The Far Shore (59 page)

Asdribar put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Perhaps you’ll tell me when you’re ready.’

Cassius went and stood by Noster, who was looking beyond the leaping, cheering Maseene towards the beach by the warehouses; towards where Eborius lay.

‘I’m sorry we had to leave him,’ said Cassius.

‘He was a fine officer,’ said Noster.

‘And a fine man,’ replied Cassius. ‘Finer than he knew.’

The
Fortuna Redux
slipped gently into the cove under a sky streaked with orange and red. Asdribar himself was at the helm and – with just the foresail flying – he guided his ship to a tranquil spot sheltered by a promontory. Once Desenna and Korinth had the sail down, old Squint dropped the anchor from the bow. As the chain rattled through the block, Asdribar left Tarkel to tie off the tillers and made his way forward. Desenna and Korinth unshackled the foresail then bagged it up. Dismissed by the captain, they and the lad went below.

As the already slight wind died and the light faded, Asdribar and Squint stood in silence, watching the ship settle back on the anchor chain. With the
Fortuna
’s bow veering gently from side to side, Asdribar took a flask of wine from his tunic and the two sailors shared a drink. The only sign of life on the barren shore was a pair of white storks perched on a rock, watching the ship.

Eventually, the bow stopped moving. Asdribar tested the anchor chain with his boot; it was taut and still. Not wanting to alert anyone onshore to their presence, he’d already decided that the ship’s lanterns would remain unlit. The captain took a final look around the cove, then glanced at Squint. The veteran nodded and the two of them made their away towards the hatch.

‘Ow! Gods, Simo, you’re just making it worse.’

Cassius pushed the Gaul away and wiped tears of pain from his eyes.

‘I am sorry, sir. It really requires some specialist attention.’

‘That bloody animal Carnifex. Knowing my luck I’ll end up looking like some backstreet brawler. My nose was perfect. Perfect! People used to make comments. More wine, Simo.’

‘The jug is empty, sir. I shall have to—’

‘Ah, forget it. I shall take a walk instead.’

‘I have the last of your clean tunics here, sir.’

Cassius let Simo dress him. Though he’d slept solidly through most of the afternoon, and knew he should have felt profound relief to have escaped Darnis alive, there was no sense of euphoria, only an unsettling disquiet.

As Simo buckled his belt, Cassius remembered what he’d pledged to do before the end of the day. ‘Simo, Captain Asdribar told me about your efforts to ensure he waited for our return.’

‘My prayers were answered, sir.’

Cassius didn’t have the heart to take issue with him on that one.

‘Perhaps. In any case, I thank you. There are some servants who might be glad to be rid of their master, especially one who berates them for simply doing their best. I am … fortunate to have you by my side.’

Simo straightened Cassius’s tunic and gave a slight bow. ‘Thank you, sir.’

‘A promise – if we ever make it back to Antioch, you can take all that leave I owe you in one go. A week off – how does that sound?’

Simo seemed barely able to comprehend such a concept. ‘Thank you, Master Cassius.’

‘Not at all.’

Cassius walked along the passageway to Korinth’s room. To everyone’s surprise, the deck-chief had offered his bed to Indavara. Cassius knocked on the door.

‘What?’

‘You might want to try something more polite,’ Cassius said as he entered. Indavara was sitting up on the bed. Looking at the state of him, Cassius immediately felt embarrassed by his earlier bleating and hoped Indavara hadn’t heard.

The bodyguard’s right leg was bandaged from ankle to knee and his toes were blotched with purple bruises. In order to cover both the gash on his brow and the more serious wound to the back of his skull, Simo had wrapped up almost his entire head, so only a few tufts of Indavara’s thick black hair were visible. His left arm appeared largely unscathed – apart from a few scrapes and welts – but lay limply by his side, his hand at rest on the bed.

‘I still can’t believe you relocated that yourself,’ said Cassius.

