Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator (85 page)

“She took some persuading,” Carbo added.

“Julia intended to stay the course with you, to take the barbarian and all his ichor to the alien queen and expected us to do the same.”

“Leave? But to what end?” I demanded. “How can we leave Olympus Decimus? Aquilinus is no god, but the Rota Fortuna is always looking down on us.”

“You remember I told you that I had hidden resources on this world? Well, now is the time to bring them to bear. There is a concealed Viridian base on Olympus Decimus,” my uncle said. “The base of the twenty-fourth legion Viridius, built back when we were rulers of this world. A hidden operations center buried far below the ice, built to shield it from any form of attack.”

The red marker I had seen on the map the night before, before he quickly shut it down. That must have been it.

“It's nearby, not far beyond the shield wall. There are armaments and a stealth shuttle with shield-piercing capabilities that's fast enough to burn right past the orbital station and into the Janus Cardo. We'll travel to a command post at the edge of Viridian space and watch as Aquilinus' coup falls to pieces. Then we'll be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To make use of your barbarian and his ichor. He's going to help us raise up a new empire. A Viridian empire.”

Gods, how could I not have seen this coming? My own countrymen had been infected with the same disease that was choking the whole empire—greed. They didn't see this as a chance to defeat evil and restore stability. They wanted to make their own play for the throne, to kick the Sertorians' feet out from under them and then follow in their footsteps as fast as humanly possible.

“Unfortunately, the shuttle can carry only eight: Carbo, myself, Nervo, Pavo, Caninus, Marcus, and our diamond barbarian boy of course. That leaves one spot. It's yours if you can work out where your loyalties lie.”

“And Julia?”

“She's made her choice.”

“I've made worse choices,” I said.

“I know, but you are my niece, and blood still counts for something. You get a second chance to make the right choice.”

He sounded just like Aquilinus before he killed Titus Flavius Cursor.

“Please do not do this,” I pleaded. “I beseech you, Uncle, do not do this. If we become monsters in order to defeat monsters, then what does it matter who wins?”

“If there's one thing you learn in the espionage business, Accala, it is that we're all monsters. Wars are fought by monsters, they're won by monsters. There's no good, no virtue, no honor. There's just victory. Us or them. And it's my job to make sure it's us.”

“Is this the kind of empire you want House Viridian to rule over? An empire of addicts and slaves?”

“What do you think they are now? Why do you think they watch these games with such interest? They are slaves to bread and circuses. That's why they're willing to jump like fish for the ambrosia. The house that wields it will reign supreme for millennia.”

“But you saw them today. They're making a stand. They're fighting for us, they're fighting for the gods and for Rome.”

He stood up and walked around his table, putting his hands on my shoulders.

“You're young. You see what you want to see. You know why the mob is raging? They're fighting for their entertainments and pressing Aquilinus to give them the ambrosia without having to pay too high a price. You can't have your cake and eat it, but they don't know that. You've spooked them about abandoning the gods, but as long as Aquilinus doesn't press the issue of his divinity too hard, they'll swing back in line with him. Idealism isn't tangible. The man who has the ichor and makes the ambrosia will command the empire.” The ambrosia hunger was strong. My muscles ached, my head throbbed. It was hard to think straight, but I had to keep it together, had to get Quintus to see sense.

“Uncle, let the Hyperboreans go. The ambrosia will only bring suffering. This is the moment where we could go wrong, but it's not too late to choose another path. It's enough to see the Sertorians lose; we don't have to take more than our share. Let us do our duty, let me carry out my promise, my mother's promise, your sister's promise.”

He backhanded me, sending me sprawling to the floor. Before I could move, Carbo had his weapon leveled at me, ready to fire the moment I tried to defend myself.

“Our duty is to our house!” my uncle shouted. “You think we are as you? That we don't know how to manage ourselves? We are men! We are soldiers. We have discipline, honor. You suggest I let these ignorant beasts walk away with the most powerful asset in the empire? You will remember your place if you wish to live. Are you a Viridian? Do you love your family? Or will you turn traitor and serve alien beings? You know nothing of the empire, of what it really takes to keep power. Virtue! The Gods! Pah! They aren't going to fix anything. The Sertorians aren't wrong. Survival of the strongest, the power to keep hold of what you have—that's the key. The ichor can secure our position, make sure no one ever threatens us again.”

