I cannot swear to this, but I believe that I saw a ghost of a smile cross his lips at the mention of the pigs.
“Gregarius Publius is lying,” he said calmly.
I nodded; I had expected him to say as much. “And why would he lie about his Centurion?”
He shrugged, or at least made an attempt to do so, despite how tightly bound he was. “Why does any ranker hate his Centurion? I've been riding him hard lately and he’s been on the punishment list quite a bit. I’m sure that has something to do with it.”
“That’s a lie,” Fuscus burst out. I looked at him in surprise and not a little irritation. “I haven’t seen his name on any list you’ve submitted one time. Publius clings to you like a fly does to honey; he’s your man, bought and paid, and always has been,” Fuscus almost shouted.
I chose not to reprimand Fuscus for speaking, curious to see how Cornuficius would react, and he looked at Fuscus with utter contempt, making no attempt to hide it in his voice as he replied scornfully, “As any good Pilus Prior would know, there are two kinds of lists; one that you see and one that only I know about. I'm referring to the unofficial list, but I guess it’s too much to expect you would know about that.”
What Cornuficius was saying was true, as I well knew. There were matters of discipline that remained completely within a Century, never making it into the Legion diary, because anything that is reported to the Pilus Prior of a Cohort has to be entered into the official record. The reality is that for every entry of punishment that makes it in the Legion diary there are perhaps nine or ten that do not, instead being handled by the Centurion in about any matter that he saw fit. I looked over at Fuscus, whose face was bright red, his body shaking with rage, his fists clenched at his sides as he glared at Cornuficius, who was staring right back. It was clear that the hatred between the two had been there for some time, but it was not something I could concern myself with now.
“I don’t think that you’re really in a good position to be insolent to your commanding officer, Cornuficius. Apologize to Fuscus for your words and your tone.”
Cornuficius looked at me in disbelief then gave a short, harsh laugh. “Or what, Primus Pilus? You're going to beat me?”
“You know how this works, Cornuficius. You're about to be interrogated. That means you’re going to get a beating no matter what. What you do have some control over is whether I have these men continue on you after I get what I need from you.”
He said nothing for a moment, staring into my eyes. Looking away, he said tonelessly, “I apologize for my words, Pilus Prior. I meant no disrespect. But that doesn't change the fact that Publius is lying.”
“Well, then you have nothing to worry about, other than a few bumps and bruises,” I said conversationally.
Turning to the men, I told them to make themselves ready, and they began wrapping their hands in fresh linen bandages, arraying the tools of their trade in front of Cornuficius, but I did not give them the order to begin. The truth was that I was stalling, waiting for something that I hoped would speed up Cornuficius’ confession because I knew Caesar would awaken soon and be expecting the matter to be resolved.
~ ~ ~ ~
Finally, I was about to signal the men to start, not wanting to delay any longer when there was a commotion outside. Telling them to wait, I signaled for Fuscus, Sertorius, and Diocles to follow me out of the room, where two men stood shaking in fear, surrounded by the provosts. Genusius and Larius were the two men that Publius had admitted going with him to murder Joseph, although I think it did do some credit to Publius that even under torture, he refused to implicate the two in anything more than helping him dispose of the body. I told the provosts to bring the men over to the cell where Publius had been dumped, waiting for execution. He was unconscious but I did not need him awake; I believed just the sight of his battered, broken hulk would loosen their tongues. Faced with that sight, I heard their groans of dismay, then one of them whispered to the other before the provosts led them back to where we were standing. My face was set in stone as I stared at them, pointing back to where Publius lay.
“He's already told us everything. I know what part you both played. What I want to know now is what each of you knows about who told Publius to do this.”
The words came tumbling out of their mouths, both of them babbling so hysterically that I was forced to bark at them to shut up. I turned to Genusius first, motioning for him to talk. His mouth worked several times before anything came out and I remember thinking that first I could not get them to shut up, but now I could not get them to speak. Finally, he stammered out what he knew, which was not much more than what Publius had told him, that Cornuficius told Publius to kill Joseph and dispose of the body. Turning to Larius, he reiterated what Genusius said, but then added something that I made him repeat.
“Publius said that Cornuficius had been cheated by this Joseph of Gaza, that he was as sure that the Jew was playing with loaded dice as he was of anything in his life.”
I pondered this. While it would not make any difference ultimately, it did make me curious so I ordered the two men to be held in the cell adjacent to Publius.
Motioning to Diocles, when he came to me I asked him, “Did you get all that?”
He nodded, waving the wax tablet as I looked to Sertorius and Fuscus, and while they both nodded that they had heard, their faces looked troubled as they glanced at each other.
“Well?” I snapped, knowing what was bothering them. “What’s on your mind?”
Fuscus spoke, and I could see he did so reluctantly. After the initial shock of seeing Cornuficius arrested, I think he had started to like the idea of having him removed, but his hatred of Cornuficius was not enough to stop raising questions in his mind.
“What if it’s true?” he asked worriedly. “What if this Jew did cheat Cornuficius?”
Before I answered I looked to Sertorius, who added, “That would make things different, wouldn’t it, Primus Pilus?”
I rubbed my face, thinking about it; as much as I hated to admit it, they were right.
Thinking it through, I finally shook my head. “Not really. If Cornuficius was cheated, then he knew the proper channels to go through. And now it’s too late, anyway. The Jews won’t be satisfied with anything less than his death.”
“Who are the Jews to tell us what we do with one of our own?” Sertorius asked angrily. “Especially if what Larius said is true and that Cornuficius was cheated by the bastard?”
Sighing, I shook my head again. “It doesn’t matter anymore. But, let’s at least go see what Cornuficius has to say.”
~ ~ ~ ~
I had Diocles read what he had recorded from Larius and Genusius to Cornuficius, who listened impassively. When Diocles reached the part about Cornuficius being cheated, his face changed, a fleeting look of hope animating his features. One look at me extinguished it almost as quickly as it had come.
“And none of that matters,” he said bitterly.
“No, it doesn't,” I replied, not seeing any point to lie to him, even if I had been so inclined. “But tell us your version anyway. Perhaps Caesar will be feeling generous.”
“Caesar may feel as generous as he likes, but if you speak against me, what chance do I have?”
I regarded him for several moments, neither of us aware of anyone else in the room. I honestly do not know if this moment were to occur now if I would behave the same way. The years have a way of banking the fires of passion and rage in a man so that they barely smolder in the last years of his life. Perhaps it is a way to make the days of one’s life longer, for I believe that when the flames in your soul burn bright and hot that it consumes your essence much more quickly; your flame may burn bright in this life, but it extinguishes earlier.