SUCCESSIO

HistoricalNote

What if King Harold hadwon the Battle of Hastingsin 1066? Or if Julius Caesarhad taken notice of thewarning that assassinswanted to murder him onthe Ides of March?Suppose Christianity hadremained a Middle Eastern

minor cult? Intriguingquestions, indeed.Alternate (or alternative)history stories allow us toexplore them.

Whether infused withevery last detail of theirworld as in S M Stirling’sThe Peshawar Lancers, orlighter where thealternative world is usedas a setting for anadventure such as Kate

Johnson’s The UnTiedKingdom, or a great andgrim secret as in RobertHarris’ Fatherland,alternate history stories areunderpinned by threethings: the point ofdivergence when thealternate timeline splitfrom our timeline; howthat world looks andworks; and how thingschanged after the split.

SUCCESSIO focuses onone main character, CarinaMitela, and her struggle todefeat a nemesisthreatening to destroy herfamily and her country. Asthe title suggests, this storyis ‘what happened next’after INCEPTIO andPERFIDITAS, the first twoin the series. ButSUCCESSIO in Latin alsosuggests ‘the next

generation’. Times moveon and new history ismade.

I have droppedbackground history aboutRoma Nova into the novelonly where it impacts onthe story. Nobody likes astraight history lesson inthe middle of a thriller! Butif you are interested in alittle more informationabout the mysterious

Roma Nova, read on…

What happened in ourtimelineOf course, our timelinemay turn out to besomebody else’salternative one as shownin Philip K Dick’s TheGrasshopperLiesHeavy, thestory within the story inTheMan in theHighCastle.Nothing is fixed. But for

the sake of convenience Iwill take ours as thedefault.

The Western RomanEmpire didn’t ‘fall’ in acataclysmic event as oftenportrayed in film andtelevision; it localised andeventually dissolved likechain mail fragmentinginto separate links, givingway to rump states, localcity states and petty

kingdoms. The EasternRoman Empire survivedalbeit as the muchdiminished city state ofByzantium until the Fall ofConstantinople in 1453 tothe Muslim OttomanEmpire.

Some scholars thinkthat Christianity fatallyweakened the traditionalRoman way of life and wasa significant factor in the

collapse. EmperorConstantine’s personalconversion to Christianityin AD 313 was a turningpoint for the new religion.By AD 394, his severaltimes successor,Theodosius, banned alltraditional Romanreligious practice, closedand destroyed temples anddismissed all priests. Thesacred flame that had

burned for over athousand years in theCollege of Vestals wasextinguished and theVestal Virgins expelled.The Altar of Victory, saidto guard the fortune ofRome, was hauled awayfrom the Senate buildingand disappeared fromhistory. The Romansenatorial families pleadedfor religious tolerance, but

Theodosius made anypagan practice, evendropping a pinch ofincense on a family altar ina private home, into acapital offence. And his‘religious police’ driven bythe austere and ambitiousbishop Ambrosius ofMilan, became increasinglyactive in pursuingpagans…

The alternate Roma NovatimelineIn AD 395, three monthsafter Theodosius’s finaldecree banning all paganreligious activity, over fourhundred Romans loyal tothe old gods, and so indanger of execution,trekked north out of Italyto a semi-mountainousarea similar to modernSlovenia. Led by Senator

Apulius at the head oftwelve prominent families,they established a colonybased initially on landowned by Apulius’ Celticfather-in-law. By purchase,alliance and conquest, thisgrew into Roma Nova.

Norman Davies inVanished Kingdoms: TheHistory of Half-ForgottenEurope reminds us that:

…in order to survive,

newborn states need topossess a set of viableinternal organs, including afunctioning executive, adefence force, a revenuesystem and a diplomaticforce. If they possess none ofthese things, they lack themeans to sustain anautonomous existence andthey perish before they canbreathe and flourish.

I would add history,willpower and adaptability

as essential factors. RomaNova survived bychanging its socialstructure; as menconstantly fought todefend the new colony,women took over thesocial, political andeconomic roles, weavingnew power and influencenetworks based on familystructures. Eventually,daughters as well as sons

had to put on armour andcarry weapons to defendtheir homeland and theirway of life. Service to thestate was valued higherthan personal advantage,echoing RomanRepublican virtues, andthe women heading thefamilies guarded andenhanced these values toprovide a core philosophythroughout the centuries.

Roma Nova’s continuedexistence has beenfavoured by three factors:the discovery andexploitation of high-gradesilver in their mountains,their efficient technology,and their robust responseto any threat.Remembering theirByzantine cousins’ defeatin the Fall ofConstantinople, Roma

Novan troops assisted thewestern nations at theBattle of Vienna in 1683 tohalt the Ottoman advanceinto Europe. Nearly twohundred years later, theyused their diplomatic skillsto help forge an alliance topush Napoleon IV backacross the Rhine as heattempted to expand hisgrandfather’s empire.

Prioritising survival,

Roma Nova remainedneutral in the Great War ofthe 20th century whichlasted from 1925 to 1935.The Greater GermanEmpire, stretching fromJutland in the north, Alsacein the west, Tyrol in thesouth and Bulgaria in theeast, was broken upafterwards into its formersmall kingdoms, duchiesand counties. Some

became republics. Therewas no sign of anAustrian-born corporalwith a short, squaremoustache.

Forty years before theaction of SUCCESSIO in theearly 21st century, RomaNova was nearlydestroyed by a coup, abrutal male-dominatedconsulship and civil war.A weak leader, sclerotic

and outmoded systemsthat had not developedsince the last great reformin the 1700s and aneglected economy let in aclever and ruthless tyrant.But with characteristicresilience, the families’structures fought back andreconstructed their society,re-learning the basicprinciples of Republicanvirtue, while subtly

changing it to a morerepresentational model formodern times. Today, thetiny country has becomeone of the highest percapita income states in theworld.

DramatisPersonae

FamilyCarina Mitela – Major,Praetorian Guard SpecialForces (PGSF),commanding Operations,nicknamed ‘Bruna’Conradus Mitelus – SeniorLegate, PGSF and regularPraetorian Guard,

‘Conrad’Aurelia Mitela – Carina’sgrandmother, head of theMitela familyAllegra Mitela – Carina’sand Conrad’s eldestdaughterAntonia and Gillius –Twins, (Tonia and Gil)Carina’s and Conrad’syounger childrenHelena Mitela – Carina’scousin

Dalina Mitela – FamilyrecorderLucilla Mitela –Lieutenant, PGSF

HouseholdJunia –Comptroller/steward ofDomus MitelarumGalienus – Under-steward/housekeeperMarcella – Aurelia’sassistant

Tellus familyQuintus Tellus – Head ofTellus familyCaius Tellus – (Deceased),Quintus’s brother,unsavoury rebel

MilitaryDaniel Stern – Colonel,deputy legate, PGSFFausta – Captain, PGSF,Digital SecuritySepunia – Major, PGSF,

Intelligence DirectorateCarina’s Active ResponseTeam –Paula Servla, Flavius,Trebatia, Livius, AtriaRusonia – Legate’sexecutive officerSergius – Captain, PGSF,Training and Personnel

PalaceSilvia Apulia – ImperatrixStella Apulia – Silvia’s

eldest childHallienia Apulia – Silvia’sthird child ‘Hallie’Favonius Cotta – head ofprotocol, ex-Washingtonlegation

Outside Roma NovaMichael Browning –Captain, British specialforcesWilson – Lieutenant,British special forces

Nicola Sandbrook –Sergeant, British specialforcesJohnson – RSM, Britishspecial forcesAndrew Brudgland –‘Commissioner’, Britishsecurity servicesChristopher Newton – Ex-British special forcesJanice Hargreve – Ateacher

OtherLurio – Department ofJustice Commander, UrbanCohorts (Custodes)Pelonia – Department ofJustice Custodes specialinvestigatorOctavia Quirinia – Head ofQuirinia FamilyMaia Quirinia – Herdaughter, a typicalteenagerPhilippus – Bar owner, ex-

associate from thePulcheria FoundationDania – Upmarketrestaurant ownerLucius Punellus – Retiredadjutant, PGSF, Conrad’sex-comrade-in-armsPaulina Carca – Lifepartner of Lucius PunellusSertorius – Pompous, buteffective, Mitela familylawyerFaenia – Professor of

Medicine, CentralUniversity, PGSFconsultant

CarinaMitela

‘Whatdoyoumean?Whowasshe?’

PartI:Generations

I

It was far too quiet. Onlyan occasional owl call, theodd flutter of feathers andpitter-patter of a smallnight creature. Sure, thetraining area was literallykilometres from anywhere,somewhere called Norfolk,but a hundred people

couldn’t stay that quiet,not even – arguably – thebest special forces in theworld. Beside me, the twocenturions, Livius andPaula Servla, weremotionless; I couldn’t evenhear them breathe. Ipeered through the faceveil hanging from myhelmet. My eyesight wasstill good at thirty-nine,but I didn’t see a thing in

the dawn light. I relaxed;we had a full five minutesbefore we needed to move.

I’d been crazy to agreeto take part in this exercise;I’d sat at a desk for toolong. CommandingOperations did not meantaking part in everyexercise. It’d been myvanity that made me putmyself down for theultimate – training with

the British special forces.No, against them. Evenmore insane. I was noslouch and worked hard tokeep my fitness up, but Ireally should have left it tothe super-fit like Paula andLivius and, of course,Flavius. But a smallcountry like ours didn’trefuse such invitationstwice and the competitionto be picked for this

exercise had been nearlethal.

Each year we invited asmall number of alliedcountries’ special troops toRoma Nova to take part inour annual fitness-for-purpose exercise; thanks toour legate’s connections,there’d always been someBritish. Very effective andhighly competent, theywere reserved at first, like

they’d swallowed somekind of ‘how to behaveabroad’ manual, but by theend of the week, they’dusually relaxed. But thiswas a first for us to havean exclusive exercise withthem, and on their ground.

The first night we’darrived, we’d had all the‘swords and sandals’cracks in the bar fromthose who’d never met us.

Sandwiched between NewAustria and Italy, peoplethought Roma Nova was across between the SoundofMusic and Gladiator with adash of Ruritania thrownin. But when theircommander welcomed usformally the next morning,he told the assembled hosttroops about our sixteen-hundred-year traditionsand that the Praetorian

Guard Special Forces werejust as fearsome as they’dheard. And that RomaNova had survived,clawing its way throughthe centuries, was in nosmall part down to thePraetorians. The Britishgrunts tried not to appearimpressed, but I saw alittle more respect in theireyes after that.

*

Livius lifted his indexfinger a few millimetresfrom his rifle and glancedover at me. I gave a hint ofa nod. Ahead of Paula andme by a body length, hestarted crawling forward.Using our elbows, wepulled ourselves behindand a little to each side ofhim across the forest floorcovered in pine-needles.Three others, Allia, Gorlius

and Pelo, followed in thesame arrow formation.Reaching the crest of thewashed-out shallowvalley, we spread outbehind it and froze. Afterfive minutes watching andlistening, I nodded andLivius took Allia and Pelointo the trees behind usand set off for the otherside of the depression.Raising my hand a couple

of centimetres from thesandy ground, I signalledPaula to maintain positionhere. I grabbed my assaultrifle and in a crouchingrun made my way to thedip twenty metres away atthe entrance. I glanced upto see Gorlius scramblingup into one of the treesbehind Paula to act aslookout. As he drew one ofthe new individual cam

nets over himself, hedisappeared. I pointed mypocket scope up at him.Even his heat signaturewas pretty near neutral.Expensive but impressive.Now we waited out tenminutes to let the wildlifesettle back down.

‘Contact.’ That oneword hissed in myearpiece told me Gorliushad spotted them. We’d

tabbed to this location byforced march – an oldRoman tradition – so wecould surprise them. Andthere they were, walkingsingle file, sweeping theirroute with their eyes andweapons, watchful, but notwary. Too professional tomake any unnecessarynoise, they werenevertheless a little over-relaxed.

Their commander senttwo ahead to check. Nowthey concentrated, theirweapons raised and armsand legs tensed. Just beforethey reached the edge ofthe depression, one turnedback to the commanderand shook his head.

Livius dropped the twoof them in rapidsuccession. Allia and Pelolaunched at the main

group from the far pointand downed another threebetween them. Paulaslammed the radiooperator to earth,pinioning his flailing armsand legs. Gorlius fell ontwo others. I tripped thelast one as he tried toescape and jammed myweapon in his throat as heattempted to struggle up. Ididn’t need to look at my

watch to know we’d doneit in under two minutes.Hm, slowing up.

We secured and taggedthem. While Livius andPelo swept the back areafor a possible secondpatrol, Paula scanned theirradio with an electroniclogger.

‘Can’t see anytransmission within thepast ten,’ she said, looking

up. ‘But I think they checkin every thirty.’ She spokein fast street Latin in caseany of these clever boysturned out to be linguists.

I turned to their officer,Lieutenant Wilson, fromhis jacket tab. ‘Now,Lieutenant, I hope we’renot going to go formalhere. I just need you toconfirm the time of yournext radio check.’

‘Not a chance in hell.’His eyes half closed and hesnorted.

I sighed and signalledAllia forward. From hersleeve pocket she extracteda slim tin containing twosyringes and an ampoule,knelt down by the officer,prepared a needle andwaited for myconfirmation.

Wilson drew back.

‘What the fuck is that?’‘A fast acting relaxant

that‘ll have you chirrupinglike a mongoose onholiday. No permanenteffect, you may be a littledisorientated for ten tofifteen minutes afterward.We need to move on now,so I can’t wait for you tohave a mothers’ meetingabout whether to tell me.’ Inodded and Allia pulled

his sleeve up, jabbed theskin and depressed thetiny plunger.

I counted to twentybefore I stood over himand asked again, ‘Time ofnext radio check?’

‘Get—no, not—’ Sweatbroke out on his face withthe effort of defying thechemical. ‘Twenty, no—,twenty-two. No—’. Hedropped his head as if

humiliated, but it wasn’this fault.

We now had a generousmargin before any alarmwas given. Paula threw theopposition’s radio batteriesinto the woods. Alliachecked out the othercaptives, but they only hadhurt pride and a fewbruises. We looped a linethrough their cable-tiedhands, securing it to a tree

and left with mildlyobscene curses andpromises of revengebehind us.

Setting off north at afast march, we circledaround after five minutesto parallel the trail for theexercise headquarters.We’d finished our taskshalf a day early. Now we’deliminated our closestrivals, I figured we’d be

the first team back. Afterthree days out in the field,we were looking forwardto hot food and a chance toclean up properly.

Allia jogged beside meand I could see a questionready to burst out. She wasvery young, aroundtwenty, and this was herfirst time on overseasexercise. I checked theproximity sensor; no

biosignatures apart fromours for at least threekilometres.

‘What is it, Allia?’ Iwhispered. ‘It’s okay, justkeep your voice down,though.’

‘Why are they all men,ma’am? I mean, I sawsome women at the start,but only a very few and wehaven’t come across anyout in the field.’

‘Western forces don’tgenerally have women infront line combat units,and only a few in theirspecial forces. You’llprobably see more in theAmerican military, if youever go there.’

I saw the disbelief onher face. I smiled at her,but said nothing. I wantedto conserve my strengthand wind.

Fifteen minutes later,Livius stopped, held hishand up. We dropped tothe ground as one.Between the trees, I couldsee the edge of the clearinghousing the exerciseheadquarters. After a longfive minutes, Livius sentGorlius and Pelo forwardto check out the approach.It was such a classic trickto stake out the base camp

approach. So near ourgoal, no way did we wantthe embarrassment offalling for a classic. Iwatched the two of themwalk in, circling back toback, across the innocent-seeming twenty metres.The remaining four of ustook shallow breaths andreadied ourselves forreaction.

‘Clear,’ came Gorlius’

disembodied voice. Isigned Livius to cross nextwith Allia; Paula and Ibrought up the rear.

The exercise gatepassed, we checked in atthe admin desk with thesergeant, one of the fewwomen Allia had seen. Herdark blonde hair wasplaited and piled up ontop of her head, almost likea Roman. Something

familiar yet repelling abouther distracted me. Nothingin her face was wrong; shesmiled pleasantly enough,her light eyes shone withinterest. She notedeverything downefficiently; her checklistwas marked up neatly,spare pens in perfectparallel to each other. Irolled my shoulders todisperse my unease; I had

so much else to do. Butstill…

Behind her stood anolder man, around fifty,built like a block of muscle.He reminded me of ourformer primipilus, thesenior centurion. He worea leather band on his wristwith a crested metalbadge, so a traditionalist,but the standard uniformbutton tab showed he was

a warrant officer, like a topsergeant. I glanced at hisname tab as he nodded tome.

‘Morning, Major.’‘Mr Johnson.’‘Enjoyed yourself?’‘Oh, I think so.’ I

grinned and he smiledback, one per cent off asmirk. Yeah, just like theprimipilus.

‘You’ll find fresh food

for your team in the messtent.’

They’d reached the tentfirst while I’d been doingthe nicely-nicely withJohnson. Livius beckonedme over to the table theywere clustered around andhe thrust a plate of somekind of brown meat stew,potatoes and vegetablestoward me. I poked at it.

‘It’s all right, Bruna, it’s

dead,’ Paula Servla said.‘Quite tasty, in fact,’ andfollowed her words byloading a spoonful into hermouth. The others laughedat my expression, evenAllia and Pelo who werevery junior. My friend andcomrade for nearly fifteenyears, Paula had used mynom de guerre – Bruna –with ease as she teased me.But she was right, the stew

was good.Afterwards, I told them

to go grab a few hours’rest. I settled down towrite my report. I wasfinishing the first draftwhen a shadow fell acrossthe table.

‘Major Mitela.’Crap.‘Lieutenant Wilson.’ I

looked up at him. Hewinced.

Damn. I’d used theAmerican pronunciation.The Brits hated that.

‘Have you recovered?’No harm being polite.

He snorted. ‘That wasan illegal procedure and Iintend to report it to myand your seniorcommand.’

I shrugged. ‘Fine by me.Do it.’ I bent my head backdown to my report. He

had no choice but to go. Iwatched through myeyelashes as he stompedoff to the command tent.Gods, some of them took itso badly. Tough. Wetrained like every exercisewas a live operation,usually without any blood,and used all thetechniques, equipment andtraining at our disposal.When it came to it, a live

operation unfolded like anexercise, but sometimesincluded casualties. A hardway, but successful.Sometimes a little toorobust for outsiders.

More of our teamsdrifted in through theafternoon and I went andspoke to them as theysettled down to their food.Two had been brought inas captives, so

commiserations to them.Overall, though, we’dacquitted ourselves well.

A joint senior staff mop-up meeting was heldbefore the evening mealwhere I had the impressionwe’d won a few friends,one unfriend and a decentamount of respect.Nobody said a word aboutour unorthodoxmethodology.

*Making my way over tothe wash tent later, a tingleran across the back of myneck. I whirled around butnobody stood behind me,nor anywhere in theclearing. I stoodcompletely still andlistened. But I knewsomebody was watching,and purposefully. I pulledthe outside flap aside

slowly. Nobody. No soundof water falling. I checkedall the canvas-sidedcubicles. Only the smell ofsoap, and the sheen ofwastewater with a fewsurviving bubbles incorners of the trays. But Istill felt uneasy. After afew moments, I decidedthat I was being ridiculous.Maybe it was tiredness. Ishrugged and chose one of

the cubicles to the right.As I dressed afterward,

I glanced up at the sign‘Female showers’. Howhad showers acquiredgender? You didn’t getthat ambiguity in Latin,even in the 21st century.

*Early next morning, I wentfor a run with Flavius.Now a senior centurion, heand I had met fourteen

years ago on anundercover operation. Hewas smart, aware andphysically tough. Hewasn’t a pretty boy likeLivius; his light brown hairand mid-brown eyestogether with the otherstandard features you gotin a face made a pleasant,but not outstandingcombination. This was agreat asset for a spook as

nobody remembered theaverage. But when hesmiled his soul shone outfrom his eyes. He gave mebalance, sometimes quitestarkly, other timeshumorously. He was mycomrade-in-arms, butabove all a friend.

‘How do you think it’sgoing?’ I asked.

He grinned at me. ‘Iheard you pulled one of

your little tricks.’ Heducked my flying hand.

‘All perfectly routine,’ Isaid.

‘Yeah, but this lot playby the rules, generally.Rules of engagement, theycall it.’

‘I bet they don’t whenthey’re in the middle ofsome covert op in theAfrican mountains,’ Isnorted.

‘Well, I gather we’remaking a good impression,at least in comparison tothe Americans and thePrussians.’

I showered and wentfor breakfast, gettingwaylaid in the mess tentby one of their captains,called Browning. His longsculptured face waslightened up by acharming smile. I had a

penchant for blond hair,which in his case toppedblue eyes and, curiously, ascattering of freckles overhis nose.

‘Salve Carina Mitela,’ hebegan and went on, inslow but correct classicLatin. ‘Your forces fightwell, with much courageand cunning.’

‘Thank you, tribune,’ Ireplied, trying my best to

match his formality ofvoice. ‘I accept your praiseon behalf of my troops.Your Latin is excellent,very cultured. May Ienquire where you learntto speak so well?’

‘Universitas SanctiAndreae.’ He smiled at mypuzzled look and revertedto English. ‘It’s auniversity in Scotland. Itried it out on some of

your people, but I quicklyrealised it hadn’t movedon since Augustus.’ Hesmiled ruefully and led metowards an empty table.

‘Hey, no problem,’ Isaid. ‘I’m happy to speakEnglish – good to pick upon my native language.’

His turn to lookconfused.

‘I was raised in theEastern States, you know,

America. I lived there untilI was twenty-four. Mymother was Roma Novanso when I emigrated there,I re-joined her family. Ibecame a member of thePGSF a little later.’

‘Fascinating! Do you goback much?’

‘Only twice in the pastfourteen years, the lasttime a year ago. I found itquite weird – a lot had

changed.’Yeah, and apart from

the cleanliness, not for thebetter. Or maybe it wasme. Time to switchsubjects.

‘Are you going to tryout the Roman gameslater? I’d be happy to takeyou through some ofthem.’

‘I think I’ll watch first.’I grinned, finished the

mug of strong tea the Britsdrank, piled my dirty plateon the service table andmade my way back to ouradmin tent.

*Flavius was designatingteams for the games thisafternoon. We were givingour hosts a demonstrationjust for fun, but he wantedit to be perfect and waschoosing carefully.

‘Ah, Major,’ he caughtmy approach, cast his eyedown at his el-pad andasked, ‘can I put you downfor the link fight?’ His half-smile was a little tooknowing.

The guards fidgeting ina cluster around him,eager to find out theirassignments, stopped. Thechatter dried up instantlyand two dozen pairs of

eyes focused on me.He knew I was the most

experienced link-fighter.He also knew I loved it. I’dbeen practising it withDaniel, now ColonelDaniel Stern and deputylegate, for years before itbecame legal. It had beenan illicit pleasure we’dboth relished but contestshad been banned for yearsbecause of the lethally high

casualty rate. I wasknocking on the door offorty, for Juno’s sake, but ifI said no, Flavius wouldneedle me about it formonths. Worse, I’d beletting the detachmentdown in front offoreigners. If I said yes, I’dhave to win or lose face.Asking me in front of thetroops meant I couldn’trefuse.

Crafty bastard.‘Of course, Senior

Centurion, I’d bedevastated with delight.Now do tell me, who haveyou volunteered as mypartner?’

He had the grace to lookaway, but after a secondfound a beaming smile tothrow at me. ‘Your choice,ma’am. Centurion Livius isa possibility, or perhaps

Pelo.’Livius! The fittest

soldier in the unit. He wasraving. And Pelo was ayounger version of him.

‘And yourself, Flavius?’I smiled as sweetly as Icould without causing astampede for sick bags.

‘Oh, I think I’ll beneeded to superviseeverything. I mustregretfully decline your

invitation.’I sighed. ‘Tell Livius to

report to me and we’llpractise a few moves.’ Ilooked at my watch; wehad four hours beforelunch. I might get luckyand break my leg beforethe games started.

*‘C’mon, Bruna, wake up!’

We’d been practisingfor fifteen minutes now

and I wanted a break. Mybreath was raspingthrough my lungs inshorter and shorter gasps.Blood thrummed aroundmy system as my superfitopponent exerted everygram of his formidablestrength against me. I wasmore skilled and agile thanhim which was, thank thegods, more important.

‘Screw you, Livius.’ I

jumped over the chainright into his field ofcontact and slashed at hisarm. He nearly drew awayin time. I left a short, redgash on his forearm whichleaked slow droplets.

I brought my shortsword around before hecould recover, feinted rightin his face, jerked thechain, thrusting my footout at the same time and

tripped him up. As he hitthe ground, he found thetip of my sword pressedagainst his larynx. Hedropped his weapon andopened his arms, layingthem on the ground, thepalms of his handsupwards in a signal ofsurrender. He grinned upat me as he lay there, hisblond curls dishevelled buthis pale eyes laughing.

Even defeated, his goodhumour didn’t fail. Nowonder women fell forhim.

I sheathed my swordand held my right handout to him. I saw themeasuring look in his eye.

‘Don’t even think aboutit,’ I said. He sat up,studied the ground for afew seconds and chuckledto himself. He sprang to

his feet, giving me myhand back, all in onegraceful movement. Histall frame hadn’t filled outa millimetre since we’dmet on that first trainingexercise fourteen yearsago. He still towered overme and I knew how crazyI’d been to accept him asmy opponent. Smallwonder I was still trying tocatch my breath.

*Lined up after a lightlunch and the gods knewhow much water, weoccupied two sides of acleared area, ready to startour skills demonstration. Inoticed a couple of emptychairs between the exercisecommander and the Latinspeaker, Browning. Werethey expecting guests? Isighed. Sometimes I felt

we were like a circus,parading our Roman-ness,satisfying some half-bakednostalgia based on epicmovies. Some clown hadeven wanted us to stage amock battle against one ofthe Roman re-enactmentgroups. They forgot thatwhile we were proud ofour history, we were aforward-looking 21stcentury country.

Flavius got it allunderway, with pairsdemonstrating swordskills. Not practised thesedays outside theprofessional games arenaexcept by the military,training with a sharp,double-edged fiftycentimetre carbon steelblade tended toconcentrate the mind aswell as honing reaction

skills. Not mandatory – weused state of the artweaponry as normal – butall members of the unitwere encouraged tobecome proficient with agladius, if only to get usedto close physical combatwith an opponent. If yougot cut, you got cut, thenchewed out for beingcareless. Contrary topopular belief, the Roman

short sword was morethan fine for cutting andchopping motions as wellas for thrusting. Not muchhad changed in shapesince the Pompeii patternused in the fourth centurywhich had beenspectacularly successful.

After a while, Flaviusinvited the Brits to comeforward to try it out. Hisopposite number, Johnson,

and around a dozen ofthem did well despite theirunfamiliarity with theweapon. After watchingfor a few minutes, Inodded to Paula and weleft them to it.

In my tent, I got kittedup with Paula’s help. Istripped off my fatiguesjacket, leaving my black t-shirt and donned the thinleather undershirt, lined

with Kevlar fabric. Ichanged into my studdedleather arena boots, boundmy plaited red-gold hairup on top of my head.Paula clipped a leather-and-mail protective bandaround my neck.

‘You okay, Bruna? Youseem a bit quiet.’

‘Sorry, just thinkingabout a strange feeling Igot this morning. I was

outside the showers and Igot a distinct feeling ofbeing watched.’

‘Some perv wanting aneyeful?’ she smirked. Herbrown eyes reflectedcynical humour.

‘No,’ I smiled back,lifting my arms for thechain mail lorica she wasslipping over myundershirt. ‘More thanthat. I got a definite tingle

of danger.’‘Not that young officer

Allia stuck her needle into?He was pretty pissedabout it.’

‘I don’t think so. No,something bigger.’ I shookmy head to get rid of thethought as I buckled thewide leather belt she’dhanded me. She fastenedthe leather Kevlar-linedlower arm guards and I

was ready.As we got back to the

edge of the clearing, they’djust finisheddemonstrating the cuneumformate, a shock tactic inthe form of a wedge. Like atreble-sized sabre-toothedtiger coming at you;incredibly scary if youwere on the receiving endof it.

The next thing I saw

was that the two emptychairs were now occupied;a slim junior officer, sittingupright and formal, andnext to her, the legate.

What in Hades was hedoing here? And why hadhe brought the ghastlyStella?

II

A sharp tug jolted my armagain. Livius was pulsingthem to break myconcentration. I doubledmy guard as we circledagain. The gravel crunchedunder the soles of myboots as I kept my feetdancing. At the other end

of the two-metre chain,Livius caught me in a fixedstare, trying to unnerveme. I glared back. I feintedforward, letting the chaingo slack, then yanked andslashed down with myblade. A thin ripple ofblood appeared on hisupper arm in the gapbetween arm guard andsleeve of his chain-maillorica. It matched the one

I’d given him thismorning. He swore. Not atrace of good humour inhis face now. I laughed athim. I was going to win.He looked as mad asHades.

The leather cuff at theend of the chain bindingmy left wrist to Livius’sstarted to chafe. Thesweatband underneathwas saturated. The links

clashed and groaned withthe intensity of our pullingand straining. Sometimes Iimagined a ripple of fierce,lethal energy running upand down the chain. Allyou wanted to do wasdestroy your opponent.

I heard cheering,shouting of bets placed,heckling, but filtered mostof it out. I had toconcentrate on Livius’s

weapon slicing the air andjabbing at me. and hisattempts to defeat me. Iwas used to the mercilessforce as the opponentpulled, but he was wearingme down. Sweat ran downmy back and between mybreasts with the effort ofthrusting and dodging.

I must have been crazyto do this. I felt a rush offear mixed with adrenalin

as I leapt over the chain toavoid a vicious stab. Gods,he was furious now, hiseyes as hard as stones. As Idodged faster and faster, Imissed my step, he trippedme and I was on theground. As I went down Igrabbed the chain linknear his wrist and pulledhim to earth with me. Ashe fell, I used themomentum to throw him

over my head while Irolled away. We bothscrambled up, panting,measuring each other up.

The violence in his eyes,now tearing with the dustwe’d raised, made medetermined to finish thisquickly. As we sprang up,I feinted to the right,distracting him, leapt intohis now opened guardarea. Using my whole

body, I felled him andlanded hard on his chest.Within nanoseconds I hadjerked my elbow up to thegrey sky, my arm andwrist folded in onedownwards line, handpoised ready to thrustdownwards. The tip of mysword grazed his throat.

For a few seconds Ithought he was going totry something stupid like

bringing his sword upfrom behind and slashingmy unguarded flesh. Hislinked hand was trappedunder his body, but hisright hand was still freeholding the lethal blade.

‘Drop it.’ I pushed thesword tip harder againstthe stretched tan skin ofhis throat, just nicking thesurface. A tiny spot of redseeped out.

His eyes narrowed,making them darker. Hismouth was still a singlehard line. The shoutingand heckling from theaudience had died. Intensestares lapped at us, butnobody moved.

‘C’mon, Livius,’ Iwhispered. ‘Give it up. I’mdying for a drink.’

The rigid body underme seemed to harden.

Suddenly, it relaxed and Iwas sitting on softeningflesh. The fire in his eyessubsided and a ghost of agrin flitted across his lips.He uncurled his hand andreleased his blade.

I stood up andbrandished mine in the airwith a shout of ‘Victis’.Flavius came forward and,mildly pompous like anyreferee, declared it

finished. I ignored theapplause and exuberantshouting around us.

Unlacing my leathercuff, I glanced at Livius,doing the same. ‘Friends?’

‘Of course, Bruna.’ Hesmiled and shrugged. ‘ButI can see why they bannedit for so long. I wanted todestroy you.’

‘I know. That’s why Ihad to end it.’

We weren’t offering ourhosts the chance toparticipate in thisparticular exercise.

We grasped forearms inthe traditional way. Hisgaze was steady now.

‘You know what wehave to do now, don’t you,Bruna?’ He raised aneyebrow as if expecting meto protest. ‘As the oldman’s here,’ he looked me

direct in the eyes.‘I suppose so. Let’s get

on with it, then.’‘Don’t be so grouchy.’‘Huh.’We marched across the

ten metres or so, heimpeccably, meadequately, but in step. Westopped two metres awayfrom the front rows of ourhosts. Some were sitting incanvas field chairs, others

on the ground. Swords stillin our right hands, weraised them, swingingthem around to the front ina wide arc to rest, bladesvertical, flat side facing,our hands close to ourfaces, paused for threeseconds, then slashed themdown to the right. Andwaited.

The legate stood andassessed us with his hazel

eyes, his face showing nosign of emotion, noreaction. Even the scarfrom his recent accidentthat ran along the hairlineby his temple looked calm.He saluted back and westood easy, but notrelaxed.

‘A good demonstration,’he said in English. ‘Icommend you, CenturionLivius, for going up

against the mostexperienced link-fighter ofthis generation.’

Was that a compliment?‘Well done, Major.’ He

smiled at me, his eyescrinkling, betraying a traceof mischief. Good thing hisback was to our hosts. ‘Ithink you’ve frightenedeverybody sufficiently forone day.’

He dismissed us. We

saluted again, turnedsmartly to the right andmarched off. After a fewsteps, we relaxed into anormal walk and joinedthe others, milling aroundwith some of the Brits. Ilooked back, searching forthe legate, but he and othersenior officers hadvanished into the staff tent.

‘Excuse me, ma’am,’came a voice behind me.

That tingle ran across myshoulders again. Theblonde sergeant I’d lastseen at the check-in tablewas standing in my blindspot. I hadn’t heard herapproach in the noise ofthe talking, joshing andlaughter around me.

‘Yes?’‘The Colonel’s

compliments and wouldyou and the senior

members of yourdetachment care to joinhim in twenty minutes’time for a pre-supperdrink?’ Her face wasneutral, but despite herpleasant tone, I wasstrangely reassured to beholding my fiftycentimetres of carbon steel.

‘Er, yes, of course, we’dbe delighted.’

Showered, changed and

relaxed, I made my wayover to the staff tent. Ienjoyed the social stuffthat went with militarylife. It was far lesshypocritical than civilianparties; you had straighttalking and the chance forgenuine friendships basedon common experience.

I exchanged smiles withthe dozen women and menloitering outside holding

plastic cups containingdifferent coloured drinks.The entrance flaps on thetent had been pegged backfor air circulation; it was awarm evening. I duckedthrough and found the restof our officers and non-coms talking to their hosts.

‘Major. Here, take this.’Captain Browningmaterialised beside meand handed me a cup of

what turned out to bewarm white wine.

‘Thanks, Captain. Hey,what’s your first name?’

‘Michael,’ he saidgrinning. ‘And it’s notshortened.’

‘Okay, Michael,’ Ismiled back. ‘Carina.’ Weshook hands. He really didhave the nicest smile.

‘That was an impressivedisplay earlier,’ he said,

standing near to hear myanswer. The alcohol andtestosterone in a confinedspace made it pretty noisy.‘Do you teach it?’

‘Only to the most agileand those who can handlethe emotional side,otherwise the casualty rateis too high.’

‘I suppose it’s the chainthat induces the desperateneed to fight so savagely,’

he mused.‘Yeah, it’s pretty much

do or die. Well, it was inthe old days.’ Criminalsawaiting a death sentencehad been offered theoption of link fighting. Ifthey won, they got off. Butthe state had usually put achampion gladiator on theother end which weighedthe odds steeply againstthe likelihood. These days,

because of the danger ofemotions racing out ofcontrol, only the militaryor licensed gladiatorschools sanctioned it, andunder restrictedcircumstances. ‘It wasillegal until a few yearsago. I was, er, instrumentalin re-introducing it.’

‘Yes, after a spell in thecells for illegal fighting, if Iremember correctly,’ a cool

voice added. I shut myeyes, suppressing bothirritation and pleasure atthe sound.

‘Sir,’ said Michael,finding our legate in frontof him. He took in theother man’s tall, athleticframe, dark blond hairslicked back behind hisears and hazel eyes whichglinted more green thanbrown at this precise

moment.‘Captain Michael

Browning, LegateConradus Mitelus.’ Ivaguely waved my handfrom one to the other.

Michael, being aLatinist, got itimmediately. ‘Ah, I see. Ifyou’ll excuse me…’ Henodded and left us in ourgroup of two.

‘Well, that worked,’ I

said, rolling my eyes at thelegate.

‘He was getting a littletoo friendly, I thought.’

‘For Juno’s sake,Conrad, he was beingcollegiate.’

‘Does staring downyour front count ascollegiate?’

‘He was not!’He snorted. Although a

bone-and-blood Roma

Novan, despite his foreignname, my husband offifteen years was stillprone to jealousy attacks. Ismiled to myself but Iwasn’t going to let him offtoo easily.

‘What in Hades are youdoing here, anyway?’ Isaid. ‘I thought you werein London with thechildren, and Stella.’ Ifound his daughter, Stella,

from his previousrelationship awkward anddifficult. I didn’t like it onelittle bit that she’d joinedthe PGSF as a cadet officerand had accompanied herfather today. But I knewhow to be civilised.

‘That’s not a veryfriendly welcome – Ithought you’d be pleasedto see me. I came to seehow you were all getting

along.’‘Right, like we’re a load

of kids, needing ourbabysitter?’

‘You seem a bit tense,love. Are you all right?’ Hestroked my cheek with theback of his fingers. A waveof warmth rolled throughme. How could he havethe power to do that afterall this time? We were anold married couple.

‘I’m fine, really. Maybea bit tired. But there’ssomething else. Probablynothing to worry about,but—’

‘Ah, Legate,’interrupted a muscularman of medium height,with a self-important air.He was a Brit, around mid-fifties, his neck chafing onthe collar of his new-out-the-stores fatigues jacket

which carried red tabs. Sosome kind of general. Hiseyes flicked over mecasually. ‘I’m sure yourofficer will excuse you. I’dlike you to meet somepeople.’ Our host, the localcommander, ColonelStimpson, hovered behindhim with a totally neutralexpression on his facewhich to me signified hethought the other guy was

a pain in the fundament.Conrad’s expression

contracted and his mouthretreated to a straight line.‘Just before we circulate, Idon’t believe you’ve beenintroduced to my wife,Major Carina Mitela, whois leading the trainingdetachment.’ He turned tome with a big smile.‘Carina, this is BrigadierFurnell from the

Department of Defense.Oh, excuse me, the Ministryof Defence.’

‘Oh, pleased to meetyou, I’m sure.’ He lookedas if he was eating grit.‘Well, you’d better tagalong, Major.’

He turned away and setoff through the crowd.Conrad looked furious. Ilaid my hand on hisforearm. ‘It doesn’t matter.

Really. They’re like thathere, especially the topbrass, as Michael callsthem.’

‘Hades, I don’t knowhow you put up with it. Ican’t remember it beinglike that when I trainedhere.’

‘Well, love, you’re aman. And you were veryyoung. You wouldn’t havenoticed.’

*Eventually I broke free andwent outside for a fewminutes’ fresh air.

‘Aunt Carina?’I turned to see a brown-

haired girl, slim to thepoint of skinny, in tailoredfatigues. Her fingers onone hand twisted andtwined around those onthe other.

‘Hello, Stella. Are you

all right?’She glanced away, then

back to me, with none ofthe assurance of a normaltwenty-one-year-old.

‘What can I do for you?’‘Dad said we’d be

staying here tonight, but Idon’t know where I’msupposed to go.’

At that moment, I feltsorry for her; she wasalone amongst strangers

and not very skilled atreaching out.

‘Let’s find CenturionServla – she’ll know, or ifshe doesn’t, she’ll sort itout.’

Back inside the stafftent, I cornered Paula. Itwas unfair, I knew.

‘Centurion, do you havespace in your tent for anextra one? Cadet Apulianeeds a bunk for the

night.’Not one scrap of

reaction showed onPaula’s face. ‘Of course,ma’am. I’d be delighted.I’ll go and sort it out rightaway.’ As she turned tomake her way back to theaccommodation area, hershoulders set, I knew I wasgoing to pay for it later.

‘I thought I’d be in withyou,’ said Stella. ‘Why

can’t I?’‘Really, Stella. That was

rude. Centurion Servlamay have heard you.You’re very junior. Just doas you’re told.’

Gods, she lookedtruculent. She stuck herchin out and her darkbrown eyes boiled. Thatwas the problem with richkids – they didn’t have aclue. Officer Cadet Stella

Apulia had enjoyed aprivileged upbringing –she was the eldestdaughter of ImperatrixSilvia – but despite hermother’s best efforts, shehadn’t grasped that sheneeded to take onresponsibilities inexchange. ‘Serve to lead’was no empty slogan.

‘Centurion Paula Servlais a very senior soldier and

I’m grateful to her forlooking after you. You willtreat her with maximumcourtesy and fit in withher. She’s not there to runaround after you. Nor isanybody else in the unit.’

Stella looked mutinous.‘If you want to stay, you

have to knuckle down,work hard and acceptdiscipline. You wanted tojoin. Of course, you always

have the choice.’‘Why are you so

horrible to me?’‘Oh, please! I’m trying

to show you how tobehave. Gods, Stella,you’re twenty-one, nottwelve.’

We stood there, glaringat each other. The troublewas, nobody wanted tocross her. I was one of thefew who would. Not only

did I have the social rank,but her mother, Silvia, wasmy cousin and friend.

‘Look, Stella, you’re notin the palace now. You’re asmall, but promising, cogat the lower level of a veryefficient machine. Onceyou’ve grasped the knackof working with others, andrespecting them for whatthey do, you’ll find it veryrewarding and you’ll make

real friends.’‘It’s alright for you,

everybody likes you,’ shesaid, her face sullen.

‘Well, news for you – itdidn’t happen overnight. Ihad to earn it.’

I wasn’t about to tell herthe full story of thedifficulties I’d had; it wasdone and gone. But thetwin burdens of beingmarried to the boss and

being joint head of one ofthe most powerful andwealthiest families inRoma Nova hadn’t mademy initial path as a juniorofficer in the special forcesvery smooth. Navigatingbetween the toadies andthe spiteful in order to findtrue friends and comradessure had honed my peopleskills. But the differencebetween me and Stella? I

loved the life, theexcitement, the sense offulfilment, the buzz, fromthe work I did. She didn’tknow what she liked orwanted.

*Later as we lay together onsleeping mats in my tent,Conrad told me about thesmall act of vengeancehe’d enacted against thepompous Brigadier. After

the post-supper port at thesenior staff table, theBrigadier had invitedConrad to stay at the localhotel where he and hisDefence Ministry peoplewere putting up. Conradsaid he’d prefer to sleepwith his wife, and beggedto be excused.

‘I thought Furnell wasgoing to have a stroke.Stimpson, who was

standing a little behindhim, gave a little smirk –not at me, love,’ he added,seeing my reaction, ‘but atthe shiny-arse from theministry.’

I laughed, bent over andkissed him lightly on thelips. ‘Thank you. Youreally are the nicest man.’

He didn’t say anything,but the warmth grew in hiseyes. Even in the dim light,

I could see them darken.He leaned over and kissedmy eyelids, my jawline,making his way up gentlybut determinedly to mymouth. Oh, the warmpleasure of it. The gracefulline of his throat stretchedabove me. His masculinescent overwhelmed me.His body always excitedme. Although militarybedrolls were not the most

comfortable or sensualsurroundings forpassionate love-making,we managed to frightenthe local wildlife.

*Beginning the day with afresh egg and bacon roll –hot, salty bacon coupledwith the firm liquid of afried egg bursting in yourmouth – in the quiet of apine forest with the sun

starting to shed its earlylight on you took somebeating. The cook grinnedat me, sensing anappreciative customer.

‘Like another one,ma’am?’

I swallowed the lastpiece and grinned back.‘No. No, thanks. Nothingcould better that.’

‘Coffee and tea areinside, but come back if

you want another,’ and hewinked.

I pulled the heavycanvas flap of the messtent aside and found a fewother early souls. Passingon the muddy-lookingcoffee I filled a mug fromthe tea urn.

‘Sleep well?’Cute question.‘Hi, Michael. Yes,

thanks. I’ve always loved

camping out and it’s soquiet here.’

‘We’re either not tryinghard enough to make itsufficiently uncomfortableor you lot are tougher thanwe think.’

‘Yeah,’ I smirked at him.‘Get over it.’

He chuckled and raisedhis mug of tea, toastingme.

The rest of that day, we

packed up the camp intocargo trucks. Even Stellahelped, acting as Conrad’srunner. That strangeyoung woman, the adminsergeant, seemed to beeverywhere, but as I stoodup, pausing for a momentafter securing the straps onmy own pack, I caught herstaring at Stella andConrad. He turned awayto sign Flavius’s el-pad,

and Stella watched the twomen, oblivious to theinterest from the sergeant.What jolted me was theviolence in the British girl’sscrutiny. Her mouthtwisted in anger and hereyes shone hard andpitiless. Then in ananosecond, it had allvanished and her sereneexpression was back. Iblinked. What in Hades

was that about?I watched her covertly

for a little longer, but shedisappeared after a fewminutes. After personalfarewells to our hosts andfinal parade, we droveback to the main barracksallocated for our use, untilrecently an RAF base givenover to the EUSAF. I’ddecided to grant the wholedetachment three days’

local leave before goinghome to Roma Nova andFlavius was briefing themabout observing localsensitivities. He organisedthem into groups of threeor four, with the youngestguards paired with moreexperienced ones.

‘The gods help us whenthis lot hits London,’ hemuttered under his breathto me while Conrad was

giving them a lectureabout English dos anddon’ts.

‘No problem, Flav. I’mmore concerned about thestuff they’ll absorb fromthe locals.’

‘What do you mean?’‘You haven’t forgotten

Operation Goldlights,surely?’

Flavius and I had metwhen I’d been undercover

fighting the wholesaleintroduction of illicit drugsinto Roma Nova. We’dstopped it then, but it wasone of the biggest worriesfaced by our law andsecurity forces.

‘Of course not!’ Herolled his eyes. ‘They’ve allbeen warned specifically –no tabs, no powder, nosprays or they’re out.They’re meeting up with

some of the English we’vebeen training with, so Ihope that’ll help.’

‘You’re kidding! Youknow how they drink.’

‘C’mon, Bruna, they’renot kids.’

I shrugged. I justprayed there was oneparticular English sergeantthey were not meeting. IfFortuna was smiling onme, she’d sent that girl

back to the Brits’permanent base in thewest and we’d never seeher again.

III

On the second day inLondon, we arrived backat the hotel suite lateafternoon after an activity-packed day; the Tower, theBattersea theme park, aburger stop, SkateboardCentral and a browsethrough the City children’s

farm. I thanked fate yetagain for my cousinHelena. When she’d givenup teaching and taken onsupervising my kids, it hadbeen one of the luckiestdays of my life. She’dturned out three happy,inquisitive, healthy butimmaculately manneredbeings.

Well, mostly.Allegra had started

teenage grunting recently,which Helena assured mewas perfectly normal. Iwasn’t too sure. She wasthe child of my heart anduntil a few weeks ago, Ihad been almost smugabout how much pleasurewe gave each other. Mostfourteen-year-olds, whenI’d been one in the States,were beyond embarrassedto admit they actually had

mothers. I hadn’t been solucky; mine had drivenherself off a cliff when Iwas three.

But Allegra and I hadbeen friends always. We’dsit together, she curled inmy lap when little andclose by my side whenolder, as we read books,talked, played on thegames console together. I’dsit by her when I could,

helping her withhomework assignments,giving her confidence totry new things andconsoling her when shefailed or fell. She pouredher heart out to me,sometimes teaching methings, and listeningseriously to what I said.She’d send me a soft smile,followed by a chuckle thena full throated laugh. Then

a few weeks before wecame here she’dtransformed, like she had asplit personality; flirtingwith her father, still givingHelena respect and politeto everybody else, shesaved all her grumping forme. Fabulous.

The twins, Tonia andGil, at ten were über-boisterous after an excitingday out in London but that

didn’t entitle Allegra todrag along all day sayinghow bored she was. Sheknew better. And thatmade me angry. She knewit would be her turntomorrow and we’d leavethe small ones and Helenabehind.

‘I don’t know whatyou’re worrying about,love,’ said Conrad. ‘It’s justa phase.’

‘Right. A phase. Sure.You’re getting all theDaddy’s girl treatment andI’m Cruella de Vil.’

‘Forget about it tonight.We’ve got dinner withAndrew Brudgland later,so you can relax and leaveit to Helena.’

‘You don’t think that’sthe problem? I mean,Helena and not me?’

‘Carina, look at me.’

Mm, always a pleasure.Although he was gainingone or two more linesaround those mesmerisingeyes and tiny grey wingsat his temples, his smilewas so warm and sexy, Iforgot everything else.

‘Hey!’‘Yes?’ I said.‘You are a great mother.

You love our childrenunreservedly, you nurture

them, help them, defendthem. You haveresponsibilities, sure, butthey know that and noneof them feels any lessloved because of it. So stopit.’

‘But why—’He laid the tip of his

finger on my lip. ‘It’s notyou. She’s just trying towork out who she is. She’san adolescent.’ He

shrugged.‘Helena says I have to

persist, keep talking,support her, talk to her asan adult. But all I get backare grunts.’

‘It’ll pass. Honestly.’‘And what makes you

the great expert?’ He hadno sisters and only distantfemale cousins. Then Iremembered. Stella. Hesaw I’d got it.

‘Quite. Remember herat fifteen? I know she canstill be awkward, but she’sa great deal improved. Ithink living at the palacehas kept her a bitimmature. Hopefully,that’ll go when she gets tothe officer training school.’

Personally, I had mydoubts.

*Rules Restaurant belonged

to another world.Welcomed by a smile fromthe top-hattedcommissionaire, tall withthe assured, disciplined airof a former soldier, wepassed into the care ofwonderfully polite, hyper-efficient servers sportingtab-fronted aprons andtailcoats. Light bouncedbetween the gold-framedmirrors, reflected off the

fabulous coloured glassceiling and fell on ourparty dining in a discreetcorner. The spaciousness,soft leather benches andthick carpet recalled amore comfortable andrelaxed age.

Andrew Brudgland hadthat confident British air oflooking as if he was sittingup straight whenslouching. He ate his food

with smooth, precisemovements, nothingdropped or spilled and nocrumbs or drips left.Fascinated by suchfastidiousness, I studiedhis unremarkable faceclosely. Half-closed lidscouldn’t disguise thedirectness of his gaze as hetalked with Conrad aboutsome shared pastadventure. They’d met and

trained together whenConrad had spent time ondetachment in England asa young soldier. Andrewworked now in one of theBritish government’ssecurity services. From hisfit appearance he didn’t sitat a desk so much.

‘I’m sorry I missed youboth last time you came toLondon, Carina. How areyou enjoying it?’

He watched carefullyfor my response to hisformulaic question. I hadthe impression he neverwasted a word.

‘Good to have a fewdays to recover after theexercise – something Iguess you know all about,’I said, and looked up athim through my eyelashes.I saw a half-smile ofappreciation and heard a

chuckle from Conrad.‘Sorry,’ Andrew said,

and smiled. ‘That wasrather trite. Seriously, letme know if there’sanywhere particular you’dlike to visit and I’ll do mybest.’

‘Well, thank you. That’sa great offer.’ But Idoubted he’d get us intoBuckingham Palace,something that would

have been prettyintriguing.

When we’d finishedeating, I excused myself,making my way throughthe frosted glass door andup the narrow red andgold papered stairway tothe restrooms. Back downagain in the tiny lobby, Istretched my hand out toopen the door back intothe restaurant when I

heard Conrad’s voice,clipped and tense. Butstrangest of all, his usualfaultless English wasspoiled by traces of a Latinaccent. Only when he wasexhausted or stressed outdid his accent slip.

‘… not a clue. It washand delivered. As soon asI read it, I stuffed it back inthe envelope. Gods, I can’tbelieve it! The signature

just said “Nicola”. Who thehell is she?’

That got my attention. Ifroze where I was.

‘Let me have the letter,Conrad, and I’ll getsomebody at the lab toprocess it. If there’sanything, even a partial,we’ll find her. Don’tworry, I’ll be careful. Not aword to Carina.’

‘Jupiter, no. She’s as

sharp as all hell and canpick up a conspiracy in abreath of air.’

‘So I’ve heard,’ came thedry reply.

What in Hades was thatabout?

I shucked off my shoesand crept back up thestairs. At the top I slippedthem back on and camedown the stairway makinglight shoe noise on each

uncovered tread. I swungthrough the door, a smileon my face. The two mensmiled back equallyblandly and we made niceconversation for the rest ofthe evening.

*Next morning, I woke atthe touch of Conrad’s lipson my forehead. Totallyrelaxed, I enjoyed the softtingle as it spread through

my skin. I smiled before Iopened my eyes. But whenI did, I was disappointedto see him dressed, and insweats and sneakers.

‘Just going for a run inthe park.’ He pulled hisglance away a little tooquickly, turned and shutthe bedroom door behindhim before I could sayanything.

That was weird. We ran

together whenever wecould. He’d recovered sowell from his accidentearlier this year that he’dnow resumed full-ontraining. The first properrun, he’d scarcelymanaged a kilometrebefore collapsing, heavingbreath like a suffocationvictim. Luckily, we’d keptto the parkland behindDomus Mitelarum but it

hadn’t lessened hishumiliation and anger athimself. He hadn’t said aword as we walked back,him limping badly. But forJuno’s sake, his leg hadbeen smashed in severalplaces by that truckrunning him down. I’dreassured him, but hisconfidence had suffered.Although he seemed fitnow, months later, even he

had to admit he’d lost hisedge.

If I hadn’t overheard hisconversation last nightwith Andrew Brudgland Iwould have shrugged it offas quirky, or thought hewas letting me rest somemore. But not this time.

I leapt out of bed andfrantically pulled on myown jogging sweats andsneakers. Yanking the door

to the landing open, Istartled the guard and toredown the service stairs.Would Conrad have takenthe elevator? At the foot ofthe narrow stairwell, Ihurried past a surprisedmaid and headed for thestaff door leading to thelobby. No sign of himthrough the shadedwindow panel. Damn! Iedged into the main lobby,

sidled along to the elevatordoors then stepped outbriskly across the marblelobby. Outside I glancedup and down Park Lane. Itwas only half seven in themorning, but already busy.I peered between thetraffic and spottedConrad’s figure across theroad as he ran along thepark railing at a gentlepace.

Shadowing him on myside of the road, I jogged inparallel, but staying a fewsteps behind. After hedisappeared through thepark gate, I counted tofive, saw a space in thetraffic and sprinted to themiddle. A taxi screamedpast me. Crap, I forgotthey drove on the wrongside of the road. Oncesafely across, I made for

the gate Conrad had taken.Concealed behind a

tree, I watched as hetrotted in the direction ofthe Serpentine lake. I setoff down the Broadwalk,keeping him in my line ofsight at all times. It was tooopen for me to follow himdirectly. A little furthersouth, the added cover ofshrubs and trees let mecross westward past the

bandstand towards thelake. I closed up on him,but keeping a healthydistance between us. Washe simply out jogging?Where did he get theenergy after last night?

I followed him acrossthe bridge, hiding in asmall group of otherrunners. If he lookedaround, I didn’t want himspotting me. He started

back along the south bank,switching on to RottenRow and divertingthrough the formalgardens and stoppingeventually on the east sideof some Greek warriorstatue. He affected somestretching exercises, but bynow I had caught him upand was hiding only a fewmetres away behind a tallshrub.

He tracked animaginary line runningfrom the middle postaround the statue and atall chestnut tree at thepark railing. He turned tolook at the statue itself, butall the while glancingaround him checking thatnobody else was in view.His hand came up and herubbed his fingers alongthe hairline above his right

eye. Gotcha! Now I knewhe was up to something.Love him as I did, Ithought his tradecraft wassloppy. He strolled over tothe tree, sat at the base ofthe trunk and made a callon his cellphone.

A vibrating buzz frommy pocket answered. Itsounded as loud as ajackhammer drill. I leaptup, sprinted away to a safe

distance out of earshot,careful to remain just outof his line of sight. I founda shrub to crouch downby.

‘Oh, hi,’ I answered.‘You sound out of

breath. Are you all right?’‘No, I’m fine. You

surprised me. I was in thebathroom when youcalled. I just swallowedsome water.’

He laughed. ‘Well, takeit easy. I’ll be back in aboutten.’

I signed off and creptforward a few centimetres.Conrad pocketed his cell,then too casually laid hishand on the tree root. Hisfingers contracted, dartedunder the root and pickedsomething up. He stoodup, put it in his pocket andjogged off.

I made it back onlyseconds ahead of him,threw my sweats under thebed and ran into theshower where he foundme. Thank Juno, he didn’thear my heart thumpingwith the exertion of gettingback first. Leaving him tofinish, I skipped out of thebathroom and found hisdiscarded sweats on thefloor. I hesitated. Surely I

could trust him. I pulledthe towel from my hairand started rubbing it dry.I stared at the sweatsagain. It was too tempting.In Conrad’s pocket I foundtwo pieces of paperstapled together; ahandwritten letter inprecise blue ballpoint inkand Andrew Brudgland’sreport.

*

We left from Heathrowlater that day, arriving atPortus Airport in RomaNova in the early evening.As we clattered down thesteps we were engulfed byhot, humid air. By the timewe reached home, myhead was starting to throb.Juno knew what it wouldhave been like without airconditioning. Helena and Isettled the three wilting

children and I looked in onmy grandmother, Aurelia.It was late when Conradand I sat down to supper.

‘I’ll wait till morning tocheck up on work,’ Conradsaid, reaching for his glassof beer. ‘I don’t want todisturb Daniel now,especially as he’s tied upgetting ready for his anti-terrorism exercise. I hadthe last contact report this

morning, so I can’t thinkanything drastic hashappened since.’

‘That’s good, as I wantto discuss something withyou in private.’

‘Oh?’‘Why didn’t you tell me

about Nicola?’He looked down and

stabbed the breadcrumbedpork with his knife,swishing the meat around

his plate, giving the beansa hard time. He didn’tspeak for a full twominutes. I watched his jawworking as he ate, his faceimpassive. I found thesilence oppressive, but Iknew I had to wait.

‘Did you read it all?’His voice was subduedand his eyes remainedfocused on his plate.

‘Yes. Conrad, I—’

‘What the hell were youdoing rifling through mystuff?’

‘Excuse me? Why wereyou hiding such a letterfrom me? And asking aforeign security service toinvestigate it for you?’

He waved his hand andlooked irritated.

‘How did you find out?’‘I heard you in Rules.’‘Gods, do you always

eavesdrop on privateconversations?’

‘That’s in my jobdescription, remember?’

He was as mad with meas Livius had been duringthe link fight.

‘I’m not your target,’ hesaid. ‘Or have you decidedto make me one?’ I wincedat the sarcasm. His eyesnarrowed and slantedupwards and the skin

covering his cheekstightened. When he closedhis face down like that, heclosed down mentally aswell.

‘Why didn’t you tellme?’ I smiled a smile Ididn’t feel. ‘Surely this issome con woman on themake? We can deal with ittogether, like we alwaysdo.’

I touched his forearm.

He shook my hand off.‘For Jupiter’s sake, don’tgive me any platitudes.’

‘Okay,’ I said andswallowed. ‘We’ll do itstraight.’

He glanced at me, thenwent back to looking at hisplate.

I waited, but he keptsilent.

‘This is how I see it,’ Icontinued. ‘As family

head, I have to know aboutanything that threatens us.So give me the full story.’

He took a large swallowof his beer, stared at thebookshelves behind me.

‘I’ll deal with it. It’snothing to do with you oryour family.’

‘What do you mean, myfamily? It’s our family.’

He’d belonged to it fornearly fifteen years. In

Roma Nova, men marriedinto their wives’ families,taking their nomen, thefamily name, and leavingtheir birth name behind.Although my grandmotherheaded our family, I wastaking on more of herresponsibilities, trying tokeep the hundreds ofcousins in order, runningthe businesses, deputisingin the Senate as well as my

day job. It was prettytiring, if I was beinghonest. I could do withoutany further complications.

‘It’s a Tella familymatter.’

A door slammed in myface. He’d ceased to be aTella the moment hesigned the family registeron our wedding day. Hiseyes refused to meet mineand a pink flush appeared

on his face. The cords inhis neck stood out. I’dhave bet my last solidus hewas deeply embarrassed aswell as angry.

‘Okay, I realise this isdifficult for you, but let’stry and look at itlogically…’

‘Don’t you ever turn offthe logic and reasonbutton?’ He snorted and Ithought I saw contempt,

but also uncertainty.‘Look,’ I said, and laid

my hand on his, ‘I’mtrying to understand howupset you must be, butyou’ll have to help me out.Of course, anythingaffecting you affects meand I’m not talking familypolitics here.’

He said nothing. Hepulled the letter and reportout of his pocket and laid

them on the table, drawinghis hand back as if todisown them.

I picked them up andread the letter again.

Hello,Dad.I expect you’re surprised at

beingcalled thatbyacompletestranger, but then I’m not astranger.You met my mother, Janice,

whenyouwerehere twenty-fiveyears ago. Her diary is full of

the good times you hadtogether.Iexpectyouthoughtitwas a few weeks’ fun with aneasyEnglishgirl,butmyauntietoldmeyoubrokeMum’sheart.Shebroughtmeupbyherself,

onbenefits,tooproudtocontactyou for help. Auntie said youprobably didn’t know I was onthe way, but you didn’t bothertocheck,didyou?I looked into you and your

family. Not very good youhaving a human rights abusingtraitor as your stepfather, was

it?Ora slipperypolitician liketheunclewhobroughtyouup.Thatposhwifeofyourswon’t

like me popping up, so I thinkwe need to come to somearrangement. You wouldn’twantme turningupatyourex-girlfriend’s palace, or tellingmy story to your daily rag,wouldyou?YouowemeandI’mgoingto

collect.

Nicola.

I found it as crude and

tasteless as when I firstread it in London. AndrewBrudgland’s reportidentified her as likely tobe Nicola Hargreve, borntwenty-four years ago inDarlington MemorialHospital. Finger print datawere not as strong asAndrew would have liked,but he was eighty-five percent confident. Why hadshe been finger-printed? I

thought they were prettytough on destroying themafter a specified time in theUK. So why were hers stillon record?

With dark blond hair,shifting copper-brown andgreen eyes and strong,sculpted lines to his face,Conrad was an attractiveman. When he smiled, hewas devastating. I’d methim when he was thirty-

two, in his prime. It wasn’tmerely his face, his athleticbody or his fascinating cat-like walk. It was hisplentiful charm. Attwenty-one, in an Englisharmy town full of youngsoldiers, he would havebeen the hottest thing inpants.

‘She says she’s mydaughter, mine andJanice’s.’ His shoulders

slumped and he broughthis hands up to supporthis head. ‘Mars help me ifI’ve abandoned a child ofmine.’

After a few moments,he stood up, catching theend of his knife and forkwhich clattered on to thetable; the sound echoedthrough the room.

‘I’ll talk to UncleQuintus. Perhaps he’ll

have some ideas how todeal with this. And he’sthe head of my family.’

Quintus Tellus, who’dretired as ImperialChancellor a few yearsago, would no doubt haveall kinds of clever advice,but I was unnerved to seeConrad at such a loss. Nota trace of his famousdetached decisiveness; hismind was like a bowl of

puls porridge. And thisreverting to his previousfamily. My instinct wouldbe to pay this Nicola a littlevisit and scare the crap outof her. Unfortunately, theletter had bitten straightinto Conrad’s Achilles’heel.

What made him such agood father was hisdetermination that none ofhis children would want

for love or care. It was anobsession that reachedback into his own ruinedchildhood.

‘Of course, we’ll consultUncle Quintus,’ I said, ‘butwe’ll handle this together.Between us, we can see offthis little blackmailer. She’sprobably only bluffing.’ Ismiled at him and reachedout my hand.

But he kept his own

back and looked down athis dirty plate.

‘I know that after wemet, I was a coward not totell you about my childrenwith Silvia,’ he said, hisvoice only just above awhisper. ‘Or about Silviaherself, but I was shit-scared of losing you.’

It had been a bitter timewhen I’d discovered thetruth in the most

humiliating way possible.We’d parted for nearly ayear, each nursing a deephurt. It was only afterhunting down the killerwho was after me thatwe’d been reconciled. Itwas simple – we’d foundwe couldn’t live apart. Acliché, sure, but that’s whatclichés were – commonoccurrences. But it hadn’tbeen a smooth run in

anybody’s language.‘But this, this…’ He

failed to find the words.‘Little accident?’‘Don’t be facetious’ He

looked as angry as allHades.

