The Far Shore (33 page)

Cassius had already looked away but the garbled scream crackled icily down his spine. He glanced back in time to see Mutilus holding the bloodied piece of flesh up to the crowd.

‘Think on it, all of you,’ said Procyon. ‘Speak ill of us, or the centurion, and you might never speak again.’

Mutilus threw the tongue to the ground in front of the platform. To the soldiers’ amusement, a dog appeared from somewhere, snatched it up in its jaws and ran off with it. Mutilus took his canteen from his belt and used the water to clean his blade and hands. He then sheathed his dagger and walked down the pile of rubble with Procyon. By now the soldiers had gathered around them. The optios gave a few orders then sauntered along the avenue that led west.

Just in front of Cassius, two young boys came running through the crowd. One was chopping his hand down in the motion of a knife. The other was covering his mouth. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. The captive lay on his side on the platform, motionless. Once the soldiers were gone, several people went to help him. As the crowd began to break up, Cassius looked to the south, at the mounted officer. He turned his horse round and rode away.

Indavara was also on the move, pursuing the other officer, who was heading across the square to the east. Cassius jogged after them and caught up with Indavara just as he spoke.

‘Enjoy that, did you?’

The big man turned round. He was armed with a dagger.

‘Excuse my bodyguard, sir,’ said Cassius, darting between them. ‘He used to be a gladiator – rather takes exception to violence as spectacle.’

The officer looked them both over, and Cassius noted that he seemed slightly unsteady on his feet. Even so, he was an impressive character; not just imposing, but even-featured and handsome. He stared hard at Indavara and marched back towards him.

Cassius got out of the way.

The officer stopped a yard from Indavara. He was as tall as Cassius though far broader, and looked down his nose at the bodyguard.

Indavara matched the stare, hands by his belt, ready to move.

Cassius recalled what he’d told him on Rhodes after the incident at the temple, about him becoming a bit of a liability
.
More like a major liability.

‘I asked you if you enjoyed that?’ said Indavara.

The officer bent his head towards him until their faces were inches apart. ‘Do I look as if I enjoyed it?’

With that, he turned round and strode away.

Indavara watched him until Cassius spoke.

‘What in Hades do you think you’re doing? You go against me like that again and I’ll make damned sure Abascantius hears about it. And if he finds out you put this investigation at risk, I wouldn’t expect any more silver ingots, or even a single bloody coin for that matter.’

Indavara looked at him but said nothing.

‘Or of course I could tell Annia,’ Cassius continued. ‘I doubt she’d be particularly impressed either.’

Simo arrived. ‘Sir, if you could do without me for a few moments, I could go and help that poor man.’

‘By all the gods,’ spat Cassius, trying to keep his voice down, ‘you two are as bad as each other. I suggest you both remind yourselves why we are here.’

Cassius looked at the people. He needed information, quickly. Approaching the optios or the soldiers was a rather unappealing prospect, particularly with Indavara alongside him. He could try to find the governor’s office but that would take time and attract a lot of attention.

A portly man passed by. ‘Welcome to Darnis,’ he said sourly. ‘Sorry you had the misfortune to come ashore here.’

‘Our ship needs repairs,’ said Cassius, seeing an opportunity. ‘Apparently there was another vessel here this morning.’

The man shrugged.

Cassius glanced at the platform. ‘That sort of thing a common occurrence?’

The man looked around to check there were no soldiers close by.

‘Increasingly.’

Cassius gestured towards the big centurion, who had reached the edge of the square and the road that ran east. ‘Strange. He didn’t seem to approve.’

‘Eborius? Didn’t do anything about it though, did he? It’s a shame. He was a good man.’

‘I take it the optios follow the orders of the other officer – the one on the horse?’

The man looked down at the ground.

‘Good luck with the repairs,’ he said before hurrying away.

Cassius turned to the east again. Eborius had just disappeared down a side street.

‘Come on.’