Despite Simo’s protests, Indavara had decided to knock his shoulder back into place by smashing it against the
Fortuna
’s mast. It had taken three attempts.

‘I believe Clara almost fainted,’ added Cassius.

‘It’s not so bad. I’ve done it a couple of times before. Once during a fight actually.’

Shaking his head in disbelief, Cassius sat down on the end of the bed.

‘This is worse,’ said Indavara, pointing at his head. ‘Can’t lean back on it, can’t lie down.’

He looked at Cassius’s nose. ‘You want me to re-break that for you? I’ve seen it done. Might set straighter.’

‘Tempting though that sounds, I think I’ll decline.’

‘Do you know how Annia is?’

‘No. I don’t believe she’s left the deckhouse since we came aboard.’

Cassius gazed idly down at the numerous grazes on his hands, largely a result of rolling around on the concrete breakwater. ‘I wonder how all this will affect her – on top of losing her father. I suppose we should just be glad we got her out.’

‘With a bit of help,’ said Indavara.

‘I’ll start on my report tomorrow. I don’t know what weight my opinion will hold, but I’ll be recommending the highest posthumous honour for Eborius. What he did should be acknowledged. Remembered. What happened to him – on the beach?’

‘I didn’t see all of it. But he fought bravely. And if he hadn’t kept Carnifex occupied, I’d never even have got back on my feet.’

‘Only the gods know how you did. Simo said the skin at the back of your head was cut almost to the bone. Twenty stitches, wasn’t it?’

Indavara nodded but then ground his teeth together. ‘I have to remember to stop doing that.’

‘Well if my socks are anything to go by, I’m sure Simo did an excellent job with the needle and thread.’

After attending to the wound, the Gaul had confided to Cassius that he’d seen an older, similarly sizeable scar hidden under the bodyguard’s hair. Cassius had elected not to discuss Indavara’s confession with Simo but he wondered, was this the injury that had caused his memory loss – left him with a gaping void instead of a past?

Cassius thought it unlikely there would be a better chance to discuss the matter. ‘Indavara, listen—’

A quiet knock on the door.

‘Who’s there?’ asked Indavara, with a valiant attempt at politeness.

‘It’s Clara, sir.’

Cassius got up and opened the door. He hadn’t spoken to the girl yet and was pleased to see her blush as she returned his smile. It took her a few moments to remember why she was there.

‘Sir, Miss Annia can’t really move because of her feet, but she’d like to see you both – whenever it’s convenient for you.’

‘Now?’ suggested Indavara keenly.

‘Why not,’ said Cassius, realising his chance had gone. ‘Clara, tell your mistress we’ll be there presently.’

With a little bow, the maid hurried away.

Indavara manoeuvred himself to the side of the bed using only his left leg and right arm.

‘Sure you should be moving around?’

‘I’m fine.’

Cassius put out his hand but Indavara got to his feet unaided.

‘You go ahead.’

Cassius made his way along the passageway then turned, watching as Indavara struggled through the doorway. Though Simo felt sure there was no break, Cassius had seen the condition of the right leg before the Gaul had applied ointment and bandaged it. The flesh on the shin seemed to have been almost flayed from the bone; such was the price Indavara had paid to bring the old centurion down.

Having barely noticed earlier, Cassius now realised the
Fortuna
’s hold had been transformed. The timber and twig bales had disappeared and every available space was occupied by the townspeople. Lanterns hanging from the roof cast an opaque glow over the morass of people and baggage. A few sat or lay alone but most were gathered in small groups. One woman was tearing up a loaf and placing equal-sized hunks of bread on three plates already covered with olives and dried sausage. Three children looked on expectantly.

Asdribar appeared from the gloom, shaking his head at the state of his beloved ship. Upon reaching the steps, he turned and spied something at the other end of the hold. ‘I said no lamps! Just the lanterns. Whoever lit that better put it out now or I’ll come back up there and throw you over the side!’

