Speratus was easy on the men during morning drills. I was thankful. My head was still heavy from the wine. I barely paid attention as the men rode by slashing at straw dummies and firing arrows at targets from horseback. After the men finished, I put Saad through the muddy course. He moved flawlessly. By the third round, I was getting used to the horse’s height and long stride. Tempest rolled across the ground like a boulder. Saad was more like a stone skipping across the water. Coming around for a final pass, I saw one of Metellus’s assistants ride up to Speratus.
When I joined him, he said, “We’re wanted at the principia immediately.”
“What for?” I asked.
“Metellus didn’t say. The assistant simply said to head straight there.”
We headed for the center of the fort without talking until we got to the gate of the principia, “Have you talked to anybody about yesterday’s mission?” he said.
“No, why, do you think this has something to do with that?”
“No. I don’t know.â€
We handed our horses over to the servants and spotted Metellus waiting for us under the eaves surrounding the outer courtyard. He was wearing his parade breastplate and a clean red cloak. His hair and even his gray beard were dutifully combed. I suddenly felt unkempt with my mud splattered boots and sweaty armor.
“How were morning drills?” Metellus asked.
“Good, sir,” Speratus said.
“Good,” Metellus answered. He seemed preoccupied with other thoughts.
“Sir, may I ask what this is about?” Speratus said.
“It is not me that wants to see you. It is Governor Severus.”
“The governor. Do you know for what?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. They’ll get us when they were ready.”
A guard in full armor opened a nearby door and summoned us into the central corridor of the building. We followed him up a flight of stairs and waited in the hallway as he knocked on a door guarded by two more armed soldiers. An older, balding man in a gray tunic answered the door and motioned for us to come in. Inside two men stood at a table looking at a map. One was in scale armor of an eastern design and had a thin wispy beard and long dark hair pulled back and tied behind his head. The other man who I assumed to be the governor wore a heavy white tunic covered by a deep crimson toga. He was tall with short-cropped, gray hair and deep set eyes. The assistant led us to three chairs in front of the table. The governor said something in a foreign tongue to the exotic looking man who nodded and stepped back into the corner.
The assistant cleared his throat and said, “Governor, I present to you Praefectus Equitum Metellus, Decurion Aulus Cassius Speratus, and his Duplicarius Marcus Fidelis Coranus. Legionnaires, Governor Severus.”
“Please have a seat.” Severus said motioning toward the chairs. He remained standing. “Metellus tells me you had some success yesterday.”
“Yes, sir,” Speratus said.
The morning sun beamed through the window behind Severus and I squinted to see his face. Outside I heard the men finishing their morning drills and heading to the bathhouse. I wished I was out there still taking Saad through maneuvers.
Severus continued, “Metellus says that your unit is the most capable within the ala. He says you have some of the best horsemen and fighters.”
Speratus sat up straight in his seat, “Yes, sir. We do what we are trained to do.”
“Your father, he was in the legion?” Severus asked.
“Yes, sir. The Twentieth, Valeria Vitirx. He fought under Agricola at Mons Grapius.”
“Where are you from originally? You look to be from Gallic blood.”
“My family is from Aquitania. My father joined the legion under Emperor Titus.”
Severus moved to his right and blocked the sunlight from the window. “And what of you Coranus?”
All I could see were spots as my eyes adjusted. “Yes, sir . . . uh . . . my father’s father joined the legion in Macedonia and my father and I followed in his footsteps. My father was transferred to the Twentieth from the Fourth, Flavia Felix. I was originally in the Twentieth’s cavalry until Metellus recruited me into the ala.”
“Macedonia is a beautiful area. Did your father retire there?”
“No, only in death. He was killed during a Caledonian uprising twenty years ago. Along with my mother, I took his ashes back to our family’s land in Macedonia.”
“What rank did your father reach?” Severus asked.
“Optio, second in command of the third century in the second cohort.” I said.
“Metellus tells me that he has all but offered you command of your own unit but you’ve declined. Why?”
The bluntness of the question surprised me. I tried not to move but I shifted in my seat, “I serve Rome, not my ambition. I feel that my skills are best being used where I’m at.”
“What do you think Speratus?” Severus said.
Speratus straightened up again, “Coran is crucial to my unit’s success. He has always served Rome faithfully.”
“I wasn’t asking if he’s faithful. I want to know if you think he could handle his own command.”
I stiffened in my chair. My neck, which I pulled the day before, began to tighten.
“Yes, sir. He would make a fine decurion,” Speratus said.
“Good. Metellus assured me of such.” He pushed the maps on the table to the side to reveal the blood-stained amulet I had brought back the day before. “Do you recognize this?”
Speratus hesitated, but both of us said, “Yes, sir.”
“Where did you get it?” Severus said holding it by its leather strap.
Speratus said nothing as he balled up his hands. Uncomfortable with the silence, I responded, “It came off one of the brigands we fought yesterday.”
“Is he still alive?”
Speratus still said nothing.
“No, he was killed in the skirmish,” I said.
Severus put the amulet down on the table so we could see it.
“The brigand took the amulet from my scribe who was kidnapped ten days ago while traveling to Blatobulgium. This man, Elijah, is very important to me. The information he has collected over the years is critical to Rome’s success not only here in Britannia but also elsewhere. I need you to find him, and just as importantly, I need you to bring back his writings because despite his value, if he hasn’t survived, his writings are just as valuable, if not more so.”
Severus turned to the man in the gray tunic and put out his hand. The assistant produced a scroll and handed it to the Governor. “I need him found quickly and I only want the very best for the task. Speratus select sixteen of your best men to serve as your unit.” He held out the scroll to me. “And Coranus, I hereby promote you to decurion and am assigning you the sixteen men on this scroll. They were handpicked by Metellus from the ala. All other resources the ala can provide are at your disposal. Do you have any questions?”
I opened the scroll to read the names. The pain in my neck was shooting down my back. I was looking at the scroll but nothing was registering. I kept hoping that Speratus would ask a question to give me time to comprehend what had just happened.
Speratus finally spoke, “Do you have a description of Elijah and where he was kidnapped?”
Severus looked to his assistant, “Tiberius here can fill you in on all the details.” I could then feel his gaze fall on me. “Do you have any problems with your orders Coranus?”
“No, sir.” I should have said more, thanked him for the promotion, pledged my loyalty to the Emperor, something, but I was at a loss for words.
“Good. If you are successful I have a much bigger task for both of you. And don’t worry you will be compensated for taking on these extra duties.” He picked up the amulet and tossed it at me. Luckily I grabbed it before it hit me in the face. “Take that with you and bring back the first old Jewish man you can find that can read it,” he said with just the hint of a smile. It was the only emotion he showed the whole meeting.
We were dismissed and Tiberius gave us each a scroll describing Elijah and the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping. Metellus informed me that my new unit would be ready to go after noon on the training grounds. As we went to our horses, Speratus congratulated me on the promotion and warned me of all the new problems I was going to have. We also arranged to meet at the end of the day to interrogate our three prisoners.