Rome's Executioner (28 page)

‘That’s outrageous!’ Antonia exploded. ‘How dare some jumped-up freed clerk hold such power over a member of my family, however stupid he may be?’

‘May I speak frankly, domina?’ Pallas asked, bowing his head and looking his most subservient.

‘If you’re going to tell me more things about my idiotic son that I’ve overlooked, I think that you had better.’

‘Yes, domina. Your son, in many ways, appears to be an idiot: he drools and stutters, he cannot organise his own affairs and is very easily influenced as he’s unable to tell the difference between good advice and bad. However, he has an over-inflated opinion of himself, is ruthlessly ambitious and harbours a deep resentment towards his family for all the slights that he believes that he has suffered at their hands. He has never held any offices or priesthoods nor is he even a member of the senate and consequently feels overlooked and undervalued and is determined to redress that. Narcissus has always tried to keep Claudius’ desire for revenge in check; he knows that his patron could never become Emperor at present because there far more suitable candidates within the imperial family.’

‘You say “at present”?’

‘Narcissus is not without his ambitions for his patron and therefore himself, domina, but if he were to find out that Claudius is making a bid for the Purple now I’m sure that he would put a stop to it – especially as it seems that the advice Claudius is following is Boter’s, who has been out of favour since that unfortunate incident a few years back.’

‘Unfortunate? Pah! He cuckolded my son and made him more of a laughing stock than he normally is and my son did nothing about it.’

‘Well, perhaps he is now; your son didn’t sign the letter, so he can deny it if Boter’s advice fails, which I think we’re all agreed that it will. He’ll make Boter the scapegoat, an eventuality that Narcissus would be very keen to see come about, leaving him free to then carry on with whatever plans he has for his patron.’

‘You mean following the strategy that I explained earlier and trying to whittle down the suitable candidates that stand in his patron’s way?’

‘I don’t think that he feels that he needs to do that, domina, as, at the moment, Sejanus seems to be doing it for him. Narcissus takes the long view; for the present his strategy is to keep his Claudius unnoticed and therefore safe.’

Antonia gave a half-smile and nodded in agreement. ‘As ever, your observations have been most enlightening, Pallas, thank you. Send this Narcissus a message; I think that we should talk to him first thing in the morning, and then afterwards I’ll deal with my son.’

V
ESPASIAN WOKE THE
following morning as a trail of soft kisses worked their way down his chest towards his belly. He opened his eyes; the room was still dark and a gentle breeze blew through the open window beyond which the sky heralded the coming day with a faint, pre-dawn glow. The kisses worked their way across his belly; with a sigh, Vespasian closed his eyes again and lay back in bliss.

‘That’s my master attended to,’ Caenis whispered a while later as she lay her head back on his shoulder, ‘now I have to go and attend to my mistress.’

‘I hope that she doesn’t require you to be so considerate,’ Vespasian murmured, gently kissing her soft, sweet-smelling hair.

Caenis giggled. ‘I have to do anything and everything that she asks,’ she teased, her smiling features now visible as the first rays of dawn light flooded through the window.

Vespasian felt his heart flutter and smiled down at her. ‘So do I, it seems; in a way we’re both her slaves.’

‘But you don’t have to pare her toenails or pluck her eyebrows.’

‘True, but then you don’t have to drag unpleasant priests back from Moesia and then take them to the Emperor on Capreae.’

‘Yes,’ Caenis said, giving him a worried look. ‘My mistress is very concerned about that at the moment.’

‘Why? She didn’t mention any worries yesterday evening.’

‘That’s because she’s not sure whether they have any substance.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘My love, you must swear that if she talks to you about them you’ll feign ignorance. I’m trusted by her and I wouldn’t want her to think that I’ve betrayed her trust, which I do only for my love for you, because if her suspicions are correct, you could be in danger.’

‘You don’t need me to swear, you must know that I’d never do or say anything that would in any way compromise you with Antonia.’

