‘Hmmm.’ Macro shook his head. ‘Not the prettiest of sights.’ The headless bodies of the legate and two of the tribunes lay in the back of the cart. A cloud of insects buzzed over the bloated corpses and gorged on the blackened tendrils of gristle and bone on the stumps of their necks, and the right wrist of Candidus. A decurion held back the goatskin cover and stood to one side as his superiors gazed into the back of the cart. Cato and Macro had been discussing their appointments with Aurelius when a clerk had intervened to tell them that the patrol sent to look for the legate had found his body, and those of his escort.

Cato clenched his nostrils tightly and edged away from the back of the cart. ‘Where did they find them?’

The decurion nodded vaguely towards the south. ‘A ravine, some thirty miles up the road towards Ombos, sir. The men of the escort were all dead, save one, but they hadn’t been mutilated. Just the senior officers. The survivor’s been taken to the surgeon. He’s in a bad way. Hamstrings cut and been with almost no water for three days.’

‘Did he say who carried out the attack?’ asked Macro.

The decurion shook his head. ‘He was babbling like a baby, sir. Hardly a coherent word. But it is likely that the attackers were Arabs. They raid from the desert from time to time. Make the most of it while we gather together a column to drive them off. That said, it’s unlike them to choose a target like the legate and his escort. Not much in the way of rich pickings after a hard fight.’

‘I take it that you didn’t find any bodies besides those of our men?’

‘No, sir. But then the Arabs never leave their dead behind if they can help it. Makes the natives nervous if they think the Arabs are like some kind of evil spirits who can strike and disappear at will.’

‘Then could it be the Nubians?’ asked Cato.

‘It’s possible, sir. But the last report I heard was that they were still camped close to the cataract. But they could have stolen a march on us, or sent a raiding column forward to gather intelligence and harass our outposts. I still think the Arabs are the most likely culprits.’ He paused a moment. ‘They might have taken the heads and the ring hand to the Nubians to prove their deed and gain some reward. Or it’s possible that Prince Talmis has recruited Arab mercenaries to serve in his army.’