‘Sorry. That wasinsensitive.’ I waved myhand at him and stifled myirritation.

‘I swear I didn’t knowabout this.’

IV

The gods knew whatConrad discussed with hisuncle the next day, but hedidn’t, or wouldn’t, tell meanything when we met inhis office in the afternoon.I decided to pay a call onQuintus Tellus myself.

Domus Tellarum was

even older than ours, someparts dating back over athousand years. Not so talland less pristine thanDomus Mitelarum, itexuded a shabby charm.Today’s strong sunlightemphasised the flakingportico columns, and thered brickwork exposedhere and there, but theworld wouldn’t end if theyweren’t re-faced. I left my

side arm in the vestibulesafebox and made my waythrough to the atrium.

‘Carina. I am honoured.Both of you within a day.Dear me.’

‘Don’t give me thatbullshit, Uncle Quintus.’ Igrinned at him, leanedover and kissed his cheek.‘You know why I’m here.’

A little over eighty,Quintus still thought and

spoke like the cleverpolitician he’d been. Notonly that, he had thesharpest sense of survivalI’d ever seen andeverything wassubordinate to it. I lovedhim dearly.

He gestured me to aseat by the windowoverlooking the garden.Only the night irrigationwas keeping anything

green in this summer’sheat. But this evening abreeze was just starting torelieve the heaviness oftoday’s exceptionaltemperature. I was surewe’d have storm raintonight. A servant broughtus wine, then we werecompletely alone.

‘Is this an official visit?’I wore my PGSF

summer uniform; I’d come

straight from work.‘Believe me, Quintus, if

this was an official Mitelafamily visit, I’d have halfthe family council here tosupport me.’

The Mitelae were thesenior of the originalTwelve Families who’dfounded Roma Nova.Endowed with privilege,the Twelve had been theruler’s supporters and

servants for over sixteenhundred years. But tobalance it, they had greaterresponsibilities. Theyserved the imperatrixwhile protecting their ownfamilies and the RomaNovan society they’dhelped found. TheFamilies’ Code regulatedand balanced affairsbetween these powerfulfamilies in a fair but

disciplined way.Undemocratic, but it keptorder. It worked.

Technically, Conradhad violated the code bynot disclosing voluntarilyabout Nicola, but howstupid would it have beenfor me to discipline him forthat?

‘You underestimateyourself, Carina. You’resufficiently terrifying by

yourself.’I smiled at him. He

smiled back.‘I thought we’d have a

little chat, just betweenourselves,’ I said. ‘Not onlydo I not want to make itofficial, I want youradvice.’

‘Oh?’‘C’mon, Uncle Quintus,

don’t be difficult. I reallydo need your help.’

His eyes scrutinised myface for some moments. Hewaved his hand, invitingme to speak. I knew he’dmanoeuvre me to be firstup to bat.

‘I don’t know whatConradus has discussedwith you and I don’tsuppose you’ll tell me.’ Iglanced at him. Theexpression on his face wasimpassive. He waited for

me to continue. ‘I’mconcerned he didn’tconfide in me when wewere in London,’ I said. ‘Ionly found out byaccident.’

He grimaced.‘Conradus put it in ratherstronger terms. “Sneaky”and “underhand” weresomewhere in theconversation.’

‘Whatever. What did he

expect from anotherspook?’

We sat in silence for afew moments. I heard faintsounds of crockery beingset on surfaces from hisdining room. Of course,like many older people heate early.

‘Quintus, I only want tohelp. I’m worried he’llinternalise it and getdepressed like after the

accident.’A little over six months

ago, Conrad and I hadbeen out on a rareshopping expedition in theold quarter of the city. Fedup and impatient to gethome, we’d headed for ashort cut through a narrowalley behind the shops.Just before it opened on tothe Via Nova, we’d heardshouting and crying. In

front of a recessed timber-framed building we founda stocky, middle-aged mansmacking a kid of aroundsix or seven. The kidcowered in the old beam-framed doorway, pinionedby the man’s hand againstthe timber door. The man’sother hand travelled backand forth across the boy’sface and side of his head,palm and back of hand

hitting the child withincreasing ferocity. Itwasn’t a casual slap ortwo, it was systemisedbeating.

With an almost feral cryof ‘Nooo!’ Conrad hurledhimself on the man andsmashed him to theground. Then he kneltdown by the kid tocomfort him, but the boypulled away, terrified. I

caught and held the kid,murmured reassuranceand wiped his dirty,bloody face alreadystarting to bloom withbruising. Conrad called thecustodes and the medicsbut kept his eyes fixed onthe boy. Neither of us waswatching the guy Conradhad felled. Sloppy inretrospect, I guessed. Nextminute, the man was on

his feet and punchedConrad hard in the smallof his back and ran towardthe Via Nova. Conradgrunted, caught his breathand sprinted after him.

Next thing I heard wasa screech of brakesfollowed by the dullthump of somethingbouncing off a vehicle tothe ground, then metalcrunching metal. The

beater was dead under thevehicle’s wheels. Conradwas blue-lighted to theCentral Valetudinarium.Apart from the broken legand multiple bruising, themost serious injury was tothe side of his head. TheMRI and CT scans clearedhim of permanent damage,but he became frustratedand depressed at howslowly he’d recovered. He

seemed cheered when Itold him the kid had beenfostered with a decentfamily in the city.

Conrad was clearedphysically fit, although notfor active operations as hisreflexes had been dulled.He’d never be able to goout in the field again,something I still wasn’tsure he’d accepted. TheSenate had reconfirmed

him in his command post,but I still worried aboutthe overall effect on him.I’d stopped mentioning itas he hated beingreminded that he could nolonger be the super-perfectspecial forces officer.

‘I wouldn’t worry aboutit,’ Quintus’s voice broughtme back to the present.‘He’ll sort it out.’ He gaveme one of his politician’s

smiles. ‘Now, what are youdoing for your birthday?Anything special?’

I was stunned byQuintus’s lack ofcooperation. No, it was athin slice off wilfulobstruction. What the hellwas going on? Had he lostit?

No, it was their damnedbond. Quintus had rescuedConrad from a disastrous

early childhood; Conrad’sstep-father, Caius Tellus,had launched a coup andimposed a repressiveregime afterwards thatlasted barely twelvemonths. In the aftermath,with the family ruinedpolitically and theirproperty confiscated bythe state, Quintus waslucky to have survived,exiled to the east as a lowly

country magistrate. He’dfought his way back,gaining a compassionatepatron, some say lover,who’d brought him intothe circles of power.

He’d sent his toughlittle nephew into thelegions, where Conrad hadthrived, enduring thestrenuous training and thecontempt for his name.Invited to join the PGSF as

a young officer, he’dworked tirelessly to reachthe top. It probably hadn’thurt him any that his wilyuncle had risen to be theimperatrix’s Chancellor forthe last fifteen years.Quintus was retired nowand although he still hadpersonal influence, thepower didn’t flow fromhim in the same way.

But he still acted like a

politician. I couldn’t coax afurther word out of him.As I left Domus Tellarum, Ialmost forgot to smile atthe steward as shemurmured a farewell.

I drove into the towncentre and called Lucius,more properly LuciusPunellus. He’d been thePGSF Adjutant for manyyears and knew everythingabout everybody. More

importantly, he’d beenConrad’s best friend andcomrade-in-arms sincethey were recruits.

Would I get the samestonewalling from him?Had Conrad gotten to himfirst?

Lucius had retired lastyear and lived with hislong-time companion,Paulina Carca in a tasteful,but fairly modest,

apartment block halfwayalong the Via Nova. Hisspiteful ex-wife haddivorced him without asolidus over the minimumlegal settlement. Paulinaonly had a teacher’spension plus a run-downlittle farm her aunt had lefther. But they wererefurbishing it little bylittle and looked happytogether.

‘Lucius? Carina. Can Idrop by for a fewminutes?’ Pause. ‘Outsideyour street door.’ I’dparked up in the courtyardalready. I looked up andsaw his figure standing atthe window, but he wastoo far away for me todistinguish anything else. Iheard the entry lock buzzand slipped in.

‘Always pleased to see

you, Carina,’ He bentdown to kiss my cheek ashe ushered me across theirthreshold. ‘What troubleare you in this time?’

Paulina Carca cominginto the hallway saved mefrom giving an impolitereply. She shook hands,smiling nervously. She’daccepted me as one ofLucius’s colleagues, but hetold me she’d never

forgotten that night nearlyseven years ago when I’dburst into her apartmentwith a bunch of heavies. Adesperate time when wewere fighting off anattempted coup. I wasdeep undercover andwasn’t particularly happyabout it, but we’d had toget to Lucius quickly. Wehadn’t trashed the place inany way, but she was still

resentful. One of those I’dnever win over, I guessed.

He gave her areassuring smile andgently steered her backinto their sitting room.Lucius took me into histiny study, firmly shuttingthe door.

‘Okay, what’s thisabout?’

Lucius had run theadmin side of the PGSF

with ruthless efficiencyand could snake his waythough any bureaucraticmaze. He settled behindhis desk, his eyes staringunblinking at my face, histall upper body leaningforward. He wasconcentrating every gramof his mental energy onme. I’d forgotten howformidable he could be. Itook a deep breath and

started.‘Totally off the record,

okay?’He said nothing, but I

saw his shoulders tense.Was I too late?

‘Has Conradus been intouch about a littleproblem that’s come hisway?’

‘What sort of problem?’‘Um, a family problem.’‘Isn’t that your

domain?’‘Yes, it should be. I’m

perfectly happy to dealwith it, officially, if I haveto. But he’s closed me out.’

‘Really?’‘Yes, really. Don’t look

so smug, Lucius. That’s myjob, to protect my family.’

I told him about thecontents of the letter andAndrew Brudgland’sinitial findings.

‘I don’t know, Carina.Perhaps he wants to dothis one himself.’

‘Why?’‘Don’t quote me, but

he’s a proud man andperhaps underneath he’sterrified of hurting youagain. He thought he’d lostyou all those years agowhen he didn’t tell youabout his previouschildren.’ He got up and

closed the drapes. Hepicked up a paper clipfrom his desk and teased itout straight before lookingme direct in the eye. ‘Hedoesn’t want a repeat.’

‘But by hiding thisbusiness with this girl, he’sdoing it again.’

He snorted. ‘Whoeversaid he’d be logical?’

‘C’mon, Lucius, he’sone of the coolest, most

decisive people I know.’‘Yes, but remember his

upbringing.’‘Meaning?’‘I’m no head doctor, but

when people feel a threatto something they holddear, that’s vital to them,they often lose it and actvery strangely. They’re insurvival mode. Sometimes,they even strike out at thepeople nearest to them.’

‘Has he been in contactwith you?’

‘No, he hasn’t.’ Hegrinned. ‘He probablyknew I’d tell him not to besuch an arse and let yourfamily council sort it outfor him.’

I chuckled. ‘You’re sucha sensitive soul, Lucius.’

‘I’m not going to tellyou your job. I expectyou’ve got some wild plan

to sort it out. But youknow I’ll help, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ I laid my hand onthe back of his and smiledup at him. ‘Thanks.’

‘Perhaps I’ll call himanyway to see if he wantsto go to the gym or for adrink.’

I struggled not to shoutat him for such anelementary blunder.Conrad would know

immediately I’d been atLucius. It was differentfrom talking to UncleQuintus; Conrad wouldexpect that. But Lucius andPaulina were so often attheir farm that it would bereasonable to assume Ihadn’t been able to seehim.

‘Would you mindleaving it, Lucius? Just fora while.’

‘Why? Oh, of course. Itwould be too much of acoincidence, wouldn’t it?Mars, I’m starting to getold.’

‘Go back to playing atfarmers, Lucius. I’ll try notto disturb you.’

‘Cheeky little tart – wedon’t play, we’re serious.We want to move out therepermanently, so it’s got towork.’

I couldn’t see Luciusdigging around amongstrows of salad or doingunspeakable things withcows, but he seemed towant it.

*The next afternoon, Flaviusand I waited. And waited.Where the Hades wasBranca? Flavius startedtapping on his el-pad,unusual for him to show

impatience. But I didn’tthink he had much timefor the head of training.Nor, I admitted, did I.Lieutenant Colonel TertiaBranca was a pain in thefundament. One of the lastof the old guard to comethrough, she still thoughther rank entitled her tobehave as she thought fit.After years of beingcontained in logistics,

she’d been promoted totake the wonderful JuliaSella’s place in trainingwhen Sella retired. Badmove. Luckily her staffmanaged to keep thedepartment functioning atsome level, but it wasbecoming more difficult aseach week passed.

‘If she doesn’t turn upin the next five minutes,I’m off. Sorry, Bruna, but

I’ve got better things to dothan hang around for someslacker to get over herhangover.’

‘Not very respectful,Senior Centurion,’ I mock-admonished him.

‘Sorry, ma’am, I’msure.’

But Flavius was right.I tried her personal

commset again. It wasswitched off.

‘Okay, let’s carry on andsend her the reportafterwards.’ Not that itwould do much, but I’dblind copy it to herexecutive officer andsomething might get done.Gods, it was hardsometimes, dealing withidiots. I turned to myscreen to begin, when aloud knock on the doorinterrupted me. The door

burst open.‘I’m very sorry, ma’am,

I only just found out thismeeting was scheduled. Ihope I’m not too late.’Lieutenant Lucilla Mitela,clutching her folder, chestheaving, gulped downsome air; she must haverun all the way.

‘Come in, Lucy, sitdown and get your breathback.’

Lucy smiled nervouslyat Flavius; he returned agrave, but not angry look.‘Where’s Colonel Branca?’he said.

‘She’s… she’sindisposed, SeniorCenturion, so I thought I’dbetter come and take notesin her place.’

Flav rolled his eyes andmuttered, ‘For fuck’s sake!’not quite under his breath.

‘Well, let’s get on withit,’ I said. ‘You’ll have toconvey our decisions backto her, Lucy. We don’thave time to waste onanother meeting. If shedoesn’t like what weagreed, tell her to take itup with the legate.’

*Somehow, Conrad and Iseemed to miss each otherat home. Was it just a case

of split work shifts ordeliberate evasion? Eitherway, I didn’t have theopportunity to raise thequestion of Nicola againwith him. I had a Senatecommittee meeting thisafternoon and spentlunchtime going throughthe paperwork. I hatedbeing on the bureaucraticend of the securityoversight group. I

sometimes had to grill myown colleagues – a nearimpossible situation. Iknew how tough their jobwas without having tojustify every solidus of theirbudget or every tinyaction. But I had no choice;that was my job. One ofmy other jobs, I shouldsay.

Giving up on readingthe papers, I went through

the main part of the houseup to my grandmother’srooms as I did at least oncea day. Marcella, herassistant, now grey herself,led me through to thebedroom. Nobody hadused the D word yet, butAurelia Mitela, mygrandmother, my belovedNonna, was dying.

She was propped up inbed, eyes half-closed. I

looked down at her face,frail skin sagging over theshrunken flesh beneath.My hands balledautomatically. I felt angryand powerless at the waythe cancer was destroyingher. She was only in hereighties; according to therecords, our family usuallyreached the century. Gods,how unfair it was for sucha clever and affectionate

woman to be taken likethis.

‘Hello, darling,’ shesaid. Her voice wassurprisingly strong as wasthe sparkle in her eyes.‘You look so tired, Carina.You should try to rest, youknow.’

What in Hades was Isupposed to say to that?Nothing adequatepresented itself, so I said

nothing. I just held herskeleton’s hand.

‘I’m fine, Nonna, really,’I lied after a few minutes.‘I have to go to the securitycommittee session thisafternoon and thedocuments were giving mea headache.’

‘Really? That’s it?’ I felther eyes delving under myfacade. ‘I don’t think that’severything, is it?’

‘No,’ I admitted, ‘but Ihave something I need tosort out in the family and Ihaven’t worked out whator how to do it. But I don’twant to bother you withit.’

She snorted. More like awheeze, but effectiveenough. ‘I’m not on mybier yet, Carina. So tell me,please.’ She never soundedmore clipped as then. She

was back in her role ashead of a rich andpowerful family withconnections and influenceall the way up to the top.She had more steel in herpoor wasted hand thanmost had between theirhead and tail.

When I’d finished, shegave me a steady look.

‘I know you felt youdidn’t have much choice,

but I don’t think youhandled it very well,darling.’

‘What do you mean?’‘It was a mistake to

confront him as soon asyou got back. I would havecarried on myinvestigation behind thescenes for a little longer.’

I was hurt by heranalysis; I was considereda strategic specialist.

Maybe I’d lost my edgeduring the past two yearsI’d commandedOperations. Or let my deepconcern for Conradinterfere with logic. But noway was I going to start amajor argument with her. Ididn’t go for the old anddying.

‘Somebody cut yourtongue out?’ Her eyesglittered almost

maliciously. ‘Too scared tofight me?’

‘You’re impossible! Ofcourse I can’t fight you,you’re—’

‘Yes?’‘You are so unfair,

Nonna.’‘Yes, I know, but you’re

so vulnerable, Carina, it’sirresistible.’

‘Well, behave yourself,Nonna, and try to help me

out here.’‘Only if you stop being

sentimental andpretending I’m not dying.You’re wasting both ourtime.’

I choked on my nextbreath and felt my eyestearing. She sent me anincinerating look. I drewmyself up, swallowed andlooked straight at her.

‘Better,’ she observed.

‘Now, try and rescue somebrains cells from thesloppy mush in your headand listen to me. Conradhas reached some kind ofcrisis, perhaps somethingfrom his past and the letterfrom this girl has triggeredit. Your grandfather,Euralbius, went through asimilar phase, so I knowwhat I’m talking about.They do get over it, so long

as you keep your head.’I stroked her hand,

blessing myself again forher wisdom and hard-headedness.

‘Try very hard not tooppose him directly. It’slike dealing with anadolescent, but a lot moreserious. I’m not telling youto submit in any way. Bepatient, but clever.’ Shegave me a measured look.

‘You’re crafty enough to beable to work this out,Carina. I suppose you’vegone soft worrying aboutme. Well, you can stopthat, right now. You’regoing to have toconcentrate.’

How did she do this? Iknow she was a bone-and-blood Roman, but suchtoughness and selflessnesswas beyond anything. If I

could behave one tenth aswell, I should be veryproud.

The next moment, shewilted, sinking into thecream lace-edged pillows.It was a small vanity ofhers to have wide swathesof hand-made lace toframe her sleep. I wouldhave bought her an oceanof it if it would have takenthis evil disease away.

V

Checking my mails nextmorning, one sprang out atme – Conrad’s executiveofficer, Rusonia, asking meto call by his office ‘as soonas convenient’. Whichmeant now. I glanced atmy watch. It was barelyseven thirty. What was so

urgent? He’d come homelate last night, I’d beendrifting off to sleep whenI’d felt him slide into ourbed, but he didn’t say aword. Nor did he touchme. When I woke aroundsix, he’d gone, not evenappearing at breakfast.Was Nonna right? Maybe Ishould have left it.

I hurried along thecream corridors, el-pad in

hand, my sandals scarcelysounding on the polishedwood floor. I smiled atRusonia as I entered theanteroom.

‘Go straight in, ma’am,he’s expecting you.’

Nevertheless, I knockedon the door and waited,my nerves jangling. ForJuno’s sake, I wasn’t somelowly recruit in disgrace. Iheard nothing; I knocked

again and went in.The legate’s office was a

large room, located in thecorner of the building,with floor to ceilingbulletproof windows ontwo sides. The regulationcream was broken up witha lot of bookshelves, someprints and maps and adisplay cupboard. Thelittle gold eagle I’d boughthim at Christie’s on our

previous trip to Londonglistened behind the glassdoors as it reflected theearly morning light. Unlikeother people’s offices, thelarge meeting table waspaper-free.

He was sitting behindhis desk, head downsigning some document.He finished, closed thefolder, put the top back onhis pen, laid it on the desk

and looked up. I wasshocked by the darkshadows under his eyesand taut lines around hismouth. What in Hades washappening to him?

I half-extended myhand, instinctively, butquickly drew it back. Wewere in our workenvironment; he the unithead, me a senior officer,but under his command.

Not easy, but we’d made itwork over the years.

‘Sit down, Carina,’ hesaid, waving me to thechair opposite him. ‘Twothings. Firstly, I’ve had acomplaint from ColonelBranca. She’s aggrievedthat she wasn’t at therecent liaison meeting andyou saw fit to carry onwithout her. She feltslighted to have been

“relayed instructions via ajunior officer.” Anycomment?’

Gods, he was allbusiness this morning.

‘It was a periodicmeeting, with a month’snotice. We were to addresstraining needs in light ofthe recent overseasexercise.’ Since I hadnothing to lose, I let himhave it. ‘Training has been

both inadequate andpoorly organised this pastyear and operational armsare suffering as a result. If Imay speak so freely,Colonel Branca has littleinterest or motivation forher job, to the extent ofnegligence where peoplemay get killed or injuredas a result.’

‘A serious charge.’ Hisvoice was grim. ‘Can you

substantiate it?’‘How much evidence do

you want?’‘Then why haven’t you

raised it before?’I gasped. Anger swept

up through me. ‘May Ibring the Legate’sattention to my report lastmonth and the report afterthe winter warmerexercise?’

Both had highlighted

serious training defaults.Hadn’t he read them?

‘I raised them withColonel Branca, but sheconsidered you wereexaggerating.’

‘She what?’ I took adeep breath. ‘You didn’tthink to discuss it withme?’

‘No.’‘Why ever not?’‘Not your domain.’

‘That’s it?’He leaned back in his

chair and sighed. ‘I forgethow argumentative youare. Yes, that’s it. I’mperfectly aware she hasn’tbeen the most effectivetraining officer we’ve had.Her departmental staff hasmanaged well, though.’

I was bursting with myown opinion, but kept it tomyself, remembering

Nonna’s advice.‘This brings me neatly

to the second thing.Effective tonight at 18.00you’re relieved of yourcommand of Operations.’

No!I stared at him. I

couldn’t move. I ran hiswords through my headagain. Why? Gods, it wasunfair. Just because I’dcriticised a useless but

well-connected old lush.Was Conrad gettingpersonal here? Was heresentful of how I’dreacted to Nicola’s letter?No, that was so out ofcharacter for him. I had nooption but to accept it, butthrowing me out of the jobhe knew I loved wasunbelievably severe.

Then I spotted tinycreases around the edge of

his mouth that hadnothing to do with histiredness.

‘You’re taking overTraining and Personnel onpromotion, with the rankof Lieutenant Colonel.Congratulations.’ And hesmiled at me with thewarmth and sparkle ofnormal times.

‘You—’‘Yes?’

I swallowed. Hard.‘You… you surprised

me, that’s all.’He burst out laughing.

‘You are such a liar.’‘Yeah, well. That wasn’t

nice.’‘But fun.’ He smiled.I didn’t think so, but he

had a more robust sense ofhumour than I. I thinkmost men did.

He went over to his

coffee machine andbrought me back a cupfulto which he promptlyadded a slug of brandy.

‘For the shock, ofcourse,’ he said andwinked.

*Branca was ‘retired’ onmedical grounds. She hadto get dried out as acondition of drawing a fullpension, which I thought

was fair. Although I wasfunctionally in charge ofsuch things now, I lostinterest once I’d seen themess she’d left thedepartment in. Branca’sexecutive officer, CaptainPetrus Sergius, had held ittogether as much as hecould. His humanresources backgroundbefore joining the PGSFhad been invaluable. No, it

had pretty much saved itall from going under. I wasmentally exhausted, but ina way grimly satisfied,after our long hourshammering out the newframework.

‘Thank you, Sergius,good session. Let me havethe budgets as soon as youcan. Last thing, can youopen up a feedbackmailbox on the department

intranet?‘Do you mean like a

suggestions box, ma’am?’‘Exactly so. I want input

from everybody.’His grey eyes looked

wary.‘What?’‘Colonel Branca

expressly forbade such athing and made it adisciplinary.’

I couldn’t believe it. She

really had made the rulesup as she went along.

‘Well, Sergius, news foryou. I want to know. Youmight find a revisit to thelegate’s standing ordersabout transparency andteamwork of, what, nearlyeight years ago,worthwhile.’

His face closed down;he tightened his mouth, hiseyes lost a little light.

Oops.‘Don’t take it badly,

Captain. You did a greatjob. Now you’re going tohelp me do a better one.Besides,’ I grinned at him,‘apart from knowing whatthey’re bitching about, wemay learn somethingourselves.’

‘Very well, Colonel, I’llget it set up.’

Colonel! I’d have to get

used to being called that.He ran his fingers along

the side of his el-pad andhesitated.

‘Something else?’‘It’s something Colonel

Branca dealt with. It’sdone, but—’

‘Try me.’‘It’s fairly routine, just a

follow-up after the recentexercise.’

‘Okay, Sergius, let’s get

a few things straight ifwe’re going to worktogether. I don’t playgames with colleagues – Idon’t have time. If youhave something to say, sayit. I really don’t mind if it’sas trivial as somebodysniffing in a different way,or a major attack. If it hasany significance, or it’sbothering you, you tell me.Use your judgment, sure,

but err on the telling side.Okay?’

He nodded, looking alittle defensive. He’d getused to me, I hoped.

‘It’s a mail we had fromthe English liaison officer,Browning, enquiring abouta familiarisation visit.’ Hepaused, looking awkward.‘Although it wasaddressed to you, it gotrouted to us as it had a

training code in thereference. I suggestedforwarding it to you, butthe colonel insisted wedeal with it and repliedthat we were too busy toentertain such informaltrips.’ He threw aspeculative look at me anddecided to stop talking.

Good move. He learnedfast.

‘Okay, Sergius. Thanks

for telling me.’ I couldn’ttake it out on him.‘Forward it, and Branca’sreply, to me ASAP. I’ll sortit out with CaptainBrowning.’

He looked relieved.‘Oh, and don’t call them

English. They get seriouslymiffed if you get theircomplex nationality thingwrong. Their naval and airforces are “royal” and their

army “British”. And forJupiter’s sake don’t evercall any Scottish peopleEnglish. They have thislove-hate thing. You‘llknow how annoyed theyare by how hard they hityou.’ I grinned. ‘It’s a bitlike Castra Lucillans andBrancadori.’

*After Sergius left, I calledColonel Stimpson’s

executive assistant at theirbase in the west ofEngland and she patchedme through to Michael.

‘I don’t know how toapologise for mypredecessor’s rudeness,Michael. She somehowdidn’t pass your messageto me. Of course, we’ll bedelighted if you can findtime for a liaison visit.How long can you stay?’

‘I was thinking of aweek to ten days, if you’llhave me. I might add onsome leave I’ve got due.’

‘Great, I’ll get aprogramme drawn up forthe official visit. Is thereanything you particularlywant to see or anyone youwant to meet in your freetime?’

‘I’d very much like tohave a look inside your

university, if that can bearranged.’

‘Sure, easiest thing inthe world.’

‘I’ve also got a little bitof news for you, but we’lltalk about that when I getthere.’

‘Don’t be such a tease,Michael. What is it?’

‘I’d rather not say overthe phone.’

We had one of the most

secure military commssystems in the world; evenFort Meade in the EUS hada problem listening in, andI doubted he was using apublic payphone either. Sowhat was the problem?

*Nine days later I metMichael off his flight. Ithrew my weight aroundand took our wheelbaseout airside and had him

disembarked first. Mydriver loaded his bags, weprocessed him through themilitary side of PortusAirport and were soon onour way back to the PGSFbuilding. He couldn’t resistgaping like a tourist ateverything. I recalled howentranced I’d been by it allwhen I’d arrived fifteenyears ago, so I gave himthe running commentary

as we drove along. Creamstone with terracotta rooftiles mixed in with tall,much grander blocks andmodern buildings standingalongside older ones;somehow it all fit together.

In the centre, we drovepast one side of a hugeopen square, surroundedon the other three sides bya forest of stone columnsand grand buildings – the

forum – containing variouspublic offices, includingthe Senate. The smallerones were mostly temples.When I’d first caught sightof it, I’d thought it lookedlike a sword-and-sandalsmovie set with extrasgoing up and down thesteps, but in normaltwenty-first centuryclothes.

Twenty minutes after

we left the airport, wewere skirting a hill risingsteeply to an old castleruin perched at the top of acliff commanding thewhole river valley.Halfway up was abeautiful stone house, theGolden Palace. With longsingle storey wingsrunning out from eachside, it looked like a birdpoised for take-off.

I wasn’t sure how muchEnglish my driverunderstood, so describingthe scenery kept us togeneral topics until wewere safe inside my officein the PGSF.

At the guard post, I’dretrieved a slim metalwristband with a tinyscreen and clipped it onMichael’s wrist.

‘It’s an ID and commset

combined. Don’t forget towear it at all times,otherwise you’ll havesudden company in theform of a security detail. Ifthe guard watch office seesa biosignature in thebuilding without an IDattached on their screens,they automaticallyrespond. Pretty robustly.’ Igrinned at him.

‘Consider me warned,’

he smiled back.‘C’mon, I’ll take you on

the short tour beforelunch.’

One military unitheadquarters is prettymuch like any another, butour sports area included asand-floored arena and thearmoury for bladedweapons. Michael wasdrawn to the smallmuseum and talked in his

stilted Latin to the curator.Marcellus Vitus had beenthe primipilus, the mostsenior enlisted man, beforehis retirement three yearsago. He just kneweverything, so I listenedcarefully too.

‘I’d like to have anotherchat with Vitus, if that canbe arranged,’ Michael saidas we made our way to themess area.

‘Sure, I’ll—’‘Carina! Where’ve you

been? I get back and you’dvanished. Oh,congratulations, by theway.’

Daniel. Now unitdeputy, he’d been mybuddy since we werejunior officers together.Well, apart from a reallyfrosty period seven yearsago after the final

Pulcheria operation. Thathad lasted a wholeuncomfortable year.Eventually, he’d thawedand we’d mostly regainedour friendship, but with atentative note still hangingthere.

The teasing expressionin his dark eyes now wasmatched by his infectiousgrin.

‘Good morning, sir,’ I

said formally, lockingdown my answering grinand switching to English.‘May I present CaptainMichael Browning, of theBritish Army specialforces? Michael, this isColonel Daniel Stern, thedeputy legate.’

‘Oh. Morning, Captain.Good to meet you. You’rewith us for a couple ofweeks, I believe?’

‘Yes, I am, sir. We’rescheduled to meettomorrow, at 11.00 hours.’

The two men assessedeach other. Daniel brokefirst, smiling, took theBrit’s arm and pulled himalong. ‘Let’s grab a beerthen, before lunch, and getto know each other.’ Heturned his head over hisshoulder towards me andwinked. ‘You can run

along now, Lieutenant-Colonel,’ he said. I saidnothing, but smiled tomyself as I walked back tomy office, pleased the twomen had gelled so quickly.I glanced at my watch.Half an hour before lunch.I’d quickly check my deskand join them in the bar.

‘Colonel,’ a sombre-faced Sergius greeted me.He had a naturally solemn

expression, but now hisfeatures looked pinched in.‘Something unfortunatehas occurred.’

Not my grandmother.Please Juno, no.

‘What? Is it theCountess?’

He shook his head, butlooked as if he was eatingstale field rations. Heshuffled his feet andlooked away. Sergius’s

carefulness was starting toannoy me. Didn’t he evertake a risk?

‘Then what?’‘The DJ Custodes XI

Station rang through.They’ve arrested a femalejuvenile. Drunk in a publicplace.’

‘And?’I didn’t particularly care

about some stupid kidpissed out of her head.

Strictly one for thecustodes. Then fear stabbedme in the gut. Please gods,not Stella. Silvia would bemortified. Good thingthey’d rung me, not thepalace, if it was her.

Sergius looked down atthe el-pad in his hand as ifto find some help there. Helooked up at me and saidin a totally expressionlessvoice, ‘The name on the

arrest sheet is Mitela,Allegra.’

VI

‘Here, Bruna, drink this.’A strong, masculine

hand bearing a chippedmug came into view,interrupting my study ofthe skirting in this dismalroom. I was crouchingover with shame andtension.

Lurio had greeted me atthe station house entrance,dragged me into thenearest interview room,thrust me down on a hardplastic chair and told me tostay there. When he cameback, I took the mugautomatically, sipped andnearly lost my ability tobreathe at the fiery spirithe’d poured into the tea.

‘Juno, Lurio, how much

have you put in this?’‘Enough to wake you

up out of drama queenmode.’

‘Well, screw you.’‘Much better,’ he

replied and grinned at me.Cornelius Lurio, currentlyDepartment of JusticeCustodes Senior UrbanCohorts Commander, hadbeen my boss on my firstever undercover operation

fourteen years ago. I’dbeen Senior Justiciar Brunathen, with a minusintention of goinganywhere near the PGSF.The false name had stuck,although only used now asmy nickname. We’d brieflybeen lovers during thatyear Conrad and I hadparted. Lurio was one ofmy oldest and most acerbicfriends.

‘Look, Bruna, it’s not abig deal. Kids are alwaysdoing stupid things. Begrateful it’s nothingworse.’

‘But she’s so young.Allegra’s different, shedoesn’t—’

‘Don’t be so bloodynaive! Your fluffy littlebunny is like anybody else.We’re always scrapingthem off some pavement

somewhere. Especially thegold-plated ones.’

I glared at him. Henever failed to throw myfamily’s wealth in my face.

‘Yes, yes, you can lookall Hades at me, but youknow I’m right.’

‘Give me the details,please.’

He looked at the arrestsheet. ‘The local squad wascalled by the bar owner

who’d chucked Allegraand an older girl out. Thetwo girls had got rowdyand were starting to annoythe other customers. Thetwo of them startedrunning across the ViaNova playing dodgemswith the traffic.’

I swallowed hard toprevent a scream escaping.The Via Nova was not onlyincredibly busy; it was the

site of Conrad’s accident.How in Hades had she gotso drunk? That bar ownershould be flogged. I wouldmake it my personalmission to have her licencerevoked and her businessruined.

‘Go on.’‘When the patrol got

there, they found Allegraslumped by the side of theroad, weeping, but

truculent. No sign of theolder girl. They arrestedAllegra, put her in ageneral holding cell withthe town tarts and pettythieves. Apparently,Allegra had used someoffensive language whenshe was arrested. Thecustody sergeant thoughtit would teach her alesson.’ Even Lurio lookedgrim.

‘Her name?’‘Don’t go there, Bruna. I

can understand why thesergeant did it. The shockoften works. But she didn’trealise they were dealingwith such a protected littleflower.’

I hated him at thatmoment.

‘She refused to give hername. She didn’t bleat, butas her clothes and accent

showed she came from awell-off family, they gotpermission from themagistrate to scan her.’ Hesnorted. ‘Imagine the panicthat caused when theyread her identity on thedisplay! With such a livecoal landed in their laps,they called me.’

Screw the custodeshaving a bad day, Allegrawould have been

frightened beyond reason.Not just the custodes, northe restraints, the arrestvehicle, the humiliation,but the rough element inthe holding cell.

‘Thank you forcontacting me, Lurio,’ Isaid stiffly. ‘May I see mydaughter now?’

‘Are you sure you’reready? I won’t have ascreaming session or cat-

fight in one of my stations.’Juno, he was all heart.

‘You may be reassured,Senior Commander, thatwe know how to conductourselves, even undertrying circumstances.’

‘Trying to put me in myplace?’ He smirked.

‘Just get on with it.’I tried to ignore the

blue-uniformed custodes aswe walked through to the

cells. They were both waryand polite with us in thePGSF and I knew they’d bewatching now. Many ofmy colleagues sneered atthe custodes and used thepublic’s name for them –scarab, or dung beetle. I’dbeen a DJ custos once; Ikept it formal with them.Well, apart from Lurio.

Getting one over thePGSF would give them

satisfaction. Having thejunior heir to the mostpowerful of the TwelveFamilies in custody wouldhave been the event of theyear. But right now, I wasonly a mother with awayward daughter.Through the observationpanel of the cell door I sawher hunched over, perchedon the edge of the bench,and sobbing. The bitter

smell of vomit floatedthrough. My heart achedfor her. At Lurio’s nod, theguard opened the doorand I went in alone.

She looked up, eyes red,face streaked with traces ofmascara. Any angry wordsI had for her died in mybreath. I held her tight,gently rocking her in myarms on that hard plasticbench until she was all

cried out. She glanced upat my face, turned nearlycrimson and burrowed herhead back between mychest and my arm.

‘Hey, it’s okay.’ Istroked her hair, trying tocomfort her. I never lovedher more than at thatmoment.

*Lurio countersigned thetemporary release,

muttering that he’d skinme alive if I failed toproduce Allegra in courtthe next afternoon. I knewhe’d been generous;normally they’d have heldher overnight in the cells.As we rode home, Allegradidn’t say a word, justgripped my hand with adesperately strong hold.My arm around her waist,I supported her along into

her room, peeled off hersoiled clothes and bathedher as if she were fiveyears old. I fixed her awarm drink and put her tobed.

‘Mama,’ she whispered.‘I know, darling. You

rest and we’ll talk in themorning.’

Tears leaked out of thecorners of her shut eyes. Ikissed her forehead. She

sighed and fell asleepwithin minutes.

I found Helena in thenursery dayroom, helpingTonia and Gil with theirassignments. I kissed themboth, giving Gil anencouraging rub on theback as he frowned oversome math problem. LikeAllegra, they’d elected togo out to school, ratherthan be home tutored and

were finding itcompetitive. As they wereabsorbed, I looked atHelena and nodded for herto follow me into thenursery kitchen. I closedthe door and turned to her,trying to keep my cool.

‘Okay, Helena, whenwere you going to tell me?’

‘Sorry?’‘Oh, come on. Allegra.

You know, my daughter.

The one you’re supposedto be supervising.’

‘What do you mean?’‘I think you’ll find she’s

missing.’‘No, she’s over at

Maia’s, Maia Quirinia’s.’‘Really?’‘Now wait a minute,

Carina, what’s going on?Why are you looking at melike that? I’m not one ofyour suspects.’

‘Not formally, no. Notyet.’

‘What!’‘Suppose you tell me

exactly what happenedthis morning.’

‘Suppose you calmdown,’ she retorted.

I gestured her to sit andlooked straight at her,waiting.

‘Allegra went to schoolas usual. Quirinia’s

chauffeur collected herfirst thing. It was their turnto do the run. Maia invitedher over afterwards andAllegra’s sleeping over.I’m not expecting her backuntil tomorrow afternoon.’

My face must havereflected my anger.

‘Whatever’s happened,Carina? Where is she?’

‘Safe in her bed,sleeping, thank the gods.

As for tomorrowafternoon, she’ll beappearing before themagistrate for publicdrunkenness, recklessbehaviour on the publichighway and insulting alaw officer.’

‘You’re not serious.’But I was already

calling DomusQuiriniarum.

*

‘Okay, Maia, suppose youtell me what happenedafter you picked Allegraup this morning?’

I stood there, in myuniform, side arm on mybelt, arms crossed, legsbraced, staring down ather. Helena stood a littlebehind me, to the side andattempted to smilereassuringly at a nervousOctavia Quirinia. I’d

pushed through as soon asthe steward opened theentrance door andmarched straight intoOctavia’s dining room. Shedidn’t get an angry specialforces officer or actinghead of the most powerfulof the Twelve Families buta much more dangerousanimal – an irate parent. Igave the impressionAllegra was still missing.

‘Well?’Maia was completely

frozen, her hands jammedinto her arm pits.

Helena touched myarm. I turned and shemouthed ‘Let me.’ Ishrugged and plunkedmyself down in anarmchair, still wound up,ready to spring again.

‘Maia, look at me,’Helena started. But the

child found it hard to dragher terrified eyes awayfrom me. When she did,she managed a nervoushalf-smile at Helena whotook the girl’s hand in herown and gave it a littleshake. ‘Just start from thismorning. Describe whatyou were wearing, whatyou had in your bag andwhat you were lookingforward to. Try very hard

not to hide anything. Thisis really not the time tokeep secrets, even betweenBFFs. It’s far too serious.’

Maia glanced at me andher mother, then retreatedback to Helena.

‘We’d asked to go toschool early. I had my newtrainers, the ones I’dbought with Allegra at theweekend. I hadn’t wornthem yet.’ She dropped her

enthusiastic tone and wentinto pseudo pious mode.‘We wanted to check ourhomework and get readyfor the day.’

‘Oh, really?’ Helenasaid, her eyebrows raised.

Maia studied the floor.‘C’mon, Maia, the

truth.’‘We were meeting

Zenia,’ she muttered to thecarpet.

‘Uh, huh. And who isZenia?’

‘She’s our friend,’ Maiasaid, emphasising the lastword. ‘She’s cool andtreats us like grown-ups.She wears all the lateststuff and make-up, andtells us little tricks—’ Maiaclamped her hand over hermouth. Her eyes bulged.

‘Tricks?’ Helena gaveMaia’s hand a little shake.

‘To get stuff.’ Maiaglanced over at hermother. ‘She’s alwayssaying no.’ Octavia lookedshocked at her daughter’srudeness. I rolled my eyes;Octavia Quirinia was themost indulgent parent Iknew.

‘So, Zenia,’ Helencontinued, ignoring us.‘What did she ask you todo?’

‘How do you know shedid?’

‘Well, friends usuallydo things for each other.’

Neat, Helena. Gods, shewas good.

‘Oh,’ said Maia. ‘Sheonly asked for little things,tokens, mini-tribute. She’dgiven us cigarettes, so wewere happy to dosomething for her.’

I thought Octavia was

going to have cardiacarrest when her preciousdaughter said ‘cigarettes’. Igrabbed Octavia’s handand shook my head at herto stay silent.

‘I pinched some sweetsfor her. I nearly gotcaught.’ She gave a littlesob. ‘Allegra’s dare was todrink alcohol in public.That was a laugh. The ideaof Miss Upright getting

pissed.’Only the surprisingly

strong pressure ofOctavia’s hand graspingmine stopped me fromleaping up and tearing herchild apart. Helena saidnothing, just waited. Maiaglanced at her mother whogave a sad little shake ofher head. When Maia metmy eyes, she shrank backin her chair. Her eyes

darted around the roomlike a frightened rabbitsearching for sanctuary.She looked at Helena,almost pleading.

‘I didn’t meant it, Ididn’t mean it like that. Itwas only a joke,’ shestuttered and burst outcrying.

‘Okay, Maia,’ Helenspoke at last. ‘You’ve donewell telling me all this, but

you know you’ve letyourself down badly, don’tyou?’ Helena was back inteacher mode. She’d say‘disappointed’ anymoment now. ‘What Iwant you to do now is toapologise to your motherfor your rudeness, thenyou can go upstairs, washyour face and get on withyour homework.’

Maia sniffed, stood in

front of her mother andmade her apology. Octaviapulled her daughter downon to the couch, huggedher close and kissed thetop of her head. Each toher own. I stood up andapproached Maia. Helenagave me a stern look, butI’d prodded my temperback into its cage. Icrouched down nearwhere Maia was sitting on

the edge of the couch.‘I’m sorry I frightened

you, Maia. I’m veryanxious about Allegra.Being cross and anxiousmakes some people wantto hit out at everybodyelse. I guess I’m one ofthose.’

I stood and turned toher mother. ‘I apologise formy discourtesy in bargingin, Octavia. Please believe

it only arises from myanxiety about Allegra.’

‘I understand. You’vecertainly opened my eyes.’She gave her daughter ameasured look.

‘Oh, one last thing,Maia,’ I said. ‘How do youcontact this Zenia?’

‘We don’t. She’s justthere, waiting for us. Notevery day, but usually.’

*

I steeled myself and madethe most difficult call ofthe year but Conrad didn’tanswer. He’d been away inthe north overnight, but heshould have been back bynow. I was transferred tohis exec.

‘Where’s the legate,Rusonia?’

She paused for asecond. ‘He’s takingprivate time. He’ll be back

in a couple of hours,ma’am.’

That would make itafter nine.

‘Are you sure? I mean,isn’t he coming straighthome after that?

‘Not according to hisschedule.’

‘Okay, Rusonia. Here’sthe thing. We have afamily emergency on ascale of ten out of ten. I

need to speak to him. Is hecontactable?’

Jupiter knew where hewas. And Rusonia.

‘Let me get back to you,ma’am, if you don’t mind.’

‘Sure.’*

I was nursing a glass ofAquae Caesaris red andpretending to look throughsome mails when Conradcalled.

‘What is it?’‘I’m not discussing it on

the phone, but it’s aboutone of the children.’

‘Not hurt?’ He shotback.

‘Not in the obviousway, but yes.’

‘Jupiter, Carina, what’shappened?

‘Just get back here.’*

‘Who the Hades is this

bitch? I’ll break every bonein her body.’ He didn’tpace. He didn’t throw hisarms around. He simplystood there humming likean unexploded bomb.He’d looked in on Allegra,but she was lost in deepsleep. He contentedhimself with a tender kisson her forehead. He’dsqueezed his eyes as hebent over and I’d seen a

tear drop on to the sheet.We’d crept out of her roomand he covered his facewith both hands, leaningagainst the corridor wall.I’d led him back to oursitting room and given hima generous whisky andgently pushed him downon the couch.

‘The public feed is theobvious starting point andI’ll get a watch on the

school for a week, if you’reokay with the budget.’

He snorted. ‘Screw thebudget. Call it a trainingexercise, but do it.’

We lay together thatnight quietly, trying toheal each other from thehurt and anger at ourdaughter’s first brutalencounter with the realworld.

*

I called on my personalActive Response Team forthe surveillance. ARTswere a strange leftoverfrom the ancient dayswhen each officer, mostlycenturions, retained theirown century whatevertheir function in the army.These days, it was a groupof around six to eight.Mine had trained together,fought together and drunk

together for years. I trustedthem and relied on themunreservedly. We eachknew exactly how theothers thought. If thetactical situation went toHades, and you didn’thave time to think throughwhat to do, the teamadapted as if connected bytelepathy.

I called Flavius from mystudy and told him to get

them together for a videomeeting in half an hour’stime. I logged off, stood upand pulled the drapesapart. Outside, the citylights were switching offas the sun took over. Iglanced at my watch; itwas just after six thirty. I’dinsisted Conrad went andchecked in as normal, but Iknew he’d be back shortlyafter seven so that he

didn’t miss Allegra beforethe lawyer arrived.

Right on cue, Conrad’svoice came out of mycommset.

‘I’ve checked the jointwatch report. Allegra’s onthere, but there’s no sign ofthis little tart Zenia.’ Hisvoice sounded strained. ‘Icouldn’t see anythingobvious on the public feedrecordings. But your team

will be going throughthem in detail.’

‘Come back to thehouse, Conrad. You can’tdo any more.’

*A little before seven, I satin my study in front of myblank screen staring at itequally blankly. Allegrawas still asleep as of fiveminutes ago. A strangelethargy had occupied me,

but leavened with spikesof intense anger. I hadn’tworked through what Iwas going to do once we’dbusted this Zenia; I wasconcentrating on catchingher first. But why did suchwomen want to attractthese adolescents? Was it asubstitute for their lack offriendships with theirnatural peers? Simpleexploitation? The buzz?

The money and gifts?We dealt more with

conspiracies andideological attacks in thePGSF, but not exclusively.The grimmer possibilities –prostitution and trafficking– I didn’t want to go near.

A beep woke me out ofmy trance and Flavius’sface appeared.

‘Bruna.’‘Flav. Everybody there?’

‘All present.’ Thecamera panned to showthem in turn: Paula, Treb,Maelia, Nov, Livius andAtria. A sense ofreassurance descended onme.

‘Okay. First and mosturgent, has anybody got achild around twelve tofifteen?’ A question so outof order that it almost tookmy own breath away. But

any embarrassment meltedaway quickly. Atria andLivius’ kids must havebeen too young, they’donly been partnered for sixyears, but Paula raised herhand and looked at mewith concern in her browneyes.

‘What is it, Bruna? Whydo you need to know?’Then, quick as ever, shegot it. ‘Allegra. Of course,

her name was on the jointwatch report. What’shappened?’

Their faces reflected theshock I’d felt when Sergiustold me. I gave them thedetails and Maia’sdescription.

‘I can’t order you,Paula, but I would deem itan enormous personalfavour if you could loiteroutside Allegra’s school

gate this morning and seeif this Zenia turns up. Ifyour daughter is with you,it’ll look less obvious.’

‘Bruna,’ came Treb’svoice. ‘I could pass for asenior, if you want.’ Howblessed I was with thisgroup. Treb was small,slim and could talk forRoma Nova. With herbrown curls pulled back,no make-up and a change

of posture, she’d beperfect.

‘Thank you,’ Iwhispered. ‘Thank youboth.’ They’d gone before Icould take the next breath.

‘Leave it with me,Bruna,’ said Flavius. ‘I’llorganise the shifts. Howlong?’

‘A week, to start with.And we need to pull thepublic feed apart.’

‘Already on the tasklist.’

‘Put it on the trainingbudget, Flavius.’ Conrad’svoice came from behindme. I turned and gave hima quick smile. His handrested lightly on myshoulder. I placed mineover it and looked up athim. He managed to smileback, but it struggled witheverything else on his face.

‘Sir.’‘Flav, the custodes will

be doing theirinvestigation, but it’llprobably be routine.’ Isaid. ‘Try to keep undertheir wire, please.’

‘Don’t worry, we won’tupset the scarabs.’

*Back upstairs, Conradchanged into civvies. We

ate our breakfast in silence.As I was finishing mysecond cup of coffee,Helena put her headaround the door.

‘Allegra’s awake.’Unsurprisingly, she

looked washed out. Herpale cheeks emphasisedthe weary, unhappyexpression in the eyes thatdarted everywhere.

‘Allegra,’ I said and

swallowed. ‘How’s itgoing?’ I smiled toreassure her.

She looked everywherebut at our faces, thensettled on studying herhands. I sat on the bed andtook one of them intomine. Her fingers lay coldand passive. Conradpulled up one of herapricot velvet chairs on theother side. He stretched his

hand out and slid the backof his fingers down hercheek.

‘I feel so stupid,’ shemumbled, ‘really stupid. Ithought I was being…youknow, grown-up.’ Shewiped her eye socket withthe palm of her other hand.‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

‘Hey, these thingshappen.’ I smoothed herfine hair away from her

forehead. ‘I’m not going toyell at you. You knowwhat you’ve done and youfeel pretty bad about it,don’t you?’

She nodded. Her chindropped on to her chestand she gave one heart-rending sob. Conradleaned over and grabbedher to him. She graspedone of his arms with bothhands and settled into him,

but she didn’t cry anymore.

After a few minutes shereleased herself, sat up,blinked hard and shookher head.

‘What happens now?’she asked.

‘Okay, now we need toget through this,’ I said.‘Sertorius is coming to talkto all of us later thismorning to set out the

legal position. After lunchwe go to the juvenile courtwhere the magistrate givesyou, and probably us, ahard time.’

To my delight, sheactually giggled. Well,more a gurgle.

‘Dad and I will sit justbehind you, but you haveto stand in front byyourself and take it like aMitela.’

‘Carina—’‘No point wrapping it

up. They’ll be watchingher like a hawk.’

‘I accept that, but she’snot fifteen, a child.’

‘Only a few weeksaway.’

At fifteen I’d beenlearning the hard lesson ofsurviving, excluded frommy foster family’s love andConrad was struggling

with rural poverty andostracism.

‘Dad, I can do this,really. Mama’s right. Ihave to.’ She laid her handover her father’s as if tocomfort him.

*She listened carefully toeverything Sertorius toldher both before and in thecourthouse ante-room. Hewas a boring, self-

important fool, with apersonality by-pass, butsharp as Hades and afluent orator in court.

Dressed in a dark navysuit, Allegra approachedthe bar, listened withoutfidgeting while the chargeswere read out, then satcalmly on the defendants’bench through it all. To mysurprise, Lurio presentedthe police report to the

magistrate, adding the DJwould be content withadministering a caution, asthis was a first offence.

‘No doubt, SeniorCommander,’ themagistrate replied, ‘but I’minclined to make anexample. The defendanthas had every advantage,and should know better. Ihope her parents will bearthis in mind in their future

supervision of her.’Ouch.I gripped Conrad’s

hand, partly to restrainhim, partly to channel myanger at this pompouslittle jerk.

‘One month’scommunity service, levelfour, subject to schoolhours. And tagged.’

I thought Conrad wasgoing to leap off the bench

and kill him. Level fourmeant the worst jobs andonly potential runawaysgot tagged. What anasshole. After formallyaccepting the verdict –what choice did we have?– we filed out. My armaround Allegra’s waist,and our heads raised, wewere both prepared to diebefore we showed anyemotion or reaction to the

flashbulbs or dumbquestions from the newsiessniping from behind thecaged barrier.

Lurio met us in the backlobby where convicteddefendants wereprocessed. Windowlessand painted in grey, itcontained hard benchesand bored custodes. Luriowaved away the twowaiting to take Allegra for

tagging.‘I’m so sorry, Bruna, I

couldn’t do anything.Usually they’ll take theDJ’s recommendation.’

‘I know. Thanks fortrying.’

Conrad, nevercomfortable around Lurio,was incandescent.‘Jupiter’s balls! What righthas that little prick got todish out that kind of

punishment to a child?’‘Conrad, you’re

frightening her,’ I warnedhim.

Allegra’s composurehad melted away, shelooked fearful, her eyesrunning from one to theother of us. ‘What… whatdo you mean?’

‘Well, young lady,’ saidLurio, ‘you have to comewith me and get fitted with

a new kind of bracelet.Your mother and fathercan come with us, if theywant, as they’re lawofficers.’ He looked at uslike we were idiots. Ifumbled with my goldeagle badge and clipped iton to get through thesecurity barriers. Conradlaid his arm protectivelyacross Allegra’s shouldersand nodded abruptly to

Lurio to proceed.Down in the cell block

under the court, Allegrastood silently as the tagwas locked on to her leftwrist. Lurio stopped themfitting it to her ankle aswas usual.

‘Pointless really,’ hesnorted, ‘since she’simplanted with a trackeranyway. He just wanted tohumiliate you through her.

Stupid bastard.’ He turnedto me. ‘If he so much asgoes through a red light oroverstays his parkingmeter, I’ll throw the wholebloody Lex Custodum athim.’

VII

The evening of Allegra’scourt appearance, Ichecked in briefly withFlavius.

‘No show, Bruna. Sorry.We’ll see if we getanything tomorrow. I hada word with the DJ caseofficer. They’re not going

to do much more. Courtconviction, so case over asfar as they’re concerned.No objection to us nosingaround a bit more so I’vesent Atria over tointerview Maia Quirinia toput together an e-fitpicture of this Zenia.’ Hehesitated. ‘Would you letAtria talk to Allegra aswell?’

‘Gods, of course, Flav.

She starts her work detailtomorrow at half five andfinishes around half eight.’I sighed. She’d be so tired.‘Atria could come over at,say, four thirty.’

‘She’ll be there.’Helena took Allegra to

school herself the nextmorning and let theprincipal know thesituation.

‘Juno, Carina, I felt as if

I was under lock-down. Igot that “gravelydisappointed” talk.’ Sherolled her eyes. As ateacher, she must havegiven that talk herselfmany times. Isympathised; I was findingit equally uncomfortablebeing on the consumer endof the justice system.

‘How’s Conradusdoing?’

‘Not taking it well. Hethought the magistrate wasover-harsh. He went intowork ready to killelephants.’

‘You’re not going to likethis, but maybe it’ll giveher some first-handexperience of life at theother end.’ She held herhand up. ‘Don’t look at melike that, Carina. You bothhad a difficult upbringing,

so you’re naturally over-protective, especially sincethat business withSuperbus and his brutalgoons all those years ago.Going out to school hasbeen excellent for Allegraand toughened her up.’

‘Finished?’ I got up,pushing my chair backunder the breakfast table.

‘Take that poker out ofyour backside and think

about what I’ve said.’‘I’m going to work now,

Helena. Julia Atria will behere at four thirty. Pleaseensure Allegra is ready forher.’

‘Carina—’I was gone.

*Still smarting at Helena’swords and reluctant toadmit there might be sometruth in them, I grumped

my way to my office.Sergius came in, protectinghimself with a cup ofcoffee for me.

‘Your CaptainBrowning’s scheduled togo out with you to thetraining ground lunchtimeto watch tactics exercises.Do you want me to re-assign it to somebody else,ma’am?’

‘No, he’s my guest, I’ll

take him. Besides, I’d liketo get out in the fresh air.’

I smiled at him. He wasbeing incredibly tactful.

‘Okay, Sergius, whatelse is on the menu today?’

We finalised budgetsand I signed them offwhich released the fundsto get the new frameworkup and running. I’d have awhole branch meeting in aweek’s time to review how

it was shaking down.A knock on my

doorframe let me lift myhead from the bunch offiles Sergius had left me.

‘Colonel? Notinterrupting, I hope?’

Michael. His attractivesmile was like an instanttonic.

‘Hi. Come in. I’ll just bea minute. Grab a coffee.’ Iwaved my hand towards

the machine.Around ten kilometres

away from the city, thetraining ground consistedmainly of mixed woodlandand ground scrub, with acouple of open field areasand an urban mock-up forhouse-to-house training.We stopped off at theadmin building whereLieutenant Lucilla Mitelagreeted us.

‘Hello, Lucy. How’s itall going?’

She drew herself up andsaluted with a grave lookon her face.

‘Very well, ma’am. Onlyone broken arm and a fewbruises.’

I smiled to myself at thedeadpan way shedescribed painful trainingaccidents. I presentedMichael and we made our

way in for sandwiches inthe staff cell where Lucywent through today’sprogramme. Her Englishwas excellent, but with afunny international accent.Maybe she could do atraining period withMichael’s people.Hopefully not with similarrepercussions as Conrad’stime in England. I battedthat unpleasant thought

away. At least we’d knowin nine months and nottwenty-five years later.

Michael was fascinatedby the way we drew onover two thousand years ofwarfighting andbombarded Lucy withquestions. She took himout to the mock-up streetwhere they were practisinghostage recovery. Halfwayalong, she got called in to

adjudicate some point, so Iseized my opportunity.

‘Okay, Michael, we’vegot a few minutes in a nicenoisy place where we can’tbe overheard. What’s thisnews of yours you couldn’ttell me on the most securecomms system in theworld?’ I didn’t mean tosound sarcastic, but Icouldn’t understand hisreticence.

‘You remember meetingAndrew Brudgland inLondon after our jointexercise? I understandyou’re aware the contentsof his report to the legateabout Nicola Hargreve.’

I nodded. It was all Icould do.

‘Well, he asked me todelve deeper. He likes tobe fully informed about hisopposite numbers, and I

think he genuinely wantedto help your husband.’

‘Why you? I mean I’mnot dissing you, Michael,but he has a team ofspecialist investigators tofollow this up.’

‘He knows I know youand your culture and Ispeak a little of thelanguage. Also, I’m not onhis budget.’ He grinned.‘As it turned out, I was the

perfect person for the job.’‘How was that?’Before he could answer,

a ball of fire erupted out ofthe window of the nearbybuilding. We clappedhands over our ears andran.

’Bugger me, that wasloud.’ He shouted. ‘Whatthe hell do you use?’

‘Trade secret.’ I grinnedat him, as we reached a

rise ten metres away. Ishook my head to try toget rid of the blast effect.

‘Anyway, your Nicola—’ he continued.

‘Not my Nicola. In anysense. Ever.’ I heard the icein my own voice; itmirrored the ice in my gut.

‘Very well. NicolaHargreve turns out to be adeceitful young woman.She was born in an Army

town and like a lot ofyoungsters there, wentinto the armed forcesherself. She applied herselfand was promotedsergeant and because ofher excellent record wasaccepted into the specialforces. She had a talent forsingle-mindedness andwas tough enough to standthe endurance training.Her OC commended her

for her tradecraft andoutstanding performancein two operations whereshe worked with thesecurity services. The onlyproblem was that shecalled herself Sandbrookand had been very cleverin establishing thatidentity. It was only aftershe left and I startedinvestigating that this allcame to light.’

Gods. This was gettingbetter all the time.

‘In fact, you met her.’I stared at him. ‘No,

how could that be?’‘She was acting as

admin staff for yourexercise.’

Click.‘Not the one with the

plaited blonde hair on thecheck-in table at the end ofthe exercise?’

*Lucy came back at thatmoment and we toured therest of the training area.Michael took theopportunity to askquestions wherever hecould, and try a fewthings. In a borrowedhelmet, carrying astandard service weapon,he melded with the rest ofthem. Every step he took

was purposeful andcontrolled; the slightlyhesitant academic hadcompletely vanished.Impressive. Anddangerously deceptive.

As soon as my mindwas freed up fromconcentrating on observinghim and the othersrunning through a rescuedrill, Nicola resurfaced.Ignoring my instincts

never did me any favoursand they’d been right offthe scale when I’d comeacross her in England.

What exactly didMichael’s informationmean? For one, she’dbecome a much moreserious threat. She wastrained in deception, hadpatience and enduranceand fighting skills. Andprobably that damned

Tella pride. Fabulous.I absolutely had to

know more so I tackledMichael on the way back.

‘So, Michael, has yourbuddy told my buddy?’

‘No, he thought I mightrun it past you first.’

‘And why was that?’‘He thought you might

be more objective,’ he said,glancing at me. ‘I’m not sosure now.’

‘No, I don’t think I canbe objective. Like it or not,I’d like to beat the crap outof her.’

‘Hm. Perhaps I waswrong, then.’

‘Whatever,’ I shrugged.‘I suggest you go and seethe legate yourself and tellhim your news. I’ll arrangeto collect your body afteryou come out of his office.’

‘I see.’

We rode back in silenceafter that.

*By the time I parked mycar in the courtyard athome, it was a little afterten. I found Conrad in hisstudy. I had to talk withhim about the Nicolathreat. Somehow wehadn’t coincided duringduty hours, not even atmealtimes. I was starting

to think it was intentional.Or maybe he was justdistracted.

‘Hi.’ He looked up assoon as I walked into theroom. He half sat, half layon the dark green leathercouch, his ankles crossedon the second cushion withhis feet hanging over theedge. He discarded hisbook on to a side table andlooked at me intently.

I scanned his face forany signs of stress; I couldsee only a gleam in hiseyes. A slow smile built onhis lips and I felt twenty-five again. How simple ithad been then, despite thedanger. Warmth spreadthrough me; I just wantedhim. All my questionsfaded away, irrelevant. Ibent down and kissed hischeek, a little up from that

mouth. I laid my hand onhis shoulder, knelt on histhigh and kissed his lips.Oh, the pleasure of it. Hismouth was warm, soft,tender. I was intoxicated ashis tongue sought mine.His arms pulled me to himand I fell in.

Later that evening inour bed, he was equallypassionate, taking care toensure my pleasure

reached the maximum. Aswe climaxed, I wasoverwhelmed. My everynerve was singing. Therhythm of waveseventually slowed and Ilanded in a pool ofexhaustion, warmth anddeep content.

The early morning lightwas peeking through thedrapes as we lay face toface, smiling, touching,

hands teasing and tickling,but in a languid, contentedgoing-nowhere way. Istroked the side of his face,paused at the tiny dip athis temple, then continueddown over the curvededge of his cheekbone. Hiseyes closed at my touchand he almost purred. Ileaned over and kissed thetiny line at the side of hismouth, his hand came up

behind my waist and hepulled me on top. His eyeswere wide open andglinting now.

Then his commsetbeeped.

‘Mitelus. What?’His mouth was an

irritated straight line. As Iwatched, his frown becametighter. Whoever was onthe other end had betterhave her asbestos suit on.

He listened intently, hiseyes wandering at first,then coming back toconcentrate on the back ofhis hand. He grunted, thenlistened some more.

‘Very well. I’ll be thereat seven. Out.’

He rolled his eyes, hismouth still peevish, but hestarted to move. Henudged me off gently ,then sat on the edge of the

bed, stretched over andran the back of his handdown my cheek.

‘Sorry, love. I wanted tohave breakfast with you,but I have to go in.’

I was far too relaxed todo anything but smile backat him.

‘Catch you later.Lunchtime?’

‘Yes, I’ll have sorted thisout by then.’

I was on late shift so Iwent back to sleep.

It was only in theshower that I realised wehadn’t discussed theNicola thing at all. Howcould I have forgotten?Hades, I was slowing up.No, I’d gotten completelysidetracked. Mmm, butwhat a way to go. A meanthought wormed its wayinto my head. Surely, he

hadn’t used last night todivert me? He wasperfectly capable of it, buthe hadn’t, had he? I didn’tknow whether to befurious at him or guilty atmyself for thinking such athing. I gave myself amental shake. Juno, I’dstart suspecting mytoenails next. But still…

I’d hardly knocked onhis office door at 12.30,

when he came out,beckoned me in and toldRusonia he was takingpersonal time: no calls, nointerruptions until 14.00.Her eyebrows shot up atleast a millimetre.