‘Where are we going?’ asked Indavara.

‘I need to talk to that officer. Can I rely on you to keep your mouth shut?’

Now Indavara glanced at the platform.

Cassius took a step closer to him. ‘Back on the ship I thought we’d agreed to each do our own jobs. How about you leave the decision-making to me?’

‘I don’t want to see things like that,’ Indavara said quietly.

‘Nor Simo. Nor I. But the affairs of this town are not our concern. Dio is. And we don’t have time to waste.’

Eborius passed a tavern, apparently the only occupied building on the street. Lounging around on benches outside were about twenty legionaries, though only a few of them were drinking. They implored the officer to join them but he waved a dismissive hand and continued purposefully on his way.

‘Slow down,’ Cassius murmured to the others.

Though they inevitably drew the attention of the soldiers, nothing was said as the trio walked by.

This was an area of two- or three-room villas divided by low walls, most of them with a stone-built cistern at the front or rear. Though every dwelling seemed abandoned, the signs of habitation remained: potted plants, either dead or wildly overgrown; small vegetable plots in a similar condition; and, mounted above the doorways, carvings of deities entrusted to guard the home.

Eborius kept his head down as he walked and – despite the considerable amount of drink Cassius guessed he’d imbibed – kept up quite a pace. So by the time he turned right into an alley, they were well past the tavern and away from any prying eyes.

‘Eborius!’

The officer stopped and waited as Cassius hurried over to him, Simo and Indavara a few paces behind.

‘How do you know my name?’ he asked irritably. ‘What do you want?’

Cassius now noted that the impressive physique and strong face masked a rather dishevelled individual. He smelt of sweat and wine, his tunic was stained, and the metal of his belt buckle was greasy and dull.

‘To talk to you.’

Cassius gestured to Simo, who took the spearhead from the satchel and passed it to him. Cassius unwrapped the top half and showed it to Eborius. ‘Imperial Security. I need your help.’

‘I’m not in charge here.’

‘That doesn’t matter. I need information.’

‘About what?’

‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’

Eborius rubbed his eyes, then sighed. ‘This way.’

Cassius returned the spearhead to Simo and they followed the officer along the alley and across the next street. To the left, it ran down as far as the old wall; beyond lay the marsh and a broad expanse of beach. Halfway along the next alley they came to a low, arched doorway and Cassius followed Eborius into what had clearly once been a small temple. Lying in one corner was the top half of a statue carved from some inferior stone. It was identifiable only by the owl cupped in one scarred hand – the goddess Minerva. In the opposite corner was the base of an altar, upon which Eborius sat. As Simo and Indavara followed him inside, Cassius offered his forearm. ‘Officer Cassius Quintius Corbulo.’

The older man looked up at him, then took his arm. ‘Manius Eborius.’

‘Centurion?’

Eborius gave a weary nod.

Cassius took his canteen from his belt. ‘Water?’

Eborius drank most of the contents then gave it back. Everything about him was big. Big head, big face, big shoulders, big arms and legs, but every part well formed and in proportion.

Cassius leant back against an ivy-covered wall. ‘I’m after a man who calls himself Dio. Short, left-handed. Ring any bells?’

‘No.’

‘I believe he arrived this morning aboard that ship the
Isis
.’

‘I heard she came in. Unless it’s a supply ship, no one takes much notice these days.’

‘I need to find him quickly,’ said Cassius. ‘If he did get off, he may have left the town. What about the governor’s office? Does anyone there keep track of new arrivals?’

Eborius snorted. ‘Did anyone come and meet you?’

‘I take it that order has rather broken down here.’

‘You could say that. Though I suppose there is order. Of a kind.’

‘That other officer’s kind? Who is he?’

‘Centurion Valgus Carnifex.’

‘I may need his help. Can you take me to him?’

‘That would be difficult. He and I are not on the best of terms.’

‘I see. It seems I shall just have to start asking around then.’

