“I was out looking for Pictor, thebastard.” Macer’s tone was sour, but I was actually grinning,mainly because it was nice to hear the normal carping of aCenturion about one of his men. “He’s getting striped this time, nodoubt about it. Putting him on cacdetail hasn’t changed him.”
“I haven’t heard you mention himbefore,” I commented.
“One of the new men.” He grimaced. “Hereminds me of Pusio.”
That elicited a groan of sympathy fromme. Pusio had been part of the emergency dilectus held by Divus Augustus in the panicafter the Teutoberg disaster and had been one of the worst of thetroublemakers that led to the revolt of the RhenusLegions.
This conversation took place in the roomthat I had rented, and I had to hide a grin at how Macer’sattention kept shifting to Bronwen, who was sitting on the edge ofthe bed trying to not appear pleased at my friend’s admiringglances. Alex was not present; I had had to order him to hurry tohis apartment where Algaia and their daughter Iras were waiting,but he would not do so until he extracted a promise that I wouldalert him as soon as I needed him.
With this out of the way, I asked bluntly,“How much trouble am I in, Marcus?”
My stomach seemed to drop when he shook hishead, but it was not for the reason I thought.
“I wish I could tell you, Gnaeus, Ireally do. But Sacrovir has refused to discuss it withme.”
“How angry was he when he learned thatI didn’t come straight to Ubiorum?”
This elicited a humorless chuckle from him,and I noticed he refused to look at me, frowning into his cup as hetried to sound casual. “Oh, you know how Sacrovir is. He had somechoice words for you.”
“Such as?” I asked, and now he shifteduncomfortably, so I repeated myself, which prompted him to answer,“He might have said somethingabout how, once you learned the truth about your father, you seemedto think this made you special.” The manner in which he said itmade me certain that he was withholding something, and I pressedhim, “Marcus, I need to know what I’m walking into here.” Thisworked, yet he still closed his eyes as he finished listlessly,“And that you were counting on being Germanicus’ ‘pet’ to saveyou.”
Of course, this wasexactly what I was hoping for, butno man that I know likes hearing the bald truth when it is put in acertain way.
Since Macer had brought the name up, Iasked him about the Propraetor, but on this, all he could say was,“He was summoned to Rome for a triumph, and he left in October.Not,” he allowed, “happily. The word around the Praetorium is that he and Tiberius had a bit ofa…falling out,” was how he put it. “Apparently, Germanicus wantedanother year to go after and finish Arminius once and for all, butTiberius forbade him from doing it. And,” he hesitated slightly, “Iwouldn’t say that he was officially relieved of command, but that’sthe effect.”
None of this was good, but I was still movedto ask, “Who’s replaced him?”
“Officially, nobody,” Macer answered.“But if there is somethingdone against the tribes of Germania, it will be Drusus who leadsus.”
He fell silent, leaving me to consider mysituation, and to put it plainly, I was not optimistic. PrimusPilus Sacrovir had never warmed to me in any way, and while hecertainly was not fond of my father, I knew that Sacrovir hadrespected him immensely. If others, like Macer, were to bebelieved, the cause for Sacrovir’s ambivalence towards me was thathe viewed me as a rival for his post, something that I still do notaccept. Putting it in simple terms, not just my age made me anon-threat, but the fact that I am a paid man, in my view,effectively disqualifies me as ever being considered for the postof Primus Pilus. While it was a relatively new practice as part ofthe reforms carried out by Divus Augustus, the idea of a paid manever rising to such an exalted rank seems preposterous.
I broke the long silence by saying, “Well, Imight as well go find out what’s waiting for me.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Macer’stone was gentle, but I was certainly eager for any counsel,especially from one of my father’s closest friends, and a fellowPilus Prior, so I nodded.
“I’d wait until tomorrow morning,” headvised, but when I protested this idea, he explained, “Sacrovir isnot in a…forgiving mood today. I don’t know what it is, but he’sangry about something. I sent Lucco to find out, but all he learnedwas that he received some sort of message.”
“A message?” I was confused. “Whywould a message put him in such a bad mood?”
“That,” Macer admitted, “I don’t know,but I do know what Lucco discovered, and that’s that the messagecame from Rome.”
“Maybe he just learned that Drusus isgoing to come from Pannonia to take over as Legate,” I suggested,which made some sense, and he said as much.
“Whatever it is, I think a goodnight’s sleep will help you more than it hurts you,” Macer saidthis to me, but his eyes were on Bronwen, who had been listeningsilently. “Now,” he glanced over at me with a grin, “I want to knowhow you managed to show up with such a jewel.”
“We’re going to need more wine forthat,” I assured him. Stepping out into the hallway, I shouted forthe slave responsible for such things, ordering him to bring ajug.
As I expected, the slave appeared quickly,but I had to send her out for another cup, which I filled andhanded to Bronwen as I said honestly, “I don’t even know where tobegin.”
Just as when we left Mogontiacum, Igot no sleep that night. Alex had returned a bit before themidnight watch began, and he immediately set to work, polishing allof my phalarae while I pulledout and inspected the tunic I use for inspections and other formaloccasions. Macer had long before departed, assuring me that he hadnot seen me, so it was just the three of us during the late-nightwatch, waiting for the cock to crow. When it did, I rose from thebed I was sharing with Bronwen, whereupon Alex helped me don myuniform, everything