Caenis leant up and kissed Vespasian on the lips. ‘I know,’ she whispered softly. She laid her head back on his chest. ‘When my mistress wishes to communicate with Macro she sends Clemens and when Macro wants to relay something to her he uses another of his men, Satrius Secundus, who’s based with him in the Praetorian camp. They’re always verbal messages, for obvious reasons, but I know the content because she dictates them to me after, along with the replies, for her records. Now, Secundus’ wife, Albucilla, is a notorious slut, something that he actively encourages in the hopes of advancing his position – provided her affairs are with men, or sometimes women, of influence. My mistress found out a few days ago, from a spy that she recently managed to place in her daughter Livilla’s household, that last month Albucilla began an affair with not only Livilla but also Sejanus; when he’s in Rome the three of them share a bed.’

‘And so Antonia suspects that Secundus has encouraged this in order to gain favour with Sejanus; in which case she must be worried that he’s probably betrayed all her correspondence with Macro and therefore Macro’s involvement with her. Has Antonia told Macro of her suspicions?’

‘Yes, she sent Clemens to him as soon as she found out; Macro replied that he would stop using Secundus as his messenger. He’s also threatened Secundus and Albucilla with a very unpleasant death if he suspects that he’s been betrayed. Secundus has sworn that he hasn’t said anything to Sejanus and to show his good faith has started providing Macro with any interesting bits of pillow-talk that his wife picks up in that crowded bed. So Macro is now happy with the arrangement.’

‘Well then, what’s the problem?’

‘Yesterday Clemens saw two of Sejanus’ men at Ostia taking a great interest in your arrival; and two more watched you arrive here.’

‘Yes, I saw the last two. So Secundus may have double-crossed Macro after all?’

‘That’s the strange thing; if Secundus has betrayed Macro then surely Sejanus would have done something about him by now, but he’s done nothing. Macro is still in command of the Guard in Rome and Sejanus continues to go between Tiberius and the Senate.’

‘Perhaps he’s just waiting for the right excuse.’

Caenis kissed him and slipped out of the bed. ‘What more of an excuse does he need?’ she asked dipping her hands into a bowl of water set out on the chest and splashing her face. ‘He knows that my mistress is trying to bring him down, that’s no secret. So if he’s found out that Macro is communicating regularly with her then he would assume that he’s part of her plot and would surely want to remove him as quickly as possible.’

‘Could he know about the priest?’ he asked as Caenis rubbed herself dry with a linen towel.

‘She’s sure Sejanus doesn’t know the details of the plot or the time scale because we checked the records and Secundus never carried any message that mentioned the priest or getting him to Capreae. The most recent one he carried was just after Queen Tryphaena’s letter arrived saying that you’d be arriving soon. Secundus came with the news from Macro that Caligula was to be called to Capreae and my mistress told him to tell Macro that what they were waiting for was arriving any day now.’

‘No mention of Ostia?’ Vespasian asked, regretfully watching Caenis slip on her tunic.

‘No; yet his men were there.’

‘He probably always has men watching the docks.’

Caenis sat down on the bed and started to strap on her sandals. ‘Yes, but according to Clemens these men were very high up in Sejanus’ staff and based at Capreae, not the normal sort of people he would use for hanging around the port watching who gets off what ship. This is what’s puzzling my mistress; how did Sejanus know of your arrival in time to send two of his most trusted allies to Ostia if Secundus hasn’t betrayed her and Macro to him?’

‘It’s possible that Secundus told Sejanus Antonia’s message without mentioning that it was meant for Macro. He could have said that he got the information from one of Clemens’ men. That way he thinks that he can claim loyalty to whoever wins the struggle between Macro and Sejanus.’

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ Caenis said, leaning over and kissing him. ‘But however Sejanus found out it doesn’t change the fact that his spies have seen you and Sabinus get off a ship with a prisoner and bring him here. They then would have seen Senator Pollo arrive, so it won’t be long before Sejanus knows your name. I must go, my love; I’ll mention your theory to my mistress, pretending that it’s mine, of course.’ She smiled and stroked his cheek, then lifted the amulet hanging around his neck that she had given him as a parting gift over four years ago.

‘You’ve kept it safe.’

‘It kept me safe; it saved my life.’

‘I knew it would.’

Vespasian stared at her incredulously. ‘How?’

‘I don’t know, but I knew that I should give it to you.’

He told Caenis the story of how the amulet had saved him from the Caenii tribe in Thracia and how their chief, Coronus, believed that she was the granddaughter of his enslaved sister.

