Legatus Legionis: Book Two in the Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy (18 page)

"Wait!" Messala's voice was highly strained.

"It'll be dark in an hour or so," the other voice said. "Then, either we use a road or we'll be stuck in the forest. If we use the road, the cavalry will catch us in no time. There's only one horse here, and . . ."

"Then if you want to run, take it," Messala scowled, "but remember this. If we win, you'll have to keep running, and if he wins, you'll still have to keep running. So if you ever want to see your property again . . ."

"You think they'll bring him back?" The voice was riddled with doubt.

"He'll be back," Messala said, with a strange mixture of lack of conviction and of bluster.

"You're certainly correct there," Gaius said, as he leaped into the room. "There's one door to this room, and I cover it. It's your turn for the cellar, or the underworld. Take your pick."

"Gaius! Don't be stupid," Messala almost whined. "This is your chance . . ."

"To be loyal," Gaius said. "To behave with honour, to keep my promise. You may not understand that, but I assure you that you can reflect on that in the cellar. Move!"

To his surprise, they both acquiesced. This had to be the most pathetic revolt he had ever heard of. As they descended the stairs, Gaius slammed the door shut, and immediately bounded outside to bolt the trapdoor. In principle, they could have climbed up and out through the trapdoor, but true to form, they did nothing of the sort.

A quick search of the rest of the house showed that nobody was there, so Gaius mounted the remaining horse and rode towards the legion's base. There were no more than two men who had seemed to have weapons skills, and they had probably gone in different directions, so he felt confident of outrunning or outfighting one man. In the event he reached his base without further contact with the insurgents.

If nothing else, this would provide a useful exercise for the cavalry. At first they were annoyed to be brought out so close to the evening, but when informed that, although it was an exercise, there were real targets to capture, keen enthusiasm followed. The
turma
that caught someone would have boasting rights for days, and their stories would almost certainly lead to much free wine.

There were two more things that required immediate attention. He must find out where the seventh stood, and he must find out what his future with Vipsania held. He would leave the worst until last.

* * *

When he was within sight of the seventh, he requested his escort to remain outside the camp. There was an element of risk in meeting with Cinna if he was really involved with Scribonianus, however there was no option but to discuss this issue with him. He felt certain that he knew Cinna, and Cinna had honestly not known where he was supposed to march, let alone why. Nevertheless, he was somewhat nervous as he rode into the camp. He was a little fortunate, however, in that he saw Cinna talking to a Tribune in the open, while seemingly inspecting an exercise in progress.

"This is a surprise," Cinna smiled, as he walked over to Gaius as he was dismounting. He ordered a soldier to look after Gaius' horse.

"It may not be a pleasant one," Gaius said. "I've found out where we're supposed to march to."

"Oh yes. Where?"

"Rome."

"What?" Cinna's eyes were pure disbelief, which gave Gaius a feeling of relief.

"Some Senators arrived this morning," Gaius explained. "They informed me that Scribonianus is going to try to overpower the
Princeps
, and he wants to use our legions."

"That's . . ." Cinna started, then seemed to realize this position was more delicate than he had imagined. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to honour my vow to the
Princeps
," Gaius shrugged. "My eagles go nowhere except to Lussonium, and I hope you will join me."

"Not quite!" Cinna said with a serious tone, then he smiled at Gaius' look of horror and added, "I was ordered by Scribonianus to follow you, but frankly, I don't see the need for me to go to Lussonium too. My eagles stay stuck right here."

"Good!" a relieved Gaius replied.

"The last thing we need now is for legions to fight each other," Cinna added, "but we have to try to stop the German legions following Scribonianus. Any ideas?"

"I'll go and see Plautius," Gaius said. "If Pannonia stands with us, I doubt the German legions will have any faith in Scribonianus."

"If I can help in any way, let me know."

"Thanks," Gaius said. "I think the only thing we can do now is keep each other informed, and don't let a word of this get out until this revolt is stopped."

