plan.
Helena heard her out, tapping her foot impatiently and nudging her son, who was staring lustfully at Lady Cassia as she communicated with Leartus.
'Your Excellencies,' Leartus leaned forward, looking down at his companion, then across at the Emperor and his mother, 'Lady Cassia asks this. Murranus is a famous gladiator. If that attack was intended simply to murder young Alexander and, possibly, Murranus, why did they leave the cover of the trees? Four of the servants were killed by arrows; the same fate could have befallen both Alexander and Murranus. Why the hand-to-hand fighting with a man famous for being a warrior?'
'There is one possible answer to that,' Claudia said softly. 'Excellency, your servant Chaerea was sent into the catacombs to search for these malefactors.'
'And this is their revenge?' Constantine asked quickly. 'It is as I said, Mother,' he turned to Helena, 'a direct challenge to our authority, an attempt to make us look fools in the eyes of Rome.' i don't think so.' Claudia spoke up. Constantine turned to her in surprise.
'What is that, little mouse?' he teased.
'Excellency, I don't think so. Murranus has described the attack, but he has omitted one thing. That is why I wanted to question him first.' She smiled at the Empress, who glared back.
'Ask it now!' Helena retorted.
Claudia got to her feet and moved to kneel beside Murranus. Placing one hand on his knee, she looked tenderly up at him. He was still very pale, dark rings shrouding his eyes, the pallid colour of his skin contrasting vividly with his reddish hair.
'Murranus, can you remember the attack?' she began softly. 'You and Alexander were riding side by side.'
The gladiator nodded.
'The arrows came out of the trees, the four servants fell, then what?'
'A swirl of figures,' Murranus declared, 'masked, dressed like mercenaries, leather kilts, sandals on their feet, well armed, swords, daggers, clubs and axes in their hands. They grouped around us, lashing out. I fought back, so did Alexander, a true soldier.'
Urbana began to sob quietly again.
'Did you kill any of them?' Claudia asked. She heard Constantine's gasp of excitement.
'Of course,' the Emperor breathed, 'some must have died.'
Murranus closed his eyes, head down as he tried to recollect.
'Yes,' he declared, 'I am sure Alexander killed two, I saw the sword thrusts. I must have done the same to two or three, — others were severely wounded. It was a bloody melee, blade against blade.' i saw the bloodstains on the trackway,' Claudia confirmed, then turned to face the Empress. 'Augusta, I have reflected on this. There is every possibility that this attack will be the last; that's why Alexander was killed. Why they attacked so publicly!'
'What do you mean?' Constantine asked.
Helena narrowed her eyes, studying Claudia's face intently.
'Excellency,' Claudia turned to the Emperor, 'when soldiers are part of a punishment cohort, what happens to them?'
'They are always sent into battle first, ordered to prove themselves.'
'What I think happened,' Claudia declared, 'is that whoever led this gang actually wanted to kill Murranus and Alexander, as well as his own followers, — that is why they were sent in. The leader had decided that enough was enough. True, he may have wanted revenge for Chaerea's meddling. More importantly, he no longer needed the ruffians he'd employed. What better way than using a man like Murranus to kill those he wanted to get rid of.'
'My mistress agrees,' Leartus spoke up, 'but there is one further problem. You say,' the eunuch paused to gather his thoughts, 'you say the attackers came from Rome, that they waited for their victims in that copse. The attack was launched, Alexander was killed, but what happened then?'
Murranus tapped the side of his head. 'I received a blow here, I was weak, I fell from my horse but managed to fight my way to my feet, otherwise they'd have killed me. To them I was still dangerous. I remember the sound of a horn, and those attackers who'd survived fled, but I recall them taking their fallen. I picked up Alexander, but realised he was dead. I put his body over a horse and brought him back to the villa, then I collapsed, and the rest you know.'
'The corpses!' Claudia exclaimed. 'Your Excellency, if this gang intended to kill Alexander and Murranus from the start, as well as their own members, where are the corpses of the attackers? Murranus glimpsed them being taken away. True, those who survived could ride towards the great highway leading into Rome, mingle with the crowds and become lost, but corpses are very difficult to hide.'
'What do you suggest?'
'Those clumps of trees,' Claudia replied. 'Excellency, please allow me to send Burrus down there. We need to search thoroughly once again. Perhaps the corpses are still there, hidden away. If we discover them, we might be able to identify who they were, where they came from, some clue to this mystery'
Constantine, excited, quickly refilled his cup. He slurped noisily, nodding in agreement.
'In which case,' Helena declared, 'we shall adjourn.' She called to Burrus to take his men down to the copse of trees where the attack had taken place and search the ground thoroughly for any trace of the earth being dug. 'You are looking for corpses,' Helena emphasised.
'In this heat,' Burrus bowed, 'the stink, never mind the flies, will lead us to them.'
Once Burrus had left, Helena turned back. 'This is not good,' she whispered shaking her head. 'This is not at all good! Lady Urbana, please, once again accept our condolences. Murranus, you shall stay here. Claudia, you too, while I consider what is to happen. In the mean time,' she rose to her feet while everyone hastened to follow suit, then grasped Claudia roughly by the shoulder, her nails digging into her skin, 'let us hope you are correct, little mouse, that this is the last of the abductions. I want the truth. Whoever is behind this shall die a death all of Rome will marvel at.' The Empress swept out, followed by her son, still gulping from his goblet.
Claudia turned to Lady Urbana and clasped her hands, expressing her own deep regrets and condolences. Urbana was pale-faced, her eyes red-rimmed. She nodded but couldn't resist rounding on Murranus.
'You promised to protect my son,' she hissed, 'but he was killed! Because of his death, I lost my husband. What can I say to you?' She shrugged and walked away.
Cassia and Leartus came up. Although she too had been grieving, Cassia still looked exquisitely beautiful. She caught Claudia's face in her hands, kissed her gently on each cheek then trailed her fingers down Murranus' arm in a gesture of friendship before signalling at Leartus to follow her. Claudia watched them go. Murranus, overcome by weakness, sat down quickly, putting his face in his hands.
'It's not true,' Claudia whispered. 'Murranus, it isn't your fault. Look…'
Murranus took his hands away.
'It's not true what Urbana said,' Claudia insisted. 'No one could have expected that. We've been dealing with abductions, young men and women being kidnapped, not brutal assault and savage murder!' She shook her head. 'I cannot understand what is happening,' she continued. 'Everything is shrouded in mystery and lies. But come, Murranus,' she forced a smile, 'keep up your strength.'
She helped him up and insisted that he return to his chamber. She made him comfortable on the bed, sitting on a stool, stroking his face with the tips of her fingers. Murranus tried to talk, but his eyes grew heavy and soon he was asleep. Claudia left him. She felt coldly angry, not just at Helena's public disdain or Urbana's grief and provocative remarks; she and Murranus had been trapped. She was now certain that the abductors had intended all along to kill young Alexander. They'd journeyed from Rome to achieve that, but why? To show their contempt for the Empress? Revenge at Helena's interference in their affairs through Chaerea? Or, as she suspected, to get rid of their own followers?
Claudia sat on the steps to one of the side entrances of the villa and thought about Secundus and Crispus, two more deaths demanding vengeance and justice. She rose to her feet and made her way across to the villa baths. The bloody mess caused by the two killings had been cleared away, the water in the square bath drained off. Claudia studied the tiled floor around the pool and noticed the fragments of pottery pushed between tiles or heaped in niches where the wall met the floor. She went outside and, using her authority, dispatched a servant to fetch Casca the
