Ovid (Marcus Corvinus Book 1)

by David Wishart

  'Aunt Quinctilia, I really think you should reconsider this.' Asprenas laid a hand on her shoulder, but she shook her head.

  'It's better that Valerius Corvinus knows everything,' she said. 'Bring him the letter, Lucius. Please.'

  Fat Face wasn't happy. I could see that. He gave me a look like he might something very dead and very rotten that his dog had dug up and left the room. Quinctilia turned back to me.

  'My brother was always greedy, even as a child,' she said. 'He had to have the biggest slice of cake, the stickiest sweet on the plate. When he grew up it was money, of course. He should have been prosecuted after Syria, but then he was married to Augustus's grand-niece. And my late husband's father being the emperor's half-sister...' She hesitated. 'Well, I realise these things shouldn't happen, but they do.'

  'You mean the emperor intervened?'

  'Not as such, no. Augustus was always careful not to play favourites, at least overtly. But the relationships were sufficiently well known to cause a certain...reluctance, shall we say, to prosecute. Besides. Publius got on extremely well with the emperor, and he was a very capable administrator.'

  'Except in Germany.'

  Agron growled something I didn't catch, but the old lady ignored it.

  'Except, as you say, in Germany; but of course there was a reason for that, as you know.'

  'He'd been bribed by Paullus to let things slide.'

  'Indeed? Two reasons, then.'

  I was puzzled. Something, somewhere, didn't add up. 'Lady, you've lost me. If that wasn't the reason you had in mind then what else was there?’

  'It's very simple.' The old girl's filmy eyes held mine. 'Publius may well have been involved with the Julian faction, for all I know. But as Augustus's governor in Germany he was certainly taking money from Arminius.'

  I sat back. This was a twist I hadn't thought of; but given the old guy's character it made sense, a lot of sense. Having the Roman governor on the payroll would've been a real coup for the Germans, and Arminius would've been happy to pay through the nose for the privilege. Meanwhile Varus could report to the conspirators that he was fulfilling his part of the deal to destabilise Germany for Julia and Postumus. As a plan it was beautiful. Maximum returns, minimum risk. With two paying clients, neither knowing of the other's existence, a goldmine that would set him up for life. And if things did go wrong the most he could be charged with was poor governorship.

  Except that in the end things hadn't just gone wrong. The conspiracy had bombed and Arminius had cancelled out on any arrangement he'd made with a vengeance.

  'You know this for a fact, Quinctilia?' I said. 'That Varus and Arminius had a deal going?'

  'Of course. The proof came from Numonius Vela. He died with Publius, naturally, but before the army had left the Weser he had passed it on to me. Vela was a good friend of the family, and of my brother. I will always be grateful that he chose me as the recipient of the information rather than the emperor.'

  Yeah. Sure. Vela might've died with Varus but I remembered what Agron had said about him running out on the old man when things got tough. With that kind of friend who needs enemies? I wondered if Quinctilia knew; but then she probably did. The old girl didn't miss much.

  Just then Asprenas came back carrying a worn-looking message tablet. He handed it without a word to his aunt. I thought she'd open it but she didn't. Instead she passed it straight to me.

  'Before you ask, young man,' she said, 'there is no possibility of forgery. The handwriting is quite certainly my brother's.'

  I undid the fragile lacings and opened the tablet. The wax surfaces were in good condition although the writing was cramped: the guy had had a lot to say and not much room to say it in. Like she'd said, it was a letter, and at first glance I didn't see anything strange about it except that the usual first line giving the names of sender and addressee was missing. It was bread-and-butter admin stuff, general-to-staff: a list of forces and their order of march, together with details of the route to be taken, including the all-important detour...

  I stopped.

  Including the all-important detour!

  Shit! Quinctilia had said that Vela had sent her the tablet before the army left the Weser. And at that point Varus had known nothing of any trouble to the south. Which meant...

  Feverishly, I skimmed through the rest of the text. At the bottom of the second page my eyes came skidding to a halt. Even when they'd read the last sentence twice I couldn't believe what they were telling me:

  I suggest that the attack be made at this point since it will restrict the movements of my cavalry and provide me with a reasonable excuse for withdrawal.

