Leaning back in his chair, the legatus looked at the two men thoughtfully.
‘And you’ve shared this information with whom exactly?’
Sanga shook his head.
‘No one outside this room, sir. I ain’t that stupid, and Saratos here tends not to say much at the best of times.’
‘Good. In which case you’re both dismissed to get on with that other matter we discussed. I don’t know how you’re going to find him, but doing so is of the greatest importance. I have a description of the man …’
He handed Sanga a tablet, then looked down at the papers on his desk, and Julius tipped his head to the door.
‘Dismissed. Back to work with the pair of you.’
Once the two soldiers had marched from the room, Scaurus’s clerk entered.
‘Sir, there’s a prefect to see you from the Phrygian cavalry wing. Says he’s on the governor’s business.’
Scaurus pulled a face.
‘I’m sure he is. On your way, First Spear, I don’t want you involved in this.’
The prefect walked into Scaurus’s office and saluted briskly, his masked helmet dangling from its chinstrap as the two men looked at each other for a moment before the visitor spoke, apologetically waving a hand at the thick film of dust on his otherwise spotless armour.
‘Greetings Legatus. I was planning to come across and pay my respects to you this afternoon in any case, although as you can see from the state of my bronze, I was still on the training field when the order from Governor Dexter to take a certain matter in hand arrived.’
His accent was pure Roman aristocrat, but the tone in which the statement was delivered was suitably respectful of the two men’s ranks, and Scaurus waved the cavalry officer to a seat with an encouraging smile.
‘And I’ve been intending to send you an invitation to dinner with my officers, Prefect. It’s a pity we couldn’t have had this meeting under happier circumstances.’
The younger man grimaced.
‘I can concur with that sentiment, sir. You’ll have to forgive me for the formality of this meeting, but I’m left with little choice.’
‘I understand, Prefect. Shall we get down to business?’
‘Thank you, sir.’ The officer straightened in his chair. ‘You will be aware, Legatus, that I am ordered to ride for Hama, and to apprehend and return to Antioch a narrow stripe tribune by the name of …’
He made a show of consulting his tablet.
‘Marcus Tribulus Corvus. Apparently this man Corvus is guilty of the murder of your broad stripe Tribune Lucius Quinctius Flamininus?’
Scaurus shook his head.
‘The governor and my senior tribune both call it murder. I’m more inclined to the term “self-defence”.’
He smiled thinly.
‘But then I would be, wouldn’t I?’
The prefect nodded, his face set hard.
‘Nevertheless, Legatus, as a loyal officer of Rome you are, I presume, willing to assist me in the pursuance of my orders?’
‘Of course.’
‘Thank you, sir. So, is this man Corvus accompanied?’
Scaurus smiled.
‘Yes. He has with him a one-eyed Briton of the Votadini tribe who should be considered extremely dangerous.’
The cavalryman nodded.
‘I see. And they’ve ridden for Hama?’
‘He left via the Oriental gate late yesterday afternoon.’
‘So there’s no point my despatching riders to any other of the province’s forts?’
Scaurus shook his head.
‘I know my duty, Tribune. And I am only a loyal servant of the emperor. Tribune Corvus is to be found in Hama, I can assure you of that.’
4
When Julius reported to the headquarters building the next morning he found Scaurus waiting for him on the steps.
‘Make your report as we walk, First Spear, your officers are perfectly capable of running morning training without you breathing down their necks this once. I think it’s time we found out how well your man Avidus is doing with those manufacturing jobs I asked him to sort out.’
They walked briskly through the camp to the armourer’s workshops, finding the pioneer centurion waiting for them at the door.
‘Legatus, First Spear, come inside. I’ve got something to show you both.’
They followed him into the armoury, but where the first spear had expected to find trained soldiers working to repair the usual broken armour hinges and lost strap rivets, he was surprised to find the workshop in relative silence. Looking around he took in the neatly stacked bales of linen in one corner, the pile of ox hides in another, and the rack of shields awaiting the skilled tradesmen’s attention. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Scaurus with a questioning expression.
‘You really think we can make these shields arrowproof with linen and leather, Legatus?’
His superior nodded equably.
‘It’ll work. Centurion?’
Avidus gestured to the shield before him, its red painted wooden surface as yet unadorned.
‘We glue a layer of linen to the wood, give it time to dry and then add another layer, and so on until we’ve laid on a dozen or so. Then we top it off with a layer of ox hide to protect the linen against any rain, and paint the hide with melted beeswax as waterproofing before nailing the rim back into place.’ He grinned at Julius. ‘Given that your boys will be looking for a way to make the bloody things lighter again, the leather also acts as a form of protection against tampering. Anyway …’
He gestured to a soldier who carried forward a modified shield, its painted wood now completely concealed by the linen and leather that had been fixed to the curved surface. Julius took it from him, hefting its weight with a grunt.
‘It’s heavy.’
Avidus nodded.
‘The additional protection weighs about six pounds. But come and see this before you tell me it’s not worth the extra load on our men.’
He led them across the workshop, gesturing to one of his men.
‘Fetch the shields we were using earlier.’
He turned to Julius while the man disappeared.
‘I was more than a bit doubtful that the legatus’s idea would work, so I got one of the Hamians to put a few arrows into a pair of shields at thirty paces. Ah, here’s the first of them, before we glued on all that linen and leather.’
Julius stared darkly at the damage the arrows had done to the painted wooden surface. One of them was lodged halfway through the shield’s wooden boards, but the other three had punched cleanly through. Avidus lifted the shield to allow daylight to shine through the holes.
‘Whichever one of your grunts was carrying that is out of the fight, I’d say.’
The first spear nodded gloomily at his words, turning his attention to the leather-faced shield that had been carried in while his attention had been distracted.
‘That’s …’
The pioneer centurion grinned at him.
‘Hard to believe, isn’t it? I wouldn’t have credited it myself, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.’
Where the first shield had been wrecked by the arrows’ destructive impacts, its leather-covered companion was relatively undamaged, with the missiles’ iron points wedged in its surface rather than having punched through it.
‘Three of them haven’t even fully pierced the wood.’
Julius nodded.
‘And the one that has is only a third of the way through the board. This man’s still fighting.’
Scaurus tapped the waxy leather surface with his finger.
‘So it’s not pretty, it weighs a good deal more than the usual shield, but it stops arrows shot at it from close range. What do you think, First Spear?’
Julius looked at him with a disgusted expression.
‘I think, Legatus, that you knew very well what was going to happen when our man loosed those arrows at this. Let it never be said that you lack any flair for showmanship. Perhaps you should have taken up acting as a career.’
His superior winced at the insult.
‘That’s harsh, Julius, but I take your point. Although considering the effect that our colleague’s demonstration has had on you, imagine the sense of amazement and consternation that will be experienced by the Parthians when their fearsome volleys of arrows fail to make much of an impression on our ranks?’