"What about the Senators? If they . . ."

"Two are captured, and my cavalry is out looking for the rest. I don't think they're going anywhere soon."

"Then good luck."

* * *

The words of the prophecy came back to Gaius as he rode up to the villa. There would be two women in his life, and only one of them would be beautiful. That implied that Vipsania, the beautiful one, would be replaced. If she were part of this revolt, he would have to send her back to Claudius, and probably to her execution; he would have no option. He had to know, no matter how much he did not wish one of the answers. Then there was the problem, how would he find out the truth? He could lose her while she was quite innocent. The problem seemed impossible, but he had to face it.

As he opened the door, he saw Vipsania on the far side of the room. She looked up to see who it was, then she ran towards him, arms outstretched. "Gaius! How . . ." She stopped about three meters away, as she saw the look on his face, and asked, "Gaius, what's wrong?"

"Vipsania, why did your father come here?"

She looked surprised. "Why?" Then she looked irritated, and said, "Why don't you ask him? I thought he was looking for you?"

"He was, and we met," Gaius replied. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I need you to convince me."

"Convince you of what?"

"What your father wants."

Vipsania looked puzzled. "I have no idea what he wants," she said, "except he did say it would be good for us."

"Are you sure you don't know?"

"Yes," she said, now a little angrily. "Why this interrogation?"

"Because your father is involved in a plot to overthrow Claudius," Gaius said flatly.

"What?" she said in surprise. "That's impossible! You must be mistaken." Then the significance of what Gaius had said sank in, and a look of apprehension crossed her face. "You believe, don't you?"

"More than that, I know."

"Then what happens now?"

"The legions here stay put, and Scribonianus is doomed," Gaius replied.

"And me?"

"I need you to swear truthfully you knew nothing about this."

"I knew nothing about this," Vipsania replied, a little defiantly.

"Thank the Gods," Gaius said, and he stepped forward to embrace her. "I really thought that would be the case, but you must believe me that I had to know."

"You didn't trust me?"

"I didn't know what your father told you," Gaius replied. "For all I knew, he could have told you I was on his side, in which case if you trusted me you would be involved."

"What happens to my father now?" Vipsania asked cautiously.

"If he can be made to promise that he will stay out of politics forever, I think Claudius could be persuaded to be lenient, particularly if he isn't openly named by Scribonianus. After all, Claudius' wife is in the same
gens
, and he won't want to irritate her unnecessarily."

"And the other senators?"

"They'll have to take their chances," Gaius shrugged. "Since one of them tried to kill me to save his own hide, I don't feel I owe him anything."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Go and discuss this with Plautius. We have to make sure this disease is contained."

"And me?"

Gaius paused for a moment, and said hesitantly, "I would really love you to stay, I would really love to spend nights with you, but I also think it is imperative to separate you from your father. If things go wrong for him, I want you to be somewhere else, so I'm going to ask Timothy to escort you back to Rome. There's a ship heading to Classis on the morning tide. I want you to be on it, and when you get back to Rome, if anyone asks where you were, say Ravenna. Take a quick look around Ravenna so you can think of an excuse for having been there, then go to the ranch and stay there for a while."

"You think I'm in danger?"

"Possibly. Not so much from Claudius, but maybe from other plotters. If they think you betrayed them . . ."

"Then why don't I stay here?"

"Some of the others might try to link you to the plot. Also, you won't see much of me anyway, and if the German legions are involved in the plot, being near me could be very dangerous."

"If you say so," she said, without any sign of enthusiasm.

"Vipsy, I really love you," he said, and embraced he firmly, "but now I'm going to ask you to trust me on this. A plot is very dangerous and this one isn't over yet."

"I love you too," she said, and kissed him fiercely, then she backed away and said, "About my father . . ."

"Yes?"

"I know he's done wrong, and I know he'll have to take what's coming to him, but he is my father. Could you please make a really big effort to save his life?"

