Page 39 of Of Love and Treason
“She’s lovely, certainly.” Bea shifted. “But she’s not a believer.”
Valens stopped chewing and frowned. It took him a moment to understand what Bea hinted at. “Iris had some questions and I tried to answer them, that’s all.” He shook his head. “I’m notcourtingher.”
Despite her prior objection, Bea had the audacity to lookdisappointed. A thin beam of light trickled in through the crack in the closed balcony door, illuminating a horde of dancing dust motes.
“Well.” Bea touched her chin, then rubbed the cream into her cheeks. “I don’t think I answered her questions very well. She came to the shop once and I haven’t seen her since.”
Valens slid his feet into his sandals and laced them up. If he left soon, he’d have enough time to swing by Paulina’s on his way to the notarii offices. “I’ll keep an eye out for her then.”
As he went to his room for his belt, Bea called after him, “Your tunic’s on backward.”
XV
“SPECULATOREDIDIUSLIBERARE!”
Titus swore under his breath. A slave in a brown tunic reached him in the shadow of the arched gateway of the Porta Decumana.
“Centurion Gracilus wishes to speak with you. Immediately.”
Titus gave one longing glance toward the city, where he’d hoped for a few minutes to talk to Quintus about his debts. Weeks had gone by without a spare moment to get away from the Castra Praetoria. The last time he’d tried to leave, he’d been rerouted to fight a fire that had jumped to three other buildings and had taken days to put out. He sighed. Thirty seconds more and he could have disappeared for a few hours.
He returned with the slave the way he’d come, weaving past the open training grounds where guards rolled in the dust pounding each other with fists as commanders looked on. Behind the combat training, other guards scaled towers while a group of runners skirted the wall, leaping barrels and barriers. It might have been a training ground for Olympic athletes rather than an elite troop of soldiers who might or might not see combat.
The officers were quartered in a plain building at the crossroads in the center of the fortress. As Titus stepped inside, the warmth of the fading autumn sun vanished. Praetorian cohort standards lined the walls of the hall. The blue-and-gold flags bore images of scorpions, eagles, lions, a winged ram—each paired with the name and numberof the nine Praetorian cohorts. At the end of the hall, sun streamed into an open courtyard bustling with harried slaves carrying scrolls and trays of food and wine, weaving around four centurions deep in conversation.
Titus followed the slave through an open doorway and into a large corner room.
Centurion Marcus Gracilus, leader of Titus’s century, stood behind a tablet-strewn desk silhouetted by the bright whiteness of the window behind him. To his left stood the trecenarius, Justinian Faustus, commander of three hundred men and leader of the division of speculatores. Because of his unique position as soldier and spy, Titus answered to them both. He slammed a fist to his chest in salute.
“At ease, Speculatore.” Trecenarius Faustus, highest in command, led the conversation. “I wanted to congratulate you on the success of your mission to take out Petrius Convus.” His eyes and tone darkened. “But these stunts you pull—burning the tavern? You could have brought down the entire Tiberina district!”
But I didn’t.Titus stared at a crack in the wall and let Trecenarius Faustus rage on the dangers of fires and how quickly they could spread. On how sections of Rome had been destroyed by fires countless times over the centuries and did Titus want the notoriety of lighting the latest? Had he enjoyed the last few days of fire duty? Did he want to be put on permanent fire duty like a common Vigiles Guard?
Titus took the verbal beating in silence. Eventually Faustus circled around to the real reason he’d summoned him.
“No doubt you’ve heard of thisFriend of Lovers, as they call him.”
Titus’s eyebrows lifted. Everyone was talking about the man who secretly—or not so secretly—married couples despite the emperor’s ban. The stories had spread like fleas on a dog. There were none, and then they were everywhere.
Faustus waved a hand. “Truth be told, I would let it go, if not for the prefect’s insistence it disappear. The rumors are reaching new heights. The people talk of thisfriendas if he were their hero,restoring their rights of citizenship. It’s creating a wedge between the emperor and the people, and it’s going to get ugly.” He paused, glancing at Centurion Gracilus. “In the emperor’s absence, it’s our job to keep the peace.”
Titus shifted his weight, pondering the situation. He knew the Praetorian prefect, Marcus Aurelius Heraclianus, was in a tricky position trying to balance his support of the emperor against the emperor’s waning popularity among the citizens. Emperor Claudius’s short sights were set on driving out the barbarian invaders and reuniting the splintering regions of the empire, by any means and at all costs. But the love of his subjects faded in light of his temporary edicts.
Titus glanced between the officers. “Won’t arresting the people’s hero cause greater problems?”
“That is why this must be done carefully. The people are on the verge of unrest. Our goal is unity.” Faustus nodded and glanced at Centurion Gracilus. “The emperor is fighting to unite the wayward regions of the empire, and we must wage war of our own. War to unite the people, the gods, and the emperor.”
He was selling the importance too hard. Titus suspected punishment. “And how do you propose we do that, sir?”
“Stop the weddings.”
Titus fought the urge to roll his eyes.Weddings?His jaw went tight as anger flowed through him, swift and hot. “With all due respect, sirs, you’re pulling me off the Zenobia mission to investigatesecret weddings? Half the soldiers in the legions have illegal wives and children.Mars and Jupiter—even some of the Praetorians do!”
His commanders ignored the outburst.
“It is not about thelegalityas much as it is about theprincipleof obedience.” Faustus braced his hands on the edges of the desk.
Centurion Gracilus gave a nod. “The emperor must be assured we’re taking this seriously. How better to do that than put our best man to the job?”
