Pandora - By Anne Rice Page 0,58

There were two young Asiatics but the others were old and Roman; six in number. Yea gods, they must have thought I was Circe!

“Go back in,” said my beloved and loyal Flavius, “seek sanctuary.”

“Be still,” I said. “There’s always time for that.”

The leader, he was the key, and I saw that he was an older man, older than my brother Antony, yet not as old as my Father. He had thick gray eyebrows and was impeccably clean shaven.

He wore battle scars proudly, one on his cheek, another on his thigh. He was exhausted. His eyes were red and he shook his head as if to clear his vision.

This man’s arms were very tanned, yet he was well muscled. This meant war—lots and lots of war.

Lucius declared, “The entire family stands condemned. She should be executed on the spot!”

I decided my strategy as if I were Caesar himself. I spoke up at once, proceeding two steps down:

“You are the Legate, are you not? How tired you must be!” I took his hand in both of mine. “Were you under the command of Germanicus?”

He nodded.

First blow struck!

“My brothers fought with Germanicus in the North,” I said. “And Antony, the eldest, after the Triumphal March in Rome, lived long enough to tell us of the bones found in the Teutoburg Forest.”

“Ah, Madam, to see that field of bones, an entire army ambushed and the bodies left to rot!”

“Two of my brothers died in the battle. It was in a storm, in the North Sea.”

“Madam, you never saw such a disaster, but do you think the Barbarian God, Thor, could frighten our Germanicus?”

“Never. And you came here with the General?”

“Went everywhere with him, from the banks of the Elbe in the North to the South end of the River Nile.”

“How marvelous, and you are so tired, Tribune, look at you, you need sleep. Where is the famous Governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso? Why did it take him so long to quiet the city?”

“Because he’s not here, Madam, and he doesn’t dare to come back. Some say he makes a mutiny in Greece, others that he flees for his life.”

“Stop listening to her!” shouted Lucius.

“He was never much loved in Rome, either,” I said. “It was Germanicus whom my brothers loved and my Father praised.”

“Indeed, and if we had been given one more year—one more year, Madam—we could have extinguished the fire of that bloody upstart King Arminius forever! We didn’t even need that long! You spoke of the North Sea. We fought on all terrain.”

“Oh, yes, in the thick of the forest, and tell me this, were you there, Sir, when they found the lost standard of General Varus’s legions? Is the story true!”

“Ah, Madam, when that golden eagle was raised, you never heard such cries as from the soldiers.”

“This woman is a liar and a traitor,” shouted Lucius.

I turned on him. “Don’t push me too far! You’re past all patience now. Do you even know the numbers of the Legions of General Varus who were ambushed in the Teutoburg Forest? I thought not! They were the Seventh, the Eighth and the Ninth.”

“Right, correct,” said the Legate. “And we could have wiped out those tribes completely The Empire would reach to the Elbe! But for some reason, and mine is not the place to question, our Emperor Tiberius called us back.”

“Hmmm, and then condemns your beloved leader forgoing to Egypt.”

“Madam, it was no trip to seize power, Germanicus’s trip to Egypt. It was because of a famine.”

“Yes, and Germanicus had been declared Imperium Maius of all the Eastern provinces,” I said.

“And there was so much trouble!” said the Legate. “You can not imagine the morale, the habits of the soldiers here, but our General never slept! He went directly when he heard of the famine.”

“And you with him?”

“All of us, his cohorts. In Egypt he delighted in seeing the old monuments. So did I.”

“Ah, how marvelous for him. You must tell me about Egypt! You know that I, as a Senator’s daughter, cannot go to Egypt any more than can a Senator. I would so love—”

“Why is that, Madam?” asked the Legate.

“She’s lying to you!” roared Lucius. “Her whole family was murdered.”

“Very simple reason, Tribune,” I said to the Legate. “It’s no state secret. Rome is so dependent upon Egypt for corn that the Emperor wants to prevent the country from ever falling under the control of a powerful traitor. Surely you grew up as I did in dread of another Civil War.”

“I put my