‘Look, sorry I had to goso quickly this morning.An emergency concerningthe palace guard.’

The regular PraetorianGuard which he was also

now responsible for actedas day-to-day security forthe imperatrix and herpalace, or wherever shewas. One summer, whilehe was still junior legateheading the PGSF only,Silvia and all threechildren had come to staywith us for a few days atour farm near CastraLucilla. Despite itsremoteness, the guards

turned it into Fort Knox.The children weren’t evenallowed to go for a swim inthe lake without an armedescort. Until Conrad puthis foot down. He bannedthe guards from the villaand garden and told themto stick to the perimeter.The commander looked asblack as Hades at him, butcouldn’t argue. Conradoutranked him by several

steps and was after all thechildren’s registeredfather. No official report ofthe clash ended up onanybody’s desk, butrelations cooledconsiderably between thetwo branches. Conrad’sappointment tocommanding bothbranches as senior legatehad meant dealing withsome uncooperative egos.

I rolled my eyes insympathy. ‘So, obviously,a major incident?’

‘Not really, just sometactless handling by a tireddetail. A couple of gruntswere a bit robust withsome tourists who kepttrying to get inside thepalace perimeter last night.The guards moved themalong. One touristapologised, so they sent

her on her way, but theother one wouldn’t let itgo, so they chucked her ina cell in the guardroom forthe night. Unfortunately,she turned out to be aforeign investigativejournalist and wasscreaming police brutality.They tried to explain theyweren’t custodes, butaccording to the guardcommander that wound

her up more and shestarted on about militarydictatorships.’ Heshrugged. ‘In the end, Irousted Silvia’s protocolchief out to smooth itover.’ He sighed. ‘You’llnever guess who the newone is.’

I shook my head. I’ddropped so far behind onreading routineappointments circulars.

‘You rememberFavonius Cotta?’

‘You’re kidding me?’‘He was as deeply

thrilled to see me as I him,but he can do the job, Ihave to admit. He usedjust the right balance ofserious attention andcondescension. Very slick.’

And just as oily, wouldbe my guess. Conradlooked like he had a bad

smell under his nose.Favonius Cotta had beenthe senior diplomat we’dhad a run-in with fifteenyears ago when I’d soughtasylum in the legation inWashington.

‘Well, never mind that. Ihave to talk to you aboutsomething much moreimportant. Nicola.’

I jumped at the name,and at his raising the

subject. He’d told me sofirmly to butt out before.

‘I’ve been in two mindsabout her.’ He set hiselbows on his desk andtapped the fingertips ofeach hand against theiropposite numbers. ‘I canignore her and hope she’llgo away. Rarely a goodoption. These kinds ofproblems always comeback, usually well-

fermented. The otheroption is to see if we can’tnegotiate some kind ofarrangement with her.’

He was discussing herlike a theoretical case or anexercise scenario. His voicewas dispassionate,disinterested even. Had hegotten over the emotionalcrisis Nonna referred to?He’d been so muchhappier yesterday, like

he’d come to someconclusion. Obviously, herletter had caused a hugeupset, but now he’d beable to resolve it, thank thegods.

I nodded and was aboutto suggest making anappointment withSertorius to draw up anopening offer. Sertoriuswas so tough and slipperyhe could negotiate the

palm off Victory, and shewas a gold statue. We’d berid of Nicola within a fewweeks.

Conrad said nothing.After a few moments, hesmiled to himself. ‘Sheseems to have done well inthe military, though.Something to be said forthe genes.’

Oh, Juno, he actuallyadmired her. He bubbled

with pride in his childrenand this visceral emotionwas stretching to includeNicola. Not good. Not atall good.

He glanced toward mefrom across his desk. ‘Iknow this may come as abit of a shock, but I’mgoing to invite her overhere.’

Speechless didn’tdescribe my state even

halfway. I stared at him asif I hadn’t heard correctly.I swallowed hard as if itcould stop my mind seeingimages of collapsingbuildings.

‘Why do that? Can’t thelawyers handle it?’ Imanaged. ‘I mean, by letteror mail?’

‘It was MichaelBrowning’s news thatbrought it home to me. She

must have been somiserable to have gone tosuch lengths.’No, Conrad, she’s a

connivinglittlemadam.‘I feel I have to do this,’

he ploughed on. ‘She canstay with Uncle Quintus.He’s sharp enough tocontain her. Perhaps she’llcome to see she doesn’tneed to fight againsteverything so desperately.’

I bit into one of thesandwiches that Rusoniahad ordered, but it tastedlike dry cardboard andrubber.

He picked up an el-padstylus and played with it,but didn’t touch the food.

‘Um, not wishing to puta damper on it,’ I tried,‘but do you have proof sheis your daughter?’

‘Always the careful one,

aren’t you?’‘C’mon, Conrad, you

wouldn’t be the first one toget caught.’

‘You’re assuming she’snot.’

I said nothing and theair around us becameheavy. No longer havingan appetite for food orargument, I said, ‘Get aDNA test. Take someprecautions at least.’

Ironic he hadn’t takenany twenty-five yearsbefore.

*Michael was on the lastday of his official tourtomorrow, scheduled to goout with Paula to watch forZenia. The surveillanceoperation had been prettyfruitless, no show since theday of Allegra’s arrest.

‘Hasn’t helped that the

school’s put a heavy on thefront gate,’ Flav grumbled.‘I did ask them not to, asthey had us there, but theprincipal did that lemon-sucking face trick andinsisted.’

‘Don’t worry, Flav, we’llfinish it tomorrow. She’sobviously gone after otherprey.’ Annoying that wehadn’t found her, but we’dgot rid of her at least. And

Allegra wouldn’t getcaught twice. She wasgrowing up a little too fast,my daughter.

I met them all in themess bar and stood them adrink. Scant thanks, butPaula told me not toworry.

‘Don’t get worked up,Bruna. We’ve enjoyedworking together again,’she said, ‘although, being

honest, it was a bit boring.Treb said it had been funacting as a senior for all ofthree days, but got fed upwith the hair andboyfriends obsession ofher classmates.’ Shegrinned. ‘Still, any excuseto catch up. Did you knowAtria’s eldest has startedschool?’

I studied Paula Servla’sface as she chattered on.

She’d been my first friendin the PGSF, before even,when I’d still been in theDJ and come to train withthem. A few fine lines hadstarted to appear aroundher eyes, but not one whitehair had dared show itselfin amongst the tight browncurls. And her daughterValeria was twelve now.Juno!

I opened my mouth to

say something anodyneabout us all getting a littleolder but that the up-and-comers weren’t anywherenear as good as we’d been,when I sensed someonebehind me.

Julia Atria, famous ormaybe infamous for herpersuading andinfluencing skills, wasstanding motionless,scarcely seeming to

breathe. A wisp of a smilebetween her lips, shewaited a full minute forme to give in and speakfirst. She was a natural,plus had been trained byone of the best psychteachers in the country.Charming fish out of thewater to walk on dry landwas a warm-up exercisebefore breakfast for her. Iknew all about her little

tricks, but in a fix I wasglad to have such amanipulator on my side.

I did the really cheesything from the movies andraised one eyebrow,forcing her to begin.

She smiled inacknowledgement.

‘I didn’t get very goodresults from the girls’interviews. Quirinia wastoo nervous and a little

hysterical. She couldn’tmake her mind up aboutanything. I got theimpression she said whatshe thought I wanted tohear rather than admit shehadn’t seen anything. She’svery self-obsessed anddoesn’t notice much aboutthe rest of the worldaround her unless itimpacts on her.’ Sheshrugged. ‘Typical

adolescent.’‘And Allegra?’‘Better. But her

emotional upset about thewhole thing was too strongand it clouded her recall.She remembered more ofZenia’s mannerisms andher clothes rather than herface.’

‘Hmm. Sorry you didn’tget more.’ Somehow I feltresponsible.

‘Hades, Bruna, not yourproblem. I did get that shewas tall, blonde andmonosyllabic.’

‘So we have a third ofEurope in the frame?Fabulous.’

*Thankful it was Friday, Iwas finishing up my filereviews. I’d scheduled thewhole branch meeting fornext week and I wanted to

be over-prepared. Iunclasped my hands fromthe back of my neck andbrought my shoulderblades together. Gods, Ihated all this paperwork,even though the majorityof it was digital. A knockon my doorframe woke meup; Flavius and Michael. Ialways left my door open,but Flavius took thehandle and shut it as soon

as he and Michael entered.Their expressions were assolemn as hired funeralmourners.

‘What? You both look asif the Fates had descendedon us.’

‘In a manner ofspeaking, they have,Colonel,’ said Flavius.

I waved them to chairsin front of my desk.‘Explain.’

They exchanged aglance.

Oh no, not one of those.Flavius nodded to

Michael.‘As you know, Colonel,

I went out with SeniorCenturion Flavius thismorning as an observer onthe surveillance exercise.We were sweeping theroad near the school as ourcover when a young

woman who’d beenlounging by the gatestopped and talked to agroup of girls aroundAllegra’s age.’

I held my breath. Asurge of excitement ranthrough me. Had we gother then?

‘We only had a backview, but she was tall andblonde. We held our cover,but advanced in her

direction, as if we weregoing to empty oursweepings into the cart.About five metres fromher, we were ready tosnatch her. She half-turnedand cocked her head toone side. In the time Iturned to tell Flavius, she’ddisappeared.’ He lookedembarrassed, but angry aswell. ‘God knows whereshe went, but when I

recognised her, I stoppedbeing surprised she’d donea vanishing trick like that.’

‘What do you mean?Who was she?’

But I knew. I shut myeyes as I heard himconfirm it.

‘Nicola Sandbrook’.

VIII

Hades. Times ten. Not thatit was Nicola. That wasbad enough. But breakingit to Conrad. At least itwould put his plans toinvite her over on hold. Itapped into the system toput an immediate APB outon her at the airport and

railroad stations plusalerted the DJ watch office.Now we knew who wewere looking for, we had agood chance of findingher. Michael was lessoptimistic, but I was sureshe’d stand out here.Besides, I posted athousand solidi reward onher.

Conrad would be sodisappointed and hurt,

too, that she’d targetedAllegra. But at least he’dsee Nicola for what shewas.

We got a slot twentyminutes later and the threeof us trudged along toConrad’s office. Rusoniatook one look at our longfaces and even opened thedoor and announced us.He was putting some bookback on a shelf when we

entered. He turned to uswith a smile.

‘Great gods, adelegation,’ he said in asemi-ironic tone. I cringedinside; we were reallygoing to ruin his day.

He perched on thecorner of his desk andmotioned us to sit.

‘If you don’t mind,Legate, I think we’ll stand,’I said.

His smiled faded. ‘Verywell. What is it you wantto say?’

‘This morning was thelast day of the surveillanceoperation at Allegra’sschool,’ I began.

‘Yes?’‘Senor Centurion

Flavius and CaptainBrowning were observing.There was a development.’I couldn’t bear to say it.

‘What kind ofdevelopment?’

‘A sighting of thewoman known as Zenia.’

‘And?’ He waved hishand impatiently. ‘Are wegoing to get theresometime within the nexthour, Colonel, or do I haveto play twenty questions?’

I swallowed hard. ‘She’sbeen identified.’

‘Excellent. Presumably

you’ve put the usual alertsout, so we should have hersoon.’ He looked at us as ifwe were deficient. ‘Sowhat’s the problem?’

‘There’s more.’He raised one eyebrow,

‘I can hardly wait.’‘Captain Browning ID’d

her as former SergeantSandbrook of the BritishArmed Forces.’

The muscles on his face

froze. He didn’t evenblink.

‘I see.’ The words fellout of his mouth as if byaccident.

None of us moved.Conrad was as still as ablock of Aquae Caesarisgranite.

‘Please tell me exactlywhat you were doing,Flavius, and then, CaptainBrowning, you can explain

why you have come to thisconclusion.’ His voicesounded as cold andincisive as an ice dagger.

Flavius gave a precisereport, detailing theminutiae of the wholewatch. Conrad noddedcurtly when he’d finishedand looked towardMichael.

‘Well?’‘Sir, I’ve worked with

Sergeant Sandbrook. Shewas a member of aspecialist unit trained tocarry out close targetreconnaissance,surveillance and ‘eyes-on’intelligence operations.She knows exactly how todesign and run a range oftargeted operations indifferent environments.’

His voice was steady,but I heard the note of

bitterness.Crap. A talented

professional. This wasgetting worse by theminute.

‘When did you last seeher?’

‘At the exercise towhich Colonel Mitela’sdetachment was invited. Ihave to admit I wassurprised to see her. Iknow a circular went

round asking forvolunteers to participateand for staff support. Herrole was specialist notgeneral, but she seemedhappy to serve as adminfor the exercise. Perhapsshe was conducting herown personalreconnaissance—’

‘Enough!’ Conrad’svoice sliced through. ‘Idon’t need junior officers’

subjective comments.Dismissed. You, too,Senior Centurion.’ Hewaved both men out andwent to sit behind his deskas they made their escape.

‘Go on, say it.’ Heglared at me. ’You canhardly wait, can you?’

I couldn’t find anyfancy words.

‘I’m so, so sorry. Youmust be very

disappointed.’‘Disappointed! Don’t

use your fucking weaselwords with me, woman!’

I said nothing. He liftedhis hand and rubbed thehairline over his templenear the accident scar.Placing both elbows on thedesk, he dropped his headinto his hands and I hearda deep guttural sound asthe spasm racked him. I

turned and slipped out,easing the door closedbehind me.

*The rest of the afternoonpassed in a haze ofnothingness. In the end, Igave up. I picked up mycase and el-pad, slung myblack uniform fleece overone shoulder andwandered through theouter office, giving Sergius

a perfunctory smile. I wasdue to collect Michael fromhis last session in thesignals office and take himhome to stay with us for afew days.

Given the antagonismbetween Conrad andMichael, this was going tobe a fun week. Conrad andI had worked hard to keepour work and private livesseparate but Nicola’s

attack on our familythreatened to throw thatfine balance off. If wecaught her, it could cause ahuge personal rift. Icouldn’t figure out what todo next – it seemed toonebulous. Immersed inthese unhappy thoughts, Ihardly noticed where I wasgoing.

‘Hey, look out.’Daniel. I’d almost

walked into him. Difficultto miss his sturdy figure,though. I didn’t realise I’dcome as far as his office.His hand rested on thebrass door handle.

‘What’s the matter?’ Healways switched to Englishwhen we were alone. ’Youlook terrible.’

I shook my head. Hisarm came up around myshoulders and he gently

guided me into his officeand pushed me down onone of the leather easychairs.

‘Tell me,’ he ordered. Afrown had replaced hisnormally cheery smile.

He knew some of it, ofcourse, but he’d beenwrapped up with the newanti-terrorist initiative andhad hardly been at thehouse over the last few

weeks. Daniel lived atDomus Mitelarum, in hisown apartment in thesouth wing. Fifteen yearsago he’d arrived in RomaNova on a three-monthtraining detachment fromhis home country, but hadnever gone back.Sponsored by Conrad,he’d been adopted into ourfamily and become mybuddy, my brother-in-

arms. We’d worked hardtogether, and played hard,getting ourselves into andout of a load of trouble,especially when younger.

Once he’d dared me to aclimbing race up the lowerwall of the old fortressbuilding, strictlyforbidden, but I couldn’tresist the challengingsparkle in his eye. Ofcourse, we got an

audience, of course, theymade book on us, but thecatcalls and shouts ofencouragement spurred usboth on. We’d almost gotto the top, neck and neck,and muscles trembling andbreath heaving, and I wasabout to swing myself upover the remains of thecrumbling parapet, whenthe shouting died at astroke.

A voice like a shotgunhad rung out, ordering usdown that instant. MajorMitelus, as he was then,was incandescent; his eyesblazed, he could hardlyspeak. Apart from ourdisobedience to standingorders, reckless behaviourand a poor example byjunior officers to enlistedpersonnel, he castigated usfor the waste of our

expensive training if we’dbroken our stupid necks.Daniel and I caught sevendays in the cooler, but itcemented our friendship.

‘Shit, Carina! How did itget to this?’

‘The gods alone know.I’ve tried to be tactful withhim, but I’m starting to getpissed with the wholething. I know she’s adestroyer. Look how she

attacked Allegra.’‘Sounds a right little

cow.’I half-smiled at his

Britishism.‘Maybe now that

Conrad’s realised what athreat she is, he’ll drop thewhole daughter thing andleave it to the lawyers,’ Isaid. ‘But somehow, Idon’t think she’ll let it gothat easily.’

‘You’re the strategist –what do we do?’

‘What I’d like to do isn’tlegal.’

‘So?’‘C’mon, Daniel, we

can’t go there.’‘Pity.’He picked up a green

marble paperweight fromhis desk and tossed itlightly from one hand toanother as he walked

backed and forth. He couldnever stay still. Hefrowned.

‘Look, Carina, unlessthere’s some sort ofdefinite threat, we can’tofficially commit anyfurther resources. It’s afamily matter.’ He smiledup at me. ‘But you knowI’ll give you a hundred percent personally.’

‘I have a few ideas

chasing around in myhead, but first we have toget hold of her.’

*Daniel put Michael up inhis apartment, whichheaded off most of thepossible awkwardnesswith Conrad. Despite theirdifferent backgrounds, thetwo men got on well andwere bantering when theycame down together to the

main dining room forbreakfast next morning.

‘Daniel’s been tellingme something about thishouse. I gather some of it’sover eight hundred yearsold.’

‘You know, the personyou want to talk to isGalienus, Junia’s deputy.He’ll give you the tour.You’ll only need fiveweeks.’

Michael laughed back atme. ‘Daniel’s taking megliding this morning, soperhaps later.’

‘Sure. I’ll let him knowto expect you.’

I left them talking aboutthermals and streamliningand went upstairs to sitwith my grandmother. Herroom had beentransformed into a mini-hospital ward, complete

with the antiseptic smell.The young nurse wastweaking a drip line fedfrom a transparent baghooked on a stand as Iwalked in. He finished,nodded at me andwithdrew. Nonna’s eyeswere closed, but I couldsee her shoulders movingslightly as she breathed.

‘Carina?’ shewhispered.

‘Here, Nonna.’ I sat onthe chair by her bed andfolded her hand into mine.‘How did you know it wasme?’

‘Your footstep and yourscent.’ She paused, tookseveral breaths. ‘Yours arewired into my head.’ Hereyes flickered open and atiny smile appeared. ‘I’mso glad to see you before Igo into the shades.’

‘Nonna… don’t. Don’tspeak like that.’

She just smiled, thengrimaced.

‘What is it? Do youwant more medication?’

‘If I have any more, I’llbe unconscious.’ Shegrasped my hand, her poorweak fingers findingstrength for a fewmoments. ‘Listen, Carina.Listen properly, please.’

Tears swam in my eyes,but I nodded. I tried togulp them back for her.

‘You have to rememberthis. Make your decisionsfor the family.’ She tookshort laboured breaths.‘It’ll be hard, but you mustbe loyal to them. Whateverthe heartache. Promiseme.’

‘You know I will.’She scanned my face

with eyes that couldhardly see.

‘Yes, I know. You’re agood girl. Sorry to leaveyou. I love you so much.’

‘Nonna.’ Brown, sunkenskin as thin as wrappingtissue and criss-crossedwith lines surrounded hereyes. The brightness inthem dimmed like theelectric current had beenstepped down to

minimum. She closed themand sighed. I leaned overand kissed her forehead. ‘Ilove you, too. I alwayswill.’

I crept away next doorinto her private sittingroom and found Marcellatalking to the doctor.

‘How long?’ I asked,baldly.

‘A week at most. I’mvery sorry.’

He was the chiefoncologist at the universityhospital. He should know.

‘You won’t let hersuffer.’ It wasn’t a request.My hand came up by itselfand covered my mouthand I turned away fromthem both. My gaze cameto rest on a silver-framedphoto on a side table ofNonna and the children.Her bright blue eyes shone

out at me and amischievous grin seemedto share a joke with thecamera. Gods.

‘Marcella.’‘Lady?’‘Will you call the

council for tomorrowmorning, please? Elevenwill give them all time toget here. Liaise with Juniaabout food and so on.’

‘Of course, Countess.’

She nodded and left.*

I went for a swim todistract myself. After tenminutes or so of rhythmicup and down the pool, Ifelt calmer. The softdappled light and thesoothing motion of thewater sliding over my skinacted like a balm. I becameaware of another bodygliding through the water.

I shook my head to clear itand saw Allegra besideme. She swam up besideme, extended her armacross my shoulder andstroked me. We sat on theside, weeping together fora while.

She sneezed, breakingus out of it. Dried, dressedand clutching hot drinks inmy study, we discussedwhat would come next.

‘You know you have tocome to the counciltomorrow?’ I hated pullingher into this; she was onlya kid. She’d have to talk toa load of old people, allsad and pompous, somegenuinely upset aboutAurelia, some curious,some jockeying forposition in the changeover.

‘I know, Mama. It’s fine.Really.’ Her father’s hazel

eyes looked out of herstrangely worldly-wise butsoft, unformed face andshe laid her hand on mine.‘I know what to do.Helena’s been going over itall with me. I’m going tohelp you with everything.Don’t worry.’

Juno! She wascomforting me. She’d beenraised as a Roma Novan,of course. She knew this

stuff far better than I did.At lunch in the nursery,

I let Allegra explain it all tothe others. Gil and Toniacried. She let them carry onfor a few minutes, thentold them to shut up andget a grip. Great Nonnawould be embarrassed ifshe could see them.

‘But, Legra, it’s horrible.Why does she have to go?’

I wanted to intervene,

but Helena shook her headat me. Allegra was doingjust fine.

‘C’mon, Gil, you knowthat’s how it is,’ she said.She looked at them sternly.‘If you want to go and seeher this afternoon, youhave to wash your facesand behave with dignity.The last thing Great Nonnawants to see is cry babies.We’re supposed to cheer

her up and make herproud of us.’

I had to look away.Where had I got this strongdaughter from?

*I woke with a start, a loudtrill ringing in my rightear. It was the houseintercom.

‘DJ custodes for you,lady,’ came Junia’s voice.

‘Do you want to take it, orshall I say you’reunavailable?’

‘No, no, I’ll take it.’ I satup on my bed, the papersI’d fallen asleep overfalling off my chest.

‘Mitela. Salve.’‘What’s the matter with

you, Bruna? Slackingagain?’ Lurio’s sarcastictone woke me up instantly.

‘Go screw yourself,

Lurio. What do you want?It’s the weekend, for Juno’ssake.’

‘Oh, sorry, I forgot youPGSF lot only workweekdays.’

‘Don’t be a smartass.I’ve done ten solid days.Conradus’s on shift allweekend, until Tuesday, infact.’

‘That’s why I’m callingyou at home.’

‘What do you mean?’ Iheard the suppressedexcitement in his voice.

‘I thought I’d tell youfirst.’

‘What?’‘We’ve trapped your

little bird.’*

‘She was on the Italianborder in a hire car whensome bright spark in theborder guard spotted her.’

He consulted the screen.‘Fake passport. Turns outto be a Brit calledSandbrook, ex-armedforces.’

He turned from hisscreen and fixed me with astern eye. ‘Now supposeyou tell me what’s goingon here, Colonel?’

I glanced at theinvestigator, Pelonia, whowas running the case.

‘Would you excuse us for afew minutes, Inspector?’

Lurio nodded and sheleft, none too happy by thelook on her face to bethrown out of her ownoffice.

‘Well?’‘Have you done all the

prelims?’‘Yes. And?’‘Including DNA?’‘Well, she’s a foreigner.

She’s hardly likely tomatch up, is she?’

‘You may be surprised.Can you run it discreetly?’

‘Why? Who is she?’ Hesmirked. ‘Not your long-lost sister?’

‘No, but she may beConradus’s daughter.’

*I was on my thousandthcup of tea when Luriocame back.

‘You’re right. We ran itagainst Tella DNA. It’s amatch with very littledeviation in the markers.’

Hades.He glanced down at me.

‘How do you want to playthis? Will you bail her?’

‘No way. What did youdetain her on?’

‘Acting suspiciously ona public highway.’

‘Well, draw up a formal

charge of misdirection ofminors and corruption ofyouth. I’ll sign the papersnow.’ I could hear the hardtone in my voice. It wasonly a glimmer of what Iwas feeling inside. Theseriousness of the chargewould ensure she’d beheld in custody for thewhole twenty-eight dayspre-trial – the same periodAllegra had to serve as her

punishment.‘Jupiter, that’s hard,

Bruna. Are you sure?’‘Oh yes. The formal

complainant is Allegra, ofcourse.’

‘Very well.’He called Pelonia in and

she did the paperwork, herdark head bending overthe print-outs. She fixedme with a steady gazefrom her grey eyes as she

passed the file over to mefor signing.

‘I must offer you myapologies for asking you tostep out, Inspector. I didn’tmean to undermine yourauthority. But I think youunderstand why.’

‘Yes. I see now. We’llkeep it confidential until itbecomes critical to theinvestigation. Of course,it’ll come out when it goes

to court.’‘Thank you. Here’s the

direct number for SeniorCenturion Flavius who ledthe surveillance operation.He’ll clue you in and makethe team available for youto interview. You’ll get fullcooperation, I assure you.My daughter will beavailable when convenientto you. Just call me.’

Pelonia thanked me and

took herself off,presumably to beginquestioning.

‘Do you want to seeher?’ Lurio asked as wewalked down the corridor.

‘No, thanks. I want aslittle to do with her aspossible.’

Lurio gave me one ofhis ‘don’t bullshit me’looks.

‘Look, I don’t want to,

okay?’‘Chicken?’‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ I

glanced up at him. Hades’teeth, he was right. Iflicked my handbackwards to hide myembarrassment. ‘Oh, verywell, let’s go stare at her ifit’ll make you happy,’ Igrumped, but now I wascurious.

In the custody suite, I

watched Nicola throughthe observation window asshe answered the DJinterrogator’s questions.Her hair was loose now,straggling, darker than Iremembered but her eyeswere exactly the colour ofConrad’s. Why hadn’t Ispotted that in England?Because I hadn’t beenlooking. She wore thestandard bright yellow

prison tunic; one wrist wascuffed to the plastic-topped table. I felt afleeting wave of sympathy.It didn’t last when I heardher tell the DJ interrogatorsitting opposite her to gofuck a sheep. He gave acontemptuous laugh back.

Pelonia was relaxed,shoulders glued to theback wall, one leg bent atthe knee so her foot was

flat to the wall. She lookedbored and was examiningthe nails on her left handwith intense interest. Lurioand I listened in foraround ten minutes.Pelonia and the other DJcustos swapped and sheturned into the bad copnow, quite frighteningwhen she got going. Butthey weren’t gettinganywhere. It didn’t help

that they were forced to doit all in English.

‘Do you want to go in?’I was sorely tempted; I

wanted to beat Nicola to apulp for what she’d doneto Allegra and what shewas doing to Conrad.

‘No, it’ll contaminatethe process. I’m only hereas parens per procurationemfor Allegra. Some smartasslawyer would use it to

throw it out. I want thislittle bitch to go down.’

More importantly Iwanted Conrad to seewhat she was.

Lurio walked me backto my car. I’d thrown it inthe nearest space at anangle.

‘Lurio, promise meyou’ll keep her in custodyfor the statutory twenty-eight. She’s a crafty tough

egg and’ll try to find someway to slide her way out.’

‘And suppose yourhusband turns up armedwith a fancy lawyer?’

‘You know what thelaw says. Tell him no.’

IX

I reached home only tofind regular Praetorians onthe gate and more in thecourtyard. The guardsaluted correctly, butdidn’t risk a single muscleon his face by smiling. Aslightly anxious Galienusgreeted me with news that

the imperatrix was here.‘Yeah, I got that, Gally,

from the toy soldiersoutside.’ But I smiled athim to take the sting out ofmy tone. I made my waythrough the vestibule intothe atrium. Another one.Juno, how dangerous didthey think our house was?I waved her aside andwent upstairs, but shetrailed up behind me. I

arrived just as Silvia cameout of Aurelia’s bedroom.She looked pale, her eyesglistening, but she waskeeping it together.Aurelia wasn’t only hersenior cousin, but hercounsellor of many years,back to the time of therebellion.

‘Silvia.’‘Oh, gods, Carina. It’s so

wrong.’ She held out both

hands which I gripped andsqueezed in sympathy.

‘Hey, come and sitdown for a minute.’ I drewher down on to the daycouch and, ignoring thedamn guard, fixed her afruit juice. She rarely drankalcohol during the day.

‘Aurelia will have beenso pleased to see you.’

Silvia looked strained,the white amongst her

glorious red-brown hairwas gaining more ground.She was only in her mid-fifties, but the loss of herhusband all those yearsago had been a savageblow. She’d marriedAndrea Luca, when shewas barely twenty, onlytwo years after returningto Roma Nova. Nonna hadreckoned Silvia neededstability and kindness after

forcible exile following theterror of Caius’s rebellion.Andrea was an Italianacademic who’d led theteam clearing andrestoring buildingsdamaged during therebellion and the take-back. He’d loved Silviadeeply and supported herthrough the tough yearswhen although still young,she had to rule a ruined

country attempting to re-establish itself. On theirsixth anniversary, he wasdiagnosed with cancer.He’d been in remission fora year when the cancer hadcome back suddenly likeNemesis herself. Howbitter that her belovedcousin was being hunteddown by the same killer.

‘When Andrea wasdying, he faded a little bit

each day in front of me. Ifelt so helpless. It’s thesame now.’ She shivered.‘What a colder place theworld will be soon.’

‘I know, darling, Iknow.’

When the imperialcircus had left, I strippedoff and showered,sloughing off the grubbysmell of the custodesstationhouse as well as

Silvia’s despair. I playedaround making a bigproduction about what tochange into; in the end, Ichose a simple tunic andlaced leather belt and driedmy hair in the most time-consuming way. But habitwouldn’t let me drag it outfor more than thirtyminutes. I sighed. I had toget it over.

‘Senior Legate’s office.

Salve.’‘Good evening, Prisca

Rusonia. Is the legateavailable?’

‘He’s down in the watchoffice, ma’am. Shall I patchyou through?’

Crap. Had he seen thejoint watch report already?

‘Mitelus.’He’d seen it.‘Hi. Can we have a

private talk?’

‘I’m working. I don’thave time for personalmatters.’ And,unbelievably, he cut theconnection. I couldn’t havebeen more stunned if Junoherself had materialised infront of me and slappedmy face.

Well, screw him.*

‘Gather you had avisitation this afternoon.’

Daniel smiled at me acrossthe supper table. We’dchosen to eat together,Helena, children andMichael included. Was itsome kind of tribal pullingtogether in a time of crisis?

‘Yes. Silvia was soupset. It brought Andrea’sdeath back.’

We ate on in silence,cowed by events. Oncefinished, I kissed the

children good night,smiled at Helena andMichael and took Danielinto my study andupdated him.

‘Well, catching that littletart’s one bit of good news,isn’t it?’

‘Yes, but Conrad’s takenit badly.’ I told him aboutour non-conversation.

‘Maybe he’s a bitpressured or was in the

middle of somethingimportant.’

‘Right. And catching theperson responsible fornearly killing our daughterisn’t important?’

‘You know I didn’tmean it like that.’

‘No, sorry.’ I gave him atight smile. And tried tocatch my mental breath.‘He just won’t talk to me.’

‘Do you think it’s that

bad between you two?’ hesaid.

‘Nonna thinks it’s somekind of emotional crisis.Apparently, mygrandfather went throughsomething like it.’

‘I haven’t noticedanything different abouthim at work. A little pre-occupied, perhaps. But ifyou’re right, now is not thetime, not with everything

else you’ve got to dealwith. Daniel snorted. ‘Thisbloody girl is just on themake. Why can’t he see it?’

‘I wonder if it goes backto his own bad childhood.Caius Tellus used to beatthe crap out of him. That’swhy Conrad went for thelow-life beating up on thatkid just before his accident.That’s why he’sdesperately protective of

his own children. ’‘Yeah, but that was

forty years ago. He’s amature adult now, in avery responsible position.And you need all thesupport you can get.’

*At eleven o’ clock preciselythe following day, I satdown in Nonna’s place atthe head of the long oaktable that Junia’s staff had

set up in the atrium.Allegra at my right sideand twenty-five of mysenior blood relativesoccupied the remainingseats. More cousinsperched in a line of chairsalong the side. They gazedat me expectantly. I feltnumb; I couldn’t thinkwhat to say. I’d completelyforgotten how Nonnastarted these councils.

Gods. I’d sat throughenough at her right side. Amovement at my left brokemy trance; Dalina Mitela,Lucy’s mother, handed mea sheet of paper. Of course,she was the familyrecorder. She’d have theprotocol ready. I threw hera grateful look, read thesheet and got a grip.

‘Thank you all forcoming at short notice. I’ve

called the council meetingto advise you of AureliaMitela’s condition. Mygrandmother is veryseriously ill; the doctorsdon’t think she will livebeyond the week.’ Iswallowed hard. ‘I knowsome of you have visitedher in the last week or twoand this has given her agood deal of pleasure.’

Yeah, especially when

afterwards she whisperedclever ironic comments tome about the morepompous ones in thehoarse tones of what wasleft of her voice.

‘The imperatrix wasgracious enough to visityesterday and sends us hersupport and love in such adifficult time. If you wishto say your farewells toAurelia, please liaise with

Marcella. But please keepyour visits to a fewminutes only. I will nothave Aurelia’s last breathsspent fending off crowds.’

Some looked shocked.Tough.

‘I apologise if you areupset by my plain talking.She is really very frail.’

Allegra laid her hand onmine. Encouragementshone out of her eyes. I

closed mine for a fewseconds, before looking atthem all again through ablur.

‘I will advise youimmediately of any furtherdevelopments. In themeantime, I will continueto act as de facto head ofthe family. Does thecouncil support mydecision?’

For once it was

unanimous. Nobody saidanything further; they justsat there like parallel rowsof stuffed movie extras. Ibrought the meeting to anend. Dalina handed me therecord and I signed it off. Idrew my hand across mymouth and brought itaround to support my jaw.How in Hades was I goingto carry on with this?

Dalina gathered up the

folders and el-pad, zippingthem up in a soft brownleather case. When she’dfinished, she stood there,waiting. A littleuncomfortable, butwaiting.

‘Dalina? What is it?Allegra saved me.

‘Dalina Mitela will bestaying with us now,Mama. Shall I ask Junia tosort out a room for her?’

‘Yes. Yes, thank you,Allegra.’ She jumped upand trotted off on hermission.

‘Sorry, Dalina, I’m a bitlost in all this,’ I said. Ilooked at Allegra’sretreating figure. ‘Butluckily I have some experthelp.’

‘Please don’t worry,Countess Carina. I shouldhave realised you

wouldn’t know. I’m hereto help you, not cause youany worry. My recordingactivities will keep me inthe background anyway,so please try to forget I’mhere.’ That made me smile.Even her formal black suitand solemn expressiondidn’t subdue her strikingappearance and personalattraction. In a family withsome reasonable lookers,

her dazzling eyes andluxuriant waving chestnuthair made her outstanding.

‘Thanks. Appreciated.’I watched the fifty or so

who’d fallen on the lightlunch Junia’s staff had setup. I gave Dalina a tightsmile and we headed forthe crowd. People dartedout of our way as if afraidof catching an electricshock.

Galienus appeared outof nowhere with a tray ofglasses full of CastraLucillan white. Nonna’sfavourite, from our ownvineyards. I grabbed one,and took a good swig.Fortified, I turned to gotalk with the horde ofcousins, with a smile onmy face and a naggingache in my heart.

*

I went into work asscheduled next morning.In one of her wakingperiods, Nonna had toldme to stop moping aroundthe house as it didn’t doanybody any good. OnceI’d got there, I agreed. ButSergius had everythingunder control. I’d reallyhave to get him promoted;it was woefully overdue. Ifanything I said had any

weight any more.At the senior staff

meeting first thing, Conradhad all but ignored me,calling for my reportalmost as an afterthought.He hadn’t picked over it,but had given theimpression it was prettyirrelevant. Daniel gave mea sympathetic look andeven Sepunia, theIntelligence director,

known for her cooldetachment, lookedpuzzled.

‘Everything okay,Carina? Anything I shouldknow about?’ she asked aswe walked backafterwards.

‘No, nothing for you,just a personal matter.’

‘I heard yourgrandmother was very ill.How is she?’

‘We’ve got about aweek, the doctors think.’

‘I’m very sorry.’ Shelaid her hand on my armand fixed her green eyeson me. ‘Let me know if Ican do anything. Please.’

Predictably, I couldn’tget a slot in Conrad’sschedule. I don’t knowwhy I tried; he wasfreezing me out and takingadvantage of his position

to do so. Rusonia said hewas taking personal timeagain that afternoon. Whatin Hades was going on? Ipaced up and down myoffice, trying to think itthrough. Sure, it didn’ttake a genius to work outhe was pissed at me aboutNicola. Why wouldn’t hesee me and talk, okay,have an honest fight, aboutit? But why was he

ignoring Allegra andgiving even a second tothinking about Nicola?

And what was all thispersonal time in workhours? Then the worstthought struck me with theforce of a marble wall. Myhead felt weightless, thenthe room started turning. Istopped, grabbed on to mydesk.

No.

Impossible.He’d never shown any

interest in anybody elsesince the day we’d met.Incredible, consideringhow he’d screwed aroundbefore then. I was ahundred per cent sure hewould have saidsomething.

Roma Novans weren’tsqueamish aboutrelationships; they

wouldn’t have survivedthe centuries without apragmatic approach.Unlike that first breakfifteen years ago when I’dthrown him out, Conradand I would try to have acivilised conversation andwork out the practicalities.It sounded so cold-bloodedto Westerners, but it cutout a lot of hysterics.

*

I was waiting, not directlyopposite the PGSFbarracks as CCTV scannedthe whole area in front ofthe building. I’d beencrouched down by myDucati in a narrowpedestrian alley for nearlyhalf an hour. Assaulted bythe worst autumn stormthis year, I huddled upagainst the wall. Thedamned rain dribbled

down my leathers andover my boots in miniaturedrunken rivulets. The roofoverhang three floors upgave no shelter.

In my foul mood, Inearly missed him.

Right on 14.00, he cameout of the service gate. Iglimpsed a silver pool carand the driver’s darkblond head. I scrambled onto my bike, hit the gas

pedal and curved out ofthe alley in pursuit. Thedriving rain smashedagainst my body but Ididn’t care; it would helphide me. I followed hisvehicle’s taillights at thefurthest distance I dared,only once having to makean evasive manoeuvre.

Ten minutes later, hestopped outside our ownfront gate. For the gods’

sake! I watched as hepassed the entry scan anddisappeared through thetall gateway.

What was he doinghome at such a time of theday and why was it sosecretive? I knew I hadn’ttriggered the house CCTVfrom where I was, but Icouldn’t risk getting anynearer if I wanted to stayunobserved. I waited.

Twenty-five minuteslater, he drove out again,heading south-west. Heparked on the street in themacellum quarter, once thecentral market, nowexpanded to include alarge shopping centre andstreets of individualoutlets. He didn’t get outof the vehicle immediately.I was too far away to seeexactly what he was doing.

I searched in my insidepocket and cursed when Ifound I didn’t have myscope.

As he opened the door,I saw him thrustsomething in his pocket.Probably his cell. Heopened the trunk and tookout a messenger bag.While he was feeding themeter with coins, Istripped off my leathers

and stuffed them with thehelmet into the lockbox onthe back of my bike. Onlyjust in time, before he’d setoff down the street. Pullingmy sweater hood up overmy head, I loped after him,keeping a good distanceand occasionally fiddlingwith my fake music playerheadphones.

When he glanced up atthe street name, I stopped

and pretended to gaze intoa display window full ofnew generationcommunicators. In thereflection, I saw him gothrough a door threemetres up on the other sideof the road. I picked up abrochure, wrinkled withdamp, from the literaturestand by the shopentrance. Why hadn’t theytaken it in when the storm

started? It was raining lessintensely now, still steadyenough to soak throughmy jeans and sweatshirt.

After five minutes, Ilurched across the road,running for the wall forshelter. When I reached thedoor Conrad had vanishedthrough, I dropped down,re-tied my sneaker and, asI stood up, read the brassplate.

I jogged down the streetsome way, then doubledback to my bike, pulled myleathers on and headedback to the PGSF building.In the garages, I parked upand hung my leathers upto dry. Even after I wasback into my uniform, Iwas still puzzling it out. Alawyer. I guessed hewanted to try springNicola. But neither Allegra

nor I was backing off onthat one. I really hoped hewasn’t consulting herabout divorce. But ClaudiaVara, of all possiblelawyers?

*I got home to find Marcellawaiting for me, grim-faced.

‘She’s not—’‘No, but she insists on

seeing you as soon as youget in.’

‘Why in Hades didn’tyou call me? I would havecome immediately. Youknow that.’ I glared at her.

‘She wouldn’t let me.’‘Gods! Next time,

Marcella, you call me.’WhythehellwasIsaying,

‘nexttime’?I took the stairs two at a

time. The nurse was sittingat the bedside, reading amagazine. He started up, a

slightly guilty expression.However dedicated, timemust have dragged forhim. My grandmotherlooked so peaceful. Eventhe oxygen mask she nowwore didn’t hide herwrecked face.

‘She’s had a goodafternoon. Your husbandvisited for a while, thenshe slept,’ he whispered.‘She woke a little while

ago, wanting to see you,but said she would wait.She ordered me not to callyou.’

Oh, Nonna. Impossibleto the end.

I bent over and kissedher forehead. I sat on thechair next to her and heldher hand against mycheek.

‘Carina?’‘Here, Nonna,’

‘Call Allegra. And therecorder.’

I looked at the nurseand he went out.

‘Carina. You have tostop this girl,’ she gasped.‘She’s Caius. All overagain.’

No. Not Caius Tellusthe traitor who hadwrecked Roma Nova. Howcould Nicola be like thatmonster?

‘Don’t agitate yourself,Nonna, please.’

‘No, listen.’ Her eyesglinted, hardened,surrounded by bloodshotand discoloured whites.‘Promise me. Or she’lldestroy you all.’

‘It’s all right, Nonna.We’ve got her. She’s inprison, awaiting trial forwhat she did to Allegra.Please don’t worry.’

‘You don’t understand.Ask Quintus.’ She sighedand shut her eyes. I froze. Ithought she’d gone. But Isaw her shoulders moveand she took a few breaths.

I turned around at thenoise of the door opening.Dalina and Allegra,followed by Marcella andthe doctor, who cameforward, took Nonna’spulse. He looked at me

and shook his head. Isignalled Allegra forward.She kissed Aurelia’s cheekand her hand, then placedit in mine.

‘Carina. My ring,’Aurelia whispered. ‘Takeit.’

I hesitated, glanced atDalina, who nodded. Idrew the heavy gold ringoff Nonna’s right hand,untying the ribbon that

had kept it fastened to hershrinking finger. Notknowing what else to dowith it, I slipped it on themiddle finger of my righthand.

I sat down in my chair,scarcely believing whatwas happening, what I’ddone. I leant forward,gently took Nonna’s handand held it until it wentlimp.

‘Take her breath,Countess,’ promptedDalina. I stood up, bentover and kissed Aurelia’slips. I reached out andclosed her eyes. Colddrenched through me. Ishivered.

‘Nonna,’ I whispered.‘Nonna! Come back.’ Shecouldn’t hear me, ofcourse.

‘Aurelia Mitela,’ piped

up Allegra. ‘Vale.’Gods! I’d forgotten

what I was supposed todo.

‘Aurelia Mitela, vale,’we repeated twice more.The shouts behind menearly deafened me. Theroom was full of people Ihadn’t noticed arriving.

I sat frozen. I barelyregistered the rhythmicpatter outside of rain

falling steadily. Greyoutside and grey in myheart.

X

I didn’t have a clue howlong I sat there. A touch onthe shoulder; it wasAllegra with a hot cup oftea. She stood there while Idrank it.

*I woke suddenly, a colddraught sliced across my

feet. My neck ached andmy back was stiff. Mywatch said four in themorning. I glanced at thebed. Aurelia was restingpeacefully, but her hand inmine was like a block ofice. Then I remembered.Oh, gods.

*A hard cramp in mystomach woke me up. Iwas in my own bed. How

had I gotten here? Myhead thumped and myeyes were sore anddesiccated. Half eleven! Istruggled to the bathroom,showered and dressedquickly. As I reached forthe bedroom door handle,my head swam and mystomach retched. I ranback to the bathroom andthrew up. I leaned over thejohn, spitting out liquid,

draining my core.A gentle hand wiped

my face, handed me aglass of water to rinse mymouth.

‘Marcella?’‘Gently, take it gently.’‘I have to—’‘No, you have to do

nothing. I’ve called theSenior Legate’s office. Youare on a month’s leave.’

Had she spoken to

Conrad or just Rusonia? Icouldn’t summon theeffort to care one way orthe other.

‘I’ve called the councilfor this evening at six. Theundertakers are preparingyour grandmother’s body.Countess Allegra andHelena are looking afterthe children.’ Her facerelaxed a little. Gods, shemust be mourning herself;

she’d been with Nonna forat least twenty years. Yetshe’d done all this stuff. Ihung my head with shame.

‘Come and have asandwich. Dalina Mitela iswaiting for you. She’ll takeyou through what has tohappen next.’

I moved on automaticbut felt as if I waswatching somebody elsebeing me. I shivered as I

closed the door on myapartment. Everythingaround me looked as cleanand serene as usual; nonoise, no bustling, nochaos except in my head. Ifelt like a victim ripped outfrom a war zone and setdown in the middle ofPleasantville.

At first glance,everything looked normalin the atrium. Then I saw

that the huge planters fullof luxurious ferns andfronds had been movedfrom the centre over to thealcove opposite the largeplate glass side doors.Beams of light fell from thebulls’-eye in centre of theroof of the great hall nolonger onto the plants, butnow onto a raised platformwith a figure lying on it.

My grandmother was

laid out, dressed in a whitepalla and purple stola. Sherested surrounded byflowers and greenery on adeep-pile blue velvet clothdraped over the platform. Ismelled myrtle andcypress. Myrtle for Mitela.From the walled garden. Asingle tear escaped and randown my face. Was I goingto fall down and weep?But I was numb,

motionless. I had nothingto give.

The open flames on tallblack stands at the fourcorners flickered, the onlyartificial light as theelectrical lighting had beenswitched off. I felt Dalinapress a metal disc into myhand, a gold solidus whichI placed in Aurelia’smouth to pay Charon theferryman to take her safely

into the next world. I’dnever laugh at one of herwicked jokes again, flinchfrom the bracing tone ofher voice, watch hernegotiating through theshark waters of corporatelife or in the Senate. Norwould I find comfort in herarms when she consoledme.

I stepped back to joinDalina and we stood

quietly. I couldn’t watchNonna enough. Illogical,but I thought she wassleeping and would wakeup, asking what we allthought we were doing,standing around likedummies. Cousins,colleagues, friends and oneenemy drifted in duringthe afternoon to pay theirrespects or perhaps to seeif the supposedly

indestructible AureliaMitela really was dead.

A good half hour hadpassed since the last visitorwhen I felt a tingle in myshoulder, caught animpression out of thecorner of my eye of abeige-clothed figureentering the atrium fromthe opposite corner. Mygut clenched. Was itConrad? Had he come

back? I swivelled aroundto get a better look in thegloom and took half a stepforward. Not blond hair,not his cat-like walk. Ishouldn’t have been sodisappointed, but it wasDaniel. Another figurebehind him, in dark pantsand jacket. They walked instep, their solemn facescoming into focus as theyapproached the bier.

‘Carina,’ was all Danielsaid. His eyes shone withemotion. Ignoring all andany protocol, he seized myhands, bent over andkissed my forehead. Igrasped his hands firmlyin return.

‘Daniel—’‘I know.’I gave his companion a

thin smile. ‘Michael.’ Iwaved my hand vaguely.

‘This is not quite what youexpected to see duringyour visit with us.’

‘Carina, I’m so sorry. Ihope you will accept mydeepest condolences.’

‘Thank you. You’re verykind.’

‘And if you need helpwith that other matter oranything else, you knowI’ll do anything I can.’

‘You’re going now?’

‘Yes, I thought it best.You don’t want anytourists at a time like this.’

‘Have a good flight,then,’ I said dully.

He dropped his bag,placed his hand on myshoulders, bent down andkissed my cheek.

I laid my hand on hisforearm. ‘Thank you,’ Isaid and sniffed. I gatheredmy wits and smiled at him.

‘Thank you for all the helpwith catching that girl.We’d never have gottenher without you.’

He shrugged. ‘We haveto stick together, youknow. My pleasure. I hopeit all works out.’

He and Daniel turned togo and we found Conradbehind us.

Juno! Where had hecome from? And so

quietly?Contempt and anger

fought it out on his face.‘Yes, thanks to the over-

efficient captain,’ he said,his tone stripped of allwarmth, ‘my daughter isnow stuck in a foreignprison, friendless andhelpless. Good work,Captain.’

Michael fought tocontain himself; his

common sense won out.‘Conrad,’ snapped

Daniel, ‘leave it. Not theplace or time.’ He noddedtowards Aurelia lying onthe bier. ‘Back off.’

‘Or what, Daniel?’Oh, gods. Luckily we

spoke in English and nooutsiders were present,only Dalina who trieddesperately not to lookcurious.

‘Don’t be so childish,man,’ Daniel said. ‘You’reupsetting Carina andmaking an arse of yourself.Go away and calm down.’

He turned to me. ‘Wehave to go or Michael willmiss his plane.’ He gaveme a fleeting smile, turnedhis back on Conrad, andleft with Michael.

I grabbed Conrad’s arm.‘Get over here,’ I hissed at

him, pulling him to theside, away from the bier,‘and shut up. I’ve had justabout enough of youacting dumb.’

‘Dumb? What a quaintexpression,’ he smirked.

I almost smacked it offhis face.

‘Just what in Hades doyou think you’re playingat? Or has that little tart sobewitched you?’ I felt tears

of rage and frustrationpooling in my eyes. ‘Yes,she’s genetically yourdaughter, but what aboutthe other daughter shetried to get killed? If Iremember, you were goingto break every bone in herbody.’

‘She’s misguided, that’sall.’ His face was sullen.

‘Misguided? She’s amurderer. Can’t you see

that?’‘She’s got nobody. I’ve

been to see her. She’s in abad way, miserable anddepressed.’

What was he talkingabout? Cocky andaggressive weren’t strongenough words to describeher when I’d seen the DJcustodes questioning hertwo days ago.

‘Look, Conrad, try

taking a step back andthinking this through.She’s trying to manipulateyou right where you’remost vulnerable. Don’t fallfor it. We’ve got to think ofAllegra, our daughter.’

‘Huh. My fourthdaughter’s got herpowerful and toughmother to protect andcoddle her. My first one isabandoned and alone.’

How could he be soillogical? I glowered athim.

He glared back.I put my hand out and

placed it on his forearm.‘Conrad, don’t.’

He shook it off as ifswatting an insect andstomped off.

What in Hades washappening to him?

*

Seven days later, as duskwas falling, we prepared toburn Nonna. As I slid thewhite stola over my blackpalla and tied the whitecloth belt that morning, Istill could not weep. Norwhen they collected thebier and loaded it on to thecarriage. As we drove pastthe forum, I knew I waslucky nobody expected alengthy public oration, the

laudatio, these days.Allegra, in identical dress,her hair loose like mine,smiled and squeezed myhand.

At the familymausoleum, severalkilometres out of town, Iwatched the bearers lift theheavy bier. Nonna waslight enough, Juno knew,but still the eight of themstruggled. I recognised

most; three senators,Aurelia’s corporatehenchman, Martius Bullo,Crispus Mitelus and hisbrother, one dark-hairedyounger man, a cousinwhose name I couldn’trecall but recognised, andDaniel.

Silvia joined Allegraand me while we wereforming up for theprocession and as we were

about to set off, I sawConrad, in funeral black,tap the young cousin onthe shoulder and take hisplace at the back oppositeDaniel. The look theyexchanged was nuclear.After that they ignoredeach other. I didn’t knowwhether to be happy orannoyed. The old Conradhad loved and respectedAurelia. Was he doing it

for her or to support me?Gil carried a palm and

basket, Tonia thetraditional slim spade. I’dprotested they were tooyoung, but Helena hadintervened.

‘They desperately wantto be involved, Carina.Give them something todo, they’ll feel part of theceremony. It’ll be morefrightening for them if they

think they’ve been left out.Better Mitelae thanstrangers, in any case.’

And Allegra had backedher.

I’d drawn the line atmask-carrying and noisyprofessionals – too muchpantomime. I gathered ithad pretty much died outanyway. The soothingmusic from the band at thefront was much better.

Hundreds turned out, notjust Mitelae, but many ofthe other Twelve Families,two-thirds, I guessed, ofthe Senate plus the generalranks of the great and thegood. I felt sodisconnected; I couldn’tregister anybody beyondtwo metres. It was likebeing on some film set. Atthe walled burningground, I stopped, my

stomach in my throat. Icould smell the pyres fromthe past, the wood, theperfumes, the aromaticbranches and herbs. Andthe burning flesh. Allegralooked up at me,concerned, but Silviagrabbed my arm andmurmured, ‘Keep going.’

I turned to her, but shewas facing forward,expressionless.

I got a grip, stood infront of the bier whilepeople flowed in on eachside and found a place.The music stopped, silencetook over. I felt a thousandeyes on me, curious,tolerant, but expectant. Istepped up to themicrophone and deliveredthe speech Dalina hadhelped me prepare for thisprivate audience; gracious,

celebratory and short.I followed the rehearsal

to the letter; torch in hand,lead in my heart, I walkedaround the pyre threetimes with Allegra andSilvia following, and cameback to the start. I put thetorch to the pyre andturned away as thekerosene-assisted flameserupted. I stepped back,not merely to avoid the

rising heat, but inemotional retreat. Mygrandmother was gone; wewouldn’t be burning herelse.

People stepped forwardwhen the flames began torise, throwing on branches,oils, wine, scarves. I neverfelt more of a stranger, analien, than at thisceremony.

Nonna’s old friend

Senator Pia Calavia kissedme on both cheeks andlooked me direct in theeye.

‘Never a truer or morepassionate servant ofRoma Nova,’ she said, hervoice breaking. She wasaccompanied by a tall manwith grey curly hair andblack brows. His Latin wasgood but accented. ‘Wewere friends during the

time of the rebellion. Andafterwards.’ He took timeto scrutinise my face,ignoring the peoplequeuing behind him. ‘Youare so very like her.’

Senator Calavia said,‘Come, Miklós,’ and theywent together to throw ontheir libations. His was ared rose, a colour Nonnahad forbidden in her rosegarden for a reason I

didn’t know until her willwas opened.

I was thankful when thepile was burnt down. Itwas fully dark by now,only a thin sickle moon;the burning ground was litby flame torches insconces. We sprinkledwine over the embers,calling out our lastfarewells. By now, I wascertain our faces were

covered in dirty smuts; mylungs felt full of smoke, ina way full of the essence ofAurelia. Were my tearsfrom the smoke or grief? Itdidn’t matter. It wasenough appropriatedisplay for people shakingmy hand, murmuringcondolences as they left.

After the last mournerhad gone, and Silvia,Helena and the twins were

on their way home, Ilooked around for Conrad.No sign. I pulled Allegra tome; she gave me a tearylittle smile. As pertradition, we wouldn’tleave until Galienus’s crewhad gathered up the ashesand bones. The cold watersprinkled over us by theold priest to purify uswoke me up from my neartrance. Galienus solemnly

presented me with the urnto be interred with theother ancestors and Icarried it to the sepulchreproper, bowed and turnedaway, not able to bear thefinality. We left the priestto it.

At least we had eightmore days’ respite untilthe Novendiale when thecousins, close friends andcolleagues of Aurelia and

anybody who felt entitledwould descend on us forthe funeral feast. I wasdreading it; the idea ofpeople talking platitudeswhile stuffing theirmouths with food andusing it as a networkingevent.

We passed theintervening days confinedto the house, no realhardship as the quiet time

let us concentrate onmourning Nonna. Allegrahad even been given areprieve from hercommunity sentence forthe mourning period.Junia’s team deep-cleanedthe house from attic tobasement, the priestblessing the mops, broomsand even the centralvacuum system.

I told the children about

Nonna’s earlier life andservice, the rebellion, andabout how kind she’d beento me when I’d arrivedsixteen years ago afterfleeing the Eastern UnitedStates, how she’dsupported me in my darkdays. But I didn’t know if Iwas comforting them ormyself more.

By day eight, Tonia andGil were bored stupid, no

longer enjoying thenovelty of being off schooland even Allegra hadslipped from her perfectdaughter role, flouncingout of the atrium oneafternoon after a lameremark by Gil.

The ninth day, weassembled in the vestibule,Allegra firmly holding onehand of each twin. I hadhoped Conrad might turn

up. I hadn’t seen him sincewe’d burned Aurelia.Allegra and the twins hadhad text messages, butnothing for me. The cardrew up and as Helenaand I got the children in, amotorbike raced into thecourtyard, parked, and thetall rider walked towardsthe car with a familiar cat-like grace. Oh gods! Iswallowed hard. Not a

scene. Not now. Please.‘Room for one more in

the front?’The smile he directed at

the children faded as hisgaze reached me. It washard, but neutral. Iguessed that was animprovement. Under hisleathers, he woremourning dress, so we allset off for Nonna’s tomblike an average unhappy

family on their last day offormal mourning. After abrief ceremony where anumber of cousins joinedus, wine and savourieswere passed around. Wetoasted Aurelia and saidfinal farewells.

Conrad rode back withme, somehow parcellingoff the children to otherrelatives’ cars. I wasn’tgoing to start anything, so

I stayed silent.‘You can’t sulk forever,

Carina.’‘I’m not the one sulking.

You may have forgotten,but I’m mourning mygrandmother. I’m entitledto be quiet.’

‘Now she’s gone, wehave something moreserious to deal with.’

‘How can you be socallous?’

‘She’s gone. She’d bethe first to tell you to geton with things.’

I remembered Nonna’swords. All of them. Iswallowed hard. We werejust coming into the citylimits.

‘What do you want,Conrad? You’ve got tenminutes, unless you wantto come in?’

‘Don’t you want me to

sit by your side during thebun-fight?’

We were expectingnearly two hundred for theNovendiale funeral feast.Normally, I would havedreaded it without himthere.

‘Of course, I want youthere.’

‘Well, let’s call a trucefor today.’

I hadn’t realised we

were at war.

XI

Dalina packed up andwent home to her ownfamily, the last of the long-distance cousins departedand the house was quietagain. Allegra refused todo anything special for herfifteenth birthday; I askedif she wanted to go out

with her friendssomeplace, but shepreferred to read, swimand mooch around thehouse. She still had a weekto run on her communityservice and said she wasn’tin the mood forcelebrating. She showedme a text she’d receivedfrom Conrad and later thatmorning signed for a giftdelivered from him. We

looked at the box,exchanged glances, thenshe picked it up, took it toher room and camedownstairs after tenminutes without sayinganything.

I went back to work aweek later. I had to getgrounded in my normallife. At least here it wasn’tshifting under me all thetime. Or so I thought. I

dropped my side arm in atthe guard office and got astrange look from the dutysergeant.

‘Something wrong?’‘Nothing really, ma’am.’

But her eyes saidsomething different.

‘Spill.’‘Well… it’s just that

your access code has beensuspended until furthernotice.’

‘Because?’‘No reason given.’‘I see.’ I couldn’t see

anything. I was toofurious. How dare he?

‘Putting it back in now,Colonel.’ And she tappedon her terminal.

‘Thank you. I think itmust be a system error.’

‘I think so, too, ma’am.’I stomped upstairs, into

my office then flung

myself in my chair. As thescreen flashed up, I staredat my schedule withhorror. I tapped franticallyand within seconds Lurio’sface looked crossly out ofthe screen at me.

‘What?’‘Morning.’‘Humph.’‘You still have that little

tart there. NicolaSandbrook?’

‘Ah!’‘“Ah” what?’‘You won’t like this.’I shut my eyes and

waited for it.‘She’s calling herself

Nicola Tella. Says herfather told her to.’

‘I don’t give a shit whatshe calls herself.’ That wasa huge lie, but I wasn’tgoing to admit anything infront of Lurio. Had Uncle

Quintus approved it then?‘Her hearing comes up

in six days’ time. Apartfrom the first three days,she’s been a modelprisoner. Mitelus hasbrought in Claudia Vara asher brief.’ He snorted.‘She’s as bloody annoyingas ever.’

So it was for Nicola thatConrad had visited Varathe same afternoon he’d

said goodbye to the dyingAurelia. Nice. Vara washard-hitting and trickywith problems of her own.If I remembered correctly,she’d had two reprimandsfrom the Legal Guild forborderline misconductplus the complaint I’dmade against her sevenyears ago through theFamily Codes Court. Thathad cost Livilla Vara, her

family head, a fivethousand solidi fine. So wehad history.

‘How long will Nicolaget?’

‘Depends on who weget rostered as magistrate,but if proven, I reckon five.That’s what we’ll pushfor.’

‘Sertorius will sort Varaout. See you in court.’

*Sertorius reassured me andAllegra that it was aformality. He had the girls’statements, Michael’saffidavit, and the reportsfrom my ART’ssurveillance operation.Solid case.

Nicola was escorted tothe defendants’ bench bythe court officer. Shelooked around, completely

composed, paused atAllegra, half-closed hereyes then passed on to mewhere she stopped for afew instants. Her eyeswere like tiger’s eye stones.Unbelievably, she tippedher chin up at me inchallenge.

She took her timewalking up to the bar tohear the charges. Thedemure look on her face

made me want to throwup. She looked at themagistrate as if she were awounded pet, noddedbriefly and put her hand toher eyes as if to wipe tearsaway. But from the side, Icaught the tiny smirk.Allegra glanced at me,furious; she’d seen it, too.The magistrate shifted inhis seat and coughed. Hisharsh features softened

when he looked at Nicola.It was as if she wasrunning the court – they allseemed in thrall to her.Conrad sat behind her,where he’d supportedAllegra a few weeks ago. Inearly choked when helooked across at me; hiseyes were so accusing.What right did he have tolook at me like that? Hewas the one that had

deserted us.Vara picked at

everything, but couldn’tdent Sertorius’s case.Allegra gave her evidence,hesitating, but not giving acentimetre under Vara’svicious cross-examinationeven when Vara tried tomake her out to be anunnatural sister. Allegra,her face pale against herblack mourning, retorted

that no natural sisterwould try to get the otherkilled.

Some bad fate hadallocated the samemagistrate that had heardAllegra’s case, but theevidence was solid. Evenhe couldn’t dispute that.Allegra’s hand had mine ina steel grip as we waitedwhile he consulted withthe two auxiliary judges.

Hands flying, headbobbing in staccatomovements, he washammering some pointhome. They lookeddubious, but from hismime he seemed tooverrule them. A hardglint shone out of his eyesset deep in his wrinkledface.

‘We find the defendantguilty as charged.’

Thank the gods!‘But several attenuating

circumstances impact mysentence, leaving aside thefact that the chief witnessis herself convictedrecently of amisdemeanour. Not thatthat should sway us in thiscase, of course.’

Sertorius jumped up toprotest, but the magistratewaved him down.

‘The defendant isforeign-born, ignorant ofwhat is an offence here, sosome leeway must beallowed. Secondly, aguarantor has steppedforward to support andguide her futurebehaviour. Lastly,unwarranted in myopinion, and possiblyillegal, heavy handednesshas been used against her

by law officers.’Lurio sat impassively,

but the muscles on his facetightened.

‘One year’s communityservice, level 2.’

A gasp ran through theaudience. Then thecourtroom exploded;talking and shouting, notleast from the newsies,ramped the noise up.Allegra’s face went white;

she swayed on the bench.She looked as though allthe air had been suckedout of her. I held her for afew moments while shecaught her breath andsteadied herself. Red hotanger rolled up throughme and my head startedthumping.

I watched as Conradguided Nicola out of thecourtroom, curtly nodding

to Vara on the way. A loudrushing noise filled myears and I fell back,crashing on to a bench. Icovered my face with myhands and cried. I criedmy heart out, I cried forAllegra, for Conrad, out offrustration, but most of allfor Nonna.

