“Human powered,” explained the Legionary with the shield. “Usually you see them with vendor racks, or stripped down to haul rubble. These are polished with high sideboards. I wonder what they’re made for?”

  But Nereus wasn’t listening or looking at the polished carts. His focus was on the wall in front of the carts. Latching pins were placed along the wall about head height. Upon closer examination, he noticed cuts running down the sides of the wall from the latches to the floor. The cuts were separated by enough space to allow the carts to pass through.

  “Escape route for the coin,” declared Nereus. “If Firebreak goes up in flames, the Cruor would need a way to remove their coin.”

  “But where are the coins?” asked the shield holder. “Where are all the coins?”

  Alerio pushed open the right door farthest from the short hallway. Without a shield, he kicked the door open and stepped behind the doorframe. After glancing around to be sure the hallway was clear, he ran to the next door. When he kicked it open, surprised and angry voices greeted him.

  “What are you doing here?” demanded a male voice.

  Peering in, Alerio watched as three men shoved tall piles of coins off a marble table and into sacks.

  “Shut the door and get back to your guard post,” the man repeated as he picked up a sack and began shoving coins into it. “Do your duty. Do it now. If you know what’s good for you?”

  Alerio smiled then rapped on the doorframe with a gladius.

  “Spurius Kanut? I’ll have a word with you,” Alerio said as he stepped into the room. “My name is Alerio Sisera and we need to talk.”

  Two of the men looked up while the third continued to package coins.

  “The farmer is worth seven Republic golds,” Spurius stated looking up briefly from his task. “Does one of you want to kill him and collect a nice fee?” The men on either side of him drew long knives and stepped towards the Legionary. “Or both of you, and you can split the bounty?”

  One was fast and the other strong. As a team they, along with Spurius Kanut’s intelligence, had terrorized the streets for years. The two were so efficient; Spurius ignored them as he returned to counting pile after pile of the Cruor’s coins.

  “I really just wanted to have a word with you, Master Kanut,” Alerio pleaded as if he was a small lad begging for a parent’s attention.

  “The bounty’s dead or alive,” Spurius commented to his bodyguards. “I’d prefer dead, but you two decide.”

  Alerio’s gladii were resting along the sides of his legs. Almost as if he didn’t realize the danger coming for him.

  “Are these two important to you?” Alerio asked casually.

  The question and tone were so far from the fear his men usually instilled in their victims, the Cruor Lieutenant stopped counting and looked up.

  “Boyhood friends and colleagues,” admitted Spurius. “But it shouldn’t make any difference to you. Why do you ask?”

  “Because that one on my left looks fast. He’ll come in and duel with me,” explained Alerio. “While I’m occupied, the one on my right will rush in and beat me down. But, if I kill them that leaves you alone in more ways than one.”

  “Stop. Let the lad talk,” instructed Spurius. “What makes you think you can take both of my bodyguards?”

  Stacks of goatskin sacks were piled beside the door. Alerio reached out with each gladius and snagged two on each blade tip. With the cloth hanging as if they were flags, he swirled the sacks until they wrapped around his blades.

  “To demonstrate,” he began as he swished the blades in the opposite direction. “These are…”

  The sacks were almost unfurled. Flying around and blurring the actual blades’ locations, the bodyguards and Spurius seemed mesmerized by the spinning and snapping cloth. They failed to notice Alerio’s bent knees. Before they could react, Alerio jumped.

  He landed five feet off to the right and swung the flats of his gladii into the back of one bodyguard’s legs. The man collapsed and Alerio kicked him in the head. Spurius’ strong bodyguard was out of the fight.

  Alerio stepped over the prone form and began crossing and uncrossing and re-crossing his blades.

  “Your turn,” teased the Legionary. “Are you ready?”

  The man set his guard and began shuffling to his left. Why would he want Alerio to rotate left? Because the maneuver would place Spurius Kanut at the Legionary’s back.

  The bodyguard’s blade came in like the wind. Fluid and relentless, his cuts were swift and you could almost feel a breeze coming from the wake of the blade. He was skilled and fast, but he was the nervous type.

