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Chapter Nineteen
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Spring Cleansing
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Earth – 1661 E0. Dies Iovis a.d. VII Kal. Iun CMXXXIII (25 may 180 AD) Earth-0 5th of March 1845
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Rome – Domus Burrus
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Lucius Antistius Burrus was a veteran soldier. Spelt blood and cut heads had been part of his Cursus Honorum for years.
But finding twelve cut heads on his own office desk in his own House had shrunk his stomach to a hurting and pulsing little ball.
A voice coming from behind pulled him out of his paralysis.
- Those are yours, aren't they? I know that you never saw them and that you never even spoke to them but those were the men you hired to find your mother-in-law and her daughter to drag them away from Rome.
Lucius turned slowly around to look at the man leaning against his office's wall.
- Nobody knows that I am here and if you abstain to ring the alarm nobody will die in this Domus this night. But if you call out, I'll kill everybody to the last slave to ensure that my presence will never be suspected.
A small smile appeared on his lips.
- You'll die first, of course… You are in my immediate vicinity after all.
Lucius took a long breath, forced himself to remain calm and nodded once.
- I'll abstain to cry out. Who are you and what do you want?
- Excellent decision and to be very succinct let's just say that I am the late Emperor's Head Executioner. I, discreetly, work for the emperors we deem worthy of the title. We protect them by…
Here he shrugged.
- Dealing with their opposition?
- Like now?
The man nodded once more.
- Indeed. But dealing with a problem can come in a lot of different manners. I am not here to kill you. Not yet.
His smile grew infinitesimally.
- But I won't hesitate if I consider that you are a lost cause. Dead lost causes are a lot less cumbersome than living ones, wouldn't you agree with me? But you are the late Emperor's son-in-law and he liked you enough to give you his youngest daughter in marriage. That means that we will make a few concessions while facing blatantly bad decisions.
- It was to protect them…
The smile on the man's face vanished.
- Next lie, you die… I know perfectly well what would have happened to them should your protégé have been appointed by the Senate! I even know the man you have personally charged of the deed. A certain Arminius Tullus Spectro, called Spada, a German of unknown origins but of a very lively hatred for Marcus Aurelius and his family. He is, as we speak, in our custody and he's very ready to confess publicly. Do you want to get there, or do we go on speaking like civilized people?
Lucius forced himself to stay calm. He was scared to death and for very weird reasons he felt like a mouse looking at a slithering snake crawling towards him.
- Let's speak like civilized people…
He was very proud of the stoutness of his voice.
- I knew as much. So, let's indeed speak like civilized Romans. You have probably heard that Publius Tarrutenius Paternus and Junius Primus Mamertinus have arrived at Ostia. They are as we speak coming to Rome. I want you to be there when they arrive and I want you to inform them that your faction of the Senate will support Marcus Aurelius' last will…
- What last will?
- The will that will arrive next week with the late Emperor's belongings. The will where he appoints Publius Decimus Maximus as his Heir in place of his son Commodus whom he considered unfit for the task. Exactly like you and your friends did too… Of course, you wouldn't have chosen Decimus to be the next Emperor! Who would like a peasant like him taking over the reins of the Empire? But we, and when I say we I mean the Covenant of Imperial Assassins; we agree with the late Emperor's choice, and we are confident that you are agreeing too! Are we wrong, Senator?
It had been Charles who had come up with the name and for unknown reasons each time they used the resume he found it hilarious.
A long and ponderous silence took place while Lucius thought about his choices.
With Spada already in custody, Lucius' possibilities to wiggle his head out of the nook had drastically shrunken. Not that Spada's testimony would hold before a Senatorial court, but it would convince Faustina that he had tried to have her killed. And Faustina was a very vindictive woman. Especially when her life was concerned.
- Indeed, Faustina the Younger will not like to learn that her preferred son-in-law is a rat whose intentions were to have her killed as soon as the new Emperor would have been crowned. But I have no intention to tell her. She's not the most stable member of the family and having her gauge your eyes out in public would give a bad image of the family. So, if you forget to confess to her, she'll never know about your little attempts to support an Emperor outside of the family.
Here d'Arcy shook his head.
- And by the way, why Appolinarius? That man has the manners of a boar and the mind of a rabid dog! He would have been the worst emperor since Caligula. Really, Falco's money cannot be worth such a shame...
Lucius' stomach was back to its former attempts to become a small hurting ball.
- It comes with the job description, said the man with a sarcastic smile. Only those who can read other people's thoughts are hired into the Covenant. It does facilitate every one's life, believe me! And it helps tremendously to detect liars and other swindlers.
His smile slowly vanished.
- We were discussing your support to your father-in-law's last will, weren't we? And now that Commodus is no longer in the game to pollute Faustina's mind, it should be easy for you and your friends to see the wisdom in Marcus' last will. Decimus becomes the next Emperor, and he goes on pacifying Germany and beyond. Because of his admiration for Marcus and his daughter Lucilla he adopts Lucius Verus Aurelianus who becomes Caesar. Doing that, you get the very satisfying result to have your extended family remain at the center of Roman power. The fact that the Empire will benefit of two excellent Emperors in row is certainly a great plus. Another plus is that you will survive long enough to attend to your dear friend Appolinarius' funeral. Everything's good in the best of all worlds!
Those last words had the expected effect since Lucius immediately answered to the question d'Arcy had asked ten minutes earlier.
- I'll agree with my father-in-law's last will, and I will get my faction's support it in the Senate and elsewhere.
- Perfect, said the man while peeling his back from the wall before moving towards the door. I'll let you deal with the garbage, I'm sure your dear Prospero knows a lot more people who will be capable to do a little cleansing. I, for my part, have a long night in front of me. Quite a lot of other Senators to see, you know. You weren't the only one who tried foolish things. But those others weren't family members, they will not get the special polite family treatment. I'll still have to remind them that some things are just not done when dealing with an Emperor's succession. Don't worry, we stay in touch.
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