“There is no permanence in life, no absolute, everything changes. The experience I've had has taught me that,” I said. “It's something we knew once, but we've forgotten it. The empire's become fixed, locked in outdated ideas, and we can't think of ourselves as anything other than houses fighting over a throne and crown. We have to break the mold and recast ourselves in a new form. There's a chance to remake the empire right here and now as something better than it was. But we can't choose the same path as the enemy.”

“Your mother used to talk the same nonsense. You're her daughter, all right. The truth is that you are naïve and don't understand how the world works. You played your part well. Your idealism was necessary to accomplish the task at hand, but now it will only endanger us if you're allowed to wield power a moment longer. I'm sorry, dear niece.”

Gods, Crassus had been right about my uncle all along. I put my hand to Orbis, but the blast from Carbo's ion pistol hit me square in the back, and then I was falling.

XLV

“S
HALL
I
FINISH HER?”
Carbo asked. All I could see of him was his boots as they stopped in front of my face. He must have used the stun setting. My whole body was frozen.

“No,” Uncle said. “She's certainly done her part to add to our victory.”

My uncle crouched down beside me, hovering over me like a spider that had caught an insect in its web. I used every ounce of willpower, trying to get up, but the bolt had locked up all my muscles in a kind of static seizure.

“You betrayed me. You betrayed House Viridian by colluding with Aquilinus. You have no honor.”

My accusation didn't seem to faze my uncle, or Carbo, for that matter.

“Dear niece, the ambrosia is a powerful weapon, an empire-shaping weapon. So what if I formed a temporary alliance with my enemy? We needed one another. I handed them you, relayed information to them that you passed on to Julia. We formed an alliance of convenience that would last only until the ambrosia was discovered.”

“If you can't see why, then we don't have much to discuss,” I said.

“We'll discuss anything that pleases me,” he said.

“Julia was in on it too?” I asked. I had to know.

“No. No, she knew nothing of my plans other than that she was to support you and keep an eye on your more rebellious tendencies. Aquilinus and I did nothing more than what the leaders of houses do—work with the assets at hand, use the pieces on the board to make the best moves we can in the game of empire. I needed the pin your mother spoke of and Aquilinus needed you to make it work. As for betraying you, I think that's unreasonable. I used you, certainly, but you made yourself available to be used from the beginning.”

“You never expected me to survive the Blood Hawks,” I said. “All that talk of sending me back to the Viridian team, of redeeming my name. All lies. You wanted me to lead the way to the ichor. After that I was expendable.”

“I admit it. My guess was that you would find the ichor, Aquilinus was always going to make sure of that. In the process I was certain he would break you. My best scenario was that you would go mad and kill some of the Sertorians before you yourself died, but you've impressed me, Accala. You've delivered above and beyond expectations and that's why you will be permitted to live and see your hard work come to fruition. Maybe, when House Viridian rules the empire, you'll see me in a different light.”

“You seek the throne for yourself. Our house's interests are a distant concern.”

“You can say what you wish, it makes no difference now. I don't expect your father to survive Aquilinus' tender mercies—he's probably dead already—but you saw his face when you arrived on this world, all dressed up in leather, a pet Sertorian whore, the centerpiece of Aquilinus' propaganda campaign. The shame. I've never seen anything like it. So, after the Hyperborean child is doing what's required of him, I'm going to ship you to an outer colony and see you married to some feudal lord who'll tame your wild spirit.”

I felt some feeling returning to my arms and tried to push myself up, before Carbo forced me back down with a boot on my neck.

“And the others? The redheaded plebeian and the Sertorian?” Carbo asked.

“It's better to put them out of their misery than leave them here for Aquilinus,” Quintus said. “Do it quickly and quietly.”

“What's going on?”