*I sat in the atrium for along time after dinner that

evening, nursing a glass ofNonna’s favourite Frenchbrandy. She would havehad plenty to say on thecourt case, especially aboutthe way Conrad hadleaned forward andwhispered into Nicola’sear, put his hand on hershoulder and helped herthrough the crowd. Iwondered for a moment ifthere was any insanity in

his family. Sure, the Tellaehad rotten olives like everyfamily, but more theconspiratorial, power-seeking types. Like CaiusTellus who’d marriedConrad’s mother and threeyears after her deathlaunched a coup,overthrowing and killingImperatrix Severina,Silvia’s mother. Ishuddered. Quintus rarely

talked about it, too raw, Iguessed; Caius was hisbrother. Within eighteenmonths, Caius himself hadbeen deposed andexecuted and Quintus setabout repairing his ownand Conrad’s lives.

I had Marcella makesome discreet inquiries atDomus Tellarum; she hadcontacts there, notsurprising given our

families had beenconnected for over fifteenyears. She confirmed mysuspicions; Conrad wasliving there now alongwith Nicola. Marcellalooked at me gravely as Iasked her to make a formalrequest for Quintus Tellusto call on me, one familyhead to another. I sure ashell didn’t want to go thereand run into Nicola. I

might not have been ableto control myself.

Quintus turned up thenext evening, in a blackbusiness suit, flanked bytwo of his family officers,one of them the recorder.No problem, I’d taken theprecaution of havingDalina and CrispusMitelus with me. Quintuslimped across the atriumleaning on a cane. I’d seen

him at the funeral in a bluralong with the otherTwelve Families’representatives. Only twoyears younger than Nonna,he was the last of oldCountess Tella’s directliving descendants apartfrom Conrad. And she’dbeen old when Aureliawas a young woman. Astrange family in a way,without direct female heirs

for much of their history;old Tella had inheritedfrom her father.

I kissed Quintus on thecheek, giving him bothhands, then invited him tosit in the one of easychairs. The others Iignored.

‘I’m sorry for draggingyou out in the evening,Uncle Quintus, but it’svery important we talk.’

‘My dear Carina, I’mremiss in not calling onyou before to pay myformal mourning visit. Atouch of sciatica.’

Some kind of pain in thefundament, I was sure.

‘Aurelia was one of myoldest and dearest friendsas well as politicalcolleague,’ he continued. ‘Ifeel a strong tree has beencut down, leaving less of a

shelter in this cold world.’His face betrayed his

age, crumpled almost,cheeks sagging as if themuscles had given up.

I reached out andtouched his hand. ‘I know.I do know.’

He gave me a wrysmile. ‘It doesn’t make itany better, does it?’

‘Not a stitch.’‘So how can I help you,

Carina?’‘I need to talk one-to-

one. Let’s have my peopletake yours for a coffee.’

He said nothing for aminute or two. I waited.The only movement washis recorder steppingforward and whispering inQuintus’s ear. Quintuslooked up at him, lookedat me and shook his head.The recorder tried again

and Quintus waved themaway. Dalina and Crispusled them to sit at the otherside of the atrium, wherethey could keep us in viewand ensure I didn’t beat upon Quintus.

I leaned forward. ‘Howis he?’

‘Confused and upset.’‘I’m not surprised, with

that little tart working onhim.’

He raised his eyebrows.‘Do you really hate herthat much?’

‘Hades, Quintus, shetried to kill Allegra.’

‘Are you sure? I mean,they were stupid andirresponsible, but—’

‘For Juno’s sake, eventhat malicious little bastardof a magistrate found herguilty.’

He sighed. ‘Yes,

unfortunately, I fear you’reright.’

‘You do?’His fingers travelled up

the back of his other handand played with the silverlink in the white shirt cuff.

‘I’ve seen them all in mylifetime; the innocent, thecrafty, the triers, the tough,the manipulators and theplain cruel. She’s in a classof her own. If I didn’t

know better, I’d havethought she was Caius allover again.’

‘Gods, that’s exactlywhat Nonna said justbefore she died.’ The tearswelled in my eyes, but Irefused them an exit. ‘Tellme.’

‘Caius used his clevermanipulation skills inevery part of his life. Heoozed charm and

confidence. His hard workguaranteed our mother’sapproval and she wasdelighted to open politicaldoors for him.’ His fingerscurled. ‘I was his victimsince we were children. Hewas only three years olderthan me and like manybrothers we shared abedroom. When he startedtouching me, I tried tokeep out of his way.

During the day, our tutorwas there most of the time.But I was terrified at night.Caius would slip into mybed and—’

Quintus looked away,his eyes seeming to focuson something a long waydistant. ‘You can imaginethe rest. If I didn’t lie thereand take it, he’d thump meand then kiss the placebetter.’ He flinched at the

memory. ‘I pleaded withhim to leave me alone, buthe laughed. My motherdidn’t have a clue. Shethought it was boys’ roughand tumble. My fathertried to stop him hittingme, but got nowhere.Caius slithered out ofevery attempt to restrainhim.’

He stared down at thecoffee table for some

moments. A sour tastefilled my mouth and Irubbed my throat to trydisperse it.

‘I recovered when I ranaway at twelve to live withmy father,’ Quintuscontinued, ‘something mymother never understood.She thought me ratherdull, a plodder, incomparison. She justshrugged the day the court

gave Dad custody ‘forfamily incompatibility’. Hesnorted. ‘Dad and I keptout of his way. WhenCaius started on Conradyears later, I thrashed him,I nearly killed him. I wish Ihad. He’d marriedConstantia, charmed heraway from Conrad’sfather, Richard, who was agood man. She died threeyears later, “of natural

causes” they said.’ Heshook his head. ‘She wasthirty-two.’

I was riveted; fascinatedand repelled at the sametime.

‘The public history iswell known. I won’t boreyou. For some reason, afterour fight, he left me alone,even during the rebellion.That was more frighteningthan being one of his

victims; I never knewwhen, or if, he was goingto pounce. But to the dayof his execution he didn’tsee what he’d done wrong.He was completely amoral.He’d killed ImperatrixSeverina Apulia, a nicewoman if a weak ruler; hewould have got Silvia ifthe PGSF hadn’t got heraway to New Austria. Hewrecked the country,

brought misery into somany lives. People werestarving and terrified, theeconomy had plunged andthe old vigiles police forcehad become brutalised andcorrupted. It was hellish.’

He turned to me. ‘Youknow yourself, whatsafeguards and systemswere put in to guard theimperatrix and the stateagainst a repeat.’

I’d used one of thosesame protocols seven yearsago to prevent anotherbunch of would-be rebels.

‘So where does thisleave us, Quintus Tellus?’

He drew his gaze backand looked at me, startledat my formal tone.

‘She is indubitablyConradus’ daughter and Icouldn’t refuse toacknowledge her.’ He

studied his sleeve, hisfingers flicked non-existentdust off. ‘Much moreserious, she is the onlyfemale Tella born withinthe past hundred years inthe direct line who is stillalive.’ He glanced up atme, as if waiting for myreaction. I couldn’t moveor speak; I was frozen withhorror. The four familyaides stopped talking

between themselves andstared in our direction.They couldn’t hear us; itwas as if they sensedsomething hovering in theair.

‘You can’t possiblymean what I think you’resaying,’ I managedeventually. The Tellae hadno female heir within fourdegrees. Quintus had oncesuggested formally

adopting Tonia, oursecond daughter – she hadConrad’s genes and blood– but I’d said she was fartoo young for such a step.Maybe when she was olderand could decide forherself. Quintus was nowfloating the idea thatNicola could claim to behis heir. Hades’ teeth!

‘I will watch her,Carina, and attempt to

check any developingtendencies. If she startsacting like Caius, she’ll usea mixture of relentlesscharm and attrition.’ Helooked up and smiled, butthe rest of his face didn’tmirror it. ‘We may bebeing overly pessimistic.Perhaps she may settlenow she has family aroundher.’Don’t kid yourself,

Quintus.‘Can you give it a little

while to see what unfolds?’he asked.

‘All I want is myhusband back. He lookedso angry in court.’ I wavedmy hand in a vaguebackward movement.‘She’s sucking the life outof him. Why can’t he seeit? He’s sharp enough.’

Quintus looked away,

and spoke to the marblecolumn. ‘I think he’sfeeling guilty over what hethinks is neglect of this lostchild.’

‘And she’s playing it forevery solidus.’

‘Perhaps.’‘Well, lock up your

money, Quintus,’ I urgedhim, ‘as well as yourvirtue.’

PartII:TheFuries

XII

The annual fitness–for-taskexercise kept mydepartment fully occupiedfor the next few weeks;training the visiting armsand preparing tasks,logistics and staffing forthe whole thing. Almostthe entire four hundred

strength went out on thisexercise. The worst thingwas having the regularsmove in as caretakers inour facilities. This year, Isprang a surprise andchanged the location onthe second day; we wentup to the mountain tacticalarea. I’d found training inthe pine woods with theBritish a rewardingchallenge earlier in the

year. It had sharpened upthe skills of the wholedetachment. Interesting tosee how the rest of themtook it.

At six thirty the firstmorning after the move,the teams had all gone outand I paused in the chillyair in front of the thickcanvas staff tent, a hotbacon and egg roll in onehand and a mug of strong

tea in the other, drinkingin the diamond-sharpmorning sunshine comingup over the pine forest.Gods, it was cool at thisaltitude, around zerodegrees up on thismountain shoulder. But sopure and clear.

‘Jupiter’s balls, Carina,what possessed you todrag us all up here?’

Daniel, his dark brown

eyes almost hidden by thefur round the hood on hisparka.

‘Ha! Can’t take a bit ofcool weather?’

He rubbed his glovedhands together. ‘I’m adesert boy at heart.’

I grinned back at him ‘Ithought it got cold at nightin the Negev?’

‘Yeah, but that was overfifteen years ago. I’m old

now.’I chuckled.He didn’t say anything.

I sensed him gazing at me.‘What?’‘Lovely to hear you

laugh again. It’s been awhile.’

‘Yeah. It hasn’t goneaway, Daniel, just buried alittle further. And it’s goodto keep busy.’ I turned tohim. ‘This is where I

should be, in the middle ofmy people, working withthem, caring for them,bollocking them ifnecessary, but with them.’I made a face. ‘Gods, Isound like something outof a TV soap. Slap my faceif I start again.’

‘I wouldn’t dare!’I burst out laughing at

his mock-horrified face,tapped him on the chest

with the back of my hand.He laughed back.

‘So pleasing to see myofficers enjoying theirwork.’

A shutter fell abruptlyon our happy mood.Senior Legate ConradusMitelus had joined us.Disapproval on his facecontradicted his words,combined with the now-familiar guarded

expression he wore whenhe came near me. Hehadn’t stopped treating melike any other member ofhis team, but now hismanner had an edge andno intimate smile everburst through. It was likeskimming over a largebowl of Jell-O. So far thesurface tension hadn’tbroken.

‘Cup of tea, sir?’ Daniel

said, seeking to break themood.

‘No thank you, Colonel.What time are youchecking the sub-command posts?’

Daniel recognised hisexit cue, saluted and went.

I snuck a sideways lookat Conrad. His eyes werered and puffy and I sawfrom this close distancehe’d gained a few more

white hairs sprinkled overthe whole of his head. Thatdamned girl. According toJunia’s contact, Nicola hadsettled into her new lifelike some Scarlett O’Hara,irritating the hell out of thewhole household,provoking them into subtleretaliation against herimperious andunreasonable demands.And Conrad was caught in

the middle.‘Every team get off

without problem?’‘No problem at all, sir,’ I

said. ‘All in good spirits, afew grumbles at the cold,but I’d be worried if thereweren’t.’

‘Good, good.’Juno, he wanted to talk

and he didn’t know how tostart. He really was losinghis confidence.

‘Is there anything youwanted to discuss?’ I tried.

‘Why? Do you have atrain to catch?’

I stared at him. ‘Not atall. I just had theimpression you wanted tosay something. I—’

‘I’ll let you know ifthere is,’ he said curtly andstomped off.

Misery washed overme. Would we ever be able

to talk without snappingor bickering?

*The week after we arrivedback from the exercise, Ifound a meeting requestfrom Pelonia, the DJinspector who’d handledthe case against NicolaSandbrook. Nicola Tella.Damn. I hated calling herthat.

‘Colonel Mitela here.

How can I help you,Inspector?’

‘I wanted to runsomething past you,ma’am, given your uniqueexperience andconnections. Could weperhaps meet outside orhere at my office, if youdidn’t mind?’

What in Hades did shemean by ‘experience andconnections’? She didn’t

want to come here, thatwas obvious. Her tone wastense, but diffident, so I’dbe doing her a favour.

‘Sure, no problem. Orwe could meet informallyfor some lunch, maybe?What about tomorrow, atDania’s, off the Via Nova?’

‘That would be perfect.I’ll see you there.’

*Dania was one of my

protégées; I’d given herseed capital years ago andnow she had a thrivingbusiness. When she’dstarted up, it had been aplain bar providing goodfood and personal services.Unknown to almosteverybody, Dania hadplayed a pivotal rolefourteen years ago in myOperation Goldlights, todefeat organised drug

criminals. After that hadfinished, she’d relentlesslydriven her business furtherupmarket each year andnow ran an exclusiverestaurant which needed atleast two months to get areservation. I never hadthat problem.

I arrived early andstamped my feet on theentrance mat to shake offthe icy slush. Snow had

fallen steadily during thenight and had turned intocharmless sleet. Daniagreeted me warmly, with atight hug, but appraisingeyes.

‘How are you, Bruna? Isit any better yet?

‘Getting there.’Since she’d stopped

colouring her hair andgained a few pounds,she’d taken on a gravitas

that could intimidate theshallow and callow. Shehad to be in her earlyfifties by now.

She smiled. ‘Glad to seeyou out of black. I’ve putyou and your friend in oneof the private rooms. Goup, there’s a bottle on ice.’

Pelonia arrivedpromptly, in designerjeans and leather coatwhich revealed a cashmere

sweater and silk scarflooped around her neck.No way did she look like acop. I poured her glass ofBrancadorum champagnewhich she sippedcarefully. Dania broughtup our food herself andleft discreetly.

‘So how can I help you,Inspector?’

‘I’ve received a piece ofinformation which if true

is explosive.Unfortunately, it’s morelikely to be maliciousgossip. But—’

She stopped, glanced atme almost furtively. I hadthe impression she wasembarrassed.

‘Pelonia, you don’tknow me very well. If youhave something to say,however trivial, I’m allears. I work a lot on

instinct. I respect otherswho do the same. But Ireact badly to time-wasters, so go.’

‘Since OperationGoldlights, we’ve beenable to keep a tight controlon most of the drug trade,’she said. ‘We’ll never stopthem all, but—’

She shrugged,eloquently, and dug intoher food.

‘I wasn’t aware youworked in narcotics.’

‘I don’t. My remit isspecial investigation.’ Ah,one of Lurio’s personalhunters. I hadn’t knownthat when we’d first met atNicola’s arrest. Unkindcolleagues and theungodly called themferrets, but they pulled inresults.

I ate in silence waiting

for her.‘A piece of trash we

swept up a week agoclaimed he’d seen a newdealer, a foreigner. Shewas accompanied byanother girl, whom hethought he recognised. Hewas seriously fried,shouting his head off, sothe uniforms sent him tothe public detox unit to getstabilised. I followed it up

a few days later, but he’dexpired. We ID’d him, Iran him, but he only hadminors. Nobody claimedthe body, so it went to thepublic crem.’

‘Why your interest?’‘The custodes who

picked him up wrote up afull report and passed it tothe Senior Commander’soffice.’ She slipped a bunchof folded A4 sheets out of

her bag and slid it acrossthe table.

I flicked through thecrime report, to thedoctor’s piece: death bynarcotic overdose, subjectverbal, but incoherent,until unconsciousnessshortly before death. WhenI read the description ofevents and the junkie’sdescription of the twowomen on the incident

form I almost had a cardiacarrest.

Pelonia looked at mesteadily. ‘If it hadn’t beenfor the previous case, I’dhave put it down as puregibberish. Now I wonder.’

I read the report again. Icould hardly believe it. Ihad no doubt it wasNicola. She had wealthand position, and hadConrad tied up in

emotional barbed wire,isolated, separated fromme and our children. Shewas extracting revenge ona daily basis. So what inHades was she doingdealing on the street? If itwas her.Yeah, right, Carina. Like

youdon’tknowit’sher.‘Okay.’ I cleared my

throat. ‘Stepping back abit, there’re a lot of tall

blonde young womenaround, some withcriminal records, drugsincluded.’

‘Agreed, but this one’sforeign, unknown on thestreet,’ Pelonia pushed.‘And her companion –nobody could fail torecognise Stella Apulia.’

‘That’s quite a leap,Inspector. And all from theranting of a stoned junkie

who’s now dead.’‘I see.’ Pelonia said. She

stood up, reached over forthe report, and said, ‘Sorryto have wasted your time,Colonel.’ The look she shotme was contemptuous andangry, but she quicklystifled it.

‘Sit down, Pelonia. Ididn’t say I didn’t believeyou.’ I sighed.‘Unfortunately, I do. I just

don’t want to.’Her face relaxed.‘I understand it may be

difficult, but the SeniorCommander thought youshould be informed.’ Shelooked down at the table,nearly smiled, as ifremembering somethingelse he’d said. ‘He alsothought you might have aunique insight on theproblem.’

‘Ha! He did, did he?’ Ipaused for a few momentsassembling my thoughts.Pelonia would have beencleared up to a very highsecurity level; Lurio wouldnever have sent her myway otherwise.

‘Nicola Tella lives withher father at DomusTellarum. I haven’t seenher since the trial.’ I lookedover Pelonia’s shoulder at

the wall. ‘Her fatherappears to have separatedhimself from myhousehold, so I only havehearsay about heractivities. I was under theimpression she wasenjoying the benefits of hernew-found prosperity andposition. I have no ideapersonally about her socialcircle.’

I brought my gaze back

to look her straight in theface. ‘But if that junkie wastelling the truth and NicolaTella has contaminated herhalf-sister, the imperialheir, and dragged her intocriminality, there’s verylittle I won’t do to bringher down.’

*We promised to liaise andPelonia left, quietly closingthe door behind her. I

listened to the sound of herfootsteps fade down thestairs. I bowed my headinto my hands. Gods.Everything was comingapart. I was just aboutkeeping the everyday inbalance: the children, thewider family stuff,business meetings, theSenate. Oh, and sometimesI grabbed some sleep. Nowthis. I felt like running

away from it all. WithNonna gone, I had no wisecounsellor, with Conradgone, no clever, sharp andwitty companion. I lovedDaniel dearly, but he wasno comparison. Tearstrickled between myfingers down the back ofmy hands. This was solame. I thought I’d stoppedcrying.

My phone pinged – a

routine check – but itpulled me out of my self-pity. I had to get a grip.This was no ordinarydanger. The source wasinside and had not onlysplit our family, but alsonow threatened the state. Iwas a Praetorian, forJupiter’s sake. I had to getoff my butt and dosomething about it.

I left Dania’s, took a taxi

to the staff entrance of thepalace. Flashing my ID atthe guard detail on duty, Imade my way through theadmin area, upstairs intothe private family quarters.Another guard stood theresolemn-faced and checkedme in. Silvia’s privatesecretary materialised aftera few minutes and lookeda little disconcerted to seeme, but he recovered

quickly. He ushered meinto an alcove with bluevelvet easy chairs and acoffee table. After tenminutes I stood up to greetmy cousin. And fellowmother. She was frowning.

‘Carina? Is somethingwrong?’

She hovered by thedouble doors and didn’tcome forwardimmediately. I bowed and

she eventually moved intothe room. In response toher outstretched hand, Isat down again. Shefidgeted; I guessed I’dinterrupted something.

‘Silvia, I apologise forbutting in but I have justreceived some disturbinginformation.’

‘Yes?’‘How much has Stella

been around Nicola

Sandbrook, I mean, Tella?’She looked baffled.

‘What do you mean?’‘Exactly that.’‘Would you care to

elaborate?’ Her tone wasdistinctly frosty.

‘It may be nothing, butthe DJ have reported awoman resembling Tellamaking what looked like adrugs deal down in theSeptarium area.’ Not a

pleasant place. I doubted,and hoped, Silvia had everbeen there.

‘And how does thatconcern me?’

‘She had a companionwhom the informantrecognised instantly. Hecouldn’t fail to, I guess.Stella.’

‘Impossible.’I shrugged.She stood up and

disappeared though thedoor. After a few minutes,she returned and focusedon me like a scientist on anexciting new specimen.

‘Details, please.’I ran through the report.

‘It’s inconclusive, butenough to cause the headof the Urban Cohorts tosend in a specialinvestigator.’

‘Very well. I’ll have a

word with Stella. Thankyou for bringing this to myattention.’

I knew I was dismissed,but I couldn’t leave itthere.

‘Would you mind notdoing that?’

‘Why ever not?’‘Because if Nicola Tella

has had the face to dragthe imperial heir into thedirt, I want the chance to

nail her hide to the floorand stomp all over it.’

‘Oh. I see. But I won’thave Stella put in danger,in any way.’ She sighed. ‘Iknow she can be difficult. Iwas as disappointed asConrad when she didn’tpursue her career in thePGSF. She’s been at a looseend ever since. Yes, shedoes some publicappearances if she has to,

but she’s not reallyinterested in any of mycharities or foundations,nor in shadowing me.’

Silvia looked away. Shewas a hard-workingdecisive leader. Deprivedof the luxuries of securityand leisure of her early life,she’d had to grow upquickly in the aftermath ofthe wreckage left by CaiusTellus’s dictatorship.

‘I don’t know what shewants, Carina. I thoughtshe might like to go to theuniversity – she’s alwaysgot her head in a book –but she gave that up after asemester. She goes alongwith things, she’s pliabledespite the sullenness butshe’s got no stayingpower.’

She turned back to me,with a carefully bright

smile. ‘Well, that’s myproblem. How dangerousis this?’

‘Have you met NicolaTella?’

She shook her head.‘Look, Silvia, will you

trust me on this?’‘You’ve only saved my

life and my country twice,so I think I can cut you alittle slack.’

I stared at her. How

could she joke in thissituation? I could never beso strong. No, it wasgallows humour, a kind ofprotective irony.

I reminded her aboutAllegra’s trial and gave hera summary of Michael’sinput. But when I repeatedwhat Quintus had said,she shuddered.

‘But what’s Conradusdoing about her? Surely he

can see through her?’‘Have you seen him

recently?’‘Not since after

Allegra’s trial. He came toeat with us one evening.Oh, Juno, Stella knows allabout the trial. Conraduswas very open about hisanger at this “Zenia”. Ofcourse, he didn’t knowwho Zenia was at the time.He wasn’t too happy either

that night at Stella givingup on the PGSF and hestruggled to beunderstanding about it.’

‘Before she died,Aurelia thought he mightbe going through somesort of emotional crisis.Something reaching backinto his own childhoodthat was triggered by guiltover Nicola.’ I threw myhands up in the air in

exasperation. ‘Nicola wasnot deprived as she likes toclaim. Sure, she didn’thave a wealthybackground, but hermother had a good jobteaching.’

‘How do you knowthat?’ Silvia asked.

‘I’m an intelligenceofficer, right?’ I grinned.

‘Okay, silly question.’She smiled back.

I stretched and placedmy hand on hers. ‘I triedonce to tackle Conradusopenly about Nicola andhe shut me out. Maybe Iwas a little clumsy. WhenNicola was caught at theborder and arrested, itcaused a huge breachbetween us. I thought he’dunderstand why I pressedcharges. She tried to killour daughter, for Juno’s

sake! Any normal fatherwould have been onehundred per cent behindAllegra and me.’

I stopped to swallowthe bitter taste in mymouth.

‘For some reason he’seaten up with guilt.Nicola’s playing it for allit’s worth. Now I’m sureshe’s targeting Stella. Thistime, I’m going to use her

own tricks against her. ButI need to take it verycarefully.’

‘We can put a stop tothis easily. I’ll haveConradus relieved of duty,pending investigation.’

Sometimes I wonderedwhere Silvia got theseautocratic ideas. Then Iremembered she wasdescended from both theJulii and the Flavians, both

ruthless clans.‘Um, you can’t – it’s a

Senate-confirmed post andthey re-confirmed after hisaccident. Unless he’sconvicted of a major felonyor gross dereliction, you’restuck.’

She looked like she’ddrunk a whole amphora ofbitter garum. She shook myhand off, got up and wentto savage a flower in the

arrangement on the sidetable. The red petals fell inan untidy heap on thefloor.

‘Yes, I know. I wasbeing self-indulgent. Mucheasier a couple of hundredyears ago.’ She shrugged.‘So what do you suggest?’

‘I’m going to set upsurveillance on her and getsome solid proof we canuse in the courtroom.’

‘Can you do thatwithout Conradusknowing?’

‘I have to persuade him.It would be so much betterif it was out in the open,but if I can’t, I have, er,private resources, outsidethe PGSF.’

She waited for me toexplain, but I didn’t.

‘Could you bear toinvite Nicola here,’ I

continued, ‘and let meknow what you think?’

‘You want me to be oneof your operatives?’

Gods. I swallowed. Thatwas exactly what I wasasking. My face must havesaid it all as she laughed.

‘Don’t look so worried.Of course I will. Whodoesn’t want to be JamesBond?’

‘Yes, well, it’s not like

that really.’‘I know. I was only

teasing.’Her face became serious

again. ‘You’ll watch overmy Stella, won’t you?’

‘You know I will.’

XIII

I sat in the gloom thatevening, nursing a smallbrandy. I’d taken to usingNonna’s special glass, anexquisite red Hungariancrystal tumbler, a gift froman admirer, she’d said.Apart from mygrandfather, Euralbius,

she’d rarely mentionedanybody else in that way.It was only when Sertoriusopened and read her willin front of the witnessesand handed me a largesealed envelope with apompous flourish that I’ddiscovered she’d been heldin the grip of a ‘grandpassion’ for nearly fortyyears.

They’d met in Berlin,

when she was in hertwenties, then later inVienna when she was inexile during the rebellion.He came back to RomaNova with her but couldn’tsettle. He left, but they metfrom time to time and healways gave her a red roseto bring back. She’d keptand pressed every one.The colour photo tuckedinside the letter showed a

younger, black-hairedversion of the man withCalavia at the funeral – theman who had thrown thered rose on Aurelia’s pyre.

I needed to fix a timewith Calavia for a serioustalk about this. Or maybe Ishould just let it go. Myown ‘grand passion’wasn’t burning so bright atpresent.

I stared into the glass

trying not to see her.A cough interrupted

me. Junia stood there, el-pad in hand.

‘Sorry, Junia, I was inthe clouds. Sit with me,please. What is it?’

‘Saturnalia. I need totalk to you about it.’

Gods, no way could Ithink of partying. But Iguessed I needed to – thehousehold would expect it.

We could avoid the publicritual on 17 December; thatwas mostly for the priestsand enough family councilmembers would go torepresent us. But normallythe house would beoverrun with noise,people, stupid but fundares, overeating, games,theatricals and stand-up ofdubious taste, arguments,falling in lust, laughter and

progressive drunkenness.But gift-giving on

Sigillaria, a few days, laterusually balanced up anyruffled sensibilities.Conrad, Helena, Danieland I usually took part infull. Last year, Daniel hadclimbed onto the roof andabseiled down through thebulls-eye, the oculus;wearing a garish tunic,conifer garland round his

head, he’d sung his mindout to the booming music,jumped the last few metresto the ground and run upto Aurelia and presentedher with a white rose. Itsounded so stupid now,but the shouts, catcalls,laughter and applause hadsealed the evening.

‘Countess?’I produced a bright

smile. ‘What’s the

programme this year?’‘Galienus and I called a

staff meeting and weagreed it would beinappropriate to host theusual celebrations. Rather—’

‘But—’‘Rather than the

boisterous week here, weare proposing a sharedmeal on the 17th, familyand household together in

the atrium, everybodyhelping. We’d have theusual pork roast, and giftsafterwards. No princeps, nogambling, and notheatricals.’

‘Good grief, Junia,they’ll go on strike. Atleast let them have musicand a card-playing book.’

‘We’ll allow somethingin the domestic hall, but Ithink you need peace more

than anything.’ She lookeddown at her el-pad, herface set. After a moment ortwo, she looked up, madea moue, stood up andwent.

How she managed toexcise ninety per cent ofSaturnalia, I’ll never know,but she did. It passedsmoothly, pleasantly even,but it was dull. I knowDaniel and Helena snuck

downstairs one night fordancing and an eveningshow.

*The next time I saw Silviawas at her private fifty-fifth birthday party.Grouped around herunder the rose silk gazeboset up in the cavernouspalace atrium, we lookedon as sixteen-year-oldHallienia Apulia solemnly

proposed the toast for hermother. Silvia leaned overto give Hallie a kiss ofthanks on each cheek. Awide smile burst acrossHallie’s lips. She’dreceived her emancipationand officially leftchildhood behind only sixmonths before, but she wasstill kid enough to grin ather mother.

The ceremony finished,

servers were quick tocirculate with glasses ofchampagne amongst thehundred or so family andfriends. Silvia was caughtup immediately by acouple of senator cousins.

I stood at the side,sipping from my glasswhile Hallie and Allegrapored over the table ofgifts that people hadbrought for Silvia. In the

noise of people talking andlaughing, I felt rather thansaw Conrad approaching.He gave me a brief nod,not even attempting togive me a kiss, even on thecheek. He stood behind thegirls gazing at them as ifwilling them intoawareness of his presence,but they ignored us as onlyteenagers can. I coughed,Hallie looked up, a little

guiltily. She stepped back,turned to Conrad, raisedher brown eyes to his faceand smiled.

‘Hello, Dad. Brilliantyou’re here. Mama will bereally pleased.’

‘Of course I’d be here,silly.’ He stroked her hair,pushing a stray brown lockback behind her ear, but helooked hurt that she’ddoubted him.

‘Yes, of course,’ shereplied, a little flustered.‘Only I thought you mightbe busy with—’

‘Yes?’‘Other things.’ She

flushed red. ‘Oh, there’sMarcus Calavius. I mustgo and talk to him. Catchyou later.’ And sheskipped off towards adark-haired young manaround twenty, grinning

across the room andwaving at her.

‘Hmph. Calavius. Notsure about that,’ he saidalmost as an aside.

‘Good family, one of theTwelve, with a soundhistory,’ I said.

‘Not really good enoughfor her.’

‘Keep it cool, Dad,’Allegra said in a boredvoice, ‘it’s not as if she’s

sleeping with him yet.’I somehow kept my lips

clamped as his eyes bulgedand he swung around toglare at Allegra.

‘What in Hades is thatsupposed to mean?’

‘Like I said, she’s notslee—’

‘Yes, I heard you,Allegra. How long has thisbeen going on?’

She shrugged. ‘A few

months. Aunt Silvia’s gotit, so don’t worry.’ Shetook a deliberate breath.‘Well, Hallie said youhaven’t been around at thepalace, so you won’t haveseen him.’

Allegra stole a glanceup at her father and saidnothing further. Good call– he looked murderous.She took off, looking forbetter company.

‘I suppose you knew,’he accused.

‘No, I didn’t. I’ve been alittle too occupied recentlyto keep up with teenagecrushes. Like Allegra says,it’s Silvia’s affair.’

‘Silvia might havediscussed it with me.’

‘Why? You weren’tthere, I understand, soshe’s dealing with it.’

He said nothing. I

watched the other guests,laughing, drinking, eatingcanapés, greeting andgossiping, as if they wereseparated from us by animpenetrable wall of glass.

‘And where’s Stella?’ Iasked. ‘She should havebeen here for her mother’sbirthday.’

His furtive expressionrang alarm bells.

‘Conrad, where is she?’

‘She’s… she’s gotanother appointment, Iunderstand.’

‘You’re kidding me.More important than this?’

‘She has her own lifenow. I can’t tell her whatto do.’

I couldn’t help myself. Ireally couldn’t.

‘No, you seem to becapable of only doing whatyou’re told these days.’

*‘So what happened afterhe flounced off?’

Silvia and I were sittingby ourselves in her notvery comfortable designerchairs on the glazed terraceoverlooking the privategarden. Subtle lights castcream arcs over statuesand the fountain jets threwliving light into its circularpool. Only the distant

sounds of teenage gigglingand shouting invaded ourprivate talk.

‘That was it – I didn’tsee him after that.’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I thinkthere’s something going onunder the surface but hejust seems distracted,nothing more. Are yousure it’s that serious?’

‘I don’t know, Silvia,maybe I’ve got it all wrong

and we’re just goingthrough a bad patch. Itstarted in London withthat letter and has beengetting worse ever since.But even if it’s personal, itshouldn’t be clouding hisjudgement on professionalmatters. Maybe he wasmore affected by hisaccident than we thought.’

She said nothingimmediately, but her eyes

narrowed slightly as iflooking into the fardistance. Outside, frostwas starting to coat therose bushes stretchingaway from us in twoformal beds. LikeApollodorus, my oldfriend and enemy, Silvialoved her roses. Bobbingbetween individual plants,she could be found in therose beds, secateurs in

hand, followed by ananxious gardener toopolite to say anything.Apollodorus had crossedin Charon’s ferry six yearsago after a traitor’s death. Ishut that door firmly.

Silvia pulled a quicktight smile, glanced up atthe open door leading backto the atrium, stood up andclosed it. Settled back inher chair, but still staring

through the glass, she said,‘I met Nicola Tella at theend of last week. You’reright. Completely right.She could be Caius’s twin.’

She pulled her gazeback from the far distanceto my face.

‘You don’t forgetsomebody like CaiusTellus. The Tellae were oneof the Twelve, someillustrious, some not,

mostly solid service to thestate. That last time I sawhim before the rebellion,he was talking to mymother. I was Hallie’s age.It was some formal event. Iremember my dress – itwas new, green silk withgold shot through and agold stola. He smiled downat me. I was frightened. Hewas overpowering in anuncomfortable way. He

stroked my arm. Iremember that vividly. Ishivered and he smiled atme knowing exactly howrevolted I was. He mademy mother nervous – shewas tongue-tied in talkingto him. For Olympus’ sake,she was no amateurrhetorician. He wasproposing an alliancebetween our families. Ididn’t know whether it

was her or me he had hissights on.’

She shuddered.‘I found my mother

crying one evening laterthat week. It was as shewaited for the councillorsto arrive during the nightof the fire. She stoppedwhen she saw me. I thinkshe knew what wascoming. She hugged meclose and told me to hold

true. That evening, Aureliaordered the PraetorianGuard commander to takeme away, to escape. Julianstayed and helped holdthem off. They killed him. Iremember being made torun through the street, cardoors opening andshutting, the grim silenceof the guards. We crawledthrough farmyards, backinto cars and hiked up the

Geminae and through thenorthern passes to crossthe border.’

‘I never saw my motheragain. I lived in Vienna foreighteen months, guardedtwenty-four seven byPGSF who’d chosen exileover serving Caius.’

She gave a bitter littlesmile but there was nohumour in her eyes.

‘They thought he’d try

and snatch me. Theywanted me to go toAmerica for safety, but Irefused. I knew I had tostay near. Volusenia theYounger, the seniorPraetorian, was tough andstrict – I was terrified ofher. But she wasunbelievably kind whenshe told me my motherwas dead. The officialstory was that she’d

committed suicide, butnobody believed it. Later,the forensics proved she’dbeen murdered. Aureliaand Volusenia kept mefrom going insane as I wasforced to grow up so fast. Iwas only sixteen.’

She paused andswallowed.

‘I saw Caius on thetelevision, parading roundas First Consul. I felt so

much hatred for him. Itwas like a tight lead lumpin my heart. I vowed I’dget even. I wanted to killhim, but didn’t knowhow.’

‘When I came back toRoma Nova, everythingwas broken, peopledesperate and fearful. Wehad no food, the hospitalswere empty, the powerstations were off line, no

fuel, looters were rampant.The old police service, thevigiles, was enforcing itsown kind of law. But thePraetorians stayed loyal.They re-imposed orderand the PGSF led byAurelia hunted CaiusTellus down.’

She stood up andwalked to the balustrade.She turned to face me, herfigure outlined in the red

and amber of the settingsun. Her voice was hard asshe finished her story.

‘They brought him in tome. He stood therearrogant and indifferent.He couldn’t see that whathe’d done was so wrong.Even at his trial, hemanaged to convince oneof the judges he’d beentreated unfairly. Cruel,manipulative bastard is a

soft and tender descriptionof Caius Tellus.’ Sheturned away, her headbowed. Rare tears runningdown her face glistened inthe dying light.

‘He was a traitor, butmore than that he killedmy mother. He deservedhis execution.’

XIV

The next morning, Imarched along the secondfloor corridor, determinedto see Conrad. In my heartand gut, I knew it wasn’tgoing to be any good giventhe way things stoodbetween us, but I had totry. Damn Nicola to

Hades. Maybe I was tooinvolved, but as aPraetorian I had to do myduty howeveruncomfortable. Silvia’sstory had confirmed thatNicola was no longer aprivate pain in the ass; shewas a threat to theimperial family. I knew itinstinctively, but had noproof. I had to try topersuade Conrad to

authorise an investigation.He could step back and letSepunia and herintelligence departmentrun it. In fact, it might notbe the world’s worst ideafor me to brief her.

Rusonia wasn’tguarding the entrance foronce. What had happened?World revolution? Iknocked and hearing‘Come’, pushed the door

open, went in, saluted andwaited.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said.‘What do you want?’

He flicked his fingerstowards the chair on theother side of his desk.

I sat and folded thefingers of my right handaround the left so myhands didn’t fidget in mynervousness.

‘Well?’

‘A new threat has beenidentified and needs to beinvestigated,’ I started.

‘Really? I may bemistaken, but the last timeI looked we had anintelligence department forthat. What’s the interest ofTraining?’

I ignored the sarcasm.‘It’s the duty of all PGSFpersonnel to be constantlyon the watch for potential

problems and report them.One of your reformprinciples, if I remember.Sir.’ I added.

‘Oh, very well. Write itup and circulate it in theusual way,’ he said andreached for a folder.

No way was I going tobe dismissed like this. Andwhy didn’t he want toknow what the threat was?Normally he’d be

demanding details andlistening with laser-likeattention.

‘I don’t think that’sadvisable in this case,’ Ipersisted.

‘And why is that?’I took a mental breath

and let the words fire out.‘The DJ has reported a

sighting of Nicola Telladealing drugs andinvolving Stella Apulia.’

His eyes blazed. Hestruck his desk with bothfists.

‘Jupiter’s balls! What inHades are you trying tosay?’ he bellowed.

He thrust his headtowards me, challengingme to continue. A stab offear ran through me. I let itground itself and sat backagainst the soft pad on theback of the chair.

‘Exactly what I said.’ Istared straight at him andhe eventually dropped hiseyes. After his face had lostthe red flush, I gave himthe details of Pelonia’sreport. ‘It’s inconclusiveoverall, but a definite ID ofStella. Given her status, itcomes within our remit.’

‘Who else knows aboutthis charming little tale?’

‘Stella’s mother.’

‘You went running toSilvia on the strength ofsome junkie’s ravings?How bloody stupid areyou?’

‘How blind are you?Silvia agrees with me, yourprecious Nicola isunequivocally a threat.Don’t you get it, Conrad?Silvia figures she’s Caiusall over again.’

He blenched, gripped

the edges of his desk sotightly I thought it wasgoing to cut off the bloodsupply to his fingers.Sweat broke out on hisforehead, his lips took on ablue tinge. I leapt aroundthe desk and gripped hisarms. Gods! He washaving a heart attack.

‘Conrad.’ No reaction.‘Conrad.’ I eased him backdown into his chair. I

reached immediately forthe desk commset to callthe medics, but althoughspeechless, he waved meaway with an abruptgesture. After a fewbreaths, he threw such asavage glare at me that Idropped my hands as if I’dbeen shocked by athousand volts.

His colour wasgradually coming back. I

roused myself and pouredhim a glass of water whichhe grabbed and drank.Over the rim, he glared atme.

‘You keep your damnednose out of it. Leave it tothe scarabs. They canwaste their time on it.’

‘Conrad, I know you’reupset but don’t you thinkwe should maybe have atleast a preliminary look?

Stella is the imperial heir,as well as your daughter.’

‘I’m perfectly aware ofthat. I don’t need lecturesfrom my juniors.’

His eyes sunken in theirsockets darted around theroom. They glinted like hehad a fever. He wasunaware or he didn’t carethat he was letting hisfingers drum on the desk.He was more than sore at

me – he was comingunglued.

The muscles on his facedrooped and he lookedexhausted. I wantednothing more than toprotect him from all thishorrifying business. Sure,Nicola was the trigger, butthe demons chasing himsince his brutalisedchildhood with Caiusneeded flushing out and

defeating; he needed restand safety more thananything in the world. Iloved him. I would neverstop, but he was makingmy working life a miseryand, much worse,destroying our marriage.

He emerged from hisstasis after a few minutes.His face settled back intoneutral as if an exteriorshell had re-formed over it.

I could still see some innertension from the hard linessloping from his mouth tohis nose.

He turned to me andsaid in a bone-cold voice,‘I’ve given you a directorder. This is a formalwarning. If I find outyou’ve been investigating,I’ll have your hide.’

*I was calm as I walked

back to my office, numbeven. His order wascompletely against logicand reason. Or was it mebeing unreasonable?Nobody else hadmentioned anything to meabout his behaviour. Butwould they have? For allthe openness I practisedand encouraged in myteam, I doubted any of themore traditional members

of the PGSF would havedreamed of reporting sucha thing about a superior.

Disobeying a directorder carried a severepenalty though – severalyears in the centralmilitary prison. I broke outin a sweat when I thoughtabout it. I took severaldeep breaths. I‘d risk mychances in a court martial.

I hustled paper,

schedules, asset packages.I typed, chewed my pen,approved, signed andstamped until my eyesblurred. I was scheduled tocarry out performance andappraisal reviews on thesenior staff, but I delegatedmost to newly promotedMajor Petrus Sergius andswitched Lucy in as hisexec. By seven thatevening, I’d freed up

significant slices of time inmy week, but I didn’tmark it up on the internalcalendar. Satisfied at myvictory over time, butdepressed about thesubterfuge, I packed a fewclothes into a small duffle,collected some equipmentfrom the field room and setoff into the city.

*I munched some sour

olives and nuts with theover-tart dry white I wasnursing at the bar in ViaCloelia. Weak lights hungabove the length of theblack counter, making itappear more intimate andsophisticated than it reallywas. A crowd of noisyoffice workers in onecorner were halfway to thestupid level. The moredubious patrons eyed

them with a knowing andcynical air, half-resentful,but half working out howmuch they could rip themoff for with offers ofgambling or some otheraction. In amongst themwas a mix of ages, moremen than women.

I’d fended off oneproposition, a totalslimeball, a tourist who’dmistaken me for a working

girl. Okay, the short blackleather skirt revealed a lotof leg, but my dark top andblack jacket weren’t typicalsex worker uniform. I wasflirting with a much cuterguy, self-assured and keento imply he knew wherethe action was. I was aboutto pursue this subjectwhen his smile turned intoa line of pain, his eyesbulged and he fell out of

my sightline.A tall, burly figure with

a humourless smile on hisround face had stretchedhis hand around mycompanion’s neck, pulledhim off his bar stool andthrust him back into thecrowd. Another one slid inbehind me. I was trapped.

‘What took you solong?’ I asked.

He laughed. ‘Might

have known it was you.’His eyes slid over me. ‘Ididn’t think a new tartwould have the temerity towriggle her arse in herewithout asking. What doyou want?’

‘To talk to you,Philippus.’

He nodded, turned hisback, and headed for adoor at the rear. Hiscompanion grabbed my

arm like I was a piece ofmeat to be bagged andweighed and pushed me infront of him. I nearlylaughed when I saw theoffice I was herded into; itwas a crude imitation ofthe one I’d run Goldlightsfrom.

I shook the heavy’shand off and sat down inthe chair on the oppositeside of the table to

Philippus, crossed onebooted leg over the otherand waited. Philippusdismissed his companionwith a flick of his fingers.

‘So what are you doinghere?’

His round eyesnarrowed and thepermanent smile looked alittle under duress. Bothhands lay peacefully onthe arms of his chair, but

the pinkie on his left handtapped the plastic, drivenby a motor independentfrom the rest of the system.I could understand it; thelast time we’d met, we’dboth been on the point ofhaving our heads blownoff. In the end we’d onlybeen spattered with thebad guy’s warm blood andbrains when a PGSFmarksman had taken him

out.‘Not running an

operation against you,’ Isaid.

The pinkie stopped.‘What then?’‘Information first and

perhaps your help.’‘Go on.’‘I’m looking for a new

dealer, a young woman,blonde, tall. A foreigner.She’s been spotted once,

but by chance. She’s aswily as all Hades, so Idon’t think it’ll be easy.’

‘You never did easy, didyou?’ He grinned, a properrelaxed all-teeth, laughing-eyes Philippus grin.

‘No point.’ I chuckledback at him.

‘Anything else?’‘She’s ex-special forces,

a surveillance andreconnaissance specialist.’

‘Oh, good.’He lifted his hand,

inserted the nail of histhumb under the nail of hisonce over-active pinkie.His sleeve fell back and Isaw he still wore the silverwrist torc with chasedmyrtle leaves I’d givenhim seven years ago. Hefollowed my gaze andquickly dropped his hand.

‘Philippus, can I ask

you something personal?’He didn’t answer, but

his expression tightened.‘I was surprised to

discover you here. Whyaren’t you still working atthe Foundation?’

He shrugged. ‘It wentso clean I was out of a job.Hermina’s running it now,very corporate andrespectable. She wearssuits and talks goal-

orientation, cost balancingand strategic planning.’ Hesnorted. ‘I didn’t want toend up as her glorifiedsecurity guard.’

I’d noticed my shares inthe Foundationaccumulating considerablevalue, especially in the lasttwo years, but hadn’tlooked at the detail. WhenI’d set up the PulcheriaFoundation nearly

fourteen years ago, it hadbeen as part of a cover forwhat became OperationGoldlights, the biggestdrugs sting ever. I’dmanaged to save it andthroughout the years ithad turned from a tightlyprivate organisation withcriminal origins into anefficient, and legitimate,services company. I didn’tknow Hermina, one of the

other original associates,had the entrepreneur genein her. Efficient, sure, butshe’d been prettydeferential at the time.

‘I hadn’t spent much ofmy pay-off from you, so Iused it to buy this place. Itturns a good profit,especially with touristswho want to flirt withwhat they think is the darkside.’

I ignored the challengein his eyes; no way did Iwant to know how hisprofit was turned.

‘Glad to seeApollodorus’s trainingwasn’t entirely wasted.’

His fingers curledaround the chair arms,then relaxed. He chuckled.‘Don’t try and needle me,Pulcheria. I know your–’

He’d said it. The name

hung between us.‘Why did you come

back dressed in thoseclothes?’

My turn to shrug. Aretreat into my secondskin? A desperate searchfor the memory of myundercover criminalpersona as Pulcheria? Whoknew?

All we could hear for afew minutes were snatches

of music, clinking of glassand muffled footsteps theother side of the door. Heneeded to get thesoundproofing improved, Ithought idly.

‘Philippus.’ I stretchedout my arm across thetable and flexed thefingertips of my open handin invitation. ‘I need yourhelp.’

‘You’ve got it, you

know that. But why?You’ve got the wholePGSF at your beck andcall.’

‘It’s a little complicated,’I said.

He smirked. ‘Theyhaven’t thrown you out,have they?’

‘Of course not! What athing to say.’

‘So what are you doing?Freelancing?’

I kept my gaze steady,but didn’t say anything.

A few minutes wentpast. Philippus rolled hiseyes.

‘No wonderApollodorus called youstubborn. I give up.’

‘Thank you, Philippus.’‘Huh. Don’t make me

live to regret it.’*

He delivered. Within three

days, I had a good lead.Nevertheless, I tookadditional precautions andborrowed one ofPhilippus’s people to helpthe stakeout. We’d set uptwo hours before thesupposed meet in anempty apartment in theSeptarium. Perfectlynamed; little runnels ofindeterminate humanityoozed furtively around,

filling up the fissuresbetween the shabbybuildings. Our apartmentwas a plain box, mustywith damp patches at thetop of the walls near themetal framed windows.Now it smelled of instantcoffee and salami.

Right on schedule, ashadow figure shuffledalong the side of thebuilding in front of us and

detached itself, cominginto the early evening half-light. I reckoned male,between eighteen and midtwenties. He looked slowlyup and down the streetthat crossed his. Satisfied,he retreated down thestreet to just behind thecorner out of the freezingwind and started playingwith a cell phone. Weremained statue still. Even

a tiny movement couldbetray a watcher’spresence. And we weretrying to catch an expert.

A second figureapproached. Gods! Myhand almost leapt up tomy mouth by instinct. Shewalked exactly like Conrad– a big-cat lope. Surely shewould have disguised it.Basic field craft. Was shethat confident? I

swallowed hard, my eyesbusy working through thetelescopic lenses. At leastshe was alone. She wore ahooded sweater, but Icould see wisps of darkblonde hair. I could onlysee part of her face, but thehazel eyes wereunmistakeable.

She made a quarterturn, a discreet handgesture and a slim, brown-

haired figure joined her.Shit.The shorter girl took an

envelope out of her lightduffle and handed it overto the first figure andreceived a square packagein return which she stuffedinto the bag. She cast ananxious look up to theolder girl, who noddedcurtly and gestured herback. The man took off

back up the street he’dcome from and vanishedbehind the next block. Thetaller woman grabbed thearm of the younger oneand they hurried off downthe opposite street,avoiding retracing theirsteps. Better, Nicola. Muchbetter.

I remained immobile,not just from goodpractice, but from shock

and anger. That bitch hadmade Stella effect thetrade. Clever. If they werebeing watched by lawofficers, Nicola couldn’t becharged. Damn her toTartarus.

‘Shall I stop recording?’The voice broke into my

consciousness.‘Yes…yes. Thanks.’I stepped back into the

room and took my

telescopic eyeglasses off,blinking and pinching mynose.

Philippus’ man tappedat the keyboard anddownloaded the sequenceto my cell phone. I shovedit into my jeans pocket.

‘I’ve deleted it from thecamera as instructed.’ Heshot me a speculative lookas he held the tinycamcorder up for me to

check the memory displayshowed empty. We waitedanother half hour, drinkinglukewarm coffee andexchanging inanitiesbefore moving off, he tenminutes before me.

I had proof now. Not assolid as I’d liked butenough to start a formalinvestigation, whateverConrad said. Then I’d nailher ass.

XV

‘Where in Hades have youbeen?’

I was so wrapped up inplanning my next step thatI ran straight into Conrad.His hands caught me andheld me firmly away fromhim. His eyes bored intomine. I shook my head to

clear it.‘Sorry?’‘You should be. I

thought I’d drop in on theappraisal interviews thisafternoon and you weremissing. Major Sergius washandling it well, but youshould have been there.’

How dared he attackme like this? I was a seniorautonomous rank, head ofmy department, a

department that hadturned in the highestresults index three weeksrunning.

‘Are you telling me howto do my job? How todelegate to my staff?’

I very nearly told himwhat dirty work his twooldest daughters had beenup to, but I canned it. I’dlearnt the bitter lesson. Hecould wait until I reported

it through the properchannels he so loved.

‘Where have you been?And what are you doing incivvies?’

‘Strangely enough, I dohave a few other things todo in my life. For which Ihave a dispensation, asyou well know.’

‘You need to make upyour mind where yourduty lies.’

I glanced up and downthe empty cream corridor.

‘If you think I needlessons in duty, you can goscrew yourself,’ I hissed athim. Before he could sayanything else, I turned myback on him and stompedoff to my office.

I knew my nerves wereraw and I was sick aboutthe whole Nicola business,but I should have kept my

temper on its leash. Badthough things werebetween us personally, hewas my commandingofficer. I chewed my lip,bent a paperclip intoimpossible shapes andscribbled stupid patternson my deskpad as I calmedmyself down. As I glancedat my screen to check mymails, my commsetbuzzed: report to the

senior legate, stat.I reached Conrad’s

outer office just as theinner door opened andSepunia, the head ofintelligence, came out,chuckling at something. Iheard Conrad’s rich, fulllaugh from inside beforethe door closed. My heartlifted. I exchanged smileswith Sepunia before shehurried off.

Conrad’s assistant,Rusonia, sat impassively ather desk. She gave me along look and for amoment, I thought she wasgoing to say something.She glanced away, openedher mouth, but closed itlike she’d decided not torelease any words. Iwaited but all she did wasnod at me to go in. Conradwas pretending to look at

his screen. The fingers onhis left hand were tappingthe leather surface of hisdesk, causing his goldsignet ring to cast shinydancing reflections againstthe side display cabinet.He didn’t invite me to sitdown.

‘I wish to apologise formy rudeness earlier, sir,’ Isaid stiffly.

He frowned at me.

‘I know what you weredoing this afternoon.’

Crap! How? No, he wason a fishing trip.

‘You’re wondering how,aren’t you?’

No way was I going togive him the satisfaction. Isaid nothing.

‘You were running asurveillance operation,specifically against myorders.’

It hovered therebetween us like anunmentionable disease.

‘You’re not an easymark, so I used the onlyperson possibly capable offollowing you undetected.He saw everything youdid, but couldn’t see whoyou were watching. You’renot Operations anymore,so this will be treated as afull disciplinary. I want a

complete report on mydesk tomorrow morning,but you will turn overyour recording to menow.’

He stretched his armout, the fingers on hishand beckonedimperiously.

I was paralysed. I wasgoing to throw up. Theunfairness of it hit me likea wrecking ball

demolishing a building.‘Don’t pretend you

didn’t make a recording.Come along, hand it over.Unless you want theindignity of a full bodysearch.’

His eyes were cold andhard in a face of tensemuscles. He lookedcompletely stressed out.What kind of strain was heunder to switch from

laughing a little tooheartily with Sepunia oneminute to freezing me outthe next?

I battled through thenumbness and misery toreach into my pocket andplaced my phone on hisdesk, bypassing his hand.He played the sequence.Not the hint of a reaction.

‘You’re on suspension.Immediate.’ He pointed at

his desktop. ‘Badge.’I didn’t move.‘Now.’I unclipped the badge

from my waistband andplunked it on the edge ofthe desktop. I could hardlydrag my eyes from thecrowned gold eagle raisedaway from the shield. I’dworn it for fifteen years. Itsymbolised my adult life’swork.

I hovered there in frontof his desk. I didn’t knowwhat to do next. He lookeddown at a folder on hisdesk like he was studyingit. He even turned a page,completely ignoring me. Ididn’t move.

When he looked upwith an eyebrow raised,rage boiled up in me. Theparalysis that had grippedmy mind dissolved.

‘Keep it. I resign.’I bent over the desk so

my face was millimetresfrom his.

‘And you can go toHades with that junkie tartof a daughter. If I seeeither of you again, I’llkick both your butts backthere.’

*‘You’re drunk.’

‘Yeah. And?’

Two Helenas swam infront of me and the atriumseemed unsteady. Did wehave earthquakes? Icouldn’t remember.Everything was a littlefuzzy, but fine now. Whyhad I been so mad? Oh,yeah, I’d told Conrad toscrew himself and his job. Igiggled. Now the Helenaswere frowning at me.

‘Come on, Carina.’ They

yanked me up, I thoughtrudely, and pulled mealong the swayingpassageways into myapartment. I fell on to thebed and they startedpulling clothes off me. Igiggled. Two Juniasappeared. Why was thatcup steaming? Was it onfire? I must have a strictword with her about thedangers of fire. More

pulling into the bathroom.That’s right. Must brushteeth before bed. Why wasI sitting in the shower?

Gods! Aaah! I wasdrowning.

I woke up. I was in bed.The Junias were makingme drink something warm.I pushed them away, butthey must have dodged.Crafty!

Head buzzing. Going to

sleep now.*

The thirst woke me. Myhead was spinning as Isearched for water. Ileaned over to throw up,but I didn’t. My head wasfalling off. A deep sadnesswashed over me and Iwept.

‘Here, drink this.’Junia’s voice. The smell ofginger and malt. I gulped

the delicious drink down.Nectar. A sharp pinch inmy upper arm as she gaveme a shot. I fell asleepagain.

The next time I woke itwas daytime. The drapeswere half drawn back. Ireached over for the glassof water in front of theclock. Gods. Half one! Igroaned. My back and legswere stiff and trembly. I

hardly had the strength topress the housecom screen.Ten minutes later, Juniacame through the doorwith a plate of sandwichesand, thank the gods, aworkman’s mug of strongtea.

She pulled up a chair,watched me eat andwaited.

‘Bad?’ I said betweenmouthfuls.

‘I’ve seen you worse.’Yeah, fourteen years

ago when I’d gone off therails after I’d thrownConrad out for deceivingme.

‘I apologise, Junia. Ididn’t want to cause yousuch trouble.’

‘Please, don’t worry,lady. It’s finished.’

‘Yes, this time I reallythink it is.’

I turned my head awayand sniffed.

I apologised to Helena.She shrugged it off.

‘Hey, not a problem.Want to tell me about it?’

‘Well, I don’t have to gointo work anymore.’

Her eyes widened,‘What?’

‘I quit.’‘You are joking? Aren’t

you?

‘No. I did.’ I took herhand, but couldn’t look herin the face. ‘It becameunbearable. He’s becomevindictive. No, that’s thewrong word. It’s as if hecan’t help himself.’

‘Making excuses forhim, now?’

‘Not really. I think he’slosing it. You know, anemotional breakdown.’

‘What? Going off his

head? Conradus?’ Sheshook her head. ‘Notpossible.’

‘Helena, he’s changedso much. It’s not natural.He’s cut off, likewithdrawn fromeverything.’

‘Well, I haven’t seenhim for ages.’ She fastenedher eyes on me. ‘So whydid you quit? I mean whattriggered it?’

‘I can’t tell you thedetails, but I want you toensure that none of thechildren has any contactwith Nicola Tella—’

‘Juno, no!’‘Or Stella Apulia.’

*Swimming had alwaysbeen my retreat. As Iglided up and down thepool in the basement, Iattempted to settle my

thoughts. Firstly, I had tosee Silvia; there was aconversation I really didn’twant to have, but it had tobe done. As head of thesenior of the TwelveFamilies, I reckoned Icould throw my weightaround enough to fix anappointment with her atshort notice.

I couldn’t march intothe palace any longer

unchallenged like anyPGSF officer. Thatprivilege had gone. Ihadn’t worked throughthat yet in my head. Itwasn’t as if I didn’t haveenough to do; the family,the businesses, let alonethe children. At least I’dhave more time to spendwith them now. But mylife would lose a wholedimension; the spark of the

chase, stopping the badguys, the privilege ofserving, of making adifference. Worst of all,there was no doubt at allthat I’d lost Conrad,literally the other half ofmy mind and body, myheart and soul.

I drove myself on forcountless more lengths butgave up when my legsshook with exhaustion. In

the hot shower afterwardsI remembered the timeswe’d played, laughed,made love under thefalling heat. I know Isobbed, but the salt tearsmingled with the showerand washed down thedrain in one flow.

*Allegra and Helena werequiet at supper, Helenaknowing and Allegra

sensing my distress. I gaveAllegra the short version.She stood up, wound herarms around my shouldersand hugged me. I laid myhead against her andsqueezed her hand.

‘On a more positivenote,’ I said, ‘I’ll be able toget a bit more involvedwith your school activitiesand maybe we can havemore girl-time together.’

She looked at me, love,tact and dread fighting itout. Her eyes betrayed herinternal wince.

‘Ah, no. Sorry,’ I said.‘Fifteen out of ten forstupid.’

‘Mama, don’t. Ofcourse, I’d like that. A lot.’

‘No, don’t you, Allegra.Sorry, I’m a little rusty—.’

‘For Juno’s sake, stopacting like two tarts in a

soap opera,’ Helenainterrupted. She held herwineglass out in Allegra’sdirection ‘Give me a top-up, Allegra, before I chokeon all this emotion.’

After dinner, I passed aquiet half-hour alone in theatrium, thinking ofnothing in particular,glancing through the paperwithout reading it. I foldedit, laid it on the coffee table

and was depressed to findI was considering an earlynight when Junia’s son,Macro, interrupted me.Was I at home to a SeniorCenturion Marcus Flaviusfrom the PraetorianGuard? I consideredrefusing to see him, butthat would have been trulypetty.

‘Show him into thesmall back study, please,

Macro.’Macro looked surprised,

but bowed and went off.I made Flavius wait a

full ten minutes. I keptlooking at my watch, notallowing myself to gobefore then. This waschildish, but I was takingmy small revenge.

I crossed the atrium andentered the narrowcorridor. At the end, I took

a deep breath, drew myselfup and grasped the brassdoor handle. The backstudy had a desk andchairs, a bureau but not alot else. Flavius jumped upas I entered. We stared ateach other for severalminutes. I made damnsure he broke first.

He cleared his throat. ‘Ibrought a couple of boxeswith your stuff.’

‘I’m surprised internalsecurity let you.’

He said nothing.‘Oh, I suppose they

ransacked everything first.Nice.’

A painful silence hungthere, refusing to relent.

‘I see it was a mistake tocome here,’ he said. ‘I’llgo.’

‘Why did you come?’‘To see if you were

okay.’‘I’m okay. Satisfied?’He looked away, staring

at the plain wall. Hisfingers kept flipping hiscar key shaft open andshut.

‘Why did you do it,Flav?’

‘He made it a formalorder. He even printed itout and signed it. I can’tremember when I last had

a hard copy order.’ Flaviuspaused. ‘He knew I wasthe only one who had anychance of tracking youwithout being spotted.’

He looked miserable,desperate, caught in animpossible choice.

‘I’m sorry, Bruna, reallysorry.’

I couldn’t make it anyworse for him. I put myhand out and touched his

forearm.‘It’s okay. Come on,

come and have a drink andtalk with me. I need all myfriends right now.’

XVI

Flavius and I chatted foranother half hour, but Ididn’t bring Stella andNicola into theconversation. If, as Conradsaid, Flavius hadn’t seenthe girls dealing, then Iwasn’t going to tell him.He’d feel bound to take it

further and get himselfenmeshed in the messbetween Conrad and me.But we agreed to keepmeeting, falling back onthe old Pulcheria securityprotocols of changingtimes and places to anumerical pattern. Itbrought our oldcomradeship back.Strange, I’d been thecatalyst fourteen years ago

for him joining the PGSFand now he’d been thetrigger for me leaving.

The next morning, I puton my black business suit,Nonna’s heavy goldnecklace and had Marcelladress my hair formally.Disguised as a big shot, Ihad the chauffeur drive meup to the palace inNonna’s cream Mercedes.We managed to pass

through the two securitychecks, mostly by medoing what my old NewYork friend, Amanda,called ‘the gracious stuff’.I’d hardly ever used mysocial rank; I’d been soembarrassed by it when I’dfirst arrived. My militarystatus I’d earned. Now Iwas cut adrift from that.

Favonius Cotta, thehead of protocol, came out

himself to greet me.Nothing about him hadchanged since Washingtonapart from a little grey inthe luxuriant black hair.His green eyes stillchallenged, but in a verycareful way.

‘Countess Mitela, weare honoured. A pleasureto see you, as always.’

Smartass.‘Salve, Favonius Cotta. I

see you’re well. How’sAelia?’

He smiled, but notwarmly. ‘She’s working inthe Paris Argentaria Primaoffice. I understand fromher mother that she’sdoing well.’

Gods, he was a coldbastard. Didn’t he followhis own daughter’sprogress?

‘In a bank? Aelia?’ I

said. She’d been arebellious teenager and aregular smartmouth whenshe’d helped me learnstreet Latin back in theRoma Nova legation inWashington. ‘Well, goodluck to her. Please pass onmy warmest regards whenyou speak next.’

‘Of course, Countess,’he murmured.

‘Now, I’ve come to see

my cousin on an urgentfamily matter, so I’dappreciate it if you’dannounce me.’

Anger at being treatedlike a servant flared in hiseyes, but died quicklyenough as he started on hispayback.

‘The imperatrix has avery busy schedule today,so I’m not sure that’ll bepossible.’

‘Oh, I think I’m alreadyin her schedule underprivate time, so let’s get onwith it.’ I’d short-circuitedthe official channels andtexted Silvia last night.She’d allocated me atwenty minute slot inwhich I would ruin the restof her life.

In her private drawingroom, Silvia and I did thesafe thing and kissed

cheeks. She smiled andgestured me to sit.

‘You look very formaltoday, Carina. Somethingimportant?’

