Ajax glanced past the two officers and a brief smile flickered across his face. At once Cato felt an icy tremor course down his back. He turned to follow the direction of the gladiator’s eyes. Behind him stood the two auxiliaries, spears grasped firmly as they watched the prisoners closely. Beyond them Junius had drawn his sword and was waving it from side to side. The signal for the release of Prince Talmis. Cato felt his anger rising. ‘I didn’t give the order to—’

Junius stepped forward and swung his sword into the back of the nearest auxiliary’s neck, cutting through the spine. The man’s mouth sagged open as he collapsed. The other man half turned and looked down at his stricken companion, too shocked to react fast enough to save his life. Junius stepped forward and stabbed him in the throat.

‘What?’ Cato stared at the tribune aghast. It was Macro who grasped the truth first. He tore out his sword and turned on Junius.

‘Traitor!’ he roared. ‘He’s the one!’

‘Traitor?’ Cato felt as if he had been struck numb. The image of Hamedes lying dead with a knife in his back leapt into his mind. He felt sick with the terrible knowledge of his mistake. ‘No . . . Not Junius.’

The tribune grinned. ‘I doubt you’ll ever find the body of Junius. The jackals along the road from Memphis will have seen to that. That’s where we caught him, on his way to join the legion.’

He threw his sword over Cato’s head and ducked down to snatch up one of the auxiliary’s spears. The sword thudded into the ground in front of Ajax and he snatched it up and sprang to his feet, as did the other prisoner. Ajax laughed harshly.

‘My thanks, Canthus. You save me again.’ Ajax pointed the sword at Cato. ‘The legate is mine. Deal with the centurion.’

‘Canthus?’ Cato felt sick, but still had enough presence of mind to draw his sword. The young man lowered the tip of his spear and thrust at Macro. His action was fast and Macro only just had time to lurch to one side to avoid the weapon. At once his opponent feinted again as he tried to keep him off balance. But Macro had managed to drop into a balanced crouch and easily parried the blow aside. The two men watched each other closely.