Lucullus stepped back as the door opened. The risk he was taking in trusting rumors was beginning to set in. As he realized the consequence for failure, his heart began to beat harder and faster.
“What business do you have at the Duri Manor?”
Lucullus flinched, but his heart beat steadied as he recomposed himself. “We have something important to tell Trajan. It is urgent that he hears of this.”
The little old man sighed. “What is it that you need to tell him? I’ll pass the message along.”
“With all due respect, this message is something that only Trajan may know of. Anyone out here may be listening, and it would jeopardize our efforts.”
The man cast a curious glance at Tiberius, then back to Lucullus. “What could be so dangerous that mere mention of it at this threshold would put all of your efforts in vain?”
Lucullus lowered his voice, “Pontius Avarus. I know he’s been here.”
As soon as that name sounded in his ears, the old man shivered a bit. In a flash, he relived the panic that ensued during Pontius’s visit. “Very well. You may come in.” He led them into the main dining hall. “I’ll go see if Trajan is about. You two stay there.” With haste he went to look for Trajan.
Tiberius took a seat as Lucullus paced around the table in a slow, but anxious manner. The two sat in silence for a while, unsure of what to say. As they waited in the silence, the peace was broken by the sound of footsteps rounding the corner, and approaching the dining hall. Both men suddenly felt an extreme anxiety come over them. Tiberius straightened his posture in his seat, and Lucullus froze where he stood. It was the sound of one set of footsteps; that, or perhaps the people approaching were perfectly synchronized in their step.
A woman emerged from one side of the doorway. “Who are you? Father never told me we were having visitors.”
For what felt like an hour, neither of them answered. They glanced at each other several times, each expecting the other to pipe up.
“Or perhaps it was statues that father ordered. Are you two going to say something?”
At last, Tiberius cleared his throat, and stood up from his seat. “We’ve come to inform Trajan on some important matters.”
It was evident that she was skeptical of them. Her silence and scrutinizing gaze said it all. “What might these matters pertain to?”
Lucullus briefly eyed the olive bowl, then returned his focus to the woman. “Pontius Avarus.”
The name gave her chills, though she maintained her composure. “And what does he have to do with us?”
“We know he has visited here, and that he knows of Trajan’s connections. He will surely return. I’ve experienced how cruel he can be when no one is watching. His return will spell the end of the entire Duri estate if we don’t speak with Trajan.”
“I must ask: who are you?”
“For what reason should you know who I am?”
Tiberius shot him a sideways glance.
“I take it you must be mercenaries, given your question.” She approached him, and studied his attire, as well as that of Tiberius. “I assume you won’t give me your actual name, so I suppose I needn’t bother. Your reaction to the question is enough, for now. If you had some proof of Trajan hiring you, I might would leave you be. But since you evidently don’t have that, I shall attend this meeting.”
Lucullus struggled to hide his growing frustration at this woman’s meddling. He took a seat at the table, not breaking eye contact. “Very well. I’m sure it would be useful for you to know as well.”
She gave a condescending grin. “I’m glad to see we have an understanding.” She took a seat on the opposite side from Lucullus, also not breaking eye contact.
After some time of sitting in silence, the old man and Trajan entered the dining hall. The old man bowed to everyone, and silently exited the room after pulling out a chair for Trajan.
“Well, I know you aren’t here to ask one of my daughters’ hand in marriage, given your sparse details to my servant. I take it you two must be sellswords. Otherwise, I have no clue why you are in my house.”
Lucullus cleared his throat. “We know that you have been visited by Pontius. And we know what he’s capable of. I know a way to stop Pontius.”
“You do? What exactly are you stopping him from?”
“He likely has spies in the Furum Forum, and is using them to get to you. If he no longer had spies, then his flow of information would be cut.”
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“What good would it do him to concern himself with the Furum Forum? If it is me he is after, why wouldn’t he infiltrate my court directly?”
“He wants to control you through the Forum,” Tiberius interjected. “House Avarus obsesses over control and power. The old Wall was a prime example of their power. They know you have connections to the Forum, and are using it against you.”
Trajan sat back in his chair, and assumed a more casual pose, with his legs crossed. “Those are some interesting observations, but I’m not sure how you two would know any of this. Perhaps you are spies sent from House Avarus, and are here to kill me.”
“Rumors have spread quite far about that visit that Pontius made. Everyone in Parvum knows of it, but few truly know why he visited. One thing is certain: he left like he was being pursued, and it wasn’t by some common criminals.”
Trajan began to grit his teeth.
“If you can get us into the Furum Forum, we could eliminate the spies, and Pontius’s network will be severed,” Lucullus explained.
“Why would you help me? What do you gain for all of this?”
