Read Online Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor - Free Book Online Page B

musical lowing of oxen.
    - 41 -

    C H A P T E R F I V E
    he next morning Marcus Caelius was up before I was. I found him in front of the stable, fully dressed and readying his T mount for the ride back to Rome. His bodyguards emerged from within, rubbing their eyes and brushing straw from their hair. The sun was not quite above Mount Argentum, and the world was lit by a thin blue light. A trail of mist hovered over the stream and crept into the low places.
    From Publius Claudius's farm to the west, a faraway cock began to crow. "Weren't you able to sleep, Caelius?"
    "Quite well, thank you."
    "The bed was too hard, wasn't it? I knew it would be. And the room was too stuffy."
    "No. . . . "
    "Alas, as you've seen for yourself, my home is wholly unsuitable for distinguished guests."
    Caelius caught my meaning and smiled. "They say that Catilina is like a good general; he can eat and sleep under any conditions. Your accommodations will be more than adequate."
    "I still haven't said yes, Caelius."
    "I thought you had."
    "I'll need to consider it."
    "Which is the same as saying no. Time presses, Gordianus."
    "Then no," I snapped, suddenly tired of bantering with him.
    He clucked his tongue. "You'll change your mind as soon as I'm gone. Send a messenger to me." He mounted his horse and ordered his bodyguards to get ready.
    - 42 -

    Bethesda emerged from the house, dressed in a long-sleeved stola with her hair down. The black and silver strands cascaded in splendid waves down her back, and there was a dreamy look in her eyes, for which I felt partly responsible.
    "Surely, Marcus Caelius, you're not leaving us without eating first?" She positively purred. "I had planned something special for breakfast." "I prefer to start a long ride on an empty stomach. I've looted some bread and fruit from your larder, for the road." He turned his steed around a few times while his bodyguards mounted their horses.
    "Wait a moment," I said. "I'll ride with you as far as the Cassian Way." As we set out, the sun crested the mountain and lit up the world, casting long shadows behind us. Birds began to sing. We passed by vineyards on one side and a mowed field of hay on the other. Caelius breathed in deeply. "Ah, Gordianus, the smell of a country morning! I see why you prefer it to the city. Yet the city does not cease to exist, merely because you turn your back on it. Neither do a man's obligations."
    "You are nothing if not persistent, Caelius," I said, shaking my head ruefully. "Did you learn that trait from Cicero, or from Catilina?"
    "A little from both, I think. There's something else I learned from Catilina: a riddle. You must like riddles, Gordianus, being so adept at solving mysteries. Do you want to hear it?"
    I shrugged.
    "It's a little riddle that Catilina likes to pose to his friends. He told it on the night of the blood oath, I see two bodies,' he said. 'One is thin and wasted, but has a great head. The other body is big and strong—
    but it has no head at all!' " He laughed quietly.
    I shifted uneasily on my mount. "What is the point?"
    Caelius gave me his heavy-lidded look. "But it's a riddle, Gordianus!
    You must figure out the answer for yourself. I tell you what: when you dispatch your messenger to me, use a code. If you'll play host to Catilina, if your answer is yes, then say: 'The body without a head.' But if no, then say: 'The head without a body.' But don't wait long; once set in motion, events will move very swiftly."
    "They always do," I said, reining in my horse. We had reached the Cassian Way. Caelius waved to me, then with his men turned onto the stone-paved surface and gathered speed. For a moment I watched their capes fluttering behind them like pennants, then turned back toward the bouse, more uncertain and apprehensive than ever.
    - 43 -

    I was in my library that afternoon, sketching fanciful plans for the water mill, when Aratus announced that Congrio and his assistants had returned.
    "Good, show them in. I want to see