The Governor's Man by Jacquie Rogers (best beach reads TXT) 📕

life on the land, grinned crookedly. Quintus immediately saw the resemblance to his younger sister. Rufus gave him a shyer look.

‘Groom to Aurelia, hey? You’ll have your hands full then. I hear she’s quite the horsewoman.’ The boy, not much older than Aurelia, smiled shyly.

Quintus turned to Morcant. ‘I’m grateful for your timely help, Morcant. I wonder, did you recognise anyone here tonight?’

‘Well, sir, there were lots of local folk, of course. That girl from the theatre, Fulminata, had got some of the foolish young men riled up and raring to go. Like Master Drusus Sorio and his gang. No fault of theirs, I hope you can see, no harm meant.’ Quintus made no reply; rebellion against the Empire was a capital offence. There had been a narrow escape for this little town tonight, mostly thanks to Julia’s intervention.

Morcant hurried on. ‘And the old codgers at the back, they never expected anything to come of this, just venting they were. Habit of a lifetime. Would’ve been pretty horrified if they’d been taken seriously, I do believe.’

Perhaps there was something in that. Morcant wasn’t educated or army-trained, but being the manager of a large estate he would know what was happening in the local community. There never had been anything to be gained for the tribe in this trumped-up rebellion. Only those inciting the trouble could gain: Fulminata in league with Lucius, Blue Cloak and Caesulanus too. That placed them all at the heart of the Vebriacum fraud.

Quintus swung round, eyes quartering the forum. No Lucius — and no Fulminata, either. Damn! That boy kept slipping through his fingers. He squinted across the emptying forum into the failing light of the sputtering torches. A gold-edged mantle caught the guttering lamplights. Councillor Sorio was leaving. Quintus hurried over to catch him. The older man looked chagrined when he saw Quintus’s spearhead badge.

‘Frumentarius! Well, I am ashamed of our town, and of my son too. I had no idea our young men were planning any such foolishness, attending an illegal meeting like this. Good job I got suspicious and followed Drusus. Of course, boys will be boys, but I blame that Claudius youngster. He’s the real stirrer, him and his floozy from Londinium. Actresses! I don’t hold with the theatre. Wait till I speak to Claudius Bulbo - I’ll give him such a piece of my mind. He needs to keep that boy of his in check—’

‘Thank you, Decurion Sorio. But I need to speak to your son. He may be able to tell me more of young Lucius’s involvement in this affair. Do you know where Drusus is?’

A troubled look passed over Councillor Sorio’s face. He flicked up his gaudy mantle and used a fold of fine wool to wipe the sweat off his plump cheeks.

‘I tried to persuade him to leave with me earlier.  He wouldn’t come, saying he had plans to join up with Lucius after the meeting. And now I can’t find him anywhere, and his horse has gone.’

‘I see. Well, if either Drusus or Lucius turns up, send word to me at Bo Gwelt. And I’m afraid there are two dead confederates of the plotters behind the basilica. May I leave them for you to deal with? I  need to continue my investigations urgently elsewhere.’

The older man nodded, still looking embarrassed. He was clearly grateful to be given responsibility fitting his town council role. Quintus saluted, and moved off quickly. He drew Morcant and Tiro into a huddle, leaving Rufus, knife drawn and standing guard over the shackled prisoners. Julia joined them.

‘Lucius has gone, probably with his friend Drusus Sorio. And maybe also taking his girlfriend, our fake Druidess Fulminata. I need them all in custody.’

Julia broke in. ‘Velvinna told me the Druid rising also involved her people, the Dobunni. They may be heading north to try to stir up that tribe too, in which case we should follow them along the Fosse Way.’

Tiro scratched the scar on his forehead. ‘But the stolen money, sir. That must have something to do with the plot too, and I’m pretty sure Lucius has hidden some or all of it at Bo Gwelt.’

Julia nodded. ‘Yes, that’s true. I overheard Lucius asking Claudia to help him dig up some money they’ve hidden somewhere in the house.’

‘Right.’ Quintus went over to Rufus and his little chain-gang. He drew his sword, pulled Blue Cloak up onto his feet, and pushed the tip of his gladius into the soft skin under the man’s chin, pricking it hard enough to force a bead of blood through the skin. He nodded at Tiro, who sauntered over to Caesulanus and twisted his arm forcefully right up behind his back. The centurion gave a squeal, high-pitched for such a big man.

‘Look away, Julia,’ Quintus said. He jerked his left knee up into Blue Cloak’s groin, hard. Blue Cloak doubled over, gasping, and Quintus followed up with a crash of the pommel of his sword into the man’s ribs.  There was a sharp crack, and a gurgle, and the man slumped back to the ground. Quintus put one foot on the broken rib, and pressed down.

Julia kept her face turned away.

Blue Cloak forced out, ’I don’t know where the money is, or the boy. Both gone. I told his father I’d kill them if the missing money wasn’t back by sundown.’ He refused to say a word about why the silver had been stolen. ‘Go ahead and kill me. My life is over anyway. You’d be doing me a favour. The one I report to will do far worse than you can. But I will not die unnamed. I am Antoninus Cassius Labienus.’ Quintus got nothing more out of Labienus.

And Caesulanus, though he appeared to favour staying alive, could tell them nothing about the hidden silver.

Quintus motioned to Tiro to step aside.

‘Any ideas?’

Tiro scratched his