At first, I was sure I did not hear himcorrectly, my mind reeling as I tried to think this matter through.Oh, Scribonius, where are you when I need you? Finally, I voicedthe first thing that came to my mind.
“You seem awfully sure that your fatherwould die from the shock of hearing of your execution. What if hedidn’t? What then?”
“You let me worry about that.”
It was then I understood why he had been sofurtive and worried about being overheard by his comrades back atthe wagons.
“I assure you, the announcement of myexecution will be the end of my father as well. Then, after he isdead, and it was discovered a horrible mistake was made, my peoplewill rejoice to learn that their rightful king is in fact alive.They would be so thankful that they will do whatever I bid them todo.”
I stared at Cleitos long and hard, a gaze hereturned without wavering. I was swimming in dangerous waters fromthis moment forward, with as much to worry about from Marcus Primusas from this slippery Thracian. I fully recognized that we werebeing presented a golden opportunity to bolster our forces, and atthe same time reducing the confederation of tribes facing us byone. It was just as likely I that was being played falsely,however, and a thought occurred to me.
“You say that you would join us?”
Cleitos nodded, saying nothing.
“With what army? We just crushed you andyour men, along with the Bessi and Satrai. You don’t have an armyleft to help us.”
“These men were barely a tenth of our totalstrength,” Cleitos scoffed. “This was just a warband that happenedto join up with the other two tribes who were already heading yourway. Ours was an alliance of convenience.”
He gave me what I am sure he thought was awinning and convincing smile, yet there was something nagging at methat did not seem right about his story. I looked back over myshoulder, and I was dismayed to see the tiny figures of MarcusPrimus and Masala, picking their way down the slope in our generaldirection. They would be here before long, and there was no tellingwhat would happen then. For some reason I could not articulate, itwas important to me that Cleitos and Primus not meet face to face,at least not yet. Trying to think what to do, another piece of thepuzzle fell into place, and I turned back to Cleitos.
“Your father did not know about this forayagainst us,” I said in sudden recognition. I had spoken so quicklythat Cleitos did not know what was coming, his look of guiltconfirming this.
“My father is old and weak in many ways,”Cleitos said stiffly. “I love him, but he is no longer fit tolead.”
“So you want our help to depose him.”
Anger flashed in the Thracian’s eyes, everyword he spoke in reply sounding like he was biting throughnails.
“What I do is my business. You need todecide if Rome should profit, both in money and friendship. You arein unfriendly territory, Prefect,” he pointed out. “You need allthe help you can get. There’s no harm if both sides profit in thisarrangement. In fact, it guarantees my cooperation, doesn’t it? IfI side with you, the Medi will be hated by the other tribes in theregion.”
“Why?” I countered, knowing he would dismissmy words even as I spoke them. “We’re simply passing through…”
“Yes, yes. We heard. You are on your way toDacia. We both know this is not true.”
Cleitos looked over my shoulder suddenly,squinting his eyes and gazing into the distance. Despite myself, Iturned to look as well, seeing that Primus and Masala, while stilla good way off, were definitely headed in this direction. I turnedback to see Cleitos regarding me with narrowed eyes.
“I believe I am not the only one withsomething to hide, Prefect.”
He nodded in the direction of thePraetor.
“I assume you want to come to at least atentative arrangement before whoever that is arrives. Am Icorrect?”
Now he had me on the defensive, and Ianswered with just a nod.
“Good,” he said briskly. “Then let’s make adecision, shall we?”
“Don’t you even want to know why we’rehere?”
“I assume it has something to do with theTriballi?” he asked innocently. “For their regrettable attack onyou a few years ago?”
I knew my face gave away too much and Icursed myself.
“That was a long time ago,” I saidevasively.
“And Rome never forgets,” he shot back.“That is something the whole world knows. So that is why you arehere, is it not?”
I thought briefly about telling Cleitos thatwhile that had been the stated goal, matters had changed, meaningthat now we were headed for the Serdi, but I decided that this wasa piece of information he did not need to know right then. Betterto get him to agree to help us, then at the last possible moment,let him know. I knew this was a huge gamble, but I was getting thefeeling that Cleitos would not quibble about such things like whichtribe we were going after, if it meant he ended up sitting on thethrone of the Medi.
“Yes,” I said finally. “That is why we arehere. Does that change anything from your viewpoint?”
“Why would it?” He shrugged. “No other tribecan defeat us in battle. And fighting alongside you and yourLegions, we would be invincible together.”
I thought for a moment, but I could almostfeel the presence of Marcus Primus coming up behind us.
“Very well,” I said finally. “You have anagreement in principle. We will arrange to have the word passedthat you were executed, and you will remain out of sight for aslong as it takes for your father to succumb to the news…one way orthe other,” I added. “Once he does, you will arise from the dead,as it were, and become king of the Medi, whereby you will announceyour alliance with Rome against our other Thracian enemies.”
“The Triballi,” he put in. I did notcomment, knowing he would take my silence as agreement, whereas Iwould be able to point out later that I had not specificallyagreed. I thought of something else.
“Of course, we will require hostages assurety of your conduct.”
“Naturally,” he replied.
“The oldest sons of the twenty leadingfamilies of your tribe, along