‘Silvia, just rememberthe thing about not killingthe messenger.’

Her jokey mannervanished; she’d seen thestricken look I knew was inmy eyes.

‘This isn’t about your

resignation, is it?’‘No, that’s insignificant

in comparison.’‘Of course, I was very

sorry to hear about that.Are you sure? It’s selfish ofme, but I’ve always feltsafer having my owncousin protecting me.’

Juno. I’d never thoughtof it like that.

‘No, no, that’s finished.I’m sorry if you feel I’ve let

you down, but it wasbecoming impossible. Infact, it’s connected to whyI’ve had to come and seeyou.’

The studiedprofessional look she keptpinned on her face formost of the time meltedaway as I recountedeverything that hadhappened since we spokeat her birthday party. She

brought her hand up andcovered her mouth with it.She bowed her head andtears fell over the smoothsurface of her made-upface. She got up swiftlyand dabbed her face with adelicate lace handkerchief.She kept her back to mewhile she tried to recover,her shoulders bent withtension.

‘And where is this

recording now?’‘It should have been

filed on the system,probably securitypassworded by Conradus.Only the minister canoverride it.’

She strode over to thephone, plunked herselfdown in front of the screenand tapped out a number.A nervous privatesecretary put her through

to the defence minister.‘Salve consiliaria, I hope

I am not interrupting you?’Silvia gave the minister

date and time and wewaited. And waited. Tobreak the tension, I wentout and called for somecoffee. Halfway throughdrinking it, the commsetbeeped. I just caughtSilvia’s abandoned cup asshe rushed over to the

screen. I kept out ofcamera range, but couldsee and hear everything.Silvia switched her calmface back on and smiledpleasantly like they wereabout to discuss theweather report.

From the minister’sembarrassed face, I knew itwasn’t good.

‘I have to report,Imperatrix, that we can

find no trace of thissurveillance recording. Thesearch has been carried outwith thoroughness andutmost discretion asordered.’

Silvia’s neutral facedidn’t change as shethanked the minister andswitched off.Shit.Now it looked like I’d

made it all up. My fingers

curled into my palms.‘Silvia, I—’‘Don’t bother, Carina. I

believe you.’‘I know you wouldn’t

say anything this seriousunless it was true.’ Shelooked away for a fewseconds. ‘I’m disappointedwith Conradus, but that’snothing compared to howyou must feel.’

I was too choked up to

say anything.‘Now, you must be my

advisor on this. Last timeyou asked me not to sayanything to Stella. I think Imust now.’

She poured me anothercup of coffee and the hotliquid cleared my throat.

‘Let me go talk to her,Silvia, if you wouldn’tmind. If there’s trouble,she can let me have it.

You’ll still be there tocomfort her when evilAunt Carina has finishedwith her.’

‘Oh, gods, Carina, Ican’t let you take the flaklike that.’

‘I’ll choose my moment,of course.’ I got up andwalked around. I glancedat my watch. ‘Yourschedule must be shot toHades. Look, can you give

me a pass to come and gohere? I won’t abuse it.’

She snorted. Inelegantfrom her but expressive.She jabbed her commsetand her private secretarywas in within ten secondsto receive instructions.

As she leaned towardsme as we exchangedkisses, she said ‘Come backlater. After lunch?’

I nodded, bowed and

left. After a few minutes,the secretary came out andescorted me back toFavonius and my clearancewas arranged within thehour.

*I found Stella in her room,lying on a couch, whitewires running from herears to the tiny square inher hand. Her headbounced side to side and

her hand tapped her legrhythmically. She didn’thear me shut the door, buther eyes bulged as Iwalked around in front ofher.

‘Aunt Carina! What areyou doing here?’ Shepulled the earphones out,sat up and looked at mesuspiciously.

‘I need to talk to you,Stella.’

‘Oh, yes?I sat down and said

nothing. I just looked ather as neutrally as I could.

‘Sorry, that was rude,’she muttered.

‘Yes, it was, but I’m nothere to talk about yourmanners. It’s more aboutwho you’ve been hangingwith.’

‘What do you mean?’‘I think you’ve been

seeing Nicola Tella quite alot recently.’

‘So?’‘She’s not exactly the

best friend you couldhave.’

‘I like her. She’s fun andquirky. She doesn’t tell mewhat to do. Anyway,Mama invited her up herethe other day, so she’shappy about it.’ Her eyesnarrowed. ‘Is this because

of Dad? Are you jealous?Losing it, are you?’

Gods, she was socontemptuous. I’d alwaysfound Stella difficult. Herpersonality was as slipperyas her moods, but she wasworse than usual.

‘Don’t go there, Stella.You don’t have a clue whatyou’re talking about. Andthis is about you, not me.You’re getting into very

dangerous territory withNicola Tella. Don’t forget,she nearly got Allegrakilled. She’s the type to usepeople and then throwthem away without asecond thought. Be verycareful.’

She was trembling.Tears sprang from herbrightened eyes, her facebecame red and flushed asher voice rose in pitch.

‘You can’t talk to melike that.’

‘Stella, calm yourself.’ Igot up and fetched her aglass of water. As shegrabbed it, I smelled herbreath. She gulped thewater down, looking downat her knees. She chokedand I went over to tap herback to ease it. I was struckby how pale she looked.Mixed in with her defiance

was anxiety. And fear.I gave Silvia my report

and recommendationswhen we met later. Herface shut down after I’dfinished. At last shenodded and said ‘Do it,’ ina low voice. I don’t thinkshe liked me one little bitat that moment.

*I met Pelonia and her teamat the staff door and

signed them through. Sheand her two assistantspulled on plastic suits andgloves, unpacked baggiesand evidence boxes andtook Stella’s room apart.Silvia watched the wholething with me and flinchedwhen the taller manupturned Stella’s laundryhamper and brandished abaggie with pale greenplant remains and a part-

opened pack of rollingpapers. Her hand coveredher mouth as Peloniapulled the lid off a shallowplastic box she foundinside a speaker andrevealed around a dozenyellow pills with a stylisedE impressed onto thesurface. I pulled Silviaaway, back into her sittingroom and gave her a smallbrandy.

She looked like anyother wounded parent,despairing about howshe’d gone wrong.

*I felt sorry for Stella whenshe came back from hertennis practice and wasescorted straight to hermother’s office. Silviadidn’t give Stella the warmsmile she normally greetedher daughter with; the

ruler had replaced themother. On the other sideof Silvia’s desk, Stellahesitated. Her eyeswidened when she saw theevidence tray on Silvia’sdesk. She ignored Peloniaand glanced once at me.Her skin was mottled withred patches as if she’d beenmaking a superhumaneffort and had run out ofbreath.

‘Sit down, Stella.’ Silviaindicated the chair theother side of her desk.

‘Mama, I—’‘Be quiet and listen to

me.’Stella narrowed her

eyes; her mouth drooped.Silvia waved her hand

over the drugs. ‘Theseitems were found in yourroom. What is yourexplanation? The truth,

please.’‘What’s the use? You

won’t believe me.’ Stellatipped her head in mydirection. ‘You always dowhat she says. I don’tcount.’

I heard a tiny gasp fromPelonia who glanced atme, then stared at Stella.

‘Cut the “woe is meroutine”, Stella,’ I said,‘and answer your mother.

Politely.’Silvia waited, a grim

expression on her face, Istared down at Stella,Pelonia looked unhappyand awkward, but stoodsilently. Stella startedcoughing, the red blotcheson her face getting worse,highlighting the pallor ofher skin. Nobody moved.The hacking subsided.Stella swallowed, but said

nothing.I went to crouch down

by her chair. ‘Look, Stella,you’re in a difficult place,’I said, ‘but if you tell useverything, it’ll go somuch easier for you.’

She continued lookingstraight ahead, but notmeeting her mother’s eyes,instead looking over hershoulder at the displayfilled with ancient glass.

‘Think of your mother,then,’ I said. ‘She has nochoice but to uphold thelaw. Inside, she’s weepingblood for you.’

She looked away. Isuppose it was something,some kind of realisationthat she had donesomething wrong.

After an eon, which wasreally just over fiveminutes, Silvia nodded at

Pelonia who went over toStella and pulled her to herfeet. Stella staredunbelieving at Pelonia’shand gripping her arm.She tried to pull away, butthe cop turned Stella andcuffed her hands behindher back.

‘Stella Apulia, I amInspector Pelonia of theDepartment of Justicespecial cases team. I’m

arresting you forpossession of Level I illicitsubstances and forsuspected dealing. Youwill undergo medicalexamination anddetoxification in a secureunit pending trial. Do yousubmit to the court?’

Stella stared back atPelonia like she was analien. She cast a pleadinglook at her mother.

Silvia looked at herdaughter and said in a lowvoice, ’She submits to thecourt.’

Pelonia nodded to thetwo other custodes standingby the door and they allmarched out, Stellastumbling between the twoblue figures.

Silvia turned a shatteredface to me and said, ‘Gowith them. Watch over

her.’ As I left, I heard hersobbing.

XVII

Stella was brought intoCustodes XI Station throughthe back gate, taken to themedical room and given athorough examination. Shesaid nothing as the techscarried out the blood,urine and vitals tests.Normally robotic in their

neutrality – testingdruggies couldn’t havebeen the pleasantest of jobs– they were morecircumspect in theiractions than I’d ever seen.One assistant dropped atube that clattered on hismetal instrument tray.Stella jumped at the noiseand Lurio frowned at bothtechs.

I stayed with Stella

throughout, but she moreor less ignored me, onlygiving me a pleading lookonce when they gave heran intimate search. I tookher hand and squeezed itin sympathy, but once theyfinished she shook it off.The medic gave her adrink and a shot –vitamins he told me later –and she was taken away toa locked room.

Lurio took me to hisoffice and dosed me withcoffee. He looked as grimas I felt.

‘How the fuck did it getto this? She’s had everychance. Jupiter, I’d strangleher myself if she was mydaughter.’

‘Don’t, Lurio. Please.’‘What is it with you lot?

First your fluffy bunny,now this one.’

‘That’s unfair and youknow it, but if you want tohave a temper fit, be myguest.’

He stopped pacing upand down and threwhimself into his chair. Hetapped his fingers on hisdesk, reached for hiskeyboard and attackedthat.

‘We can hold her in themedical unit and stretch

out the detox, but she’llhave to go to trialeventually. I’m sorry foryour cousin, personally,but it’ll send shock wavesthrough the wholecountry. Bloody glad it’snot me having to deal withthat.’ He looked at hiswatch. ‘Pelonia will wantto get started. I’d betterwander down.’

In the detention suite,

he nodded to the custodysergeant, and as I went tofollow him down thecorridor to the interviewrooms, Lurio barred theway.

‘Sorry, no further.’‘C’mon, Lurio, don’t be

such a hard-ass. She’s onlya kid, she needs somebodythere for her.’

‘She’s a legal adultarrested on narcotics

charges, suspected dealerand uncooperative.Nothing doing.’ Herelaxed a centimetre.‘Look, I’m sorry aboutyour professional troublecoming on top of yourfamily problems, but Ican’t bend the procedurefor civilians. Even aprominent one likeyourself, Countess.’

I stared at him,

dumbstruck. I really wasexcluded now.

His eyes were full ofunderstanding, but hismouth went into a tightline. He turned anddisappeared through thescanlocked door.

*I struggled back to thepalace in my car, cursingthe evening rush hourtraffic as it sucked me in

from the Dec Max anddropped me like a discardat the palace gates.Favonius met me in thestaff car park and escortedme through to Silvia’soffice. His smooth shellseemed a little cracked.

‘I wanted to have aquick word first,Countess,’ he said as westrode along. He lookedlike he was swallowing a

box of steel tacks. ‘I confessI have not handled ourrelationship well in thepast.’

An understatement ofall time. When he’d beenchief of staff years ago inthe Washington legation,his political machinationshad nearly gotten mekilled.

‘It’s essential we workclosely together on this

crisis. I hope you willaccept my apology.’

I stopped dead. Evenmore than his words, hiseyes confirmed hisgenuine concern. Apartfrom his over-gracioussmile having vanished,creases running down theside of his nose to thecorners of his mouth haddeepened markedly since Isaw him twenty-four

hours ago.‘Sure, Favonius, I accept

it, but don’t try anythingfancy. I may not still be inuniform, but my priority isprotecting the imperatrixand there’s very little Iwon’t do in pursuit ofthat.’

He half-bowed and wecontinued in silence.

I gave Silvia detailsabout what had happened

to Stella. She frownedwhen I reported how I’dbeen barred from theinterviews. She glanced atFavonius. He shrugged.He must feel secure in hisrole and have Silvia’s fulltrust to make such aninformal gesture. Silviasigned a document on herdesk and gave it to hersecretary, who hurried offwith it like it was on fire.

‘I’ve issued an imperialorder to Quintus Tellusdemanding he produceNicola Tella immediately.’She studied her watch. ‘I’llgive him an hour.’

‘Juno, Silvia, can you dothat for this kind of thing?’I blurted out.

‘An attack on my heir,and this is undoubtedlywhat this is, is an attack onthe state. Tellus will be

here, with or without her. Ivery much hope for hissake it’s with.’

*The imperial courierreported that QuintusTellus was indisposed.She’d insisted on seeinghim to verify it. Quintuswas in his bed, one arm ina sling, a bruised face andsleeping. The order wasdelivered to his nephew

Conradus Tellus. I staredhorrified at the messengeras she recited the facts.

Tellus?He’d renounced my

name? I choked.I retreated to the far

corner and called Conrad’scell. No reply. I called theTella house landline, butall I heard was thesteward’s voice on thevoicemail. If Conrad didn’t

answer Silvia’s summons, Icouldn’t imagine thetrouble he’d be in. Iwanted to go over toDomus Tellarum rightaway, but Silvia forbademe. While we waited, shesat composed at her desk,seeming to push on withher normal paperwork.Perched on the sofa Ipushed my caffeine levelsthrough the ceiling,

alternating with pacing upand down by the tallwindows.

Time crawled, the onlysound was Silvia openingand closing files, clackingon her keyboard ormoving paper. I knewevery stone in eacharchway after fortyminutes. Favonius keptpopping in like the cuckooon a clock, but shook his

head every time. Right onthe hour, Silvia looked upat both of us hovering,jabbed her desk commsetand summoned the guardcommander. It wasFlavius.

‘Senior Centurion, Irequire you execute animperial order with anymeans required. You are tobring me Count Tellus orhis senior representative

together with Nicola Tella.Without fail.’ She studiedhis face. ‘Do youunderstand?’

Flavius drew himself upand saluted. His eyes wereimpassive; he was toogood a soldier to react.

‘Imperatrix, if I mayspeak?’ I said.

She raised an eyebrowand looked down her noseat me with the force of

over a thousand and a halfyears of ancestors behindher.

Well, ditto.‘I know the house as

well as any Tella, betterthan Flavius. Also, ifQuintus Tellus isincapacitated, it’sappropriate under theCodes that the senior ofthe Twelve is there toassist.’ It sounded lame,

but I had to go and findout.

‘No, you are too close.Flavius will deal with it.’She looked up at him. ‘Onyour way, SeniorCenturion.’

He saluted again,turned, shot the briefest ofglances at me and marchedoff.

‘Would you excuse us,Favonius?’ Silvia said, as

soon as Flavius was out ofearshot.

He bowed and shut thedoor softly behind him.

Silvia half-closed hereyes as if measuring herwords and stroked hereyebrow with her middlefinger. She rarely touchedher face like that.

‘I know you’re tired andprobably overwrought.And I am deeply grateful

for your support for Stella.You are not only mycousin but my friend. Butplease don’t ever speakacross me like that again.’

The heat rose up myneck into my face. I feltlike a kid being unfairlyadmonished for answeringthe teacher back.Something broke insideme.

‘I apologise, Imperatrix.

I did not mean to bediscourteous,’ I said at mymost formal. Gritting myteeth, I bowed and left.

*Back at home, I used myanger to fuel me. The hellwith it. Silvia could be asautocratic as she liked butas head of the TwelveFamilies’ Council I wasperfectly within my rightsto go to Quintus. More

than that, I had to find outwhat had happened toConrad. Capturing Nicolawould be a bonus.

No way would they letme in the front door. Ihurried into black t-shirt,fleece sweater and pantsand fastened on blacksneakers. I strapped on mycarbon fibre knives andmade for the service exit.The adrenaline was

already coursing aroundmy body.

At Domus Tellarum, along wheelbase and alimousine, both withdrivers, were parked up infront of the gate. Keepingclose to the high wall, I ranthe hundred and twentymetres to the back of theblock. Frost was alreadyforming on the sidewalkand I left ridged footprints.

Too bad. No sign of anyPGSF at the back. Sloppy.There was no entrancethere, but still sloppy.

The soft pop of releasedair echoed off the wall asthe carbon fibre hook flewup from the launcher. Iglanced around, waited,but there was nobody,nothing. An intermittentbuzz of traffic in thedistance.

I’d targeted one of thetall oaks growing at theback of the long garden.Sure, their height andgenerous foliageguaranteed privacy, butappeared to be ahousebreaker’s dream. ButI knew the system ofbeams and motion sensorsmade up for it. As long as Ididn’t touch the internalwall sensor which would

detect my body warmth,I’d be fine. I scrambled upthe outside wall andswung into the tree, rightinto a dead branch whichcracked as I hit it.Crap.Clinging on to the main

bough, I waited for figuresto pour out of the back ofthe house and startshooting at me.

Nothing. I used up

three precious minuteswaiting.

I took a deep breath,fished out my beamreflector and progresseddown the trunk. Landingsoftly on dead leaveswhich crunched with frost,I paused to scan the stillsilent garden.

I trotted up through thetrees of the mini parkland,into the cultivated garden,

made for the left side wall,sheltered by ornamentaltrees. I passed the pool andoutdoor triclinium. I fishedout the card to get throughthe electronic perimeteraround the terrace,praying as I flashed itacross the reader that itwould work.

Green.So far, so silent. The

back door optical reader

also let me through. Juno,that was a relief. I thoughtmy access might have beencancelled.

I slid into the domestichall to check the housesystem. Threebiosignatures in theatrium, two on the stairs,two upstairs, but nobodyelse. The five would be thePGSF detail. Where werethe servants? Normally at

least four lived in at anytime.

I ran up the servicestairway and emerged inUncle Quintus’s suite, inthe corridor outside hisbedroom. I crept along,checked out his privatestudy and sitting room,opening each door with aknife in my hand. Ihesitated at the bedroomdoor, but grasped it and

entered.The bedside light was

on and in the bed layUncle Quintus, bandagedhead, a large red andpurple bruise on one cheekand arm in a sling. Hisclosed eyes were sunken,brown shadowssurrounding them. Juno,he looked dreadful. On achair by the side of the bedsat his steward, Ternia, her

eyes terrified as she liftedthem to see who had comein.

‘Oh, thank the gods,’she cried out.

Quintus’s eyes opened,apprehensive. Then he sawme.

‘Carina,’ he croaked andraised his chin acentimetre. I saw a vividred weal on his neck. Itook his hand.

‘It’s okay, Quintus, I’mhere now.’ The stewardhanded me a glass ofwater. I put my armaround Quintus’sshoulders and raised it tohis lips. Before I could askhim what had happened,there was a loud knock onthe door and two PGSFguards burst in followedby Flavius. He stared atme, thunder on his face.

‘What the hell are youdoing here?’ he spat at me.‘The imperatrix expresslyforbade you to set foot inthis house.’

‘Well, too bad, SeniorCenturion. I am here at therequest of Quintus Tellusunder the provisions of theFamilies Codes.’ Isqueezed his hand and felta weak but definiteresponse. ‘And I would

thank you to rememberwho you address.’

We glared each otherout. In the end, he turnedto Quintus. ‘Count Tellus, Iam commanded by theimperatrix to require youto produce Nicola Tellaand to bring you both intothe imperatrix’s presencewithout delay. An imperialorder was sent to you anhour ago.’ Flavius stared

down into Quintus’ face.‘Where is Nicola Tella?’

Quintus closed his eyesand moved his head a fewmillimetres from one sideto the other and backagain.

*I insisted on calling anambulance, my backturned to Flavius as Ispoke to them. Theimperial order was still on

Quintus’s system and thehardcopy on the vestibuletable. The courier saidshe’d handed it to Conrad.Where the hell was he?

I made Quintus drink arestorative which I lacedwith painkillers andbetween us the stewardand I managed to wraphim warmly. Theparamedics carried himdownstairs with utmost

care. I was relieved to seehe’d dozed off.

Flavius turned to me.‘Do you know where thegirl is?’ His eyes were hardand his voice cold.

‘No. If I did, I wouldhave great pleasure inhanding her over. Youmust know that.’

‘Very well. You havetwo choices. You can helpus search it or you can

watch us take this houseapart.’

‘Why are you being sohard, Flav?’ I laid myfingers on his forearm. Helooked down at my hand.After a few moments, heslid his hand out fromunder my fingers.

‘I’m trying to stayprofessional. Do you thinkthis is in any way pleasantfor me?’ His eyes softened.

‘We’ll be as careful as wecan, but no favours.Understood?’

I nodded.‘Anywhere special we

should look?’I gave him the guided

tour and the guards withhim broke out andsearched individual rooms.I lingered in the roomsConrad was obviouslyoccupying. The silver

frame I gave him last yearof the children was on hisdesk. I opened the topdrawer and gasped as Ifound the one of the two ofus, smiling, happy, armsentwined, on the top of thedrawer contents. A guardcame in to search. I stoodback but followed herevery action. In a strangeway, I felt I was defendinghis privacy. She looked at

me, murmured, ‘Excuseme, ma’am’ and startedopening the desk drawers.I stepped aside, hatingevery moment. In the end,I had to leave. I wentdownstairs and talked tothe steward.

‘Where’s ConradusTellus, Ternia?’

‘I don’t know, lady. Ireally don’t. I came backthis evening after visiting

my sister and found thehouse deserted apart fromQuintus Tellus lying inbed.’ Her voice as she wenton was bitter. ‘That girlchased them all away inthe end. Even old Mariuswho’d been here fortwenty years. May theFuries find her and tearher into little pieces!’

I pressed her forearmand smiled at her. ‘You

and me both, Ternia.’‘Countess. With me,

please.’ Flavius beckonedme with an imperiousgesture. We went upstairsagain to a large room,formerly Conrad’smother’s room. The closetdoors were open, a singlewhite shirt hung in one, aplastic bag on the floor. Inthe bathroom, greasemarks and loose dark

blond hair marked thebasin, a shampoo bottle laydiscarded in the showerenclosure. But these andthe rumpled bedding werethe only signs of recentoccupation.

Almost by instinct, Idropped to my knees andsearched under the bed.Two guards came forwardand turned the bed on itsside. Some loose stitching

in the base revealed a nowempty space – a classichiding place. In fact, a littletoo classic. Even obvious.So she was capable ofmaking a mistake? I saw atiny light in our darksearch.

The guards pulled thedrawers out of the rest ofthe furniture, examiningthe undersides of eachdrawer and inside the

carcass. I climbed on to achair and searched the topcompartments of theclosets.

‘We’ve looked,’ Flaviussaid, impatiently.‘Forensics are on theirway. Leave it. Let’s getback to the palace.’ Wetrudged downstairs and hesignalled the rest of histroops to follow. He turnedto me and frowned again.

‘You can ride withCount Tellus in theambulance or with us inthe back of the longwheelbase. Either way,consider yourself underarrest.’

I hadn’t expectedanything else. I wasbracing for Silvia’sreaction. Flavius wouldhave messaged theuncomfortable fact of my

presence through by now.‘I wouldn’t dream of

abandoning Uncle Quintusto your care, even if heweren’t an injured eighty-year-old.’

*I sat by Quintus in theambulance, holding hishand. The movement ofthe road journey hadroused him, but he didn’tsay anything, just kept his

eyes glued on my face. Iwalked by his side into theatrium where Silvia waswaiting with a smallgroup. The wall lightsbetween the columns castdistorted shadows but notmuch light.

She stood immobile,head pulling the rest of herspine upright. Her eyesflickered over me andsettled on Quintus lying on

the gurney. She waved oneof the group forward whowas clutching a medicalbag. I hovered while thedoctor examined Quintus,checking vitals and gentlylifting his head to show thebruising on his neck.

‘The arm’s been set in arudimentary but effectivefashion, Imperatrix, almostan emergency battlefieldprocedure. But it’ll do. I

suggest immediatehospitalisation. We need togive him a whole bodyscan and monitor himclosely for the next fewdays.’

‘Very well, doctor, butfirst I need some answers.’

The doctor didn’t lookhappy, but he had nochoice.

Silvia bent over andasked, ‘Where is she,

Quintus?’‘I don’t know,’ he

whispered.She looked over at me,

one eyebrow raised. Ishook my head.

‘Conradus?’He shut his eyes. ‘He

went after her.’‘Has he realised yet?’ I

asked.But Quintus had floated

off into unconsciousness.

Silvia straightened up.She instructed the doctorto have Quintus admittedto the CentralValetudinarium guardedtwenty-four seven byregular Praetorians, novisitors allowed.

‘You come with me,Carina.’

Her eyes were hard asagates, glinting abovecheekbones pushing out

against her skin. I shookinside. I had deliberatelydisobeyed her expresswishes. She didn’t lookespecially forgiving.

‘I activated Conradus’stracker. It was the firstthing I did when I wenthome,’ I said in a pre-emptive strike. All seniormembers of the Twelvehad trackers fitted. Itreplaced the personal

guard of previouscenturies. But only thefamily head could activateit for a purposeful searchand only in the presence ofthe family recorder.‘Unfortunately, there’s nosignal.’

Silvia continued to lookat me with hostility.

‘The only explanation isthat he’s reverted to theTella code.’ To which of

course I didn’t have access.‘Was the girl fitted?’‘I don’t know. Only

Quintus Tellus or the Tellafamily recorder can answerthat.’ I lifted my cell. ‘ShallI?’

Silvia wavedimpatiently, sat down onone of the blue couchesand tapped her long,immaculate nails on thewood arm. At least we

were conducting hostilitiesin her private sitting room.When I’d finished my call,she at last stopped theirritating staccato.

‘The recorder says notracker was fitted to herknowledge. AndConradus’s is switchedoff.’

‘Damn and blast themall to hell.’ She calledFavonius back in and her

secretary. ‘Tell the DJ toconduct a national searchfor both Tellae. Draw onthe PGSF if they need, butwith care. Too many oweloyalty to their legate.’ Sheturned to me. ‘Go home,Carina, and stay there thistime.’

XVIII

I was catching up onemails later that morning,including presenting myexcuses to the Senate fornon-appearance yesterday,when Allegra and Hallieinterrupted me. Seriousdidn’t start to describe theexpression on their faces.

‘Mama, Hallie and I aregoing to visit UncleQuintus.’

I had to hope my mouthdidn’t drop open. Iadmired their initiative butno way would I let mychild, or her half-sister, getentangled in political,possibly treasonable,affairs.

‘That’s a kind idea,Allegra, but just not

possible.’‘Why not?’I waved my hand in a

vague arc. ‘It’s toodangerous. I don’t wantyou in the crossfire.’

She took my hand andheld it to her cheek.‘Mama, I’ve already beenin it.’ Her tone was gentle,but her eyes fixed on mewith that steady, stubbornTella look.

‘Don’t worry, AuntCarina, please,’ Halliepiped up. ‘We’ll staytogether and we’ll be ableto ask Uncle Quintusquestions for you. We’ll beyour operatives.’ Her eyessparkled at the thought.

Oh, gods! Nancy Drewand sister.

‘No.’ I held my palmup.

‘But—’

‘No. Final word.’Their angry faces

reminded me so stronglyof Conrad, I had to lookaway. They trooped off,not understanding I wastrying to protect them.

*‘I thought I could rely onyou to stop them,’ Silviasaid.

I didn’t reply; I was tooangry. Firstly at the girls,

but secondly at the guardswho hadn’t stopped them.I could only guess thatHallie had exerted hercharm and traded on herstatus and Allegra backedher up with her dignityand new rank as my heir.Damn useless Praetorianregulars. Mainly, I wasstung by the easy waySilvia assumed I’d draggedthe girls in when really I’d

forbidden them to go. Ihadn’t relished beingrousted out by herPraetorians this Saturdayevening like some pettycriminal. I stood theresilently keeping my gazefocussed two millimetresabove her right shoulder.

‘Well?’‘I have nothing to add

to my original answer,Imperatrix. They

disobeyed me.’She threw me an ironic

look. ‘Now you know howthat feels.’ She flicked herhand impatiently todismiss the guard andsighed. ‘For Juno’s sake,let’s stop acting like acouple of tarts arguingover a stola at a thrift sale.Sit down.’

I obeyed, but was wary.We were cousins and had

been friends. She hadn’trescinded my appointmentas one of her advisors. Ihated being ranged againsther, but I had to stand upfor Quintus.

‘This has to be resolved,and quickly. The ImperialCouncil meets inemergency session onMonday afternoon. I can’tconceal this from them.Ideas?’

‘You have the DJscouring around withPGSF backing. To behonest, I think you wereharsh in your commentabout the PGSF. Given aconflict between bringingtheir senior legate in orobeying you, theywouldn’t hesitate.’

‘Really? They’reintensely loyal toConradus.’

‘No contest. You sawhow one of my oldestfriends, Flavius, had nohesitation in arresting me.’I glanced at her. ‘He didn’tlike it, but he did it.’

She rested her face inher hands. ‘Yes, I knowthat really. I must be tiredto even consider it.’ Sheswitched on a brittle smile.‘So what now?’

‘The girls didn’t get far

with Quintus. He justsmiled at them, thankedthem for coming and saidhe’d only talk to me. Sothat’s a priority, with yourpermission.’

She nodded and wavedat me to continue.

‘By now SeniorCommander Lurio of theUrban Cohorts will havereleased his pack of ferrets.I suggest you establish

some kind of direct liaisonto control the operation.’Although I’d defended thePGSF in front of Silvia, Ihoped they’d keep the line,knowing the DJ werehunting their chief.Tempers were sure to flare.And there was no love lostbetween Lurio and Conradpersonally.

‘However, you can’t beseen to be micro-managing

it directly, howevertempting. You have todistance yourself fromboth Stella and Conradus.’

‘You don’t do easy, doyou, Carina?’

‘I’ve had to learnexactly that lesson over thepast months.’

Neither of us saidanything for a minute.

‘Very well. I’ll appointyou imperial agent.’

I opened my mouth butnothing came out. I wastoo surprised.

‘You’re the best placed,’she continued, ‘you knowthe structures and thepersonalities. And you’llpush over the limits if youneed to.’

‘But—’‘What?’‘Juno, Silvia, apart from

Lurio exploding when he

finds out, I doubt the PGSFwill be happy to have theirblack sheep telling themwhat to do. And it wouldbe a massive conflict ofinterest for me personally.’

‘You exaggerate.’ Hereyes gleamed with acalculating look. ‘You wantto find Conradus. Youknow how he thinks in thefield, you know whattechniques he’ll use. And

you want to nail this girl.So I think you’re fairlymotivated. And you’realways saying how capableyou are compared toothers.’

That was a cheap shot.Anger rolled up throughme.Calm down, Carina. This

istheimperatrix.I pressed my lips

together and swallowed

my temper.‘It’s decided,’ she said,

looked away and stabbedher deskcom to summonthe chancellor. He noddedto me, but looked steadilyat Silvia. He pursed hislips when she told him ofher decision. He had nochoice but to acquiescewhen Silvia was indetermined mode. But heinsisted I should report at

the Monday Councilmeeting on my progress.

I was reciting the oathwithin thirty minutes andreceived a rectangular goldembossed plasticard formy wallet bearing theimperial commission. Ientered my tracker releasecode in their chip readerand the chancellor enteredmy upgraded status andhis code. As he ran the

scanner over my bare skinto check it was correctlyentered I shivered. Notfrom the cold.

*Back home, I yanked onmy jeans and grabbed aleather jacket, my knivesand emergency back pack.I calculated I had justunder forty-eight hours toget a result.

At the Central

Valetudinarium, I knockedon the door of Quintus’sroom and entered. Hepulled his gaze away fromthe window when heheard the door open. Heglanced at me, thenresumed studying thewindow. The bruise on hischeek was turning yellow-black, a contrast to hiswashed-out face. I kissedhis forehead, avoiding the

broken and grazed skin.‘Hello, Quintus. You

wanted to talk to me.’He didn’t reply. His free

hand picked at the cottonsheet. There was no signwhatsoever of the crafty,confident politician ofprevious times.

‘I have a tight scheduleleading up to theemergency ImperialCouncil meeting on

Monday, so if you havesomething, let’s hear itnow.’

‘You know,’ he rasped,‘I gave her an allowanceand a card for anyshopping she wanted.’ Helooked down and fidgetedwith the mesh sling withhis good hand. ‘Conradusasked me to put no limiton it.’ He sank backagainst his pillow. ‘When I

queried anything, shemade me sound sounreasonable, like a meanold man. She has that softcommanding voice thatverbal bullies use. Theworst thing is that I knewshe was doing it. I’ve comeacross Mars knows howmany of those in mypolitical life. Why Icouldn’t deal with her, Idon’t know.’ He looked up

at me. ‘She wanted theaccess codes to the treasureaccount.’

Jupiter! That wouldhave been at least half amillion solidi, even thoughQuintus had started againfrom nearly nothing. But itwas a trust to be handeddown through thegenerations, not forpersonal spending.

‘When I refused, she got

up, came over to mesmiling. I thought she’daccepted it.’ He snorted.Well, more of a wheeze.‘How stupid was that! Sheput her hands on the armsof my chair, leant in andasked me again. I tried topush her away withouthurting her, but shebrought her foot up on tothe seat, grabbed my wristand elbow and broke my

arm over her knee.’I sat on the bed and

took his good hand in bothof mine and pressed itlightly. His eyes droopedalong with his shoulders ashe told me.

‘It was so clinical. She’sas strong as Hades. Andthat’s where she belongs.She asked again in that softvoice of hers. When Irefused again, she seized

my wrist and jerked it. Thepain exploded up my armand shoulder. I passed out.When I came round I waschoking. Her hands wereround my throat andpressing down hard. Shewas kneeling on my chest.I didn’t have the strengthto push her off me. I wassinking into the Styx.’

His eyes closed for afew moments and he was

so still I thought he’dfallen asleep. He had to beon strong painkillersseeping through the dripline attached to his goodarm.

His eyes jerked open. ‘Itwas going black, butsuddenly, the pressure ofher weight eased. For afew seconds I couldn’t feelanything. Then I realisedshe was no longer sitting

on me. The pain rolledback in and I couldn’t stopcoughing. Gods, it wasworse than her throttlingme.’

He was hoarse by now.I poured him a glass ofwater and helped himdrink several mouthfulsbefore he could continue.Conrad had grabbed herand pulled her off. She’dfought him, kicking and

punching. But he wasstronger. He tried torestrain her, but she keptjabbing and punching.Eventually, he hit her sohard she fell to the ground.

‘He looked shocked atwhat he’d done,’ Quintussaid, ‘He shuddered andkept staring at his hands asif they weren’t his. But Ithink at last he’d realisedwhat she was. She lay

there for a few moments,winded, and stared up athim with a death look, likea wolf assessing its prey.But after a few breaths shesprang up and ran.

‘I begged him to goafter her and stop her, buthe wouldn’t leave me. Hehardly said a world but setmy arm and helped Terniaput me to bed. She was theonly one left. I kept telling

him to go. I thought hehad, but he came back tenminutes later, in hisoutdoor civvies, carrying abag and pushing hisservice pistol into hisshoulder holster as heapproached. He lookeddeathly white and saidhe’d only come back whenhe’d caught her. I told himto go to you, but he bowedhis head and wouldn’t

meet my eyes or answerme.’

‘Did he give you anyidea where he wasfocusing his search?’

‘He thought she wasrunning home, back toEngland.’

XIX

I abandoned my MotoGuzzi in the Custodes XIStation parking lot andtrotted up the steps to thesecurity barrier. Nobodywas more surprised than Iwas when it liftedautomatically. I glanced atthe optireader, my palm on

the panel, and I was in.More than a littledisconcerted, the dutySenior Justiciar stared atme.

‘Senior CommanderLurio?’

‘Upstairs, 106, er,ma’am.’

‘Don’t call him.’ I saidas his hand stretched outtowards the commset.

I ran up the stairs, and

found Lurio’s office. Iknocked and went straightin. He was frowning,staring at his screen,tapping the index andsecond fingers of his lefthand. His head swivelledround, an annoyedexpression on his facewhich turned toincredulity. I plunkedmyself down in the chairin front of his desk.

‘Who the hell let youin?’

‘I let myself in.’ I slidmy imperial commissionover the desk.

‘Mars’ balls! How didyou barrack her into givingyou this?’

‘It may surprise you,but I didn’t want it.’

He snorted and leanedback in his chair. ‘Isuppose you’ll be all over

us now.’‘No, and yes. I’m not

going to interfere in youroperation. You’re perfectlycapable of carrying out thesearch for Conradus. Theproblem is I doubt you’lleven see him, let alone findhim. No reflection on you.’

‘Do you know howbloody patronising youcan be?’

‘It’s a fact.’ I shrugged.

‘All right, superhero,tell me what you think.’

‘He’s gone after Nicola.His tracker is de-activated,so we can’t use that. Thekey is Nicola. I want accessto her file, all of it, and Iwant Pelonia to checkNicola’s accounts andcards. But first, I need tosee Stella.’

*I stood over by the

window, out of direct lineof sight when Stella wasbrought into thegovernor’s room at thedetox unit. The DJ medicalfile recorded only level oneaddiction, but nudginglevel two. Her skin lookedclearer since I’d seen her inthe DJ cells three days ago.Her hair was neatlygathered in a single plaitdown her back. She said

nothing except ‘Yes,ma’am’ when the governorinformed her she had avisitor. Stella followed theolder woman’s open handgesture toward thewindow but the girlflinched when she saw me.She flashed me an angrylook, but dropped it andreturned to a subduedattitude within a second.The governor left us to it,

closing the door behindher almost without asound.

‘Sit down, Stella.’Slumping on the plastic-

covered couch she held herlegs together and her armscrossed hard across herchest.

‘How’s it going?’‘All right.’‘Is there anything you

need?’

She stared at me for afew moments, lookedaway and kept her eyesfixed on the other side ofthe room. Her shoulderswere tensed up as high asshoulder-pads in an oldfashioned jacket. A spasmracked through her. Shegulped and sobbedsilently. I dropped downbeside her and put my armaround her shoulders.

When she stopped, sheglanced at me, stiffenedand moved away. Sheshook her head when Ioffered her a wipe.

‘What do you want?’she said. ‘You’ve got melocked up. Isn’t thatenough?’

‘You brought yourselfhere, Stella. You knew itwas wrong to have thosedrugs. And you weren’t

very clever at hiding them.Darius or Hallie couldhave easily found them.’

She stuck her chin out.‘C’mon, the speakers?

Your wash basket? Classic.The first places the custodessearch.’

She reddened, lookeddown as if embarrassed.

‘Did Nicola suggestthose places?’

Her hands gripped the

edge of the couch as shegave a tiny nod.

Poor kid. She’d reallybeen taken for a ride.

‘I’m going to try andfind Nicola to bring herback to face the damageshe’s caused you and yourfather. And UncleQuintus.’

‘What do you mean?’I told her about the

brutal beating Nicola had

dished out to the eighty-year-old. Her mouthopened, but nothing cameout. Her eyes widenedwith the shock of mywords. Unlike herawkwardness with manyothers, she’d alwaysseemed relaxed and happybantering with Quintuswhen I’d seen themtogether. In a way, I wasgratified by her reaction

now.‘Why did she want to

hurt us?’‘I don’t know for sure.

That’s one for the psychs,but I think jealousy and animagined need forrevenge. I guess shethought your father owedher something.’

I was too wired to sitstill, so I got to my feet andhelped myself to a glass of

water from the governor’stray before resuming.

‘I saw you with Nicolain the Septarium thatevening when you handedover money for a packet ofdrugs.’ She opened hermouth to speak. ‘Pleasedon’t deny it. I watchedthe whole thing. Whathappened to the drugs?’

‘I don’t know.’I didn’t say anything. I

stood within millimetres ofher leg, gazing down ather, waiting. She wriggled,but I kept my eyes on herface, willing her to tell.

‘I don’t. I really don’t.She snatched my bag assoon as we reached hercar. She ignored me untilshe dropped me off at theservice gate. She didn’teven say goodnight.’ Sheswallowed hard. ‘I phoned

her, but she wouldn’t pickup. She didn’t accept anyof my messages. I thoughtI’d done something wrong,upset her.’ Her voiceputtered out.

‘Okay. Here’s the deal.You write out all the timesyou spent with Nicola andeverything you did. Don’tworry about getting it alldown in one go. Write thedates, if you can, then fill

in things as you rememberthem. If you make fulldisclosure, it’ll go a longway to helping your casewhen you come to trial.And it could give us someleads to help catch Nicola.’

*‘Get anything useful?’

Lurio slouched in hischair, his eyes intense.

‘Nothing immediate,’ Isaid, ‘but I think she’s

admitted to herself howstupid she’s been. She’s alittle fragile and has lost allher self-belief. I told her towrite out everything that’shappened for Pelonia. Thegovernor will send it viathe DJ secure net.’

He grunted. ‘Pelonia’sgot something for you.’ Heswung his screen aroundand spoke the displaycommand. Reams of credit

card statements scrolleddown. Hades, Nicola knewhow to spend. Quintuswould be paying theArgentaria Prima back foryears.

‘Look at the last twotransactions.’

A thousand solidi cashwithdrawal and an airlineticket.

London.‘Pelonia says she’ll run

through it all wheneveryou want.’

‘Tell her I’ll leave her toput it together for the courtherself.’

‘Why? Where are yougoing?’

‘Hunting.’*

I stabbed Lucius’ numberinto my cell. As Conrad’sclosest comrade in armsfor years, as well as PGSF

adjutant, Lucius was agood first bet. It rang andrang. I was about to cut thecall when he answered.

‘Lucius? Carina. Haveyou heard fromConradus?’

He paused.‘So that’s a yes. Stay

there, I’m on my way.’‘Carina—’‘Just do as you’re told.’I cut it. Pelonia’s ferrets

were already at the frontand back of Lucius’sbuilding and searching theunderground garages. Shenodded as I scanned andoverrode the buildingaccess panel. I went up thestairs, she in the elevator.In the lobby outsideLucius’s door, I gave herbrief nod and knocked.The door flew open.

‘Who in Hades do you

think you are, ordering mearound like that?’ He shotan angry glance at Pelonia.‘Who’s this?’

‘May I present InspectorPelonia from the DJ SpecialInvestigations Unit?’

He looked up and downthe lobby. ‘You’d bettercome in.’

I strode straight throughto the living room.

‘Where’s Paulina?’

‘Gone to a charitymeeting,’ he said almosttoo easily.

‘Oh, really? Venue?And her car registration,please. Now.’

‘You can’t march in herelike a stroppy barbarian.You produce a warrantwith our names on and Imight listen to you. Untilthen, you can whistle.’

He folded his arms and

glared at me.‘Lucius,’ I said and laid

my hand on his forearm.‘You won’t help him likethis. He’s in so much shit,running won’t help.’ Heopened his mouth tospeak, but I held my handup. ‘He’s in no fit state todeal with her once he findsher.’

He snorted. ‘You don’thave much faith in him.’

‘On the contrary. That’swhy I need your help.Look, you can waste mytime, but all you’ll get is along-term reservation inone of the DJ’s best cells.’

‘Are you threateningme? On what grounds?’

‘Obstruction,harbouring and assisting aproscriptee for a start.’

He went pale andswallowed hard. It was a

few moments before hespoke. ‘He’s beenproscribed?’ His voice wasalmost a whisper.

Although Silvia hadstopped at strippingConrad of his citizenship,he had lost all protectionunder the law. But ithadn’t been published inthe Acta Diurna yet andwouldn’t be until after theemergency Imperial

Council meeting onMonday.

I showed Lucius mywarrant. He looked at itlike it was radioactive. Heflopped down on the smallcouch and recited thedetails we wanted in amonotonous voice. Peloniarelayed it over hercommset.

‘If they even so much asfrighten her I’ll have their

hides.’‘They’ll be discreet.’‘The scarabs couldn’t

know discreet if it smackedthem in the face.’

Pelonia stiffened andthrew Lucius a hostilelook.

‘Don’t be childish.Where’s she taking him?And please, please don’tlet’s pretend any more.’

‘The airport. They went

hours ago.’Paulina arrived half an

hour later, accompaniedby a custos. Her eyes flewto Lucius, who smiled ather and drew her to him,his arm around her toprotect her.

‘Paulina Carca, I requireyou to answer questionshonestly and fully,’ I said.‘If you do not do so or Ithink you are answering

dishonestly, you will bearrested and detained untilyou do. Is this clear?’

She didn’t say a word,just nodded.

‘Lucius Punellus canstay, if you want him to,but I will not tolerate anyinterruption or attempt atinterference. Please look atme while you areanswering.’

I nodded at Pelonia

who started recording.‘Please state your name,

address and profession.’She trembled as she

recited them in a high-pitched nervous voice, butspoke clearly enough.

‘What time didConradus Tellus arrive atyour apartment?’

‘Eleven o’clock thismorning.’

‘Describe what

happened after that.’‘He and Lucius went

into the study. After awhile, Lucius asked me tobook an airline ticket forthis afternoon and paywith my card. I madelunch and we leftafterwards for PortusAirport. I left him at thedepartures and went backto the car park. I stayedthere for three hours as

he’d asked. I listened tosome music and dozed forsome of the time.’ Shepaused and ran her palmover her face. ‘As I wasleaving the car park, thecustodes stopped me andbrought me back here.’

‘Thank you.’ I gave hera brief smile. ‘Okay,Lucius, what did he looklike?’

‘Sorry?’

‘You know perfectlywell what I mean. Don’t bea smartass.’

He shrugged. ‘He dyedhis hair dark brown and Igave him some old clothes,but you know yourselfhow good he is atchanging his walk andpersona. And no, I don’tknow what passport hewas using.’

Lucius was right.

Pelonia was already on hercell asking them to checkthe CCTV at the airport,but I knew we had littlechance of identifying himon it. And the passportwould get through everycheck. He’d have hitchedup with somebody elseand gone through securitylike friends, or a couple ifit was a woman.

Lucius and Paulina

stayed, hands lockedtogether, on the couch; sheanxious, he thunderous.

‘Okay, so where wasConradus booked to go?’

Paulina glanced atLucius.

‘Paulina. Answer me.’‘Munich, then London.’Pelonia called her

colleagues in the BavarianNational Police to stop himin Munich, but I was sure

it was too late. He’d be inLondon by now.

PartIII:TheHunt

XX

As the Imperial Air Forcetransport touched down atLondon’s military airbasethe next evening, Igathered my thoughtstogether. The emergencymeeting of the ImperialCouncil that afternoon hadbeen like facing a firing

squad. I’d felt so angry atthe way some had madesuch easy judgements.Conrad’s uncle Caius hadbeen thrown in my face.Quintus’s years of serviceand Conrad’s own wereconveniently forgotten. Tomy surprise, the chancellorstomped on the whinersafter a while. When one ofthem had suggestedsuspending me as tainted

by association, I just staredat him until he lookedaway. In the end theyendorsed Silvia’s decision.I had twelve days to getback with Conrad. Nicolawould be a bonus.

*I thanked the uniformedsteward and stepped outof the warm cabin on tothe first metal tread. Ablast of sleet came out of

the dark and slapped mein the face. I pulled mycollar up which coveredhalf my face. Juno, it wascolder in the wet than thesummit of the Geminae.

Michael Browningstood smiling at the foot ofthe steps like it was asummer’s day and notearly February. I shiveredeven more. He guided meto a waiting car.

‘Good flight?’‘Sure. Thanks for

meeting me.’He pulled the car

around. ‘We’ll stay in themess here overnight, thenhead into town tomorrowmorning.’

I was settling in myroom, when somebodyknocked on the door.

‘Courier from yourlegation left this for you

this afternoon, ma’am.’The young steward wassolemn as he handed overa large plascard box in atransparent cover, sealedwith a digital fastener. Assoon as he’d closed thedoor, I stowed the shieldedmailing box in the closet.Later, I’d unpack it, openthe backpack I knew wasinside and check out theequipment.

Over a drink and dinnerin the officer’s club, Iupdated Michael.

‘So, can you help?’‘I’ll do as much I can.’Which didn’t sound too

enthusiastic.*

Full of traditional breakfastand characterless coffee,we set off at seven the nextmorning along the freewayinto central London. Even

this early, the traffic wasdense and crawledthrough a landscape oforange-lit grey gloom.Michael said little beyondpolite things. We reachedthe elevated section as thesky was lightening.

‘Where are we going?’‘To meet an old friend.’‘Yes?’He just smiled.We drew into a dingy

street of 1970s officeblocks; concrete panels,large dirty windows inmetal frames. At a recesseddoorway halfway along,Michael stopped the carand we got out. A youngerman, who moved likemilitary, emerged from therevolving door, openedMichael’s door and slidinto the driver’s seat anddrove the car off,

disappearing around thecorner. Michael led methrough a pale yellowfoyer smelling of stalepaper to a desk where Icollected a guest pass,signing in a register with aball-point pen.

‘Not as high tech asyours,’ he said, ‘but all thesame, don’t lose it.’

On the third floor, westepped out of the elevator

into a lobby with an armedguard – the first I’d seen.No doubt they had hiddenCCTV and detection fields,but this place looked asopen as a picnic ground onparents’ day. Michaelnodded to a femaleassistant tapping on herkeyboard. She spared hima glance and a nodtowards the door behindher counter and resumed

processing her pile ofpapers.

I wasn’t too surprised tosee Andrew Brudglandgetting to his feet, comingtowards me, his handstretched out, a standardissue smile on his face.

‘Lovely to see youagain, Carina. Coffee?’

‘No. Thank you.’‘How can I help you?’He sat back, entirely

relaxed. I glanced over atMichael, but he sat on anupright chair at the left,quiet and expressionless;the perfect subordinate.

‘You’ve been helpingConrad with his domesticproblem from the start, soyou know thebackground.’ I tried not tosound resentful. His smilecrystallised on his face,although it didn’t falter.

‘Since Captain Browninghere ID’d NicolaSandbrook four monthsago, it’s all gone in thecrapper. She’ssystematically attacked mydaughter, nearly killingher. Yesterday morning, Ileft her great-uncle, whotook her into hishousehold, lying in ahospital bed with a brokenarm, strangulation

bruising and destroyedfaith. As well asblackmailing Conrademotionally, she’sresurrected and played ondemons in his past andbrought him to the edge ofa breakdown as well asprofessional ruin. He’sbeen proscribed.’ I let thatsink in. His file said he’dbeen to one of their preppyschools, Marlborough, so

he must have studied Latinhistory.

‘You still proscribe?’‘Rarely, but in crisis

cases, yes. We don’t stakethe head on the town gatethese days, but he’s lost allprotection under the law.Basically, it’s open seasonon him.’ I shrugged.‘Anybody informing onhim could be paid areward plus a portion of

his assets; the state wouldtake the rest. All the Tellaewould be blighted. AndConrad wouldn’t evencome out of prison for hispension.’

‘But why so harsh ameasure?’

‘Your preciousSandbook, Hargreve,whatever, targeted anotherof Conrad’s daughters,made her an addict, and

involved her in dealing.All this using the skills shelearnt here. Don’t you everscreen for personality?Don’t you do thoroughdocumentation and DNAchecks?’ I heard my voicerising and swallowed backmy anger. ‘But she made aserious mistake; when shedid that, she attacked theimperial heir. ImperatrixSilvia Apulia was

distraught at her daughterbeing so abused. Andtwisting her tail is notrecommended.’

‘I see.’I fixed him with a hard

stare. ‘The ImperialCouncil have designated itas an attack on the state. Ihave twelve days to findConrad, and Nicola, orwe’ll have to considerother measures.’

‘What exactly do youmean by that?’ Brudglandasked in his cool voice.

‘Let’s just say thathelping me is your betteroption.’

*Michael took me to hisoffice and let me read thefile on Nicola. It added afew details, but didn’t tellme much more.

‘Any guesses where she

might go?’‘The local plods are

checking the mother’shouse and we’re booked tointerview her last unit COlater this afternoon.’ Hisvoice was subdued,technical even. I had theimpression he was dancingaround the point.

‘What’s the problem?’‘What did you really

mean by “other

measures”?’‘C’mon, Michael.

You’ve studied us morethan most. You know wego in and do what’sneeded. Your boss lookedupset enough to believe it.It’s the last thing I want tohappen, but I can’t stop it.I had to fight the ImperialCouncil for this twelve dayconcession, so shall we getgoing?’

*I dozed on the road west.The sleet had beenreplaced by driving rainthat thudded ruthlessly onthe windshield. The youngdriver seemed imperviousto it. The line of hismilitary haircut on hisneck stayed in the sameplace the whole time. Hedidn’t even flex his neck.

We’d briefly called in at

the mess where I’d left mytravel bag. I presumed thesecurity services here hadsearched and scanned thecontents. But I had myfield service backpack inthe box the legation hadsent me. The digital sealshowed no sign of breach.Brudgland’s people hadeither been too polite ortoo sloppy to insist onsearching it.

Three and a half hoursafter leaving London, wecruised along theperipheral circling aroundthe market town leadingout to the barracks. Thepale green roofs, visible aswe drove along the accessroad, glistened with recentrain. Crowning the hillbehind, a kilometre or soaway, the woods lookeddark, closed and strangely

malevolent. Crazythought. Maybe I wastired. Inside the complex,we went straight to thecolonel’s office.

‘Good to see you again,Major.’ Colonel Stimpsonwas still the slim figurewho’d hosted our visit allthose months ago inNorfolk. His thick, almostbrush-like hair was a littlegreyer, but the air of

decisiveness andconstrained energybursting to escape hadn’tchanged.

‘No longer major. I’man imperial agent thesedays. I take myinstructions direct from theimperatrix.’

‘I see.’ He obviouslydidn’t. He exchangedglances with Michael whosaid nothing.

‘Look at it like a rovinginspector, if it helps.’

‘Well, I haveSandbrook’s servicerecords here, which Iunderstand you’ve beencleared to see. And RSMJohnson will be joining usshortly.’ He paused.‘Michael’s told us a littleabout the background toyour, ah, mission. If youthink we can help in any

other way, you will let meknow.’

‘I’m not here to maketrouble for you, Colonel. Ijust want to find ConradTellus and NicolaSandbrook and take themback.’

*Johnson was as Iremembered from theexercise; a wall of musclewith an ironic sense of

humour. After someformal stuff in the colonel’soffice, he and I sat over abeer in the senior non-coms club, he embracingthe dark bitter, mewimping out with a lager.

‘So, Sandbrook, she’sbeen causing trouble, Igather. Not reallysurprising.’

‘What do you mean?She seems to have

excellent reports all theway through.’

‘Precisely. Now whatdoes that tell you?’

‘Ah! Nobody thatperfect exists?’

‘Don’t get me wrong,she carried out her dutieswell, but she didn’t blend.She never went on abender or got into a fight,like they all do heresometimes. It’s mostly

operational stress comingout.’ He shrugged. ‘Shenever went with anybodythat I know of. The boyscalled her a dyke behindher back, and probably toher face, but I heardelsewhere that wasn’t thecase.’ He placed his glasson the table, refusing myoffer of a third one. ‘Shehad an edge in hermanner, a sort of

snottiness, and was asstubborn as hell. You’dwatch her smile, looking asif she was listening, butknowing she wasn’t. She’dget people to do the thingshe wanted them to do byeliminating all anotherpossibilities. We put her infor leadership tests but itwas the one thing shedidn’t shine at.’

‘Did she have any

friends, or even workbuddies?’

‘The reconnaissancework she did wasindividual, quite lonely,but she said she likedbeing on her own.’ Hegave me some printedsheets. ‘These are herprevious two years’schedules showing teamrostering. I don’t know ifthey might tell you

anything. Let me havethem back in the morning.’

*‘Salve. That you, Fausta?’

‘Colonel?’ The voicewas thick and blurry.Damn. Rousting the headof digital security out ofher bed probably wasn’t agood start.

‘Sorry about the time.I’m sending you some lists

of people. I want you torun them. See if there’s anykind of linking thread orcommon factor.’

‘What’s thebackground?’

‘All UK military, theodd colonial, possibly.Send me anything you findas soon as you have it.’

*I was too busydownloading Fausta’s

report to go for a run thatmorning. The sleet hadalso returned. Placing acrystal pyramid on thetable in front of me to jamany surveillance, I calledFausta.

‘Saw your bursts.They’re the only twopossibilities?’

‘That’s it, ma’am. I’ll re-analyse and 3D cross-reference to narrow it

down, but it may take anhour or two.’

‘That’s great, Fausta.Excellent job. We’ll drivenorth and visit numberone. Out.’

At breakfast, I advisedMichael that ourdestination was a placecalled Birkenhead whereone of Nicola’s retiredarmy buddies lived. First, Ihad to return the

schedules. I foundJohnson’s office, but hewasn’t there. I begged anenvelope from hisassistant, marked it‘Private and Personal –Urgent’ and signed acrossthe flap closure. Sheassured me he’d get it assoon as he was back. Ididn’t like leaving it likethat, but we had to go.

Three hours later, we

drove along 1930s urbansprawl as we enteredBirkenhead. It looked asgrey as the rest in themizzle. We left the car inHamilton Square, a grandVictorian plaza looking alittle run-down at theedges now, and walkedtowards the street of dirtybrick row houses. I leftMichael to buy a paper.My East American accent

would be remembered.As we made our way

toward the docks area, theday brightened and a lightbreeze brought the saltytang of the sea along withthe smell of maritime fuel.I called Fausta to check forprogress. Before I couldask her anything, sheconfirmed her earlierreport that ChristopherNewton as the most likely

colleague, a 74% score onher 3D crossmatch; he’dbeen on three missionswith Nicola.

We checked watchesand Michael disappeareddown the back alleywaybehind the street I startedwalking along. I stopped atthe ninth house. A whiteplastic door matched whiteplastic windows whoseglass was slightly

distorted. A satellite dishsprouted from the frontwall along with an unlitSanta light decorationcoated with a beige sheenof pollution. I checked mywatch and knocked on thedoor.

‘Christopher Newton?’His eyes narrowed.

‘Who?’ He shook his head.‘No, sorry.’

He was good, but spoilt

it by not looking puzzledenough.

‘Don’t mess with me,Christopher. Let’s goinside and talk.’

He nearly shut the door,but I was a second tooquick for him. I had myfoot in the gap and body-slammed it back open. As Icame through, my carbonfibre knife was in my lefthand. I jabbed it in his face.

He recoiled instinctively.Within nanoseconds, he

recovered and barrelledtoward me. As heslammed into me, I kneedhim hard in the groin. Hegasped and curled upgroaning in agony. Beforehe could catch his wind, Ichopped the back of hisneck with my right hand.He collapsed in a heap onthe floor. I waited a couple

of breaths then sheathedmy knife, fished cable tiesfrom my jacket pocket andsecured his hands behindhis back.

Michael burst through,Sig Sauer in hand. I jerkedmy head up and he rushedupstairs. I checked the restof downstairs. There wasonly the lobby, living roomand knocked-throughkitchen. Nobody there.

Michael clattered down thenarrow stairway. He shookhis head. I left him toheave Newton onto achair.

I checked the answeringmachine. No light flashingfor new messages. Juno! Itwas ancient and usedplastic tape. I ran it back.One from a male askinghim to go for a pint, then amarketing call for

insurance. But the last onewas in a female voice. Nosoft tones as Quintusdescribed, but three abruptwords, ‘No food. None.’

I stared at the machineand pressed the repeat lastmessage button. Nomistaking the words, orthe speaker, but what didthey mean? Was she holedup somewhere and hadrun out of supplies?

Michael shrugged andshook his head. ‘It’s not acode message we use. Nota clue.’

I continued checking;the unit drawers, papersheaped on the kitchentable, envelopes crushedtogether in a metal framebalancing on the mantelshelf.

Michael pulled theunderstair cupboard open

and half disappeared intoit. ‘Look what I’ve found.’And waggled a blackpadded bag in the air.‘Now I wonder why it washidden at the back behindthe Christmas decorations.The router’s in there aswell.’

He fired up the laptop,but it refused to go pastthe login page without thepassword. He tried once

more, but nothing.‘No, leave it,’ I said and

brushed his hand away. ‘Ifit’s a standard system, it’lllock up if the third attemptfails. Let me make a call.’

I picked it up off thetable, walked into thekitchen, shut the door andcalled Fausta.

‘We’ve found thislaptop,’ I said when shepaused for breath. ‘Can

you hack into it?’She broke into

convulsive laughter. ‘Youhave to be joking! Ofcourse I can. I thought youwanted me to dosomething difficult.’

Sometimes Faustasounded like too much of asmartass. She talked methrough the set up and Icalled Michael in.

‘Fausta thinks she can

crack this, but you’ll haveto be her fingers.’ I laid myphone down by thescanner and laptop andhanded him the earpiece.‘Play with it while I have alittle conversation with ourfriend out there.’

‘Remember there arerules.’ He gave me a long,steady look.

‘Sure.’

XXI

Michael had blindfoldedNewton and tied his legsto a dining chair.

‘Now, Christopher, youand I are going to have alittle talk. You know how itgoes – hard way or easyway. Your choice.’

He opted for the silent

routine.I sighed and smacked

one of his kneecaps hardwith a steel ladle from thekitchen.

He grunted andflinched.

‘Last chance. Tenseconds not to get meannoyed.’

I tapped his shoulderten times as I counted theseconds. Nothing.

I was annoyed.*

‘What have you done tohim?

Michael’s voice wassharp. Newton wasunconscious, but he’dcome round in about ten tofifteen minutes.

‘He’s having a littlesleep.’ I shrugged. ‘I gavehim a standard relaxant.Like we gave your

Lieutenant Wilson on theexercise.’

‘Well?’‘He admitted he’s been

in contact with Nicola,she’s staying nearby, butshe won’t tell him where.He says that he has to waitfor her to contact him. Hewent a little vague when Ipressed him about anemergency contact numberfor her. He was trying very

hard to conceal it. Or therelaxant was making himditzy. What have you got?’

‘We’re in and I haven’tfound anything startlingyet. Fausta’s downloadingthe entire hard disk towork on. She wants acouple of hours to runanalyses on it. She saysshe’ll message you. Aremarkable youngwoman.’

I grinned at him. ‘Yousound like something outof an old movie.’

He gave me a reluctantsmile back.

Before we left, we laidNewton on the couch inthe recovery position andfound a blanket to coverhim. I prised the back offhis cell, inserted aminiature tracker bug. Iseeded bugs throughout

the house including hislandline phone, and two inthe coat hung on the backof another chair. Michaelrelocked the back door andafter cutting the cable tiesaround Newton’s wrists,we gave a last look aroundand left.

Back at the car, wedrank coffee and atesandwiches Michaelbought at the subway

station and waited as therain folded over us again.

*‘Nic?’

‘Sorry, wrong number.’‘It’s Chris.’‘Get off this line. Go to a

public phone box.’‘Round here? You’re

joking.’‘Meet at 302.’The line went dead.The tracker bugs in his

coat were workingperfectly until he dove intothe subway at HamiltonSquare. Gods, thesetunnels had to be deep!Michael followed him. Myscreen showed Newtoncould take a train in anydirection; this part of thenetwork wasunderground, sountrackable. He coulddisappear and our lead

would die. Hades.It was a tense ten

minutes until Michaelcalled.

‘In the open now. Justpassed Birkenhead Park.Out.’

I hit the gas on therental car. Luckily, theroad was straight andwide. No right turns,thank Juno.

My cell rang again.

‘Going north, Wallaseynow. He’s heading for theterminus at NewBrighton.’

I met Michael at theentrance of the red-brickstation at New Brightonwith an umbrella to shieldus from the freezing rain.As I kissed him like he wasan old friend visiting, Iwatched Newton out ofthe corner of my eye as he

walked down the street,head hunched down,hands in his pockets. Hewas easy to mark; he hadthat soldier’s light rollinggait. He made for thepromenade by the seawall; it was completelyopen, no cover of any kind.

He dove into adecorated Victorianshelter, the kind withslatted wood seats to rest

on, a sloping swaybackroof, but sides openexposed to the sea air. Raindripped off the pointyblack ironwork edging theroof. Michael drove on andwe parked up at the otherend of the grey marinelake. I hooked my fieldglasses around my headand snapped off severalshots of Newton and thefigure he was talking to

while we listened in on myreceiver. It was NicolaSandbrook.