  The bodyguard glanced over Alerio’s shoulder for less than a heartbeat. It was enough to warn the Legionary that Spurius had decided to join the fight. Alerio took a giant step back and swung his right gladius in an arc.

  Spurius stopped as the tip of Alerio’s blade almost took off the tip of the Cruor Lieutenant’s nose. Meanwhile, the Legionary was dueling masterfully with the bodyguard facing his left gladius.

  “It’s your call Master Kanut,” Alerio advised. “I can kill your man at any time. All I want to do is to talk.”

  As Alerio spoke, his right blade moved in short back and forth movements. Almost as if it were a snake coiled and dancing before striking.

  “Alright, enough. Let’s talk,” Spurius said after watching the tip’s rhythmic movements.

  Alerio whipped his left blade around the bodyguard’s and the man’s long knife flew across the room.

  “Good choice Master Kanut,” advised Alerio. “Quickly now. Get against the back wall and sit down.”

  “Why sit down?” demanded Spurius.

  “Because there are four Legionaries about to join us and they don’t want to talk,” advised Alerio.

  When three Legionaries and their squad leader charged down the hall and into the room, they were surprised to find Lance Corporal Sisera sitting on a marble tabletop. Around him were stacks of coins; bronze and silver but the largest stacks were gold.

  “Some much coin in one place,” a Legionary sighed wistfully.

  “Master Kanut. What I want is the name of your Cruor Captain,” Alerio stated. “In exchange, you and your bodyguards will live. If not, I’ll have to find another way.”

  “Sure why not. Master Lebbaeus is my Captain,” Spurius said with a laugh. “He’s a successful merchant, a lawyer, and a really big political contributor. You’ll not intimidate him with a gladius or fancy dueling moves.”

  “I don’t plan to. I’m going to take the Cruor’s coin and let him come to me,” Alerio explained.

  “Wait. Wait,” begged Kanut. “If you take the coin and we’re alive and healthy, they’ll come after me and my bodyguards.”

  Nereus arrived and heard Spurius Kanut’s words.

  “No, problem,” he said as he crossed the room while pulling his knife. “Not alive is my specialty.”

  Two Legionaries grabbed Nereus and gently held him back.

  “No, Wizard. If you do it wrong, you could turn all our bones to mush,” one pleaded.

  “It’s alright. We’ll beat them for you,” another offered.

  One Legionary standing in the back was facing the hallway and maintaining rear security.

  “What? Did Wizard turn someone’s bones to mush,” he asked having misunderstood the remark. “Wizard be careful with that magic stuff, please.”

  “This is a messed up week,” another exclaimed. “First we fight trolls and now Wizard is throwing around spells like they’re hog feed.”

  Ignoring the banter, Alerio slid off the counter top and examined the coins.

  “How much do we need to take to get the Cruor’s attention?” Alerio pondered.

  “Take it all,” Nereus proclaimed as he picked up a handful of gold coins and let them run through his fingers.

  “That’s a lot of weight for seven Legionaries to carry,” Alerio said reminding him of the size of their assault team.

  “Not if we use the carts,” Nereus exclaimed as he began tapping on a wall. “Here. It’s got to be a direct route to the carts and the exit.”

  With no need to stack and count, the Legionaries soon had all the coins in bags. After forming a coin-sack brigade, they passed sacks of coin from one to another along the hidden passageway. Soon, the carts were laden and Nereus began releasing latches.

  Two Legionaries providing exterior security were assigned corners of the counting house. Watching for any approach of a retaliatory force from the Cruor, they had their backs to the building. When a section of the wall between them fell into the street, they turned and gasped.

  Private Nereus stood poised with his arms raised and his fingers open as if he had pushed a section of the wall down with his bare hands.

  “Good work, Wizard,” said a Legionary standing between the cart shafts of one carts.

  Outside the two exterior Legionaries only heard one thing. Their squad mate had call Private Nereus, Wizard. After witnessing the display of his magic by making a section of the wall fall, they believed it.

