Pirate Legion Read online

  ‘You heard the man, Scriptor,’ the centurion said quietly.

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘We shouldn’t take the children to hunt the Minoan. Sounds like he’s a dangerous man.’

  Scriptor frowned. ‘Maybe, sir, but Callie’s clever and Marcus? Well, he’s training to be a legionary someday, sir. He wants to be a soldier.’

  Gallo chewed his lip in thought as they moved out towards the paved square where the rest of the men waited. ‘Alright, Marcus perhaps. But Callie can’t go. She should stay in Gortyn. She should have stayed in Lebena really, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving them in a place the pirates might go.’

  Scriptor nodded. ‘Callie, you need to stay here. I’ll detail Senex to stay with you. You can use the port records and find out what you can of the Argo.’

  Callie smiled. The division suited her down to the ground.

  ‘And you can stay with her too, Scriptor. The governor gave you and I his authority and she might need it in her search. Besides, she’s your ward. You and Senex look after her. I will take Marcus with the rest to look for this collector.’

  Scriptor looked crestfallen. ‘Sir, my place is with the army.’

  ‘Not right now it isn’t. Your place is with your niece. Besides, look at Senex. He knows a lot but he can hardly protect her in the big city. I could knock him down if I blew hard enough.’

  The standard bearer sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right. You’ll look after Marcus?’

  ‘Of course. As if he’s my own.’

  They rejoined the group and explained the plans. ‘We need to find out where this Cnossus is,’ Gallo said finally. ‘That’s where we make for first.’

  ‘Cnossus,’ old Senex said in his croaky voice, ‘is one of the oldest places on Crete. It is where the minotaur was supposed to live, in a labyrinth beneath the palace.’

  ‘Oh no,’ Potens said, his face bleak. ‘Not another labyrinth.’

  ‘I hope not,’ the centurion agreed. ‘What can you tell us about the place, Senex? How come you know about it?’

  ‘Knossos is a place of legend, Centurion, the palace of King Minos more than a thousand years ago. The ancient palace is ruins now though treasure hunters go there regularly, looking for the labyrinth. A more modern town has grown up close by, known now by the more Roman name of Cnossus. Once upon a time the place was richer, bigger and more important than Gortyn. Not these days. Bit of an old backwater now. Like Thebes in Egypt. Mostly ruins and poor farmers. It’s in a narrow valley in the hills at the north of the island. If I remember my maps, it’s probably about twenty or thirty miles from here.’

  ‘Is that twenty miles like this is only ten from Lebena?’ the centurion asked archly, aware of just how long it could take to travel twenty miles if it involved zig-zagging up and down mountainsides.

  ‘I’ve never been, sir,’ said Senex, ‘but the maps show a range of high hills forming the backbone of the island from east to west, so you’ll have to cross them. I think I’m lucky to be staying here. I get baths, theatre and meat pies while you get mountains, hard biscuits and dangerous criminals.’

  The old soldier grinned with precious few teeth to bar the way.

  ‘Do we set off straight away, sir?’ Potens asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Gallo said. ‘We’ll take the tents and the donkeys and make for the north. Someone at the city gate will be able to send us in the right direction. You three,’ he pointed at Scriptor, Senex and Callie,’ take a purse of money from the packs and get yourself lodgings somewhere safe. Report in to the governor’s office every day until we get back. I want to be able to find you quickly if I need you.’ He narrowed his eyes as he peered at Senex. ‘And as for you, you old goat, go steady with that money. It has to last you, so no spending it on daft luxuries.’

  Senex grinned, already picturing the biggest, softest, most succulent meat pie in history.

  Marcus walked over to Callie, his face serious. ‘I don’t like this, sis.’

  ‘I’ll be fine, Marcus. We have the three biggest brains in the army. It’s you I worry about, going after a dangerous criminal.’

  ‘I can handle myself. And if all else fails I have Brutus and Maximus with me. No one could get past that pile of muscle to hurt me.’

  ‘I hope you’re right, Marcus.’

  The two of them hugged each other tight and only let go when the centurion announced that they were ready to leave.