‘What happened?’Nicola.

‘Some Americanwoman. She burst in like abloody tank. I didn’t seeher face, just heard hervoice. And she was pissed,really pissed with me.’

‘Mitela.’‘Who is she? CIA?’

Nicola didn’t answer.‘C’mon, Nic, if she isn’t

Company, what is she?’‘Worse.’A pause, ruffling cloth.‘What the hell have you

got me into?’‘Don’t sweat it. How

long was she there?’‘About half an hour.’‘Tell me in detail.’After he finished, she

told him to sweep his

house; there’d be bugseverywhere. Through theglasses, I saw her pat himdown and search, herhands into every pocket,under the shirt and jacketcollars, into his belt. Shemade him take his shoesoff.

‘Got it!’Her foot stamped down,

crushing the tiny metaldisc, causing a spike in one

of the lines on my screenand then its death.

Michael lookedworried, but I smiled athim.

‘Jesus, that’s small,’came Newton’s voice.

‘Yeah, well,’ Nicolareplied. ‘The people we’reup against are cleverbastards.’

In the car, Michaellooked puzzled.

‘Decoy,’ I whispered tohim, still watching the twofigures through my fieldglasses.

‘You’ve been out toolong,’ Nicola said, hervoice sharp. ‘You shouldhave searched morethoroughly after beingturned over like that.’

‘Don’t do the stroppymadam with me. I’m theone doing you a favour,

remember.’Newton stood up,

walked over to the railing,crossed his arms and leantthem on the top. He lookedout over the grey waves,towards the old squat fort.Nicola followed him andwound her arm around hiswaist. He didn’t moveaway from the intimateembrace, but continuedstaring out to sea, like he

was trying to ignore her.She bent her back, movingcloser in and looked upinto his face, ignoring thehair whipping around herhead in the breeze.

‘Don’t be angry. I’msorry, Chris. I need you somuch.’

I snorted at hermanipulative tactics, butmy irritation waspunctured by his next

words.‘Look, Nic, I can’t keep

that bloke in my brother’swarehouse forever.’

‘Is he being trouble?’‘No, he just looks like

some wounded animal.’‘That’s what he is.’‘He’s going to die on us

if we don’t feed him.’‘And the problem is?’‘Christ, you’re hard.’My head exploded. I

went to wrench the cardoor open. I was going tothrottle her.

Gods, I’d been sostupid. Asking Newtondirect about Conrad hadn’toccurred to me. I’d been soconvinced Nicola was thekey to finding Conrad, I’dconcentrated on her. Istruggled against theweight stopping me but itwouldn’t budge. Michael

had both hands on myupper arms, bearing downon my radials. The painwoke me up.

‘No,’ he said.I swallowed hard.‘Focus.’ He shook me.‘I’m good. You can let

go,’ I said, and took a longbreath

The scanner pinged.‘Okay, Chris,’ came

Nicola’s voice, ‘I’ll try and

find somewhere else, butyou know it’s not easy. If Ican’t, we’ll just have todump him.’

‘Dump him? No way,I’m not getting involved intopping him.’

‘You said you weregoing to help me.’

‘Not that.’ Newton said.She sighed, a little

theatrically. ‘Okay, Chris.Shame you’re no longer up

to it.’‘Just shut it.’The lines on the scanner

display dropped to thebaseline. A beep, thensilence.

‘Oh, shit,’ Michaelwhispered, ‘she’s walkingthis way.’

We dove into the wellsin front of the seats,curling up as tightly as wecould. Luckily, we’d left a

few millimetres’ gap at thetop of each window, sothey hadn’t steamed up. Icounted a full minutebefore peeping over therim at the base of thewindow. Newton hadstayed, looking out to sea. Icould just see Nicola in thedistance walking away at asmart pace.

Hades and all theFuries. I had around thirty

seconds to decide whetherto follow my instinct andgo after her, or go forNewton who could lead usto Conrad.

XXII

Driving back to HamiltonSquare, I concentratedthrough a red fog of worryand anger on the lateafternoon traffic. My gutclenched hard. It didn’thelp any being on thewrong side of the road andthe vehicle. I cruised

around until I found aspace. I fed the meter thenwent to lounge on a benchin the square, pretendingto play with my cell. Onlyit wasn’t a cell. The miniscanner showed Newtonexiting the subwayentrance. A minute later,he appeared around thecorner.

I tugged on my greenwoollen hat and pulled the

scarf tighter against thecold as anybody innocentwould do. The rain hadstopped, but thetemperature was droppingfast. I held my breath asNewton walked past me,followed at a discreetdistance by Michael whopretended he was lookingfor somebody. I waved atMichael and we greetedeach other like a couple

meeting up and set off armin arm diagonally acrossthe square to collect theparked car.

‘Are you okay now?’ heasked when we wereinside, sheltered againstthe wind.

‘Sure.’‘Humph.’‘Don’t push it, Michael.’

*‘Fausta’s sent me a report

on the hard disk,’ I said,‘email, porn, games, music– the usual. We have hisbrother’s cell but nothingelse. We go back in andsweat it out of him.’

‘He was upset at Nicolaleaving the man—’

‘It’s Conrad. I’m sure itis.’

I had to be sure after mydecision on the seafront.

He coughed. ‘Well, after

Nicola’s act this afternoon,Newton may feel guiltyenough or sorry for himand go and check him.’

‘You’re such aromantic.’ I snorted. ‘Wego in now.’

This time I had Michaeltake the front entrance. Iparked up, glanced bothways, to check nobody wasaround and climbed overthe gate leading to the

back alley. At Newton’shouse, light shone throughthe kitchen window. Icrept across the small yard.The shadow of a figurethrough the dimpledfrosted glass stood up,then faded, presumably toanswer the door toMichael.

I pulled the pick set outof my bag and unfolded it.As I went to insert the tool

into the door lock, I hadthe sudden urge to stop. Atingle in my neck. I pulledback and retreated behindthe garbage can secondsbefore the lock clicked andthe door swung open,letting the light flood outinto the half-dark.

Nicola.She stood on the back

step and scanned around.My heart thudded. Had

she seen or heard me? Orwas it a reaction to Michaelknocking on the frontdoor? And what in Hadeswas she doing here now?

I wanted to grab her.But if I did, would I losethe chance of findingConrad alive? If she rantrue to the Tella type, she’dnever give up where hewas. Even pouringindustrial amounts of

relaxant into her, by thetime we’d extracted theinformation, Conrad couldbe dead. No, Newton wasthe key. She’d have towait.

She cocked her headlike she was listening. Icouldn’t hear any noisefrom inside except a faintsound from some soap onthe television. No noise ofanybody else, or shouting.

No fight. After a minute,she went back in.

As I slid out through thegate at the end of the row,Michael was waiting forme. He pulled me aroundthe corner and across theroad.

‘What the hellhappened there?’ I asked.

*Around five meters fromNewton’s house, Michael

had seen a taxi draw up infront of it. Nicola jumpedout and ran up the steps.He didn’t dare call or eventext me, he said. The lastthing you needed whenyou were covert was yourcell phone sounding, evenwith a tiny message ping.

But what was she doingthere?

We took up stationfurther down the road

shielded by a campingtrailer wedged into a frontgarden. Holding thescanner clear of the metalbox, I switched it on.Nothing. The lines bubbledalong the bottom of thedisplay. They couldn’thave found every singlebug and certainly not thethread bugs. I turned thevolume up to max andheard cloth rustling, then a

noise of wood againstwood, a cupboard hingecreaking. They weresearching in silence. Ichewed my lip while wewaited.

*Five minutes later, the lineon the display spiked asNewton’s exasperatedvoice blasted out.

‘Satisfied?’I winced and hit the

volume control.‘I suppose so.’‘Jesus, Nic, I know

you’re anal, but this isstupid.’

‘I’m going now. I’ll beback tomorrow to settlethis permanently.’

‘Why don’t you stayhere instead?’

‘Security. Nothingpersonal, Chris. If youdon’t know where I am,

you can’t tell anybodyelse.’

‘Please your bloody self.Don’t expect me to sit inwaiting. I’m going downthe pub.’

*As soon as she’ddisappeared, Michaeldawdled along the streetpast Newton’s house. Hepaused a metre or sobeyond the door, took out

a packet of cigarettes, putone between his lips andpatted his pockets as ifsearching for a lighter.Right on cue Newton cameout of his house, slammedthe door shut and stompedpast Michael, his head bentforward and shoulderstense. Michael turned andfollowed him.

I drove down Newton’sroad and parked up

between dull orange streetlights thirty metres beyondhim. I let myself out thedriver’s door, opened thetrunk, bent in andrummaged around like Iwas looking for something.I tightened my grip aroundthe hilt of my knife andstood up as he came levelwith me.

A flash of panic crossedNewton’s face as he

recognised me. He spunaround, ready to run, butMichael grabbed hisshoulders, jammed hisknee into the back ofNewton’s and rolled himinto the trunk. I slammedthe lid down.

Observing the speedlimit – the last thing weneeded was to be pickedup by the cops – we droveto the docks and found a

deserted yard with noCCTV. Parked in theshadow under the shelterof a semi-derelict deliveryhatch, we approached thetrunk, prepared for attackby an angry hornet.Michael had his Sig Sauerready, me my knife andcuffs.

‘One, two, three, mark!’Michael pulled the lid

up and I swung in

sideways to body blockour captive. I deflectedhim enough for Michael topush him back in on hisface so I could cuff him.

‘Fuck you, youbastards!’

We let him rant for afew moments, his breathpluming in the cold. Hestopped trembling after aminute or two, took a deepbreath and coughed.

‘Finished?’ I said.‘Not by a long way, you

bitch.’I laughed at him, which

made him angry again, butI said nothing. I stared intothe back of his eyes untilhe broke his gaze.

‘Now, Christopher, lasttime we had a little chat, Ihadn’t realised what a lotyou knew. This time, we’regoing for full house. Same

choice. But having twodoses of this relaxant soclose will make you feelsick for weeks.’ It was a lie,of course. It wouldn’t do athing to him. ‘Or youcould cooperate.’

‘Screw you. Nic wasright.’

‘Right. So it’s right tokidnap, brutalise andstarve a man who’s donenothing to you? A man

who’s obviously ill? Herown father?’

He stared at me. ‘Herfather?’ His voice roseseveral notes. ‘You’relying.’

‘Your Nicola is a verydevious young woman.But you know that, don’tyou, Christopher?’

He looked down andsaid nothing.

‘You know, don’t you,

in your heart, that she’sbeen manipulating you allalong?’

‘Remember the trainingaccident out on the BreconBeacons when she madeyou take the rap? Or thefailed reconnaissance inMogadishu when you lostthree comrades? Nowshe’s trying to make youan accessory to murder.’

He looked away.

I nodded at Michaelwho brought me a plasticfolder. The chill breezeruffled the pages, but Iheld two stapled sheets upand turned my flashlighton it.

‘The top one is atranslation of the DNA testdone a few months ago.’ Iheld up Conrad’sphotograph. ‘This is theman, isn’t it?’

He glared at me,changed to sullen, butgave a quick nod.

*Back at his house,accompanied by Michael,he fetched the keys. We’dtaken his cell phone,money and ID.

‘You’ll get these backwhen we’re finished,Christopher. If you tryescape, or fuck with us,

you’ll be so finished, youwon’t need them back.Understood?’

He nodded.‘If you cooperate, you

may even find somethingin your bank as our thanks.Oh, and I’d go on a littletrip someplace a distanceaway for a few weeks. Foryour own good.’

We met nobody aroundthe warehouse yard. It was

approaching midnight andfrost had already coatedeverything with a lightsheen. Newton unlockedthe padlock on the chainlinking the corrugatedmetal doors together. Theconcrete floor was patchedwith oil stains.Workbenches strewn withtools, machine parts, half-cars, a ramp, gas canistersand welding equipment

screamed illegal bodyshop.The acrid smell of paintcame from a taped-upglistening shell in the farcorner.

‘Remember. Nothingstupid.’

He led us around apartition into a darkpassageway with twodoors off. He stopped infront of one and unlockedit. I signalled him to go in

first. I nearly choked onthe smells of oil, unwashedbody and faeces filling theroom. A rim of orangefrom the street lightingshowed around a boardedwindow opposite. As myeyes adapted to the gloom,I saw the figure huddledon the concrete floor anddropped to my knees.

XXIII

Orange light reflected offthe links of a chain endingaround the figure’s ankle. Iswallowed hard.

‘Take the key off ourfriend here.’ I said, ‘andlock us all in. I don’t wanthim taking off if we’re alittle occupied.’

I fumbled in my pocketfor my flashlight andshone it on the body. Ithadn’t moved since we’darrived. My other handtrembled as I reacheddown to touch it. The facewas hidden by the shirtcollar but I didn’t need topull it back to see it wasConrad. I pressed myfingers on his throathoping, praying, to find a

pulse.His head jerked back at

my touch, eyes gleaminglike a wounded animalfearful of the hunter’sknife. His hand came up toshield his eyes.

He croaked, ‘No.’Alive. He was alive.I sat back, releasing my

breath and closing my eyesfor a moment. Then mybrain re-engaged. I cradled

his head and put a bottle ofwater to his mouth and letthe first drops dribble overhis lips. When he drank,from it, he swallowed likehe was never going tostop. I prised it away for afew seconds. He couldn’tafford to lose more liquidby throwing up.

‘It is really you?’‘Yes, I’m here. You’re

safe now.’

*The imperial transportlanded late next afternoonat the local air force base,disgorging Antonia Faenia,the PGSF’s chief medicalofficer plus Livius, Paulaand Atria from my ART.No, Hades, my formerART. I no longer had ateam. They were alldressed in casuals, mostlyjeans and fleeces. Not

Faenia; designer suited,carrying a polisheddoctor’s black satchel andstriding across thetarmacadam, she lookedlike any medical primadonna. But a load fell offmy shoulders when I sawshe’d come in person.

At the hospital, shegave staccato nods at theBritish medic as he gavehis report to her, nervous

under the piercing stareand the frown ofconcentration on Faenia’sstrong face. She gesturedimpatiently as soon as hespoke his last word andfollowed him down theglaring white corridor to adoor guarded by twoarmed cops. Inside,Michael, who was sittingopposite the doorway, roseto his feet, wary at the

sudden invasion.‘Professor Faenia,

Captain Browning.’She nodded briefly and

went straight to thepatient. While she wasscanning and checking,and exchanging tersecomments with the Britishdoctor, I told Michael we’dtake over security.

He frowned at me.‘I’m grateful, Michael,

very grateful, but he’s ourproblem.’

‘CommissionerBrudgland instructed meto stay until the transportwas in the air.’

I smiled, almost tomyself. ‘Yeah, he’s a realcareful Harry, isn’t he?’

‘No comment. I have tostay, but I’ll stand thepolice down.’

A knock and Atria and

Paula entered, glanced atme and took up positionon the back wall. Faeniacame over to me aftershe’d given the patient ashot and bundled her stuffback in her bag.

‘He’ll sleep for abouttwelve hours. I’veinstructed this doctor togive a vitamin injectionevery four. I’m going to eatnow and sleep. I’ll be back

at seven.’ She scrutinisedmy face. ‘I suggest youcome with me, Countess.You look exhausted.’

*Faenia woke me aspromised; I thought shemight ignore myinstruction and do that ‘weleft you to rest as youlooked as if you needed it’routine. She didn’t saymuch as we drove from

the air base mess back tothe hospital.

A suit was arguing withLivius outside the door toConrad’s room.

‘I cannot have a privatesecurity force in myhospital. It will intimidateand unsettle the otherpatients.’

‘We have taken overfrom the uniformed policewho were armed, so I

think we are not somenacing.’ Livius wassmiling, releasing all hischarm on the man in hisaccented English.

‘It really won’t do. Iinsist on speaking to yoursupervisor. Where is he?’

‘She’s right here,’ I said,stepping up to face him. Ileft two centimetresbetween us.

He stumbled back.

‘Countess CarinaMitela, representingImperatrix Silvia Apulia ofRoma Nova. How can Ihelp you?’

‘Oh.’ His eyes dartedbetween Livius, Faeniaand me. Faenia shot a lookof contempt at him andwent in to see her patient.The administrator wavedhis hand in a vague circle.‘Your people are upsetting

the other patients. You’llhave to remove them.’

‘I’m very sorry youthink that. I’ll ask for asquad of your armedpolice to replace them.That’ll be so much morecalming.’

‘That’s an extremelyunhelpful attitude.’ Hisface flushed with anger.

‘Look, I apologise. Ididn’t mean to be rude.

What have my peopledone? Have they caused aproblem or beendiscourteous, or annoyedanybody?

‘Not specifically, no.’‘Any complaints made

by individual patients?’‘Well, no.’I said nothing. I folded

my arms across my chest,raised an eyebrow as mygrandmother used to do

and stared at him.‘Oh, very well. When

are you leaving?’‘That will be the

professor’s decision, butI’ll be sure to keep yourteam advised. Anythingelse?’

He shook his head.I went into Conrad’s

room, leaving the littleman puffing outside.

*

The ginger and malt aromaof the restorative hit mefirst. Conrad was sittingup in the hospital bed,drinking it out of thealuminium cup matchingthe flask Faenia held in herhand.

He smiled up at mehesitantly. I reflected itautomatically. He lookedexhausted; brown shadowssurrounded his eyes and

the skin over the bridge ofhis nose was tight,emphasising the scar fromhis broken nose. Darkblond and grey stubblecovered his lower facemaking him look evenmore like a fugitive. Butmore than that it was theanxiety in his eyes as hesearched my face.

He’d torn my personallife into shreds, destroyed

the trust between us andblighted my professionalcareer. I should hate him. Ikept my gaze steady. Aftera few moments, he tippedhis chin up like a defiantchild, then blinked andlooked away. His facecrumpled like a piece ofdiscarded paper. He was atrock bottom. Despite thehurt, I wanted to fold himinto my arms and hold

him there safe.But I couldn’t. Never

more did ‘servant of thestate’ sound asmeaningless as it did now.I retreated into banalities.

‘How do you feel?’ Iasked.

‘Hungry. I haven’t eatenfor four days.’ His voicewas light, but his handtrembled.

‘As soon as you’ve

drunk that, Legate,’ Faeniasaid a little too briskly,‘you can eat some cerealand one piece of fruit.’

I frowned at Faenia. Shewas wrong to call himlegate, and she knew it. Ibeckoned her outside.

‘How long before he cantravel?’ I asked.

‘Tomorrow at theearliest.’

*

Atria and I worked thenight shift. She took upstation outside, but I spentmost of the night watchingConrad and thinking. Imust have dozed off as itwas light when Liviusshook my shoulder nextmorning.

From a plastic shoppingbag, Livius handed Conrada battery shaver andConrad took himself into

the shower. We kept thebathroom door open. Ashe towelled his hair, nowfree of the brown dyeLucius had given him, Iwas shocked to see howmuch white there wasamongst the dark blond.His arms and torso werebruised, and a cut on hisforehead had opened andwas seeping. I handed hima gauze pad, but didn’t say

anything.He tore open the clothes

pack Livius handed him,glanced at the two of us,but we didn’t move. Noway was I going to havefewer than two people inthe room with him at anytime. He shrugged, slid offthe towel around his waistand dressed in the casuals.He hovered, uncertainwhat to do. He rubbed his

free hand along thehairline by his accidentscar, but looked at thefloor.

I chewed my lip andtried to find some way tobreak the awkwardatmosphere.

‘I presume you’ve cometo take me back,’ he said.

I nodded, swallowingthe ache in my throat. Whythe hell had Silvia forced

me to do this?‘Did they revoke your

resignation?’‘No, I work under a

different authority.’‘Not a scarab?’‘No.’He gave up.‘Did you find Nic…

Nicola?’‘For a while.’‘What stopped you

taking her?’

‘You did.’‘What do you mean?’‘My orders are to

prioritise finding andbringing you back over hercapture.’

‘Mars! That was hardfor Silvia.’ He spoke withthe sympathy of ahusband. I felt a bloom ofanger. Although theireight-year partnership hadfinished before we met, I

could never forget theemotional bond Conradand Silvia shared becauseof their three children. Ibatted it away and pulledmy shoulders back. Timeto do my job, howevershitty.

‘By my authority asimperial agent, I amplacing you under arrest.Do you submit to thecourt?’ As I said the formal

words, my heart wasbreaking.

‘I submit to the court,’he replied after a fewmoments in a cold,despairing voice.

‘I am not going to cuffyou in front of foreigners,but you must give me yourpersonal word of honourthat you will not try toescape.’

He nodded.

‘Aloud.’His face tightened,

producing a peevish look.‘You have my word.

Aren’t you going to readme my rights?’ he askedwith an ironic tone.

‘You don’t have anyrights. You’ve beenproscribed.’

*Ever efficient, Michaelprovided an SUV to

transport us from thehospital to the airbase.

Conrad had collapsedinto the hospital chair likehis bones had dissolvedinto powder when I toldhim about theproscription. He stayedthere, frozen, not believingit and staring at the floor.In the end, Livius hadtaken Conrad’s arm in afirm grip and hauled him

to his feet. Conrad hardlyreacted, but followedautomatically. Atria andPaula fell in close behindas I led the group downthe hospital corridor to theglass door. I gave thehospital administrator anironic bow before makingour way out to whereMichael was waiting.Wedged between Liviusand Atria with Paula

watching him from theopposite seat, Conradslumped and still saidnothing.

As we rode along,Michael made lightconversation in that politeway the British do in tensesituations. At the plane,the others took Conrad upthe steps, Faenia following.On the tarmacadam,Michael and I waited until

they were out of earshot.‘I’m truly grateful for all

the support you’ve givenus, Michael. I don’t knowany other way except tosay thank you. Pleaseconvey my thanks toAndrew Brudgland forputting you at ourdisposal.’

‘No trouble at all. Imean it. We’ll keep an eyeout for Nicola Sandbrook.

If she resurfaces, we’llhave her before she canmove.’ I knew he wassaying that to comfort me.She was an expert at livingbelow the wire and theyjust didn’t have theresources. I gave him anunderstanding smile.

He looked at mesteadily. ‘I think you’re infor a rough time on allfronts in the next few

weeks. Give me a call ifyou think I can help or youwant a sounding board.’He bent down and kissedme lightly on my cheek.‘Take care.’

*Conrad flinched as Itouched him on the knee.We’d been in the air for anhour. I glanced around inthe half-gloom of thetransport deck. A crate and

our bags were secured byheavy nets to bolts in thecentre of the floor. A rowof tubular-framed canvasfixed seats lined each side.Paula, Atria and Livius satalong the opposite sidetowards the back, Faeniaeight along from us.

‘Are you okay?’ I raisedmy voice against theaircraft noise. Unlike acosy civilian aircraft this

military transport had noplush cabin withinsulation. ‘Do you wantsomething to eat or drink?’

He shook his head andstared at the opposite wallof the fuselage.

‘You have to talk to mesooner or later. I prefer notto do it in Interview 2 withhalf of the InterrogationService listening.’

‘She beat Quintus, she

broke his arm.’ Heshivered. He seemed sofragile. ‘Her hands werelocked round his throatand she was shaking him.He was making chokingsounds like an animal. Shewould have killed him if Ihadn’t dragged her off.Gods, she’s vicious. I knewthen I had to go after her.But I was so unprepared.She took me as if I was a

one-day cadet.’ He lookedat the floor.

‘That’s the least of yourtroubles. Silvia is furious,boiling. When youdisobeyed her summons, Ithought she was going toimplode. Quintus tried totake the rap, but shewouldn’t accept it. She’sdevastated, Conrad. Sheknows Stella has beendifficult and is

impressionable, but sheexpected you to reinNicola in.’ I stopped beforeI went too far.

‘She’s Caius, all overagain,’ he whispered.

I remembered Conrad’shaggard face the day he’dtalked about Caius Tellus.We’d been at CastraLucilla, our summer homein the country, lying on arug drying in the sun after

a vigorous swim. Conradwouldn’t detail thepersonal abuse Caius hadimposed on him; he stayedsilent for a few minutes atthat part, his breath lightand eyes unfocused.

After the city had beenre-taken by Imperial forcesand Caius’ brutal rebelliondefeated, Quintus haddiscovered the nine-year-old Conrad cowering,

filthy and terrified, in alocked cellar in Caius’ssuburban villa. During thejourney to the derelict farmin the east that the ruinedand disgraced Tella familyhad been allowed to keep,Conrad rememberedpulling the blanket overthe back of his head andhuddling on the seat of anold utility truck, refusingto let go of Quintus as they

drove through the night.When Conrad had

stopped talking that dayby the lake, I’d held him inmy arms while he wept atthe memory of his ruinedchildhood. That was nearlyfifteen years ago. I’dthought it was all behindhim; he’d never mentionedit since. Now he lookedhaggard, lost somehow.He took some short

breaths and gazed out ofthe aircraft window.

‘It was that kid beingbeaten, the day of theaccident. That man wasCaius and the kid me.’ Heclosed his eyes for a fewmoments. ‘It was anightmare when Caiuscame to live with us. Oneday my dad wasn’t there. Iran all round the house,looking for him, crying for

him. I kept asking for him.Instead, my mother saidCaius was going to be mynew dad. Even at three, Ididn’t like him. He’d pullme on to his lap and strokeme. I felt hot anduncomfortable. I wanted torun. Mama was cross withme and said I had to stopbeing silly, but in the end Isaw she was frightened ofhim.

‘When we came backfrom her funeral – I wassix – I clung on to UncleQuintus’s hand prayingthat he would take mehome with him. But Caiuspulled me away. I didn’tunderstand why I had togo with him, but later Ilearnt it was because he’dbeen named by my motheras legal guardian. Thatnight he gave me my first

beating. To settle me in, hesaid. Then the nightmarestarted.

‘He made me sleep inhis bed each night. Idreaded his weight on me,the pain, the soreness as he—’ Conrad swallowedhard. ‘I sobbed myself tosleep most nights. Thenhe’d beat me again. I ranaway once. He laughedand joked with the vigiles

when they brought meback, then he beat meunconscious. I was only akid but I swore I would killhim when I was strongenough. He said I wasnothing and would neverbe anything but his petanimal. He made me liveoutside in the day in a doghutch. None of theservants would speak tome – they were too

frightened of him.‘Later, I found out my

dad had died, in an‘accident’ they said, butnobody had told me.

‘I didn’t see UncleQuintus except once. Hecame and fetched me fromthe hutch. I ran into hisarms, begging him to takeme away, but he gently setme down and told meCaius wasn’t going to hurt

me any more, but I wouldhave to stay there. Iwatched with Quintus asthe servants unloaded anunconscious Caius fromthe back of Quintus’s carand carried him into thehouse. Quintus’s eyes werehard and he looked asnasty as Caius as hewatched his brotherdisappear into the house.

‘I wept as I watched

Quintus’s car disappeardown the drive, but he wasright; Caius didn’t touchme after that. He ignoredme apart from giving mean occasional kicking. Andlater, he went away to thetown and only came backoccasionally. I wouldsneak into the kitchen bythe back door and pilferfood from the servants’hall. Sometimes they let

me stay inside.‘One day when I was

nine, he suddenlyappeared, beat me againand locked me in the cellarin the dark. He never cameback again. Uncle Quintusrescued me.’

I seized both ofConrad’s hands andpressed them. Tearstrickled down my face, butI ignored them.

‘Quintus says the farmwe went to live on wasalmost derelict. I thought itwas Elysium. Nobodybothered me. Quintus wasso kind when he found mesobbing over a deadchicken or just nothing.He’d hold me until thesadness passed. The otherkids at school showed mehow children should becared for. I vowed my

children would be treatedlike gods and protectedfrom everything. No childof mine would ever bedeprived or suffer, even if Idied in making sure thathappened.’

His eyes flamed in hisgrey, exhausted face. Hedropped my hands andclenched his fists. Hiswhole body shuddered. Isaid nothing but pulled

him into my arms.*

Hours later, I woke at thesound of the planedescending. My left armand shoulder were numbwith Conrad’s weight fullon it. I nudged him awake.He looked around,disorientated.

‘It’s okay, we’re nearlyhome.’ I said. ‘Here, drinkthis,’ and I handed him a

water flask. He shook hishead, sat up and glancedat the guards sitting withimpassive faces.

‘It’d be easier if I justthrew myself off theplane,‘ he said and sighed.

‘No way.’ I tried tosmile. ‘Too late, anyway,we’re nearly down. Look,I’ll find you the bestpsychoanalyst, therapist,whatever. And Sertorius

will do the legal stuff. Butyou are undoubtedlygoing down for years. Or ifthe judge is really pissed,they’ll make you statelessand deport you.’

His Adams applebounced as he swallowedhard. Exile was the worstpunishment any Romancould be given; a livingdeath cut off from everyconnection and family and

friends forbidden tocommunicate with or seethem.

‘But you,’ he said, ‘andthe children? Gods, thechildren!’ He reached outand grabbed my hand.‘Divorce me. Now. That’llstop the worst.’

XXIV

‘You need to come with us,Conradus Mitelus.’

He stood and Pauladrew his hands behindhim and cuffed him. Hestared down at me as shegrasped his arm. I couldn’tstop myself following himwith my eyes as she led

him down the back rampat the open end of thetransport. Nor watchinghim climb in the back ofthe short wheelbase,hardly needing Paula’sassistance. I swallowedand wiped an imaginaryspeck of dust off my cheekas my heart left and wentwith him.

Faenia gave me ameasured look. ‘Go home,

Countess, and rest.’‘Thanks for your

concern, but I have anappointment.’ I cleared mythroat. ‘Can I drop youanywhere?’

*I had to wait for Silvia; shewas in a meeting with thechancellor. Her assistantgave me a life-savingcoffee, the first good onefor five days.

I closed my eyes andwondered how Conradwas doing. He’d beprocessed much as anyother detainee and housedin the PGSF cells for thepre-trial period. If he wasconvicted, I’d have thelawyer try to have himhospitalised for treatment,not sent to the centralmilitary prison or, Jupitersave us, the silver mines at

Truscium. In his fragilestate, he wouldn’t survivea week.

My eyes snapped openas I shuddered awake.Silvia’s assistant wastouching my shoulder andlooking worried. I smiledat her, stood up, patteddown my creased clothesand followed her intoSilvia’s office.

‘Welcome back, Carina.’

She searched my face. ’Youlook shattered. I won’thold you up. Just give methe basics.’

She indicated an easychair and took the oneopposite. She listened, herconcentration on full. Shedidn’t move until I’dfinished.

‘It was a choice, bringConradus back here ASAPor go after Nicola. I had to

come back with him. Youdo understand that?’

‘I admit those were myinstructions,’ Silvia said. ‘Idon’t often proscribesomebody – it musttherefore be the priority.But I’m a littledisappointed you couldn’tneutralise the threat itself –the girl.’

Juno’s tears! I wasmentally and physically

exhausted, my life wasfalling apart around meand she wanted a frickingmiracle. I jammed my lipstogether. No way could Igive her a polite answeruntil I controlled myresentment. And a littleguilt.

‘I’ll do a proper reportfor you and the Council, ofcourse,’ I said after a fewmoments. ’Maybe you

could remind me of thedate? I’ve been a little busylately.’

‘In four days’ time,’ shereplied as tersely.

She folded her handand rubbed the tips of herfingers and thumb againsteach other. ‘How is he?’

‘Outwardly fine, inside,a total fuck-up.’ I looked ather twitching hand. ‘Sorry,that was a little strong. But

he’s a mess. I’m going totry persuade whoever tolet him be assessed andstart psychotherapy now.’

Whatever you mightsay, I thought.

I waited to bedismissed. I wanted ameasure of Nonna’sFrench brandy and mybed.

The awkward pausegrew.

‘Look, I’m sorry, Carina.I didn’t mean to beungrateful. You’ve doneeverything I asked andwith your usualdedication. I shouldn’thave thrown Nicola inyour face. I just hoped youmight have been yourusual superhero self.’

Gods, she hadunrealistic expectationssometimes. Still, I had to

keep trying.‘Don’t worry. She’s next

on my agenda.’*

Allegra wound her armsaround my neck and laidher head on my chest like Idid with Aurelia when shewas alive. Except Allegratucked her feet under herlegs as we sat on the bigcouch in the atrium. Toniaand Gil were behind us in

the alcove absorbed incompeting up the levels insome computer game.

‘Can I see him?’‘I’m sure I can arrange

something.’ Older childrencould visit parents in aregular prison, but I’dnever seen one in the PGSFbarracks. But then wedidn’t get many parentsheld on treason charges.

‘You look so tired,

Mama.’ She stroked mycheek. ’Why don’t you goup? I’ll chase these two outin a minute.’

I was bone-weary butannoyed everybodywanted to be my mother.But her eyes were largewith concern.

‘Okay, you win.’I stumbled my way into

bed, missing Conradtonight more than I had in

all the previous months.*

Sertorius dropped hispompous act when Iexplained the seriousnessof Conrad’s case. Hefiddled with hisimmaculate hand-wovensilk tie and scratched theside of his open mouthbefore replying.

‘Diminishedresponsibility is the only

way out I can see. I saythat, of course, withouthaving consulted myhistories.’ He tapped onhis el-pad. ‘I’m free at13.00 today for an hour.We’ll go and register myrepresentation withwhoever is in charge,’ Heglanced at me. ‘If, ofcourse, you are available toaccompany me then,Countess,’ he added as an

afterthought.With me in my formal

black suit and Sertorius inhis lawyer’s Italiantailoring, we looked like apair of managementconsultants as we crossedthe courtyard to the PGSFentrance.

Although I had fullaccess privileges asimperial agent, I thought itmore polite to wait in the

entrance hallway. I studiedthe photos of ceremonialoccasions without reallyseeing them. Sertoriusfidgeted with his papers;he’d never been inside thisbuilding and lookeddisconcerted at the fully-kitted guard porting abullpup assault rifle andhelmet with black visor.

‘Carina.’ Danielappeared from the side

corridor. His face wore asolemn, but not unfriendlyexpression.

‘You should distanceyourself,’ I said. ‘Taintedby association and so on,’ Iadded at his puzzled look.

He snorted. ‘Don’t beridiculous.’

I held his eyes for a fewmoments, trying to conveymy gratitude and awarning at the same time.

Sertorius coughed.‘Well, come on, then.

You know the way.’ Danielspoke into his commset,telling them to bring theprisoner to Interview 2where he had visitors.Sertorius registered withthe custody sergeant forall-times access. Thesergeant had to look upsome regulation; theyhadn’t had a suspected

traitor under their guardfor a while.

‘Usual rules; audio off,video on. And don’t pushit,’ Daniel warned me asthe guard unlocked thedoor.

Inside were a plastic-topped metal table boltedto the floor and threeplastic chairs, two empty,side by side, the third onthe other side of the table

occupied by a yellow-cladfigure curled over, awayfrom the chair’s backsupport, head droopingdown with his hands in hislap. He looked up as weentered.

It was his eyes. Thedespair I read in thosehazel eyes. I went up tohim, pulled him up off hischair and bear-huggedhim. He leaned into me.

Something like a gulpechoed through myshoulder as he buried hisface in my neck. I had theweird feeling of being amother comforting a hurtchild. I grasped his upperarms, pulled him gentlyaway. The skin had shrunkinto his face. I stroked theedge of his cheekbone. Heclosed his eyes for amoment.

Sertorius coughed.Again. I’d get him a bottleof syrup for next time. Imoved my chair next toConrad’s and took hishand as Sertorius began tothrow questions at him.

‘Has anybodyinterviewed you yet?’

‘Only preliminary facts.And advising me of thecharges.’

Sertorius shot a look

over his glasses. ‘Did youaccept the charges?’

‘Of course not.’ The oldfire blazed in Conrad’seyes. ‘I may be stressed,mental, or what you wantto call it, but I’m notstupid.’

‘Very well.’ Sertorius’svoice went down a fewdegrees in temperature.‘You will not agree to anyinterview or interrogation

of any sort without mepresent. As you are aseasoned practitioner oftechniques to get people totalk, I am confident youwon’t fall for any of them.Whatever the provocation.

‘Next, I am arranging afull psychiatricexamination for you assoon as possible. Please becompletely honest. I alsoneed you to write or

record a full account ofeverything since you firstlearnt of Nicola Tella’sexistence. Everything. Idon’t want any surprisesin open court from theimperial accusatrix whenshe starts outlining thecase for the prosecution. Itdoesn’t matter if it’s not intime order. Note the day ordate or peg it on tosomething else. My

assistant will pull it alltogether.’

He held up a digitalrecorder, a pad of paperand a sealable folder to thecamera in the corner of theroom, turning them 360degrees for the securitystaff watching us.

‘Seal it in the plasticfolder. My assistant willcollect what you haveproduced every day and

give you a new set. Clear?’Conrad nodded. The

simple recorder waspasswordable, butsomebody several degreesless good than Faustacould crack it withinminutes. But it wassomething that all sidesrespected. Mostly.Sertorius dredged throughsome formalities. Conradsat impassive as he

listened, seemed to take itall in. At last, the lawyerpushed the representationorder towards Conrad.

‘I apologise for myrudeness earlier, GaiusSertorius,’ Conrad said ashe signed and gave thedocument back. ‘I’mfeeling a little unsteady atpresent.’

Sertorius thawed andsmiled. ‘Understandable,’

he replied, looking aroundthe plain beige room withits concrete floor, plasticfurniture and lack ofwindows. ‘I’ll call intomorrow morning firstthing to check when theinterviews are scheduled.’He stood, shook my hand,pressed Conrad’s shoulderbriefly and knocked on thedoor to be let out.

I waited. Conrad’s hand

gripped mine. His eyeschased around the room.Eventually they stopped.

‘I only wanted to makeit up to her. Quintusrescued me, I wanted torescue her from struggling.She was on her own,having to fight her waythrough. Everybody wasagainst her, she told me.She said your attitude wastypical.’ He covered his

face. ‘Jupiter, I’ve been sobloody stupid.’

‘Yes, but for the noblestof reasons and with all thepig-headedness of a trueTella.’

To be honest, I’d beenfrightened by his accountof his three year terror atCaius’s hands. Anythinghe’d had to endure in hislater life was peanuts incomparison. No wonder

he’d become so intent ondoing the right thing,making sure that even thetough military structure helived in was fair and just.At that moment, Irespected him more thanever before.

‘You’ve carried aroundthe trauma of when youwere a kid buried insideyou,’ I said, ‘and it’s comeout at the same time as

Nicola’s attack. Did younever talk to anybodyseriously about what Caiusdid to you?’

‘No, we were too busytrying to keep alive. Weslaved in the fields on thatfarm, every hour therewas. I was nine. Until thevegetables came throughwe had nothing to eatexcept occasional eggs thescruffy hens laid and what

the charity people gave us.Quintus got a schoolvoucher for me and I atemidday at the school andthey’d give me milk andbread before I walked backto the farm each evening.No, we had no “time totalk” as you Americans callit.’

*As I checked out, thecustody sergeant said the

legate had asked if I woulddrop by his office. I staredat him for a moment. ThenI collected my brains; ofcourse, he meant Daniel.

No assistant in the frontoffice, so I walked pasttheir desk and knocked.

‘Come!’He was concentrating

on his screen, glanced upto see who it was.

‘Give me a couple of

minutes.’I looked around the

room. Conrad’s bookswere still there, but not thepersonal stuff. Daniel hada photo of his mother andlate brother on his desk butthat was all.

He finished, grabbed afolder and opened it. Hisshoulders were hunched,rigid, just as his mouthwas set in a straight line.

Any sign of jokiness, of theovergrown schoolboy hadvanished.

‘This is the mostawkward situation I’vebeen in. No doubt it’s thesame for you. The onlyway to get through it is todo it all by the book. AsConrad’s accused ofthreatening the state, thePGSF is the only bodylegally enabled to hold

him. But the politicos arewatching us like hawks tomake sure we don’t dohim any special favours.’

‘I’m sure you’ll carryout your dutymeticulously, Legate.’

‘Don’t get huffy withme – that’s exactly what Imean.’ He fixed me withhis eyes. ‘You have topromise me not to get upto any of your heroics. If I

suspect anything, I’ll closehim down into isolation.’

Only Sertorius wouldbe able to visit onnominated days; none ofthe rest of us.

‘I’m too tired, Daniel, Ijust want to get him out ofthe dark hole he’s living in.And I’m going to give himmy hundred per centsupport.’

‘Well, you’ll probably

have to surrender yourimperial warrant. Youcan’t be part of the statemachine and fight it at thesame time.’

*I emailed my report latethe next morning to theImperial Councilsecretariat for the meetingon Wednesday and copiedit to Silvia. After lunch, Itook Allegra to see her

father. We signed in at thefront desk and shereceived her bio-pass. Asshe looped it over herneck, her eyes widened atthe armed guard at theback of the lobby where itsplit into the two-waycorridor. At the entrance tothe guard zone, at thewalk-through scannerarch, she was checkedagain.

‘They’re very strict,aren’t they? Nobody couldget in. Or out.’

‘No, darling, nobody.’Only from the inside

like that traitor Petronaxhad done years ago.

She held her arms out,perfectly calm, when thecustody team scanned her,and took her coat off andturned out her pockets likeshe did it every day. I was

so proud of how she readthe declaration sheet witha firm clear voice, more atease than most adults.

After giving Conrad asmile and a peck on thecheek, I left them alone. Asthe door shut, I saw hisarm came around herwaist, hers around hisneck.

I leaned on the walloutside Interview 2, my

eyes closed. I shook myhead when the guardasked if I wanted a chair.Twenty minutes later,Allegra came out.Although outwardly calm,the skin was tight acrossher face and her cheeksglistened.

Nicola Sandbrook’saccount had just gone intodouble deficit.

XXV

After the Imperial Councilmeeting, I went straightback to the PGSF barracks,walked into the bar andswallowed a brandy inone. The mess stewardsaid nothing, glanced atme and poured meanother. I had nearly

stopped trembling withanger when I sensedsomebody next to me.

‘Hey, Bruna, it’s a bitearly to hit the hard stuff?’

Livius. And Paula,approaching fast.

I hunched over on thebar stool. ‘This is the onlyplace where I can beamong rational humanbeings.’

‘Come and have some

lunch or you’ll fall over.’Paula guided me to one ofthe long tables in the messroom. I saw so manyfamiliar faces, talking,laughing, hands waving indiscussion. The noise filledthe room, but who cared? Idesperately wanted to beback here, in my beige,talking training, strategy,promotions and foul-ups,joshing with my comrades.

I ate on the familiargovernment stampedplate, used plain steelcutlery and drank from themoulded glass beaker.And nearly wept.

*How Silvia dealt with theCouncil every secondweek, I didn’t know. Ithanked the gods I’d beentoo busy to even think ofstanding for election to it.

Being an independentadvisor might havedrawbacks like twenty-four seven on-call, but I’dtake it any day.

The rational, wisermembers seemed to gettalked down by themalicious windbags. Ahigh percentage of themwere on an ego trip ofsome kind. They should begrateful I wasn’t the

imperatrix; I’d have shothalf of them. But theyaccepted my report; twomade facetious comments,which were squashed bythe chancellor and a seniorsenator. They agreed withSilvia’s proposal to lift theproscription but insistedthe charges against Conradstood. Without NicolaTella, they said, they hadno option. They passed on

to something else and I leftthe room after a curt bowto Silvia.

*I dropped in on Fausta tothank her, but she justsaid, ‘Sure, anytime,’ andwaved it away. Eventhough a captain headingthe digital security section,she wore just her black teeand the worst ironeduniform pants ever with

scruffy sneakers as she satin her electronic bat-cave.She still looked like theteenage black hat hackershe’d once been.

I checked in withSepunia to see if she’dfound anything new onNicola.

‘We’ve added aconsiderable amount toher personality profileafter interviewing Quintus

Tellus and his householdand collating reports fromyour daughter and MaiaQuirinia. The scarabspicked up somecircumstantial detail fromthe drug dealing, but itdoesn’t conform to theusual pattern.’

‘How so?’‘Apart from the deal

you reported, she onlymade a few other contacts.

If you’re going to makeany money from it, youneed to establish a widenetwork quickly. But shedidn’t. And readingthrough the whole file, it’sobvious she doesn’t lackthe drive and intelligenceto do it.’ She fixed hergreen eyes on my face. ‘It’sanother indicator she wasonly using it as a methodto compromise Stella

Apulia.‘Of course,’ she

continued, ‘we hope togain a great deal morewhen the InterrogationService start questioningMitelus.’ Confused, shestopped and looked overmy shoulder at the far wallof her office. ‘I mean,Conradus Mitelus.’

‘Don’t be polite on myaccount. That’s nothing to

what the Council calledhim.’

Sepunia touched myarm. ‘Be very careful if yougo after her, Carina. Shehas an abnormally lowscore on the personalmorality scale.’

‘So surprise me.’*

That evening at home,crouching over my desk, Ihesitated. My finger rested

on the Send button.Exposing my life, myfamily and my personalopinions to be picked overby the InterrogationService made acid flow upmy gullet. I’d pokedaround enough in otherpeople’s lives, but it wasentirely different when itwas happening to me. Butif I didn’t volunteer mydigital diaries, the IS

would subpoena them, so Iwas saving myself a lot ofunnecessary hassle.

I hit the key and copiesof both work and personalflew off into InterrogationService chief’s inbox. Atleast she was handling theinterrogations herself, buther number two andInspector Pelonia wouldpick through Conrad’s andmy life like a pair of

assistant vultures.*

‘I’ve consulted every casegoing back to therecodification of the Tablesin 1718.’ Sertorius jabbedthe screen of his el-pad atour meeting the followingmorning. ‘Quite simply,there is no way out of thiswithout Nicola Tella.’

I glared at him.‘Er, Sandbrook, rather.’

He didn’t apologise, just aflicker of his eyes inreaction. Quintus had filedthe declaration disowningher days ago. Sertoriuswould do well toremember it.

Junia interrupted us,breaking theawkwardness.

‘An urgent call from thelegate, domina.’

I glanced up at her. A

straight, sewn-up mouth.Now what?

She handed me theminiscreen with afrowning Daniel lookingout of it.

‘What—’ I started.‘No, listen,’ Daniel said.

‘It’s bad news.’‘Yes?’‘The imperial accusatrix

is so confident ofconviction,’ Daniel said,

‘she’s moved the trialopening day up to start inten days.’

*I prepared with a fewpractice rounds in thesmall PGSF training arenawith Livius. Covered insweat and tired aftertwenty minutes intensiveclose quarter combat, I wasstupid enough to ask forhis opinion.

‘You’re good, Bruna,good enough to still giveme the run around.’ Heclasped the back of hisneck for a few momentswith his free hand andlooked down in the sand.‘Why don’t you take thosetwo who came to Englandon the exercise, Pelo andAllia, along as insurance?’

*It only took five minutes to

surrender the power I’dhad as Silvia’s directrepresentative. Sheunderstood. She alwaysdid, except when she losther temper.

‘Are you sure you don’twant any official back up?’she said.

I’d stomped off thetraining area after refusingLivius, but with Silvia Imerely shook my head.

This was my call. I didn’twant anybody elsebecoming entangled inwhat I couldn’t decide waspersonal or official.

She fixed me with hereyes. ‘I am going to havethe PGSF commander atthe London legationinformed of your presenceand tell her to keep a smalldetachment on twenty-four hour call. If you get

stuck and I find out youdidn’t call on them, I’llthrow you in theTransulium myself.’

*‘No. Don’t. Not for me.’Conrad grabbed my handand pressed it. His eyesnarrowed and tilted up.

‘Too bad. I’ve handedmy warrant back andbooked my flight. Allegrawill come and visit you

each day while I’m awayand I’ll catch up with hereach evening.’

I reached out and heclosed his eyes andbreathed hard as myfingers ran over his cheek.The temptation to stayhere bit me hard, but Ibatted it away before ithad a second try.

‘I might not get backbefore the start,’ I said, ‘but

I’ll bust my ass to draghers into court.’

Conrad stuck his chinout and his face set likehardstone. ‘Even if youbring her back she won’ttalk to help me.’

‘There are ways.’‘Don’t be bloody stupid.

They’ll discard that sort ofevidence.’

His eyes were shining,anger flashing through

them. A mixture of joy andrelief rolled through me ashe swore at me. He wasstarting to climb out of theblack pit.

*Eating an early supperwith the children, doubtsflared in my head. Was Ioverreaching? Tonia andGil grinned at some jokeAllegra made, thencollapsed in giggles when

she added another twist.They’d only just celebratedtheir eleventh birthday.Suppose they lost theirmother as well as theirfather being in prison foryears? I nearly calledLivius to roster Allia andPelo. I nearly reached forthe keyboard to cancel myticket.

But Allegra had morebackbone than I did at that

moment.‘You have to go, Mama.

We’ll be fine. Helena ishere, and Dalina. Junia willlook after us all.’ Shesmiled at me. ‘Don’t worryabout Dad. I’ve got hisvisiting schedule covered.I’ll make sure I go everyday. Uncle Daniel haspromised these two can goas well. If they behave.’

She gave them an

‘Aurelia’ look and theirboisterousness fled.

They were used to mebeing away, but this time, Ihad a really bad feeling Imight not be back to seethem grow up.

XXVI

The suburban shuttle fromParis-Leclerc airportstopped at each and everystation on the way, buteventually we reached theGare du Nord. I dodgedthe rain as I trudged acrossthe street, pulling my casebehind me like a kid’s

stuffed dog on wheels intothe bright, brass-decoratedlobby. The receptionist’seyes ran over me and mydusty chain-storeappearance. He dipped hisrespect and upped hiscondescension as onlyParisian men can.

The next morning, hairdyed mouse-brown,dressed in jeans and fleece,I fought my way upstairs

in the rush hour to collectmy tunnel tickets. It hadbeen a while since I’d hadto stand in line to travel – asalutary experience. Theclerk hardly looked at meas I handed over my print-out and a fake US passportas Carly Jackson. Shestuffed a UK immigrationcard in my passport, thrustit back at me with thechequered tickets and

looked through me at thenext passenger. I bought athrow-away cell phone;‘jetable’ the sales assistantcalled it. I couldn’t helphaving a vision of cellphones with super-thruster back-packszooming in and outbetween people walkingalong the street.

As I neared the barrier, Isaw the police checking

every passport thoroughly.I knew mine was good, butit didn’t stop a nervousripple passing through me.My hands were a littlesweaty, but I forced myselfnot to wipe them. Iswapped my purse andcase from one hand toanother to get rid of it onthe handles. I gave an all-teeth American smile and acheery ‘Hi’ which the

gendarme ignored. Hescrutinised my face,feature by feature, flickedback to the photo and backto my face really, reallyslowly.

Eventually, he handedmy passport back with abrief upward nod. I waiteduntil I was at least twometres away before I letmy breath out. Why was Iso jumpy? I hadn’t even

reached England.*

As we emerged from therailroad tunnel on theEnglish side, rain batteredthe window. The richgreen countryside wasspoilt by unremittingdullness under the greysky. After an hour, thetrain stopped at a sleekmodern station in themiddle of nowhere, but

my GPS screen showed itwas near the peripheralfreeway around London. Ithrew the jetable into thetrashcan at the station. Ihad made the calls Ineeded to.

I had to decide where totry first: back toBirkenhead to findNewton; or Nicola’s oldarmy base in the west; orher mother’s home in the

north. I reckonedNewton’s house was abusted flush. After losingConrad for her, he wouldbe long gone. I’d visitedher former unit once; I’ddo that afterward. So itwas north for fourhundred kilometres in arental.

The motel south ofDarlington was bleachwhite, charmless and

smelled of second-handcigarette smoke despite thenotice in the lobby. I waswashed-out by driving onthe stupid side of the road,harassed by rigs andtanker trucks blocking thefreeway as they struggledpast each other, frustratingother vehicles includingmine. I wanted a soak inthe tub, but contentedmyself with a quick

shower.The rain had been

replaced by a cold windthat sliced at my ears as Iset off for Nicola’smother’s place. No lightswere on at the house, oneof a pair of twin homes inan old development. I satin the rental car which I’dparked between two streetlights. I finished my take-out coffee and pretended

to look at a street mapbook when anybodypassed by. But it was toodark for the casual personhurrying home to see, letalone suspect, me.

Just after six, a silverhatchback drew into thedriveway. A mediumheight dumpy womanwith long dark hair tiedback at the neck openedthe driver’s door. At the

back hatch, she lifted twobulging shopping bagsout. She opened the houseentrance door and steppedinside, but came back outwithin five seconds tofetch a briefcase and book-bag. She pointed her key atthe car and it replied witha mechanical squelch and aflash of trafficator lights.

I initialised my newaudio scanner, moving it

in a fan pattern to find thebest signal. The lineswavered across my screenas she unpacked. The noiseof tins plunked on a solidsurface echoing throughmy earpieces.

I heard every smallsound: kettle boiling,spoon as it hit the cupsides with vigorousstrokes, the click of twobuttons. I had to

congratulate thequartermaster on thislatest piece of kit – it wasoutstanding.

Disembodied voiceschattered with beeps inbetween. Answeringmachine. Two blanks, awhiney voice about acharity collection and aman’s voice about someschool meeting. As I heardthe television start, I

settled in for a long, boringevening.

What had I expected?Nicola ringing in with herlocation?

After another twenty-four hours tailing hermother as she did herSaturday chores, made agossipy call and hummedalong to the radio as sheflicked pages over, Iaccepted Nicola wasn’t

there. It had been apossible, even though thecops’ report to Michaelfrom my last visit statedthe mother hadn’t seen herfor around a year.Although it was a routinefunction of a surveillanceoperation, it felt intrusivelistening in to this strangerwho had shared intimatetime with Conrad, a sliceof his life I would never

know. Maybe curiositywas mixed in with dutywhen I knocked on herdoor the next morning.

‘Yes?’Janice Hargreve was a

tired woman, face sour atthe interruption on her dayoff.

‘Hi.’Her face clouded over

and she flexed her arm toshut the door.

‘No, I’m not sellingreligion,’ I said, ‘noranything else. I want totalk to you about ConradTellus.’

She paused for a secondor two. ‘I don’t know whoyou mean.’

I pulled out my goldwarrant card and held itup. Janice wouldn’t knowit was only a piece ofmeaningless plastic. ‘I’m

an investigating officerfrom Roma Nova. He’s in aload of trouble and I hopeyou can help me.’

‘That was years ago.What’s it got to do withme?’

‘It’s not so much you.It’s your daughter.’

Her mouth drooped, theshadow lines at each endof her mouth deepening.

‘You’d better come in.’

*‘She walked out when shewas seventeen.’ Janice’seyes darted over at me.

‘She started stealingfrom my purse at five.Kids do that sometimeswhen they feel neglected.I’ve seen it myself withparents at school.’ Shelifted her cup to her mouthbut it was already empty.‘But she wasn’t. Neglected,

I mean. My sister Mariancame to live with us. Shewas like a second mother.Well, as Nic grew up, morelike an older sister. Theywere real friends, doinggirly things together.Marian thought the worldof Nic and said it was ashame her dad didn’tknow her.’

She looked away andstopped talking.

I waited.‘He was the most

attractive man I’d evermet. When he took me out,he always made sure wehad a good table. He wasnever late or stood me up.’She looked straight at me.‘I fancied myself in lovewith him, but he was onlyhere for another fewweeks. And I knew deepdown he didn’t love me

enough to take me backwith him.

‘Maybe I was stupid,but I wanted to keep alittle bit of him for always.’She shrugged. ‘Cheapcondoms don’t alwayswork. I made sure theywere cheap. Marian said Ishould have written andtold him I was pregnant.’

The whumph of acentral heating boiler

broke the silence. As thewater trickled through theradiators, Janice broughther eyes back into focus.She looked at me, herlower lip caught by the topone, blanched by thepressure.

‘Where’s Marian now,Janice?’

She bowed her headand cupped her cheeks inher hands. ‘She’s dead.’

‘What happened?’She dropped her hands

into her lap and raised herhead. Not looking at me,she spoke to the picture ofdreary landscape abovethe fireplace mantel.

‘Marian wouldn’tbelieve Nic had been introuble at school. She’dbeen caught bullying theother kids for their lunchmoney and making them

steal things for her. She gotthe bright ones to do herhomework for her. Oneday, she’d gone too far andthey excluded her. It wasthe worst day of my life,sitting in thatheadteacher’s study andhearing the whole story.Marian and I had amassive row about it. Shesaid I was always down onNic and ready to take

other people’s side againsther. But Nic always turnedthe charm on for Marian,never the tantrums or thespite.

‘Marian stormed up toNic’s school and was toldsome home truths. She wasdevastated, tried to talk toNic about it but got thedoor shut in her face. Nicran off with both ourpurses. I held Marian

while she rocked in myarms, crying herself out.

‘The police found Nicand brought her back. Shewas barely fourteen. Wewent throughpsychologists, probationadvisors, we changedschools, tried to get herinvolved in helping otherkids, doing outwardbound, you name it, but allshe did was get more

crafty, learning from thegangs she hung out with.

‘One evening, a weekafter Nic’s seventeenthbirthday, Marian wastaking the short cut backthrough the flats from herkeep-fit class. I told her I’dalways come out and fetchher if the weather was bad.It was bucketing downthat night and half thestreetlights didn’t work,

but she didn’t call me.Marian spotted Nic withsome other kids who werejoy-riding. Nic wasshouting with a gang ofthem, tins of drink in theirhands, egging the driverson.

‘Marian tried to stopher. She ran towards Nic,waving her hands. The boydriving one of the carsturned it towards Marian

full speed and crushed her.The other kids were soshocked, they ran off.’

Tears ran down her facenow.

‘I stayed with Marianuntil she died four dayslater in hospital. Nic hadvanished, but theafternoon before Marianpassed away, Nicappeared at the room door.Her clothes and hair were

filthy and her eyes all red.She stared at Marian forages, then whispered, “Ididn’t know it was her.”

‘The police came andquestioned her, but shesaid nothing. AfterMarian’s funeral, shepicked up her coat and bagfrom the hall, pushed pastme and walked out of thehouse without a word. Ihaven’t seen her since

then, well, not until a yearago.’

Janice’s shouldersslumped. ‘She was hard,efficient, somehow morefrightening. She said she’dbeen in the army, but wasout now and going to gether due. I’d told her whenshe was younger that herfather was a foreigner,from Roma Nova, but Ihad no contact with him

since. She laughed, askedme for her birth certificate,her real one, she said. Ionly had the real one. Thepolice said she’d used herfriend’s one, anotherNicola, but Sandbrook,when she joined up.’

She fell silent for aminute or two.

‘He was such a lovelyman. I don’t know how wehad such a difficult child

between us.’‘You still love her, don’t

you?’‘Of course.’ Her voice

was barely a whisper.‘She’s a very clever girl,’

I said, ‘but she’s donesome seriously bad things.She nearly killed her greatuncle, and has ruined herfather. She’s made onehalf-sister a drug addictand nearly got another

killed. My daughter.’Her eyes flew up to my

face, then she flinched.‘God, are you his wife,

then?’‘Yes, but my job is to

find Nicola and take herback.’ I stretched forwardand touched the back ofher hand. ‘I don’t meanyou any trouble, Janice,but she must face up towhat she’s done, to stand

her trial.’‘What—, what will they

do to her?’‘She’s likely to go to jail

for some time, but they’llrun a rehab program forher, counselling and so on,during her term to trymake her see what she’sdone.’

‘God forgive me, but Idon’t think you ever will.’

*

Janice didn’t have any cluewhere Nicola might be.She was almost apologetic,like she thought she wasresponsible. I stood in herhallway, awkward abouthow to say somethingcomforting, but findingnothing. She stretched outher hands, a pleading lookin her face. I took them,pressed them, gave her asmile but couldn’t say

anything.I gave her my personal

number and explained itwould be re-routed to mewherever I was. Well, notto the little pre-paid cellphone I bought from avending machine in theservices area on my drivehere. But I’d make sure Ichecked my voicemailevery two hours from nowon.

I handed the rental carin at the railroad stationnext day and took the trainsouth and west to the townnear Nicola’s former base.I had over two thousandeuros in cash left in mymoney pouch, but didn’twant to spend any moreon car rental. No way wasI going to leave anelectronic trail by using acard, even to replenish my

cash, unless I really neededto.

The budget hotel wasmodern, big and smelledof fresh paint. All the clerkcould manage was ‘Name?How many nights?’ and‘Sign here,’ followed by agrunt. She hardly looked atme, which was good.

The next morning, Iwalked to the town centre,my parka protecting me

against the chill Februarywind. After buying a largescale walker’s map, asandwich which Itransferred into a plasticbaggie and some bottles ofwater, I stowed them inmy black field bag andtook the bus that travelledup past Nicola’s formerarmy base. I rubbed thedirty window but didn’tsee any better what my

next step should be. I waseighty, no, ninety per centsure Nicola’s motherwould call me if sheshowed up there. Not outof spite or resentment, butso her daughter would bestopped and contained.

Nicola must haveknown I’d be on her trail.If I were her, I’d stay out ofpopulation centres. Herunit had been pretty pissed

with her, causing them thetrouble I’d brought themon my previous visit. Sure,they cooperated, but theirsenior non-com Johnson’snarrowed eyes and hisexpression like he waseating raw chilli wasenough to show me justhow much. If they foundher, she’d get a rough ride.So it made perfect sensefor her to hide here right

under their radar, so closethey wouldn’t see her. Butif I didn’t find her here, I’dhave to start over.

One problem – I didn’thave enough time to startover before Conrad cameto trial.

XXVII

Crawling around in awood in an elite specialforces’ backyard was notthe safest thing I couldthink to do. But it wassomewhere to start. I’dstepped off the bus at theentrance to a gardencentre, two stops before

the base gate. I wanderedpast the special offers,through the shrubs out tothe trees section at the backwhere the delivery gatewould be. Nobody hauledtwo-metre high trees inheavy containers furtherthan they needed to.

I slipped behind the lastrow of conifers, picked thegate lock and exited on to acountry road. After an

intersection where thedelivery trucks had tocome, it narrowed andstarted climbing. A littleover a kilometre furtheron, a wood came into viewover the rise. Green stuffstarted to appear in theraised centre of the roadwhich finished up at afarm gate. I hiked alongfield boundaries keeping anorthwest direction,

sometimes crouching,sometimes lucky to findsome sheltering hedgerow,but always below the sightline.

A hundred metres fromthe edge of the wood, Ihunkered down behind ahedgerow. If Nicola wasthere, she’d be watching.No way was I attemptinganything until it was dark.I ate my sandwich, pulled

my microfibre bag overme, covered it with deadleaves and recently-livegreen twigs and grabbed afew hours’ sleep, knife inmy hand.

*Exactly four hours later, Iwoke. Completely. Icouldn’t hear any wildlifeexcept a few birds. Movingmy hand at anexcruciatingly slow pace, I

fished out my pocketscopeand swept around forbody heat. Two adultsignatures and a smallanimal blazed out in red.

They kept many of theirtraining areas open-accesshere, except duringexercises. Michael had toldme some walkers eventried to continue in the faceof live fire. Asserting theirrights, they said. How

dumb was that?I stayed where I was

until I saw an older coupleemerge from under thetree canopy. A pointy-eared, long-haired dogtrotted near the ground infront of them. It stopped,sniffed and cocked an ear;far better detector than thebest Brown Industriesscanner. The man bent andattached a leash to the

dog’s collar and theywalked away, following atrail down the oppositehill. The dog tried to pullback but was draggedaway by the impatientowner anxious to get homebefore dusk turned tonight.

I folded my microfibrebag and stuffed it back inmy field bag, swapping itfor a bottle of water. While

I swallowed, I scanned forelectronic or thermaldetection fields. Thefibreglass and aluminiumlinings to my clothes andface scarf would blur mysignature on goodequipment, I doubtedNicola had anything thatefficient – it was tooexpensive. No, it would bethe old-fashioned way.

Thankful for a sickle

moon, I crawled forwardinto the chilly night. Mycoat was covered with tinywater beads from grounddew as I brushed over it.At the edge of the wood, Icrouched and paused for afew minutes, searchingaway from the trail.Nothing. Just standardnocturnal fluttering ofbirds and scurrying ofsmall mammals. I headed

for the rise and stopped forfrequent sampling withmy pocketscope. Nothing,just an even blue-greenimage. I made my way uptowards the highpoint – anIron Age hill fort, the mapsaid. Ten metres from thetop, I lay in the shelter ofundergrowth. I waitedtwenty long minutes. Istowed my field bag insidea group of hawthorn

bushes and crept forward,my carbon fibre knife inhand.

