Secundus leapt from his chair at Sabinus but was immediately restrained by Vespasian and Clemens. A sharp punch to the solar plexus from Sabinus’ right fist took the wind out of him and he dropped to the floor.
‘Now listen, Secundus,’ Vespasian continued reasonably, ‘you and your wife have played a dangerous game, which is now over. Antonia can very easily have a nice little maternal chat with her daughter Livilla, even though they loathe each other, and mention a few of the things that Albucilla has passed on to you, which you have, in turn, shared with Macro. Just imagine what Sejanus will do when he finds out that there is a spy in his bed? I don’t know about you, but I think I’d prefer to take the unpleasant death that Macro promised rather than the lifetime of agony that Sejanus would doubtless offer you and your dear wife.’
Secundus had regained his breath; he looked up at Vespasian with a mixture of resignation and loathing. ‘What do you want and what can you offer me?’ he asked.
‘That’s better; I knew that you’d see sense. I admire ambition in a man but only if it is tempered by some degree of loyalty — something you don’t seem to possess at all. I suggest that you acquire some; the Lady Antonia and Macro may well reward you for it by keeping you and Albucilla alive and safe. As to what we want, it’s very simple: tell us why you went to Sejanus and what you’ve told him.’
Secundus struggled to his feet. ‘May I sit back down?’
Clemens retrieved the chair for him. Secundus sat down, wiped the sweat from his forehead and rubbed his bruised chest.
‘So,’ Sabinus said, ‘start talking.’
Secundus looked miserably around him. He knew that he had no choice and took a deep breath. ‘I’ve always been loyal to Macro,’ he protested, ‘but when he started to conspire with Antonia against Sejanus I began to worry that I might have backed the wrong chariot. Sejanus is a formidable enemy and I feared that Macro could well be destroyed by him and that I would go down with him. However, Antonia is not to be underestimated either and if I was seen to be disloyal to Macro and therefore her, I would also suffer if she won the struggle.’
‘But you didn’t want to risk being on the losing side,’ Sabinus said with a thin smile.
Secundus shrugged. ‘Well, it’s always better not to be. I don’t know anyone who’ll tell you different because they tend to be dead. Anyway, I told my wife about my concerns and she came up with the idea that she should seduce Livilla and then hopefully Sejanus and in that way it wouldn’t matter to us who won the power struggle as we would have a foot in each camp.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Vespasian mused.
Secundus ignored the jibe. ‘Once she had managed to inveigle her way into their bed she started passing on bits of information about Antonia that I gave her under the pretence that she’d got them from one of the Praetorians guarding Caligula with whom, she told them, she was also having an affair.’
‘Who?’ Clemens asked suspiciously.
Secundus looked at him with a sneer. ‘You.’
Clemens’ fist lashed out. ‘You little bastard!’
Secundus ducked and avoided the blow. ‘What else could she have said? They wouldn’t have believed that she was having an affair with a mere ranker; it had to be the captain of the guard. In that way I could pass on what I found out about Antonia’s plans from the messages that I carried between her and Macro without betraying him.’
‘So Sejanus doesn’t know that Macro is working with Antonia,’ Vespasian said, placing a calming hand on Clemens’ forearm.
‘Of course not. I’m not stupid — if Albucilla told Sejanus that, he’d have Macro murdered and Antonia would guess that it was me that betrayed them. I know what she’s like, I wouldn’t last a day, however far and fast I tried to run.’
‘So what have you passed on to Sejanus?’ Sabinus demanded, stepping threateningly close to Secundus.
‘Mainly small things, the things that Clemens would know: like the names of people I saw coming in and out whilst I was waiting to see her. The main thing that I passed on was about the arrival of the prisoner. You see, I knew that Antonia was trying to bring a witness to Tiberius to testify against Sejanus because I was there at the meeting with you, Pallas and Macro.’
‘Wait a moment,’ Vespasian butted in, turning to Sabinus. ‘You never told me that you had a meeting with Macro.’
‘You never asked,’ Sabinus replied dismissively.
‘How was I to know to ask you that question? I thought that we agreed to tell each other everything of relevance.’
‘Look, it doesn’t matter. I accompanied Pallas when he approached Macro on Antonia’s behalf. Secundus was there as Macro’s bodyguard, and that’s how I recognised him last night. Now carry on, Secundus.’
Secundus raised his mono-brow at the brothers. ‘When Antonia told me to tell Macro that what she was waiting for would arrive soon I guessed that it was this witness. Albucilla passed that on and Sejanus set a watch on the port and all the gates into the city. Albucilla told me that Sejanus was furious that his men couldn’t see the man’s face because he was hooded.’
‘So Sejanus has no idea who this witness is?’ Sabinus pressed.
‘No, or where he comes from. I couldn’t have Albucilla tell him that he was being fetched from Moesia because why would Clemens be a party to that sort of information? It would have made Sejanus suspicious and he might have got rid of her, in more ways than one. I needed her in that bed because I was getting information that pleased Macro; it was she that found out that Caligula was going to be summoned to Capreae.’
Vespasian admired the man’s duplicity, subtlety and nerve. He had indeed played a dangerous game, and had played it well, and would have guaranteed himself being on the winning side whoever won, had he not ended up being captured in the act of murder. ‘Why were you sent to kill our parents?’ he asked.
‘We weren’t; our orders were to take your mother to Livilla.’
‘What would Livilla want with her?’
‘Sejanus desperately wanted to know the identity of this witness and because he couldn’t get to Antonia he decided to ask one of her close confederates. Albucilla had mentioned your uncle’s name a few times to them and because Senator Pollo has been making a nuisance of himself in the Senate — as Albucilla said Sejanus put it — Sejanus calculated that he may know Antonia’s plans in some detail, so he sent some of Livilla’s men to his house to fetch him for an interview.’
‘Yes, we know. They didn’t find him,’ Sabinus said bitterly, ‘they just killed most of his household.’
Secundus shrugged. ‘We were to bring his sister along to help him with his memory. I was asked to come along because none of Livilla’s men knew what she looked like; Albucilla suggested I should accompany them because I’ve seen Senator Pollo a few times and would be able to recognise a family likeness.’
‘What about Sabinus and me?’ Vespasian asked.
‘You haven’t been mentioned by name, either in the bed or by Macro,’ Secundus replied, looking at the brothers shrewdly. ‘However, Albucilla said that two young men whom no one recognised were seen getting off the boat with the prisoner and then going into Antonia’s house. Perhaps it would be best if you stayed out of Rome for a while.’
‘We’ve every intention of doing so,’ Sabinus assured him.
‘So, what are you going to do with me?’ Secundus asked.
‘Livilla will send men here to find out what happened,’ Vespasian said. ‘They’ll find the place deserted and two funeral pyres; she’ll assume that you’re in one of them. Clemens will take you to Antonia where you can stay dead for a while whilst she decides what to do with you.’
‘What about my wife? Is she going to think that I’m dead?’
‘That’s down to Antonia to decide; I expect it will all depend on how loyal and useful you prove to be to her.’
‘Oh, I can be very useful.’
Vespasian smiled inwardly; he could well believe it. ‘Then you may find her grateful.’