"I must go to Corinth." "No." "You have to take me, or I'll get another ship!" "Don't challenge me!" "I'm not your slave." "I've never seen Aristo angry." "It shows he's not perfect." "I don't say he is." "You look at him as though he is." "Father!" "Fetch Dr Mordecai." "Captain Geminus is still alive." "Aristo, Greek, light hair, good-looking." "'These wounds have to be closed up." "If he loses more blood, he'll die.'" "Was it Aristo?" "What does it say?" "Please be here when I get back." "I cannot allow it." "My father has not been murdered, he is still alive." "I think he's getting worse." "When a fever threatens to take a life, this might hold it at bay." ""Might"?" "The brake!" "Give it to me!" "Oh, please, help!" "Argh!" "Pull!" "Argh!" "Oh, Castor and Pollux!" "CROWS CAW" "What took you so long?" "They kept running away." "And you couldn't catch them?" "They're just flea-bitten nags, not chariot horses." "Can you mend it?" "It'll hold." "It's been cut." "Cut?" "When?" "That's what I've been trying to work out." "Castor and Pollux?" "The roadside shrine?" "No, we weren't away from the carruca long enough." "It seemed long enough to me." "Aristo!" "I knew praying to Castor and Pollux would help us find him." "If it was Aristo." "Who else could it have been?" "Whoever it was found us." "We didn't find him." "And he very nearly killed us." "Marcus!" "Get off!" "Get off!" "My money!" "Argh!" "Get off him!" "Please, lie down." "MARCUS GROANS" "Knife..." "Already there..." "Nubia, why won't you face up to the evidence of what happened?" "It is you who won't look at the evidence." "How can you say that?" "!" "What won't I look at?" "Aristo is a kind man, not violent." "But we saw him yelling at my father at the harbour!" "Yelling, not attacking." "Not then, no." "But later." "At the house." "No reason." "The argument, that was his reason." "It's not enough." "And Marcus was in Aristo's room." "With Aristo kneeling over him." "I know!" "We saw it." "But we did not see the attack." "If he isn't guilty, why did he run away?" "And what difference does it make what room they were in?" "Because if Aristo wants to kill Marcus, he goes to Marcus's room." "The master has Mordecai to look after him." "There is no better doctor." "And you've prayed to Castor and Pollux." "But what if it's not enough?" "Let's find an inn where we can rest." "That's my money!" "Get off it!" "Must warn..." "Please, lie still." "Brother...must be stopped..." "I will, I'll warn him." "Marcus!" "DOG BARKS" "Ugh!" "What is that smell?" "The vespasian." "This mattress has lumps in it like rocks." "The floor would be more comfortable." "You sleep near door?" "Yes." "I need to be where I can stop anyone getting at you two." "MARCUS'S BREATHING IS LABOURED" "What's wrong?" "A spider just dropped on my face!" "That woke you?" "You don't think I was asleep, do you, on this mattress?" "No." "I can't sleep." "I hear rats." "You'd have to be deaf not to." "There must be dozens of them." "LOUD SNORING" "And then there's our hero over there, snoring like a pig." "I'm so glad he's here to protect us(!" ")" "I can't stop thinking about Pater." "That's the real reason that I can't sleep." "I also." "Do you think he'll live?" "Mordecai said..." "No." "Do YOU think he will?" "I don't know." "You could have said "yes"." "You are my friend." "I tell you what I feel, not what you want to hear." "No!" "You'd never do that, would you?" "Always defending Aristo." "Always putting your own feelings first!" "That's not true." "Aristo!" "I've got something for you!" "TWIG SNAPS" "That's twice he's tried to kill us." "He carried no weapon." "So why did he run away again!" "?" "Caudex had sword!" "Quick as you can." "He can't be far ahead and he's on foot." "It shouldn't take us long to ride him down." "Yah!" "Yah!" "Stop!" "Look." "It is Lupus." "What is it?" "A house?" "Can we get going?" "We've wasted enough time as it is." "A shrine?" "Look." "Here." "Water." "A bridge." "He's telling us it's a sacred place." "A grotto." "The grove of Diana at Aricia - it must be!" "You know this place?" "I've read about it." "People believe bathing there cleanses their sins." "What people?" "Criminals." "Aristo!" "That's where he's going - to wash away his crime." "Come on!" "Not Aristo." "She's right." "Who could it be?" "I don't know, but here's Aristo." "Stay here... and don't move." "You left something of yours in Ostia." "And this." "Aristo!" "Stay back!" "You won't escape me a third time." "Why did you do that?" "To stop you from killing him." "Are you all right?" "Oh, thank you." "He tried to kill my father." "I thank Castor and Pollux that he failed." "Your father's alive?" "I wish him well." "Caudex, no." "You don't understand." "I've no wish to listen to your lies and pleading." "You must listen to me." "One more word and you'll be wearing