New Tales of the Vampires.txt by Norwich Julian of

Author:Norwich, Julian of [Norwich, Julian of]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

There are legions stationed

here, are there not’?”

I looked at the Legate.

The Legate turned and glowered at my trembling brother.

“What is this Safe Conduct?” I asked. “This bears the name Tiberius.”

The Legate snatched it from Lucius before Lucius could respond and handed the scroll to me. I had to

take my hand off my dagger to unroll the paper.

“Ah, Sejanus of the Praetorian Guard! I knew it. And the Emperor probably knows nothing of it.

Tribune, do you know those palace guards make one and one half times what a Legionnaire makes? And

now they have these Delatores, given incentive to charge others with crimes for one-third of the condemned man’s property!”

The Legate was now sizing up my brother and every flaw in Lucius shone in the light; his cowardly

posture, his trembling hands, his shifty eyes, his growing desperation in the pursing of his lips.

I turned to Lucius.

“Do you realize, you madman, whoever you are, what you are asking of this seasoned and wise Roman officer’? What if he should believe your insane lies?

What will become of him when the letter arrives from Rome inquiring into my whereabouts and the disposition of my fortune!”

“Sir, this woman is a traitor.” shouted Lucius. “On my honor I swear -“

“What honor is that?” asked the soldier under his breath. His eyes fixed on Lucius.

“If Rome were such,” I said, “that families as old as mine could be so easily dispatched as this man asks you now to do with me, then why would the widow of Germanicus dare to go before the Senate for a trial’?”

“They are all executed,” said my brother, who was at his worst and most solemn, and seemed to have lost all touch with the effect of his words, “every one of them, because they were in a plot to kill Tiberius and I was given Safe Conduct and passage out for reporting them, as was my duty, to the Delatores, and to Sejanus, with whom I spoke myself!”

The possibilities were making themselves known slowly to the Legate.

“Sir,” I said to Lucius, “have you anything else on your person that identifies you’?”

“I don’t need anything else!” said Lucius. “Your fate is death.”

“Same as it was for your Father?” asked the Legate, “and your wife? Had you children?”

“Throw her into prison tonight, and write to Rome!” declared Lucius. “You’ll see that I speak the

truth!”

“And where will you be, whoever you are, while I am in prison? Looting my house?”

“You slut!” shouted Lucius. “Don’t you see this is all feminine wiles and lurid distraction!”

There was shock among the soldiers, revulsion in the face of the Legate. Flavius moved next to me.

“Officer,” asked Flavius with tempered dignity, “what am I allowed to do on behalf of my Mistress

against this madman?”

“You use such words again, Sir,” I said firmly to Lucius, “and I’ll lose my patience.”

The Legate took Lucius’s arm. Lucius’s right hand went to his dagger.

“Just who are you?” the Legate demanded. “Are you one of the Delatores? You tell me you turned on

your whole family’?”

“Tribune,” I said, laying the gentlest touch yet on his arm.

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