Now is not the time for a quarrel. There is a battle to fight. Spartacus rounded on the friends. ‘What the fuck happened?’
They didn’t say a word.
‘By all the gods! Unless you want Castus and Gannicus and their men to teach you both a lesson you’ll never forget, speak!’
Shocked now, Carbo glanced at Navio, who gave a resigned shrug. ‘There were soldiers everywhere in the town, but none of them were saying much. It was obvious that they’d been ordered to keep their mouths shut. We’d had little luck at a restaurant, so we moved on to a number of taverns. We heard nothing, so decided to try out an inn favoured by soldiers’ — Carbo felt his cheeks flame — ‘that was supposed to have good whores.’
Spartacus’ brows rose, but he hid his amusement. Atheas and Taxacis chortled at Carbo’s embarrassment, but the two Gauls were far less happy. ‘You got sent to Mutina on an intelligence mission, but you were more interested in emptying your ball sacks. It’s unbelievable!’ barked Castus.
‘And then?’ said Spartacus.
‘Navio went upstairs with a whore.’
‘How did you pay for her services?’ The question was voiced softly, but there was no missing Spartacus’ threat.
‘I had a couple of aurei with me,’ replied Navio unhappily.
‘Despite the fact that I told you to take only a little money.’
‘Yes.’
Spartacus’ lips thinned to a white line. ‘You’ve got a nerve. Go on,’ he directed Carbo.
It was time to admit his foolishness. Carbo felt sick. ‘I went to the forum.’
‘What for?’
‘To find a scribe.’
‘A scribe?’ Spartacus’ eyes bulged.
‘Yes. I dictated a letter to my parents in Rome.’
Both the Gauls let out disbelieving laughs.
‘Are you a complete fucking idiot?’ cried Spartacus.
‘If anyone had seen you, they had only to read the note to know who you were,’ roared Castus. ‘You need your stinking Roman head cut off!’
‘I didn’t send it,’ said Carbo quickly. Quailing before Spartacus’ ferocious expression, he went on, ‘but someone must have seen me, because soon after I returned to the inn, a party of soldiers searched the place. I was recognised, but I managed to run upstairs. Fortuna guided me to the right door.’
‘You would have deserved it if they had caught you,’ muttered Castus.
But you wouldn’t know about the hidden catapults, thought Carbo furiously. He had the sense to keep this retort to himself. ‘We jumped out of the window, and scrambled down to the inn’s yard. I ran into a gap between two buildings, but it led to the stable dungheap. There was no option other than to climb up it, and over the wall. Navio didn’t have any clothes on’ — here he ignored the Gauls’ mocking laughter — ‘and he fell over as he was trying to climb up.’
‘You must have burst in when he was in mid-thrust,’ said Castus with a leer.
‘Err, I was quite busy, yes,’ said Navio, looking angry and very uncomfortable.
Castus and Gannicus sniggered. The Scythians guffawed. Even Spartacus laughed.
‘You managed to escape, though,’ Gannicus’ tone was a touch more friendly than before, which encouraged Carbo. A little humiliation was better than more accusations of treachery.
‘Yes. We jumped over into an alleyway. I checked out the exit, but the street beyond was full of soldiers. We thought that was it, but the gods intervened again. A door in the wall of a house opened and a slave boy came out. I told him who we were, and asked him to help. He did. We simply walked inside and he shut the door.’ Carbo grinned at the memory. ‘A moment later, a couple of legionaries landed in the alley, and passed right by us.’
‘That was when we heard about Longinus’ ambush,’ added Navio.
‘Our job was done. We waited until it was very late, and then, guided by the boy, we made our way to the defences where we scaled the walls. It was easy to get back here,’ said Carbo.
‘You’re a pair of fools,’ Spartacus snapped. The Gauls loudly echoed his words.
Knowing that they were by no means out of danger, the friends looked at the ground.
‘But… if they hadn’t done what they did, we wouldn’t know that juicy bit of gossip. Eh, Castus? Gannicus?’
‘The gods move in strange ways,’ admitted Gannicus.
‘Happy, Castus?’
‘No. Always trying to cover your men’s arses, aren’t you, eh? Why bother? It’s a wonder that the fools managed to come back alive.’
‘Yet they did, and with useful information,’ said Spartacus.
‘I suppose,’ said Castus grudgingly.
‘Next time you have a secret mission in mind,’ said Gannicus, ‘I want to know about it beforehand, eh? Either we’re all leading this fucking army, or we’re not.’
‘Agreed,’ lied Spartacus. He had no intention of telling the Gauls of everything he did, but he needed their support in the forthcoming battle. ‘Next time, I’ll be sure to fill you in.’
Castus’ grunt conveyed every shade of suspicion under the sun. Gannicus looked a little happier, but that was as good as he’d get.
Spartacus’ eyes moved to Carbo and Navio. ‘The next time I give you an order, I want it obeyed to the letter. No taking gold coins instead of small change. No deciding to write letters to your parents.’ He gave Carbo a particularly stony look. ‘I’ve never heard of such stupidity in my life. The only reason I’m not letting the Scythians loose on you is because of your previous record. If anything like that ever happens again, you’ll both end up as pickings for the vultures. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?’
‘Yes,’ they muttered in unison.
‘Be certain that you do.’
They shuffled their feet, all too aware of the Scythians’ predatory eyes on their backs and of the Gauls’ glowering anger.
Spartacus’ attention moved on. ‘Some cavalry must be sent to reconnoitre the road past Mutina,’ he announced. ‘If they see anything suspicious, they’ll mark its position, but ignore it. Let the Romans think that their little secret is safe. We can send out more scouts under the cover of darkness.’
‘Once the spot has been found, we destroy the catapults!’ Castus’ face was fiercely eager.
‘Damn right we will,’ snarled Gannicus. ‘And Castus and I will be in charge.’
Spartacus saw the level of their anger, and wondered if he should have told them about Carbo and Navio’s mission. Would it have mattered if he had? ‘That’s just what I was going to suggest.’
‘Good, because we’re going to do it anyway,’ snapped Gannicus, grimacing as Castus growled in approval. ‘A thousand men with buckets of oil and some torches is all we need to turn Longinus’ artillery into little piles of ash.’
‘Fine.’ Spartacus pulled an encouraging grin. Keep them sweet for the moment. ‘Once the ballistae are out of the way, we’ll only have two legions to think about. The ground to either side of the road is flat. It won’t matter where we face them.’
‘I can’t wait,’ snarled Castus. ‘We’ll slaughter the cocksuckers.’
‘With the help of the Great Rider, that’s exactly what we’ll do,’ said Spartacus with satisfaction. He didn’t say a word about the Alps. Such a controversial topic would set Castus and Gannicus off again. He shoved that problem to one side. ‘We can talk about the exact details when the cavalry return.’
‘Fine,’ said Castus. He eyed Carbo. ‘What was the name of the boy who saved you?’
‘Arnax.’ What do you care?
Castus grunted. Then, talking animatedly with Gannicus about how they would destroy Longinus’ forces, he left.
Deep in thought, Spartacus began poking a stick into the fire. It was a clear sign of dismissal.
‘I need a wash,’ said Navio quietly. ‘And breakfast is waiting. Coming?’
‘Not yet,’ replied Carbo. He framed the word ‘Lucullus’ with his lips and Navio nodded in understanding.
‘See you.’
Carbo found Spartacus regarding him quizzically when he turned. ‘Was there something else?’
‘There was, actually.’
Spartacus scowled. ‘How else did you disobey my orders? Atheas! Taxacis!’
‘It’s nothing like that,’ said Carbo, his heart racing.