The Last Legion by Manfredi Valerio Massimo

Author:Manfredi, Valerio Massimo [Manfredi, Valerio Massimo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers UK
Published: 2009-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

22

STEPHANUS WATCHED WULFILA’S squad regroup at the edge of the forest; there were only half a dozen of them in all. He walked towards them, doing his utmost to appear natural. ‘Where are the others?’ he asked.

‘I’ve divided them into groups and sent them out to search. I’m sure we’ll find them in the vicinity. They can’t have got too far with that old man and the boy.’

‘Yes, but the weather is worsening, and that won’t help matters,’ replied Stephanus. A front of dark clouds was coming in from the sea, and a freezing rain mixed with sleet began to fall.

The fire had consumed the stubble and straw and had burnt itself out, leaving behind a blackened, smoking expanse. The tree trunks that hadn’t lodged against obstacles had rolled all the way to the coastal plain or into the river.

Stephanus’s teeth were chattering from the cold and he was trembling like a leaf, but he found the strength to speak up. ‘Odoacer won’t like this, and neither will Zeno’s emissaries. I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes when you have to tell them about it – and don’t expect me to come to your defence and put my own position at risk. You let an old man and a boy get away from right under your nose, with seventy guards at your command. It just isn’t credible; someone might think that you let yourself be bought out.’

‘Shut up!’ growled Wulfila. ‘If you’d informed me earlier, I would have taken them all.’

‘You know that wasn’t possible. Antemius’s contact in Naples organized their escape so well that I’d lost track of them myself. What could I tell you? The only certain place of encounter was here, at their appointment with the ship. I had no other information to give you.’

‘I don’t know whose side you’re really on, but you watch out! If I find out that you’re double-crossing me, I’ll make you curse the day you were born.’

Stephanus didn’t have the strength to refute his accusation. ‘Give me something to cover myself with,’ he said. ‘Can’t you see I’m freezing to death?’

Wulfila looked him up and down with a sneer of disgust, then took a blanket from his saddle and tossed it on the ground near him. Stephanus picked it up and wrapped himself head to toe.

‘What are you planning to do now?’ he asked Wulfila when he’d caught his breath.

‘Capture them. At any cost. Wherever they’re headed.’

‘Who knows how long that will take. If you didn’t manage to get them when they were right at hand, how do you think you’ll succeed now? Time is on their side, and in the meantime, rumours are bound to start leaking out of Capri. That’s where your troubles will truly begin.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ Wulfila asked, deciding to get off his horse. Stephanus’s neck finally assumed a more normal position.

‘It’s simple. If the news gets out that the emperor has escaped, someone may want to take advantage of the fact, with dire consequences.

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