Caligula

XXX

When Cupido left, Rufus turned back into the barn and walked past Bersheba to where Livia waited.

'Is it true?' he asked.

'Yes,' she admitted, surprised he knew without being told. 'I have consulted old Galla, who understands these things. My time will be in the spring. We have much to do.'

Her eyes shone and she took his hand and led him to their bed, where they made love for the first time in many nights. When it was over and Livia chattered her plans and hopes for the child, Rufus nuzzled her neck… and tried to clear his mind of Aemilia's face.

He attempted to come to terms with his new status, but his mind spun in a demented chariot race of doubts and fears. There was so much to consider, so much he didn't know. Whom could he turn to? Not Cupido, who in his own way was as naive as Rufus himself in this area. Certainly not Narcissus. There was only one answer.

Fronto.

Cupido arranged the meeting for three evenings later at the warehouse where Rufus usually collected Bersheba's hay. Rufus was loading her cart when the flicker of torchlight on damp cobbles warned him that someone was approaching. It was the animal trader, accompanied by two men who had all the wary reserve and muscle-bound confidence of bodyguards.

Rufus ran forward to take his old friend in his arms, but his pleasure quickly faded. Fronto had changed, and not for the better. It was not only the white of his thinning hair and matted beard, or the deep lines etched in his cheeks, that made him seem older. The bulk that had reminded Rufus so much of a bear had melted away, leaving only the emaciated husk of the man he knew. The hands that held him shook like reeds in a strong wind.

But Fronto still had some of his old spark.

'So this is the reason the Emperor took you away from me,' he said, waving towards Bersheba, who stood placidly in front of the cart. 'If I had a few like her I would not have half the worries I do now. Perhaps he would sell her to me? You could come too, of course. No? No, I don't suppose he would. Never mind, never mind. We'll manage somehow.'

'Is your business going so badly?' Rufus's voice betrayed his concern. 'I was certain you would be a rich man by now.'

'Oh, I am rich enough,' Fronto replied airily. 'But success has brought burdens as well as rewards. Burdens I could never have imagined.'

'Is that why you must be followed everywhere by a pair of beatenup old gladiators? Look at that one. Cupido would squash him as Bersheba would a butterfly.'

'Yes, I suppose he would at that. But even Cupido, with his great talent, was eventually undone by that man.'

'That man?'

'The Emperor. I fear he has turned against me, or more precisely been turned against me. Protogenes has spies everywhere. Everything I touch, every bargain I conclude, is recorded in those two ledgers he always carries around with him.'

Rufus shook his head. 'But that should not concern you. You have always been honest in your dealings.'

'Perhaps, who knows? Did I occasionally take more than a lion was worth, or sell an antelope I knew was injured? Yes, I probably did. But so did everyone else and we all laughed about it together over some wine. But now…'

'Now?'

Fronto's voice dropped and Rufus could see he was struggling to avoid looking behind him like a bad actor in one of the interminable dramas at Pompey's theatre.

'Now I am dealing with Caligula's creatures, Protogenes and his like. They stink of corruption as a bull buffalo stinks in the heat and the smell lingers, Rufus. Whenever I am near them I return home and scrub myself until my body bleeds, but I can still smell that stink in my nostrils. I can smell it now and it sickens me.

'The Emperor has an insatiable appetite for the games. He can watch a hundred — no, five hundred — animals die, and he is still not satisfied. And who must replace those animals, and more like them? Fronto.' He slapped his hand to his chest.

'You understand how difficult it is to find good stock these days? But I, Fronto, always manage to find a source, and, because I have the Emperor's sanction, the suppliers have no choice but to sell them to me. It is a power I have never known before. If I had had it ten years ago I would be the richest man in Rome.'

'But now?' Rufus repeated.

'Now every bargain I make must be guaranteed by Protogenes, or one of his slaves. The money goes direct from the Emperor's coffers to the seller and I get my cut later.'

'So Protogenes is cheating you?'

'Surprisingly, no,' Fronto admitted. 'I receive what I am owed and sometimes a little more, a bonus perhaps, or more likely to buy my silence, although nothing is ever said. But suddenly people avoid me. Old friends will not look me in the eye. I hear whispers. Fronto is a thief. Fronto is a cheat. I have even been threatened, Rufus, threatened for my life, which is why I always have my companions with me these days. I think Protogenes and his gang are cheating the suppliers at one end, and the Emperor at the other. With all the stock that comes across from Africa they must be making a fortune at the expense of my honour.'

Rufus pondered this for a moment. 'But you are the key to their supply; it is in their interests to protect you. They would not threaten you?'

'No, the threats come from the suppliers they have cheated out of hundreds of thousands of sesterces, and who believe I am to blame. But protect me? I don't know. Maybe I have said too much in the wrong company. Complaints. Accusations.'

Oh, what have you done, my old friend, Rufus thought, and how can we get you out of this cesspit?

'The Emperor must know,' he said.

Fronto's eyes opened wide in terror. 'No. No. It cannot be. If Protogenes had the merest hint of suspicion that I was going to denounce him I would be dead before I could catch another breath. Have you not heard how he destroyed Proculus? And Proculus was a senator, not a mere businessman. Protogenes condemned him as a traitor within the very walls of the Curia and the poor man was torn apart by his fellows.'

'Then the denunciation must not come from you,' Rufus said. The statement hung in the air for a moment between them before Fronto realized its true significance.

'I will not allow you to do it,' he said. This was the old Fronto speaking and the command was back in his voice. 'Do you think I would ask you to endanger yourself for me? You were like a son to me, Rufus. I only wish that I had been more like a father to you. But this father's duty I will accept. My son will not die before me, if it is within my power to prevent it.'

Rufus struggled with his emotions, and they stood in silence for a while. At last Fronto said: 'But I forget. It was you who summoned me here. What did you want of me? I would deny you nothing. Your inheritance is still safe.'

Rufus smiled at him. How could he add another burden to the load already carried by this man? 'Oh, it wasn't important. I only wanted to see you again.'