One of the children awaiting her dinner – a girl of no more than five – looked up at the captain and promptly burst into tears. Exasperated, Asdribar started towards the galley but then stopped and walked back to the little girl. He squatted down in front of her and smiled.

‘Sorry about that, love. We sailors like things done a certain way.’

The girl squeezed up close to her mother.

‘Tell you what,’ said the Carthaginian. ‘Why don’t you sew my mouth up and then I won’t be able to make a sound?’

Asdribar produced an imaginary needle and threaded it. ‘Here you are. Careful now.’

With a reluctant smile, the little girl leant towards him and opened her palm.

Asdribar pretended to drop it. ‘Oh. No, there it is.’

As the girl played along, Indavara caught up with Cassius and looked on.

Pouting, Asdribar pointed at his mouth. While the girl pretended to sew it up, he pulled all manner of faces, drawing laughs from all three children.

Cassius glanced at the other townspeople nearby. They were ignoring Asdribar’s antics and seemed far more interested in Indavara. Word had spread perhaps: this was the man who had beaten Carnifex.

Asdribar took a piece of bread, pretended he couldn’t get it in his mouth, then adopted a sad expression worthy of a pantomime performer.

With the little girl now chortling, he stood up and went on his way, looking rather sheepish when he realised Cassius and Indavara had been watching.

‘I think you might have missed your vocation, Captain,’ said Cassius. ‘Perhaps it’s time to give up the freight trade and convert the
Fortuna
into a passenger ship.’

‘Not for all the silk in the East. Thank the gods this is to be a short trip.’

‘Will we make Apollonia by nightfall tomorrow?’

Asdribar looked back at the crowded hold. ‘Even if I have to take up an oar myself. By the way, I’ve organised another gathering in the deckhouse this evening – before we all go our separate ways.’

‘You won’t be taking Annia and Clara back to Rhodes?’

‘I’m afraid you shall all have to make your own way home. You may not listen to the voices of the gods, Officer, but I do – and I know when I’m pushing my luck. Storms, rogue centurions, rampaging tribesmen …’

‘Think of the money, Captain.’

‘Oh I do,’ said Asdribar with a smile. ‘I do. And I’ll need plenty of it to keep the crew quiet when I tell them we’re wintering in Apollonia. See you later?’

‘Of course.’

With that, the captain continued on his way.

Just as Cassius and Indavara reached the steps, Noster hobbled out of the hold. He was with a plain-looking woman made rather more attractive by her voluminous, curly brown hair.

‘Sir, this is my wife. Octavia, this is Officer Corbulo, and that’s Indavara.’

‘A pleasure,’ said Cassius. ‘How’s the knee, Noster?’

‘It’ll be all right, sir.’

Cassius turned to his wife. ‘I’m glad you were able to get out of the town safely.’

‘Octavia’s been telling me we should leave for years,’ said Noster. ‘I suppose I should have listened. What do you think will happen to Darnis, sir?’

‘I’ve no idea. I shall certainly be meeting the provincial governor in Cyrene. Hopefully something can be done.’

‘I wonder if we shouldn’t just leave it to the Maseene, sir. They were there before us, after all.’

‘Right,’ said Indavara quietly.

‘Well, we can’t really have that,’ said Cassius, ‘but I take your point. Misrule can be as bad as anarchy on occasion, but order must be restored. There might be a way forward, with a half-decent governor and a garrison of men like yourself. Would you like me to put your name forward?’

Noster’s wife tightened her grip on his arm. The veteran looked at her and smiled. ‘No, thank you, sir. My twenty-five years were up a few months ago. I was really only staying on for Centurion Eborius. Hopefully they’ll give us a nice plot of land somewhere quiet.’

‘Fair enough. You deserve nothing less. By the way, there’s to be a get-together up in the deckhouse later. I’m sure the captain would be happy for you to join us.’

‘Thank you, sir. We’ll see you there.’