The Far Shore (16 page)

Asdribar turned to Annia, who nodded. ‘Of course.’

Cassius directed Simo and Indavara outside and waited for the others to leave. Annia’s maid, Clara, stayed sitting and stared down at her lap.

Walking over to Annia, Cassius had to bow his head, which made him feel rather foolish. ‘Miss, these ridiculous notions must end here. You will not be accompanying us.’

‘As Captain Asdribar’s client, surely it is
I
who decides who shall accompany
me
.’

Cassius could see little sense in arguing with the girl; a debate could not be conducted in the absence of reason.

‘Very well, then. I shall certainly not plead my case. I would much rather stay here on the island, wait for a little good weather, then take the next vessel heading east.’

He made for the door.

‘Officer Corbulo, my apologies,’ Annia said quickly. ‘It is only your hard work and insight that have allowed any progress at all. Please – the investigation cannot continue without you.’

Cassius, who had no real intention of actually leaving, stopped and turned round.

‘You have accomplished a great deal in only a few hours,’ Annia continued. ‘And I’m confident you can bring this affair to a conclusion.’

Cassius had never met anyone who didn’t respond well to a bit of praise and he certainly didn’t consider himself an exception. ‘Young lady, I admire your determination to see your father’s murderer caught, but there is no practical reason for you to come. Apart from anything else, your family need you here.’

‘You will not change my mind, sir.’

Cassius wasn’t sure if it was the stuffy, oily air of the deckhouse or the trials of the day, but the pain that had been seeping out from behind his eyes and across his head for the past hour had doubled in the last few moments. He clenched his right fist and smacked it into his left palm. ‘By Jupiter, see sense, will you?’

Fear flashed into Annia’s eyes and she took half a step backward.

‘This is no place for a woman,’ Cassius added. ‘Who knows what we might face?’

Annia took a moment to compose herself before replying. ‘You recall the island the captain spoke of – Krapathos? I sailed to it last summer with three friends. My father first took me out on the lake when I was little more than a baby. I have made passage to Alexandria and Athens and Ephesus. I have spent more than a hundred days at sea and—’

Cassius held up a hand. ‘How much did you pay the captain?’

‘We agreed to four aurei a day.’

‘Thank you. I shall outbid you, and then there really is no need for you to be aboard.’

‘I don’t think you have the money, sir. You said earlier you might need something from me.’

Cassius couldn’t fault the smart little bitch there – he had no chance of finding enough coin elsewhere at such short notice.

‘Well, miss, as you clearly do not hold me in sufficient esteem to accept my counsel, I shall waste no more of my breath.’

‘I do respect you, Officer Corbulo. And you can be assured that I will not interfere.’

Cassius almost laughed when he heard that.

‘You will be here at the tenth hour?’ Annia asked.

‘I shall consider my position very, very carefully before arriving at a decision.’

‘Please, sir. Your presence is essential. You have shown yourself to be most capable.’

Cassius was sick of the sound of her voice but he had one final thing to say. ‘Forgive me, miss, but what if your father were here? What do you think
he
would advise?’

‘That I am certain of. He would want me to follow that man to the very ends of the earth – until I’d seen him burnt to ash or put under the ground. And I will not rest until it’s done.’

The flying boot smashed into the door, narrowly missing Simo, who had just returned to the way station. Cassius kicked off his other boot, then poured himself a mug of wine and slumped down on the bed.

‘One day on land. One day! Now back on a bloody boat.’

As Simo retrieved the boot, Indavara wandered out of his room to see what was going on.

Cassius pointed at him. ‘And as if that’s not bad enough, this genius decides to attack a priest at the temple of Poseidon just before we’re about to embark on an already dangerous sea journey!’

‘I thought Neptune was god of the sea,’ said Indavara.

‘By the gods, listen to him.’

‘They’re really the same,’ Simo explained quietly, putting the boots neatly together on the floor. ‘Poseidon is the Greek version, Neptune the Roman.’

‘Oh,’ said Indavara, before returning to his room.

Cassius shut his eyes and rubbed his temples.

‘One of your headaches, sir?’ asked Simo.

‘Of course.’

‘Would you like to hear how I got on with the harbour master’s clerk?’

Cassius drank and gestured for him to continue.

‘There isn’t much to report, I’m afraid.’ Simo produced a sheet of paper. ‘Though I did take some notes.’

‘Hurry up, man.’

‘The
Cartenna
is a private vessel, owned and captained by a Thracian named Aradates. He has worked with various shipping agents in Rhodes and elsewhere and has a good reputation. This opinion is supported by Magistrate Nariad’s men, and we spoke to the inspector who went aboard the
Cartenna
when it arrived. He saw nothing suspicious but confirmed that the ship was definitely headed to Crete and he believed Aradates planned to winter there. No one knew anything about any passengers but Aradates is known to take them if adequately paid.’

‘We might surmise, then, that if Dio was aboard, this Aradates has no idea he has helped an assassin make his escape.’

Cassius looked up at the roof and shivered.

‘Are you cold, sir?’

‘No. Just thinking about what Dio might have been carrying with him.’

Simo looked confused.

‘Proof of his work,’ Cassius explained.

The Gaul realised what he meant. ‘Oh, Lord. It is the work of the beast Satan, sir.’

‘Blame your mysterious evil-doer if you wish, Simo, but I’ll wager this killer was hired by a flesh and blood man with good reason to want Memor dead.’