It was Marcus. I couldn't see him, but it was him. My voice box wouldn't work to call for help, but he must have heard some of what just transpired.

“Back to your post, Marcus. This doesn't concern you,” Carbo barked.

“I'd say that assaulting our teammates concerns me greatly.”

“I'm the leader of this alliance, and if I have to ask again, you'll be up on charges of insubordination, and in a time of war, that means crucifixion.”

“We'll all be crucified tomorrow anyway if Aquilinus has his way.”

Carbo moved toward him, but Marcus ignored him and sought my uncle's confirmation. “Proconsul?”

“You heard the commander. Start packing. We're moving out beyond the shield walls in fifteen minutes.”

“You're right, sir. I beg your pardon,” he said as he went. Just like that. No defiance, just acceptance. It wasn't like Marcus, not at all.

“Right, go on, Carbo. Leave the pistol.”

Carbo handed the weapon to my uncle, who leveled it at me.

“Stay right where you are,” my uncle said to me. “This will all be over in a moment.”

Outside I could hear Carbo ordering Nervo and Pavo to pack up the camp. While they were busy, he and Caninus would carry out the executions.

There was a sudden commotion, and Carbo, Nervo, and Pavo came rushing back into the tent.

“Sir! The barbarian child and the Sertorian, they're gone,” Pavo said.

Crassus! Had he betrayed me or, seeing things falling apart here, was he trying to help?

“What do you mean gone?” Quintus yelled, leaping up, his fist smashing down on the flimsy table, sending it flying.

“Caninus took a blow to the head, he was out cold. Crassus must have overpowered him. He stole Caninus' knife and the skirmisher.”

Uncle Quintus crouched beside me again and grabbed my ponytail, pulling me up until we were face-to-face.

“Where is the diamond boy? Where has Crassus gone?” my uncle yelled. He was manic, his eyes filled with greed and anger. I couldn't answer that question, but I knew my uncle. Any second now he would come to the conclusion that Crassus was taking Lumen back to Aquilinus, that he was about to lose everything.

“The pin,” was all I could manage to say. It was enough. I'd used it to find Lumen before. I could use it to find him again. Uncle Quintus needed me.

“Damn it! Hold off on killing the redhead. My niece appears to have some strategic sense after all. Mount up and get that barbarian brat back before Crassus can take him to his master. Make sure you bring Accala, she'll be useful.”

Marcus rode on my uncle's chariot, while Julia and I were loaded onto Carbo's and bound to the rails by calcedonius bonds, the same kind the Sertorians had used to chain me aboard
Incitatus
.

“He said you refused to give them the shield codes. Thank you,” I said quietly to Julia.

“Yeah? Well they got them out of me in the end.”

“I've got us thrown in the deep end again. You're a hostage again. I'm sorry.”

“No, you were right. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other. They were going to kill me, now they're not. We've got to work with what's right in front of us if we're going to survive.” She looked over at Marcus on the other chariot and winked. I caught sight of something in Marcus' hand—the outline of a slim object, the length of an index finger, lit by the acid cyan lights of the chariot—the key to our bonds!

Then we rushed headlong into the night. Now all the elements seemed to rail against us—a snowstorm, biting winds that made my teeth ache.

“Which way?” Carbo barked. When he saw me hesitate, he raised a hand and instantly Caninus cut Julia with a long knife, a gash to the arm.

Gods, what would happen when it turned out I couldn't lead them to Lumen at all? But then the song started up. For the first time since I'd rejoined the Caninines, I could hear it clearly. No buzzing static, but a clear tone, filled with meaning and a strong directional pull. Lumen and I were connected once more. It couldn't be coincidence, he'd reopened communication so that I could find him. If Crassus really was taking him to Aquilinus, then finding Lumen was a top priority. My uncle making use of Lumen was definitely the lesser of two evils.

Let them come.

Aulus' voice, Lumen's voice, unfolded in my mind like a ray of sunshine. He was alive and I could hear him once more. Even though I was betrayed and at a disadvantage, some blockage between us had broken and been carried away.