In a dense thicket, Ifound a camp; two DPMgroundsheets, one slungover a rope and each sidestretched taut at an angleto deflect rain and theother on the ground, edgestied up to form a bundle.Inside were a sleeping bag,cutlery, mess tins, bottles

of water and a khakibackpack with basic fieldsupplies. And a goldsolidus with Silvia’sportrait, a thin ribbon tiedthrough a hole in the top ofthe coin.

Batting awaysatisfaction, I startedlooking around for a goodambush point. Once I hadher, I could hold her in thisisolated spot and get an

evacuation team here inhours. I didn’t think thiswas one time Danielwould go stiff-rumped onme. The Brits wouldn’teven know I’d been here.

*I did a regular scan everyfifteen minutes, but it wasgetting a little boring. I’dbeen here five hours andshe hadn’t shown up. Hadshe found any trace of me?

Maybe she was out gettingsupplies. She couldn’tforage during the day – therisk of running acrosssomebody who knew herwould be too great. Istretched my arms andlegs where I lay. The lastthing I needed was slowreaction from stiff muscles.

Leaves swishing apartand rebounding. Toomuch movement for a

small animal. Human. Itensed. The adrenalinesparked and startedflowing. I moved quicklyinto a crouch, knife in myright hand, scope held tomy eye in my left. Moremovement to my left.Hades! There were more ofthem. Six, seven. Maybeeight. Too late to run. Ishrank back, flatteningmyself against a tree trunk

and froze. It had to be anight exercise. It could bewhy Nicola wasn’t here.But how had she known?

Before I could work outany answer, something hitmy head, pain exploded. Idropped to the ground andwent out.

*The jolting woke me. I waslying on a ridged metallicfloor, my hands tied

behind me. I was bouncingalong in a vehicle withoutany suspension. Ashortbase jeep. It smelledof gasoline and humansweat. My head hurt likethe Furies having a badday. When I tried moving,everything swam in frontof me. I closed my eyesand made the effort tobreathe deeply and slowly.I forced myself to visualise

blood flowing around myveins and arteries healingmy wounds, open fleshclosing, endorphins beingreleased.

Ten minutes later, thevehicle stopped. Thedriver’s door swung open.The whole vehicleshuddered as it wasslammed shut. Boots onconcrete, then the tailgatewas released, the side

chain clanking. The beamfrom a flashlight blindedme. Hands grabbed myankles and yanked me outinto a heap on the ground.Catching my breath, Istruggled up on to myknees. A figure with abalaclava mask over hisface thrust his arm out,hauled me to my feet. Asecond, shorter figurejabbed a barrel into the

back of my neck. The firstone dragged me towardsone of the buildings on theedge of the parking lot andshoved me through thedoor.

A twin neon light hungin the roof space from acrosswork grid. Benchesran around three sides ofthe room with toolsscattered over them. Somekind of workshop. I flexed

the balls of my feet,looking for a pathway outof here. I made to pullaway, but the figuresqueezed his grip on myradial. It was excruciating.

‘A mistake. Please, letme explain,’ I didn’t haveto fake the shaking in myvoice.

He swung his arm backin a full arc. I tried to duck,but he still managed to

punch me in the mouth. Istaggered back. As theblood rushed back in, painthrobbed through mycheek. Liquid from mynose on my upper lip.Salty, iron. Blood.

The shorter one stood ametre away training hisGlock on my head. Thetaller one thrust me downon a chair, looped a secondcable tie between my

wrists to the back of thechair. He secured myankles to the chair legswith more cable ties andstood back like he wassatisfied with his day’swork.

‘Water,’ I croaked.‘Please.’

A bucket of water hitme full in the face, but atleast it cleared my head.Did they think I was part

of the ‘enemy’ for theexercise? These guysplayed hard, but this wasbeyond that. And whyonly two of them?

The shorter oneadvanced on me. Throughthe balaclava eye holes, Isaw quarter moons of lightreflected by the coppertones in the hazel eyes.Shit.‘Hello, Nicola,’ I said,

who’s the boyfriend thistime?’

Maybe it was stupid toannoy her but it wassatisfying.

She seized her balaclavain a claw-like movement,dragged it off her headand threw it on theground. Her face was redfrom temper. She kickedme several times in thesame place on my shin. My

leg starred with pain and Ifelt something give. She’dbroken the bone. Istruggled to heave air backinto my lungs, waterwelling in my eyes. Irefused to scream, but bitmy damaged lip.

‘Later. You can haveyour fun later, Nic.’

I knew that voice.Where from? NativeEnglish, military from his

walk. As he pulled his ownbalaclava off, I recognisedLieutenant Wilson fromthat joint exercise an eonago.Crap.‘Well, Major, my turn.’I didn’t update him on

my career development.He brandished a

syringe, upended a bottleof transparent liquid,punctured the rubber seal

with the syringe needleand slowly drew the liquidinto the reservoir.

I coughed andswallowed more of myblood.

‘What’s that?’ Iwhispered.

‘Something, as you toldme several months ago,“that‘ll have youchirruping like amongoose on holiday”.’

He yanked my sleeveup, stabbed the syringeinto the crook of my elbowand rammed the plungerdeep into my flesh. Igasped at the pain.Vindictive son of a bitch.

Faenia’s chemicalbombs would protect mefor a while from whateverit was, only up to a max offorty-eight hours. And I’dforgotten to take a booster

this morning.‘Where are the rest of

your team?’ Nicolashouted in my face.

I didn’t answer.I collapsed as she

jabbed her elbow in mystomach. Sour fumesthrobbed their way up mygullet. The rest of mysandwich followed.

*I woke up choking on a

mix of blood and salivaand the smell of machineoil.

Light was creeping in atthe strip windows runningalong the top of the walls.How long had I been here?I was woozy from the drugthey’d pumped into me.Juno, I was stiff. And sore.My face throbbed and myleg pulsed with pain.

I craned my head

around as far as I could.Nobody. No sound excepta machine hum like arefrigerator from the farwall. I risked closing myeyes for a few momentsand took some deepbreaths. Even that tinymovement made my faceache.

Only years of traininghad made me keep mytongue behind the shelter

of my teeth. I ran it aroundthe inside of my mouthand found a loose toothand a pool of blood. I bentmy head over and let itdribble out, taking thetooth with it. Swallowingblood just made you throwup more. The hurt frommy stomach was painfulenough; if I threw up againmy middle would implodefrom agony.

I scanned around. Theworkbench was three, maxfour metres away; it couldhave been four kilometres.But if I did nothing, I’d bekilled like a stuck pig.

I twisted my good footleft and right. The cableties were tight on myankles, but I could placemy feet on the ground. Butone leg was going to haveto do the work of two. I

leaned forward, causingthe back chair feet to movemillimetres off the ground.Swinging to my right togain momentum, I forcedthe right chair leg anothermillimetre up and pivotedon my left foot nearly 180degrees to my left. Igasped at the pain thatshot through my abs. Ireckoned ten more to getto the bench. And next

time I’d have to swing onthe other leg.

The sweat running intomy eyes was nearlyblinding me and I wassucking in lung-wrenchingbreaths as I prepared forthe last turn. I had justsixty centimetres tonavigate to reach thebench. Maybe I wouldmake it out of here.

Then I heard voices

outside the door, onehigher than the other. Theinside handle travelleddown a couple ofcentimetres. I wasovercome by a wave ofbitterness at the wastedeffort of the past fifteenminutes. I had so nearlygot there. And they’d startbreaking more of me untilthere was nothing left.

Holding my breath, I

stared at the handle. Icould hardly believe it as ittravelled back tohorizontal. The voicesdisappeared abruptly. Ireleased my breath andburst into silent tears ofrelief.

I spotted a hand file andmanoeuvred it with mybruised mouth into avertical bench clamp andpushed the lever round

with my shoulder,tightening it with painfulslowness. Ignoring theache of stretching I movedmy wrists up and downagainst the file edge. Aftera few minutes my armsached with the agony, butwhen the ties snapped, therelease of tension in myshoulders was blissful. Ieased the file out of theclamp and freed my legs. I

rubbed my good ankle andwrists to get blood flowingagain. The adrenaline waspulsing already.

With shaking hands, Itook off my jacket, pulledoff my tee and ripped italong the underarm seamsto make a bandage to strapmy leg up. I tied it so tightmy leg went numbtemporarily. I only hoped Ihadn’t damaged it further.

I stood and tried puttingsome body weight on it.Not one of my best ideas.But I had no choice.

At the door, I huddledagainst the wall. Graspingthe handle I opened thedoor half a centimetre. Ashort wheelbase outsidebut no people, no boots ongravel. Nothing.

I hobbled out anddragged myself along the

edge of the metal-cladbuilding. At the corner Istopped and waited for thepain in my damned leg tosubside. I eased my facearound the edge andjerked back as I saw asoldier cross to the brickbuilding opposite. I was onthe base but I didn’t have aclue where. The silver andwhite comms dishes andantennas on the

headquarter buildingstood out against the nightsky, so I staggered fromshadow to shadow in thatdirection. I didn’t knowhow long I had before theydiscovered I’d escaped.But I knew I had to getmedical help soon or I wasgoing to pass out again.

*All I had to do was crossan open grass area about

twenty metres deep. Ileaned against the coldbrick, resting for a fewbreaths. No way could I letmyself slither down thewall and sit. I would neverget up again.

Like some huntedanimal, I didn’t want toleave the protection of theshadows. But I had nooption. When I fell to myknees after a few metres, I

didn’t have enoughstrength to push throughthe pain and stand up, so Icrawled, dragging myselfalong the ground with myelbows. I was halfwayacross when somebodyslammed into me, crushingme into a heap of agony.

Wilson. In themoonlight, his face waslivid, monstrous even.

‘No!’ I shrieked. I was

pinioned like a beetle onits back, too weak to doanything except protectmy face. I balled one fistand tried to swing my arm,but I was losing thestruggle as he pinned medown.

I screamed, half-choking on the blood thathad started to flow againin my mouth. I spat it outinto his eyes. He jerked

back, then brought his armup to smash his hand intomy face again.

‘What the hell is goingon here?’

A bulky figure blockedthe light from the entrance.It was RSM Johnson.

*I endured the medicscutting the damagedclothes off, the swabbingdown, the dressing of cuts

and bruises. I knew fromthe doc’s expression that Iwasn’t about to enter anybeauty contest. Theanalgesic anti-inflammatory took thejagged edge off, buttomorrow would be worse.They were fixing a drip upas Colonel Stimpsonarrived, lookingthunderous.

‘I spoke to your legate.

He said a civilian recoveryteam will be arriving assoon as he can muster one.’

He waved his handtowards the medics.‘They’re taking you to thetheatre to set your leg, butfirst, I want you to tell meexactly how you turned upat the front door of mycamp looking like a victimof a gangland beating. Andwhat the hell you’re doing

here anyway.’

XXVIII

I gave him an outline, butmy mouth became tooswollen to say much. Themedics interrupted andwheeled me away on agurney and I knewnothing else until therecovery room.

Apart from the broken

shinbone and a fracturedrib, my face throbbed andmy stomach was purpleand sore. Despite thepressure-relieving foamunder the sheet, I couldn’tfind a comfortable way tolie in the bed. Theychanged the ice-packround my head twice inthe night. I passed the nextday in a haze of drugs andexhaustion, but on day

three, I woke up to see aface with freckles toppedwith wavy dark blondhair.

‘Michael,’ I croaked andmustered a half-smilethrough cracked lips.

He didn’t smile back.‘When you said you’d

take ‘other measures’ tohunt Nicola Sandbrook, Ithought you were sabre-rattling. Now it turns out

you’re not even official.Give us a good reason notto hand you over to thepolice as a terrorist.’

‘S’great to see you, too,Michael.’

I should have expectedAndrew Brudgland’s ballcarrier, but he could havelightened up.

‘What?’ I said, ‘I gohiking in a public openspace and your

government’s securityforces beat up on me.’ Itook a painful breath. ‘Mylawyers will be in touch.’

‘You knew we werekeeping a watching brief.Why didn’t you contactme?’

‘I have a tight deadline.’I struggled up to half-sitting. Pain stabbedthrough my middle upinto my skull. I nearly

blacked out. ‘Date. What’sthe date?’

I’d been away for aweek. Conrad’s trialstarted in two days. And Ididn’t have Nicola to takeback.

*After he’d stopped metrying to get out of bedand we’d both calmeddown, Michael took a fullstatement from me. At

first, he refused to tell meabout anything, but Icoaxed it out of him.Wilson was in custodybeing questioned aboutNicola by military policedetectives. Michael said hiscareer was over. A forensicteam was going overNicola’s camp and wouldtake the case from here on.

‘But they’ll send youtheir report?’ I said.

‘No, you can’t have acopy,’ he replied. ‘It’sconfidential.’

I stared at him throughswollen eyes.

‘Oh, very well, I’ll seewhat I can do. Nopromises.’

*An air ambulance flew mehome, and I washelicoptered straight to theCentral Valetudinarium

where Faenia tutted at meas I lay on the scanner bed.

‘You’re getting too oldfor this sort of beating,Carina Mitela. Get a teamof twenty-year-olds in nexttime. Your tooth we canfix. The broken bones andbruising will self-heal. Andwe’ll use electric therapyto accelerate it. The plasticsurgery on your face willleave a few faint scars, but

your internal organs arenot as immortal as youseem to think they are.’

‘Just patch me up so Ican attend the trial,’ Igrumped.

‘Out of the question,’and she pulled the switchto insert me past theblinking lights into thegaping maw.

*Only when I promised to

have a medic with me atall times and returnimmediately to thehospital after my part inthe proceedings wasfinished did Faenia releaseme two days later, onMonday morning. Mypride was dented byhaving to use a wheelchair,but no way could I walkwith a leg strapped fromknee to toe and hurting

like a minor Hades.Allegra collected me.

She’d burst into tears theevening I arrived whenshe’d pushed into thehospital and insisted onseeing me. I’d held herhand and waited until shestopped trembling. Thismorning she wore aneutral, serious face alongwith a neutral, serious suit.She bent and kissed my

forehead.‘Are you ready, Mama?’I ached from head to

foot, my ribs werestrapped tight, mystomach stiff and sore, mybroken shinbone achingwith pain and my face amess of cuts, bruising anddressings.

‘Sure, I’m fine. Let’s doit.’

*

As Allegra guided mychair between the seating,people stopped talking.The silence expandedthroughout the courtroomand every face seemed tobe angled towards us.Some looked as if theireyes were going to fall outwith the strain. Wereached our ringside seatright behind the benchwhere the defendants and

their lawyers sat. Sertoriusturned, rose to his feet andbent over us, his handextended.

‘My dear Countess, howare you?’ he said in anoverloud voice. ‘Are yousure you’re well enough toattend today?’

‘Don’t worry, Sertorius.I have a sick-note.’

He leaned closer andwhispered, ‘Speaking

tactically, you couldn’thave made a betterentrance. I’ll call youearly.’

He was a cynicalbastard, but the best therewas. I just smiled back,trying to look heroic. Hehurried back to his frontbench as the judges andthe examining magistratefiled on to the dark oak-carved podium which

hovered above the rest ofthe mortals.

When Conrad came in,he looked pale butcomposed. Until he sawme. He stared, eyes wide,travelling from mywrecked face down to mylower legs showing belowmy tunic hemline. Hestopped and put his handout to steady himself.When he didn’t move,

Sertorius took his arm andguided him to thedefendant’s bench. Conradbowed his head, shouldershunched forward for a fewmoments, then twistedaround. The skin bunchedaround his eyes whichshone with anger, or was itanguish? Despite thejagging pain when Imoved, I attempted asmile. He just stared back.

A treason trial involvingtwo prominent familieswas rare; with the addedspice of a lost andrenegade daughter, Ithought we’d be in for acircus, but after someshuffling about theaudience settled down toquiet. Hungry to hearevery one of the details, Iguessed.

Sertorius had filed all

the statements includingmy abortive trips toBritain. He called me earlyas promised, and Allegrawheeled me over to a spotin front of the dark woodcarved witness stand. AsSertorius declaimed aboutduty and sacrifice andblah, blah, I studied theaudience. Amongst thesensation-seekers, smugpoliticos and the plain

curious, I found familiarfaces: my former ActiveResponse Team, Paulasending me a smile;Lucius, frowning throughnew eyeglasses, Lurio,leaning back, his armsfolded across his chest,Pelonia by his side, plushalf my household, DalinaMitela and her Tellusfamily opposite number.There had to be around a

hundred PGSF. Iwondered who was leftminding the store.

My written depositionand IS reports had beenfiled before I’d left to huntNicola. Sertorius praisedthe generosity of theBritish government fortheir cooperation andasked me to describeNicola’s attack in detail.He read out Faenia’s

report which shocked evenme. I didn’t know I hadhalf of what she listed.

‘And this, magister andlearned colleagues, is whatthis daughter of Hades didto a special forces officer atthe height of her powersand experience.’

The imperial accusatrixstood up, cleared herthroat, raised her papers,looked over her spectacles

and was about to open herthin little mouth to aim aquestion at me, when themain court doors werethrust open.

Two Praetorians informal dress marched inand took up position oneeach side of the entrance.From between themstepped a tall youngwoman, red-brown hairand light brown eyes. She

walked slowly, but withgreat self-assuredness, tothe front of the court andbowed to the magistrate.

‘I apologise forinterrupting theproceedings, magister, butI have come to court tosupport my father.’

A collective gasp wentup from the audience andeverybody started talkingat once. Thank Juno, there

were no photographersallowed in.

Hallienia Apulia mightonly have been a bit oversixteen, but she stood therewith the full dignity ofsixty generations of rulersbehind her. She seemed toignore the babble andexcitement around her.When the magistrate hadrecovered herself, shecalled for silence and

gestured to a court officerto bring a chair.

‘If you do not object, Iwill sit with my sister.’And made her way toAllegra’s side. AndSertorius thought I’d madean entrance.

The imperial accusatrixgathered herself again,emphasising I was nolonger a member of thePGSF and that my illicit

operation had endangeredthe good relations with theBritish. Sertorius objectedquoting Michael’s reportwhich the magistrateupheld and the fact I’dhonourably surrenderedmy imperial warrant. Theaccusatrix tried her best,but Sertorius was on firmground. The morningended with him in thelead.

*In the prisoner room, wesat round eating a takeoutlunch, surrounded byHallie’s bodyguards,Conrad’s escorts and courtofficers, all watching forsome false step. Hallie andAllegra looked like twoteenagers again, shuckingoff the dignified act,reverting to normal girls.Except they weren’t.

Conrad had huggedHallie as soon as we’dreached the shelter of theroom and turned to pullAllegra in. His face wastight with emotion and Isaw his hand wipe acrosshis eyes.

As we finished oursurreal picnic, Sertoriuswent off to prepare for theafternoon session, mainlytechnical stuff with shrinks

and profilers, leaving us towork out what to say nextto each other as a family.

‘I’ll stay this afternoon,Dad,’ Hallie said, ‘and I’llask Mama if I can comeback tomorrow.’

‘Darling, just thismorning was wonderful.’Conrad ran his fingerdown the side of her face.‘I’m sorry I’ve let youdown, you, Allegra, all of

you.’ He glanced at me.She took his hand.

‘Don’t worry, we knowyou were off your head – itwasn’t really you.’

He looked at her,astounded at the teenagebrutality, then broke intolaughter. ‘Thanks.’

I glanced at my watch.‘Five minutes to go. Youtwo girls go back up. Ineed to say something in

private to Dad.’They shot a worried

look at him, but he smiledback, I thought, to reassurethem.

‘Before you sayanything, Faenia’s said I’mfine, just a bit bruised, sodon’t worry. Okay?’

He gave me a measuredlook. ‘Don’t bullshit me,Carina. I was tri-agingwounds when you were

still designing adverts inNew York. And I wasn’tafflicted with suddendeafness when Sertoriusread that injuries list out.’

*Despite Sertorius’sattempts to have meexcused, the imperialaccusatrix was allowedanother thirty minutes togrill me. I guessed it washer job to try discredit my

testimony. I wasdisconcerted by beingopposite her after years ofworking with her team,but I was damned if I wasgoing to let her evenglimpse that. But I wasalmost passing out withfatigue by the time Iflopped against the back ofmy wheelchair.

*I woke later, feeling like a

lump of Aquae Caesarisgranite was lying on mychest. I was hot, burning. Ifelt a tiny rectangularalarm sensor in my palmand pressed it.

‘How are you feeling?’The young doctor in a

white coat too big for herhad such a wide andfriendly smile, I didn’thave the heart to tell her. Itracked her movements as

she ran her scanner overme, felt my middle andstudied the digital panelbehind me.

‘What time is it?’She carried on as if she

hadn’t heard me andplayed with a switch onthe drip.

‘Professor Faeniainstructed you were to bekept quiet and calm. Ithink you have visitors

shortly, but they can onlystay for ten minutes.’

‘What time is it?’‘You don’t need to

worry about the time at themoment.’ She tapped onher el-pad, not looking atme. She came back to thebed, standing close.

I grabbed her wrist.‘What’s the time?’ Shelooked down. ‘Wait aminute, what day is it?’

The door swung open.Allegra.

She nodded at thedoctor, who easily freedher wrist from my feeblegrip and retreated.

‘Relax, Mama. Calmdown.’

‘Don’t you tell me whatto do!’ I tried to turn away,but I was too stiff.

‘Mama, please don’t.’Around her eyes the

flesh was puffed, hercheeks sagged. She wastrying too hard to smile.She pulled up a chair, satdown and looked at megravely. I could see shewas struggling to findsome years to add on soshe could deal with all theshit being thrown at her.

‘It’s Wednesday. Yes,you’ve missed a day, butyou needed the rest. It’s

almost finished. They’verecessed for two days toconsider the evidence.’

‘Juno, that’s unusual. Sofinal defence andprosecution speeches theday after tomorrow. Andthe verdict. Nobody else tobe questioned?’

‘Sertorius said he wasn’tcalling anybody else afterthe psychs as everythingwas in the depositions. The

magistrate just nodded athim. Perhaps she doesn’tlike long trials. I don’tknow how these thingsgo.’ She shrugged andlooked a little lost. ‘UncleQuintus gave histestimony this morning.But he came across likeDad.’

She studied the stiffwhite sheets I wasenclosed in. ‘I—’

‘Say it, Allegra.’‘They looked – weak.’

She lifted her head. ‘Theformer imperial chancellorand the PGSF seniorlegate. How could that be?’

XXIX

Imperatrix Silvia’s circuswas next. I was obviouslyso dangerous, herPraetorians stayed in theroom with her. She didn’torder them out. While shewas perfectly friendly,asking how I was, her eyesdidn’t meet mine. She kept

behind her neutralpersona.

‘How’s Stella?’ I asked.‘Progressing well, the

governor says. She’s beenon field trips undersupervision to a rehabcentre and a social aid hub.Apparently, she took a realinterest and wanted toknow more.’ Sheshrugged. ‘Perhaps she’snot as hopeless as we all

think.’Juno, that was a change.

Silvia always defended herdaughter, even to herself.She looked tired, almostbrittle. Ignoring the pinsand needles, I stretchedout and touched herforearm.

She looked me full inthe face at last. She wavedher hand backwards andthe two guards left.

‘Tell me,’ I said.*

As she left, trailing thehospital director and aload of fussing in herwake, I thought about thedifficult place she was in.Her eldest child aimlessand in rehabilitation, herformer partner, father ofher three children, on trialfor treason, her cousin andfriend incapacitated. All

brought about by a newversion of the man whohad murdered her motherand destroyed her earlyworld. And no wiseAurelia around to guideany of us. But over the fearand the heartache, she hadto bolt on a detached,even-handed persona.

*No way was I going tomiss the verdict in less

than thirty-six hours. Idragged my legs across soI could sit on the edge ofthe bed. Ten minutes later,after falling over onlyonce, I reached thebathroom, and a mirror.

My body was a mass ofblack and yellow blooms,some still red and violet,the skin on my abdomenred and blotched inpatches. But my face. Black

eyes above parallel deepweals where she’d drawn ametal comb, heated in ablow torch flame, acrossmy right cheek. Myswollen lips healing intocrooked taut lines revealedthe gap in my teeth. Faeniasaid it could all be repairedonce the bruising hadreceded. Right now Ilooked like some Gorgon.

I steadied myself by

grabbing onto the basinand glanced at the shower.Another thing where Ineeded to accept help. Ipassed my hand over theemergency sensor paneland waited.

*Sertorius wasoutperforming himselfsumming up the defencecase; he wove together theIS reports, our depositions

and testimonies, Nicola’sbrutality, her attempts todestroy her sisters, theattack on Quintus. Hisvoice carried withoutbooming, his vowels wereoil-smooth as theywrapped themselvesaround his tongue, hispauses for effect not quitetipping over into pathos.But there was one big fatthing missing – Nicola’s

testimony – and theimperial accusatrix leapton it. She trashedSertorius’ hard work intwo minutes and sat downon her bench with a smugsmile.

When the judges wentinto a huddle, I stretchedmy hand out and metConrad’s halfway as hetwisted around.

‘You shouldn’t have

come,‘ he whispered, ‘youneed the rest.’ But hesmiled at me.

‘I have to know whereto come and visit you,’ Isaid and smiled back.

‘That bad, you think?’‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t

bring her back. You haveno idea how sorry.’

‘Don’t.’ He glanced atthe judges still conferring.‘Whatever happens, I will

owe you for the rest of mylife.’

I pressed his hand. Itwas scary to see just howdiminished he was. Morewhite had appeared in hishair. Not passing throughgrey, just straight to white.I wanted to pull him inand hold him.

The judges separatedand the buzz melted.Conrad was called

forward, flanked bySertorius.

‘Conradus Mitelus, youare accused of crimen lasaemajestatis. Treason is agrave charge with anappropriately severepunishment. We havetaken time to consider allthe circumstances. It isregrettable that NicolaSandbrook, previouslyknown as Tella, is not here

to be questioned.’ Sheglanced over at me. ‘Thecourt absolves you ofcrimenlasaemajestatis—’

Yes.Sertorius’ hand patted

Conrad’s back. My mouthhurt as I tried to grin. Iseized Allegra’s hand andshe fell into my hug. Tearsrolled down both ourfaces; mine mostly frompain from the ferocity of

Allegra’s hug, but it didn’tmatter. Shouts from theaudience, a buzz bloominginto a deafening roar.

‘Silence!’The magistrate’s gaze

panned around, fierce andcommanding, willing theaudience to quiet down.What more had she to say?Allegra looked at me, herface frowning. I shook myhead at her.

The magistrate broughther gaze back to Conrad.

‘However, we find aprobable case of indiligentiamajestatis against you. Youwill be held in custody fora later hearing. Thissession is closed.’ Shestood, nodded at the otherjudges and disappearedwith them through thedoor at the back.

*‘What the hell was thatabout? What does itmean?’ I demanded.

Conrad had floppedback on to the bench. Weclustered around Sertorius,blocking the guards.

‘It means,’ Sertoriussaid, ‘we’re not clear yet.I’ll file an application totransfer to house arrestimmediately. Fortuna only

knows when they’llschedule the hearing.’ Helaid a hand on Conrad’sshoulder. ‘We’ve clearedthe worst. At least youwon’t end up in Truscium.’

After the guards tookConrad away to PGSFheadquarters, I grilledSertorius.

‘Explain, please, exactlywhat this indiligentiamajestatis is.’

‘Basically it coversminor acts of treason. Theybrought it in two centuriesago as a warning measureand to deal with rabble-rousers. It didn’t carry thedeath penalty, mostlypunishment by short-termimprisonment and/orfines. I’m afraid I’ll have tolook into my histories tofind the details.’

Sertorious brought his

hand up to push backsome strands escapingfrom his normallyimmaculate hair. Hegestured his assistant togather up the files, slippedthe cover onto his el-padand pocketed it. ‘Right,let’s get to the magistrate’sclerk. Then it’s the nightshift.’

*Faenia grudgingly let me

home after three moredays, but insisted onsending a nurse with mewith a load of instructions.He would continue theelectric therapy on my legfor the next week. She hadbooked me back in in twoweeks to start repairingmy face. Something to lookforward to.

After a week, I venturedinto the swimming pool.

Four lengths up and downand I lay on the side like astruggling turbot. Plas-sealkept the water off my leg,but the leg brace didn’thelp. Five days later Imanaged ten, although mylegs shook as I climbedout. I picked up my robeand trudged over to thestairs, wishing the elevatorextended down to thebasement. Head bowed

and my hand groping forthe stair rail, I contactedanother human hand. Ilooked up, expecting oneof the hovering servants,but found a copper-brownand green gaze fixed onme, a smile below it. Myheart squeezed. He drewme in and I fell into hisembrace.

We said nothing. Hehalf-carried me upstairs,

helped me dry off and putme into the bed. We laythere, warm and content,and slept.

*The next morning, we satbehind the three-metrehigh wall that enclosed aprivate garden full oflavender, sage androsemary, edged withmulberry and fig treesbetween walkways

covered with the skeletonof bare vines. It was Marchso the honeysuckle thatran all over the summerhouse in the corner wasjust breaking bud; atentative start to the year.The rich scents of thesummer were monthsaway. We talked about thetrial, the lesser hearing tocome, my next medicaltreatment, a possible

holiday and then we ranout of polite conversation.

‘Carina,’ he said, ‘I’msorry, truly sorry foreverything.’

The ache in his voicemade me want to put myarms around him, but thiswasn’t the moment. Ileaned back on the teakbench circling the largemyrtle tree at the centre ofthe garden.

‘I thought I would hateyou for the rest of my lifewhen I walked out of youroffice in the PGSFbuilding,’ I said, my gazefixed on the flagstones.‘You destroyed my work,our marriage and my trust.So nothing too major.’

He said nothing, justhunched over, holding hishands palms together,elbows resting on his

knees and looked at theground. He scrubbed hisfoot in a circle on therough stone.

‘You put me througheight months of hell.’ Hewent to speak, but I heldmy hand up. ‘No, let mefinish. I know now youwere going through aterrible time, but you wereso cold and discarded mefrom your life.’

A tiny breeze passedover my arms and Ishivered.

‘I thought once I’dbrought you back to RomaNova, that would be it –divorce for me, prison foryou. I never wanted to beinvolved with you again.’

He didn’t move. Twofinches chased each otheraround the trees,eventually settled and

chirruped melodies at eachother.

‘Do you want me to go?’he said to the ground.

‘No, it was in thetransport, on the way backhere, that I realised Icouldn’t walk away. Youwere in such a state.’

‘Oh, so you just feltsorry for me.’ He sat up,anger and hurt in his eyes.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I

retorted, but maybe therewas a little truth there.

‘So what now?’‘We get through this

indiligentia majestatishearing, then try to getback to some sort of lifetogether.’

He looked up at me. ‘Idon’t deserve you.’

‘No, you don’t,’ I said,‘but I’m not going to givemyself the heartache of

throwing you out.’ I tookhis hands in mine. ‘I ambound to you bysomething I can’t explain.You know the ancients’marriage vow “Ubi tuGaius, ego Gaia”? Well, itseems to apply even in the21st century.’

*On Monday, Sertoriuscame back with the goods;

indiligentia majestatis waslike neglect or failing tostop a crime against theimperium, which probablyfit what Conrad had donebetter. After wrigglingaround, protecting his rearwith ‘all things beingequal’, the lawyer wasconfident the worstsentence would be a largefine and some communityservice.

Sertorius had alsoapplied to the imperialaccusatrix for an arrestwarrant to be issuedagainst Nicola Sandbrook,formerly Tella. If it wasgranted, although inabsentia, she could bedetained immediately ifshe ever set foot again inRoma Nova. Beingrealistic, Pelonia and theDJ couldn’t do much more

than issue border alerts,but the application didn’thurt Conrad’s case any.

Hallie came to see himthat afternoon and I leftthem to walk in the park,brown and white headsleaning together. Stella,confined to therehabilitation centre, wasstill out of his reach.

I came upstairs, wipingmy face from a remedial

session in the gym with thetherapist and found Juniatalking to a tall, brown-haired man in casuals andtrainers. Flavius. His faceburst out in a smile. Hehurried over and kissedthe less ruined part of myface.

‘How are you, Bruna?’‘I don’t know if I can

still use Bruna as a nomdeguerre.’

He scanned me, ’Oh, Idon’t know. I think youqualify on the guerre part.’

He’d been on anexchange mission; Danielhad sent him to Bavariaand he had missed thetrial.

‘Well, you’ve got themost expensive legal teamgoing,’ he paused to grin.‘So I expect they’ll get thelegate off.’

‘He’s not the legate anymore, Flav.’

‘I know, but… Well,you know.’

I cleared my throat tobreak the silence.

‘It’s lovely to see you,Flav. Please give myregards to the others.’

‘You’ll be seeing themsoon yourself. We’re goingto help you get fit again.’

*

Stella’s trial came up and,apart from Conrad whowas still under housearrest, we all went along tosupport her. Silvia didn’tmake anything like thesensational entrance Halliehad at Conrad’s, butslipped in with me. Notcompletely unnoticed.

Stella stood quietly asthe charges were read outand Silvia’s advocate listed

the attenuatingcircumstances. I wasquestioned on mydeposition, but there wereno surprises. Stella wassentenced to two years’full-time residentialcommunity service, levelfour, and was directed towork in the addict supportcentre where she’d beenhelping out. She held herhead up as she took the

sentence, looking the judgein the eye. Before leavingwith the custodes, sheturned and smiled to hermother. Silvia noddedback, her eyes moist. Iremembered how I’d feltwhen Allegra had been incourt. Ignoring the frownsof her Praetorian securitydetail, I put my armaround Silvia’s waist tosupport her as we walked

out.*

Faenia had performed thelast operation on my face,thank Juno, and a newtooth had been implantedtwo weeks ago. Flaviusand the others had beensoft training with me inbetween times and Ifigured I was rested andpretty much recovered.Until I ran a cross-country

trail. After that I kept toour park until I had rebuiltmy stamina. The plus wasthat Conrad could comewith me.

Our low-key life settledinto a routine; I was keptbusy with the springSenate hearings andbudget wrangling. Thegods knew we had asound economy. Why didthey need to pick over

every solidus? It struck methat verbal debate hadbecome the mostdangerous thing in my life.I regretted my andConrad’s PGSF careersending the way they had,and although we hadn’teliminated the menace ofNicola, we were healingfrom her attacks andreckoned we had thrownher out of our lives for

good.

PartIV:Nemesis

XXX

‘Mama!’I jumped. Sheets of

paper fell on the floor. I’dbeen absorbed in a stack ofSenate papers. Why theyhad to issue commissionminutes in hard copy, Ididn’t know. I could haveeasily signed them

digitally.Allegra bounced into

my study, fine brown hairflying. Hallie followed lessenergetically, with aserious expression, no signof her usual sunny smile.She bent down and pickedup my papers and set themback on the pile.

‘We had to come andtell you immediately,’Allegra said.

Her eyes shone copperbrown, the green drownedout. Pink flooded herusually pale face.

‘What’s his name?’ Iwinced internally. Shewasn’t going to be sixteenuntil November and Iwasn’t ready to play thehardliner mother.

She batted that awaywith an impatient handand frowned. ‘No, nothing

like that. It’s Nicola. Wethink we’ve seen her.’

*Pelonia kept her mannerprofessional and calm, buther eyes gleamed as sheheard the girls’ story.They’d been in theMacellum shopping mall,along with Hallie’sPraetorian who didn’t lookmuch older than eighteenherself. Allegra said she

was trying to stop Halliebuying a sweater thatwould make her look like afat duck. Hallie tappedAllegra’s upper arm at thatpoint and grinned. Icoughed and theysubsided back intodecorous.

‘What made youconvinced it was Nicola?’Pelonia fixed on Allegra.

‘Her walk.’ Allegra

looked at me, her fingersfiddling with the passaround her neck. Shedragged her eyes back tothe inspector’s face. ‘Youknow I spent some timewith her, when MaiaQuirinia and I were takenin.’ She coughed. ‘It’sreally embarrassing now,but we used to watch herwalk away from us at theschool gate until she

disappeared. We had itreally bad.’ She darted aglance at me, but it wasHallie’s hand she graspedin comfort.

‘Well, a skilled operatorcan simulate a walk,’Pelonia said, ‘so that’s notconclusive, but we can runsome comparisons withvids of other women of herage and see what comesup.’

‘I know it was her,Inspector. I’ll never forget.’

*Hallie and I sat behindAllegra as one of Pelonia’steam ran a series of shortfilms showing femalefigures walking, their facesblanked out, only whitefile numbers flickering in ablack box at the top rightof the screen. The custodes

always videoed peoplethey detained; a few stepswere all they needed fortheir files. A person’snatural gait was the mostdifficult thing to change. ‘Iwant you to tell me as soonas you think you recogniseher,’ Pelonia instructed.

Some were from thepublic feed, most filmed ina custody suite orinterview room. I jammed

my lips together as I sawone walk into thecourtroom, just secondsbefore Allegra shoutedout.

‘That’s her!’Not a muscle moved on

Pelonia’s face. She noddedto the tech to continue.More, this time all inside.When Allegra identifiedtwo more, Pelonia signedthe tech to finish.

‘Very well. We’ll runthese against the publicfeed from the Macellum. Itmay take an hour or so, soperhaps your mother cantake you for a coffee. I’llcall you when we’reready.’

*An hour later, a tall figureloomed over our messroom table.

‘Bruna.’

‘Hello, Lurio.’He slouched into a chair

opposite me next toAllegra and gave her asmile. ‘Well done, younglady, for observation. Yougot full marks on the vids.’He paused, glanced at mebefore going back toAllegra. ‘But we couldn’tfind anything in the publicfeed. Perhaps it wassomebody who looked like

her. You maysubconsciously beassociating that imagewith Nicola’s walk frombefore, when she wasplaying you.’ He took herhand. ‘Don’t feel badlyabout it, Allegra. Ithappens all the time. Andto people a lot moreobservant than you.’

Allegra stuck her jawout. ‘It was her, Uncle

Lurio, it was.’ Allegra’svoice was shrill. Shelooked fierce, almost likeNonna.

‘I know it’sdisappointing, but youhave to accept it.’ Lurio’svoice was final. He stoodup, nodded to me and left.

*She was silent in the car onthe way home and wentstraight to her room. She

reminded me of those‘virtuous’ men of oldRome and the early settlersof Roma Nova I’d readabout who’d rather diethan tell a lie or dosomething off thehonourable path. I sighedfor her; it couldn’t becomfortable being such aserious soul.

Conrad went andfetched her down for

supper.‘It’s hard, darling,’ he

said, attempting to comforther, ‘but it happens. Veryfew people get it right allthe time.’ He glanced atme. ‘Even your mother,who’s got excellentinstincts, has been knownto fail.’

I opened my mouth toprotest, but he gave mesuch a look, I said nothing.

‘But it was her,’ Allegramuttered into her soup.

*School routine and publicexams took her life overfor the next few weeks andshe thawed out of herfrozen certainty. But adoubt nagged at me.Allegra was pretty smartand noticed things othersdidn’t. I’d finished a

boring meeting with myaccountant, and neededsome light relief so Iheaded over to theCustodes XI Station.

Sertorius’ applicationfor a warrant to detainNicola had been grantedwithin two weeks, but asnothing had happened,Pelonia had put the caseon hold.

‘We’ve been monitoring

it from time to time, butI’m afraid we’ve got moreactive cases.’

‘Sure, I understand, ‘Isaid, ‘but Allegra is prettysharp for her age. I knowyou’re pressured onresources, but do you haveany objection to mesounding out a few of myformer contacts?’

She paused for a fewmoments, her face serious

and studying the paperson her desk. I guessed shewas working out how topolitely say, ‘Butt out,you’re a civilian now’.

She brought her eyes upand suddenly smiled as ifshe’d made a decision.‘Why not?’

*I should have knownbetter. I was out of thegame. I had no legal

warrant. But a frisson ofexcitement ran up me as Ivolumised my hair andchanged into clubwear;short black skirt, silverstrap top, what Conradcalled my ‘minxy’ shortboots, feather short jacket.He came in as I wasapplying the tenth layer ofmascara.

‘Jupiter, where are yougoing? You look like some

tart.’ His eyes ran over me,slowly. They droopedhalfway shut and I saw anappreciative gleam in themas his lips parted.

‘Going to see an oldfriend,’ I said.

He raised an eyebrow.‘I’m not even going to ask,but you will be careful?’His hand came up and hestroked my cheek with thebacks of his fingers. I know

he would have come withme if he could. He must beso frustrated. Thank Juno,his hearing was due theweek after next. Hopefully,he’d lose the damned tag.

*I breezed past the bouncersby waving Philippus’stoken in their face and aheavy took me straight tohim.

He sank his head in his

hand in true Greek dramamode then looked up. ‘Iknew it was a shit daytoday, but what have Idone to deserve anothervisit?’

‘Don’t be such agrouch.’ I looked around.‘Much better, Phil. Goodsoundproofing and I likethe bigger bank ofmonitors. So you used myvoucher?’

‘Yeah. I picked the mostexpensive they had.’

I just laughed. He gavea little smile.

‘Did you get what youwanted from the lead Igave you?’ he asked.

‘Yes, and a whole loadof grief. I lost my job.’

‘So a good result.’‘You bastard.’‘Sorry. Their loss.’ He

glanced away, then

brought back a seriousexpression. ‘So what now?If you were stuck, I’d offeryou a pitch here, onfavourable terms,obviously. There’s alwaysa demand for well-preserved maturity,’ hesmirked. He paused whenI didn’t reply to his off-colour suggestion. ‘But Idon’t think you’re lookingfor a job.’

‘No, more for a limb ofHades.’

I gave him thebackground, withoutmentioning Allegra byname or her relationship tome.

‘You must trust yourinformant’s judgement tobe so sure.’

‘She’s been a victim ofthis bitch. It’s scarred allover the back of her mind.

I feel instinctively she’sright, but none of theformal proof stacks up. Butif I find this woman, she’dbetter kneel in the sandand say her last prayers.’

*Philippus promised to putout feelers for me. He’dfound her once, but Nicolahad moved on, learningLatin, the way thingsworked in Roma Nova and

she had contacts in ourcriminal world. She’d lostnone of her internalviolence nor her externalbrutality, as I well knew.Maybe it was the time itwas taking me to recovermy full fitness or maybefrustration at not findingher, but I felt helpless anddespite Philippus’willingness to help, morethan a little depressed.

I’d graduated to longerruns now and Flavius tookme out to the PGSF opencountry training ground.As we wound in and outof trees and dips and ranup long hills, I gave himthe whole story in betweengrabbing air for mystruggling lungs. We got tothe top of Muscle-DeathHill and stopped torecover.

‘Lurio has a good point,but from talking to herpreviously, I’d sayAllegra’s likely to be right,’Flavius said, ‘but thescarabs can’t do a thing.’

‘I guess. But how inHades can Nicola hide likethat from the public feed? Iknow she’s skilled, butsurely not that good?’

‘Oh, please! You used todo it all the time. C’mon,

remember that bet we ranyears ago to see who gotpicked up first by thescarabs?’

I’d forgotten. We’d runbook on trying to outdothe public CCTV. I’d slatedit as a legitimate trainingexercise, but the localscarab commander almosthad a fit. She wanted tothrow us all in the pit forwasting their time and

resources. But it had beenfun as well as useful. I’dlasted over the two weekdeadline before they’ddetected me. I rememberednow they weren’t toogentle when they’dbrought me in. But I’d wonthe book.

‘That was five yearsago, Flav. The system’supdated several times oversince.’

‘But you said yourselfshe was good.’

I shrugged, took aswallow from my waterbottle, and stood up, myeyes ranging over the farmountains and forest andthe green fields and citybelow.

‘I love this country. Myancestors struggled for it.I’m not going to let somethrowback poison it. End

of.’*

Sertorius was at his mostpompous at Conrad’shearing as he delivered aneloquent pleading on hisbehalf, but the accusatrix’srepresentative hardlybleated. The magistratedeclared that in light ofConrad’s previous serviceto the state, the characterwitnesses’ testimonies and

the malign influence he’dbeen subject to, hispunishment would belight. But the judgementstood; he would never beable to hold any publicoffice again. He swallowedhard as he heard theseharsh words, but he saidlater he didn’t expectanything else. A lousy endto a great career, I thought.

He was placed under

probation for three years, anovel idea for Romans, butbetter than rotting in thepen. He’d wear a midnightto six curfew tag for thefirst six months and reportto the custodes every monthas well as undergosupervised counselling.Juno, it was humiliating,but the judge said as amember of the TwelveFamilies he should have

behaved better.I felt a hot, red wave

rise in me at this publichumiliation of a man whohad given so much anddone one stupid thing, butHelena pulled me backdown to my seat. Themagistrate fixed me withher fierce eyes for severalseconds. I had to give wayand she went back to hercondemnation. If Conrad

incurred anything morethan a parking offence, theconditional release wouldbe revoked and he’d be inthe central military jail forthe rest of the period.

‘At least I can get out ofthe house now, thankMars,’ he said. ‘And thankyou, love, for not rejectingme, for helping me fightmy way back.’ He took myhand kissed the back,

kissed my cheek and myforehead. He was wellagain, back with us in thefamily and free. I had to becontent.

*Conrad went to visit Stellathat same afternoon.Nothing was said atsupper, but he hardlyspoke a word. After thechildren and Helena hadgone, we sat together on a

couch in the atrium, hisarm along the back and hisother hand cradling mine.

‘She didn’t rush into myarms or sit beside me, butshe didn’t pull her handaway when I took it. Iapologised for letting herdown, but she startedmumbling one back to me.I’ve never felt so awkwardwith her. I thought thatwas it and we’d sit the rest

of the visit out in guiltysilence. But when I askedher about her work at thecentre, it was as if a coldcorpse had sprung intolife.’ He pressed my hand.‘You know something? Ithink we’re all a bitirrelevant to her now. Sheis so centred on her work.Anything or anybodyoutside it doesn’t count.’

XXXI

The festival of Floralia hitus in May and now herexams were over, I letAllegra out to go to theless wild parties her schoolfriends were putting onover the next three days.She was fifteen. Shewouldn’t want to hang

around a crowd of boringadults. I drew the line atbeing out after midnight,though; it got rowdy afterthat in the public squares.After the circus, open airtheatres, processions anddancing, the all-nightstreet parties meant drunkcrowds and lessinhibitions.

On the last night of thefestival, around twenty-

five of us were at home,sprawled around oncouches and easy chairs inthe atrium, a full dinnerand several bottles ofBrancadorum champagneinside us. Helena hadbrought her latest squeeze.We were in full flightsolving the world’sproblems and dissectingthe characters of ourfavourite pointless

celebrities. Conrad smiledlazily at me, his fingersplaying with my hair. Ismiled back, the mostrelaxed with him I hadbeen since the trials. Hestill had black momentsthat made me anxious.When my sympathy wasthrown back in my face,I’d become annoyed andshout at him, then feel soguilty. He always

apologised abjectly which Ifound embarrassing forhim. But these incidentswere becoming rarer,thank Juno.

I was speculating onwhat might happen lateron tonight then there was aloud thump, followed byboots clattering on themarble floor of thevestibule hallway. Thenoise grew louder and two

blue-uniformed figuresmarched across the atrium,one holding the waist of aslighter one between them.

Conrad jumped up andstared at the two custodes.

‘What in Hades is this?’It was Allegra, weeping

and with a bandage acrossa bloodied nose.

Conrad pulled thedistraught child into hisarms, stroking her head as

he half-carried her to acouch. I signed the releaseand we all listened whilethe custodes Senior Justiciarrecited the details.

Allegra had been foundin a street off the CardoMax, lying in a heap on theground between twodumpsters. They thoughtshe was just anotherteenage drunk until theysaw the blood on her face

and the bruising on herarms. A paramedic hadchecked her out and saidshe could go home if therewas a responsible adultthere. If not, she would behospitalised. Allegra wasawake enough to insist onbeing taken home.

‘We think somebodytried to rob her but beather up when they foundshe didn’t have anything

on her.’ The SJ looked atme, her eyes neutral butmouth straight. She didn’tquite sneer. ‘Such a younggirl shouldn’t be out byherself on the last night ofFloralia.’

‘She was driven to herfriend’s house earlier thisevening and was due to becollected at midnight. Sheshouldn’t have beenanywhere near the street,’ I

said, stung by her tone. Icalled the chauffeur. Hewas still parked outsidethe friend’s house, waitingto bring Allegra back.

‘Very well, Countess,’she said and looked at herel-pad, ‘but this is thesecond time she’s beenfound inappropriately onthe street.’

‘Now wait a damnedminute—’

‘Leave it, Carina.’Conrad stepped in front ofme, centimetres away fromthe SJ. ‘Your business hereis finished. Our thanks forbringing our daughterback, but I suggest youtake yourself off and findsome genuine law-breakers. There’s enoughof a choice out theretonight.’

He was as biting as if

admonishing some recruitwho’d fouled-up on thesimplest task a ten year-old could have done. TheSenior Justiciar’s cheeksturned a dull red. She tooka step back.

‘We’ll be copying ourreport to juvenile services.’

‘You’d be betteroccupied in finding outwho did this to CountessAllegra, than writing

specious reports,’ Helenapiped up and came tostand by me and stare atthe cop.

*‘Specious? Why do youteachers have to use weirdwords?’ But I smiled atHelena. If her gaze hadbeen any hotter andcrosser, the SJ would havebeen a pile of ash. She’d

followed the two custodesto the door, not quitestepping on their heels andstood, arms crossed, whilethe porter sealed the padactivating the electronicbolt behind them.

We put Allegra to bed;the doctor was on his waybut it looked like bruisingonly. Allegra’s poor face,now cleaned, would achein the morning. Our guests

slid out tactfully to theirbeds.

‘Before you ask,’ Helenasaid, ‘it was MaiaQuirinia’s party—’

I groaned. Not again.‘—and Countess

Octavia assured me sheand her husband weregoing to be there the wholetime, but in the back. Theywouldn’t let them outsidetonight, they said, even for

half an hour. They weregoing to watch the streetshow from the housebalcony.’

My cell phone rang,interrupting us. Helena’seyebrow went up inquestion. I shook my head.

‘Yes, yes, she’s fine,Octavia, apart from theblack eye, the swollen noseand bruises all over herarms. Do you have any

idea how she got outside?’I looked at Conrad’s

face as I listened. Hisfrown deepened when herealised who I was talkingto.

‘Okay. I’ll be over firstthing. I’d appreciate it ifyou didn’t tell Maia I’mcoming. I want to get herimpression fresh. And I’llneed a list of who wasinvited.’

‘Well?’ Conrad asked.‘It was Octavia who

alerted the custodes. Herhusband and two of themale staff went outside tolook when Maia said shecouldn’t find Allegra. Maiathought Allegra wasplaying some hiding game,but realised after a whileshe’d disappeared. Therewere around fifty kidsthere in the house.’

*Helena’s hand on my armwoke me next morningaround seven. I glancedover from my pull-out bedat Allegra; her eyes werestill closed. The doctor hadgiven her a sedative oncehe was satisfied nothingwas broken or torn. Therewas no sign of sexualattack, thank Diana. As Isat up, Helena tilted her

head, signalling me toretreat with her intoAllegra’s sitting room.

‘How is she?’ she asked.‘Woke once in the night

and I gave her some morepanalgesic.’

‘Poor chick, she’s had ashitty year, what with thatNicola business, Aureliadying, her father and you.She’s been so worriedabout you, Carina.’

I looked at Helena andfound I had nothing to say.I would have torn myheart out for Allegra not tohave worried about me.Conrad came and sat withAllegra while I went toDomus Quiriniarum. Hesaid I’d do better on myown with Maia.

*Octavia Quirinia jumpedup from her easy chair in

the far corner of theatrium. She swallowed as Iapproached her. Herbrown eyes, full of worry,searched my face. I bent togive her a formal kiss.

‘Don’t worry, Octavia,I’m not going to eat you.I’m thankful for yourintervention in calling thecustodes.’

‘Gaius and the mencouldn’t find her

anywhere; the custodesfound her four streetsaway.’ She turned her faceaway. ‘Juno knows whatwould have happened toher if they hadn’t.’

‘Presumably the doorswere secured?’

‘Gods, yes! Only Gaiusand I, the porter and thesteward knew the code forthe evening. You knowhow silly and headstrong

these girls can be. Iwouldn’t put it past any ofthem to try and sneak outfor a dare on the last nightof the Floralia.’

Not in my house theywouldn’t, but I didn’t sayso.

She handed me an el-pad. ‘This is a list of thoseinvited and theacceptances. You’ll knowmost of them.’

I scanned it quickly, butmailed it over to Helena todouble-check; she mightrecognise any names Ishould be worried about.

Octavia led me upstairsto Maia’s room. It wasmore like a luxuryapartment. A living roomwas complete with everykind of electronic deviceand screen, expensivelaminated panels instead

of traditional curled edgedposters of rock stars andfilm actors, a huge pile ofpastel, mostly pink, plushtoys. The fine birchwoodfurniture was marred bycoffee rings and scratches.Magazines, hair ornamentsand empty glasses andeven a bottle lay on thecarpet. And I smelled stalesmoke. Through an alcove,I spotted a workstation, a

shelf of books above, paperand pens on the desk. Aschoolbag leaned at perfectright angles against thedesk leg. A little used andundisturbed area.

Maia sprawled in herbed, quilt thrown backcovering only her lowerlegs. One arm curledaround her head, the otherwas folded against herchest, hand under her face.

One leg was bent at theknee, her left buttockexposed. And she snored.

I strode over to thewindow and pulled backthe drapes, letting theharsh sunlight fall on toher face. Octavia handedme a glass of water.

‘Maia.’ I stroked herface and gently shook hershoulder. ‘Wake up.’ Ishook harder and she

opened her eyes, shutthem and a second lateropened them wide. Shesucked her breath in.

‘Here, drink this,’ I said.She struggled to hold

the glass, but drank the lotin urgent gulps. She held itout to her mother who re-filled it. She stared at melike a terrified rabbit.

‘I didn’t see anything.When I saw Allegra wasn’t

there, I thought she washiding or had gone offsomewhere,’ she gabbledbefore I could askanything. ‘She’s got soserious these days. She’snot much of a laugh.’ Sheclamped her hand over hermouth. Her eyes bulgedwith fright. ‘I didn’t mean—’

‘Relax, Maia. Tell meabout the whole evening

from when you greetedyour first guest to whenyou fell into bed.’

*Allegra had refused to stayin bed, Helena said, butshe submitted to resting onthe couch waiting for meto return. Conrad hadbrought her downstairsand now sat with her, thetwo of them readingbooks.

Both faces jerked up as Ientered the atrium, onefrowning, the other withbruises set against anabnormally pale skin. Ikissed both, sat opposite inan easy chair and sippedthe coffee Junia slid on tothe table for me.

‘Is it very sore?’She waved her hand,

exposed the black bruisingon the top of her forearm. I

looked down at the tableand jammed my lipstogether.

‘How was it atQuirinia’s?’ Conrad asked.

‘I’ll come to that later.First, I want to hear fromAllegra.’

She’d been fine for thefirst two hours, happy tolaugh and hang with theothers and watch the streetshow together from the

balcony. As she turned togo inside, she’d caught aface in the crowd.

‘I looked again. It wastrue. I stopped hearing theothers calling me in. Maiapulled my arm, but Icouldn’t move. It wasNicola.’

Conrad and Iexchanged glances. Henodded at Allegra.

‘Nobody had believed

me before, so this time Iwanted to make surebefore I called. I knewAunt Octavia would havelocked the doors, so Ilooked for a window. Theonly open one was onefloor up, but it had adownpipe just by it.’ Shegave me a little smile. ‘Justlike in the movies.’

I closed my eyes. Please,no.

‘It was really easy.When I got to the ground, Icrept along the side of thebuilding.’ She glanced atme then quickly away. ‘Ikept in the shadows. Atthe corner, I stayed behindthat huge column basethey have at the front. Andthe street was so full ofnoise, nobody would haveheard me. She was stillthere in a red costume and

stupid head-dress. But Iknew her. It’s the eyes,they’re so like Dad’s—’

Conrad hugged her tohim.

‘She was laughing andflirting with some guy inan old legionary costume,then somehow, shestopped and stared right inmy direction as if sheknew somebody waswatching her. I pulled

back, but I knew she’dseen me and knew who Iwas. I ran back to thedrainpipe and was part-way back up it, when shepulled me off. She grabbedmy arm and hit me on thenose. Then she startedslapping and punchingme. She said some reallybad things about Dad, butshe said she hated you,Mama, and would finish

you off next time.’ Tearspoured down Allegra’sface now.

‘I don’t remember muchmore,’ she said andsniffed. ‘I know shedragged me away fromAunt Octavia’s but Icouldn’t see much. Andmy nose hurt. She threwme on the ground in a darkplace and kicked me. Thenit all went black.’

XXXII

I didn’t get any sympathyfrom Lurio about thesnotty Senior Justiciar;she’d been doing her job,he said. But he promised tohave her copy report tojuvenile services scrappedas unnecessary.

‘You or your resident

criminal must have pissedher off. And what in Hadeswas Allegra doing pullinga stunt like that? Jupiter, Ihope she’s not going toturn into a gung-ho idiotlike her parents.’

I could hear thecombined anxiety andirritation blasting downthe line. Too bad. ‘Ifyou’ve finished bad-mouthing my family, I’ll

get on to the point of thiscall.’

He listened andgrumped some more.Somebody would comeround and take astatement, he said, whenthey had a gap in theirschedule. I wasn’tsurprised when Peloniaknocked on the door thatafternoon.

*

Conrad looked around,fidgeting in the unfamiliarand unappetising place.Well, he’d wanted to come.We sat in a corner booth ina shabby country inn.Yellow-orange subduedlighting from dirty ceilingfixtures attempted tobounce off unpolishedbrass and old dark-woodfurniture. A folksy smell ofbeer, oak and uninspired

cooking permeated theplace.

I raised my hand as afigure paused in thedoorway. His eyesnarrowed as he looked usboth over. He went to thebar, and a minute or twolater stood by our table.Still standing, he took aswallow of his beer.

‘For Juno’s sake, sitdown, Philippus. You’re

blocking my view,’ I said.‘Didn’t know you were

bringing the family.’The last time he’d seen

Conrad was eight yearsago when he cut manaclesoff Conrad’s beaten andemaciated body.

I opened my mouth toreply, but Flavius walkedin. He paused for a second,nodded to Philippus andsat down on the side bench

without a word. Conradtapped on the table withthe fingertips of his righthand for a few seconds,but stopped when Iglanced at him. Heshrugged, looked awayand studied the dime-storepictures hung around thewalls. Nobody saidanything until the serverhad finished bringing therest of us drinks.

I outlined the attack onAllegra.

‘Job for the scarabs,surely?’

‘Have you listened toanything I’ve said,Philippus?’ I glared at him.‘Do you have anythingsensible to contribute?’

‘Didn’t realise we wereat a fund-raiser.’ Hesmirked.

‘Don’t be an arse-ache,

Phil,’ Flavius said. Hemust have kicked hisformer colleague under thetable, as Philippus winced.‘This is too serious.’ Theystared each other out,steady brown eyes boringinto the round, face,gleaming ones sendingcynicism back.

‘No, I haven’t gotanything.’ He shrugged.‘Which is strange. I took on

most of the PulcheriaFoundation’s informerswhen Justus was killedand, excusing the delicatefeelings of all thosepresent,’ he smirked again,this time at Conrad,‘they’re bloody good.’

‘Comforting to knowthat criminals have thesame problems,’ Conradshot back.

‘At least we have the

balls to sort our own out.’Conrad smashed his fist

down on the table, jumpedto his feet and leaned over,his face in Philippus’s.

Flavius and I rose asecond later, hands out, tostop it getting physical.

‘Enough!’ I said. ‘Wedon’t have time forplayground bickering.’ Iturned to Philippus.‘You’ve obviously got a

leak or someone’s takingbribes. I suggest you dealwith it.’

‘You don’t need to tellme how to keep control inmy own organisation.’

‘No, I don’t,’ I said. ‘Sodo it.’

Flavius signalled to thebarkeep who broughtanother round of beerswhile we sat in unhappysilence.

Conrad recovered first.Ignoring Philippus, heturned to Flavius.‘Anything from your side?’

‘Sorry, nothing, sir.Now all the trialsconnected with the casehave finished, it’s goneinto the cold store for us.According to the jointwatch report, the custodeshave marked it “on-going”.’

‘Very well,’ saidConrad. ‘We have acomplete zero between usall. No sign on the publicfeed, nothing from thecustodes. I think Lurio onlysent the inspector aroundyesterday out of courtesy.The attack on Allegra willbe filed as one moreFloralia incident. Anybodyelse think this is just toomuch of a black hole?’

‘You are sure of yourdaughter? Allegra, I mean,not that Nicola.’ Philippuscorrected himself hastilyafter Conrad’s fierce look.

‘I thought at first she’dmistaken or muddled theface,’ Conrad answered,‘but would you forgetanything about somebodywho’d tried to get youkilled? Or beaten you upand abandoned you in a

side street?’‘Suppose not.’‘She’s not inclined to be

hysterical.’ Conrad said. ‘Ifanything, she’s a little toothoughtful for a younggirl. I’m backing herjudgement.’

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Anybodygot ideas for trying to getout of this hole?’

‘The public feed is apriority,’ Conrad said.

‘Somebody must havebeen tampering with it.’He shrugged. ‘The CCTVcustodes cameras cover thewhole city. It’s nearimpossible not to findanybody on there.’

‘Um, problem, Conrad.Neither you nor I canaccess the public feedsystem any more. EvenFlavius doesn’t haveclearance for that kind of

search.’‘Can’t you get your pet

geek, Fausta, to break intothe public feed by someback door?’

I looked at him,shocked. Philippusbellowed a laugh. Ofcourse, he knew Faustafrom when she workedyears ago withApollodorus.

‘Are you suggesting she

hack into an ultra levelnational security system?’

‘Well, she’s done it foryou in the past.’

*‘And what exactly did youmean by that crack aboutFausta?’ I shouted inConrad’s ear as I clung tohis leather-clad back as wetore along the AquaeCaesaris road back to thecity.

He didn’t answer, but Ifelt rumbling in his back;he must have beenlaughing.

We glided to a stop bythe tall gates, passedthrough the securitysystem and coasted intothe courtyard where thenight team were comingon shift. I swung off theback of the Moto Guzziand went to talk to the

house security chief.‘Paulus, we had a

problem overnight. Nothere, but I want you tohalve the time betweenpatrols and ensure at leastone person is watching thescreens at all times. Notplaying cards or watchingthe TV.’

He frowned. ‘Domina,none of my people woulddo that.’

His face was neutral,but I saw a flash of angerpass through his eyes.

‘I’m not doubting you.But would you personallyre-check anybody taken onin the past six months,especially femalepersonnel? If it’s at allpossible, you might see ifanybody’s acquired a newgirlfriend, cousin or even‘sister’ in the same period.’

‘Are we under attack?’‘I hope not, but let’s be

extra careful.’*

I met Fausta the nextafternoon at my gym. NowFlavius and the others hadgot me past the basicfitness level, I was takingon the punishing regime ofMossia’s trainingprogramme again. I sat atthe bar on a stool drinking

soda and had a directsightline to the front lobby.Fausta lolled in, presentedher guest voucher andcollected the welcomepatter and a load of hand-pointing from thereceptionist. She passedthrough the swing door tothe women’s changingroom. After a few seconds,I abandoned my drink andfollowed her. I caught up

with her in the Japanesemassage pool where thenoise of the forced jet over-rode anything we mightsay.

‘You want me to what?’Her eyes almost fell out ofher head. She said nothingfor a few moments, lettingthe water pound into herback.

‘That’s a ten to fifteenstretch.’ Her face muscles

contracted to resemble across cat.

‘Oh, you think youmight get caught? I didn’tknow you’d slipped thatmuch.’

‘Why do you always dothat? You’re such a cheat.’

‘Fausta!‘What?’‘Never mind. Will you

or won’t you?’‘Of course I will. You

knew that.’‘Why did you insist we

meet here then?’She grinned at me. ‘I’ve

never been in here. Iwanted to see it formyself.’

*Hallie collected Allegra aweek later to take her tostay at the palace for a fewdays. Allegra was so muchbetter physically, but she’d

moped around the house,wanting to be with otherpeople and nervous of herown shadow. Too bad herbrave little adventure hadended with a beating.

‘Honestly, Hallie,’ I saidwhen I called her, ‘she’ll beso much better with someyoung company.’

‘Brilliant idea, AuntCarina, it’ll be great tohave her. At least you

won’t have to worry aboutsecurity.’