Eborius frowned. ‘I would advise against that.’

‘I don’t seem to have a great deal of choice. Somebody might have seen the man, might know him. Every hour counts. He may already be gone.’

‘Gone? Gone where? Travel more than ten miles in any direction and you’re liable to find yourself face to face with a band of Maseene.’

‘Maseene?’

‘Local tribesmen. They’ve recently taken to attacking anyone they come across who doesn’t speak and look like them.’

‘The army has lost control of the area?’

‘Not Darnis and its immediate surroundings. But beyond that … let’s just say your short friend is unlikely to have set off for anywhere, unless he’s anxious to meet his end at the point of a javelin.’

‘I haven’t heard of any uprisings in this area.’

‘I’m fairly sure nobody on the other side of the Green Sea has heard anything from Darnis in a while.’ Eborius kicked a lump of rock into the wall. ‘Which is exactly how certain people want it to stay.’

‘If you’re so convinced he wouldn’t have left, then there’s all the more reason to think someone here will know something. Where do you suggest I start?’

‘Have you been listening to me? The situation here is complicated and you are a stranger. You could easily run into trouble blundering around unescorted. And Carnifex would soon hear of it.’

‘So? He is bound by law to assist me.’

Eborius almost laughed at this. ‘He is bound by nothing but his one and only interest: maintaining and protecting the profitable little empire he has carved out for himself here. I suggest you keep quiet about your true identity and leave in the morning.’

‘That’s not possible.’

‘What has he done anyway, this man you seek?’

‘He is an assassin.’

‘Who did he kill?’

Cassius wondered if he hadn’t already told Eborius too much. But the centurion had in turn revealed plenty himself, and it seemed unlikely he would cooperate unless he knew the true importance of the investigation.

‘The Deputy Commander of the Service. On Rhodes, a week ago. Now do you understand why I cannot just turn round and leave?’

Eborius considered this for a moment. ‘How many men do you have with you?’

Cassius gestured to Indavara and Simo.

‘Why so few? If you’re engaged in such an important mission.’

‘Let’s just say it was all rather rushed. In any case, if I’d arrived with a squad of men in tow, we’d never find Dio, would we? From what you’ve said I doubt this Carnifex will allow me to requisition his troops, so I appear to have only one source of help.’

Eborius’s face tightened and he scratched the back of his neck.

‘His name was Augustus Marius Memor,’ Cassius continued. ‘He was beheaded. In his study. He had a wife and two daughters. The oldest girl is on the ship.’

Eborius said nothing, but Cassius didn’t mind that. The centurion seemed to have accepted he was duty-bound to assist, and judging by his face, the emotive tugs had done their job.

‘What about your century – your men?’ asked Cassius.

‘If you followed me from the square you would have seen most of them. At the tavern.’

‘What?’

‘Long story.’

Eborius glanced at the elongated shadows on the cracked tiled floor of the temple. ‘We haven’t much light left. Let me make a few enquiries.’

‘And then?’

‘I’ll come down to the causeway at the third hour of night. Wait for me by the arch. Is there any other information on the man?’

Eborius actually seemed to have sobered up during the conversation, but Cassius repeated all the details he knew twice. He also told him about the cover story and the damage to the
Fortuna
.

‘Will the captain be able to make his repairs here?’

Eborius held up a hand. ‘One thing at a time. That can wait until tomorrow. Keep all the men on the ship for now.’

‘As you wish. Thank you for your help.’

‘My pleasure,’ said Eborius unconvincingly. ‘What was your name again?’

They arrived back at the
Fortuna
to find the ceremony of arrival had just concluded. The crew were gathered on the deck in good spirits, readying themselves for a night in Darnis. Cassius found Asdribar at the stern, gazing out to sea. One altar was still slick with blood from one of the cockerels, and feathers littered the deck. Smoke was rising from the galley and drifting out over the harbour.