  Varus had known! He'd known all the time!

  'You see the implications, of course,' Quinctilia said softly.

  'Varus was in league with Arminius.' I still hadn't taken this in. 'He set the massacre up himself.'

  'Correct. Vela had suspected Publius for some time. How he came by that letter I don't know. But I do know that it is genuine.'

  'But this is crazy!' I held up the message tablet. 'You're telling me that Varus arranged his own death?'

  'No,' Asprenas said. 'Of course not. You'll notice that my uncle mentions a withdrawal. An ambush was arranged, certainly. But not the massacre itself.'

  I thought about that. Yeah, it would make sense. Especially if the guy thought he had a standing deal. 'Varus and Arminius had agreed on a military embarrassment? A limited defeat?'

  'That's right.' Asprenas nodded. 'Arminius gets the kudos and my uncle provides the emperor with an excuse for a change of policy. Expansion of the empire as such beyond the Rhine is too risky to attempt. The territory is difficult to police, the natives intractable, and the forces for a long-term occupation unavailable. Under the circumstances it wouldn't be hard to persuade Augustus to rest content with what he had, especially if he knew Arminius to be a secret sympathiser.'

  'You think the emperor knew, then? That Varus was acting under instructions?'

  'No.' Asprenas shook his head. 'I would like to say that, Corvinus, but no. This was a private arrangement between Arminius and my uncle. Perhaps, had he known of it, Augustus would have approved, but he did not.'

  'So Varus had agreed to let Arminius grab himself a little glory? Only Arminius took the idea one step further.' It made sense. Too much sense. 'He let the arrangement stand but doublecrossed Varus at the last minute. What was supposed to be a limited military action became a full-scale attack and three whole legions went down the tube.'

  'Correct.'

  'But the old guy must've suspected something, surely. He was taking a hell of a risk relying on Arminius to pull his punches like that, and he was no fool.'

  Asprenas shrugged. 'I'm not my uncle,' he said. 'I can't say what his reasons were. He knew Arminius well. Maybe he had a blind spot for him, trusted him just that bit too much. The man was no ordinary native, remember. He was Roman-educated and Roman-trained. He would have known the right words and the right arguments to use. Most important, we don't know what my uncle was promised in return.'

  'So the whole thing was a mistake,' I said. 'Varus believed he'd some sort of gentleman's agreement with Arminius while Arminius was planning all the time to make sure Rome pulled out of Upper Germany altogether.'

  'That's right.' Asprenas reached over and took the wax tablet from me. 'Which of course is virtually what happened. The loss of three legions tipped the balance. I doubt if we've the forces for a major expansion beyond the Rhine now even if we wanted to try. Maybe we never will have.' He paused. 'So you've got it all now, Corvinus. The whole dirty truth. We're in your hands. What do you intend to do with us?'

  I'd been hoping no one would ask that question, because I had no answer to give. Quinctilia, too, was watching me, as was Agron. I could see the old lady wanted desperately for me to make the certain decision but that unlike her nephew she was too proud to ask. They'd been open with me. The least I could do was be honest in return.

  I gave it t
o them straight. 'I don't know. I honestly don't know. But believe me I won't use the information unless I have to.'

  The tension in the room relaxed. Even Agron stopped scowling.

  'That is all we can reasonably ask, young man.' Quinctilia smiled for the first time.

  'There's only one thing that still puzzles me,' I said.

  'And what is that?'

  'It has nothing to do with what happened in Germany. At least not directly. All I'd like to know is why Augustus didn't pull your brother in with the rest of the conspirators.'

  'I'm sorry. I don't follow.'

  'If Varus was involved in the Paullus plot – genuinely involved – how come he got away with it? Initially he'd have Augustus's protection, of course, but that would've been withdrawn when the emperor found he'd been freelancing. So if the fourth conspirator was your brother, what was it that protected him?'

  'Maybe he simply wasn't identified,' Asprenas said.

  I shook my head. 'No, that won't wash. Not with Junius Silanus playing kiss and tell. And Varus's connections wouldn't've helped him this time because even Julia got exile. Unless of course he had some major hold over Silanus that kept the guy's mouth shut...'

