‘I want him alive!’ Caesar called as he spurred his horse forward, and his men galloped after him. By the time they reached the huts the fire was raging across the thatched roof and the air was filled with red and black cinders floating on the breeze. The heat from the flames was intense and Marcus’s horse shied away with a panicked whinny. Some of the officers jumped down from their saddles to approach the hut, but it was impossible. Then Marcus recalled the entrance that adjoined the rear of the building to a smaller hut, and trotted his horse round the fire until he could see it. The flames had not yet spread to the smaller structure so Marcus slipped down from the saddle, approaching the low entrance with his arm raised to shield his face from the heat. The fresh snow that had fallen around the hut was already melting, but Marcus spotted a set of footprints leading towards the mountains at the end of the valley.

He backed away several paces and looked around, but so far none of the others had joined him on this side of the hut. Quickly Marcus kicked snow over the tracks, concealing any trace of them, before he turned away.

‘Marcus! What are you doing?’ Festus was edging round the blaze towards him.

‘I thought I’d try the rear!’ Marcus called back. ‘But it’s too late.’

Festus nodded. They stood side by side, staring at the awesome spectacle of the fire raging before them, the flames lighting up the valley and painting the clouds above with a pink hue. At length Festus nodded to himself. ‘So Brixus preferred death to surrender ... A good death, under the circumstances. But Caesar is going to be furious.’

‘Yes.’ Marcus nodded. ‘He will be.’

‘At least he has a victory, of sorts. The rebellion is over. That will annoy his enemies in the Senate and leave him free to deal with Gaul.’

Marcus nodded absent-mindedly as he glanced up at the cliffs round the valley. Then he caught a slight movement in the rocks. He strained his eyes until he saw it again, one last time. Though it might have been a man, it was difficult to tell at such a distance.

‘Marcus?’

He turned back towards Festus.

‘What is it?’ Caesar’s bodyguard looked up at the mountains. ‘Did you see something?’

‘No, nothing. Just a bird. But it’s flown off now.’

Chapter 24

24

THE COAST OF GREECE,
THREE MONTHS LATER

‘That’s Lechaeum off the starboard bow there.’ The captain of the merchant ship raised his arm and pointed along the rocky coastline. Marcus followed his direction and saw a sprawl of white buildings with red tiled roofs spilling down the side of the hill towards the sea.