  ‘We’ve never spent time apart,’ Callie said. ‘Do you realise that? Not since mum and dad…’

  Marcus grinned. ‘Well in a few days’ time we’ll be back with an arrested criminal and you’ll know what happened to their ship. Everything will be good.’

  ‘I hope so, brother,’ Callie smiled sadly. ‘Be safe.’

  ‘You too.’

  Callie stood rigid and tried not to cry until Marcus was out of sight with the army. She almost jumped at her uncle’s sudden, business-like voice.

  ‘Right. Shall we find rooms first, or food, or go to the baths and clean up?’

  ‘Food,’ grinned Senex. Callie and her uncle shared a look. ‘Baths it is, then.’

  Chapter Five

  Marcus shuffled his bottom on the saddle blanket. It was all very well being allowed to ride the donkey because his legs were only half as long as those of the grown-ups, but while the adults’ legs might be tired from the walk, at least their backsides would not be quite so painful. The donkey, who he had named Bones because that’s all he could feel when riding it, was about the most uncomfortable thing Marcus had ever sat on.

  It had been alright for the trip over the mountains, as that had only been a day and a half. But he was now in his fourth day and worrying that he might never recover the feeling in his posterior. Moreover, it was worse enduring it on his own. Those first days he had shared the discomfort with Callie, but now he was alone. He tried not to ponder on that. Passing the night in the tent of soldiers without his little sister had been horrible. She irritated him constantly and was always poking fun at him or teasing him, or pushing him into doing something, but still, she was his sister, and he’d not realised just how much he cherished her until she wasn’t there.

  ‘Is that Cnossus?’ his uncle asked, pointing ahead, up the valley.

  Grateful for the distraction, Marcus squinted into the distance, the late afternoon sun sizzling the landscape and making him blink as his eyes watered. They had just passed an aqueduct that had long since stopped working, the channel at the top open to the air and bone-dry, and the valley was packed with dense trees down in the bottom, but they travelled along the main road on the left-hand side of the valley, and as they rounded a corner he was treated to a view of a truly fascinating-looking place.

  A town stood on the high ground to the west, overlooking the valley. He could spot the forum buildings and a small theatre, many houses, the baths with columns of smoke rising from the chimneys, and a few larger mansions. On the near, southern, edge of the town, a villa rose, wealthy and surrounded by a garden and wall. But it was neither the town nor the separate villa that the soldiers were peering at.

  On a spur of land below the town, but above the narrow river, stood a ruin that was easily the match of anything Marcus had seen in Egypt. A sprawling complex of rooms, buildings and colonnades, courtyards and staircases on at least three tiers, it must have been magnificent in its day. It had clearly been derelict and abandoned for hundreds of years, and many of the roofs and columns had collapsed, bringing the buildings down with them. Yet due to the dry and warm Cretan climate, the coloured paint had survived on much of the place making it look, oddly, still occupied.

  Other fragmentary ruins were scattered around the edge of the complex, and a recently-built temple in the Roman style stood between the ruins and the travellers.

  ‘Tell me what we’re looking at,’ Gallo said.

  They felt keenly the absence of Senex, who knew about these things, or at least told everyone that he did. ‘No idea, sir,’ replied Potens, by f
ar the brightest of the men here. ‘Maybe someone in town can tell us.’

  Nodding, the centurion led them on, past the temple and towards the small but thriving town. Marcus took everything in as they passed, various ancient tombs, aqueduct channels, the massive ruins of the ancient settlement, and the expensive villa above it. The town of Cnossus was not walled and was clearly growing, as new buildings were busy being constructed around the edge. The people of the town came out of their doors and stopped what they were doing in the streets to watch the arrival of twelve soldiers and a boy on a donkey. Legionaries were probably quite rare here.

  ‘We need to find a place to stay,’ the centurion said. ‘I doubt there will be an official way station here, so we need a large inn with a bunkhouse or stable rooms. Then we need to find out what we can about this ‘Minoan’. Since he’s secretive and probably a criminal, we could do with asking the shiftiest people we can find, but he’s also a rich man if he buys antiques, so maybe the town council will know something useful. I will take two men and go speak to the council at the forum. Potens? You take the rest and find an inn. If you can arrange accommodation, perhaps you can make a few discreet enquiries while you’re at it.’

