‘No.’ Tullius puffed out his cheeks. ‘Maximius has really pissed most of them off. He’s been playing up to the men for weeks now, and undermining our authority over them. The optios would be glad to see the back of him. But they’d never support a mutiny.’

‘Then we won’t give them one, sir,’ Cato smiled encouragingly. ‘If we can keep them busy, it’ll all be over, one way or another, before they ever know the cohort is under a new commander.’

Trumpets began to sound the assembly across the fort and from outside the tent came the muffled sounds of the men gathering their equipment and bundling out of their tents to run to the assembly point just inside the main gate.

Cato leaned towards Tullius. ‘You’d better go and take charge, sir.’

‘Yes, yes, of course. Antonius, come with me.’ The old centurion looked up at Cato. ‘I’ll send for you and Macro as soon as Cordus has left the fort.’

Macro shifted uneasily. ‘If anyone asks, and they will, then you’d better have a good reason for reinstating us. At least, you’d better be able to convince the men that it was Maximius’ idea.’

‘Tell them the truth, sir,’ Cato added. ‘Tell them that Caratacus is coming and that the cohort requires every available man under arms to fight the enemy. And that’s the only reason Maximius has agreed to release us, temporarily.’

‘Right . . .’ Tullius looked doubtful.’Come on, Antonius.’

Macro waited until the two centurions had left the tent before he turned to Cato. ‘Doesn’t exactly make you feel hopeful, does it?’

Cato shrugged.’With the odds that I’ve faced in recent days, right now I feel like I’m well ahead of the game.’

‘Ever the bloody optimist,’ Macro grunted.

‘All the same, there’s one last thing I need to sort out before Tullius sends for us.’

‘What’s that?’

‘We need Nepos to stay here and keep an eye on Maximius and Felix. If you keep watch for a moment, sir, I’ll give him his orders.’

‘All right.’ Macro crept over to the tent flap and peered cautiously outside. There was no one close at hand, just distant figures visible through the gaps in the lines of tents. They were forming up, making ready to march out of the fort. Macro glanced back towards Cato and saw his young friend talking earnestly with Nepos, speaking quietly. Macro could not catch what was being said. The legionary seemed to be listening intently and shook his head.

‘You have to!’ Cato snapped at him, then glanced quickly at Macro. He turned back to the legionary and dropped his voice as he continued. Eventually Nepos nodded slowly when Cato had finished issuing his orders. The centurion patted Nepos on the arm and gave him a few last words of encouragement before he turned and made his way quietly across the tent to join Macro.