The Last Roman (Praetorian Series - Book One) (42 page)

“We’re going to keep this short and simple,” Vincent
began. “Some of us have an early day tomorrow. At 0430 tomorrow,
Hunter and Santino will accompany Agrippina to Rome and rescue
Nero, as well as place C4 around key areas along the walls and
gates. There’s no need to send six people when two will do. This
way we can keep an eye on the legion during the invasion, whether
Galba likes it or not.” He paused and waggled his finger at Santino
and me. “I expect you to rendezvous with the legion by the time we
can see the city walls. Hunter, I hate to put you on the spot here,
but what did you and Agrippina talk about? Don’t leave anything
out.”

I shifted on the log stump I sat on, unsure what to
say. We hadn’t really talked about much of anything really.

“She tried to seduce me,” I started, but was cut off
by a collective utterance of annoyances. Wang threw his hands in
the air in desperation while Bordeaux just shook his head.

“Of course she did!” Santino cried before kicking
dirt at me.

“I said ‘she tried to seduce me’, not that she did.
I got out of there before things got too crazy.” I winced at my
untactful wording. “She just wanted to assure me that her son
really was captured, and that I had to do whatever I could to get
him back,” I said, leaving out the details of the whole seduction
part.

“But why would she need to pull you aside, mate?”
Wang asked. “We all saw her in the
praetorium
.”

“Her tearful motherly routine was an act, or so she
told me. A way to convince Caligula and everyone else since
apparently she can’t actually portray real emotions. She said she
saw something in me that made her suspect I knew better, and she
felt compelled to reassure me. It wasn’t pretty.”

“But why?” Bordeaux reiterated.

“Well, because she was right. I was immediately
suspicious of her the minute I realized who she was. I take it none
of you are familiar with her? Sir?” I asked Vincent
particularly.

He shrugged. “I know who she is, but we’ve already
established you’re more familiar with Julio-Claudian history than I
am.”

“Out with it, professor,” Santino ordered me
impatiently.

“Well, to put it bluntly, she’s an egotistical,
ambitious, agenda-driven charlatan who will do whatever she can to
get what she wants, including murder. She’s very smart, very
resourceful, and very persistent. Ancient writers credit her with
poisoning Claudius, killing him, all to have her son Nero become
emperor. She’s extremely dangerous, and I didn’t trust her. It’s
not surprising that she would pick me out of the crowd. She is
extremely sharp.”

“Why are we even trying to save Nero?” Wang asked.
“I don’t know much, but…”

Bordeaux cut him off. “
Excusez
, James, but I
am confused. Why did she call him Lucius if his name is Nero?”

“Because his original name wasn’t Nero,” I
explained. “He was born Lucius I Can’t Remember The Rest, and
wasn’t named Nero until he was adopted by Claudius years from now.
Gnaeus, by the way, was Agrippina’s husband.” I paused and turned
to Vincent. “Interesting that Claudius chose Nero for his name even
now, right?”

The older man nodded. “It truly is.”

“Anyway,” Wang put in before he question was
completely derailed. “Wasn’t Nero a loony? Like, really loony?”

“Maybe ‘not even worth saving’ loony?” Santino
expanded suggestively.

“He was,” I confirmed with a nod. He brought up a
good point and the others seemed to concur.

“We can’t let him die because we think we know what
he may do in the future,” Vincent responded. “At this point, he may
never do those things.”

Most of us nodded our heads in agreement.

“So what about Agrippina?” Santino asked.

“I don’t know,” I responded. “I guess we can trust
her. For now, at least. Despite her affinity for tomfoolery and
treachery, she did love her son, and I’d side with the fact that
she does need our help.”

“I’m not so sure,” Vincent said. “Agrippina is not
Nero. We know who she is and what she’s capable of. Our
intervention here won’t change that like it may with Nero. I’m not
so sure we can trust her.”

