I FIND MY ACADEMY PEERS IN A SIDE ROOM ONCE REserved for the priests to prepare animal sacrifices. Its east-facing windows provide a view mainly of rubble and beyond, a dark cloud over Aquilae District, which was worst hit in the initial riots. Even the looters have largely abandoned its smouldering remains.
I ignore it as best I can. I’ve helped set off events that I have no control over anymore; I’m adrift on a river of violence, facing a broken dam that I can never build back. I barely notice the horror of the destruction this time. It’s a familiar backdrop, now.
“Anything new?” I ask it briskly as I sit between Aequa and Felix, opposite Indol and Marcellus. No time for niceties, these days. One of us will inevitably be summoned in a few minutes.
Indol leans forward and pushes a single sheet of paper across the table. “They caught Magnus Quintus Blasius yesterday evening.” He nods seriously as my gaze turns sharp. “He was hiding in Aquilae. Took out a dozen of Laurentius’s men, but they got him.”
“Rottinggods. How have I not heard—”
“Laurentius asked Decimus to keep it quiet. Not secret,” he emphasises, “and someone from Governance surely knows too. But that list is everywhere. He doesn’t want a riot for the man’s head.”
I exhale. One of a half dozen names on the list still alive. “Any way you can get to him? Or at least find out what he’s said?” I don’t bother asking access for myself: we’ve been meeting like this less for friendship’s sake, and more to ensure that the men named by Military’s dead leadership aren’t overlooked in the chaosof war. Don’t quietly get the opportunity to make deals to save their own skins, or have their crimes absolved by distraction.
Indol shakes his head. “Laurentius doesn’t trust me any more than he does you. I don’t even know where he’s being held.”
I grunt, nodding acceptance to the observation. Both of us are effectively defectors from Military, with Military fathers who would have opposed Laurentius’s claim for Princeps. Hard to blame the man for his suspicions.
“I might be able to find out where he is.” Marcellus’s announcement draws dubious gazes from the rest of us, and I catch my own weary reflection in his tinted glasses as he cringes a little beneath them. His actions during the Iudicium didn’t endear him to any of us, and he knows it. Still, he’s always had charisma and has advanced rapidly through Religion. He’s well placed to hear things, and as such, it makes sense that he’s here.
“How?”
“Tertius Kanifer is in charge of the prisons on our side of the city. They wouldn’t risk holding Blasius anywhere without a Sapper.”
I grunt as Indol and Aequa both nod. Marcellus is Kanifer’s attendant, and he’s right—if they’ve captured a Quintus, there aren’t many places to keep him. “If you get a location, let us know.”
Silence, and then, “To do what?” It’s Aequa asking the pensive question.
I glance around at the others before answering. Assessing. The others want justice, or maybe just revenge. And I do too, but there’s extra motivation for me. Likely another reason Ostius gave me the list, other than just to sow chaos and “reward” me.
I have no idea how much the surviving Military collaborators know about the Anguis. Whether one of them may be aware of Relucia.
And knowing of the Military facility at the Necropolis, now, I simply cannot risk her being exposed.
“Just to keep track of him, for now. Make sure he’s not being given any deals. Maybe find out any information he’s given up.” No suggestion of doing anything the senators would disapprove of. Indol and the others might have been willing, two weeks ago. Not now. Their world has changed forever, and they’re surviving only on the idea that the people in charge actually know what’s best.
“Let us know, Marcellus,” agrees Indol quietly.
Marcellus nods. A reluctant motion, but he makes it nonetheless.
I stand, assuming our usual short exchange of information is at an end.
“Something else you should know, Vis.” Indol again. His expression is so grim that for a second, I wonder if he’s found out something about me. “I had a list of inmates in South Caten Prison pass through my hands a couple of days ago.”
I frown. Turn back to him. “Alright.”
“Lanistia Scipio was on it.”
No one says anything as I process the news. My emotions twisting from confusion to concern to anger. This has been kept from me. “In a Sapper?”
“It didn’t say.”
Vek. The plan to free her on the night of the festival must have failed. I should have taken the time to check. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I let a sliver of ire into my tone.
“Because it’s in Aquilae, and I know you.” He gestures apologetically. “The last thing Caten needs is Catenicus lighting fires.”
I grimace. Aquilae is Religion-controlled territory. I take a breath, mind racing. He’s right. So why tell me now? What’s changed?
My heart stops.
