Murder in family Decumius.

“The Black Market…” muttered Felix as all as the two centurions walked down the busy road. “I don’t believe it.”
After giving orders to the guards to stay at the household, centurions Lucius Casseus and Felix Dectivius decided to start heading back to their homes.
“I mean, what had Cent-, sorry, senator Celsus Decumius to do with it? Don’t those people attack only those who are involved in some sort of shady trade or something?”
Felix turned to look at his older comrade for an answer. Lucius simply frowned and looked like he was thinking something.
“Felix,” said Lucius finally. They stopped walking.
Felix, wondering why they stopped walking, turned and looked at his friend, “What is it?”
“Remember when I asked to speak with you, in the house?”
“Yes. Wasn’t it to talk about-..”
“No.” said Lucius simply, as he brought out a rather dirty scroll. “It’s about this.”
“Didn’t we find that in Senator Celsus’s study?”
“Yes. It was crumpled because he had it, strongly, in his fist.” said Lucius. He uncrumpled the scroll (or, actually, sheet of paper). “It might explain how The Bla-”
His sentence was cut short by a figure in black and blue running towards them, “Centurions!” he cried out.
When the young man reached the bewildered centurions, he grinned his cocky grin. “My, my, the two of you are fast.” he exclaimed.
“Lord Albus Etluxius.” said Lucius, coldly. Felix saw that Lucius had hidden the scroll fast.
“Please, simply call me Albus.” said the black-haired man, amiably.
“So, Lord…”
“Albus.” corrected the young man.
Felix tried to smile amusingly, but found that he wasn’t such a great faker so it came out in a grimace, “So, Albus… what brings you here, in the center of Rome, at a rather busy hour?”
The center of Rome was where Lucius’s house was, where the old man lived alone in his small apartment.
“Why, you, of course.” answered Albus, his mismatched eyes twinkling with amusement.
“What do you want?” asked Lucius, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“I wish to have a drink with you.”
Felix looked at him bewildered and Lucius simply looked annoyed. Both centurions looked at each other and came to a silent conclusion.
Lucius shuffled his armor in an old man way and said, “I cannot.”
Albus frowned, “Why not, if I may ask?”
Lucius smiled and put on his best I’m-old-and-weak look, “I have to go home. I need to rest, otherwise, my doctor would scold me”
Felix thought that he was laying the act rather thick but Albus simply took it all in and even seemed to pity the poor old centurion.
“Why, of course, centurion. Forgive me.”
“Oh, don’t worry, my boy.” said Lucius, he looked a bit like a fox.
Felix noticed a small sign of anger from Albus, but the young lord hid it well. “Well, then, that means it’s just me and Felix that’ll go for drinks.”
“Yes,yes.” said Lucius,as he turned and started leaving, “Farewell.”
Both young men bid farewell to the old centurion.
“Ah… what war does to, us, men.” said Albus. He patted Felix’s shoulder.
They turned and started bustling through the crowd. Felix had no idea what he was doing, why he was doing it, but something told him that this ‘lord’ was hiding things, and what better way of finding out those things than getting him drunk?
“ I know this place that is close to the Colosseum. It’s well-known for-”
“That sounds nice, centurion, but I have, I believe, a better place.” the young man had a sly look, he turned and looked up at the tall centurion, “Ever heard of a place called ‘The Lady’s Drink’?”
“No.” answered Felix honestly.
“Well, neither have I. Let’s go.” and not even waiting for Felix’s reply, the young Lord started walking through the crowd.
Felix started following him.
They walked passed market stands, shops, soldiers (who saluted Felix every time they saw him), and prostitutes, who hid in alleyways, hoping to trap any desperate man.
As they walked past people, Felix noticed they were making way for Albus. Maybe they understood that he was someone supposedly important.
When they reached ‘The Lady’s Drink’, the sun was setting, casting a shadow on the tall buildings. The Lady’s Drink seemed dwarfed by the height of those apartment buildings.
Albus without waiting, went inside. Felix followed.
The moment he opened the door, warm, cozy air slapped him and loud chattering filled his ears.
Everywhere, there were men and women, of seemingly different class, mingled here. There were servers everywhere, running with platters filled with hot food and different drinks, there were musicians in one corner of the vast room, playing a famous ode. The whole atmosphere seemed cheerful and happy. It relaxed Felix a bit.
