“Earinus, leave us.” He addressed his pet in a gentler tone. “Parthenius, get rid of those donkeys.” He meant the slaves, who were making a racket with the plates. They fled.
“And will you be needing me further, Master?” the chamberlain murmured.
“Need you? Mehercule, what would I do without you!” Parthenius accepted this tribute with bowed head.
Domitian strode to the side of the room, where silk tapestries hung between the columns. He pulled each one aside and looked behind it.
“They spy on me, you know,” apparently meaning the slaves.“ They’re being paid to do it. They think they can evade me, a god! But I’ll catch them out!”
“Shall I have them killed, Ruler of the Universe?” Parthenius asked mildly.
The Ruler of the Universe sat down on a vacant stool and squeezed his temples with his fingertips. “As you think best.” The voice was flat and lifeless. “Now, Fulvus,” he turned his gaze on the prefect, “make your report. I could hear the shouts myself, I put no stock in them. I trust you heard the whispers. Who among them is plotting my death?”
“No, Caesar, impossible!” This was Parthenius again, an expression of horror on his face.
“What, then, am I mad?” Domitian rounded on him. “An emperor is the most unfortunate of men, because no one believes that his life’s in danger until he loses it!”
Pliny felt as though an elephant’s foot was on his chest. He struggled to draw a breath, then blurted out, “I heard nothing, Caesar, nothing at all. Not a word. Nothing…”
“I think you’ve made yourself quite clear, Gaius Plinius,” said Fulvus with a touch of sarcasm. “I too heard nothing distinct, Caesar. If it had not been for Nerva…”
“Nerva,” Domitian said very softly. “We will have to do something about Cocceius Nerva.”
“And the unfortunate matter of Senator Verpa?” Fulvus said. “I’ve had a detachment of troopers in the house since early this morning. What more do you wish done?”
“What do I wish?” Domitian gave him a ferocious look. “If I can’t protect my senators from being murdered in their beds, I shall have no allies at all among ’em. I suppose the slaves did it. I want them all tried and burnt alive as soon as the Games are over and the courts are in session again. Fifteen days from tomorrow. Plenty of time.”
“More than enough, Caesar,” the prefect replied, “if these were fifteen ordinary days. But it is my job also to maintain public order while the city is packed with visitors. Crowds must be managed, drunkenness and petty crimes repressed. Add to that the number of, ah, clandestine operations that you have entrusted to me. All this with only four thousand men. I can’t be everywhere at once.”
“Are you getting old, Aurelius Fulvus? Is it time I replaced you?”
“Please, Lord of the World, allow me to explain.” His voice cringed though his body remained upright. “If I were to take on the investigation personally, would it not seem to make too much of Verpa’s death? On the other hand, we don’t want to assign it to a mere tribune or centurion. I had thought to put a member of my staff in charge of it. A proven man, a man with many friends in the Senate chamber. In short, my acting deputy, Pliny—that is, with your approval, of course.”
Pliny, who had let his attention wander, began at once to stammer. “But, Prefect, I am a probate lawyer, not a policeman! In fact, I have made up my mind to return to my practice.”
“You’ve said nothing to me of resigning,” the prefect said in a menacing tone. “Will you oppose yourself to my recommendation and Our Lord’s wish?”
“Why, no, I…”
Domitian gripped Pliny’s shoulder with a hand that could have crushed an apple and brought his face close—that face with its eagle’s beak, jutting chin, thick neck. The red-rimmed eyes searched his. “It is my wish. I have been…” he searched for the word, “preoccupied lately or I would have spoken to you sooner, my dear Pliny. You know your late uncle served my father with the utmost loyalty and discretion for many years. I’ve already helped your career along, haven’t I? Without a word from me you’d still be waiting for your praetorship with the rest of the provincial newcomers.”
“I know, Caesar, and I’m most…”
“Grateful? Of course you are. Then show your gratitude now.”
“Certainly, Caesar, it’s only…”
“You have your uncle’s temperament, you know. Scrupulous, meticulous, careful. And your private life is irreproachable, that counts for a great deal with me. I only wish I had more senators like you instead of those ‘philosophers,’ as they like to call themselves. I admire philosophy, and so do you. But those people, they use it as a cloak for treason! I know you agree with me.”