He signaled to a serving slave, who came quickly and filled their cups again with a better wine than the first. Obviously, the quaestor was well known in the port town. Julius noticed he had arrived without guards, another sign that the laws of Rome held firm there. He did have a long dagger in his belt, however, which he shifted slightly to allow himself to sit down on the bench with them.

When the wine was poured, the quaestor held up his cup for a toast. “To Rome, gentlemen.”

They chorused the words and sipped the wine, unwilling to waste such quality in gulps without knowing if the man would order another.

“How long were you held?” he said as the cups were brought down again.

“Six months, we think, though it was hard to keep track of the time. What month is it now?” Gaditicus replied.

Pravitas raised his eyebrows. “A long time to be held prisoner. It is just after the Kalends of October.”

Gaditicus worked it out quickly. “We were held for six, but it has taken three months to reach this port.”

“You must have been dropped far away,” Pravitas said with interest.

Gaditicus realized that he didn’t want to explain how long they had spent training new soldiers to fight and respond to orders, so he just shrugged. “Some of us were injured. We had to take it slowly.”

“The swords and armor, though? I am surprised the pirates didn’t take those,” Pravitas pressed.

Gaditicus thought of lying, but the quaestor could easily have had the five men locked up if he thought they were hiding something. He appeared to be suspicious already, despite his light tone, so Gaditicus tried to stay close to the truth.

“We picked these up at a Roman settlement, from an old armory. They made us work for them, but we needed to regain fitness, so it worked out well for us.”

“Very generous. The swords alone must be worth a fair amount. Which settlement was it, do you know?”

“Look, sir. The old soldier who let us have them was helping Romans who had fallen on hard times. You should leave it at that.”

Pravitas leaned back, his face still curious. It was a difficult situation and the five officers watched him closely. Although in theory all Roman citizens in the province were under his authority, he had limited power over soldiers. If he chose to have them arrested without evidence, the local legion commander would be furious.

“Very well. I will leave you your mystery. Perhaps I should make you prove your right to equipment worth a year’s pay, but I imagine you will not be staying here long enough to make me investigate thoroughly?”

“We intend to take the first ship out,” Gaditicus replied.

“Make sure you do, gentlemen. Do you need me to arrange passage, or did this ‘old soldier’ also give you money for the trip?”