Queen of Kings - Maria Dahvana Headley [136]
“Watch them,” Augustus said, pointing into the courtyard. A guard walked a circle around the statue of Philoctetes. Another guard walked in the other direction, and they crossed each other. The priests were perfectly synchronized, perfectly prepared, though Usem could see only swords, not crossbows.
Agrippa nodded. He was meant to be unconscious in his room. The rest of his legionaries were similarly captive. The temple was not at the same level of readiness it had maintained the night before.
“The quiver will be in a box,” Nicolaus said. “A metal box. The arrows are too dangerous to be left uncovered. The priests will have them secured.”
Agrippa looked at Augustus and smiled. Long ago, in their youth, they’d fought and tricked, learning techniques for attack from a leader of the guard in Apollonia. The emperor smiled back at him. Still, he was not well. He’d lost weight over the past months, and he looked spindly and pale. It was a miracle he was on his feet. He seemed hardly to be drinking the theriac now, and that was a blessing, but Agrippa mistrusted the shaking of his hands.
They were barely concealed on a rooftop overlooking their quarry. It was time for action, not worry. There would be time enough, should they survive this.
Usem waited, counting. The rhythm of the guards marching regained its previous perfection.
“On my signal,” Usem whispered, and he positioned his dagger over his head, aiming carefully. He’d have only one chance. He threw the dagger, watching it twirl through the air, end over end, like a metal bird, a flying, winging thing.
The priest it was aimed at did not see it coming until it slid up to the hilt into his chest.
Agrippa was already leaping down from the rooftop, his sword drawn, Augustus in his wake, gasping with exertion.
The remaining priest had instantly drawn his blade, and he crouched, defending the statue behind him. His eyes were wide and startled, but his hands were steady, and Usem could see by the graceful way the man moved that he’d been trained as a fighter. He motioned to Nicolaus and retrieved the bayonet from the scholar, whose breath could already be heard in panting wheezes. The first fight was never easy. He motioned him back, away from the fighting. He’d be more of a liability than an asset.
Followed by Usem, Agrippa began to circle around the guard, Augustus more tentatively behind them. Agrippa’s focus was divided in order to monitor the terrain. More priests could arrive at any moment, and he needed to hear them. He could hear Augustus’s heart pounding. The priest clearly could as well, for he lunged toward the weakest of the three fighters, his sword flashing in the air.
Augustus seemed to momentarily rally, his back straightening, his jaw tensing. He parried fiercely, in a way that Agrippa remembered from their youth. Suddenly, he saw Augustus as he had been, the wiry fighter of their training days, how he’d fought up and down the hillsides, his small size and reach balanced by his determination to win.
Augustus edged forward, his blade meeting his opponent’s, gaining ground. Behind him, Usem closed in, jabbing with the bayonet.
The priest looked up over the emperor’s shoulder, and squinted. He raised a hand to shield his eyes.
A ploy, certainly.
“Out of the way!” Usem shouted, and Agrippa glanced up, certain he’d see nothing, and instead saw a tremendous blaze of light, a fireball, speeding across the sky.
Agrippa threw his body against the emperor and heaved him clear. At the same moment, he heard Nicolaus shout. The historian waved a metal box at Agrippa.
“Run!” he yelled.
Agrippa grabbed Augustus by the arm, half carrying him to the gate, pursued by priests and swords. Usem was close behind them, defending their rear, his bayonet slashing.
As they launched themselves through the gate and toward the horses waiting for them outside the wall, the fireball arrived in the air above the courtyard.
Agrippa glanced up and glimpsed something with thousands of teeth, something made of molten metal, something with maddened eyes, something