Avenger of Rome by Douglas Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

helmsman, ‘Cronos! Set course due south. I want her running before the wind with every ounce of speed she has. Sailmaster. Check every rope. We need every stitch straining.’
    Domitia was left staring at the captain’s disappearing back, caught between a patrician’s natural inclination never to accept defeat and the knowledge that if Aurelius was concerned perhaps she should be also. Finally, she turned her anger on Valerius. ‘Well?’ For a moment he thought she might stamp her foot.
    ‘If you would accompany me, I could explain our difficulties as we go.’
    ‘Do not patronize me, tribune.’ Her eyes – he noticed for the first time that they were a deep walnut brown – threatened to catch fire. ‘I am my father’s daughter and I will not be made light of. I …’
    Valerius heard a shout from the deck and looked up to see the pale ghost of a sail on the far horizon. This was no time for talking. ‘If you are your father’s daughter you should be able to obey orders.’ He took her arm and bustled her to the hatch which led below decks. He saw Serpentius grinning and Tiberius looking on with a puzzled frown and it only made him more angry at her foolishness. ‘That sail belongs to a pirate galley. You understand about pirate galleys? Well, these pirates want you. And when they get you they will use you to destroy your father. If he pays the ransom and leaves them alive, he will no longer have his honour. If he does not, he will no longer have you, and that will be infinitely worse.’
    In an instant the wildcat inside her retreated. His final sentence, and the way he said it, first confused then intrigued her. She frowned and shrugged herself free as they reached the ramp. ‘If you had explained yourself so eloquently a little earlier,’ she said sweetly, ‘perhaps we would not have had this misunderstanding. Come, Suki.’
    Valerius couldn’t help noticing the way her body moved under the thin skirt as she walked down the steps into the hold. He shook his head. Idiot to think of something like that when they could all be dead in the next few hours. He ran to the stern and prepared to face the enemy.

VIII
    ‘THEY’RE GAINING.’ AURELIUS’S voice remained steady, but the concern was written stark in the lines of his weathered features. ‘I thought we were holding them, but they are making ground on us with every minute.’ His eyes darted constantly between the heavens and the waves and the three sails that were now clearly visible on the horizon. ‘They will not use their oars until they are close, because their rowers can only maintain their hunting speed for a short time. There is no point in using up their strength until they need it. But all is not lost. We may be fortunate yet.’ His hand reached up automatically to touch the carved figure of Poseidon where years of habit and countless maritime dramas had worn a shining circle on the knee.
    Valerius tried to judge the distance between the three pirate craft and the
Golden Cygnet
. How much time did they have?
    Aurelius read his mind. ‘We have a following swell and that tells me there is more likelihood of the wind’s freshening than backing. There are still four hours till dark, but if we don’t lose a steering oar or snap a rope we should be able to stay ahead and they will not relish continuing the chase after dusk. They are cowards at heart. They will always seek a profit, but not if it is likely to cost them blood. We may be only a single ship, but we can still put up a fight. The only reason they have not turned tail already is because of the prize.’ He frowned and spat.
    ‘Very well, Aurelius.’ Valerius’s voice took on the authority of a man who had commanded a legion – an African legion, but still a legion. ‘You are in command of the ship, but who is in command of the defence of the ship?’
    Aurelius nodded solemnly. ‘My men are not fighters, though if it is fight or die they will fight. But understand this. If it