with the false name, when visiting the tavern. “Is Laconius in?” he asked as he noted the man in the corner start to relax and drink the remaining part of his drink. “Got a delivery of fish he might want for his stews” he added as he moved closer to the girl. She grinned again.
“He’s abed” she said. “Come back in an hour, you know what he’s like if I try to wake him.” Istros laughed at that, he certainly did know how much the drunken landlord would talk with his fists first.
“Alright” he said quickly as he turned and moved towards the door. “See you later then. Tell him, though. Don’t forget” he added as he ducked outside to a “I won’t” from the girl. He slipped into the alley across from the tavern and waited for the man to come out. This wasn’t the man who was the final recipient of Garvi’s message, he was sure. Whoever it was had set up several layers of messengers so that it would be harder to follow the trail to himself. Istros was impressed, but not as impressed as he would have been if the man had built an extra layer of protection in as it got closer to the centre. A sudden pang of fear hit him as he considered this. Had he missed something? He edged backwards quickly and sank to the floor, pulling himself into the darkest shadows and wriggling under a wooden panel which kept a doorway clear of the water and filth in the alley. He was just in time as a thick-set arm carrying a sharp blade was quickly followed around the corner by a dark eyed man who stared into the alleyway before stepping in and kicking around at the dark shadows where Istros had just been sat. He held his breath as the man waited a moment longer, eyes searching the alley, and then disappeared, before re-appearing at the doorway to the tavern and slipping inside. So, whoever it was, was good, Istros thought. He touched his lips with two fingers and thanked the gods that looked over him for warning him, his breathing slowing after the fear of being caught. He smiled again, knowing that he would have to be more careful in future. Whoever Garvi was dealing with was a professional and wouldn’t think twice about torturing anyone he caught. Both the thick set man and the nervous man from the tavern came out soon af
ter and headed back down the labyrinth of streets. Istros considered his options, but quickly realised he had few. Following was out of the question now. The second man had clearly seen him move into the alleyway and would probably, right now, be waiting for him to come following. A quick death would be sure to follow. Both men would know him again, as he would them. So, he had better be careful and look to change his appearance a little in the coming days. He’d have to send Laconius some fish to cover his tracks with the tavern owner as well, asking for payment to be put on a slate which he would claim in a few days’ time. So, thought Istros, better to get a few hours’ sleep. He smiled as he closed his eyes and allowed the sleep he prepared for earlier to come and take him.
************
Chapter 15
Brevo noticed that the gathering at Capitolinus’ door included several men that he knew from both the legions and the local mines. Heads nodded quietly at him as he inclined his head in response. He fidgeted with his belt and wrapped his thick cloak around his shoulders as he sniffed and spat into the dust, wiping his sandal over the globule and circling his foot to spread the mess into the dirt. More men appeared, he noted that the crowd included some to whom he owed money; they watched him with narrowed eyes and hard-faced scowls. Sod them he thought as he shrugged his shoulders and shifted the cloak once again, his temper rising. Some of the men were chatting quietly whilst others stood and stared into the distance as they waited for Capitolinus’ slave to open his door. It had been a hard step to take to attend this meeting, but Brevo knew that his role as a centurion in the new legions would never pay his debts and never remove the fear that he felt as he watched men whom he knew were allied to Cincinnatus, and to whom he was in debt, glance at him from further along the queue, their eyes filled with malice. He clenched his teeth and let out a low hiss as he considered turning and walking away; maybe he had been wrong to come here.
Seconds later a hand touched his elbow and he turned a sour look to the man who had appeared at his side. A round, pock-marked, face stared, wide-eyed, at him. “Centurion” said the face, his shoulders tense as if he half expected Brevo to react angrily. “It’s good to see you.”
Brevo grunted and made a short reply, his eyes looking beyond the speaker as others turned, watched and listened surreptitiously.
“I’m surprised to see you here, sir” said the man, his name a complete blank to Brevo who was still considering walking away. The man looked over his shoulder and then returned his look to the centurion. “I’ve been here four or five times now” he added cheerily as he looked cautiously around at the groups standing in line. “Good group today” he gestured. “Should be some interesting discussions” he added as he bit his lip and glanced at Brevo with a forlorn look. “Sorry sir” he added quickly, taking the hint that Brevo wasn’t interested in anything the man had to say. “Well, it’s good to see you again” the man finished, turning his head as if to leave.
“Wait” Brevo said with as much warmth as he could, falsely, muster. He looked at the man. Grey hair, beard trimmed but slightly longer than was the fashion, dark brown tunic and grey woollen cloak. “Claudius isn’t it?” he asked.
