My hopes were dashed quickly, becauseDiocles was as mystified as Scribonius and I were.
“If he has the document, it doesn’t do himany good to put you off,” was Diocles’ comment.
“And if he doesn’t have the document,putting you off doesn’t make any sense either. Unless,” Scriboniussaid ominously, “he’s planning on something to shut you up.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Diocles gasped, butScribonius was unmoved.
“Desperate men do desperate things all thetime,” he countered. Despite understanding Scribonius’ caution, Iimmediately discounted his warning.
“No, I agree with Diocles. Primus isn't thatstupid. My sudden disappearance would create more problems than itsolved.”
No closer to solving the mystery, there wasnothing much to do but wait, so Diocles brought some wine, then wesat sipping it and chatting until it was time for me to return tothe Praetorium. When the bucinator at thePraetorium sounded the change of watch, I stood, once moredonning my armor and belt.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Scriboniusasked. I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
“No. For once, you don’t need to worry aboutmy mouth getting you in trouble. Let’s keep it that way, shallwe?”
My friend grinned, but I could see he wasnot happy, touching my heart. We embraced before I left to facewhatever Primus had in store for me.
When I was ushered into thePraetorium, I was not sure what to expect, but seeing Masalathere did not really surprise me. What did surprise me was thepresence of all the other Tribunes; Scipio, Lucullus, Silanus,Libo, and Capito, along with Macrinus and Flaminius, both of whomlooked decidedly nervous.
“Prefect, I'm glad to see you arrive sopromptly.” Primus was seated behind his desk, his own, befittinghis personally extravagant style, being made of heavy carved oak,decorated with nymphs and satyrs on the capitals above the legs andalong the edge facing outward.
It had been cleared of everything except onescroll, which was rolled and placed in front of Primus. He haddressed in his military uniform for this occasion, but his potbelly was thankfully hidden behind the desk, and he had foregonewearing his ridiculous helmet, instead placed on a stand next tohim, the feathers jutting up at least a foot over his head.
“As you can see, I thought it appropriate tohave witnesses present for this meeting.” He turned to face theothers. “While I've briefed Masala, I think I should let the restof you know what's going on. The Prefect here has found it fittingto call into question the legitimacy of our campaign against theThracians.”
As I am sure he had hoped, the reaction ofthe others showed they found this quite startling, but I did notmiss Macrinus and Flaminius exchanging a glance and quiet word thatI could not make out. Primus could not resist flinging a barbedmissile in my direction.
“Apparently, our Prefect isn't quite aseager to avenge the death of his friend and the insult done to Romeas he led me to believe.”
For the second time in a day, I found myhand itching to reach for my sword, but of course, I made no suchmove. Primus looked slightly disappointed that I did not rise tothe bait, so he pressed on.
“Naturally, I take this as an insult on myhonor. However, as the Prefect pointed out, and I have sinceverified, he is within his rights as the second in command of thisarmy to demand to see the written orders given to me. I had wantedto keep this as quiet as possible, at the personal request ofAugustus who, for political reasons, does not want his name widelyattached to this endeavor, for a number of reasons that I am privyto, but you have no need to know. However, the Prefect has forcedmy hand in this regard, so before we go any further, I require fromeach of you your solemn vow that you will not repeat to anyone whattakes place here tonight and what you learn from it.”
One by one, each man stepped forward,raising his hand and making the required vow, as did I, last ofall. When that had been done, Primus finally touched the scroll onthe desk, unrolling it with what appeared to be great reverence.All eyes were riveted to the pudgy little man. Clearly enjoying theattention, he held the scroll up in his fat little hands, thenmotioned with his head to me to come closer. Trying to ignore theshaking in my legs, I approached the desk, feeling everyone else’seyes on me. Once I got close enough, Primus offered me the scrollto examine, making an elaborate gesture, then giving me a mock bow,but up close, I could see the hatred glittering in his eyes. Ittook a supreme effort of will to keep my hand from shaking when Itook the scroll, although by this point, I was sure that it wouldeither exonerate Primus completely or be so ambiguously worded thatthere would be no way I could unequivocally state that Primus wasviolating the orders from Augustus. Even so, my heart sank onreading the words. I did not recognize the writing, since I hadseen enough orders in Octavian’s hand to recognize his handwriting,but that by itself was meaningless; he had been First Man for manyyears now, so it was unlikely that there would be much he wouldwrite in his own hand by that point.
What was written on the vellum was thecommand to Marcus Primus to conduct a punitive expedition againstthe Thracians. It did say that it was preferred that it be theTriballi, but any tribe of Thrace would suffice; at least that wasthe essence of the order. I examined the document carefully, yet Icould see no signs that it had been altered, but my examination wasnot thorough. Affixed to the bottom of the document was the seal ofa sphinx, the unmistakable emblem of Octavian that he had beenusing for many years by this point. From what I could tell, thedocument appeared to be genuine, and while not a clear-cutexoneration of Marcus Primus, it was ambiguous enough in itswording that I knew I had