"Of course you have to feel for him," Gaius said, "but there's a limit to what I can do. But I promise, I will do what I can for him."

"Thanks," she said, and embraced him again.

* * *

Plautius stared at Gaius, the horror clearly on his face. "But that's terrible!"

"Yes, it is," Gaius agreed, but then he suddenly had a thought. There could be two reasons for his concern: the fact there was a coup, or the fact that the coup had failed. He had to be careful, for Plautius could well have been allied to Scribonianus.

Plautius began wandering around the room, shaking his head, before finally saying, "Something has to be done. "The problem is, what?"

"We honour our oath to the
Princeps
," Gaius replied. "You must persuade the German legions not to join in."

"I shall see what I can do to persuade them to remain loyal." Plautius paused, then added, as if speaking to nobody, "Irrespective of what we think of Claudius, Rome must not have another civil war."

"I agree," Gaius said firmly.

"The problem now is there're a few very ambitious younger Romans with better military connections who might jump in. Men like Galba, or Vitellius."

"I don't know them," Gaius admitted, "although I do know Vitellius' father. I started my career serving under him when he was Governor of Syria, and as far as I know, he was supportive of me."

"Then pray that Vitellius can convince his son so that the German legions remain loyal," Plautius said, "because if we cannot generate enough quick support, there will be civil war, and Claudius won't win. And if Claudius loses, and you're known to be on his side, your future is rather poor."

Gaius stared at Plautius, and a strange feeling came over him. His future was not necessarily that poor! "Petronius owes Claudius a lot, and the Egyptian legions were rather pissed off at the attitude of the German legions to Little Boots. Provided the Pannonian and Dalmatian legions can hold until next year," he replied coldly, "the eastern legions will wipe the field free of any German force. They're battle-hardened, this Galba's no Julius, and they'll get him to wipe his arse with his nose. Provided Claudius can stay alive, he will stay
Princeps
. So our job is clear: the Pannonian and Dalmatian legions must stand firm."

Plautius stared at him in surprise, as he could see a fire was burning in the eyes of his new subordinate. The local legions would stand firm, or this young man would bring the eastern legions and he could count on them. One of the last acts of Gaius Caesar was to order Petronius to commit suicide. As it happened, Petronius was in no great hurry to comply, and Claudius' letter, in which he ordered Petronius not to, arrived in time. The east would be loyal to their favourite commander, who was clearly on good terms with this young Claudius and who could hardly fail to be loyal to the new
Princeps
. And this young man was also a favourite amongst the troops, or so he heard. All Plautius could do was to agree with his young Legate's proposal.

* * *

When Gaius returned to camp, he was updated on the revolt. The two he had locked in the cellar were captured without difficulty, two senators who had escaped on horses were captured and they surrendered meekly. One of the soldiers had been captured but one managed to escape, and since nobody really knew his name, it was likely that he would never be captured. The remaining soldier, when confronted and when escape was not possible, decided to stand and fight, believing death in combat was more honourable than being executed for treason. The cavalry was only too willing to oblige him.

Gaius decided to interview his captives, who were held in makeshift cells built of wooden stakes. The cells were rudimentary, very drafty, and somewhat smelly after a while, but they did their job: they contained the prisoners. He did not expect to learn much, and he was not surprised. They were a sorry bunch, but the revolt was clearly quite amateurish. For some reason they had convinced themselves that because of the family connections, Messala would be able to persuade Gaius to march on Rome and for some reason they expected the seventh would meekly follow. Now, with a trial in front of them, they were truly a sorry bunch.

One of the senators tried to bribe Gaius, offering a bag of gold for a day's start. Gaius stared at him coldly, then said, "You were happy enough to have me put to death, so I am happy enough to leave you to the
Princeps'
mercy." He then indicated to the guard that he wished to speak to Messala in private. The guard nodded, and walked away, but watched and was ready to return at an instant.