  'I'm sorry, Corvinus.' Quinctilia stood up. 'I'm afraid we can't help you any further. As I told you, we knew nothing of my brother's involvement in the Paullus plot. No doubt there is an explanation but I'm afraid you must look elsewhere for it.'

  So that was it. Still, I had to be grateful for what I'd got. As I rose to my feet and prepared to murmur the polite phrases I noticed a child's wax tablet lying beside the ornamental pool. I picked it up. Scratched onto the surface was a drawing of an old man's face.

  'You have grandchildren, Lady Quinctilia?'

  'Great-grandchildren.' She peered at the tablet in my hand. 'That must be Hateria's. She's quite the little artist, so I'm told.'

  'It's very good.' I was lying through my teeth. The thing was a travesty. There was something wrong with the lower part of the face, the eyes were too far down and the forehead was a confused mess.

  'My Greek secretary showed her the trick. It's very clever, really. Turn it round and you'll see what I mean.'

  I turned the crude drawing round. The lines seemed to flow and change, one face becoming another. The smiling old man was suddenly metamorphosed into a frowning old woman. One head, two faces. I remembered the figure of Augustus in my dream, and something shifted...

  The world suddenly turned itself inside out.

  'It's not a man after all,' I whispered.

  'I beg your pardon?'

  'The drawing.' I held the tablet out towards her. 'I thought it was a man, but it isn't. It's a woman.'

  'Of course it is. But only when you look at it in a certain way. That's the whole point.'

  I began to laugh; and once I'd started I couldn't stop.

  'Corvinus! For Jupiter's sake!' Asprenas grabbed me. 'What's got into you?'

  'It wasn't Augustus at all!' I managed to get out. 'It was never Augustus! It was sodding Livia!'

  Asprenas froze. 'What?'

  I had a hold of myself now; only I had to sit down. I was shaking so badly that I would've fallen if the chair hadn't been there.

  I understood! Finally I understood! Why hadn't I listened to Perilla when she'd suggested that I had the Paullus plot upside down, that it had been aimed at Julia all along? Or maybe I had. Maybe that's why I'd had the dream in the first place...

  Quinctilia had drawn herself up to her full height, her stoop forgotten.

  'Young man,' she said. 'That was the most disgraceful display of bad manners and bad language that it has ever been my misfortune to witness. You will please leave my house at once.'

  'No.' I shook my head. 'No. I'm sorry, Lady Quinctilia. Deeply sorry. I apologise for my bad manners, I really do. But I can't leave yet.'

  'If the mistress says you leave, Corvinus, then you leave.' Agron hadn't moved from where he'd been standing behind Quintilia's chair. 'You want to do it feet first that's your decision.'

  'No, Agron. Wait.' Quinctilia turned back to me. 'I don't understand. Why should you suddenly be so anxious to stay?'

  'Because I haven't finished,' I said. 'Because I've just realised how the whole thing fits together.'

  31.

  They stared at me. All three of them. Then the questions began.

  I held up my hand. 'Do you think I could have a cup of wine first? Please?'

  My throat was parched. Keeping up the politenesses was one thing, but after what I'd been through I'd've killed for a drink. Besides, this was a celebration. Although the puzzle wasn't complete at least I could see now where the missing pieces had to fit in.

  'Of course.' Quinctilia was trying hard to preserve her impassive dignity. 'Of course you may. Agron, find one of the slaves and tell him to bring a flask of the guest reserve.' She turned back to me as the big guy went out. 'It is my turn to apologise, young man. My lack of hospitality was unforgivable. I told the servants to stay out of earshot until our...discussions were completed, but I should at least have offered you wine.'

  'Forget the wine.' Asprenas's eyes were boring into me. 'What did you mean, Corvinus? About the empress?'

  'Just that I've been looking at things the wrong way up,' I said. 'Oh, sure, it was a natural mistake to make. I'd assumed because the Paullus plot was infiltrated and Augustus was the one to take action then he must've known what was going on all along. Maybe he didn't. Maybe Livia was the one to bust it up and Augustus didn't know a thing about it until she chose to tell him.' Gods! Where was that wine?