‘Sir, I was also able to find a ship to take your correspondence – a coaster in the Little Harbour bound for Ephesus. The captain was away but one of the crew was certain they would leave when the weather next cleared. I don’t think we’ll do any better, sir. Optio Clemens can pass your letters on to the captain for us.’

‘Yes, organise that.’

‘Already done, sir.’

‘Ah. At least I can rely on you, Simo.’

The big Gaul looked down at the pile of saddlebags and clothes on the floor. ‘I suppose I should get us packed up, sir.’

Cassius sighed. ‘Yes. I suppose you should.’

As Simo began folding blankets, Cassius refilled his mug from the jug he had taken from the parlour.

‘Are you sure that’s wise, sir, what with your head? And you know how your stomach can be onboard ship.’

‘Don’t even talk about it. I’m trying to enjoy my last few moments on dry land.’

Cassius walked out into the corridor. ‘By the gods, Simo, that girl Annia. She is quite impossible. Just wouldn’t listen to reason.’

‘She does seem very forward, sir.’

‘I’ll say. Needs a firm hand, that one.’

‘Pretty though,’ said Indavara, as he gathered his bags by the door.

‘Nothing special,’ replied Cassius. ‘And one soon forgets the fair face when she opens her mouth. My sisters are all girls with minds of their own – my mother made sure of that. But they know their place – my father made sure of
that
.’

‘I think she’s pretty.’

‘Well there’ll be plenty of time onboard the ship, Indavara. You should make an approach; charm her with your sophistication and wit like you did those girls in Karanda. I could use a good laugh.’

Indavara reddened as he attended to an errant bootlace. ‘That wasn’t my fault.’

‘Well it wasn’t me who told crude jokes and spilt wine all over them.’

‘Roman!’

Cassius turned to see the diminutive, bow-legged figure of Squint shuffling down the corridor towards him.

‘Why don’t you just use “sir”? It’s shorter and far more polite.’

‘We have a problem,’ said the old sailor, peering up at him.

Cassius leant back against the door frame and took another swig of wine. ‘Surely it’s not possible for this day to get any worse.’

‘It’s our deck-chief,’ Squint explained. ‘He was thrown in prison this morning.’

Cassius had neither the time nor the energy for a trip to the cells, where – according to Squint – Korinth was to be held until the next session of the municipal court. He therefore had to write a note to Magistrate Nariad explaining the situation, and was rather glad he wouldn’t have to do so in person. It seemed almost laughable, having insisted the man be detained in the first place, but Squint was sure that Asdribar couldn’t possibly leave port without his deck-chief. Watching from the way station entrance as the old sailor hurried away clutching the note, Cassius wondered how many more sly tricks the gods were planning to play on him before the day was out.

A waving hand appeared and he was relieved to see Clemens marching along the sea wall. As soon as the burly optio reached the way station, Cassius swiftly related the events of the last few hours.

As instructed, Clemens had been trying to locate Carius Asina. ‘I eventually found an administrator at the forum who knows him well. Asina and his family left for their estate as soon as they returned. We can get a message to them but—’

‘No, no, there’s no time for that,’ Cassius interjected. ‘And probably no need. I doubt they could offer any more information about this Dio than Viator did. What about Sudrenus’s slave?’

‘He lives in a fishing village on the other side of the citadel – quite a way along the coast. I sent one of the men on horseback to question him but I doubt he’ll be back before you leave.’

‘Right. Anything else?’

‘No. I went round most of the inns but nobody remembers him. By the way, is your bodyguard here?’

‘Yes. Why?’

‘This incident at the temple of Poseidon. Lot of talk about it. Some very angry people. It’s probably just as well that you’re leaving.’

Just then a young legionary shot out of an alley and ran over to them. Cassius didn’t recognise him.

‘Sir. Another sighting – a fisherman whose boat was moored up next to the
Cartenna
. There
was
a passenger. The crew had him sit on the wharf for an hour while they cleaned the decks. The fisherman noticed the sack
and
the boots.’

‘He’s sure?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good work,’ Cassius told the legionary. ‘I’ll make sure you get your due.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘I may as well round the men up then,’ said Clemens. ‘Get them back to barracks.’

Cassius nodded. ‘Yes. You – and they – did well for me. It’s appreciated.’

‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you I was a keen supporter of the Service, sir, but no Roman deserves what happened to Memor. It’s his poor wife and those girls I feel for. I hope you find the son of a bitch. Best of luck.’

Once he’d shaken forearms with Cassius, Clemens and the legionary set off back along the sea wall. Cassius returned to the way station. Simo had gone to buy provisions for the journey, leaving Indavara to pile the last of their gear in the little room by the door.

‘Now listen,’ Cassius told him. ‘Assuming they let this Korinth character out, we’re going to be stuck on a boat with him for the next few days. Can I rely on you to keep control of yourself?’

‘Who started it?’

‘All right, but evidently he’s a pretty fiery fellow. Just stay out of his way.’

Finished with the bags, Indavara leant back against the wall by the window.

‘You’re becoming a bit of a liability, my man,’ said Cassius.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re causing me more problems than you solve.’

Indavara shook his head but said nothing.

‘I mean kicking a priest,’ Cassius continued. ‘Whoever heard of such a thing?’

‘We got Viator, didn’t we?’

‘I almost had him anyway.’

‘And what would you have done if you’d caught him? Talk him into surrender?’