Page 157 of Scorched Earth

Marcus gestured for him to sit, and Felix waved away Amarin’s offer of food. “The civilians haven’t caused us much in the way of trouble. Seems your Katamarcan propagandists did their duty spreading word of the virtues of trade with the Empire, though we’ll want to make good on that soon to keep the peace. Buy up everything they sell so that they’re too busy counting their coins to worry about the Senate’s longer game.”

“Tell Servius to start spending,” Marcus said. “What did you find when you opened the casement around the Emrant terminus?”

“Was a thing straight out of anyone’s nightmares,” his friend replied. “Wex’s smoke explosion cracked open the extra stone they’d put in place, and when we pulled it open, it was still full of corpses. Some were nothing more than bones, but a few were fresher, all carrying path-hunter gear. The insides of the walls were covered withscratches from dozens of men trying to chop their way out, though with all the bodies, they had to have known their fate the moment they arrived.”

“An awful death.” Teriana pushed away her plate. “Why would anyone volunteer to map a stem when that’s the risk?”

“Gold,” Felix said. “The answer is always gold.”

“It’s all cleared out now, though?” Marcus asked. “Secure?”

“Yes, the Senate has sent no fewer than six pairs of mappers back and forth to prove it’s good.”

Marcus tensed. “So it’s done? We’re good? Cassius is happy?”

“Not quite.” Felix cast a sideways glance at Teriana. “They’re sending us a senator to serve as governor.”

“Gamdesh is not a province, and one city doesn’t need a bloody governor.” Marcus was on his feet though he didn’t remember standing. Already it was happening. Already the Empire was flexing its muscles of control. “Who?”

“Grypus.”

Of course it was him. Why wouldn’t it be, with Hostus rearing his head and all of Marcus’s old enemies coming back to haunt him? “Please tell me this is a jest?”

Felix shook his head, and Teriana said, “Who is Grypus?”

“A bloody pain in the ass is what he is,” Marcus muttered, circling the room.

Drinking from the glass of water Amarin had poured for him, Felix said, “Senator Plotius Grypus. He was the proconsul lording over us while we were in Bardeen, which meant he took credit for the taking of Hydrilla. The man looks like a potato with legs and fights about as well, but he’s got a taste for war, so he is often sent where the fighting is thickest. Zimo mentioned in passing that Grypus was in Chersome, but I guess even that wasn’t far enough from Lucretia.”

“Who’s Lucretia?” Teriana asked. The calm seas had turned turbulent, blue fading to grey.

“His wife,” Felix told her. “Grypus likes to keep something of a harem of women about him, and she puts a damper on that. Fortunately she’s got a patrician’s taste in all things, so she won’t go anywhere that doesn’t meet her exacting standards.”

“Right,” Teriana said, and Marcus felt her gaze tracking him as he paced. “Marcus, do you care to elaborate on why you’re so unhappy about this particular man, or should I ask Felix?”

They were all a problem. Every last cursed individual living atopCelendrial’s mountain of wealth, and every last one of them would try to stymie Marcus’s plans. But Grypus—“Because he’s not stupid!”

Teriana lifted her teacup and took a mouthful, then raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

Sucking in a breath to calm his temper, Marcus rested his hands on the back of the chair he’d been sitting in. “Most patricians are inbred imbeciles.”

“You’repatrician.”

Felix choked on his water, then covered his mouth to contain a mixture of coughing and laughter.

Marcus glared at him, then refocused on Teriana. “Grypus isn’t just smart: he’s clever, ruthless, and he knows me.”

Which was likely the real reason Cassius had chosen him.

“You know him, too,” Felix said. “He’s worked with you rather than against you in the past, so there is no reason he won’t be amenable again. Either way, he’s arriving in a matter of hours, so we need to go into the city to meet him.”

Abandoning the table, Marcus went to the balcony and breathed in the fresh air. Below, his men were going about their assigned duties, but his eyes were all for the sea in the distance. He searched it for familiar blue sails but saw nothing but Cel and Katamarcan vessels.

He’d hoped for more time. Time to focus on the immediate complications before turning his eye back to the problems breeding in Celendor, but the Empire moved with the speed of a plague, meaning he’d be fighting a two-fronted battle from the moment Grypus arrived.

He’s going to ruin your plans.

He’s going to take control.