Reaching her tent, she found Maron asleep in his cot, with the old midwife dozing alongside. Ariadne quietly changed her clothes and combed out her hair. She washed her face and applied a little ground chalk to her face. It would conceal the swelling bruise on her forehead. After the horror of what had happened, it felt odd being back in normality. She drank a little wine to steady her nerves. No one could know about Castus, especially Spartacus.
Soon after, she was startled to see her husband appear in the entrance. ‘They’ve arrived!’ he cried.
Maron stirred, and Ariadne’s instincts took over. ‘Shhhh.’
‘Sorry.’ He reached her side, grinning. Happy that Maron was still asleep, she met his gaze. He wouldn’t notice anything. He was visibly delighted.
‘You’re not talking about the Romans?’ she whispered.
He gave her a surprised look. ‘No! I’ve talked with the pirate captain whom Carbo met. He’ll be back in a couple of days with two, if not three other ships. A dozen journeys will see the men on the other side. If all goes well, we could have the grain ships here inside a week.’
Ariadne gaped at him. This — a way out of their situation — she hadn’t expected. ‘A week,’ she said slowly.
‘It’s wonderful, eh? Crassus hasn’t got any ships. The prune-faced whoreson won’t have a clue what’s going on until we’ve gone! By the time he reacts, we’ll have control of Sicily.’ He kissed her on the lips. ‘The first thing I’ll do on the island is to set up a system of watchtowers along the coastline. The Romans won’t be able to land without us being there to throw them back into the sea.’
Ariadne’s worries dissolved before the burning belief in his eyes. This too had to be a message from the gods, she thought. From Dionysus, whose snake had saved her life. The pirates would return. They would escape to Sicily. Her heart leaped with joy, and she pulled his face down to hers. ‘I always knew you could do it,’ she said.
A day later…
Hearing raised voices, Crassus raised his head. A frown creased his brow. He’d given his guards specific orders that he was not to be disturbed. By all the gods, could the fools understand nothing? he wondered angrily.
‘I don’t give a damn! I have to talk to Crassus!’ boomed a familiar voice. ‘Get out of my way, you fool, or I’ll have you digging trenches for the rest of your miserable life!’
‘Is that you, Caepio?’ Crassus put down the scroll on military tactics that he’d been composing and stood up. He found the whole process of writing a terrible bore, but this campaign was a golden opportunity for him to record his thoughts. They would be publicised and aggrandised afterwards, he could make sure of that. It wouldn’t be long before every man in Italy knew of the expert methods with which he had defeated Spartacus.
The flap to his private quarters was drawn back and the veteran centurion stepped into the richly decorated room. He came to attention and saluted, meeting Crassus’ icy stare stolidly, which angered but didn’t surprise Crassus. ‘This had better be good.’
‘I think it is, sir,’ came the measured reply.
‘Let me guess. You’ve captured Spartacus.’
Caepio’s lined face cracked into a semblance of a smile. ‘It’s not that good, sir.’
‘How long are you going to keep me waiting? Spit it out!’
‘One of our patrols happened upon a pirate ship anchored off a cove some miles to the north, sir. The crew were on the beach, replenishing its provisions, water and the like. The centurion in charge ordered an attack. Our men captured not just the pirates onshore, but the vessel as well.’
‘That’s very good, Caepio,’ grated Crassus from between clenched teeth. ‘Pirates are the scourge of the Mediterranean. The loss in merchant shipping each year is bleeding Rome white. But why would I care about that right now? We have bigger fish to fry than one leaky ship full of louse-ridden scum!’
‘A search of the vessel revealed bags of coin, sir,’ said Caepio with great patience. ‘In total, it was more than ten thousand denarii. The centurion asked the captain where he’d come by such an amount. The whoreson wasn’t forthcoming, so the centurion had his lads build a nice fire. When his feet were shoved into it, the pirate sang like a canary.’ He paused, eyeing Crassus for any signs of interest.
Damn him, thought Crassus, his curiosity aroused. He adopted his most offhand look. ‘Didn’t the spy mention something of this?’
‘He did, sir.’ Caepio was far too shrewd to mention how at the time his general had dismissed the man’s story as fantasy.
‘Go on,’ ordered Crassus brusquely.
‘He was approached some time ago by one of Spartacus’ men. A young Roman, he said. Made me think of the traitor at the munus whom I told you about. The one who was with Spartacus when he attacked you in Rome, sir.’
‘I remember.’ Crassus’ interest was growing by the moment. ‘Go on.’
‘The pirate was offered more than a million denarii to carry two thousand of Spartacus’ troops over to Sicily. He had to gather as many large ships together as he could, and sail them to meet the slaves.’
This time, Crassus couldn’t conceal his shock. His spy hadn’t been lying after all. ‘By Jupiter, are you serious?’
‘Yes, sir. There aren’t too many men who can lie when the flesh is melting from their bones.’
‘I don’t suppose there are,’ admitted Crassus. Sicily — that’s clever. He must know about the slave rebellions there. ‘Why so few soldiers, though? There are two legions on the island. What in hell’s name was he planning?’
‘I wondered if he had the idea of seizing some vessels, sir. Spartacus is a daring bastard; we know that. If he’s heard what disarray the place is in over there, he might have thought it possible.’
Crassus pursed his lips in concentration. Gaius Verres, the governor of Sicily, was notoriously corrupt. ‘Even if Spartacus doesn’t know, he’d still try something that crazy. What’s he got to lose? So what was the sewer rat of a pirate doing in the cove?’
‘Waiting for two captains whom he knew, sir. Another day, and they would have arrived. Sailed off, and we’d have been none the wiser. Now, it will never happen. The other pirates won’t understand why their friend never turned up, nor will they know about Spartacus’ offer.’
‘Excellent work, Caepio, excellent!’ Crassus bestowed a dazzling smile upon the centurion. His day had just got much better. ‘And the captain? I take it that he died under interrogation?’
‘Indeed, sir. The centurion had his men crucify his entire crew, burn the ship and seize the prisoners as slaves. The money has been brought back to be put at your disposal. I hope that is satisfactory.’
‘Most satisfactory,’ Crassus purred. ‘See to it that the centurion and his soldiers are each given a suitable cash reward.’
Caepio gave an approving nod. ‘Very good, sir. Once again, I apologise for disturbing you.’
His bad mood forgotten, Crassus waved a forgiving hand.
‘Was there anything else, sir?’
‘Yes. Do we have any idea how much food the slaves have?’
‘Last I heard from our man in their camp’ — here Caepio winked — ‘was that they had about a month’s worth of grain left. That was about two weeks ago.’
‘Damn his eyes, I told him to report more often than that!’
‘It’s very dangerous now, sir. Everywhere that we’ve built fortifications, Spartacus’ men are like fleas on a dog. They’re on watch day and night.’
Crassus bridled, but he knew Caepio was right. ‘If the fool was correct, the slaves have fourteen days’ provisions remaining. That’s more good news. Even if they comb through every farm building, they won’t find enough to last much longer.’
‘That’s right, sir. The land here is poor. It’s better for cultivating olives than grain. There will be little in the way of stores on most farms.’
‘We had best prepare for them to attempt a breakout soon then, eh?’
Spartacus, your days are numbered.
Chapter XV
