by Jane Finnis
Margarita smiled. “I’m not sure I like the idea of a slave who can pick locks. But as it’s Taurus, we don’t need to worry.”
She was right. There never was a more loyal servant than Taurus, my handyman.
We found him outside on the forecourt, whistling through his teeth as he gazed at a dilapidated farm cart that was standing there, or to be more exact, almost falling over. It had a wheel missing. An old native farmer was striding off, shoulders hunched, face flushed.
“’Morning, Taurus,” I said. “Cavarinus doesn’t look very happy. Is this his cart?”
“’Morning, Mistress Aurelia. No, he isn’t. But then if my cart was as much of a wreck as this, I probably wouldn’t be either. I’ve said I’ll try and see to it today, but we’ve one of our own wagons to mend this morning, and that can’t wait, now the boys are haymaking.”
“You’re getting quite a few repair jobs for our neighbours now. You can manage to fit them in with your other work?”
“’Course I can. And I enjoy doing it. The new lad is a help.” For the first time in his life, Taurus had an assistant, and he was proud of it.
“Good. He’s settling in well, is he?”
“He’s very willing, and an extra pair of hands is useful. Only with a lot of jobs, by the time I’ve explained how I want it done, and what to be careful of, I might as well have done it myself.”
I laughed. I know that feeling, so does everyone who’s ever trained an assistant. But I hadn’t time for discussing the finer points of delegation. “I’ve got a small job for you. I need it done straight away, but it shouldn’t take you long. Can you open this for me? I’ve no key, but if you can do it without damaging it,…”
His eyes lit up when he saw the box. “That’s a beauty. Beech-wood, and well made. Even got some decoration on the lid. It’s not local work, I’d say. What’s in it?”
“That’s what I need to find out. Can you open it up without smashing it to smithereens?”
“I expect so. I’ll try and pick the lock, and if that doesn’t work, I can get in through the hinges.”
“Fine. Be as quick as you can, won’t you? I’ll be in my study.”
“You don’t need to go away. If you come over to the workshop, I can probably do it while you wait.” I followed him into his den, with its tidy workbench and its rows of tools hanging neatly around the walls.
The new lad was planing what looked like the leg of a stool. He wished us a polite good-morning as we entered.
“Fetch me the small wooden chest, Tappo,” Taurus said, and when the boy brought it, he began to rummage about inside it. He finally produced a large bunch of keys and a couple of tools I hadn’t seen before. He examined the box carefully. “Quite a simple lock; I should be able to manage. What I need to do…”
But before he could begin, Secundus came striding in. “Aurelia, I’ve just heard the news about Terentius. A bad business. And his lad’s not come back?”
“He hasn’t. It looks as if you’re right, he’s made a run for it. And there’s only one obvious reason why he’d do that.”
“Aye. I came to give you this, in case it’s important.” He held out a shiny iron key on his palm. “We found it in the stall where the missing horse went from. Lucky to spot it in the straw. The boy must have dropped it while he was saddling up. I remember you said something about his boss leaving some valuables in the safe.”
I pointed to the box. “Just in time. Well done, whoever found this. Tell him there’s a jug of beer for him in the bar. Thanks, Secundus. By the way, I want to talk to Hawk today, in case he saw anything unusual in the night. Is his daughter still hanging around the stables? I think she’s sweet on one of your horse-boys, isn’t she?”
“Don’t ask me, I can’t keep up with all their romantic tangles. She’s here now, that I do know. I’ll send her to find him.”
“Thanks.” I took the box from Taurus and slid the key into the lock, and it fitted snugly and turned easily.
“That’s good. I shan’t have to spoil it now. Mistress, will you be needing the box once you’ve looked inside it?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“If you don’t, could I have it please? I’d hate it to be thrown away, a nice little box like that.”
“If I don’t need it, you certainly can, but I can’t say for sure yet.”
“Thank you. Now I’ll have Ursulus complaining if I don’t get his wagon mended.”
