Passing by the statue they crossed into the Forum of Augustus, which was used as an overflow court from the Forum Romanum; with the recent upsurge in treason trials it too was very busy with lawyers, jurists and spectators, all sweating freely under the hot July sun.
Leaving Augustus’ Forum behind them, they started to climb up the Quirinal Hill and felt the air freshen as a light breeze blew down from its summit.
‘I’ll see you home, gentlemen,’ Magnus said, ‘and then take Artebudz down to the crossroads tavern. He’s going to be staying with me and the lads for a few days before he leaves.’
‘Thank you, Magnus,’ Gaius replied. ‘I expect your crossroads brotherhood has been missing your leadership, there’ll be quite a party tonight to welcome you back.’
‘Yeah, and I’ll be paying. The lads have kept my share of the takings whilst I’ve been away, so they’ll expect me to be generous with the wine and whores.’
‘I’m surprised that you can even contemplate having a whore after all the demands made upon your services last night,’ Vespasian observed.
Magnus looked embarrassed. ‘Very funny, sir. I’ll thank you not to mention it again; I’m feeling slightly dirty and used. I’ll certainly be having younger flesh tonight; the younger the better.’
‘Let’s hope they won’t be feeling dirty and used in the morning.’
‘They’ll at least have been paid for what they do; I’ve always felt that money is a great cleanser.’
Vespasian laughed. ‘Well, I’m sure Antonia would be more than happy to give you a good wash when you see her next.’
Their arrival at Gaius’ house ended the banter suddenly; the door was open and there was no sign of the ancient doorkeeper.
Gaius ran in.
Pulling his dagger from its sheath, Vespasian leapt after him.
‘Get the swords,’ Sabinus shouted as he disappeared through the door.
Magnus and Artebudz rummaged about in the kit bags as they followed the brothers inside.
In the atrium Vespasian found Gaius cradling the body of one of his beautiful, fair-haired, German slave boys. The ancient doorkeeper lay in a pool of blood next to him, his throat slit. Two more of Gaius’ young slaves lay dead by the pool.
‘My dear boy, Arminius, my dear, dear boy,’ Gaius wept, stroking the youth’s blood-matted hair.
A scream rang out from the direction of the courtyard garden.
‘Uncle, whoever’s done this is still here,’ Vespasian said, taking the proffered sword from Magnus. ‘Stay here, we’ll get them.’
‘And sit and wait while my boys are butchered? Bollocks I will.’ With surprising speed he ran to his study, one of the rooms to the left of the atrium, and reappeared a moment later with a sword. ‘Magnus and Artebudz, check each of the rooms off the atrium; we don’t want anyone behind us. And lock the front door.’
A long wail of agony came from the garden. Gaius looked grimly at the brothers, turned and walked at speed in its direction. The brothers followed at run in order to overtake him.
Vespasian and Sabinus burst through the doors of the tablinum into the warmth of the garden. Two men held a struggling youth over the fishpond in the centre whilst a third held a squirming lamprey to his face. The water in the pond heaved with scores of lampreys gorging themselves on another writhing boy; his arms and legs thrashed as the snake-like fish used their teeth to cut through the skin in search of blood. The boy lifted his mouth above the surface to gasp for breath and let out another agonised scream; the twisting lampreys attached to his head and face made him look like Medusa.
The brothers flung themselves towards the three men who promptly dropped their captive into the pond. Before they could retrieve their weapons Vespasian and Sabinus were upon them. With a savage thrust to the belly and then a sharp rip upwards Vespasian disembowelled the first; the second went down to a clean jab to the throat from Sabinus. The third man ran to the other side of the garden.
‘I want him alive,’ Gaius roared as he pulled the boy from the pond. He had managed to get him out quickly enough for him to have only suffered a few bites; most of the lampreys were busy devouring the body of his now dead companion.
Magnus and Artebudz appeared at the door from the tablinum. ‘We found two more of the bastards hiding in the triclinium,’ Magnus said, ‘but they won’t be bothering us.’
‘Stay there, lads,’ Sabinus shouted over the screaming of the gutted man, ‘we’ve got the cunt cornered.’
The third man, realising that he was trapped, weaponless, and could expect no quarter, ran with a roar straight for Magnus. With impeccable timing Magnus slammed his fist into the man’s stomach, immediately bringing his knee up into his face as he doubled up and then, as his head ricocheted back with blood spurting from a flattened nose, Magnus cracked his fist down on to the back of his skull. He collapsed into an unconscious heap.
Leaving the rescued boy sitting on the ground, more shocked than damaged, Gaius walked over to the gutted man, who was now moaning as he tried feebly to stuff his colon back in.
‘Who sent you?’ Gaius asked menacingly.
Knowing that he was going to die, the man shook his head. Gaius reached down and grabbed a handful of intestines and pulled. The scream that the man let out as his innards unravelled was excruciating.
‘Who sent you?’ Gaius asked again.
Still the man would not say.
‘Throw him in the pond. Let’s see how he likes being eaten from the inside out,’ Gaius ordered.
Vespasian looked at Sabinus, who shrugged. They picked him up by the arms and legs; guts trailed down to the ground like slimy creepers.
‘Last chance,’ Gaius said. There was no reply; he had passed out.
With a splash, the brothers tossed him in. The water seethed again as the lampreys, maddened by blood, swarmed around him, burying themselves in the gaping wound in his belly.
‘Let’s see if we have more luck with the other one,’ Gaius said, picking up a small fishing net. He dipped it into the writhing pond and scooped out a couple of lampreys. ‘Bring him round.’
A couple of slaps to the face brought the third man to his senses, groaning softly.
‘Your friend has just met a nasty end,’ Gaius informed him, holding the net with its contents in front of his face; the lampreys’ circular mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth opened and closed in a vain attempt to suck in water. ‘You can either go quickly or painfully, it’s down to you.’
The man spat on the ground.
‘So be it. Pull him out flat.’
Magnus and Artebudz took his wrists and hands and stretched him out.
With his free hand Gaius lifted the man’s tunic and ripped off his loincloth.
‘Hold this,’ he said, giving the net to Vespasian. He then took a lamprey in one hand and, with the other, pulled back the man’s foreskin.
Vespasian closed his eyes. A shriek filled the air. He opened them again and saw exactly what he expected to.
‘The next one goes in your eye. Who sent you?’ Gaius asked again.
‘Livilla,’ came the gasped reply.
‘Was I the only target?’
‘No, there was another group sent elsewhere.’ The man screamed again as the thrashing lamprey tightened its grip and sucked harder in a desperate attempt to extract life-giving water from its host.
‘How many and where to?
‘Ten, but I don’t know where. Please, for the love of the gods, finish me.’
‘Where?’ Gaius took the second lamprey from the net and held it close to the man’s right eye.
‘All I know is that they were leaving the city by the Porta Collina and heading up the Via Salaria.’