Tubruk watched him leave the courtyard with a wry smile.
‘Once, in North Africa, on the eve of a battle against a savage tribe, they say Marius walked alone into the enemy camp carrying a jug of wine in each hand. Remember, this was the camp of seven thousand of the most brutal warriors the legion had encountered. He drank all night with the chief of the tribe, despite not understanding a word of each other’s language. They toasted life and the future and courage. Then the next morning he staggered back to his own lines.’
‘What happened next?’ Marcus said.
‘They wiped out the tribe to the last man. What would you expect?’ Tubruk laughed.
‘Why didn’t the chief kill him?’ Marcus continued.
‘I suppose he liked him. Most people do.’
Metella came into the courtyard and held out her hands to Gaius and Marcus, smiling.
‘I’m glad you are safely returned to us. I want you both to think of this house as a place of peace and refuge for you.’
She gazed into Marcus’ eyes and he looked back calmly. ‘Is it true you grew up without a mother?’
Marcus blushed a little, wondering how much Marius had told her. He nodded and Metella gave a little gasp.
‘You poor boy. I would have brought you to me earlier if I had known.’
Marcus was wondering if she knew what the legionaries were getting up to with her female slaves. She didn’t seem to fit into the bluff world of Marius and his legion. He wondered what his own mother was like, and for the first time considered trying to find her. Marius would probably know, but it was not a question he wished to ask the man. Perhaps Tubruk would tell him before he returned to the estate.
Metella took her hand away from his and reached up to brush his cheek.
‘You have had a rough time of it, but that is all over now.’
Slowly, he touched her hand with his and it was as if they had reached some private understanding. Suddenly her eyes glistened with tears and she turned and walked away along the cloisters.
Marcus looked at Gaius and shrugged.
‘You have a friend there,’ Tubruk said, watching her retreating figure. ‘She has taken a liking to you.’
‘I’m a bit old to need a mother,’ Marcus muttered.
‘Possibly, but she’s not too old to need a son.’
At noon, there was a commotion at the house gates. Some of the legionaries turned out with swords drawn in case it was a reprisal for the morning’s work. Gaius and Marcus rushed to the courtyard with the rest and then stopped and gaped.
Renius was there, draped through the metal poles and singing a drunken dirge. He used the crossbar of the gate to steady himself, but his tunic was soaked with wine and specks of vomit. A guard stepped up to the bars and spoke to him as Gaius and Marcus came up, Tubruk just behind them.
Suddenly, Renius reached up to the man’s hair and pulled his head into the metal with a clang. Unconscious, the soldier fell away and the others began to shout in anger.
‘Let him in and kill him!’ yelled one man, but another said it could be a trap of Sulla’s to make them open the gates. This gave them all pause and it was Gaius and Marcus who approached the gates next.
‘Can we help you?’ Marcus said, raising his eyebrows in polite inquiry.
Renius mumbled angrily, ‘I’ll stick my sword up you, whore’s boy.’
Marcus started to laugh.
‘Open the gates,’ Gaius called to the other guard. ‘It’s Renius – he’s with me.’
The guard ignored him as if he had not spoken, making it clear that Gaius could not give orders in that house. As Gaius stepped towards the gate, a legionary took a pace to stand in front of him, shaking his head slowly.
Marcus sidled over to the gate and said a few quiet words to the guard there.
The man was in the middle of replying when Marcus butted him savagely, knocking him down into the dust. Ignoring the guard as he flailed and tried to get up, Marcus ran back the big bolts that held the door secure and opened it.
Renius fell into the yard and lay flat, his good arm twitching. Marcus chuckled and began to close the gate when he heard the smooth metallic sound of a knife coming from a sheath. He spun and was just in time to block a thrust from the furious guard with his forearm. With his left hand, he backhanded the man across the mouth and sent him sprawling again. Marcus shut the gate.
Two more of the men ran up to grab him, but a voice called, ‘Hold!’ and everyone froze for a second. Marius walked into the courtyard, showing no effects from the wine he had been putting away steadily for two hours. As he approached, the two men kept their eyes on Marcus, who looked calmly back at them.
‘Gods! What is going on in my house?’ Marius came up and put a heavy hand on the shoulder of one of the men facing Marcus.
‘Renius is here,’ Gaius said. ‘He came with us from the estate.’
Marius looked down at the sprawling figure, peacefully asleep on the stones.
‘He never got drunk when he was a gladiator. I can see why if this is how it affects him. What happened to you?’ The last question was addressed to the guard who had resumed his post. His mouth and nose were bloody and his eyes sparked with indignation, but he knew better than to complain to Marius.
‘Caught myself in the face with the gate when I was opening it,’ he said slowly.
‘Damned careless of you, Fulvio. You should have let my nephew help you with it.’
The message was clear. The man nodded and wiped a little of the blood away with his hand.
‘Glad we’ve cleared that up. Now, you and you’ – he pointed a stiff finger at Gaius and Marcus – ‘come with me to my study. We need to discuss a couple of things.’
He waited until Gaius and Marcus had walked in front of him before falling in behind. Over his shoulder, he called, ‘Get that old man somewhere to sleep it off and keep that damned gate shut.’
Marcus caught the eye of the legionaries nearby and found they were all grinning, whether in malice or genuine amusement, he couldn’t say.
Marius opened the door of his study and let the two go through into a room lined with maps on every wall, showing Africa and the empire and Rome herself. He closed the door quietly and then turned to face them. His eyes were cold and Gaius felt a momentary pang of fear as the man focused his dark gaze on him.
‘What did you think you were doing?’ Marius spat from between clenched teeth.
Gaius opened his mouth to say he was letting Renius in when he thought better of it.
‘I’m sorry. I should have waited for you.’
Marius banged his heavy fist on the desk.
‘I suppose you realise that if Sulla had had twenty picked men in the street waiting for just such an opportunity, we would most likely be dead by now?’
Gaius blushed miserably.
Marius swivelled to face Marcus. ‘And you. Why did you attack Fulvio?’
‘Gaius gave the order to open the gates. The man ignored him. I made it happen.’
There was no give in Marcus. He looked up at the older man and met his gaze unflinchingly.
The general raised his eyebrows