Back in my study, I opened the box. It contained three items only, all innocent-looking, yet a man had already died for them.
What took my eye first was a curious semicircular token made of silver. When I picked it up I realised it was one half of a coin. Someone had cut a silver denarius neatly into two, and this was one half of it. Where was the other? With the person who had originally given Terentius the box to deliver? No, more likely with the person who was destined to receive it, so he’d know this message was genuine even if he didn’t recognise the bearer.
I put it aside and examined the next item, a small bronze brooch. It was a very ordinary-looking plain disk, the sort of thing a peasant might use to fasten a tunic at the shoulders, except of course such brooches normally come in pairs. Its only distinguishing mark was three letters incised on its surface. It gave me a shock to realise they were the same three as appeared on the lid of the box: VVV.
I showed it to Margarita. “I wish I knew what those letters could mean. Oh well, let’s see if this tells us more.” The last object was a standard wax note-tablet, tied and sealed. I was disappointed when I opened it to see there was only a single line scrawled on it, crude but quite legible.
“The opening performance of the Fall of Troy is confirmed for midsummer at Isurium. As agreed, the Greek is to play Achilles and Eurytus Hector.”
Below were, yet again, the three letters VVV.
It was meant to look like the announcement of a play. There are plenty of dramas about the fall of Troy. But this couldn’t be literally a theatrical performance. That wouldn’t need secrecy, and knowledge of it wouldn’t be worth killing for.
The reference to Troy must be the clue. Hector met his death at Troy. This message was threatening or perhaps warning that someone called Eurytus would die at midsummer, at Isurium…the same time and place as my cousin’s birthday party. Terentius and whoever killed him believed this knowledge was urgent and valuable.
I didn’t know what to make of it. I was out of my depth, like a swimmer in a fast current. All I did know was what I must do.
“Fetch Lucius, please, Margarita. He must see this.”
“He and Vitellia are just setting off for their drive. He may not want to be disturbed.”
“I don’t care what he wants. This is urgent. Just get him here, and don’t take no for an answer.”
Chapter IV
Lucius came storming into the room. “What do you want, Aurelia? Whatever it is, it’d better be good, I’ve lost quite enough time…”
“Shut up and read this.” I handed him the note. “It’s what Terentius died for, and it looks as if someone else might be going to die too.”
He read the tablet and his anger evaporated at once. He stood still for a few heartbeats, then flopped heavily down into my chair. “I’m sorry, Sis. You were right to call me. But of all the lousy luck! As if we didn’t have enough trouble with a murdered soldier, he turns out to be a traitor too.”
“A traitor? So you think it’s some kind of death threat?”
He nodded. “It’s not just the note itself. It’s those letters at the bottom, VVV. And on the brooch too, and even the box.”
“What do they mean? I can’t think of anything except ‘Veni, vidi, vici.’”
“This isn’t a joking matter, I’m afraid. The letters stand for ‘Vivat Venutius Victor.’”
“Long live Venutius the Victor? Who’s Venutius?”
“Venutius was a Brigantian prince who made trouble quite soon after the original conquest of Britannia. Ther
e was a scandal among the native royalty because the queen left him and ran off with one of her bodyguard.”
“But that was ages ago, long before our family settled in Oak Bridges. Surely he can’t be still alive? If he is, he must be about a hundred and fifty.”
“No, he’s dead. But the slogan Vivat Venutius Victor has been taken up by his grandson, another Prince Venutius. He has quite a following among the young Brigantians, and it’s rumoured he wants to put on his grandfather’s armour, so to speak, attacking the Roman garrisons in his area, trying to drive the army out of Brigantia.”
“His area? Does that include Isurium?”
“It does.”
“So this message has something to do with a native conspiracy. What was Terentius doing carrying it all the way from Londinium?”
“That’s the other worrying thing, the mention of Eurytus.”
”I’ve never heard of him. Is he someone important?”