“I think we can,” I responded with a shrug. I
noticed Wang and Bordeaux trade glances, and Helena continued to
ignore the conversation, content to just stare into the fire.
Vincent folded his arms and leveled his eyes at me, eyes that
didn’t seem very happy. I looked at each of my squad members in
turn to realize none of them were looking at me. Not even Santino.
“What?”

“You’re wound up pretty tight, Jake,” Santino
offered. “We’ve all noticed it. I think Vincent just wants to make
sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing,” I said sternly.

Santino nodded but didn’t look satisfied. The
uncomfortable silence continued until Vincent unfolded his arms and
rested his hands on his knees. “It’s your call, Hunter. If you and
Santino are up for this then you have my approval. You’re going to
need to go in light, just enough to conceal beneath a toga.”

“I’m ready,” I said as confidently as I could.

Santino nodded.

“Well, good luck then,” he stood and moved towards
his tent before he finished his thoughts. “Get some sleep and we’ll
see you in a few days.”

***

Lying on my bed roll that night, I couldn’t help but
think about what Santino said a few nights ago about never finding
another woman like Helena. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that
someone like Agrippina, someone who could murder on a whim, shows
up and basically threatens her. The idea had me more worried than
the mission, but I couldn’t write Agrippina off completely yet.
History had already proved an unreliable source of information, so
maybe she wasn’t all that bad.

And maybe she really liked me…

As if on cue, Helena entered the tent, removed her
duty gear, and slid into place beside me, but kept even more
distance than normal. We laid there for a few minutes before I
couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t turn to look. “There any reason I
shouldn’t be?”

“You seemed awfully quiet today, that’s all.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent so much time with your
new friend, you’d have seen just how talkative I really was.”

I shot up to a sitting position. “You see? That’s
what I’m talking about. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you
were jealous.”

She finally looked at me. “I’m not jealous.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I just don’t trust her, and neither should
you.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why go with her?”

“No, you tell me the truth first. Why are you so
upset?” I tried to keep the frustration from infecting my tone, but
I couldn’t help it. “I hate games.”

She sat up as well and barked a quick laugh. “Is
that what this is to you? A game? I’ll tell you now this most
certainly isn’t a game to me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand where you’re
going with this.”

She looked surprised but laughed again as she shook
her head. “You don’t? After all these months, and you still don’t
understand where we’re ‘going with this’? After everything we’ve
been through and everything we’ve shared?”

“Helena, what…”

“You really are a dense man, Lieutenant,” she said,
practically yelling. “Fine. Go get yourself killed. Don’t expect
any help from me.”

I was suddenly very, very, angry. “I never asked for
your help, Helena! I don’t need it! I don’t need anyone’s!”

She looked at me with downtrodden eyes and nodded to
no one but herself. I couldn’t believe I said what I said when I
said it
. I didn’t need anyone’s help?
Why would I say
something like that?

“Helena… I…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.
Helena gave me one last sad look before she crawled under her
sleeping bag and rolled away from me. I didn’t understand how this
conversation derailed the way it did and I didn’t understand why,
through all of the anger, I felt the first real connection with her
in months. I wasn’t an idiot. I thought I knew what she was
implying and I was ready to go there as well, but everything had
unraveled so quickly.

I stared at Helena’s shapeless form within her
sleeping bag and wondered about my own comments. They were so
unlike me that I had trouble even believing them, but I’d said them
– and I’d meant them.

I had to sleep, so I shifted onto my side to face
away from Helena and closed my eyes. Sleep would not come easy
tonight. I’d crossed a line I wasn’t sure I realized I crossed
until now and the thought frightened me. I didn’t want to become
the kind of person who couldn’t rely on anyone or wouldn’t rely on
anyone. I needed my friends, and I especially needed Helena.

What had I done?

***

As we journeyed south towards Rome later the next
day, Santino and I rode atop black Spanish stallions, a favorite
amongst Rome’s leading citizens. As a kid, my sister had taken
horseback riding lessons for years and I would watch when it was
time to pick her up. Every once in a while she would teach me a few
pointers when she had time, so I had come to ancient Rome as a
somewhat experienced equestrian. Santino, however, had a rougher
time of it.

