Dubnus spread his hands in a gesture of disbelief.
‘Come on though, a whole month without orders this close to Rome? Have you seen the whores they’ve got in there?’
Avidus nodded wearily.
‘We felt the same, for the first fortnight or so. A different girl every night, and how long was that likely to last, so we went at it like prize-winning chariot horses until we realised that we weren’t going anywhere any time soon. Now our money’s more or less gone, so we’re limited to the occasional walk into the city to look at the women.’
‘Look but don’t touch?’
The surveyor nodded knowingly.
‘Exactly. A duck’s arse and an unpaid whore, the two tightest holes you’ll ever find.’
Julius stroked his chin thoughtfully.
‘So you know the best places to go, where the value’s to be found, right?’
Avidus nodded, pursing his lips in the manner of a man considering his expertise.
‘You could say that. We certainly spent enough silver finding out where not to go!’
‘In that case, Centurion, I think we can provide each other with some mutual service. You can tell me where best to send my lads when we allow them into the city for a wet, and in return I can ask my tribune if we can spare a little money to let you spend the rest of your time here in some degree of comfort. Which legion did you say you were from?’
The surveyor grinned, pulling up his tunic sleeve to reveal a tattoo of a winged horse.
‘The Third Augusta, First Spear, Africa’s finest!’
Excingus walked into Albinus’s office between a pair of the senator’s newly recruited bodyguards and bowed deeply, but when he raised his head the expression on his face was anything but subservient. His host waited in silence while the informant looked about him with naked curiosity.
‘So, do you like what you see?’
Excingus smiled gently at the acerbic note in Albinus’s voice, and inclined his head slightly as he replied.
‘Indeed, Senator, you are clearly a man of some considerable learning, if I am to judge by the large number of scrolls on your shelves.’
Albinus laughed tersely.
‘You understand flattery then.’
The informant bowed, his lips twitching in another smile.
‘Indeed I do, Senator. And a good many other things besides. Although the principal subject I thought to discuss with you is betrayal.’
The senator sat back.
‘Is it indeed? My secretary gave me to believe that you have something greatly to my advantage to offer?’
Excingus pursed his lips.
‘I believe that I can persuade you that the two are one and the same, Senator Albinus, if you’ll allow me to explain?’
Albinus waved a patrician hand.
‘I can spare you a little time.’
‘Thank you. I will deal with betrayal first. As the story has reached my ears, your previous associate Gaius Rutilius Scaurus has of late chosen to play a game more suited to his own ends than those which align with your own, and without any of the respect that ought to be forthcoming from a man in his position to a man of your status. I believe that a recent attempt to teach him some manners foundered on the rock of another man from whom you might have expected somewhat more loyalty than was in fact displayed when the moment arose?’
The senator’s face darkened.
‘If you’ve come to rake over the coals of my recent disappointments then you’ll very shortly find yourself on the street with a new set of lumps, Informer.’
Excingus opened his arms wide, tilting his head in question.
‘I simply seek to establish the facts, Senator. I’ve found in the past that the redress of injustices is more easily achieved when all parties are clear as to what needs to be achieved.’
He waited for a moment, and at length Albinus waved a hand.
‘Then continue. But move to what you have to offer to my advantage sooner rather than later.’
‘Indeed. To illustrate that potential benefit, I must first point out that I have achieved a position of some influence with your senatorial colleague Gaius Carius Sigilis. He purchases information from me with regard to the activities of certain men who are, shall we say, loosely aligned with the imperial household. Men who provide the emperor with their services when the occasional need arises for prominent members of society to be removed from their positions.’
Albinus leaned across the desk.
‘Sigilis buys information from you in order to understand whether he’s likely to be murdered for his estate?’ The informant nodded, and Albinus leaned back, looking at the ceiling as he spoke again. ‘As well he might. I may be safe from such threats due to my recent services to the imperial chamberlain, but he most certainly is not, from the rumours I hear. But what does this have to do with Scaurus?’
Excingus smiled.
‘The tribune has recently contacted Senator Sigilis, and indeed visited him, with the sole intention of using the information I sell to him to track down and murder each of the four men who have become known as “The Emperor’s Knives”. He is accompanied, as I am sure you will be aware, by a young centurion who goes by the name of Corvus, although he is in reality the son of Appius Valerius Aquila. And this young man is consumed with the need to have his revenge for the destruction of his family. It seems that now his main target is dead, killed by the emperor as a direct consequence of your recent visit to the palace bearing an obscene quantity of stolen gold, he has resolved to deal with his father’s murderers in person.’
‘And the benefit that this might have to me is …?’
‘Given that I will be feeding Scaurus and Aquila with the information they will then use to hunt down the emperor’s tame killers, it would be remarkably easy to point them in the direction not of their intended target, but instead send them head first into a trap of our devising.’
Albinus nodded slowly.
‘I like the way you think, Informant. And your price for delivering these ungrateful bastards into that trap would be what exactly?’
‘A modest one. I’m already very well paid by Senator Sigilis. This is more of a personal matter than for financial benefit, so I can afford to make my fee for the job a modest one. Shall we say ten aurei in gold, to be paid when Scaurus and Aquila are delivered to you?’
The senator smiled.
‘Two and half thousand sestertii? I would have paid a good deal more, but you know your own price. So, our interests are aligned then, it seems. Very well, come back to me when you have information upon which I can act. And in the meantime, I think it best if you do not come to my house again. Send a messenger with a proposed meeting place, somewhere public, and we can contrive to meet and talk with a lower profile than will be the case if you’re seen entering my property.’
Excingus inclined his head again.
‘As you suggest, Senator.’
‘There’s no need for you to struggle with all that baggage, Domina. My young lads will be happy to carry your purchases for you.’
Cotta had been a provider of bodyguards to Rome’s ruling class for long enough that he knew the ways of the women with whose safety he was entrusted, which was why he had brought a pair of his younger recruits along on the shopping expedition. Taking Felicia’s load of fresh food and clothing from her, he distributed it between the pair, giving them a significant look as he did so.
‘And what you learn from this, my lads, is that you never take just enough men on a shopping trip. Someone’s going to end up holding whatever it is that you’ve all gone looking for, and we can’t allow good manners to compromise good security, can we?’ He turned back to Felicia with a smile. ‘Shall we be on our way to your house, Domina?’
The doctor raised an eyebrow at him.
‘There’s really no need to call me that, Centurion. My name will make a perfectly adequate form of address.’