  “Where are we taking the carts?” asked the other cart puller.

  “To the stockyards,” said Alerio. “If we’re dealing with animals, we might as well make them comfortable.”

  Chapter 82 – Wheels of Reckoning

  The Legionaries surrounded the carts as they wheeled south. Once off the gravel road of Firebreak District, they rolled onto the paved streets of the city and made good time to the stockyards.

  Fifth squad’s Lance Corporal left them and jogged to the offices of Master Lebbaeus. At first, the house slave denied entry to the masked Legionary. He explained to the Legionary that an appointment was required to speak with Master Lebbaeus. To counter the dismissal, the squad leader handed the slave an open sack of gold coins.

  “What can I do for you Legionary,” asked Lebbaeus.

  They were in an office with the lawyer sitting behind an imposing desk and the squad leader standing at attention in front of it. Lebbaeus had the top of the sack opened wide enough that a small stream of gold had spilled out and flowed across the deck top.

  “Sir, as a representative of the Cruor syndicate, you are witness to the Legion taking coin from their counting house,” the Lance Corporal explained while indicating the sack. “If you want the rest of the coins, we have them for you or any high ranking member of the Cruor.”

  “I have no idea what you’re insinuating,” countered Lebbaeus. “I’m a simple man of business and law. A member of a crime syndicate? No, no, I know nothing about that.”

  “Very well, sir. I will take the gold and return it to the carts,” the squad leader explained. “It’s almost midday. If no representative presents himself by midafternoon, the coins will be divided between the central and northern Legions. Once they go into our coffers, it would be unadvisable for the Cruor to attempt to take them back.”

  The squad leader reached for the sack of gold coins.

  “Hold. I may know someone who knows someone associated with the Cruor,” Lebbaeus said. “Leave the sack and let me send a few notes to associates.”

  “Very good sir,” the Lance Corporal said. He stepped back, preformed a toe point about face and marched from the office.

  On the road just outside the stockyard fence, two carts sat side-by-side facing eastward. Spread widely, but equally placed around the carts, were masked Legionaries standing behind their shields. Although there were only eleven Legionaries in total, their numbers could swell rapidly. Legion patrols appeared and vanished as units in every direction circled surrounding blocks. It was the nearby Legion patrols that forced the Cruor to negotiate rather than attack.

  Lebbaeus rode up in an ornate chariot pulled by a team of white horses. Obviously, it was an attempt to show strength and importance. The Cruor Captain stepped down from the chariot in front of the shields.

  “Who is in charge here?” Lebbaeus demanded.

  “Actually sir, no one,” Alerio announced as he stepped from between the carts. “Would you care to inspect the sacks?”

  Ignoring the invitation, Lebbaeus stated, “I am empowered by the Cruor to negotiate for the release of their coins. Now, what are the Legion’s demands?”

  “Again, sir. No Legion commander is present because the Legion has no demands,” insisted Alerio.

  “Then why did they take the coins?” a flustered Lebbaeus asked.

  “So I could get a meeting with you and give you this,” Alerio explained as he walked to the Cruor Captain. “Hold out you hand sir, palm up.”

  Lebbaeus stood with his hand open and Alerio dropped seven gold coins into his open palm.

  “What is this?” asked Lebbaeus.

  “My name is Alerio Sisera and that is the seven Republic golds the Cruor are offering for my head,” Alerio explained. “What I want is for the Cruor to rescind the bounty, take their carts and their coins, and call off the bounty hunters.”

  “You mean all this is because the Cruor put a price on your head?” Lebbaeus asked in astonishment. “Do you know what you’ve done? The Cruor doesn’t stand for being blackmailed. They…”

  The clop, clop of a horse’s hooves on pavers caused them to turn. A big stallion forced the Legion shields apart and Tomas Kellerian nudged the horse to the negotiators.

  “What in hades is going on here?” he demanded as he stepped down from the saddle.

  “Just a conversation, Marshal,” replied Lebbaeus. “The Lance Corporal and I were simply talking.”