As he learned how to ride over the winter, I’d had a
hard time imagining the scrappy Italian from one of the seediest
areas of New York ever riding a horse, and he proved my point by
doing so like a drunken sailor. We had all gotten a good laugh out
of it, and Helena, easily the most graceful of us all on a horse,
took great pleasure in watching him fall time and time again.

As for Helena, I tried not to think about her, but
my thoughts often drifted towards our last night together. When I
tried to reconcile with her before I left, the only response I’d
gotten was a sad and scared look from eyes that were bloodshot and
puffy. She looked as though she hadn’t slept all night, and had
spent most of it crying. I couldn’t stop thinking about that
morning and how she looked. I didn’t understand the tears at first,
but I now realize she had to have been crying for me. Crying that I
had become some kind of monster or that she somehow knew I was
going to die in a place where she couldn’t help me.

The thoughts plagued me, but at least I had Santino
for company. We’d made good time on our first day, and I calculated
we’d be in Rome within a few days. I had spent that time worried
Agrippina might try something on me again, but I was happy to
discover she had turned her attention elsewhere.

During our first night, she and Santino chatted
quietly with one another as we sat in our rented rooms. People
would be surprised to learn that Roman highways functioned much
like modern day interstates, complete with Holiday Inn type
establishments dotted along roadway sporadically, just without the
turn down service and free continental breakfast. Our rooms were
acceptable, and while the three of us were hanging out in
Agrippina’s room currently, we’d booked a second one for the boys.
I sat aloof from them both, near the window, and cringed every time
I heard giggles emanate from the treacherous woman as they joked
and laughed freely. I was surprised that when I ordered lights out,
Santino hadn’t stayed the night. After we packed up the next
morning, and continued our journey, I asked him why he hadn’t.

“Big boobs, a firm ass, perfect skin, and a
beautiful smile aren’t everything I look for in a woman, you know,”
he answered.

I snorted. “Bullshit. What’s the deal? She seemed
willing and able, and if not willing, at least she wouldn’t have
said no.” I paused. “Even if she is evil…”

“I know.” He sighed. “Guess I’m getting soft in my
old age. I just don’t want to risk anything by jumping into bed
with her. She seems like trouble.”

“Oh, she is my friend, she is,” I told him, an image
of Agrippina’s offer that involved Helena popping into my mind,
“but I suspect it would be worth it.”

“What are you two talking about?” Agrippina
interrupted from behind us.

I looked back at her, noticing she still looked
beautiful, but conservatively dressed for once. “Nothing, ma’am,
just talking strategy.”

She made a pouty sound and looked off into the
distance. Maybe I was giving her too much credit, and she really
was just some dopy teenager at heart.

I turned back to Santino and jabbed a finger towards
his face. “Don’t let your emotions get in the way of letting you do
what you want. Doing so leads to all kinds of internal struggles
and moral dilemmas. It can get ugly.” I cocked my head, wondering
where such hypocritical insight came from.

Santino glanced down at his horse’s mane and shook
his head with a big grin on his face. “You’re not seriously
lecturing me, are you? I mean, you do know who you’re talking to,
right? It’s me.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I know. I’m just
saying.”

He laughed again. “Well, you’re just full of helpful
information then, aren’t you? Maybe you should have been a guidance
counselor or something.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

My poor sleeping habits continued that night, but
not because of my own musings. Our new hotel was no cleaner than
the last, but poor sanitation didn’t stop Santino from acting on my
helpful advice. Agrippina offered us some wine, which I indulged in
lightly, but both of them had more than enough. As a result,
Santino stayed behind while I went back to my lonely, cold room,
and had to try and sleep through hours of sexual outbursts on more
occasions than I cared to remember. They all started to blur
together after the first one and gave me nightmares. They were
fueled by weird outbursts from Santino, interestingly arousing
cries of pleasure from Agrippina, and the insistent pounding of
someone repeatedly smacking the wall that separated our two
rooms.