“The Avarus spy network has a stranglehold on almost every court in the north province. Their access to the Forum’s resources have been problematic for our allies. We know, from our own investigation, that there is a spy in the Furum Forum. Sending letters isn’t safe; Pontius will have it read before you even know it’s missing.”
Trajan stroked his chin, contemplating his predicament for quite some time. “I will need some time to think on this matter. If what you say is true, then your potential failure could bring about even more disaster upon my family.” He got up from his seat. “Julia, see our guests to the door. I need to go write some letters.”
She nodded. “Yes, father.” As soon as Trajan left, she got up from her seat.
“Your father would be foolish to not accept our offer.”
Tiberius slapped him across the face. “Mind your manners.”
Lucullus gave him a glare, but returned his focus to Julia. “Surely you could —“
“That man’s mind is hard to change. Nothing I say would get through to him. Besides, you’ve done little to build trust with your words.”
“We’re in this together. We have a common enemy, and you can’t pretend we don’t — not forever.” The impatience was beginning to manifest in both his tone and body language.
She chuckled. “I see you’re as stubborn as father is.” She moved closer, and lowered her voice. “Between you and I: father is just burying his head in the dirt. I can get you in the Forum, but we need to be on the same page first.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Father’s not as good as he thinks at hiding the details. The internal strife in the Forum has made Pontius bold in going after them, and father’s behavior toward him has only served to further Pontius’s arrogance. But this doesn’t mean that I’m just going to let you loose like a wolf in the cattle pasture. You must understand what I ask you to do.”
Though her apparent arrogance irked Lucullus, much in the same way Pontius’s arrogance had, he did his best to hold back his frustration. He hoped soon to humble her through his success in infiltrating the Forum. “And what would you have me do?”
“Aside from the spy, which no doubt is the cause of our trouble, there are also several members of the Forum who are causing undue strife within the power structure. They seek to turn one man against another. There’s a leader among them, and I want you to find him and kill him.”
“You trust us that much?”
She laughed. “No. I suspect that you’ll at least feel tempted to go back on your word as soon as I let you loose. I will keep something of yours until you have proved to me that the task is completed.”
Lucullus chuckled. “And what might that be?”
She looked over at Tiberius. “I shall keep… him.”
Tiberius pointed at himself. “Me?”
She nodded.
He roared with laughter. “You jest!”
She smirked. “It’s your only way into the Forum. This isn’t up for negotiation.”
“Why him?”
“He seems to be the most mild-mannered between you two, and I suspect you won’t leave one another behind.”
Tiberius put his hand on Lucullus’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, lad. I’ll be fine. I might even learn something useful during my stay.”
Lucullus nodded. “If you think it’ll be fine, then I’ll go with it. But I don’t like it. Seems like a bad deal to me.”
“I’ve done worse deals before. Just do your best, and I’ll pray for your success.”
When an agreement had been reached, Julia escorted Tiberius to a secret place in the manor for him to stay until Lucullus returned. Once Tiberius was hidden, she provided Lucullus with a location to meet her at, and told him that she would be there at dusk.
Lucullus traveled the city streets, making a stop at some seedy alehouse for a refreshment before continuing to the spot. It was hard to believe that one organization had such influence over this many people, but was so secretive and underground at the same time. He thought it rather strange that a band of thieves could wield such power. But then he thought it all made sense; if they stole for a living, who’s to say they couldn’t steal information? He began to wonder how he was going to do this on his own. Tiberius had been there to guide him through the criminal underworld for some time. He did all the talking and made all the deals. If it weren’t for Tiberius, Lucullus might’ve perhaps wandered into his own destruction on many occasions. Perhaps this is why he decided to help, he thought. It was possible, in his mind, that Tiberius knew the danger Lucullus was walking into, and didn’t want him to be caught by Sabina’s men. Another possibility was that he simply didn’t want Lucullus to rat him out once caught, and thus followed Lucullus to ensure his own safety.
Lucullus’s mind began to wander to other things as well. For the first time in many days — weeks even — he thought about his ghostly visitor, and the prayer he was taught. He’d been so caught up in his own affairs that his ghost friend was almost completely out of his mind. His mind started wandering down a rabbit hole of meanings behind the ghost’s old riddles. He recalled the miraculous escape he had from both the Avarus Wall, and the cold tundra. Of course, memories of his time freezing in the mines of the Wall flashed; he could never forget those. The guards weren’t as violent as he expected, but the psychological torture was far more damaging than any whip or barbed stick. He flesh was certainly not scourged, just as the ghost predicted, but his mind was.
As he barely navigated through the thick crowds, he wondered if he would get another visit from the ghost, or if it said all it had to say. If it was the latter, he questioned what the point was of a ghost visiting the first time, if it was just going to predict him suffering, and criticize him. What an odd spirit, he wondered, almost aloud.