in your women on the big day. It’s not been stuck in a gladiator for luck yet, but I did one of the bastards that carried her away with it just now, if that counts.’
‘Tribunes Licinius and Scaurus! Welcome back to civilisation, gentlemen, if we can characterise the never- ending din of Noisy Valley so generously!’ Governor Marcellus advanced around his desk, his normally sombre face wreathed in a beaming smile, and clasped hands with his officers. Behind him Legatus Equitius, commander of the imperial Sixth Legion and former prefect of the 1st Tungrian Cohort shot them a wry smile, raising amused eyebrows at his superior’s unaccustomed bonhomie. I’ve asked Legatus Equitius to join me in greeting you both, given his previous connection with your Tungrians.’ Equitius inclined his head as the governor continued his greeting. ‘My congratulations to you both. You have brought great honour upon your cohorts, and extinguished a threat to Rome’s frontiers for years to come.’
Licinius saluted, handing King Drust’s heavy gold torc to the older man.
‘Governor, this belonged to the king of the Venicones. We took many more items of jewellery from their dead, but I thought you might want to take personal charge of this particular item.’
Marcellus raised the torc and admired its workmanship for a moment.
‘Indeed, Tribune, an item of such value will make a fitting accompaniment for the news of this victory when it reaches the Emperor. And now, gentlemen, you must take a cup of wine with us, and explain how you achieved this unexpected triumph.’ When the story of the previous few days’ events was told he sat back in his chair with a contented smile, nodding his head slowly in satisfaction. ‘Excellent work, gentlemen, simply excellent. Any threat the Venicones might have presented to the frontier is broken, and the Votadini are free to rebuild their kingdom without any external interference from either north or west. All of which means that we can focus our attentions to the south of the Wall, and on putting these Brigantes scum back in their place. They still control most of the country between here and the legion forts to the south, and I fear that the campaign to root them out will be a bitter struggle. They’re not coming to battle as the northern tribes did, but seem happy to fight us with a dirty little war of raids and ambushes. Which means that your cavalrymen, Manilius Licinius, will have their hands full scouring the country for them. You are to ride for Waterside Fort today, and join with the Second Legion and the western wall cohorts in hunting down and eradicating these savages wherever you find them.’
Licinius nodded his understanding, and Marcellus turned to Scaurus with a gentle smile.
‘And as for you, Rutilius Scaurus, I must presume upon your cohort’s willingness to endure hardship once again. I had originally intended sending you west with your colleague’s horsemen to strengthen the Second Legion’s forces, but I have received a request for assistance from my colleague in Gallia Belgica in the last few days, assistance I feel well suited to your particular blend of skills and experience, not to mention your cohort’s original recruiting base.’ He turned to the desk behind him and picked up a scroll, handing it to the young tribune and raising his voice to issue his formal orders. ‘Rutilius Scaurus, you are hereby ordered to march your men to the port of Arab Town at the eastern end of the Wall, and there to take ship for the mainland. Once landed, you will make your way with all possible speed to the fortress town of Tungrorum. Once there, you are to establish a secure camp and then to carry out whatever operations you see fit to disperse and destroy the various bands of bandits, both large and small, who are plaguing the region.’ He shot Scaurus a glance. ‘Of course, you will be wondering exactly why your men should be needed, when there are three perfectly good legions only a few days’ march away in their fortresses along the River Rhenus, any one of which might comfortably cope with any local problem. As it happens, not only have the German legions been somewhat depleted by the need to reinforce our losses of earlier this year, but they have also been stretched too thin by a series of barbarian incursions in the last few months. Things are not so bad that the barbarians could attack across the river in strength, but bad enough for the area around Tungrorum to have fallen prey to the worst kind of scum, deserters and brigands who are making life intolerable from the accounts I’ve received.
‘They’ve tried to deal with the problem, of course – indeed, three detachments of increasing strength from their auxiliary cohorts have been sent into the area. They were either defeated by force of arms or, as seems to have been the case with the last force that was sent to the area, a full cohort of infantrymen mind you, they’ve chosen to desert to the enemy.’ He took another sip of wine before continuing. ‘There are three reasons why I’ve chosen to send you and your men to deal with this situation, Tribune. First, the legatus here tells me that your men are the best we have for hunting down and destroying these brigands.’ Scaurus shot a glance at his cohort’s former commander, who could only shrug apologetically. ‘Second, your command is two cohorts strong, which ought to be sufficient to deal with the deserters who, I suspect, will be your main problem. And third, your men are more likely to want to protect their original settlement than the local auxiliaries, who are after all drawn from lands thousands of miles distant.’
He fixed the tribune with a level stare, tapping the order scroll in his hand to underline the significance of its contents.
‘In dealing with these matters you are to cooperate as fully as possible with the local authorities, but you are also to consider your command as independent from civilian control and make any necessary decisions required to remove the threat to civil order represented by these criminal scum.’ He smiled thinly at Scaurus. ‘Everybody, Rutilius Scaurus, is going to want you to achieve everything at once, which is why I’ve deliberately written these orders to allow you to set your operational priorities as you see fit. In the meantime, it will take at least ten days to gather enough ships to carry your command across the German Sea, so I suggest that you march your men back to their home fort and allow them time to say their goodbyes. And that, Tribunes, concludes my orders. May the gods smile upon you both.’
The governor nodded and turned back to his desk, and the two men saluted and began to leave, only to stop at the office’s door as he spoke again, frowning at a tablet he’d picked up from the desk’s highly polished wooden surface.
‘Ah, but there was one more thing. Trivial, perhaps, given the events of the last few weeks, but potentially serious for all that.’ Both men turned back to face him, sharing a quick glance. ‘It seems that a pair of imperial investigators rode through here a few days ago. Tribune Paulus reported the fact to Legatus Equitius when we arrived here. Apparently they were seeking some fugitive from justice who has managed to upset the praetorian prefect in some way or other
…’
Scaurus kept his face neutral, thanking the foresight that had made Licinius send a rider south in advance of the legion, taking the news to Paulus that Rapax and Excingus’s mission had failed with the death of one man and the complete disappearance of the other.
‘Anyway, gentlemen, it seems that these two officers and their escort have been lost without trace. As an essential formality I must ask you both if you made any contact with them after they left this fortress?’
Both men answered the question with blank stares, and when Licinius spoke his voice was hard with suppressed anger.
‘None of my men have reported any such encounter, Governor, although I lost two message riders around that time, left to rot where they fell by unknown assailants. When we found them one was lying unburied beside a roadside campfire, and the other was face down in a ditch five miles to the south. He had a throwing knife stuck through his neck, a knife that my armourers tell me was Roman in design. The presence of imperial spies might go some way to explaining their deaths…’
Marcellus frowned in his turn.
‘I see. Well, there’s probably little to be gained from any official comment on the matter, and since these men seem to have been operating independently of my office I intend to leave the matter where it lies. In any case they’re certainly dead. Only a fool would have ridden this far north into the heart of a tribal uprising with such a flimsy escort, never mind crossing the Wall with the northern tribes still in ferment.’ He shook his head and dropped the tablet on to the desk. ‘Dismissed, gentlemen, let’s get on with this war and leave the mystery of their disappearance to a quieter time.’
Stepping out of the principia into the supply fort’s usual bustle, the two tribunes exchanged a glace, and Scaurus breathed a slow sigh of relief before speaking.
‘It seems that young Paulus decided that he was better off having a legatus and two tribunes beholden to him than to spill the beans to the governor.’
His colleague nodded slowly.
‘Yes. But I’d still be happier knowing exactly what happened to that odious creature Excingus, and that last praetorian for that matter.’