“So…” Albus turned to look at Felix, “Where do we sit?”
Both Albus and Felix looked for an empty table.
“Ah, there.” said Albus, as he headed for the back of the inn, maneuvering through rushing servants.
They finally made it to the clean, round, wooden table and sat. Surprisingly, there were less people where they were sitting.
A young girl with braided brown hair came and took their orders.
“I will have watered-wine, please.” said Felix.
Albus laughed, “Relax, centurion. It’s my treat.” He turned to the young girl, who tried not to blush, and said, “Macedonian wine, please. Preferably, one from Alexandria, if you have.”
“Yes!” squeaked the young girl, she looked 13. “I mean, yes, we have wine from that city. It came today.”
“Wonderful.” said Albus.
The girl scurried away, shyly. Albus turned his mismatched eyes to Felix.
“Why were you going to order watered wine?” asked Albus.
Felix was a bit surprised by the question, but he had been asked by many of his soldiers so he’d gotten used to it.
“Well, as a centurion, I have an image to keep up, which means I cannot run around drunk and shame my legion.”
“And watered wine is your solution?”
“It kind of is. Especially when celebrating something.”
“That’s sad.” answered Albus, with a pitying look.
“Not really when you read that the noble Greeks did that so they don’t become terribly drunk.”
“Interesting.” Albus looked impressed. “Ah, our drinks.”
The brown-haired young girl came with two glasses and a jug, filled to the brim, with thick red wine. “Here you go.” She looked at Albus lovingly, “Just so you know, we opened a new barrel for it,” she batted her eyelashes, ever so slightly, “so it’s as fresh as if it has just been made, sirs. Enjoy.” she skipped all the way back to the bar.
Felix looked at Albus,
“Impressive.” he said, slyly, as he took a sip from the sweet wine.
“What?” asked Albus, curiously. He hadn’t even touched his glass, Felix noticed.
“Nothing.” said Felix, smiling playfully. Time to play the little ‘lordling’
“It’s not nothing if you’re smiling like that, Felix.”
Felix was a bit surprised how easily Albus said his name. As if they’d been friends for years.
“Just wondering if a man, as young as you, is married.”
“I’m not, and I am not that young. I’m only 21 years old.” answered Albus, casually, as he finally started drinking his wine.
“Then why don’t you content yourself with some of the beautiful ladies that are looking at you.”
“They’re not looking at me.” said Albus, as he glanced at a table with two girls, who giggled when he looked at them. “And shouldn’t a married man, such as you, not even look at other women besides his wife?”
Felix’s small smile disappeared. “How do you know I’m married?” he asked (or rather ordered).
“Relax, Felix.” said Albus, “I asked your soldiers. They seem rather impressed with how loyal you are with your wife.”
“Oh.” was Felix’s only response.
“Uh-huh.” Albus was still looking behind Felix.
“What are you looking at?” asked Felix, his anger replaced with curiosity, as he turned to see. He saw a door with a black curtain covering it. It had some golden embroiderment at the tip.
He froze. There was something odd about that door. Felix felt it. All of a sudden, the door swung open and a pot-bellied man with greasy hair and a flaming red toga came out. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, “... and it will work?”. A female voice answered, “Yes, Master Greasius. Just follow my instructions and it will work.”
The pot-bellied man, Greasius, laughed a hearty laugh and responded, “Ah, thank you, thank you, my dear.” He brought out a pouch and started counting out money.
Shaking his head and feeling a bit silly, Felix turned back towards Albus, who was looking down at his cup so intensely, that if Felix weren’t so shaken up, he would have laughed.
“Fly?” asked Felix.
Albus looked up a bit, his left eye hidden by a lock of hair,
“No.” He mumbled
“So why are you looking at your cup so intensely, my lord?” Felix smiled a bit.
The young lord didn’t even flinch, “Some people I wish to avo-”. His sentence was cut short by a loud yell, “LORD ALBUS!”
Felix turned as the man he saw earlier by the weird door came thumping down towards their table, almost tripping on his flaming red toga.
“Damnant.” mumbled Albus. He then turned his head up and smiled a radiant smile that could melt a girl’s heart. “Master Greasius! What a surprise.”
Greasius put his hand on Albus’s shoulder, making the young man flinch. “Indeed, indeed.” Greasius smiled, revealing shockingly yellow teeth. “It has been a while, my lord. What brings you to the Lady's Drink?”
