I had my dagger in my right hand and my caestus on my left before they got to us, and I whirled to face the two coming in from behind the statue, trusting the gladiators to protect my back. I heard howls and crunching impacts behind me as I assaulted a man in a dark tunic, who held a wicked, sinuously curved dagger. He seemed surprised that I was taking the offensive and hesitated for a fatal instant, giving me the chance to cut his forearm and smash his jaw with two quick moves of the dagger and caestus. The knife fell one way and the daggerman went another and I made a half-turn to face his companion, but that worthy was already crumpling. Castor stood behind him, watching him fall with a look of deep, sensual gratification.
All five of the attackers were on the pavement in the abandoned poses of unconsciousness. Weapons littered the street and a good many drunks were already gathering to gape. Castor and Aurius seemed to be unhurt and were accepting graciously the compliments of a few witnesses.
“Are any of them dead?” I asked.
“We tried not to kill them,” Castor said. “It’s unlawful even to execute a criminal during Saturnalia. We’re law-abiding men, Senator.”
“I can see that. Do you recognize any of them?” We rolled over any who needed such treatment and ignored their groans. The one whose jaw I had smashed would be doing no talking for a few days and three of the others would be lucky to survive the head blows they had taken.
“This one’s called Leo,” Aurius said, picking up the fifth man by the front of his tunic. “He trained at the school of Juventius in Luca. They all did, from the look of them.” He gestured toward the others. “See how their topknots are tied with black ribbon? They do that in Luca.”
“This was most impressive,” I said. “Clubs against steel and outnumbered.”
Castor snorted. “We appreciate the thought, sir, but these scum were hardly worth our trouble. Those northern schools don’t train ’em as hard as the Roman and Campanian ludi. When there’s no munera in the offing they come down to Rome. A lot of second-rate politicians hire them as bodyguards because they work so cheap.”
“Milo makes us drill hard with the sticks, Senator,” Aurius said. “He says they’re as good as a sword in a street fight and they’re legal inside the City.” He whirled his with a snap of the wrist and something flew off it to strike a nearby wall with a moist splat.
“Speaking of which,” Castor said, “if I was you I’d get that blade and those bronze knuckles out of sight, Senator. This may be the Subura, but you never know when you’ll run into some stickler for the fine points of law.”
“Good idea,” I said, stashing my weapons inside my tunic. “Can our friend Leo speak?”
“Let’s find out.” Aurius hauled the man over to a quenching bath that stood just outside one of the furnace rooms of the iron works. He plunged Leo’s head beneath the dirty water and held it there for a while, but the man didn’t struggle. When he pulled him out, Leo muttered a few words in a rhythmic manner. I realized that he was singing something in a northern dialect.
“Afraid I tapped him a bit too hard, Senator,” Aurius said, dropping the man in a heap next to the trough. “Poor old Leo won’t be talking sense for a few days. Maybe never, if he starts to rattle.”
“Ah, well,” I said, “it would have been nice to know who hired them, but one can’t have everything. I’ll just have to be satisfied with getting home in one piece.”
We walked away from the scene of the little battle, and behind us the reeling celebrants were already stepping over the bodies as if they were just others who had imbibed too deeply. Even as I glanced back, boys darted in and confiscated the dropped weapons. Nothing of any value stays on the ground long in the Subura.
When we came to my gate I turned to thank the men and send them on their way, but they pushed past me and went in.
“Let us check out your house, Senator,” Castor said. “They could have men hiding here in case you got past the others or took another way home.”
“Many a man’s been killed in his home because he thought he was safe after he locked the door,” Aurius affirmed. This seemed like eminently sensible advice so I waited while they went through the house room by room, explored the roof, and even looked over the walls into the yards and rooftops of the adjoining buildings. When they were satisfied, I bade them good-bye and tipped them a few denarii. I really needn’t have. It was probably the most fun they’d had that holiday.
There was no sign of my slaves. Hermes I could understand, but I wondered what two as old as Cato and Cassandra could find to do so late. Once again I washed the blood off my weapons and dried them; then I threw off my tunic and collapsed into my bed and was asleep before I closed my eyes.