  “Fine, you can talk anywhere,” Kellerian stated. “But these carts are blocking a major road. As Marshal of the City, I can’t allow anything to impede the flow of traffic. Who owns the carts? Come to think of it. Have the taxes been paid on the cargo?”

  Lebbaeus shifted his eyes from the carts, to Alerio, to Marshal Kellerian, and back to the carts. He seemed as if he were about to be ill.

  If he claimed ownership and the Marshal pressed for taxes, the Republic would claim a large share of the Cruor coins. Additionally, if Alerio Sisera declared the coins property of the Cruor syndicate, the Republic could claim it all. Even if he got most of it back, who was to say the Legion wouldn’t go after it again? And all the Cruor would get was the head of a lad after paying seven gold for it.

  On the other hand, if he denied ownership, the Legion would get the coins and the bounty would stay active. All this because a chapter of the Cruor had assaulted a farm boy in a grain collection town and yelled for a bounty when he escaped their revenge. Before he could finish reasoning out the best solution, Alerio interrupted his thoughts.

  “Counselor Lebbaeus and I were simply discussing the destination of the carts. There was a little confusion,” Alerio explained to Marshal Kellerian. Then, turning to Lebbaeus with a wicked grin, asked, “So Master Lebbaeus, do we have a deal? Or should we let the Marshal decide?”

  The three men remained silent. In the background, the sounds of hobnailed boots marching on pavers carried from the surrounding neighborhoods. Behind them the penned animals chewed hay and lapped water. Finally, Lebbaeus blew out a breath through his mouth and inhaled deeply through his nose.

  “Lance Corporal Alerio Sisera. You will not be troubled again. Not by my associates or agents acting in their behalf,” Lebbaeus stated. “Now, can you explain to the Marshal where the carts go?”

  “Marshal. The cargo is simply a transfer between one storage unit owned by Master Lebbaeus to another,” explained Alerio. “He hired the Legionaries to move the carts to this location where another crew will take them to another warehouse.”

  “Fine, that’s fine, but get them off the road,” Kellerian advised as he pulled himself into the saddle. “Now Lance Corporal. Move those carts, now.”

  The Marshal and his mount moved out of the ring of Legionaries. As the shields closed, Alerio called out.

  “Squad leader, if you please? Pull the carts to the side of the road and dismiss the unit,” ordered Alerio. He turned and saluted the Cruor Captain. “It was nice doing business with you Master Lebbaeus. Just so we’re clear. If another assassin comes after me, the next thing I take from the Cruor will be your heart.”

  The masked Legionaries were joined by two patrols. While they marched away, the Legionaries shuffled positions and soon, no one could pick the assault squad from the others. Walking beside the combined unit, Alerio was the only one identifiable.

  They were replaced at the carts by civilians. Among them was a bruised and bloody Spurius Kanut.

  “I’ll make arrangements for you to have a talk with Alerio Sisera, in private,” promised Kanut as he limped over to his boss.

  “No. I was told he was a simple lad from the country that we could sacrifice as an example,” explained Lebbaeus. “It’s one thing to defend your honor; it’s another thing entirely different, when the cost of defending your honor is many times higher than seven Republic golds. No, let the lad go. The bounty is lifted.”

  Chapter 83 – Vino to Celebrate

  “When do you sail?” Thomasious Harricus asked.

  “The merchant trader rows out tomorrow at first light,” Alerio replied. He looked across the table at Tomas Kellerian and added, “I believe it was the authority of the Marshal that tipped the scales with Lebbaeus and the Cruor bounty. Thank you.”

  “Wouldn’t Lebbaeus be surprised if he discovered I’d already been relieved as Marshal when we spoke,” Kellerian wondered. “Harricus. Do not put that in a gossip scroll.”

  “What? Me divulge sensitive information for profit?” asked Harricus as if shocked by the thought. “Here at the Chronicles Humanum Inn, we value the privacy of our customers.”

  “I value the lives of my customers. At the Historia Fae, I back that up with steel and leather armor,” Kellerian said. “You duel with parchment and quill. I prefer a straight forward battle.”