Magnus nodded as the brothers walked through to the main part of the tent.
‘Bumpkin! And the cuckold!’ Corvinus exclaimed, outraged. ‘How dare you come into my praetorium uninvited!’
‘How dare you ignore the Emperor’s orders!’ Vespasian strode to within a pace of Corvinus. ‘And how dare you not accept the surrender of two tribes when it was freely offered!’
Corvinus’ nostrils flared; his three officers tensed and put their hands on the hilts of their swords. ‘What honour or glory would I have had in taking their surrender when my legion hasn’t seen any part of the fighting so far? But then you wouldn’t understand that, would you, coming from a grubby little family whose taste for glory has never been whetted because it has conspicuously failed to achieve any honour.’
‘Whereas you consider it honourable to steal the glory that the Emperor has reserved for himself?’
‘The Emperor’s a fool!’
‘Whatever the Emperor is, he’s also your brother-in-law; and the people surrounding him know full well how you intend to use that position and what you plan to do with his stolen glory.’
Corvinus’ dark eyes narrowed. ‘Supposition. No one can prove that I was not acting in Claudius’ best interests.’
‘That would be the case if Plautius were dead, but he’s not.’ Vespasian enjoyed the look of surprise that Corvinus did his best to conceal. ‘When you said goodbye to him with such finality, thinking never to see him again, what you didn’t know was that your friend Geta was lying only fifty paces away. He’d tried to lure Plautius to his death by sacrificing his cavalry but the general survived; no doubt Geta would have tried to murder him some other way had he not been severely wounded and sent back to Rutupiae. We’ll never know; but what is certain is that warrant that you hold from the Emperor giving you command of the invasion in the event of Plautius’ death is no more than an unexercised warrant. You’re not in command, Corvinus, therefore you have committed treason and Plautius has sent us to take you into custody.’
Corvinus went to draw his sword from its scabbard. Vespasian’s left hand clamped around his wrist, arresting the motion, whilst his right swept his pugio from his belt and pricked it under Corvinus’ chin, forcing his head back. Corvinus’ three officers were not so impeded and three glinting blades flashed up to threaten Vespasian’s throat.
‘I would consider your positions, gentlemen,’ Sabinus advised, walking forward, his gaze falling on two of the three men; behind him Magnus rushed from the sleeping area, his sword drawn. From outside came the good-humoured clamour of a victorious legion returning to camp. ‘Vibianus, I’m pleased to see that you’re still primus pilus, and Laurentinus, I imagine that you’re on your last few months of service and the Ninth will be needing a new prefect of the camp soon.’ He looked at the youngest of the three. ‘Scaevola, I’m sure you feel you owe loyalty to Corvinus for making you his thick-stripe tribune but I would advise you to put that aside for the moment and listen.’ The young tribune’s eyes flicked nervously over to Sabinus for an instant and then back to Vespasian; his sword stayed firm as did those of his fellows. ‘Plautius will be here very soon with at least one legion. You three have only two choices: try to kill us and then carry on being a party to your legate’s treason or hand Corvinus over to us. Choose the first option and you will find yourselves leading your legion against fellow Romans, as Plautius will have no option but to use force to ensure that the Emperor’s orders are obeyed. But choose the second and you’ll receive the thanks of a grateful emperor.’
Scaevola pressed his blade harder against Vespasian’s throat. ‘Why should I trust you?’
‘You’ve got no reason to; but Vibianus and Laurentius, you know me and you know the pride that I have in the Ninth Hispana, my first legion when I was a military tribune and my first as a legate. Do you think that I would want to see this legion disgraced? You both served under me for a couple of years; did I ever do anything that would make you doubt my word? Narcissus has set this up to expose Corvinus’ treachery; but at the same time he made me legate of the Fourteenth so that there would be somebody whom you trust to reason with you, someone whom you know has your best interests and those of this legion at heart. Believe me, gentlemen, your new legate has lied to you and has put your lives in danger.’
Vibianus and Laurentius looked across Corvinus into each other’s eyes; after a moment they both gave the slightest of nods. Their swords slowly moved from Vespasian’s throat and pulled back to Corvinus’.
Scaevola’s face tightened with indecision and sweat formed on his battle-grimed forehead.
‘They’ll be in here, sir,’ Paetus shouted, bursting through the entrance, causing the young tribune to start; his sword jerked and Vespasian pulled his head back, blood trickling from a straight cut on his throat.
‘What the fuck am I going to tell the Emperor and Narcissus?’ Plautius roared, storming in after Paetus. ‘You said that you’d stop this treacherous shit before he did too much damage.’
Vespasian looked down in horror at the blood on the sword blade; as he did Scaevola’s hand released the hilt and it clattered to the wooden floor. Over Corvinus’ shoulder Scaevola’s eyes glazed and blood seeped from between his lips. Vibianus and Laurentius held a rigid Corvinus motionless with their swords pressed to his throat; Scaevola slid to the floor with a knife protruding from the back of his neck.
Vespasian checked the wound to his throat and found to his immense relief that it was superficial; he moved his hand down and eased Corvinus’ weapon from its scabbard and chucked it away. ‘I’m sorry, general, we arrived too late.’
‘Too fucking right you did.’ Plautius marched over to Corvinus and, without hesitation, slammed his fist into the centre of his face, crushing his nose and sending him collapsing onto Scaevola’s body. ‘That feels much better.’ He stared furiously, neck ligaments bulging, at Vibianus and Laurentius. ‘Get that dung heap out of my sight and keep him secured until the Emperor arrives to sentence him to death.’
‘Yes, sir!’ they replied, simultaneously snapping to attention.
‘Which one of you killed the tribune?’
‘I did, sir!’ Vibianus barked.
‘Put yourself on a charge, primus pilus.’
‘Yes, sir!’
‘Charge dismissed; now fuck off out of here.’
Vibianus and Laurentius crashed salutes and hurried from the tent dragging Corvinus with them. Vespasian nodded his thanks to Vibianus as they left.
Plautius turned his malevolent gaze onto the two brothers.
‘I saw what happened; I was with the cavalry on the hill. It seems that we have them beaten; they’ll probably ask for terms tomorrow.’
‘They tried to surrender this morning but Corvinus had the envoys murdered,’ Verica said, hobbling out of the sleeping area.
Plautius looked in shock at the old King and then slumped down onto a folding stool and wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘What a fuck-up this is and none of it will be Narcissus’ fault. What’s Claudius going to do now when he gets here apart from have Corvinus executed and march into an already occupied town?’
‘Don’t occupy it, then,’ Vespasian suggested. ‘If it surrenders tomorrow that doesn’t mean we have to march in immediately.’
Plautius paused, frowning, and then broke into a grin. ‘Of course, the fool has never been to war, he won’t know what it looks like. We could just dress up a few prisoners, like Caligula did when he pretended to invade Germania, kill them as we march into the town and then have Claudius take its surrender and he’ll feel that he’s done something glorious. He’ll be happy, Narcissus won’t be able to complain and, more to the point, I’ll be in the clear. I’ll send for him to leave Rome right away.’
‘What do we do in the meantime, sir?’