Caligula

XX

It did not take long to discover that her confidence in their secret was misplaced.

Narcissus appeared at the doors of the barn a few days after the night-time excursion as Rufus trimmed Bersheba's feet, a process the huge animal seemed to find thoroughly satisfying.

Rufus had his back to Bersheba, with her left hind leg bent upwards between both of his so that he could work at the horny growth on the sole of her foot with a sharp knife. As he pared away, she shuffled slightly and gave quiet snorts of pleasure.

'I find it amazing that one can get quite that close to something so large, and so obviously dangerous,' Narcissus said after watching the operation for a few moments.

Rufus grunted and wrestled to slice off a particularly tough piece of hardened skin before replying. 'Bersheba may be big, but she is not dangerous — are you, girl?' he said, reaching behind him to pat a wrinkled hindquarter.

'Not at the moment, perhaps. But I have seen the beasts in battle and they can be very fearsome, even if they are facing the other way. You must remember, Rufus,' he added with exaggerated significance, 'you have a powerful weapon in your control.'

Rufus was surprised to hear Narcissus claim he had been in a fight. The Greek gave the impression of being… not soft, but unworldly.

'No.' Narcissus laughed, reading his mind. 'I was not a military man. I was accompanying my former master — not Senator Claudius — on a diplomatic mission when the natives objected particularly violently to something. Taxes, probably. They didn't bargain for the squadron of war elephants the local potentate used against them.'

Rufus had cared for Bersheba for so long that he never thought of her as dangerous, not in a warlike sort of way. Clumsy, perhaps. An animal of her size could crush a man accidentally and barely notice it. And when she was in one of her moods…

'What were they like? Were they different from Bersheba? Bigger?'

'No, just the same sort of lumbering beast. Although I think they may have had smaller ears, and more of a humped back. They were armoured here,' he said, indicating the front of her head, 'and on their flanks. They were controlled by little brown men who sat on their shoulders, and they carried a… a sort of basket, with a bowman in it.'

'I could see why they might be good against cavalry,' Rufus said, considering the matter. 'Any horse that comes anywhere near Bersheba gets nervous as soon as it smells her. I suppose it would take a lot to stop her?'

'Yes it does. I saw one elephant stuck so full of arrows it looked very like a large hedgehog.' Rufus grimaced at the description, but Narcissus affected not to notice. 'It was very angry and very effective for a time, and then it seemed to lose its mind.'

'What happened to it?'

'It turned on its own people and charged directly towards the potentate and my diplomat. The little man on its shoulders took a large spike and hammered it straight into the back of its neck with a mallet. It went down like a fallen tree. Stone dead.'

They looked at Bersheba in silence for a moment, considering the unlikelihood of such an animal being brought down with a single blow.

'I know, it doesn't seem possible. But I saw it with my own eyes. Now, have you anything for me? A little gossip perhaps? I understand you have been keeping interesting company.'

Rufus froze.

Narcissus smiled reassuringly. 'Oh, don't worry, your secret is safe with me. But the Palatine is a dangerous place, and nowhere is more dangerous than the quarter you entered three nights ago. The person who inhabits that room is beautiful in the way a sea snake is beautiful. It dances sinuously in the current and its colours enchant, but treat it with disrespect and you will be dead before you can blink an eye. Now, what do you have for me?'

Rufus hesitated. 'Gaetulicus.'

'Ah, our poetic governor of Upper Germany. What does she say of him?'

Rufus told how the British invasion was to be a deception, while the true target was the popular governor and the legions that followed him.

Narcissus greeted the news with a bray of laughter. 'How could she be so utterly wrong and so out of date? Gaetulicus is already dead at his master's hand, but Caligula lost his nerve when it came to taking his revenge on the legions. Instead, he added the First and the Twentieth to his army for this so-called invasion of Britain. Only a fool would believe he could lead a force across the sea at this season. He hadn't even arranged for ships to transport the army. It is all over the Senate. Just two days ago I heard one former consul declare that Caligula was more likely to collect seashells than ships. Of course, Rome being Rome, the story spread and now the mob believes their Emperor took four legions to the very ends of Gaul to gather clams. When he returns, he will find himself a laughing stock. Surely your meeting was more productive than this?'

'She said no one would know,' Rufus said miserably.

'Drusilla has her brother's power to protect her, but in the darker ways of the Palatine she is an untutored child.'

Narcissus raised his hands so Rufus could see them, and his fingers flickered through an intricate series of designs, tapping against the fingers or palm of his other hand.

Rufus stared. Was the Greek mad?

'It is a method of communication I discovered quite by accident,' Narcissus explained. 'How does she think those poor mute sisters transmit information? By fluttering their eyelashes? But how I know is of little consequence. It is sufficient that I do know, and if I know you can be sure others will know.' Narcissus looked grave. 'You are in great peril, Rufus, if you do not find someone you can trust.'

'I would trust Cupido with my life.'

The Greek shook his head sadly. 'That might not be wise. I fear the honourable gladiator is not the man he was. The palace can destroy a person, but it also has the power to seduce one. Take the Emperor: vain, arrogant, unpredictable and cruel.' Rufus looked around instinctively to see if anyone was in earshot. Even to listen to this was treason. But Narcissus was not finished. 'But he can also be loyal, sympathetic, generous and brilliant. He is a little like the sun; those who stray into his orbit may burn like a moth in a flame or merely bask in the warmth of his presence. Your friend has seen an aspect of our Emperor few others are privileged to see. It may cloud his judgement.'

Rufus frowned. One part of him wanted to deny what Narcissus was saying, but another knew the Greek was right, or at least partially right. Cupido had changed, but Rufus sensed the change was not as deep-seated as Narcissus believed, and that there were other reasons for it.

'If I cannot trust Cupido, whom can I trust? Fronto might as well be in Africa for all the help he can be to me in this place. I have no other friends here, unless…'

Narcissus smiled like a teacher whose most recalcitrant pupil has finally grasped a simple problem.

'Why should I trust you, who had me brought here against my will, and still refuse to tell me why? And how can you help me, when everyone but the palace mousecatcher appears to know that you and Claudius plot?'

The smile froze on Narcissus's face, and the corner of his right eye twitched. He opened his mouth to speak, but, for once, he didn't seem to have anything to say.

'Drusilla, who is but a child in the darker ways of the Palatine,' Rufus mimicked the Greek's cultured Latin, 'has been spying on you and just about everyone else in the palace. Even now she may be urging the Emperor to have you and your master arrested and taken before the inquisitors,' he added, enjoying the freedman's obvious discomfort.

'What else did she say?' Narcissus cleared his throat nervously.

Rufus shrugged. 'You are not the only ones she suspects. She mentioned the Praetorian commander Chaerea, and Calpurnius, husband of Cornelia. She despises the Emperor's wife and hates her sister Agrippina, whom she accuses of witchcraft and dabbling in poisons. She believes Agrippina has drugged her brother.'

'It does not matter how many others are suspect. It only takes a single accusation for a man to be condemned.' Narcissus chewed his lip, thinking aloud. 'You say she believes Agrippina to be a sorceress. That is interesting. I was not aware of it. We will talk of this matter of trust again, Rufus, but for the moment I have urgent business to attend to.'

Narcissus scurried off, and as he watched the tall freedman's retreating back as he walked across the park, Rufus had a suspicion that he had said more than he should have.