“Very. He’s a senior tax official, one of Caesar’s most influential freedmen. He’s come out here from Rome to do Imperial audits all over Britannia. Apparently someone at court thinks that not all of Caesar’s taxes are finding their way into the Imperial treasury. So this Eurytus is investigating. He’s powerful and rich, and also a real bastard by all accounts.”
“We’ve heard nothing about tax audits in this area.”
“That’s deliberate policy. He keeps his itinerary secret, to give as little advance warning as possible to anyone who’s up to no good. Usually any town or fort he visits gets just one day’s notice. He started in Londinium in the spring and is working his way north, and he’s made himself very unpopular wherever he goes.”
“So this note is a warning that he’ll be visiting Isurium at midsummer, and someone will kill him while he’s there. It says ‘as agreed…’ which must mean they already have some kind of plan ready, they’re just waiting for confirmation.”
Lucius nodded. “And the other things, the half-coin and the brooch, are to prove to whoever the message is for that it’s genuine.”
Margarita spoke, making me jump because I hadn’t realised she had come back into the room. “What does it mean about Achilles and Hector? I’m a bit hazy when it comes to the Trojan War, but they were on opposite sides, weren’t they, and Achilles killed Hector in single combat?”
I was about to mock her ignorance of one of the best-known parts of history, but remembered in time that she’d been born a slave and hadn’t had much education.
“That’s right. Hector was a Trojan prince, and Achilles picked a fight with him because Hector had killed his friend.”
She said slowly, “This may be sheer coincidence, but I somehow don’t think it is…”
“What?”
“Terentius’ boy, the one who’s run off. When he was eating his supper in the kitchen last night he mentioned Achilles and Hector, and even Isurium. I was busy with the meals for the guests, and it didn’t make sense to me, so I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But now…”
“Can you remember exactly what he said?” Lucius asked.
“I think I got the gist of it. He was boasting that he’d soon be rich enough to buy his freedom, because he and his master were on an important mission with a message for someone, and they’d earn a great deal of money. The other servants asked him what the message was, and at first he wouldn’t tell, but they teased him and eventually he did. He said pretty well what’s in that note: there’s to be a performance of the Fall of Troy at midsummer at Isurium, and a Greek Achilles will kill an enemy called Hector.”
“I wonder,” I mused, “whether Terentius trusted the boy with the message in case something happened to him, or whether the boy sneaked a look inside the box one day?”
“And I wonder,” Lucius added, “whether the lad has killed his master and run off to deliver the message himself, so he can collect the whole reward instead of only getting a small part of it?”
“And that would explain the state of the bedroom. Before he left he searched and searched for the box because he wanted the identification token as well,” I suggested.
“So in plain Latin,” Margarita said, “somebody Greek will kill Eurytus at Isurium at midsummer.”
Lucius looked thoughtful. “As we were saying earlier, there aren’t many Greeks in the army, especially here in Britannia.”
“It could be an army doctor,” Margarita suggested. “Most of them are Greeks. Most of the doctors in the whole Empire, come to that. Like my Timaeus.”
It was so obvious, I knew she had to be right. “A medical officer? Of course! Well done, Margarita. Does Timaeus have any friends or contacts among army medics? He might be able to give us some names.”
“He’s never worked for the army, so I doubt it, but I’ll ask him, certainly.”
Lucius stood up. “Whoever the Greek is, this box means trouble, there’s no doubt of it. And it means I’ve no choice but to go to Eburacum to report it. So much for my holiday plans!”
“You’ll leave Vitellia behind?”
“I’ll have to. I can’t take her with me, and she’ll be fine here, won’t she? I’m sure you can take good care of her. With a bit of luck I’ll only be gone a couple of days, though I suppose they may want me to go on up to Isurium to check on the situation there.” He sighed. “Anyway, I must go and that’s that. If our guesses are right, and there’s to be some kind of incident at midsummer, there isn’t much time.” He added a few choice comments about Terentius and young Venutius. “But there’s enough time for me to have today here, at least. After all, Hawk will need today to check around in the woods, won’t he?”
