The Eagles Prophecy

He stepped back towards Ajax and grasped the handle of his sword.

Vitellius stared at him, speaking in a low, earnest tone. 'You will hand the prisoner over to me, that's an order, Centurion.'

'No, sir. He only leaves here on the prefect's say so.'

The two men stared at each other, and then Minucius glanced at the tribune's bodyguards edging out either side of him. The centurion's sword rasped from its scabbard, and he raised the point towards the tribune.

Vitellius gri

'Offer? What kind of offer?'

'To make you rich, very rich. Now, I know you could use the money. I've checked your records. You're due for discharge next year.'

'Yes. So?'

'You're a Roman citizen, so there'll be the usual gratuity. You've probably saved enough for a comfortable retirement. You'll live well enough, but there won't be any luxuries. I imagine a man like you will buy into a farm, or an i

The centurion stared at him. Vitellius could almost hear him thinking it through, and had to struggle to stop himself smiling. Men were so simple when it came down to it. Provide them with the right incentive and it was possible to make them do anything. For some men, it was the prospect of love, or even merely sex. For others it was riches, and Minucius was old enough to know the more lasting value of money.

Minucius watched the prefect's expression closely. 'And what do I have to do to earn this fortune?'

'Bring the prisoner with us.'

'Where are we going, sir?'

'For a little boat ride. Ajax here is going to show us a way to get into the citadel.'

'Into the citadel?' Minucius snorted. 'I should have known. Stand back!'

Vitellius went to raise both hands to placate the centurion, but the bandage on his shoulder restricted the gesture. He frowned. 'Just a moment!'

He took a pace away from Minucius, reached across his chest with his spare hand and unfastened the knot on the bloodstained banadages, then quickly removed them and stuffed them inside his tunic. A moment later the bandage from his head had also been removed and Minucius shook his head at the absence of injuries beneath the dressings.

'Well, well.'

'I needed an alibi,' Vitellius explained. 'As far as everyone is concerned, I'm recovering from injuries in my tent. That's where they think I am now.' He held out a hand to Minucius. 'The deal is this. You come with us. We get into the citadel where Ajax leads us to his father's quarters. He has something I want. It's locked away in a small box. Ajax was kind enough to tell us that his father keeps his own private fortune close by. I keep the box and its contents and you and my bodyguards here can keep whatever treasure you can carry away. We get what we want and get back here before we're missed.'

'And the prisoner?'

'Once we have what we're after, we take him back as far as the boat, then release him.'

'And how do I explain his escape?'

'He picked his lock with a nail and jumped you when your back was turned. Then he slipped over the side and swam across the bay to the citadel. You'll be discovered, alive, but dazed. My man here will make the attack on you look convincing.'

Minucius sized up the burly bodyguard standing behind Vitellius. 'I'm sure he will… So what happens if you are missed?'

'I've left a letter stating I've gone to spy on their defences,' Vitellius smiled. 'To redeem my honour, you understand. If all goes to plan I'll destroy the letter when I get back to my tent. We've taken care of the sentries. They've been bound and gagged and dropped into the anchor cable locker. Of course, if we are successful, they will have to be disposed of. That will be blamed on Ajax.'

Minucius nodded slowly. 'It seems you've thought of everything, sir.'

'I've tried to. So what do you say, Centurion?'

'It's all very interesting,' said Minucius. 'So what's in this box you're prepared to risk our lives for?'

'Nothing that would concern you. Nothing you would want. Now, do we have a deal?'

Minucius thought for a moment and shrugged. 'What choice do I have? If I say no, you'll kill me and take him anyway.'

'Of course. So do the logical thing. Believe me, it's for the best. It will be dangerous. But if we're successful you'll be the richest man in Rave

'What's to stop you killing me once I hand the prisoner over?'

'I've far more to gain by having you work with us. Besides, what would be the point? There'll be much more treasure there than the three of you can carry off so we have nothing to gain by treachery and everything to gain by working with you.'

Minucius stared at him a moment and then thrust out his hand and grasped that of the tribune. 'You have a deal, sir.'

'Good man! Now let's get the prisoner and get going. There's no time to waste.'

Minucius undid the prisoner's chain and pulled him up. One of the bodyguards set to work with the tip of his sword, working the ring bolt loose. As soon as it dropped to the deck he reached into his belt-purse, took out a nail and laid it down beside the ring bolt.

'There,' Vitellius smiled. 'Clear evidence of our resourceful prisoner's escape. Now let's get going.'

The five men climbed the gangway up to the deck, moved towards the stern of the trireme and climbed down over the side into one of the small boats moored to the warship. Vitellius took his place in the bows, Minucius and Ajax in the stern and the two bodyguards took an oar each. Untying the mooring line, they thrust the boat out from the trireme and clumsily placed their oars into the holding pegs. One of the blades splashed down into the water.

'Quiet, you fools!' Vitellius hissed. 'Take it easy. We mustn't be seen or heard!'

Chastened, the two bodyguards went about their work carefully, gently dipping the oars in, pulling a slow stroke and then sweeping the blades of the oars back across the surface for the next stroke. The surface of the bay was calm and the boat glided across towards the dark mass of the rock upon which the citadel rested. As the boat pulled past the dark strip of the causeway their passage was punctuated by the sounds of the onagers striking their retaining bars and the more distant crunch of the impacts.

Minucius leaned closer to Ajax and whispered,'Why are you helping them?'

'To live,' the young man whispered back. 'He promised to let me and my father escape when it's over.'

'I see.' Minucius was surprised at the young man's gullibility, but then maybe he had been so broken by his torture that he would believe almost anything with a quite pathetic conviction.

They made for the point at which the cliff face dipped slightly towards the sea below and soon the sound of waves lapping against the bottom of the cliff could be heard from the small boat.

'Stop rowing,' Vitellius called softly.'Ajax, what now?'

'Go forward. See that rock. Go round it. Slowly.'

The boat eased forward, towards a seemingly unbroken line of rocks, one was bigger than the rest. The gentle swell swept against them in a faint wash and hiss, and for a moment Minucius was sure that the pirate deliberately intended to wreck the boat on the rocks. Then he saw what Ajax had been looking for: a narrow opening behind the larger rock that led into a small pool beyond. Vitellius' bodyguards immediately rowed hard for the opening and the boat shot through the gap into the sheltered water beyond. There was a flat slab of rock at the base of the cliff, which towered over them until, at the top, they could make out the faint loom of the whitewashed buildings that perched above the sea.