  Potens nodded. ‘When we’re settled somewhere I’ll send a man to the basilica to tell you where we are, sir.’

  Soon, they had passed into the centre of town and the forum opened up, a wide square surrounded by temples, public buildings, a big bath house and shops. Market stalls stood around the place, and the townsfolk were shopping in the late afternoon light. Gallo took two men off and made for the official basilica where he hoped to find the important councillors of Cnossus, and Potens waved the rest of them to a halt and cleared his throat as he approached a market stall.

  ‘Excuse me,’ he said in Latin. ‘Do you know where we might find an inn large enough to accommodate sixteen weary soldiers?’

  The woman at the stall frowned for a moment, and Marcus realised that everyone here would speak Greek primarily, so she would be translating the words in her head. Finally, satisfied she had the right words, she nodded. ‘I know a place,’ she said, and then let a meaningful pause hang in the air.

  Potens smiled and reached out, selecting a bunch of grapes from the table and handing over two small coins from his purse. She smiled and took the money. ‘There is an inn called the Minotaur down that street over there, towards the river. It’s close to the edge of town, but it hosts a lot of travelling caravans, so it has plenty of beds.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Potens smiled and gave her an extra coin for her trouble. Moments later he had the column of men moving again, Marcus sighing as he began to ache once more with the bony movements of the donkey. They headed out of the forum, down the street the market trader had indicated, the slope leading east and out of town towards the valley bottom.

  The Minotaur Inn was not difficult to find. It was perhaps six buildings from the very edge of town, but was easily more than twice the size of any of the surrounding houses, and with a whole array of outbuildings and sheds, stables and stores. Once Marcus had dismounted and rubbed his sore bottom, trying to massage some life back into it, Brutus and Maximus took the animal and the packs through the arch beside the inn and towards the stables and outbuildings, while Potens turned and addressed everyone else.

  ‘We don’t know what to expect here, so be careful. Try to be friendly and, if you can speak Greek, then do so when you’re talking to the locals. We’ll arrange rooms and then everyone can sit down and have a well-deserved drink while we decide what to do next.’

  Marcus followed them inside and looked around the place. The main floor of the building was split into two rooms with a large U-shaped bar at the centre. To the left the place was filled with tables, each with long bench seats. The dining area, clearly. The other side was filled with smaller tables, with a space at the centre where two men were playing some sort of game. A wide variety of people occupied the place. None were locals, he guessed, all being traders passing through the town and staying at the inn.

  Potens walked across to the bar with two of the men and began to ask the innkeeper about rooms. Marcus watched the others find seats together. None of them paid much attention to him, and Potens was too busy. Wondering what to do, Marcus spotted a boy slightly younger than him bouncing a ball against the wall and floor and catching it repeatedly at the back of the room. The boy was not being watched by any of the adults in the inn, and his drab tunic suggested he was a servant, probably working in the inn.

  With a warm smile on his face, Marcus wandered over to the boy, who stopped bouncing his ball as soon as he saw the Roman. ‘Do you speak Latin?’ Marcus asked in a friendly tone. He knew a few words of Greek, but not enough to converse. He’d never had Callie’s gift for languages.

  ‘I do,’ the boy replied, his voice wary, suspicious.

  ‘I’m Marcus.’

  ‘Dion.’

  ‘Do you work here?’ Marcus felt that he was having to work hard for this conversation. He’d imagined making instant friends with the boy and having something fun to do while the adults carried out the business, but Dion did not seem like much fun at all.

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Can you tell me about Cnossus?’ he asked, wondering if that might make Dion a bit more talkative.

  ‘Only for money,’ Dion replied, a glint in his eye.