  Asprenas was still staring at me like I'd made an indecent suggestion. 'Why should the empress keep Augustus ignorant of a plot against the state?

  But Agron had arrived back at last with the wine slave. I grabbed the cup from the guy's hand and drained it, then refilled it from the flask. Agron jerked his head towards the door and the man scuttled out.

  I turned back to Asprenas.

  'But it wasn't a plot against the state,' I said. 'That's the whole point. The conspirators didn't want to organise a rebellion, they wanted to put the skids under Livia and Tiberius. It was Julians against Claudians. So who had the biggest vested interest in seeing the plot bomb? A big enough interest actually to get it off and running just so she could pull the floor out from under?'

  I could see that I'd rocked Asprenas. 'You're saying that Livia encouraged the Paullus plot? The empress?'

  'Sure. Why not? She provided the rope and watched the poor bastards hang themselves.'

  'So how did it work?'

  I took another swallow of wine. It was good stuff. I was beginning to glow already. 'Okay. First of all it had to have the emperor's backing, right? Paullus and Julia had to think that Augustus was secretly sympathetic.'

  'That would make sense, I suppose.'

  Not exactly a ball of fire, old Fat Face. 'So we have three conspirators. Paullus, Julia and Silanus. Silanus is a double, but the others don't know that. Also there's a fourth guy who Julia and Paullus think represents the emperor.'

  'This fourth conspirator, presumably, being my uncle.'

  'Yeah.' I glanced at Quinctilia. She was sitting frozen faced. 'Yeah. Anyway it's Varus's job to deliver the goods. He's their guarantee of a safe haven, their insurance policy. Clear?'

  Asprenas nodded. Quinctilia was frowning. Maybe, I thought, I'd lost her already. The old girl had had a busy day.

  'So now comes the twist,' I said. 'Augustus doesn't know a thing about the conspiracy. Varus isn't his man at all. Nor is Silanus, for that matter. Both of them are working for Livia. Of course...'

  'I'm sorry to interrupt, young man,' Quinctilia said. 'But that is impossible.'

  I stopped dead as if I'd run into a brick wall. 'Oh, yeah? Now why would that be?'

  Not exactly politely phrased, but I hadn't expected any opposition from that quarter, and it threw me.

  'Because Publius got on abominably with the empress,' she said. 'He would
certainly never have involved himself with her, whatever the reasons. And equally certainly Livia would never have trusted him to act so blatantly against Augustus, even if he had made the offer. Whoever my brother was working for it was not the empress. Or conversely if the empress was behind things then her agent would not have been Publius.'

  'You're sure about that?'

  'Of course I'm sure. When you said that Publius was working for the emperor and subsequently for himself I had no reason to disbelieve you. But to have him working for Livia is another matter.'

  'Under no circumstances?'

  'Under no circumstances.' The words had the finality of a door slamming.

  Shit. 'So where does that leave me with my fourth conspirator?'

  'Not with my brother. I'm afraid, Corvinus, that you will have to look elsewhere.'

  I reached for the flask and filled my cup to cover the sudden silence. I needed to think. Sure, Quinctilia had been pretty dogmatic, but she was a pretty dogmatic person. That didn't mean she had to be right. I wasn't ready to give up on Varus yet, not by a long chalk. He fitted in too well, and anyway I had the hard truth of the letter now to back me up. I knew there were pressures that Livia could've exerted if she'd wanted the guy particularly badly. Like blackmail, perhaps. Varus seemed the kind of guy who'd be a natural for blackmail.

  I realised that Fat Face was talking to me.

  'So where does the massacre fit into all this?'

  I felt almost relieved. I was on firmer ground there as far as Varus was concerned. He'd stage-managed the whole thing, even if it had gone wrong. And given the Livia connection his reasons were pretty obvious.

  'Okay,' I said. 'Forget the Julians for the moment and look at it from Livia's point of view. She's been out from the start to get her baby boy into the purple. She wants him to shine, for people to notice him. The only problem is that young Tiberius isn't the shining type. He's got boils, halitosis, dandruff, all the personal problems you can think of and to cap it all his manner would make a rhino look sociable. Also Augustus hates his guts.'