Page 21 of Brother at Arms

The two in the pool had finally climbed slowly out and now scraped water from their bodies. Barbarians new to Rome were always confused about baths. Aemil had once had to whip a pair of new gladiators from northern Germania into a tepidarium, which they’d been terrified of.

“Maybe not near water,” I said, straight-faced.

The man snarled at me. “Who sent you?”

I remained silent. I’d not explain that I was looking into things on my own. If someone had hired me, I wouldn’t be a very good client to give him my employer’s name.

“Cease,” the man repeated. “You have been warned.”

I let my gaze become disdainful as I looked over the two very wet men wiping water from their faces. The third man held his broken wrist and sent me a baleful stare.

I turned my back on them and walked from the frigidarium, taking up my towel, which had survived on the end of a bench. I kept the knife.

By the time I had dried off and dressed in the changing room, the men had vanished. The attendant at the door, who knew me well, told me they’d stamped out and headed down the Quirinal toward the Forum.

The news relieved me. They were not seeking Cassia to bully information from her. I gave the attendant an as for his good memory and hurried away, making for our narrow lane.

All was quiet at the wine shop, our front door closed and locked as always.

“Has anyone come?” I asked when I burst into our apartment.

Cassia raised her head from her writing and regarded me in surprise, then alarm. “No. Has something happened?”

In short phrases I told her about the fight in the bathhouse. After her first concern, her dark brows drew together in confusion.

“They didn’t mention Lucius?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not a word of him.”

“You say they were more interested in your questions about Herminius? Why should that be?”

I knew Cassia did not expect me to answer, so I thunked myself to my stool and reached for a leftover hunk of bread.

“What has Lucius uncovered?” she asked in a near whisper.

Again, I knew she didn’t seek an answer from me, and I continued to chew the dry bread.

Cassia came out of her stupor, opened a new tablet, and began writing rapidly.

“Lucius has worked for Herminius for years,” I offered. “Why would Herminius suddenly worry that Lucius knows about his swindling?”

Cassia kept her gaze on her work. “I don’t believe Lucius has told us everything. Yes, this manager, Fulvius, might have spread false tales about Lucius, but would Herminius, who has the audacity to confiscate an entire shipment of silk and then charge the rightful owner money for it worry that Lucius had skimmed a small amount of coin from him? Herminius could easily have satisfied himself as to Lucius’s innocence or guilt. No, there must be some other reason Herminius is after Lucius.”

“I can go back to Marcella’s farm and find out what.” I wasn’t in the best of tempers and would readily haul Lucius up against the wall again until he confessed.

“If necessary,” Cassia, ever practical, answered. “I shouldn’t like to lead Herminius’s ruffians to Marcella, however. It seems they are more interested in your doings than in Lucius.”

“I don’t want to lead them to you.” I swallowed the last of the bread. “You should go to Marcella’s and stay there.”

Cassia shook her head. “That might not be prudent. If Herminius or his ruffians notice me leaving the city, they could follow me. Therefore, there is no harm in me staying in Rome until we know what is happening.”

I’d always believed Cassia could talk rings around the most skilled advocate in the Basilica Julia. I ought to lock her in a cellar to keep her safe, but I didn’t have a cellar handy, and she’d simply figure out a way to escape.

“They know my name, and they’ll find out where I live,” I said. “I was trying to frighten them with who I was, but they’d never heard of me.”

“You said they are barbarians,” Cassia pointed out. “Most Romans wouldn’t readily tell a foreigner your whereabouts.”

She was confident, but I’d been hard pressed to battle all four of those men, who were hardened fighters. My advantage had been their underestimation of my skill and their discomfort with water. Next time, they’d be better prepared.