When he had finished she took the amulet in her hand and gazed at it. ‘After my mother died I used to lie awake at night holding this; it used to make me feel close to her, almost a part of her. I also felt as if it connected me with a larger family in a way that I couldn’t understand but it was a comforting feeling. Now I know why. It’s a powerful thing; it saved your life and found my family.’

‘Take it back, my love,’ Vespasian said, lifting the leather thong over his head, ‘I’ve no further need for it. It’s given me life; what more can it do?’

She took it from him. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. She kissed him and then padded softly out of the room.

Antonia called for Vespasian, Sabinus and their uncle at the second hour of the day. Pallas ushered them into the lavishly furnished formal reception room where she sat on a plump divan in front of a low, pink-marble table. At a right angle to her left, a corpulent, fair-skinned Greek with oiled black hair and beard perched uncomfortably on a wooden chair. He wore a citizens’ toga over a pale-blue linen tunic. Despite the inequality of seating arrangements the Greek managed to keep an air of dignity about his posture as if it were beneath him to notice such an obvious slight.

As he crossed the mosaic floor Vespasian glanced at the curtain behind which he and his brother had hidden with Caligula four years ago and wondered if his young friend was eavesdropping there even now. Antonia caught his look and smiled. ‘I’ve had a lock put on the door to that room now, so little Gaius has to find other places hide in.’

Disconcerted by Antonia’s ability to read his thoughts, however trivial, Vespasian took the seat that Pallas proffered to Antonia’s right. Sabinus and Gaius sat opposite her.

‘Gentlemen, this is the freedman Narcissus, my son’s secretary,’ Antonia said by way of introduction.

Regardless of his lower status Narcissus made no attempt to get up but waved a stubby hand, heavy with bejewelled rings, imperiously at each of the brothers and Gaius as Antonia named them, without meeting their eyes, as if he was welcoming them to his court. His strongly scented pomade hung heavily in the air. Vespasian and Sabinus nodded briefly in reply.

There was a brief interruption as cups of pomegranate juice were served to each of them by a couple of young, male slaves. As they left Caenis appeared with writing materials and settled at a table just behind Antonia. Pallas stood next to her.

‘Would you mind if my secretary minutes this conversation?’ Antonia asked Narcissus in a casual tone. Narcissus half closed his eyes, held out both hands and slowly shrugged his shoulders, as if graciously giving his consent in a matter of little or no importance to him, before picking up his cup and taking a delicate sip.

A flash of anger passed briefly over Antonia’s face. Vespasian was amazed by the lack of deference the Greek showed the most powerful woman in Rome. What sort of household did Claudius run if his secretary was free to act like some eastern potentate?

‘Thank you for coming at such short notice, my good Narcissus,’ Antonia said, her face now a mask of politeness.

‘My pleasure, dear lady,’ Narcissus replied in a surprisingly high voice whilst dabbing his lips with a silken handkerchief. ‘Your note suggested that you wished to consult me on a matter concerning my patron, your son, the noble Claudius. Being his loyal servant and ever mindful of his wellbeing I felt obliged to drop everything and answer your summons.’

‘I’ll come straight to the point then, as you seem to be such a busy man.’ Antonia was evidently anxious to puncture as soon as possible the Greek’s air of self-satisfied smugness. ‘These gentlemen found a letter written in code by your colleague Boter on behalf of my son and using his seal. Pallas, be so good as to read it for us.’

Vespasian watched Narcissus’ face carefully as the letter was read out. He kept his eyes closed; a couple of twitches at the corner of his mouth were the only outward signs of worry as he listened. When he opened his eyes after Pallas had finished there was an unmistakable look of panic in them as he glanced quickly around the table.

‘This has been written without my knowledge, domina,’ Narcissus asserted, his voice slightly higher than before.

‘Pallas guessed as much; he said that you were far too sensible to advise my son to take such a foolish course of action as to intrigue with Sejanus. That’s why I thought that I’d speak to you before deciding how to proceed.’

Narcissus gave Pallas a grateful look. ‘What do you intend doing with this, domina?’ he enquired.

‘What do you think I should do?’

Narcissus looked at Antonia hopefully. ‘Perhaps you could give it to me?’