  Marcus sighed. So much for friendship. Still, he had a purse of coins, and no other use for them. He would certainly like to know more about where they were. ‘Two sestertii for whatever you can tell me,’ he offered, opening his hand with two of the large brass coins on display. Dion peered at them greedily, and Marcus closed his fingers again and waited. ‘What do you want to know?’ Dion asked.

  ‘Tell me about the people in Cnossus.’

  ‘They’re ordinary people. A lot of traders, though. They come through every day, going north and south. They head to Gortyn or to Chersonisus on the north coast. We’re an important stopover, so we get a lot of trade.’

  ‘And what about that ruin in the valley?’

  Dion shrugged. ‘The old palace. That’s where King Minos lived. His labyrinth is underneath somewhere, where Theseus of Athens killed the minotaur. The whole place is unsafe, though. More of it falls down every month. There’s a fence round it to keep people out, but there’s a lot of ways through it. It gets patrolled sometimes by a watchman. Not worth visiting, though. Treasure hunters have cleared it of anything valuable over the years.’

  Marcus frowned. Treasure hunters like this mysterious man they were here to find? He added another sestertius from his purse to the two in his hand. ‘Have you heard of the Minoan?’

  Dion’s eyes widened and he shook his hands. ‘Shhhh. Don’t talk about him. He has ears everywhere.’

  Marcus tried not to form a mental picture of a man covered in ears. He failed.

  ‘Show me the stable,’ he said loudly, in case anyone was listening. Dion frowned and stood still but when Marcus added a fourth coin to his hand, the boy nodded and led him out of the back. As they left through a door into the courtyard, they passed Brutus and Maximus coming the other way with their saddle bags. ‘Don’t stray too far,’ Brutus grunted at him.

  Marcus nodded, and Dion and he crossed the courtyard and entered a hay loft. Once the servant had looked around to make sure they were alone, he sat on a bale of hay and wrung his hands.

  ‘We don’t talk about the Minoan,’ he said.

  ‘Well I do, and I’m the one with the money,’ replied Marcus, wondering if the centurion would pay him all this back later.

  ‘He’s rich and powerful,’ Dion said. ‘Dangerous, too. People he doesn’t like disappear.’

  ‘What’s his name?’

  Dion shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But I know someone who might.’

  ‘Where does he live, then?’

  ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ Dion sighed. ‘He has that big mansion on the edge of town overlooking the ruins. It’s his man that patrols
the ruins occasionally. He sort of unofficially owns them.

  ‘Unofficially?’

  ‘It’s complicated,’ Dion replied, ‘like anything to do with him. He owns half of Cnossus. Many of the townsfolk owe him debts. If your soldiers are here for him, they’d best be careful. He has more men than you, and I don’t think anyone in the town will help you. They’re all too frightened of him.’

  Marcus nodded. If that was true then he’d better find out everything he could from this boy.

  ‘You said you know someone who might know his name.’

  Dion suddenly looked very shifty and afraid. ‘I do. But it’s too dangerous.’

  ‘Can you arrange for me to meet them?’ Marcus asked quietly.

  ‘It’s far too dangerous. If the Minoan found out, he’d kill all of us – you, me, and the other.’

  Praying that the centurion would replenish his lost money, Marcus produced his purse again and this time added two silver denarii to the money in his palm. It now represented a lot of money for a poor servant. ‘This for an introduction.’

  Dion peered greedily at the coins in the visitor’s hand. ‘Too dangerous.’

  ‘A lot of money,’ countered Marcus.

  ‘If he finds out…’

  ‘If he ever does, it will be too late,’ Marcus replied. ‘Centurion Gallo and his men are the best legionaries in the world.’

  Still Dion dithered. Marcus sighed, drew out a third silver coin and added it to the pile in his hand and then firmly fastened his purse and put it away. There was a brief pause, and then Dion reached out and grabbed the coins, tipping them into his own purse and fastening it shut.

  ‘He’ll want money too. More than this.’

  ‘Who is he?’ Marcus asked.

  Dion looked around carefully as though expecting to be jumped by dangerous criminals at any moment. ‘I can’t tell you his name, but he’s an African, a little older than me. I’ll arrange for him to meet you tonight.’