“Oh, well.” Felix was amazed by how well Albus hid his disgust, “Many people recommended it, so I thought I’d try it with centurion over here.”
Greasius seemed to notice Felix for the first time. Then he lowered his face close to Albus’s and had a small conversation.
“Centurion?” asked Greasius.
“Yes,” replied Albus, “Centurion Felix Dectivius.”
“Ah, from the Fifth?”
“Yes.” answered Albus.
Greasius straightened himself, and, despite his big, yellow smile, Felix saw some fear in his eyes. The greasy man shot out his rather sweaty hand.
“Master Greasius Putus.”
Felix shook the man’s hand, “The famous merchant?”
The smile widened, “Why, yes. You’ve heard of me?”
“You were one of the few merchants who were still trading in Greece during the Battle of Corinth, about 14 years ago, I think.” Felix had heard from Lucius how there were some greedy opportunists who fed off of people’s needs and desperations. Felix continued, “You’ve gone into different branches of the trading business, such as metal, clothes, food, even animal trading…”
Greasius smile, if possible, became even bigger.
“But,” Felix continued, “the bulk of your wealth, I believe, is in the slave trade?”
The pot-bellied man’s smile was so wide and yellow, it looked like he had cheese in his mouth. He opened his mouth to answer but then a voice behind Felix stopped him.
“You are very knowledgeable, centurion.”
Felix turned to address the voice, but found himself face to face with the most beautiful woman he ever saw.
She had black hair like night, pale skin like snow, and eyes as green as a forest in spring. She was wearing she was wearing a black chiton with an equally black shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
She walked towards their table and stopped right next to Greasius and looked at Felix, straight in his eyes.
“Not many men or women” she put a hand on Greasius’s arm, “Know so much about Master Greasius’s businesses.” She smiled and turned to the pot-bellied man. “Weren’t you leaving Master Greasius?”
“Yes, yes, my darling.” He put a sweaty hand on top of her pale one, “Just saying hello to a few friends.” With that he shook hands and said farewell to lord and centurion and then left the bar.
The woman turned her gaze towards Albus and Felix, who was still transfixed.
She frowned, “I hope we wasn’t bothering you. He tends to get carried away.” She offered both of them wet towels.
Albus raised his eyebrow, “You never know who may have a disease.” was the woman’s answer. At that Albus smiled and his eyes twinkled in amusement, he rubbed his bare shoulder where Greasius touched with the wet towel.
“We are very grateful.” said Albus, he looked at Felix and grinned, “Aren’t we Felix?”
Felix didn’t respond. He was busy drowning in those green eyes.
“Are you alright, centurion?” asked the woman. She smiled and Felix was no more.
“I think he might be a bit drunk.” said Albus, the glee in his voice gone.
“Oh.” was the woman’s reply. There was some amusement in her eyes, “Well, I better leave you to it. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you.” said Albus.
She left their table and headed towards the door that had been covered by a black curtain. Felix gazed after her.
Another kick from Albus made him turn back.
“Don’t do that.” said Albus, sipping his drink, “You look like a hopeless virgin.”
“Who is she?” asked Felix, completely ignoring the comment.
Albus’s eyebrows went up, “What?”
“Who is she?” repeated Felix, a bit angrily.
Albus put his cup down, “She is Roxani of Macedonia.”
“She’s Greek?”
“Yes, she is. And, supposedly, if the rumors are true, she is a sorceress.”
Felix laughed. “A sorceress?” He laughed some more. “Gods, I know she’s beautiful but a sorceress?” He continued laughing wholeheartedly.
“I take it you’re not a believer in such things.” retorted Albus, politely.
“No, no, I’m not.”
“I’m also guessing you don’t believe in gods, either?”
“I don’t.” Felix had stopped laughing and was drinking his sweet wine, “It’s simply religion. Nothing more.”
“Hmph. Then I guess you will believe in this.” said Albus, he leaned towards Felix, and with a low voice, “She’s involved in the Negrum Forum.”

Notes

What did Lucius want to say? What was it with the document? Is Albus to be trusted? Is Roxani of Macedonia truly a sorceress? How is she involved in the Negrum Forum?

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Murder in Family Decumius, possibly coming next week.

*Demon voice* until then, little Romans, vote, subscribe, and comment!

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