Somewhere high above in the dark, cavernous space, a heavy thud sounded, echoing repeatedly.
‘What was that?’
‘The spirits of vengeance winging their way towards us.’
For the first time a hint of fear appeared in the guardsman’s eyes. Before, they had been filled with a mixture of disbelief, anger and scorn. Scopius swallowed loudly.
‘Look… this is something we can sort out between ourselves, Rufinus!’
‘I agree entirely, Scopius. That’s what we’re doing now.’
The naked man reached up and grasped the chain leading from his wrist. ‘But this?’
Rufinus nodded. ‘I hope you like it. It cost me an arm and a leg from a reputable ironworker on the Aventine. Strong enough to restrain an ox, the man reckoned, so I wouldn’t bother pulling too hard.’
A look of defeat bled into Scopius’ eyes.
‘What did I do to you? A few pranks was all!’
Rufinus blinked, genuinely taken aback. ‘Trying to beat me to death? Blackening my name and having me disciplined and dishonoured in front of the officers for things that you did? A knife in the back by a barbarian is a prank?’
Scopius shrank back. Rufinus was grateful that confirmation of the man’s guilt was plastered across his features. For a moment he’d doubted whether he’d been thorough enough; whether he was right. His resolve had almost given. He had to stay strong.
‘There comes a time, Scopius, when this sort of thing has to stop. I’d hoped back in Vindobona that the lesson I taught you had stuck and we’d have no further troubles. I would happily have gone through my entire life paying you no further attention, but you’re not capable of letting things lie, are you?’
Rufinus twirled the knife in his fingers once and shuffled a step closer, laying the blade on the floor out of the reach of the restrained man, where it glinted and threatened in the prisoner’s field of view.
‘That’s the problem with bullies. You’ll never truly learn. We teach you a lesson and it just escalates the whole thing. I have to end it here, because who knows what you’ll try next? I cannot spend my days looking over my shoulder for the next knife or checking my bedclothes for scorpions.’
‘Then fight me like a man!’ Scopius snarled, leaping for Rufinus’ throat and stopping a foot out of reach as the chain jerked tight. He dropped to the floor, trying to reach for the knife, but it remained just out of reach.
Rufinus shook his head sadly. ‘I could kill you in a fair fight, but I have better plans for you.’
‘Scum!’ Scopius spat. ‘You’re going to murder me? What makes you better than me, then? Don’t fool yourself, boy. You’re no hero.’
Rufinus laughed lightly, a sound that was cut short by a heavy echoing boom far above. Scopius looked up in fear again.
‘What is that?’
‘That’s option three.’
Scopius stared in confusion at his captor and Rufinus grinned.
‘I never claimed to be a hero. I’m a soldier. I like to think that I’m a good and fair man, but it’s Paternus and Commodus who make me out to be a hero.’
Again a look of panic flashed into Scopius eyes, intensifying as a deep groan like straining timbers far away echoed in the chamber.
‘So what are you going to do?’ he asked, his voice cracking.
Rufinus shrugged. ‘I’m going to give you a chance to redeem yourself, and buy yourself option one and two.’
With a smile he stood and walked slowly around the dark space, staying on the edge of the circle of low light.
‘Tell me everything about Perennis and Lucilla and you expand your options.’
Scopius frowned. ‘What is option three?’
Rufinus smiled and shook his head.
‘Alright. Let’s approach this from another direction. Option three: I leave. Then those bangs and groans stop and you hear a roar. That will be the engineers removing the final block from the Aqua Claudia and letting the water flow again. It’ll begin to pour into this settling basin and will, I think, fill the building in a little less than quarter of an hour before flowing on to the Palatine.’
Scopius’ eyes widened.
‘Needless to say, the shackles will hold you here and you’ll just have to see if you can hold your breath for a couple of years until the next time the basin’s scheduled for emptying.’
Scopius began to scrabble at the shackle.
‘No use doing that. The cuff is solid. Had to bang it closed with a big mallet, ‘cause there’s no lock. It’s on for good.’
Scopius was making strange squeaking noises now as he scrabbled at the cuff.
‘Option two is a little better. You tell me what I want to know and I leave this knife with you. Take it and cut across your neck or thigh or wrist. The pain will be quite short and I’m pretty sure you’ll bleed out before you can drown.’
Now, Scopius was panting, trying to force his hand through the ring; it would clearly never fit, and the skin bled as he worked.
‘Option one is also reliant on your information buying the knife from me. You cut off that hand and you’ll still have one free to escape the coming torrents. I think that’s a test of true courage, don’t you? Are you willing to disfigure yourself and end your military career in order to save your life? Do you have the guts? I really don’t think so.’
Scopius, exhausted, stopped scrabbling, eying the knife glinting just out of reach with mixed feelings.
‘Tell me about Perennis and Lucilla’ Rufinus repeated calmly.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’
Rufinus shook his head and tutted. Somewhere high above there was another echoing creak and bang. ‘That’s not true. The secretive meeting at the baths two days ago? I was there, Scopius. I saw you.’
Scopius stared down at the ring around his wrist and then up at the man before him, panic in his eyes. ‘I don’t know. They’ve met a couple of times. None of the guards are allowed in when they speak. They use us to keep people away and then they go have their arguments in private!’
Rufinus frowned. ‘Arguments?’
Scopius nodded wildly. ‘Whatever they’re meeting for, there’s always raised voices. Most of the time, the prefect comes out in a real mood. They disagree about something.’
Rufinus nodded to himself. That, at least, was good news. The panic in Scopius’ voice confirmed this was undeniably the truth. Perennis disagreeing with Lucilla could only be good.
There was another loud crack above and a strange feeling of building pressure. Rufinus looked down at the naked man before him. Scopius was crying and shaking uncontrollably; tears and snot mingling on his lip, his eyes reddened circles.
‘Please, Rufinus!’
‘I gave you your options. Scopius. Is there anything else you can tell me?’
He watched the tears streaming down the man’s face; saw the terror in his eyes, and felt the resolve crumbling in his heart. Scopius had tried to kill him several times. The man was a snake. He deserved to die. Letting him live would just cause problems later. Big ones.
But what he said earlier was true. He’d always considered himself a good and fair man. He’d made libations in his quest for revenge at the temple of Nemesis; even the Gods were on his side. There would be no retribution for the death of this animal. And yet the resolve was melting away like snow in the sun.
He could kill a man in combat, easily. But this? Could he really watch the man wait for his doom? Was he comfortable being a murderer?
Rufinus bit his tongue hard.
Turning, he strode out of the circle of light. Behind him, Scopius screamed in panic, blabbering wildly, begging him not to leave.
‘I’m not leaving, Scopius!’
In the darkness, Rufinus’ hand fell on the shaft of the huge, iron-headed mallet he’d used to close the shackle. Gripping the three-foot shaft, he lifted it and carried it back to the lit area.