Page 67 of Brother at Arms

Beyond this exit lay marshy ground between the Aventine and the river. A large mound rose in the distance, not a natural hill. It was made of broken amphorae, the vessels stained with oil and no longer usable, which had been discarded in a pile there for more than sixty years.

To my right was the new warehouse Gallus had constructed for Sextus Livius. I doubted my captors would be interested if I pointed out its solid design and elegant brickwork.

They shoved us away from the Porticus Aemilia and to the left, down a narrow lane at the base of the Aventine Hill.

This area of the Aventine was not as populated as the slopes closer to the main part of the city. I saw a few small warehouses, one crumbling apartment building, and not much else.

Mihrdat’s ruffians pushed us into one of the low-roofed brick warehouses at the end of the lane. Little was stored here, and I assumed this was where Mihrdat kept his overflow of goods before they were shipped out. Mihrdat risked more damage to his clothes from all the dust his men kicked up on the floor, but he didn’t appear to notice.

He pointed at the far wall. The captors holding Lucius pulled him there then turned him upside down, pinning him to the wall with hands on his ankles. Lucius flailed, but his struggle did little but bang his own head into the bricks.

A third man held a knife to Lucius’s throat. He ceased moving, eying the blade in worry.

Mihrdat strolled toward me, halting well out of my reach.

“You are Leonidas the Spartan,” he stated. “Or used to be.” He flicked his forefinger at Lucius. “He is a second-rate dealer who works for a Roman called Herminius. He should not be here, interfering in my business.”

“He is Xerxes’s brother.”

Mihrdat studied me without surprise. “A fact I already knew. The resemblance is uncanny.”

“You knew Xerxes then,” I continued. “You shipped silk for him.”

“Now you are interfering in my business,” Mihrdat said in his flat tone. “Are you here on Lucius of Antioch’s behalf?”

“No.” Words tangled in my head. I wished Cassia was here to explain everything clearly, but I was also glad she was nowhere near this warehouse. Mihrdat wouldn’t hesitate to use her to make me obey him.

“The real Xerxes is dead,” I said, trying to speak evenly. “The man you are dealing with now took his name.”

Mihrdat regarded me with eyes that were as cold as winter skies. “I care nothing for names. I only care that you question me about something that is none of your affair.”

“You killed my brother, you arrogant bastard!” Lucius spluttered.

Mihrdat signaled Lucius’s captors, and the knife nicked Lucius’s throat, drawing blood. Lucius gulped ragged breaths and went silent.

“No, I don’t think he did,” I stated to Lucius.

Mihrdat hadn’t moved while Lucius made his accusation, only fixed me with his deadly stare.

If Mihrdat had decided that Xerxes compromised his shadowy business, he’d have had Xerxes brought into this out-of-the-way warehouse, sliced to pieces, and thrown into the river. I saw that in his stone-faced expression.

Not for this man a surreptitious poison to make Xerxes miss a stroke and possibly be killed in a fight. That method was too uncertain—Xerxes might have defended himself and walked away from the bout, recovering from any poison he’d ingested.

No, Mihrdat would have killed Xerxes mercilessly and finally, and we might never have found his body.

“Did you threaten Xerxes, when you first took over from your predecessor?” I asked.

Mihrdat’s brows twitched upward. “When a man who looked much like Lucius of Antioch walked directly to me in the Porticus Aemilia and demanded to know what I’d done with his silks? I didn’t know who he was, and I didn’t want to have any dealings with him. When I told him I didn’t have his shipment, he tried to threaten me. He soon realized he should not.”

“What did you do to him?” I asked.

“I had him taken out of my sight and taught to respect me.”

“You threatened his family,” I stated.

“He had no family, except his brother, but I made it my business to find out all about him. I summoned him back to me once I knew more and told him his association with my predecessor was at an end. Xerxes tried to persuade me to continue the importing scheme with him, but I refused. He was too cocksure, too careless, and dealing with a gladiator is risky. They might be killed in the games, and the money they owe one could be taken by their lanista or wasted on drink or women. I want nothing to do with gladiators.”

“You threatened him somehow,” I said with certainty. Vitus had related that Xerxes had been spooked when he’d brought Vitus his last payment. Very little had frightened Xerxes, so the warning must have been dire.