Semper Fidelis

Chapter 43

It was mid-afternoon before the summons came from the tribune. Ruso finished splinting the broken wrist he had treated on his arrival, then handed over his responsibilities to Pera, who was the only person with any authority who seemed prepared to speak to him. Neither of them had said a word to the other about Ruso’s conversation with the emperor, but just as he was leaving, Pera murmured, “Good luck, sir.”

“I don’t think I’ve been much help here, Pera.”

“Only the gods can work miracles, sir. We mortals just have to do our best.”

Ruso shook his head. “I must have been a pompous ass as a tutor.”

“Not as much of an ass as I was, sir.”

They clasped hands, then Ruso turned on his heel and followed the messenger down the corridor. He gave Aesculapius a farewell nod before he stepped out into the street.

“You should have-come-to me-first!” hissed Accius, leaving gaps between the words for emphasis, as if he would have liked to shout but did not want to be overheard by any of the men passing back and forth across the headquarters hall outside.

“You deliberately undermined me! I had to sit next to him for hours, looking like a complete idiot while he oversaw the exercises. As if I don’t know what’s going on in my own unit!”

“Sir, I told him-”

“I ordered you to stay away from him. You disobeyed me.”

Common sense and experience were telling Ruso not to argue, but he was not in the mood to listen to either of them. “Sir, the emperor asked me-”

“Of course he did: That’s what emperors do! The answer was Yes, everything is fine, because it is! Our men were having a simple run of bad luck. Everything was getting back to normal until you and that native woman started stirring up malicious gossip.”

“Sir, I was going to-”

“You ran after him to tell him! And you did it because you thought I wouldn’t listen!”

There was no point in denying it. “Yes, sir. I did it because-” The back of Accius’s hand hit his face with a force that stunned him.

“Don’t speak! Guards!” The men Accius had stationed outside the door stepped in. “If this man speaks again, run him through.”

Over the ringing in one ear Ruso heard, “You are demoted to the ranks, confined to the fortress, and forbidden to speak until further notice. You can reflect on your disloyalty while you scrub out the sewers. As for that woman: Have her sent back to wherever you got her from. You’re divorced.”

Ruso opened his mouth to protest, heard the swish of swords being drawn, and thought better of it.

Accius shook his head sadly. “You’re a fool, Ruso. You could have used your time with Hadrian to get yourself noticed. Instead you’ve ruined yourself and embarrassed everybody else.” He gestured toward the guards. “Take him to the sewers.”

Ruso tied his neckerchief over his nose and mouth. He turned aside, took a deep breath, hooked his fingers through the iron rings, and heaved. The trapdoor lifted. He did not need to inhale the stench: He could taste it.

The guards, one of whom Ruso vaguely recognized as a former patient from Deva, stepped back.

“The tribune didn’t order you to stay,” said Ruso. The pair looked at each other, evidently wondering whether to run him through for speaking, then shrugged and walked away.