“Of course he will.”
“Then I’ll leave at first light tomorrow. And now I’m going to make the most of what little time I have left with Vitellia.”
“I’ll go and tell her you’re ready,” Margarita said, and left us.
Lucius looked at me. “You realise what this means?”
“It means we could end up working together at Isurium after all.” I felt a sudden surge of happiness. “You never know, I may be able to pick up something useful, through Jovina and Marcus and some of the others there. They’d confide in a civilian woman more than an investigator like you. But I couldn’t be ready to leave tomorrow. I’ll follow on as soon as I can.”
He shook his head. “No chance. I’m sorry, but Terentius’ message changes everything. You must refuse Jovina’s invitation. If there is some sort of conspiracy going on at Isurium, a plan to assassinate Eurytus or even to attack the fort, it could be far too dangerous for you to be anywhere near.”
“Now wait, you’re not leaving me out of things just like that! If there is danger in the wind, as Jovina said in her note, she needs me all the more.”
“And I need to be able to do my job up there without constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure you’re all right. I know you’re not bad at investigating…”
“Thanks, brother!”
“…but in a situation like this, you’d be more of a hindrance than a help.”
“Nonsense, you know Marcus and Jovina will take care of me, as if I couldn’t take care of myself. And if there’s an advantage in secrecy, it’ll be far easier for me to work undercover than you.”
“Argue away as much as you like. I can’t allow you to go up there now. It’s too dangerous.”
I sensed his growing excitement as he thought about the assignment. Sensed it, and shared it, and very much wanted to be part of the investigation. How could I persuade him that, far from being a hindrance, I could be an asset?
“Look, suppose you make sure Eurytus’ visit to the fort goes off safely? He’ll go away, you’ll go away, but the hostility that’s at the bottom of all this will still be festering underground, waiting to emerge again like a fungus lurking under a tree root. If you want to stop it for good, you’ve got to catch the leaders, not just chase them into hiding. You’ve got to work undercover. And I, a civilian woman going to a party there, w
ill have a cover that nobody will suspect.”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, you’re right, I shall need to be undercover, at least at first. But that makes me more determined than ever not to let you put yourself in danger by going there. I’d be worrying about you all the time.”
“I don’t see why.”
“And I’d be worrying about Vitellia, left all alone here, if we were both away. Much better for you to stay together, safe and sound and keeping each other company.”
“WHAT?”
“It’s an ideal solution. A good chance for you to get to know one another properly.”
Suddenly I saw where he was driving, and it made me very angry. He wasn’t really worried about my being in danger at all. He was expecting me to refuse help to my cousin, not to mention the chance of a holiday, in order to stay at home and act as nursemaid to a silly little girl. Well, I wasn’t having that. I wanted to explode, to shout at him and tell him what a selfish pig he was. But I knew I must keep calm, outwardly at least. If I let my anger show it would only make matters worse.
“I’ve got to go, Lucius. Jovina needs me, and it looks now as if the danger she’s in is a good deal more serious than I thought. You’ll either have to find someone else to take care of Vitellia, or give her a strong escort and send her home on her own. And it’ll give her a taste of what her life will be like married to you, left by herself half the time while you go off on assignments.”
“Look, Aurelia, you must see…”
“I see that Vitellia may be a child you can order about, but I’m not. I’m not abandoning Jovina, and you can’t force me to.”
Oh, me and my big mouth! Now I’d made him angry too.
He spoke softly, with the dangerous calm of someone keeping tight hold of his temper. “Indeed I can force you, if you persist in being so stupid. I’m the head of the family.”
“But you’re not all-powerful. I’m a free citizen, and legally you can’t stop me travelling anywhere in the Empire if I choose to.” I wasn’t at all sure about this in fact, but from Lucius’ answer, neither was he.
