Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [77]
`Thank you,' Barbara said and she brushed past Hieronymous and made for the door. She didn't pause there, even when he called out her name, nor did she look back once she was outside as he continued to wail after her.
She just kept walking into the Byzantium sunlight.
It had been the first time since that day in the market square that Ian had either been allowed, or had allowed himself, to leave the sanctuary of the Villa Praefectus. Ian had wished that his reintroduction into whatever passed for society in Byzantium could have occurred more at his own choosing but the command (when it came) had left little room for manoeuvre.
Come to the barracks, the note that had been passed to him by Tobias had said. And come alone.
Ian found the meeting place easily enough and then had to endure a torturous twenty minutes waiting around for whoever had written the note to make themselves known to him.
He felt like a spare groom at a wedding as numerous soldiers passed him, going in and out of the barracks.
When general Calaphilus finally arrived, his appearance didn't surprise Ian in the slightest. 'I'd figured that it was probably you who sent the note,' Chesterton said flatly. ‘Less of a request, more of a command. It smelled of the military a mile away.'
`You came alone, as I asked?' the general queried.
`No,' replied Ian, sarcastically. 'I brought the household cavalry with me.'
`Your ways and words are strange and baffling to me, Briton,'
continued the general when he was certain that they were alone. Òne should have thought that a soldier such as myself would prove to be a useful ally to one such as yourself? That you would do all that is within your power to cultivate such a liaison...’
‘No offence,’ Ian noted, 'but I still don't know if I can trust you yet,' he continued.
Ì see that to which you allude,' the general noted, slipping behind Ian and drawing the schoolteacher's sword from its scabbard. Calaphilus held the gladius, dramatically, across Ian's chest, inches from slitting his throat. Then, after a moment he withdrew the sword and looked at it. 'A finely forged weapon.'
À gift,' said Ian. `From the praefectus.’
All of a sudden, Calaphilus didn't seem nearly so impressed. ‘Get it out of my sight,' he said, handing the sword back, hilt-first, to Ian.
'You will be wondering why I was so anxious to see you, this day, Briton?'
Ian shrugged. 'Intrigue?' he asked. 'Nefarious skulduggery of some description? Isn't that what it's all about?'
'I see that you are a man who keeps his ear close to the ground,' the general noted in complete seriousness. `This place is rife with both. But I have started a fire that will bring the whole rank and rotten corpse of Byzantium crashing down around the ears of those who would pollute it with their decadent ways. Last night, I arrested Edius Flavia, a young and hot-headed tribune-elect whose libido carries more influence within him than common sense. The charges will not stand to close examination, but I now have him under guard where I can attempt to loosen his tongue. And loosen it I shall, Briton, for there are plots and schemes afoot. Tangled webs like those of a spider that must be delicately unpicked before they can be ruthlessly torn apart.'
`You like tearing things down, don't you?' Ian asked, his trust in the general rapidly draining away.
It took Gaius Calaphilus a long time to answer the question.
He seemed surprised by it. 'No,' he said finally, and honestly.
‘lf truth be told, I do not. Oh, I am jubilant this day that I have uncovered the first of the conspiring insurgents who attempt to destroy all that I have worked so hard to achieve. With luck, and with your help, I may be able to expose the trail all the way to the door of the praefectus.’
`These are dangerous sentiments to be voicing in the open,'
Ian noted, casting an ominous glance at a group of soldiers in the middle distance. ‘Perhaps we should be holding this conversation somewhere a little less exposed?' He paused, and directed the general towards a small