a gag." "HE STRAINS" "SMALL STONES FALL" "Why has that man done this?" "To give him time to escape." "I told you to be silent." "Escape from what?" "He's the one that attacked Marcus." "You would say that!" "Keep trying, Caudex." "HE GRUNTS WITH EFFORT" "All right, then." "Tell me why a complete stranger came to our house to attack my father." "He didn't." "Oh." "So I imagined it all?" "He made a mistake in the dark." "He'd come to kill someone else." "Who?" "He was in Aristo's room." "I know that!" "You?" "Why would he want to kill you?" "Three years ago, in Corinth..." "'..some men tried to rob Marcus.'" "Get off!" "That's my money!" "Get off!" "'I came to his aid." "'They ran, but I knew one of them.'" "'It was Dion.'" "Are you all right?" "Dion?" "You knew him?" "Very well." "Nice friends you have(!" ")" "Did you report him to the authorities?" "Not at first." "I told him to leave Corinth." "You gave this Dion a chance to escape?" "!" "The penalty for his crime was crucifixion." "So thanks to you, he got away." "No." "He just cursed me and went into hiding until he was captured." "So why wasn't he executed?" "Your father and I pleaded on his behalf." "He was flogged and sent to work in the mines for ten years." "You said it happened THREE years ago!" "He escaped." "That was the message that was brought to me." "That was why I wanted to sail back to Corinth." "But why?" "What's it got to do with you?" "I wanted to stop him coming to Ostia for revenge." "I didn't know he was already here." "Revenge?" "You saved his life." "I caused him to be whipped and sent to the mines." "So did Pater." "Why does he only hate YOU?" "Because I'm his twin brother." "Does this mean that you believe me?" "Yes." "But why didn't you tell us what was happening?" "I meant to when I came to the inn." "But you ran away." "Caudex didn't seem in the mood to talk." "I wasn't." "I gave this to Dion as a lucky charm." "He always wore it." "A present from the man he despised?" "Not then." "I was his hero, his twin." "Only an hour older, but always the leader, better at my studies, more popular." "More vain!" "I'm afraid so." "Our parents had eyes only for me and I did nothing to stop it." "RUMBLE OF LANDSLIDE" "The earth - it seal us in!" "GRUNTS OF EFFORT" "We are trapped?" "Yes." "Pater!" "He can identify Dion and I told Dion he was still alive!" "He's gone back to finish what he started." "He won't risk going to your house again." "But what if he does?" "Lupus." "He found you, yes?" "He did." "He knows about Dion?" "Everything." "I sent him to find you." "So there is a chance." "It's so hot." "There's no air." "And there's no water left." "FLAVIA COUGHS" "Aristo." "Why you good and Dion bad?" "It's not like that." "But...it is." "You say that, but for a while you thought I tried to murder Marcus." "No." "She never doubted you." "Never?" "Why?" "I know you cannot do such a thing." "What makes you so certain?" "Because of what I feel." "Here." "Nubia!" "I say while I still can." "Are you frightened?" "I am prepared for my journey." "We will go together." "Your gods are not mine." "We may travel separate paths." "Yes?" "I've come to see Captain Marcus Geminus." "Are you from the undertakers?" "Undertaker?" "Marcus Geminus died in the night." "Dead?" "Did he say anything before he died?" "He did." "But none of it made sense." "He was raving with fever." "I'm sorry for your loss." "I want you to come with me." "We will leave this place as friends." "THUDDING AND SLIPPING Listen!" "MAN:" "Go!" "Go!" "You again." "You must want to get to Corinth really badly." "You've got a new captain for the voyage?" "What's the problem?" "Even he can't make the winds blow." "And when they do?" "Make sure you're near and ready to board." "We won't wait for you." "Was that you?" "Are they fresh?" "Come on up." "Put it down, or Caudex will kill you." "What do you care?" "You had me flogged and sent to the mines." "I saved your life and I'm trying to do it again." "And why would you do that when I came here to kill you?" "Because you're my brother." "But I'm done with you now." "The choice is yours." "Flavia." "My little owl." "It's good to see you." "Flavia, tell Aristo he has to stay." "Stay where?" "Here in Ostia." "He says he's going back to Corinth." "For ever." "Why?" "Because of the trouble I've brought to your house." "That was not your fault." "You mustn't leave." "That's what we said." "We all told him we want him to stay." "All of you?" "All of us." "Even my master, Captain Geminus?" "ALL of us." "Well, then, I'll stay." "Thank you." "Happy now?" "Thank you." "What was that for?" "The potion that cured Pater." "And for fooling Dion into thinking that he was already dead when he came here to kill him." "You saved Captain Geminus twice." "I did what I could." "So now you are not only gladiator, but doctor and actor!"