Servius came in from the garden flanked by four brothers. ‘It’s all clear back in the rooms. As you predicted there were no customers at this time of night so no tricky questions will be asked. We’ve suffered two flesh wounds and Festus got a nasty gut wound. I’ve had him sent back with a couple of lads already.’
‘Good. Where’s the rapist?’ Magnus asked.
‘Not back there brother.’
Magnus looked around the atrium. Marius stood over the bodies of two of the boys, a third lay unbloodied to one side. ‘He must be upstairs.’ He turned to walk back to the staircase but stopped in his tracks.
Sextus was standing over the body of a young man looking pleased with himself. ‘One tried to sneak out Magnus,’ he said wiping his sword on the dead man’s trousers.
Magnus closed his eyes and bit back his anger. Sextus had only done as he had been told and killed a man not in Cohort uniform. ‘Shit!’
‘What is it brother?’ Servius asked.
‘How can we get the rapist to fuck Blandinus if he’s dead?’
‘Ah yes, I see. We’ll have to improvise. Cassandros, this is your area of expertise I believe?’
Cassandros pursed the thumb and fingers of his right hand together and grinned. ‘I just need a bit of oil.’
Magnus raised his eyebrows. ‘Unbelievable. Well, if that’s our only option we better get to it, it’ll be dawn soon. Have some lads search upstairs to make sure it’s clear and get the rest of them looking for cash and jewellery. Sextus, bring the dead Albanian. Lucio and Marius, you get Blandinus. Cassandros get the oil.’
AS MAGNUS LED his brothers carrying the dead rapist down a corridor overlooking the garden, very similar in set-up to Terentius’ place, he stepped over the occasional body of a whore-boy or one of their masters.
‘In here lads,’ he said pushing the door to the last room open. It caught on the dead weight behind it but with a little additional effort he managed to slide it back far enough to slip inside. He pulled the body of its former occupant, lying face down on the floor in a bloody tunic, out of the way. ‘Strip Blandinus and put him kneeling on the bed, then get the Albanian behind him and this dead boy in front of him.’
As Marius and Lucio removed Blandinus’ tunic and loincloth Cassandros came in with a small jug.
Before long all the three bodies were lined up on the bed with the boy placed with his back to the wall. Blandinus knelt before him, a trail of saliva trickled from his mouth and he breathed shallowly.
‘Alright Cassandros,’ Magnus said pointing to the Albanian lying behind the tribune, ‘get it over with. Lucio, Sextus, hold Blandinus firm.’
Cassandros smiled and, evidently relishing the prospect, began pouring the oil.
Magnus turned his attention to other matters. ‘Marius run and tell Servius to get everyone out of here with whatever they’ve got and make sure that boy is still unconscious; give him a wound to the shoulder so it don’t look like he was left on purpose.’
Marius nodded and left as Blandinus groaned and abruptly tensed, his eyes flicked open as his arms twitched but remained useless. He turned his head groggily to stare unfocused at Magnus.
‘Sorry Tribune.’ Magnus crashed his right fist into Blandinus’ face.
He went limp and a few moments later Cassandros grunted deeply in satisfaction.
Magnus winced. ‘Good, now stab him then slit his throat and then we can get out of here.’
Cassandros expression of sexual gratification turned to one of uncertainty.
Magnus put his hand on his dagger’s hilt. ‘Just do it,’ he hissed as he heard the brothers run down the corridor to the ladders. ‘If you could keep yourself under control you wouldn’t get the shitty jobs.’
Cassandros took his knife from its sheath and, looking extremely unhappy at the prospect of such coldblooded murder, plunged it, after a slight hesitation, brutally into Blandinus’ naked back. Pulling the knife back out, releasing a flow of dark blood, he moved along the bed and as Lucio and Sextus held the shoulders firm placed the blade to the tribune’s throat and ripped it across. The wound began to gurgle and hiss as the innocent and hapless man started to drown in his own blood.
‘Well done brother,’ Magnus said approvingly. ‘That’s your debt paid.’
Cassandros looked at Magnus wide-eyed and nodded vacantly.
‘Let’s go.’
The brothers did not need to be told twice and immediately ran out of the room. Magnus paused for a final look at the tableau they had left and smiled grimly to himself, hoping that some good would come from this highly unpleasant deed. With a muttered prayer to Fortuna to keep him safe on the way home, he left the room without looking back and ran to the last of the ladders up against the roof in the garden as the first light of dawn stated to warm the eastern sky.