Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [42]
There was a shock in Gemellus's voice as it dropped to a whisper for the final accusation.
Òkay, so the former lady of the house goes like the netty door when the plague's in town?' Ian asked. 'I can dash a mean hundred yards if there's a reason for it. What about that general I met last night? The one who's been to Britain? He seemed relatively sane.'
`Gaius Calaphilus,’ Fabulous said, 'A much underrated fellow. Now there is a man worth having on your side.'
Gemellus seemed unsure of whether he should be saying what he was about to. After a moment's hesitation he pressed on. 'It is no secret that Thalius and the general do not agree upon most issues. And their mutual dislike is sometimes justified...’
`But...?' asked Ian.
`They are the only two truly honest men in Byzantium, present company excepted. In a city of thieves and whores and ruffians, they are both too proud to be the friends that they should be. Fabulous knows the general better than I.'
Fabulous accepted this as a compliment. 'He is a dedicated career soldier,' he noted. 'He served under Claudius during the conquest of Britain, as you know. He is a man of common blood who fought his way up through the ranks. I have talked with him often and I know that he holds some enlightened views. And some dangerous ones. He loathes the excesses of the imperial family. Like all good leaders of men he is popular with his legions but is a ripe target for his ambitious junior officers.’
Chesterton got the general picture that the two men were painting. 'You think he has enemies?' he asked.
Ì know he has enemies,' replied Fabulous. 'Marcus Lanilla for one. A devious and sly individual. Marcus forms, with his wife Agrinelia, a deadly duo in the internal politics of the Roman establishment in Byzantium.'
À man of moderately noble birth, married into his wife's powerful family Marcus has his eyes on Calaphilus's job,'
added Gemellus. 'His best friend and closest ally is Fabius Actium, another tribune. Fabius is not nearly as clever as Lanilla, but equally as ambitious and much less subtle in his methods.'
The two men shook their heads at the terrible viper's nest of corruption and decadence they had just described.
Òh well,' said Ian, breaking the silence that had settled over the library 'It has most of the things that a decent soap opera requires. Power, corruption, lies, sex. I think I'm going to like it here.’
Thalius Maximus was reading the reports of the military concerning the impressively co-ordinated quashing of the attempted rebellion of the Zealots in the market square. It was a mundane task, the language was stale and couched in bloodthirsty euphemisms.
`No, no, no,' he said angrily, throwing down the parchment scrolls and kicking them away in disgust. 'It will not do.'
Gemellus bowed, deeply. ‘The praefectus is, of course, expressing what many within the community in this state feel.
I should caution the praefectus, however, that there are an equal, if not a greater number who do not share the praefectus's concerns.'
`You are saying that the civilians want this kind of...
bloodshed?'
That was an interesting question, thought Gemellus, and one that deserved a considered answer. 'Many believe that the alternative to such aggressive and brutal tactics is that they run the risk of having their throats cut in their own beds by Zealot gangsters,' Gemellus offered. 'In such a climate, then I should say that yes, this is the view of the majority.'
‘But do you agree with it?' asked the praefectus quickly.
The advisor never had the chance to answer. The doors behind him crashed open and Drusus entered and cast the governor a wearied and apologetic glance. ‘The lady Antonia Vinicius, wife of senator Germanicus of Byzantium, humbly entreats an immediate audience with his most high excellency,' he said, rolling his eyes