"You were with Marcus Crassus." His mouthtwisted into a bitter grimace at the memory, and again, Iunderstood.
"Yes, I was. But unlike last time, this timewe have a legitimate grievance," I told Charax, my voice as hard asI could make it.
Even from a distance, I could see his faceflush, but he nodded his head in recognition of what I hadsaid.
"You are correct, Prefect Pullus," he said,and I believe the regret in his voice was unfeigned. "But I havecome under a flag of truce to ask; no, to beg." I couldeasily imagine how difficult it was for a man as proud as Charax toutter these words, "you to excuse what is the work of a few,disaffected and radical men who do not represent the rest ofus."
"Oh?" I feigned interest, but I was barelypaying attention, if only because my leg hurt so much. "And whodoes bear the responsibility for this outrage done to us?"
Charax's face darkened as he spat the name."Aderbal."
I started; that was a name I had heardbefore, although it took a moment for me to place the face in mymemory with the name. Then I recalled the episode, when MarcusCrassus had summoned the Moesians under the pretext of surrenderingRuno, the leader of the band that had demonstrated extremely poorjudgment by attacking us. However, Crassus was in much the samesituation that I was, even if it was for different reasons; neitherof us had any interest in accepting the apologies of the Moesians,in whatever form it took. Five years before, he had simply named asum of payment so outrageous that he knew the Moesians could notpay. This time, my task was even simpler.
"Ah, yes. I remember Aderbal," I answered,recalling the only man of the delegation sent by the people ofNaissus who dared to look me in the eye, trying to stare me down."As I recollect, he fancied himself quite the warrior. He stoodabout so high," I held my hand out at the level that I thought hemight have been, although it was more guess than memory. "And hehad red hair, did he not?"
"That is Aderbal," Charax agreed grimly."And he is a mighty warrior, so he has something of a...followingamong our people. Especially after the last time Rome came toNaissus," he finished bitterly, and I could see the memory of whatwe had done was still fresh.
"Yes, well." I smiled, but it was withouthumor. "It seems that Aderbal has put you in an even worse positionthan you found yourselves in when Marcus Crassus was commanding thearmy."
"And how is Marcus Crassus?" Charax askedgently. "I heard that he was taken quite ill from the...rigors ofthat campaign and has retired from public life. Is that thecase?"
I must admit that Charax had just scored atelling blow, and I was forced to acknowledge, grudgingly, that hehad aimed well. Not lost on me at all was the fate of MarcusCrassus, the grandson of the Triumvir who had perished at Carrhaeand was a close friend of Caesar's. In simplest terms, his reachexceeded his grasp, and Octavian, unlike Caesar, was not one toforgive an ambitious noble who wanted to claim what the Princepsviewed as more than his just share of glory and acclaim from thepeople of Rome. I had liked the young Crassus a great deal, and ofall the commanders that I have served, I would put him behind onlyVentidius and of course, Caesar, but I would not be surprised,gentle reader, if you have never heard of the grandson. The last Ihad heard, he was living in exile; comfortable exile, but for ahighborn man of Rome, I have to believe that this was a fate evenworse than death. His attempt to claim the spolia opima fromDeldo, king of the Bastarnae, after he slew him in single combat,ironically enough was not the cause for his downfall. No, it waswhen the Centurions of his army declared him imperator threetimes, in the field, which reached the ears of Octavian despite mybest attempts to stop it from happening, which marked him as athreat to Octavian. Charax undoubtedly knew that, but as much of awarning tale as it was, I was not going to be dissuaded from mypath, and I reasserted control of the conversation.
"Marcus Crassus and his health do not matterright now," I said firmly. "What does matter is the fact that thisAderbal is responsible for the deaths of more than twentyLegionaries of Rome. That is bad enough, but he is also responsiblefor the death of a Centurion. Worst of all, he has taken a standardfrom the Century he attacked. That is a stain on our honor that wecannot let go without exacting vengeance."
Now Charax looked even more perturbed, andhis tension must have transmitted to his horse, because it startedtaking little steps to the side, which Charax just managed tocurb.
"I understand that, Prefect, but...."
"No, I don't think you do," I said, makingmy voice as cold as I could. "There is nothing that you can offerus that would satisfy us, no amount of money that would buy us offand let us go our way. Besides," it was time to even the score forhis remark about Crassus, "as I recall, you couldn't scrapetogether the money to stop us last time, when we had even lessjustification for taking your city. Now, we have every reason totake our revenge."
The Moesian's face flushed even more darklyas he held both hands up in a placating gesture.
"Please, Prefect, I beg you," he repeated."Do not let innocent people pay for the actions of a few of ourmen. We will turn Aderbal over to you, along with the men whofollowed him, for you to punish in any manner you desire."
Perhaps if this had been a few years before,when I still had Miriam in my life, and I was not currently facingthe
