The Forgotten Legion

forgotten you.'

Secundus grunted. 'Believe that when I see it.'

Tarquinius' dark eyes glinted.

Opposite them, the brothel's door opened and a huge slave with a shaven head peered out. When satisfied there was nothing going on, he opened the portal fully and emerged, clutching a metal-studded club. A final check up and down the street was enough.

'Fabiola! It's safe.'

Secundus nudged Tarquinius violently. 'If this is who I think it is,' he said with a leer, 'we 're in for a real treat.'

The haruspex watched keenly as a black-haired young woman joined the doorman, a cloth-wrapped bundle in her hands. She was extremely beautiful and even a plain robe could not conceal her slim figure and large breasts.

'Hurry up,' the hulk urged. 'You know what Jovina's like.'

'Stop fussing, Benignus,' the prostitute said with a smile. 'You're not an old woman. Yet.'

Benignus grinned adoringly at her and the pair moved off in the direction of the Forum. Heads turned and whistles of appreciation filled the air as men noticed the stunning girl.

Fabiola's gaze glided over them as she passed and Tarquinius caught a glimpse of piercing blue eyes. Quickly he glanced down at the lava paving slabs, anxious to remain inconspicuous. But one look had been enough for the haruspex to detect deep sadness in her. There had also been loss. And a burning desire for revenge.

'A beauty, eh? Like Venus herself,' breathed Secundus. 'What I'd give for an hour with her.'

'How often is she allowed out?'

'About once a month. Always carrying something, too.' Secundus rubbed his grey stubble. 'One of the doormen goes with her every time.'

'She 's probably going to deposit money with the bankers in the Forum.'

'Won't be the takings,' said the veteran. 'Jovina hires half a dozen exsoldiers the days they bring that out.' His eyes lit up. 'It comes out in a bloody great iron-clad chest and gets placed in a litter. One of her bruisers sits on top of it all the way to the bank.'

'Her savings then,' Tarquinius commented. 'She must be one of the more favoured prostitutes.'

'I'll go along with that,' said Secundus wistfully.

'Have you no wife?' asked the Etruscan.

Secundus shook his head. 'She died of the flux five years ago. No one else will have me now.' He waggled his stump bitterly.

'Come now!' cried Tarquinius, clapping him on the back. 'Some wine will help lift your mood.'

The veteran was easily persuaded and Tarquinius led him away, enthusing about the nearby tavern he had discovered only the day before. The pair left their spot and walked in the same direction as the prostitute and her companion. Tarquinius made sure that the hostelry they visited happened to be close to the moneylenders' pitches in the basilicae on the Forum. Any information about the beautiful young girl might be useful.

Something told the haruspex that she was of importance.

Not just to his future, but to that of Rome.

Seeing Fabiola turned out to be the most interesting thing to happen that day. And that week. Tarquinius sat patiently in the same spot from dawn until dusk, talking with Secundus and barely moving unless it was to relieve himself in one of the tiny alleyways that led off the street. Always his gaze was fixed on the arched doorway opposite. Customers came and went; slaves were sent on errands to buy food. Occasionally Jovina sallied forth on some private business. Tarquinius watched the madam surreptitiously, taking in her beady eyes and the large amount of expensive jewellery that adorned her hands and arms. In the male-dominated Roman world, this was clearly a woman of considerable ability. A few questions in the local inns had confirmed this. Thanks to her range of customers and her dedication to satisfying their desires, Jovina was well respected. It seemed she also had influence in many circles. 'Half the Senate has visited the Lupanar!' laughed one innkeeper. 'The girls are incredible there. You should try it some time.' Making polite excuses, Tarquinius had left, his mind working overtime.

Despite its impressive range of clients, nothing had explained why his divinations kept revealing that the Lupanar was important. Every few days, Tarquinius sacrificed a hen at the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. And each time the reading was the same: the brothel was crucial to his past. And his future. The Etruscan could see that Rufus Caelius, his former master, had something to do with it. Logically that meant that the redhead would turn up at the Lupanar sooner or later. What he could not interpret was why an expensive whorehouse should impact on his future once he had taken revenge on Caelius.

Unless it had something to do with Fabiola.

'Got any female customers?'

Running a finger across his thick lips, the moneylender eyed Tarquinius speculatively. 'Maybe,' he replied. Short, fat and arrogant, the Greek was obviously amused at the question. 'Anyone in particular?'

'A girl by the name of Fabiola,' the haruspex answered. 'Black-haired. Slim. Very pretty.'

There was another smirk and the Greek leaned back on his stool, glancing at his two bodyguards, a pair of heavily muscled ex-gladiators. 'Do we know anyone like that?'

'I'd remember one like her,' one answered, making an obscene gesture.

The second sniggered.

Tarquinius had been expecting this. 'A man might pay well for such information,' he said quietly.

The Greek's eyes narrowed and he gazed at the haruspex, trying to gauge his reasons for asking. And the depth of his purse.

Around them rose the clamour of business as another day went by for the inhabitants of the huge covered markets in the Forum. Few gave Tarquinius a second glance; just another citizen down on his luck and in need of a loan.

The Etruscan waited. Silence was a powerful weapon.

The moneylender made his play. 'A hundred sestertii might jog my memory.'

Tarquinius laughed and turned to go.

'Wait!' He had overestimated. 'Fifty.'

Twelve denarii dropped on to the low table between them. It was two sestertii less than he had demanded, but the Greek wasn't about to quibble.

The silver coins were swept from sight. 'She 's a whore,' he sneered.

'Belongs to that old bitch who runs the Lupanar. Know it?'

Tarquinius nodded. 'What else?'

'Comes here once a month to deposit her tips. Brings along a brainless fool like this pair.' He jerked his head contemptuously at the men behind him.

The two fighters shuffled their feet angrily but did not dare speak. Work like theirs was well paid and hard to come by.

'Ever mention family?' asked the haruspex. 'Friends?'

The Greek's lip curled. 'She 's a fucking slave. Who cares?'

Tarquinius leaned in close, his eyes boring into the other's. 'I do.'

The moneylender felt his palms grow sweaty.

'Well?'

The Greek swallowed hard. His men could easily get rid of this troublesome stranger. Break a few bones if he ordered them to. But for reasons he could not explain, it felt like a bad idea.

'She mentioned something once about saving to buy her brother's freedom,' the moneylender admitted grudgingly. 'He got sold to the Ludus Magnus.'

Tarquinius had heard of the largest gladiator school in Rome. He smiled. The link with the Lupanar was not a false trail after all.

Fabiola's brother was a gladiator.

He gave the three men a long, hard stare and was gone.

The Greek threw a muttered curse after the haruspex, and shoved the incident from his mind. He had no wish to remember the brief encounter. There had been a glimpse of Hades in the stranger's eyes.