“But what about the house you were going to build? Gods, I’ve spent days with the architects already.”

Senator Prandus looked at his son, his eyes showing disappointment that hurt the younger man worse than a blow. “Trust me, Suetonius. You would have died in that house so close to his lands. Whether you realize it or not, I have kept you alive. I do not fear him for myself, but you are my eldest son and he is too dangerous for you. He frightens Cato and he should terrify you.”

“I’m not scared of Caesar, or his soldiers!” Suetonius shouted.

His father shook his head sadly. “That, my son, is why you are a fool.”

*                                                      *                                                      *

As Julius and Tubruk guided their horses through the estate gate, they heard a shout from the main building. Brutus ran out to meet them and their cheerful greetings died on their lips as they saw his expression.

“Thank the gods you’ve come back,” he said. “The Senate is calling everyone in. Primigenia has to be ready to move.” As he spoke, a slave brought his own mount out and he swung himself into the saddle.

“What’s happening?” Julius snapped as Brutus took up his reins, feeling a surge of excitement.

“A slave rebellion in the north. Thousands of them and hundreds of gladiators who killed their keepers. Mutina has been overrun,” Brutus replied, his face pale under the road dust.

“That’s not possible! There are two legions there,” Tubruk broke in, horrified.

“That was the report. The messengers are out all over, but I thought you’d want the news as fast as I could bring it.”

Julius turned his horse’s head and gripped the reins tightly. “I can’t take away the men guarding my wife, not with the danger of another rebellion spreading here,” he said flatly.

Brutus shrugged. “The order was to have every available soldier ready to march north, Julius, but I’ll forget those ones,” he replied, reaching out to clap his friend’s shoulder in support.

Julius gathered in his reins, ready to dig his heels into the horse’s flanks. “Make the house secure, Tubruk,” he ordered. “If the rebellion spreads, we may come to appreciate the way you have set up the defenses after all. Keep my family safe, as you have done before.”

They shared a moment of private understanding as Tubruk looked into Julius’s eyes. So Brutus couldn’t hear, Julius leaned down over the shoulder of his stallion and whispered into Tubruk’s ear.

“I know what I owe you,” he said. Sulla’s death had saved them all.

“Don’t worry. Now go!” Tubruk replied gruffly, slapping Julius’s horse on the rump. The two young men bent low over the saddles as they kicked their mounts into a full gallop, raising a mist of dust on the road to Rome.

Chapter 34

                  CHAPTER 34