Legionary

Chapter 69

Pavo felt like a rodent in the ornate and cavernous room, Sura sat to his left, while Tarquitius and Evagrius flanked them and a ring of fifteen stony faced candidati ringed the four, leaving only a gap to the emperor, sitting behind his map table. The tall open shutters allowed a cool night breeze to waft in, but the darkness only reminded him of how long they had been away from the legion — more than two full days, plenty of time for the Huns to have crushed the XI Claudia twice over.

Valens burned his intense gaze onto the map, his hands forming a triangle under his chin. The emperor had remained straight-faced throughout Tarquitius’ report, his arching brows giving him the appearance of a man who never quite believed anything he was told. Why, Pavo cursed inside, why had Tarquitius omitted the bit about the bishop from his story? The holy man, sitting right here next to him, smiling? Tarquitius had pulled on his tunic sleeve halfway up the marble staircase and hissed in his ear; ‘Your suspicions about Evagrius — not a word, for the greater good!’ He eyed his old tormentor — soaked in perspiration and looking an entirely wrong shade of green.

Valens finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh. ‘My worst fears have been realised.’

Pavo sensed the bishop and Tarquitius brace slightly in their chairs.

‘The Danubius frontier has been stripped bare. Without the XI Claudia there to patrol it, we were relying on the quick response time of the I Dacia to protect us until the Claudia returned, triumphant, from Bosporus,’ he snorted, his upper lip shrivelled in distaste. ‘Yet now I find that the expensively constructed I Dacia have betrayed the empire?’ Valens curled his fist into a ball and hammered it down on the map.

Another lengthy silence ensued. Pavo felt his brow dampen and his mouth dry out. Every moment is precious. Before he could check himself, he felt the words tumbling from his throat. ‘Emperor, we promised Gallus, we promised the legion. We must return to them.’

Valens screwed his eyes tight and burned his glare into Pavo’s skin. ‘Do not test me any more than you already have, boy!’ The candidati touched their scabbards in warning.

Pavo’s spirit sunk again.

Valens scoured the map one more time. ‘But our borders are wide open, by God.’ His eyes keened on the small diamond shaped peninsula of Bosporus. ‘If this force, these Huns, descend on us in our current state…God help us.’ He lifted his hands and clapped them twice.

An aide rushed through the door to be by his side. ‘Emperor?’

Valens eyed each of the four as he spoke. ‘Rouse Tribunus Vitus. It is time to utilise our insurance policy.’

‘Tribunus Vitus. Insurance?’ Evagrius spoke, his voice soft. He sounded every inch the harmless snow-white mopped old man. ‘Emperor, if we could discuss this terrible misunderstanding; we were informed that these two were assassins…’

‘Enough!’ Valens cut him short. ‘The comitatenses of Asia and Greece have been on standby for some time. They have been mobilised under Tribunus Vitus, and will be ready to embark for Bosporus before dawn.’

Evagrius leaned forward, his eyes now narrowed and his face creased. ‘When was this order given?’ The bishop snapped.

Valens turned to him slowly, allowing a moment of silence to pass before replying; ‘Your emperor should not be questioned.’ Two candidati moved a step forward. Valens lifted a hand to halt them. ‘Do you think me a fool, bishop? You will be accompanying the relief force.’ Valens’ ice-cold glare curled into a menacing sneer. ‘You will be on the front line, bishop, front and centre. You will be expected to inspire our legions to victory.’ The emperor was fixed on Evagrius with a dark glare.

The bishop dropped his gaze first and slumped back in his chair with a throaty rattle.

Valens then turned to Pavo and Sura, arching one eyebrow even higher; ‘You two, you came from the wilderness outside of the empire, across the sea, infiltrated my city, then broke into my home?’

Pavo gulped his heart back down as the candidati keenly gripped their sword hilts again. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was gone and his tongue as dry as a dead toad.

Valens’ glare remained, but his words softened. ‘I want to flay you and exalt you at once. You are a credit to your empire, soldiers. But time is short as you say. Head immediately for the docks where you can eat, wash and then take arms once more — you are to march with the relief force.’