As she stood in thecourtyard ready to get intothe black SUV with Hallieand the guard, Allegraclung to me for a fewseconds, then drew backand gave me a little smile.

‘I have to get over this,Mama. I hate being sopathetic.’

She turned, smiled at

the driver holding the dooropen, pulled herself upinto the back seat. Throughthe tinted bullet-proofwindow, her waving handlooked so small.

*‘I don’t know how some ofthese people can breathe aswell as stand,’ I said,waving my Senatecommittee folder in the air.‘Who in Hades elected

them? The first rulers hadit right – experienced andclever only, and onehundred per centappointed.’

‘That bad?’ Conrad hadbeen waiting for meoutside the members’room. His smile rose at oneend of his mouth and heput his arm around myshoulders and gave me aquick sideways hug. He

released me and watchedthe others as they filed out.Some scurried past,pretending not to see him,but one approached us andshook Conrad’s hand.

‘How are you, Mitelus?’she said.

‘Volusenia,’ he nodded.‘Glad your trial went

well. Just need to get thatother thing quashed. Anysign of that girl?’

‘Unfortunately not, butthe custodes are working onit,’ he replied smoothly.

‘Ha! Well, we’ve justlocked their budget to lastyear’s levels, so they’ll nodoubt put that forward asan excuse.’ She turned tome. ‘Whatever the otherssay, I think divertingbudget to the addictionprogramme is entirelyjustified. We need more

education and preventionas well as clinics. It affectsus at all levels.’ Sheglanced at Conrad, thenback at me. ’You have mygroup’s support all theway through.’

‘Well,’ Conrad said afterthe stout figure hadhurried off out of earshot,‘that’s a coup. What onearth did you promiseher?’

‘Nothing. I was asamazed as you when shestood up to annihilate theopposition. Maybe it’s notentirely unconnected withStella. I caught a fewrumours speculating abouther position, now she’s aconvicted criminal.’

XXXIII

‘So when SenatorVolusenia gave myproposal support in theplenary, it flew through.’

‘I’d like to have seenthat,’ Silvia said thefollowing day at ourweekly consultation. Shelaid my report on her desk.

‘Volusenia’s prettyformidable, not exactlyfamous for her work onsocial issues. So you thinkthis is an expression ofworries about thesuccession?’

‘Nobody’s saidanything to my face. Yet.But it has to be there.’ Ismiled at her. ‘It’s not likeMarcia and MaeliaApulia.’ Three hundred

years ago, two imperialsisters – the elder a waster,the younger a tirelessservant of the state – hadslugged it out thetraditional way in thearena, swords in hand, infront of the TwelveFamilies. ‘Hallie loves hersister even though Stelladrives her crazysometimes. Anyhow,you’re not falling over yet.’

She gave me a sardoniclook. ‘Thanks. But it’ssomething I have to thinkabout. And soon.’

We passed on to otherstuff for the next hour. Ileft her working on herreading and went to findAllegra. I heard the loudtelevision in the hallwaybefore I knocked onHallie’s door. Nobodyanswered, so I slipped in.

She and Allegra weresitting on the couchlaughing at some inaneteenage film.

‘Noooo! You dumbasstart!’ I heard my studiousdaughter shout at thescreen.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.This is total crap!’ agreedHallie.

I coughed loudly andboth faces whirled around.

‘Nice, girls. Really nice.’Both went crimson.‘We didn’t know you

were there,’ accusedAllegra. Her face wasopen, eyes sparkling andchin out in defiance. I wasthrilled.

‘No, well, let’s moveon.’ I hugged her to meand put my other armaround Hallie.

‘Have you come to fetch

me home?’‘Not unless you want

me to. I had a meetingwith Aunt Silvia.’

’We’re going shoppingtomorrow.’

I must have frowned orsomething.

Allegra drew back amillimetre. ‘Don’t worry,we’ve got Hallie’s guard.’

‘I know, darling. AndI’m not going to say

anything lame like “becareful”. Okay?’

She docked her chininto the normal positionand grinned.

*After agreeing dates withJunia for our summerholiday at the farm atCastra Lucilla, whichwould include theinevitable estate meetings,I was trying to get my

head around theallocations in the statebudget. Problem was that Ifound it difficult tochallenge the minister onfunding requests for thesecurity services. I hadasked the senate presidentto reassign me, but she justsmiled and said I wasperfectly fitted for the job,so I would stay in the postuntil another more suitable

opening occurred. Likenever. I sighed andattacked the keyboard,drafting a few ideas for thehearing. Conrad and Iwere going out to ourfavourite restaurant, theOnyx, tonight so I gavemyself an hour to writesomething half-reasonable.

I felt rather than sawsomebody intrude on myconcentration. Allegra

stood there looking at mealmost like a stranger. Herfine hair hung straight,framing an oval facedominated by eyesabnormally wide andround, shining like mossgreen agates. But herhands were trembling.

‘Whatever is it,darling?’ I got to my feetcarefully, so I didn’t startleher and took her hands.

I drew her down to theleather couch and waited.

‘We went to see Stellathis afternoon.’ She turnedher face away. ‘Thosepoor, struggling people.She’s so good with them.Some she coaxes, some shejokes with, others shepushes hard, but sheknows exactly how to talkto each one to make themfeel they’re valued. One

girl, about my age, wassobbing, sitting in thecorner of the room, herface to the wall. Stella wentand sat with her, huggedher and rocked her in herarms. She was still therewhen we left. She justturned, gave us a vaguesmile then went back tocomforting the girl.’

‘I’m glad you went tosee her. She must have

enjoyed having her sistersvisit with her.’

‘But that’s it. We werejust visitors. The centre isher home, her life.’

‘Why does that worryyou so much?’

‘She can’t do that all herlife – she’s the heir! Butshe’ll be so upset when shehas to leave.’

‘Aunt Silvia knows, butfor the moment, Stella has

something purposeful todo and is obviouslyfinding it fulfilling. She’ssettled there for two years.Working with peoplewho’ve had few or no life-chances or who’ve becomelost will make her a betterruler when her timecomes.’

Allegra said nothing,but she rubbed the seatleather with the fingertips

of her splayed hand.‘Is there something

else?’‘One of the boys I talked

to there, he was aroundeighteen, told me he’d onlybeen injecting for fivemonths. He couldn’tbelieve what he’d done tohimself. It was so sad.He’d been struck off theapprentice list and lost allhope of getting back on it. I

asked him about his familyand they sounded sonormal, not a broken homeor anything. He’d startedwhen one of his friend’sgirlfriends gave them somestuff and needles. He saidhe must have been a bitdrunk at the time.’

I laid my hand on herforearm. ‘It’s devastating, Iknow, darling, I saw somuch of it in America

when I lived in New York.’‘No, but listen, Mama.

This girlfriend, he said,had eyes just like mine andblond hair and a foreignaccent.’ Her eyes fixed onme.

When I didn’t sayanything, she touched myhand.

‘You know what I’msaying, don’t you?’

‘Unfortunately, yes.

Well, I’m not surprised. Idon’t suppose he gave youher address and phonenumber?’ I heard the bittertone in my own voice. Fatchance.

‘No, but he’s only beenat the centre for threeweeks. He’s in the detoxstage. He heard she wassquatting up near the oldcastle, in the caves.’

*

Conrad and I left the Onyxaround ten, our voices alittle overheated, andcaught a taxi to therailroad station. Once onthe train to AquaeCaesaris, we took turns inthe restroom, changinginto pants and sweatsConrad had brought in hiscasual bag. I’d cleared myface of make-up andstuffed the diamond

earrings into my safetypocket. We walkedthrough to the front of thetrain and sat in secondclass.

We jumped off as soonas the train drew in and atthe ticket office, dialled inthe code to release the keysfor the rental vehicle I’dreserved that afternoon.Maybe it was a little riskyRV-ing at the same old inn,

but I’d never seen the samebarkeep twice, nor thesame customers. This time,Philippus was waiting forus. And there were twomale customers in a cornerwho glanced across at us alittle longer than wasnecessary. I smiled tomyself.

‘Friends of yours, Phil?’‘Well, you never know.’‘Chicken.’

He frowned for a fewseconds, then laughed.‘One day you’ll twist mytail once too often. Youmay regret it.’

Conrad went very still.‘I’ll be ready when that

day comes,’ I replied in aquiet voice. ‘Rememberthat.’

He grunted. He wavedand one of his toughs wentto the bar and fetched

some beers over to us andwithdrew to their corner.

Flavius arrived a fewminutes later, swept hisgaze around the bar area,taking in the toughs. Hesat down and rolled hiseyes at Phil.

‘Even numbers,’ Philreplied.

‘Okay, enough of theplayground,’ I said.‘Where are we now?’

‘Fausta gave me this foryou,’ said Flavius andhanded over an envelopewith a coded tab. ‘Did youtell her we were meeting?’

‘No, but she’s notstupid.’

I entered the code we’dagreed on and read thecontents. From the cornerof my eye, I saw all threemen pretending not tolook, but I felt the

pressure.‘She detected a tamper

signature from a hacker,but more importantly she’sfound Nicola. She’s givenme a list of sightings andsome screenshots.’ I leafedthrough the photos. ‘Oh,she’s added a much earlierone. Well, damn.’

‘What?’ Conrad said.‘Remember those two

tourists in the palace, one

slinked off while the other,the journo, was locked upand Favonius Cotta calledyou in?’

‘Well?’‘The one that snuck off,

leaving the journo to shoutblue murder, was Nicola.Presumably stirring thingsup.’

Conrad stayed silent,just looked down andmade patterns on the table

with a drop of spilled beer.‘Anyway, Fausta’s had

the hacker detained inprivate solitary, pendingmy instructions.’

‘Jupiter, if the legatecatches her on a non-sanctioned op, she’ll be inthe shit,’ said Flavius.

‘Not at all, Flavius,’Conrad said. ‘She’s ID’dsomebody attacking anultra level government

network. Knowing her,she’ll probably get acommendation.’ He smiledat me. ‘Reminds me ofanother insubordinatecaptain who pulled similartricks.’

Philippus sat lookinginto his beer sayingnothing. His brows weredrawn together and linesat the side of his nose werepronounced.

‘Did you sort out yourleaks, Phil?’ I asked.

‘Nearly. One of thempulled a knife on me anddamned near stuck itthrough my throat, hencethose two.’ He wavedtowards the two in thecorner. ‘A crack head whowon’t be needing his fixany longer. Another loserwill be seeking alternativeemployment when she

comes out of hospital.There’s one I haven’tcaught yet. But I will.’

I coughed. ‘Moving on.We’ve heard a rumour thatNicola’s been squatting upby the old castle in thecaves.’

‘That’s where the crackhead lived.’

‘Okay. I don’t want thescarabs tramping all overit, so we’ll keep it low-key.

Flav, do you think any ofthe others would bewilling to help?

‘I know Livius would,and Paula. Not so sure ofAtria. Nov’s abroad in alegation somewhere andTreb’s on maternity.’

‘OK, set them up. We’llgo for a little walk aroundthe old castle and see whatwe can find. RV at 21.00tomorrow in the turnout

before the road splits off tothe ruins.’

XXXIV

Calling it a turnout wasn’treally accurate; further infrom a large car lot was agrass area with picnictables, overlooking thecity. The view was open,but to each side, woodswere threatening toreclaim the cleared area.

But cars could park inbetween the trees at theedges; a perfect place for aromantic rendezvous. Butnobody was here thisevening except one smallhatchback at the far leftedge. Maybe it was tooearly for teenagers makingout.

We parked the bike neara table and sat armsaround each other, staring

down at the city, enjoyingthe warm May evening.Immediately below us, softfloodlighting played on theGolden Palace, perchedhalfway up the castle hill.It had been built in the1700s when the Apuliansfelt safe enough toabandon the medievalstronghold whose ruinswere a short distance fromus up the road.

Down in the valley, thesquare of the forum wasmore harshly lit, the Senateand temples stark in thecontrast with the almostmoonless night. The gridlayout of the cityfascinated me, like aSudoku blank, but basedon four instead of three.Lights blazing out fromshop windows andrestaurants added colour

to the squares at the centre.‘Reinforcements,’

Conrad whispered.Turning as if into hisembrace, I looked over hisshoulder. A black SUV haddrawn up and driven intothe trees. Three men gotout.

‘Phil has brought hismonkeys,’ I said. ‘I’ll tryand get rid of them.’

But only Philippus

came forward. He wasdressed entirely in black,including a waisted leatherjacket and soft boots.

‘I expect you’d preferthem to stay here.’ Heperched on the next table,crossed his arms andjerked his head back to hisvehicle.

‘Well, yes.’‘I know you. You only

trust the ones you know.’

He laughed. ‘I only wantone little scumbag, then I’lllet you get on with it.’

‘We’re just looking,Phil.’

‘Yeah? So why’s yoursoldier-boy packing, aGlock?’ He smirked atConrad who kept a neutralface.

Several seconds passedwhile I stared him out.

‘Bruna.’ Livius

materialised behindPhilippus. Close behind.‘Everything good?’

‘Fine.’Under the shelter of the

trees, Livius handed outurbancam jackets, trousersand caps. I shucked off myleathers and pulled themon. Philippus hesitated.

‘What?’‘Did I really need

these?’ He held the

camouflage clothing out infront of him as if they wereweek-old laundry.

‘Unless you want tostick out like a fairgroundtarget on the rock face,then yes.’

‘Good thing Liviusbrought some double X,’Conrad murmured, notquite to himself.

Philippus took a steptowards Conrad, face

burning.I stepped between

them, my back toPhilippus and mouthed‘shut up’ at Conrad.

Conrad just shruggedand reached for somefatigues. I beckoned himaway from the others.

‘You’ll have to stayhere,’ I said and pointed athis leg.

He grinned, bent down

and pulled his pants legaway from his ankle. Therewas no tag bracelet.

‘You dumbass! Get thehell back home and strap itback on.’ He had a two-hour window before thecustodes would beeverywhere, hunting him.

‘Settle down, I’ve by-passed it.’

‘What? How? It’s DNA-matched. And how did

you get it off?’‘Easy. You bridge the

security wire running thelength of the band, thencut it. The circuit staysunbroken. They don’t haveinternal light sensors sinceDNA-matching came inlast year.’

‘Yes but if it doesn’tdetect your DNA, it’llalarm.’

‘I’m not the only one

with male Tella DNA inour household.’

I was so horrified, Icouldn’t speak for amoment.

‘Do not tell me youmade an innocent eleven-year-old wear your tag?’

‘Gil was fine about it.Quite proud to help hisdad out.’ He looked at mealmost pityingly.‘Sometimes your moral

sense is a bit asymmetric,love.’

Too furious to speak tohim any more, I turnedaway and checked watchesand comms with Livius.

‘Paula and Flav are inplace,’ he said. ‘Not a lothappening up there at lastreport.’

‘So let’s go.’We kept to the line of

the cliff edge, hidden by

the trees. Old paintingsshowed the whole areacleared of any growthhigher than half a metre,but tonight I thankednature for taking it backover the two hundredyears since then.

In front of the ruins rana grassed area, borderedby wood stakes and anornamental chain to keepvisitors at a proper

distance. One wing of thecastle could be visited witha guide, but the partnearest the cliff wasblocked off. Nobodywanted to fill out thepaperwork associated witha foreigner falling out of asecond floor windowstraight down the verticalcliff into the valley below.The granite walls showedorange in the floodlights,

black empty rectangleswhere windows had beenhigh in the walls andbelow them thin, tall arrowslits looked like they’dbeen drawn on with a feltpen.

Behind the castle,around fifty metres away,rose a sheer rock facedotted with caveentrances. Some had beenbuilt across, even with

doors and the oddwindow. Once used byhomeless people and thosewho lived on the margin,these days they were mostlikely to house runawaysand petty criminals. Thecustodes raided them fromtime to time, when themedia complained about‘lawless elements’ or whenthe arrest statistics werelow for the month and

they needed to up theirfigures for an inspection.

I signalled Liviusforward, timing him onmy watch. He stayed closeto the treeline, dodgingbehind the ticket kiosk forcover halfway when he ranacross the open vehicleentrance. Nothing from thegaping holes. All I couldhear was an occasional foxbark, and the buzz of

insects around thefloodlight lenses. Nothingelse.

I left it a few minutesthen signalled Philippuswith my fingers that hehad six seconds to getacross. Philippus wassurprisingly light on hisfeet for his sturdy buildand nearly as fast asLivius. We waited anotherten minutes. I nodded to

Conrad and launchedmyself. He was barely asecond behind me.

A ping in my ear.‘Bruna, Paula.’‘Report.’‘Last visitors left at

19.00. Staff locked up andwent by 19.20. We’ve seennobody since then. Unableto verify if anybody wasthere before we tookposition, but no torch or

other light observed.’‘Okay, out.’Paula had the

aluminium collapsibleladders ready at the baseof the cliff. They were usedby building surveyors innormal life but, sprayedwith flat finish grey andblack pattern, they wereperfect for us tonight. Isent Philippus and Flaviusup the right side of the

cluster of caves, Livius andI up the left. Conrad tookup station at the base ofthe cliff to guard ourbacks.

I reached up and edgedmy fingers around thelower corner of the nearestcave and very slowlyeased the top edge of myperiscope up. I scannedslowly and through thegreen haze saw no heat

signatures.‘Flav, Bruna. Report’‘Nothing.’‘Okay, let’s get in.’Watching for any

warning mechanisms,devices or wires, wehoisted ourselves up intothe caves. Flavius andPhilippus’s cave met oursabout ten metres in. Weswept the area millimetreby millimetre with our

green beam flashlights, butfound nothing but a fewcartons, some torn tarps,abandoned cooking andeating debris. The wholeplace stank of mustinessand stale urine.

‘Bruna, here,’ hissedLivius.

A sickly sweet smell, abuzz of flies. Livius shonehis beam down. A face inagony grimaced back, all

life gone.‘Oh, shit.’ I covered my

mouth with my hand.‘Paula, Bruna. We need abody bag up here. Andsome gloves.’

Philippus looked at theface made more sickly bythe steady green light, bentdown for a second or twoand studied it. He stoodup as if satisfied.

While Flavius and

Philippus bagged up thecorpse, Livius and Iscouted around the back ofthe caves. In the corner,almost hidden, wediscovered a passagewaywith some crude stepsleading up to the nextlevel, the ones where theentrances were built acrossoutside. The air wasfresher and behind acurtain hung to conceal

rough wood shelves wereblankets, three sleepingbags, two large watercarriers – full, tins of food,and plastic boxes of rationsand utensils. Everythingwas arranged tidily, theblankets packed in plasticziplock bags.

‘Military, no doubt,’Livius said quietly, ‘Nodust. Somebody was herevery recently. High chance

it’s our target,’ Across theother side, in a recess, wasa cupboard under ahomemade shelving unit.Livius bent down andpicked the crude lock.Inside, we found a plasticstorage box with a clip-down lid and containingbags of white powder.

I glanced at him. ‘We’llleave this. I don’t want toshare with our, um,

associate on this one. Wecan pick it up later.’

We closed the box andLivius relocked thecupboard. We checkedeverything was in itsoriginal place and heflicked over the cave floorwith a telescopic fan brushto obliterate our footprints.

Back at the cliff base,Philippus was gruntingafter the strenuous effort of

helping Flavius bring thebody down. He slid his cellout of his pocket andspoke quietly into it. Wegathered our equipmenttogether and made astretcher for the body outof the ladders. When wereached the castle,Philippus put his arm out.

‘We’ll take care of this,’he said and nodded to theSUV crawling along the

road to the castle entrance,its lights unlit. The vehiclestopped and his twotoughs strode up to us,quietly but purposefully,one toting a compactbullpup assault rifle.

Hades. Where did theyget that from?

Conrad took a half-stepforward. I shook my head.

‘You can’t just take abody, Phil. It has to be

reported,’ I said.‘Oh, please! This is what

I came for. I didn’t say ithad to be warm and alive.Looked as if he friedhimself anyway.’ Hesmirked. ‘An example toshow others and one lessthing for you to worryabout.’

While his monkeycovered us, he stripped offthe urbancam fatigues and

thrust them back at Livius.He bowed to me and saidironically, ‘It was anhonour to serve with youtonight.’

We tabbed back to theparking lot in silence. In away, I couldn’t helpagreeing with Philippus.The custodes would havemade the whole place acrime scene, Paula, Liviusand Flavius could have

caught a disciplinary, andConrad and I would havehad a heap of explaining todo. Even so…

I thanked the threeothers for coming alongtonight. Paula smiled andwalked towards thehatchback, Livius gave mea light thump on the backand Flavius? He justnodded and disappeared.

*

Back home, I laid mymotorcycle helmet downon the side table withoutpaying attention and itrolled off and crashed tothe marble floor. Damn,something else to bethrown out with thegarbage. I rubbed myforehead with my fingers.

‘Something to tell me?’Conrad asked.

‘Yes and no.’

He poured us a brandyeach. I took mine over tothe atrium glass wall andstared out at the buddingroses – Nonna’s favourites,which she wouldn’t eversee again. My shinbonewas aching after theclambering around in thecaves so I flopped downon to one of the couches.

‘Livius and I found astash of white powder in

little plastic baggies in theother cave. We couldn’ttest it, but I’m pretty sure itwasn’t icing sugar.’

Conrad tapped hislower lip with the outeredge of his glass and saidnothing. After a fewminutes, he glanced up atme.

‘Okay, so apart fromconcealing a death insuspicious circumstances,’

he said, ‘we’re failing toreport proscribedsubstances.’ He half-smiled at me, but his eyesdidn’t reflect it. ‘I thoughtyou’d given up being acowboy.’

*Conrad and I watched thecaves for the next five daysand evenings, but nothinghappened. On the sixthevening, we climbed up

using the equipmentLivius had left with us, butno sign of anybody or ofanything being used ormoved. I was torn whetherto report the drugs, but itwould have alertedwhoever it was that wewere on to them. And asLivius suggested, I wassure it was Nicola.

I woke late Saturdaymorning, alone, groggy

from catching up on sleepand irritated at our lack ofprogress. I guessed I’dhave to call Pelonia orLurio and tell them whatwe’d found. Depressed atthat thought, I headed forthe shower.

I was still figuring outwhat to do when I enteredthe breakfast room andalmost bumped intoDaniel.

‘Hey, watch out,’ hesaid, protecting his mug ofcoffee.

‘Sorry.’‘Are you okay? I

haven’t seen you for ages.’I flicked my hand back.

‘Doing this and that.’‘Really? Is that why

Junia had to take in twomessages from the Senateoffice and I had to sign forsome hi-pri package last

night? Where’ve youbeen?’ He fixed me with anintense brown eye stare.

‘Nowhere.’He’d moved full-time

into the PGSF HQ buildingwhen we’d broughtConrad back fromEngland. I’d insisted.Daniel was edging into thepolitical sphere now aslegate and I didn’t wanthim tainted by association

with us, especially ifConrad was convicted.

But only hours afterConrad’s major treasontrial had collapsed,Daniel’s official car pulledup in the courtyard ofDomus Mitelarum. He’djumped out, hardlywaiting for his driver tounload his cases from thetrunk.

Now he held me with

his stare, his brows raised,shallow lines crossing hisforehead. I’d forgottenhow astute he was underthe boisterous manner.

‘No, really. Meetings,committees, you know.’

‘Conrad had to go aswell?’

‘I don’t run hisappointment book, Daniel.And he’s curfewed as youknow well.’

He set his coffee cupdown on the table.

‘No, sorry, won’t wash.Tell me the truth.’

Daniel didn’t commentexcept to promise not todiscipline Flavius and theothers. He shrugged. ‘Justremember you have nowarrant or authority. Ifyou and they get intotrouble, you’re all on yourown and Conrad ends up

in prison.’

XXXV

I sat in the atrium lateafternoon debating whattreat Gil deserved forwearing Conrad’s tag forhim all this week.Somewhere along the genepool, Gil had inherited theone that took him straightto dismantling and

building things. He’d beenin Elysium the week he’dspent with Conrad’s madinventor cousin, SextiliusGavro, who I’d first metsixteen years ago in NewYork.

But Gil loved risks aswell. Maybe a day go-karting, or some kind ofchallenge trail. I’d ask him;it was his treat. I closed myeyes and relaxed for a few

moments. I was lucky tohave children who wereself-driving and ready tostep up so willingly. And,like Allegra, to takeresponsibility well beyondher age. A little too much,to be honest.

‘Um?’An urgent hand shaking

my shoulder broke me outof my doze.

Junia, half behind me,

frowning.I turned and saw one of

the palace Praetorians witha grim look on her face.

‘Countess Mitela, theimperatrix requires yourimmediate attendance.’Crap.Now what had

happened?*

The instant I walked in I

knew it was bad. Threeawkward figures wearinggrim faces stood in a semi-circle: Lurio in a quicklytidied up version of hiseveryday uniform, Peloniain her svelte casualtailoring, but one handtwitching at her pants leg,some man I didn’t know injeans and sweat top. Silvia,arms crossed was standingaway from them, studying

some heroic battle scenepainting on the oppositewall.

I bowed in theimperatrix’s direction,nodded to the cops andraised an eyebrow to theman. He was aroundthirty, dark, stubble chinand petrified.

Silvia turned at thesound of my arrival. Sheflicked her hand towards

the man. ‘Fabius Pico,Countess Mitela, mysecurity counsellor. Picois/was Stella’s supervisor.’

Is or was? I waited.Silvia’s face was flushed.The skin over her nose andcheekbones was tight as ifthe underlying tissue haddisappeared. She lookedfurious, but somehowchagrined at the sametime.

Lurio coughed andfidgeted from one foot toanother.

‘Would somebody careto tell me what’shappened?’ I asked.

‘Stella’s absconded.’Silvia’s voice sounded asdrained as her face.

I had them all sitaround the cherry woodtable. Silvia’s fingers ranalong the grain markings

slowly but persistently.Lurio relaxed, but notquite into his usual slouch.

‘When did we know shewas missing?’ I asked.

Silvia nodded at Picowho sat a little away upthe table, one handgrasped in the other, theshoulders of his skinnyframe rounded.

I smiled at him in anattempt to reassure him.

‘Just as it comes, don’t tryto put it in any order. Ifyou suddenly think ofanything you want to addto anything you saidpreviously, just interrupt.’

Once he got over hisnervousness, he wasreasonably logical. Iscribbled some notes downas well as recordingeverything on my cell.

‘She was there at

breakfast, then had acouple of counsellingappointments. She’s verygood at those. She has thatknack of getting them toopen up, but not invadingtheir dignity. She came inand grabbed a sandwichon a plate and went to talkto a new arrival, a youngwoman who’d walked inoff the street.’

He pulled his cell out

and handed it to me. ‘Idownloaded the footagefrom the CCTV at the frontdoor, if it helps.’

I jammed my lipstogether as I watched theshort clip. I passed it overto Lurio who grunted, thenpushed it at Pelonia. Hereyes widened for a fractionof a second. She saidnothing, but gave it back tome. I showed Silvia who

stared at the screen,running the five secondsequence over and over.

‘Stella had nothingbooked for the afternoon,’Pico continued, avoidinglooking at Silvia. ‘Sheusually used time like thatfor reading or talking tothe others. Last time I sawher, she was in the garden.That was just after two. Ihad a group counselling

session, a double, so Ifinished at half three.’

His eyes dartednervously towards Silvia.‘She’s so happy there. Youwouldn’t think she’sserving a sentence. I can’tunderstand why she’sgone.’

‘Why don’t you activateher electronic tag?’ I asked.

‘We found it stuffed inthe back of her cupboard.

It had been bridged andcut.’

Jupiter! Another one.Better go back to the lightsensitive ones if these newDNA ones were so easy toshuck off. I batted thataside.

Pico gave me his mailaddress and I advised himI’d send him a statement tocheck and e-sign then sendto Pelonia. He stood and

waited, hovering like somesummer fly. His eyesdarted to the cell in Silvia’shands.

‘Imperatrix,’ I said,gently.

She looked up, her eyesblurred with tears whichshe didn’t let escape.

‘Fabius Pico needs hisphone.’

I thought she was goingto throw it across the

room, but she let it dropfrom her fingers on to thetable. Pelonia grabbed it,transferred the footage toher own and laid it back onthe table. Pico dartedforward like a nervousbird and scooped it up. Henodded to us, bobbed hishead in a quick bow toSilvia and escaped.

I caught my breath andheld it for a few seconds.

‘That bitch has got mydaughter again,’ Silviaalmost choked. Shebrought her hands up toher face and the tearsleaked out between herfingers. ‘I can’t understandwhy you haven’t caughther. Get out there and dosomething!’

I held my cell out to her.‘Give me Stella’s trackercode, and your consent,

and we’ll find her.’*

‘All right, Bruna, Iapologise. I was wrong,’Lurio said.

‘Say it to Allegra, andthe imperatrix, and I’llbelieve you.’

We were about to leavethe imperial office area,when Favonius Cottaappeared. He didn’t say athing, just held out the

scanner with my oldwarrant card sticking out,waited for me to tap myaccess code in, confirmed itand handed me the cardwhich I stuffed in mypocket.

Lurio, Pelonia and Ifound a quiet corner in thepalace atrium. When I’dseen Nicola captured onPico’s phone, I thought Iwas going to throw up. But

somehow I knew it wouldbe her.

I told Lurio aboutFausta’s discovery that thepublic feed had beendoctored and promised toemail them her list ofsightings and screenshots.

‘I’ll instruct her torelease the hacker intoyour custody.’

‘Very gracious of you,’he grumped. ‘Anything

else you’d like to share?’‘I have an idea about

where Nicola’s hiding out.’I told him about ourreconnaissance andobservation over the pastweek. I didn’t mentionConrad’s part.

‘I should book you for—’

‘Yes, I’m sure youshould but I was trying tofigure out how to set a

trap.’ I laid my hand on hisarm. ‘She’s good, Lurio,she’s very good. You won’tround her up in the usualway. She’ll run, go toground and we’ll have tostart over.’

He grunted, but seemedto accept it.

I hesitated as I held thescanner to activate Stella’spersonal tracker code. Thetiny tracking device had

been inserted into hershoulder tissue when shewas a small child. It hadnever been triggered. Onlythe head of family couldauthorise it and inemergencies only. Unlikean external tag thatconvicted criminals wore,it was designed forprotection not control. Andshe’d always hadPraetorians around her.

I entered the code andtapped. The map griddisappeared as the signalzoomed in on a ten metresquare at the ruined castle.

Pelonia hurried off tosend a deep cover teaminto the woods and step upthe overhead electronicsurveillance on the caves. Icalled Daniel to ask him torelease Flavius, Livius andPaula to RV at the far end

of the palace gardens intwenty minutes.

‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Asit’s official this time, you’llhave proper back up, likeit or not. Two squads willbe covert in the garden.’

I didn’t argue. Then Icalled on Conrad for themost dangerous task.

*In the back of the privatepalace garden I gave the

signal to disable the backsector of the electronicperimeter alarm. I watchedas the inspection hatch ofthe overhead protectivecanopy opened with a softhum as the hydraulicsupport arms wereexposed.

The canopy archedaway from the cliff overthe back five metres of thegarden, long struts parallel

to the back cliff and shorterones forming the curvedstructure. A beautiful pieceof modern engineering andstyle, but lethal; all theedges were razor sharp todiscourage interlopers.

I was already kitted upby the time the othersarrived. I studied the climbup to the old castle rock.Although it was virtuallysheer, it was sandstone

and had enough possiblehandholds. The only riskwas falling on to thebarrier and getting cut uplike salami. But it was theonly way up that Nicolacouldn’t see. With thecustodes in the woods, wecouldn’t risk inserting anymore people up that road;it was too late forinfiltration as tourists.Daniel and Lurio would sit

in the PGSF control roomand do the hardest part –waiting.

Livius and Paula wouldclimb as a roped pairfollowed by me andFlavius. I nodded and weapproached the base. AsLivius set his foot on therock, my cell vibrated inmy pocket.

‘Mama? It’s Allegra.’Her voice was only just

higher than a whisper.‘Can I call you back,

darling, I’m a little busyright now.’

Livius rolled his eyes.‘No. This is important.

I’ve found Nicola.’I gripped the cell so

hard, my fingers ached.‘Where are you?’‘Up behind the old

castle. I saw Nicola withStella in the town. I was on

my way to visit her again.Nicola was dragging heralong by the arm. So Ifollowed them on myscooter.’Shit.‘Where exactly are

you?’‘Hiding. Down behind

the last buttress on thewest curtain wall, near thecliff.’

She sounded super

calm. Unnaturally calm.Was Nicola holding a gunto her head? I closed myeyes. No, her voice wouldbe more stilted. Was she inthe grip of some traumaafter her attack?

‘Mama? Are you there?‘Yes. Yes, I’m here.’ I

swallowed hard. I wantedto shake her hard forplunging into this, butnow was not the time to let

my temper out. ‘Nowlisten, Allegra, and don’tmess with me. I want youto stay there. Do not move.If you get cramp, too bad.Do not sneeze – grab yournose and bury your headin your clothes. Do notfidget. Don’t peek aroundthe buttress even if youhear a scream. Set your cellto low vibrate only and putit next to your skin, but

within easy reach. I won’tcall you unless it’s crucial.Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’‘Good. I’m on my way.

Don’t react if you see me,or Flavius or the two othersoldiers. Nicola may havespotted you and be leavingyou there as bait. I don’twant to frighten you, butyou have to understandwhy you must not react.’

‘I understand.’‘Can you manage that,

do you think?’‘Yes.’ Determination

sounded through her thinvoice.

‘One last thing… Wheredid you leave yourscooter?’

‘Oh! Behind the kiosk.’‘Okay. That’s fine.’‘No, it’s not, is it?’ Her

voice trembled at last.

‘It’s fine, Allegra. If shecomes up the road, shewon’t see it. Promise,’ Ilied and cut the call.

‘Fucking Pluto inTartarus.’ I leaned backagainst the cliff and closedmy eyes for a fewmoments. All threesoldiers looked at me withconcern on their faces. Ishook my head to clear it.

‘Let’s get up there stat.’

It only took twentyminutes. It was hard workbut not fatiguing. Liviusand Paula climbed fivemetres to our right. Thetemperature wasdropping, but wasn’t coldenough to plume ourbreath. Half a metre belowthe crest, I eased my nightperiscope up, a centimetreat a time. Sure, we wereout of sight line of the

caves, but this was Nicolawe were dealing with, atrained and experiencedreconnaissance expert.

‘Bruna, Livius.Anything?’

‘Zero. Wait five.’After five minutes of

seeing nothing, I easedmyself up over the edgeand crawled forward onmy stomach, using myelbows to propel my body

forwards. The curtain wallloomed and I saw the firstbuttress and the darkshadow of a figureslumped against it.

Unless Nicola hadlearned to see aroundcorners, Allegra was safe. Ilet a breath out slowly andrelaxed my shoulders. Iunclipped my climbingharness and crept alongthe crest very slowly. I

knew the fabric of myfatigues dimmed my heatsignature, but I assumednothing. It was only tenmetres to the protection ofthe wall, but they seemedlike a hundred.

Halfway there, thefigure stirred and castaround with anxious eyes.It was my Allegra. Shedidn’t make a sound, butgave me a little smile. Then

her face crumpled and Isaw tears, reflecting likedrops of moonlight. Butshe kept still.

I covered the last metreand pulled her into myarms.

She sniffed. ‘Don’tsuppose you’ve broughtanything to eat with you?’she whispered.

XXXVI

A tiny movement behindme.

‘Bruna,’ Liviuswhispered, crouchingdown. The barrel of hissniper rifle stuck out abovehis shoulder like he wassome bandit in a Balkanmovie. He winked at

Allegra. She stared back,wide-eyed.

‘Livius, you and Paulago to the kiosk,’ Iwhispered. ‘Flav and I willgo for the side of theentrance steps. When thediversion appears, move tothe base of the rising cliff,left of the first cave asbefore.’ I glanced at mywatch. ‘You have sevenminutes.’

He turned andmurmured into his micand Paula appearedseconds later. He studiedthe far cliff with hisbinoculars for about half aminute, nodded at Paulaand the two of them lopedoff. My arms triangulatedin support, I zoomed myown scope to max andwatched the caves whilethey deployed but saw

nothing through the greenlight world.

‘Bruna, Livius. Inposition.’

‘Livius, Bruna. Noted.Cover us. Out.’

I smiled at Allegra. ‘Wehave to go and do stuff. Ineed you to stay here andwait. You can move a little,but don’t stand up. Youmay hear gunshots orother noises, but stay here.

I or one of the others willcome back and fetch youwhen it’s over.’ I searchedher face, but she seemedcalm enough. ‘Can you dothis?’

She nodded. I wrappeda cam survival blanketfrom my backpack aroundher and left her munchingon a super-cal chocolatefruit bar.

My heart left by the

buttress, I turned and creptafter Flav.

*Four and one half minuteslater, the noise of a carengine broke the silence.As it grew louder, wereadied ourselves. Acompact, but sportyconvertible, silver in themoonlight, came into viewand parked up on theother side of the entrance

steps where Flav and Iwere hunkered down.

A tall man pulledhimself out of the driver’sside, stood in the shelter ofthe open door and lookedaround casually, his handand forearm resting on thesoft roof. Seeming satisfiedwith what he saw, hestepped back and slammedthe door. His shoescrunched on the gravel as

he walked around thevehicle, leaned backagainst the other side andcrossed his arms.

Beside me, Flavius tooka sharp intake of breath.He’d recognised Conrad’sfeatures in the orange lightfrom the floodlights.Before I could sayanything, my earpiecepinged.

‘Bruna, Livius. In

position at the base of thecaves. Nothing yet.’

‘Maintain position andobserve.’

Conrad looked at hiswatch in a very deliberatemanner then started towalk around in a randompattern as if to relieve theboredom of waiting for theperson he was meeting toturn up. We didn’t know ifNicola was there or if

she’d take the bait ofConrad. But she had toknow we’d come for herwhen she’d abductedStella.

I was getting a crick inmy neck looking throughthe binoculars pointing upat the caves when I saw atiny disturbance in theentrance to the middlecave. A thin line was letdown the right edge.

Spaced about a foot apartalong the length were largeloops for hand andfootholds.

Conrad jerked uprightwhen he saw two figuresdescending the rope. Withmy binocs, I saw Stella,clinging on to the line as itswung around, strugglingto find loops for her feet.She missed one andslipped down the cliff face.

Juno.I covered my mouth

with my hand to stopmyself crying out. Thenshe grabbed on to the nextone with her flailing arm. Ithought she was going toplunge all the way down.Nicola followed, her handsand feet finding the loopswithout any problem likeit was a stroll through thepark.

I swallowed hard thenwhispered into my mic,‘Livius, Bruna. Track targetat twenty metres.’

At the base of the cliff, Isaw Stella, hands stretchedout towards Nicola, as ifbegging for something.Nicola’s hand came up andstruck Stella’s face. Stellafell and disappeared fromsight. Conrad ran forwardbut froze when a short

volley of shots rang out.Nicola had a micro-bullpup rifle in her handand had fired over hishead.

‘Bruna, TAC-1. Weheard live fire. Reportstatus.’

Pelonia.‘TAC-1, Bruna. All well.

Stand by until furthernotice. Out.’ I didn’t wantPelonia’s scarabs rushing

in with their flat feet allover the site.

Nicola reached downand hauled Stella to herfeet. She gave her a strongshove in the direction ofthe castle. Stella’s figurewavered as she stumbledthrough the wild shrubsand brambles eventuallyreaching the grass area infront of the castle ruins.Her arms and legs were

covered in scratches;unlike Nicola’s sturdyjeans and blouson, Stella’sthin dress and sandalsmight as well not haveexisted. She was tremblingviolently.

Around ten metres fromConrad, Nicola grabbedStella’s arm and jerked ithard. ‘That’s far enough.’

Through my binocs Isaw her eyes dart around,

pause for a second at thesteps Flav and I wereconcealed behind, andthen fix on Conrad.

‘Well, isn’t this nice,’she said. ‘Quite the familyreunion.’

‘Let her go, Nicola,’ saidConrad. ‘Your quarrel iswith me, not any of thechildren.’

‘She’s not a child. Mindyou, she’s as dopey as a

child, a bit thick. Must getit from her mother’s side.’

Conrad’s figure becamevery still but he didn’t sayanything. I’d seen thisreaction hundreds of times– he was concentrating hisstrength ready to launchhimself.

‘Come on, then, Father,’she said, beckoning himwith the bullpup. ‘You’dlike that, wouldn’t you?

Sacrifice yourself noblyand all that. You lot makeme sick, with all thatservice and honour crap.This is the twenty-firstcentury. Get real.’

‘Then why did youcome back if you hate usso much?’

‘Your dear wife wasstarting to really piss meoff. After you, she’s up thetop of my list. You are

such a bunch of losers,pussy-whipped every oneof you.’

‘Yet you took advantageof the system when youcame to live with us. Inevery way. You destroyedme, personally andprofessionally, and nearlykilled two of my otherdaughters. Why, Nicola?’

‘You deserved it,deserting my mother

without a penny afterscrewing her like sometown tart for a few weeks.You deserted her whenyou found I was on theway.’

He moved his lips, butnothing came out. I couldonly see the side of hisface, but the shock on itwas obvious. Stella staredat him like he wasCerberus from Hades.

That was it. I was donewith listening. I stood up,took two long strides awayfrom Flav who looked atme like I was crazy, andstepped forward.

‘You have that sowrong, Nicola.’

I kept to the rightextreme of her vision,trying to divert herattention away from Stellaon her left. She couldn’t

watch all of us at once. Sheswung her weapontowards me.

‘Your mother tells itdifferently,’ I said. ‘Sherefused to write and letyour father know aboutyou. She didn’t think itwas fair to burden him,she told me. Sounds prettynoble and honourable anda sacrifice on her part.’

Nicola stared at me. The

mirror of Conrad’s face. Irealised she didn’t knowabout Janice’s decision.

‘And she didn’t exist onbenefits,’ I continued.‘She’s a trained teacherand doing well in herprofession. No thanks toyou, though.’Crap, I shouldn’t have

saidthat.‘Shut your mouth,’ she

shrieked, grabbed Stella

and jammed her weaponagainst Stella’s head. Stellascreamed.

Conrad threw me adeath look.

‘Okay, Nicola, try andcalm down’, he said. ‘Wedon’t want anybodygetting hurt. Let Stella goand we’ll talk about it.’

‘Is that the best you cando?’ She made apantomime of thinking,

putting her head to oneside for a few moments.‘No, I don’t think so.’Nicola’s eyes flowed withantagonism. She shookStella, causing her towhimper and dragged herover to the far side of theruins, towards the cliffedge in the shadow of thecurtain wall. Stella trippedover a large block fallenfrom the crumbling wall

and fell, her shoulders andhead landing over theedge. She stared down thehundred metres to thepalace garden where she’dplayed as a kid. Andscreamed.

‘What are you doing?’Conrad shouted at her. Hestarted towards the twogirls.

Keeping her eyes andweapon on us, Nicola bent

and yanked Stella to herfeet in one fluidmovement. She swung thebullpup up to Stella’stemple. ‘Stay exactlywhere you are unless youwant me to blow her headoff.’

I’d managed to get alittle nearer, but didn’twant to get in Livius’ssight line. I had to leavehim a clear shot. If it came

to it. Neither Conrad nor Icould get to Nicola beforeshe could kill Stella – wewere just too far away.Stella was too terrified todo anything. She hung inNicola’s grip like some ragdoll. And she was comingunstitched. Her eyes wereall over the place, shesobbed and her wholebody trembled.

‘Livius, Bruna.’ I

mumbled into my mouthmic. ‘Can you make theshot? To take her out?’

A pause.‘Affirmative.’‘Standby.’Thank Juno, Conrad

was too far away to hearme. But when it came to it,Stella was the one to save.

‘Bruna, Paula,’ the voicein my earpiece whispered.‘I’m circling round cliff

base to vegetationperimeter. ETA threeminutes.’

If Paula could get to theedge of the brushwood,she’d be only three metresfrom Stella. Snatchabledistance. But Nicola wasgetting more agitated. Shehad to wonder what wewere doing.

‘Okay, Nicola. You haveus where you want us,’ I

said and sighed. ‘Whatnow?’

She said nothing as ifshe’d run out of ideas.

‘You’ve given your lifeto your revenge over thesepast months. Now you’vegot it, what are you goingto do?’

Conrad sent me awarning look, but Isignalled him that I had itunder control.

‘Oh no, I’m not thereyet,’ she said and gave mea tight smile that pushed achill through my veins.‘I’m going to start with mydear father. His daughtercan watch me executehim.’ She gave Stella ashake. ‘Ever seen a headexplode, little sister? Pinkbits and blood sprayingeverywhere.’

Stella stared back at her,

hiccupped, fell to herknees and threw up.

‘He’ll do as I saybecause he thinks theremight be some slightchance I might think hisdeath is enough and stopthere.’ She stared straightat Conrad. ‘Your gamble.’

He took a step forward,like a robot. Nicola placedher weapon on Stella’sneck and her finger

extended to curl aroundthe trigger.

He froze.‘Not yet.’ She looked at

me. ‘I can’t see a red dot,but you’ve no doubt got amarksman somewherewith his sight on me.Believe me, my reactionsare good. She’d be deadwithin the same second.’She tilted her head up atme. ‘Stand your sniper

down and let’s all listenwhile you do it.’

XXXVII

A second after I’d stoodLivius down, a fist-sizedchunk of Brancadorumgranite flew down fromthe curtain wall in a fast,strong trajectory. It landedsquare in Nicola’s chest.She grunted and stumbledbackwards. She swung her

arm up and loosed off aseries of rounds. Stella, leftunguarded for a fewseconds, dragged herselfaway from her tormentor.She placed one foot flat onthe ground to lever herselfupright, but Nicolarecovered quickly andkicked her in the ribs.Stella collapsed in a heap.

‘Five seconds to showyourself,’ Nicola shouted

at the wall and took a stepforward.

Allegra stepped outfrom the broken curtainwall. My heart shrivelled.No.

‘You can’t kill us all,’she called. ‘Even if youtake one, the others willget you.’

‘Oh, it’s the littleprincess, the apple of hermother’s eye. You’d be a

good one to start with.’ Sheraised the bullpup, settledher fingers on the pistolgrip and tensed her indexfinger. Conrad launchedhimself at her. I barrelledforward. But the distancewas too great. Nicolarolled away, escaping thetackle, and as shescrambled up, she fired asingle shot at Conrad.

He grunted, clasped his

arm and staggered back atthe force, and fell.

‘Back! Get back.’ Shewaved the weapon in myface.

Nicola had nearly a fullclip. We had no option butto obey her. I pulledConrad back to the curtainwall and propped him upagainst it. I checked hisarm out. It looked like aflesh wound, thank Mars,

but messy. I tied it up tightwith a field bandage whichI took out very slowly andvery obviously from mysleeve pocket.

Nicola raised her chinup at Allegra. ‘You getdown here. Now.’

Allegra stood where shewas.

Move, Allegra, for pity’ssake, do what she says, Iprayed silently.

‘Too scared, little girl?’Nicola said. ‘Well, I’ll haveto use you as a shootinggallery target.’ And raisedher weapon, pointingstraight at Allegra’s heart.

If I moved, Allegramight die or bepermanently disabled. If Ididn’t, Allegra woulddefinitely die.

In the end, it wasn’t mycall.

Hunkered down byConrad, my eye wascaught by a movementbehind Nicola. Stella wasscrambling toward her.

‘Make some noise,’ Ihissed at Conrad, ‘to coverStella.’ His eyes flickeredover to her, he blinked andstarted groaning loudly.

Nicola looked over atConrad. ‘Oh, for God’ssake, shut the fuck up.’

Stella was there andbringing her hands upfrom her sides. With analmost feral look on herface, she grasped Nicola’sankle with both hands andtugged. The bullpup let offa volley into the air anddropped from Nicola’shand as she crashed to theground. Allegradisappeared.

I launched myself at

Nicola, but she leaped upand grabbed Stella. Shewas dragging her to thecliff edge. Stella washanging on to Nicola forgrim death, making noeffort to escape.

Nicola heaved Stellaover the edge, but Stellapulled Nicola over withher. My hand touchedStella’s as I tried to grabher as they went over, but I

lost her.*

Paula kneeled over theedge, peering down andsearched with herbinoculars as I got into myharness.

‘There’s some kind ofheat signature down there,but I can’t say what. Itcould be either or both ofthem.’

‘Okay, go for white

light.’Flav was by my side,

letting out webbing andrope that he’d run andanchored to an oak tree. Ichecked the rope was wellattached to the anchorstraps, looped it throughthe belayer, twisted thelock on the carabiner.Checking through hisscope, Flav threw the ropeto the side of where the

girls had fallen. My handby my hip, I nodded tohim, and walkedbackwards over the cliffedge.

Searchlights came fromeither side, but I didn’tneed them to see Stella’sfrightened eyes staring upat me. She was clinging toa spur of rock, but herhands were slipping. Shewas kicking her feet in her

panic.‘Keep still, Stella, I’m

coming to get you.’ But Isaw she was beyond it. Ilet the line out as fast as Icould, pushing with myfeet to bounce off the rockface. I reached Stella andgrabbed her wrist just asher other hand lost its gripon the rock. She grasped atanother rock but there wasnothing to hold on to. The

sweat on her hand andwrist was oozing betweenmy fingers, loosening myhold every second thatpassed.

‘It’s okay, Stella, I’mhere. You’re going to befine. Now, concentrate andstretch up with your otherhand and grab hold of mysleeve.’ She couldn’t do it,but it gave her mindsomething to do. I

reckoned I had only a fewmore seconds before shebecame too exhausted tohold on and fell into thedark below. If I tried tomanoeuvre down, I couldlose her instantly.

But then I heard therasp and clinking ofanother set of ropes. Paula.She jumped to below Stellaand put her shoulderunder Stella’s rear. Within

seconds, Paula hadfastened a leather beltaround Stella’s waist, thenstrapped two more aroundher thighs. Holding herbetween us, we got herback up to the top. Conradpulled Stella into the safetyof his good arm where shesobbed all over him.

Still roped, I stood onthe cliff edge and lookeddown. The strong white

beams highlighted asplayed four-limbed shapeimpaled on the barrierroof.

‘Stern, Bruna,’ I spokeinto my mic, my voice asdead as my feelings. ‘Turnout the troops to check forwhat’s left of NicolaSandbrook. They’ll need abody bag. And gloves.’

*‘Bruna!’ Livius shouted.

I whirled around. At hisside, back straight andarms relaxed like she wason a geography field tripand listening intently towhat the teacher wassaying, walked Allegra.She looked up, waved andgrinned at me. I fumbled atthe steel loops, fighting todetach myself from theanchor as fast as I could.

I grabbed her to me, but

after a moment, she pattedme on the back and pulledaway.

‘Is it finished? How’sStella? You did save her,didn’t you?’

Her voice was even, shescanned the area with calmeyes, assessing whereeverybody was and whatthey were doing. Shewaved in Stella’s directionbut her sister was too far

gone to notice. I stared atAllegra. She was showingno sign of reaction – notrembling, no darting eyes,no stumbling – just calm.Maybe it would comelater. I glanced at Livius.He merely raised hiseyebrows and shrugged.

Allegra went over to hersister, hunkered down andtook her hand. She stayedthere talking to her until

the transport arrived.Livius stood by me, but

kept his eyes on Allegra.‘If I didn’t know you’d

be pissed at me, I’d sayshe’d inherited the rightgenes on both sides. I’d crywith pride if I had adaughter like her.’

‘I already do, Livius.’

XXXVIII

Nicola was buried in theforeigners’ cemeteryoutside the city two weekslater. I’d called her motherand met her at the airport.At the ceremony, JaniceHargreve looked tired, butin a strange way peaceful,content even. She hesitated

as she held her hand out toConrad and dragged hereyes up to his.

‘I’m so sorry,’ shewhispered.

Still holding her hand,he drew her to him andheld her for a few seconds.

‘It’s over now, Janice,’he said and took her arm.Quintus and I stood in theshade of a cypress andwatched them walk along

the broad gravel pathwayback towards the entrance.

‘How are you, Carina?Really?’ Quintus asked. Helooked better, still wearinga neck brace, but not reallyleaning on his cane. Heheld my arm as wefollowed Conrad andJanice slowly back to thecars. His family recorderand his assistant followedat a discreet distance.

‘I don’t know. I knowthat sounds lame, but Idon’t. I think the angerwon’t go for a while. I’veforgiven Conradus, I can’tdo anything else, but Iknow Nicola’s changed us,maybe more than wethink.’

*Stella spent a few days inhospital before she wasreleased by the court on

compassionate grounds toconvalesce in the country.She returned to therehabilitation centre after aweek to continue hersentence. I went to visit herafter she had settled backin.

As she came into thedirector’s room, I saw shestill had traces of scratchesand grazes over her faceand arms. She didn’t smile,

but her face was solemnrather than sullen likebefore.

‘Sit down, Stella,’ I saidas she hovered there, onehand grasped in the other,fingertips worrying theskin on the back of theother.

‘I want to saysomething first.’ Shepulled her shoulders back,looked over at the

window, then dragged hereyes back to my face.‘Aunt Carina, I want tothank you for saving mylife. I know you don’t likeme, you think I’m useless.’

‘Stella, I—’‘No, don’t deny it.

Please.’ She gulped. ‘Idon’t think I’ve been avery likeable person, to behonest.’ She put her handout to grab the back of a

nearby chair. ‘I didn’tknow what I wassupposed to do half thetime. Everything seemedto be happening in adifferent world and Icouldn’t grasp any of it. Ifelt so pathetic – exposed –when Nicola had me.’ Shegave a smile that was not asmile, one corner of hermouth drooping. ‘I shouldhave taken more notice of

what people wanted toteach me those few weeks Ispent in the PGSF.’

She sat down on thechair and folded her handsin her lap and lookedthoroughly miserable.

‘What do you want todo, Stella?’

‘I want to stay here, butthey won’t let me after mytwo years are up. I mean,Mama and the Council and

all the rest of them.’I reached out and

touched her hand.She brought her face up.

Her eyes were shining as ifsomebody had injectedsome life force in aninanimate object.

‘I love it here. This ismy real world.’

And she burst intotears.

I gave her a few

minutes to get herselftogether. I walked over tothe director’s desk andlogged on to checksomething.

‘There is a way,’ I saidafter a few minutes. I laidmy hand on her shoulderand looked down into hereyes, still full of tears. ‘It’shappened in othercountries but I don’t knowif any Roma Novan has

ever done it.’*

Two months later, Iaccompanied her into theSenate house where aspecial meeting had beenconvened. I’d been morethan surprised and a littletouched that she selectedme as her formal supporterfor today.

I watched Silvia acrossthe floor sitting upright in

her carved chair. She waspale and her eyes moist,but she listened gravely asif she hadn’t heard Stellapractise it fifty timesbefore.

In a low, but dignifiedvoice, Stella Apulia stoodin front of members of theSenate and the House ofRepresentatives and madea formal renunciation ofher inheritance in favour of

Hallie. Some of the moreconservative politicianslooked shocked and onemuttered her disapproval,including the word‘coward’. She wasrewarded by a look fromthe imperatrix like thefalling iron fist of Vulcan.

Poor Stella had gearedherself up to this ordealand didn’t need a load ofhassle. But she ignored it,

the only sign of havingheard it a double blink.She thanked the dualassembly, bowed to hermother and somehowmanaged to exit withoutrunning. I gave her astraight A+ for courage.

*Conrad continued with thecounselling and waseventually dischargedfrom the court. The

following week, he tookhimself off on a walkingtour up in the mountainsnorth of Aquae Caesarisand spent two monthsafterward at the boot campI’d trained at years ago.

When he returned, Iwas sitting in the atriumreading through acompany report when Iheard his footfall. I lookedup and watched the cat-

like walk as heapproached. He practicallybounced. He was tanned,the lines around his eyeshad faded and except forthe white hair, he lookedyounger. But it was thesmile that showed me he’dhealed inside.

We settled down toliving at a slower pace andConrad took on some ofmy business affairs. But he

surprised me, and himself,when he rammeddecisions throughsometimes with aruthlessness acquired fromhis military life and mademe laugh when he told mehow he’d made some ofthe bean counters jump.

*The biggest shock wasAllegra. I’d settled herdown on our favourite

couch in the atrium to talkwith her about the scene atthe old castle. I figuredthat now a few weeks hadpassed, she would havegained some perspective.But I worried that it hadbeen another toxicexperience for her.

‘It’s fine, Mama. Really.I don’t need “time to talk”or any of that.’ She glancedover at me. ‘In fact, I

enjoyed it. It was exciting.When I threw that rock atNicola, it wasn’t justrevenge or anythingbabyish. I was doingsomething powerful tohelp.’ She looked out of theatrium glass door over atNonna’s roses, now ontheir second run ofblooms. ‘In fact, I wantedto talk to you aboutsomething. I know I’m not

sixteen until November soyou’ll have to give yourconsent, but I want to jointhe auxiliaries and gothrough the legionarycursus.’

My face must havestayed fixed for severalseconds. I ran through myhead what she’d said. Mydaughter wanted to jointhe military reserve andthen follow the tough

training preceding a full-blown armed servicescareer.

‘Allegra, this is a big,big decision. What aboutyour plans to travel, to goto university? You couldjoin the auxiliary cadetsthere and see if you like itenough to make such achoice.’

‘You and Dad travelledenough when you were in

the PGSF, not justpostings, but exercisesabroad and holidays. It’sreally not a problem.’

She took my hand. ‘Ilooked at death straight inthe face up on that wall. Iknew in a second that if Isurvived I wasn’t going towaste time trying otherthings out when I knewwhat I wanted. You knewthat the instant you met

Dad all those years ago inNew York. Now it’s myturn.’

AlsobyAlisonMorton

INCEPTIOBook I in the Roma Nova

seriesNew York, present day.Karen Brown, angry andfrightened after surviving akidnap attempt, has a harshchoice – being eliminated bygovernment enforcer JefferyRenschman or fleeing to the

mysterious Roma Nova, herdead mother’s homeland inEurope.

Founded sixteen centuriesago by Roman exiles andruled by women, RomaNova gives Karen safety anda ready-made family. But ashocking discovery about hernew lover, the fascinatingbut arrogant special forcesofficer Conrad Tellus, whorescued her in America,isolates her.

Renschman reaches into

her new home and nearlykills her. Recovering, she isdesperate to find out why heis hunting her so viciously.Unable to rely on anybodyelse, she undergoes intensivetraining, develops fightingskills and becomes anundercover cop. But crazywith bitterness at his pastfailures, Renschman sets atrap for her, knowing she hasno choice but to spring it…

PERFIDITAS

Book II in the Roma Novaseries

Captain Carina Mitela of thePraetorian Guard SpecialForcesis in trouble – onecolleague has tried to kill herand another has set a trap toincriminate her in aconspiracy to topple thegovernment of Roma Nova.Founded sixteen hundredyears ago by Romandissidents and ruled bywomen, Roma Nova barelysurvived a devastating coup

d’etat thirty years ago.Carina swears to prevent arepeat and not merely forlove of country.

Seeking help from a notquite legal old friend couldwreck her marriage to theenigmatic Conrad. Onceproscribed and operatingillegally, she risks beingterminated by both securityservices and conspirators. Asshe struggles to overcomethe desperate odds and saveher beloved Roma Nova, and

her own life, she faces theultimate betrayal…

ComingSoon...

AURELIABook IV in the Roma Nova

series1960s Roma Nova, the lastRoman colony which hassurvived into the 21stcentury. Aurelia Mitela isalone – her partner gone, herchild sickly and her mother

dead. Forced in her mid-twenties to give up herbeloved career as a specialforces Praetorian officer andstruggling to manage anextended family tribe,businesses and senatorialpolitical life, she slides intodepression.

But her country needs herunique skills. Somebody issmuggling silver – RomaNova’s lifeblood – on anindustrial scale. Sent toBerlin to investigate, she

encounters the mysteriousand attractive Miklós, aknown smuggler, and CaiusTellus, a Roma Novan shehas despised, and feared,since childhood.

Aurelia discovers that thesilver smuggling hides adeeper conspiracy andfollows a lead into the Berlincriminal underworld. Barelyescaping a trap set by a gangboss intent on terminatingher, she realises that her oldenemy is at the heart of all

her troubles and pursues himback home to Roma Nova...

PraiseforROMANOVA

INCEPTIOBook I in the Roma Nova

series“Terrific. Brilliantly plottedoriginal story, grippingly

told and cleverly combiningthe historical with the

futuristic. It’s a real edge-of-the seat read, genuinely

hard to put down.”– Sue Cook, writer and

broadcaster

“I loved it! Intriguing,unusual and thought-

provoking. Karen developsfrom a girl anyone of us

could know into one of thetoughest heroines I’ve read

for a while. Roma Nova wasa world I really wanted tovisit – and not just to meet

Conrad – vivid andcompelling. A pacey,

suspenseful thriller with atruly dreadful villain, I can’t

recommend INCEPTIOenough.”

– Kate Johnson, author ofTheUnTiedKingdom

“Tense, fast-paced anddeliciously inventive, Alison

Morton’s INCEPTIO soonhad me turning the pages.Very Dashiell Hammett.”

– Victoria Lamb, author ofTheQueen’sSecret

“Gripping. Alison Morton

creates a fully realised worldof what could have been.

Breathtaking action,suspense, political

intrigue… INCEPTIO is atour de force!”

– Russell Whitfield, authorof Gladiatrix and RomaVictrix

PERFIDITASBook II in the Roma Nova

series“Alison Morton has built afascinating, exotic world!

Carina’s a bright, sassydetective with a winningdry sense of humour. I

warmed to her quickly andwanted to find out how she

dealt with the problemsthrown in her path. The plotis pretty snappy too and gets

off to a quick start whichmade it easy to keep turning

the pages. There are a fairnumber of alternative

historical fictions whereRome never disappeared,

but for my money this is one

of the better ones.”– Simon Scarrow, author ofthe Eagle (Macro and Cato)

series

“I can’t resist an alternativehistory and Alison Morton

writes one of the best.Powerful storytelling, vivid

characters and a page-turning plot makes Alison

Morton’s PERFIDITAS amust read.”

– Jean Fullerton, author ofthe historical East London

novels

“Pure enjoyment! A clever,complex plot set in thebeguilingly convincing

fictional country of RomaNova. Scenes and characters

are sometimes so vividlydescribed that I felt I waswatching a movie. This

compelling tale rendered meinseparable from my copyright up to the last turn of

the page.”– Sue Cook, writer and

broadcaster

SUCCESSIOBook III in the Roma Nova

series“If there is a world where

fiction becomes morebelievable than reality, thenAlison Morton’s ingeniousthrillers must be the portal

through which to travel.Following in Caesar’s

footsteps, she came withINCEPTIO, saw with

PERFIDITAS – and has welland truly conquered with

SUCCESSIO!”– Helen Hollick, author andManaging Editor Historical

Novel Society Indie Reviews

“Alison Morton has done itagain. SUCCESSIO is the

latest in her series ofpowerful tales of familybetrayals and shifting

allegiances in Roma Nova.Once again, I was gripped

from start to finish.”

– Sue Cook, writer andbroadcaster

AbouttheAuthor

Alison Morton grew up inWest Kent. She completeda BA in French, Germanand Economics and thirtyyears later a MA inHistory. She now lives inFrance with her husband.

A ‘Roman nut’ since age11, she has visited sites

throughout Europeincluding the alma mater,Rome. But it was walkingon the mosaics atAmpurias (Spain) thattriggered her wonderingwhat a modern Romansociety would be like if runby women…

Find out more aboutAlison’s writing life,Romans and alternatehistory at her blog, on

Facebook and chat to heron Twitter.

If you want to joinAlison’s mailing list withinformation aboutupcoming events, signings,and books, sign-up here!

If you enjoyedINCEPTIO, PERFIDITASand SUCCESSIO, please doleave a review on theonline store you boughtthis book, or on reader site

Goodreads. It needs onlybe a line or two, but will bevery much appreciated!.

CopyrightNoticePublished in 2014 by the

authorusing SilverWood Books

Empowered Publishing ®

SilverWood Books30 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol,

BS1 4HJwww.silverwoodbooks.co.uk

Copyright © AlisonMorton 2014

The right of Alison Mortonto be identified as the

author of this work hasbeen asserted by her in

accordance with theCopyright, Designs and

Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Nopart of this publication

may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise,

without prior permissionof the copyright holder.

This novel is a work offiction. Names and

characters are the productof the author’s imagination

and any resemblance toactual persons, living or

dead, is entirelycoincidental.

ISBN 978-1-78132-218-5(paperback)

ISBN 978-1-78132-219-2 (ebook)