“Clavius” replied the man, his broken teeth showing through his smile.
“Ah, that’s right. Good to see you. You caught me whilst I was thinking” he blustered as a form of apology before continuing. “First time I’ve been” he mumbled. “Heard there might be free silver” he grinned with a wink.
Clavius grinned back at him. “If there is I’ve not seen any” came the quiet reply. “No, we discuss politics. Capitolinus says every man should have an understanding of politics and how it rules their lives just as much as the gods do.” Brevo grunted dismissively. “I was like you” Clavius responded with a nodding head. “But since listening to the arguments and counter arguments” he shrugged “you can’t fault the man. Every decision of the senate, every choice made, is towards some political end. The patricians” he glanced around before lowering his voice “well you know how it is, sir. They just want to keep us under their heels” he said with a look of conviction. Brevo considered that Capitolinus was as much a patrician as the men that Clavius had spoken of. He was about to reply when the door noisily squealed as it was opened by a dour looking slave, his haughty stare and down-turned mouth showing just what he thought of these daily meetings.
Inside, the house was austere, even cold, thought Brevo as he shuffled along behind several men who rubbed shoulders as they moved through the narrow corridor towards a pair of open doors through which light was shining. Other doors along the corridor were closed, as if the occupants wanted no part of these meetings and had hidden away to keep separate from the discussions which were to be held. Brevo decided that the scene was set to ensure prying eyes didn’t spot anything worth stealing at a later date. Through the open doorway was a large room with several seats set against the far wall and a large open window overlooking the garden. Brevo noticed part of the wall had been reduced in height and that the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus could be seen through the gap. A small statue was set in an alcove below, it’s right arm raised as if in salute. Ignoring this he was shuffled towards a seat by Clavius, who was taking the role of guide a little too seriously, thought Brevo. After a moment Brevo understood the reason for Clavius’ haste as the remaining men sat in huddles on the floor and jostled for space as even more people entered from the corridor. “Good seats” Clavius said quietly with a nod, at which Brevo produced a false grin.
The general noise rose and conversations began to fill the room as they awaited the arrival of their host. Brevo tightened his lips as he breathed heavily through his nose, he was still considering if he should get up and leave. Why had he come, he thought to himself as he gloomily surveyed the room. Silver, that was why. Several plebeian leaders sat huddled at the end of the room by the door, three men he owed money to eyed him with danger in their eyes and two boys he knew from the legions as messengers nodded to him with an amount of respect in their faces that made him half smile as he nodded back to them. As he sat watching the gathered crowd and feeling angrier at himself for wasting his time he noticed the door slave, his eyes downcast, slowly pull the door closed. At this movement the room fell into a hushed silence and all the heads in the room turned as one towards three men who were moving towards the large window through which Brevo could see the Temple of Jupiter, the triumphal chariot appearing to be heading directly for the them as if Jupiter himself was rushing to join the meeting.
“Gentlemen”. The voice of Marcus Manlius rang out in the silence as Brevo looked back at him. He’d known the man as a strong centurion, officer and good leader in many battles over the years, but he looked older now. His eyes were shadowed by the start of dark circles and his hair thinner and greying, but it was still the man he knew, the man who had saved them all on the Capitol as the Gaul’s had come to murder the sleeping Romans on that fateful day. “Welcome to my house” said Capitolinus as he looked out across the gathering. “It’s good to see you all” he said genuinely. The two men either side of him beamed at the crowd and nodded to faces who welcomed them. Brevo squinted and listened to hear who they were, Sicinius and, he missed the name but remembered that they were recently appointed plebeian tribunes and grimaced. It was just like he expected, men making themselves more important than their peers and looking down their noses at them as they no doubt fleeced them of their bronze. He scowled as he watched. It took several moments for Capitolinus to light a votive candle to the god Jupiter and for all the assembled men to wave the barley sprigs they had brought with them, Brevo sitting embarrassed as he had not done so, towards the statue in the garden and temple beyond. In his mind Brevo could see similarities between this meeting and a council of war on campaign. Camillus would light the candles to Mars and his own chosen gods before any meeting, reminding the men that the gods were watching over them. Capitolinus was doing the same, the men chanting the words of the devotion along with their host
as he said them. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the crowd as Capitolinus continued to intone his prayers. Tightening his lips again he found Clavius looking at him with a vacant smile as he frowned at the scene around him. He quickly snapped his frown into a gentle, but forced, smile as Clavius nodded slowly to him.
The King of Rome Page 23
