New Rome

43. Don't Deserve You

Caesar leant against a rusted hand rail, staring down at the muddy waters of the Bent Finger - the capital's busiest ferry crossing. Every night, the rivermen pulled swollen bodies out from the filthy depths. Theses were the unfortunates who had flung themselves in, perhaps peppered with the occasional murder victim. One more body to dredge up from the mud could hardly ruin their day... It was a strange thought, but one that Caesar was finding it easier to dwell on day by day.

A hand tapped her shoulder and Caesar turned to face Sawyr.

"Well?" He snapped brusquely.

"I watched the house as you required – from suns early rise to its third setting. The man you're interested in arrived an hour before siesta. He stayed there for..." She reeled off a full report on the man's movements.

Sawyr employed her for odd errands. Delivering packages, accepting them, watching people, watching properties... He paid her, thank the gods. But then he'd disappear and the coins would run out. Hunger would set in and she never knew which beating from the police or gangs of beggars would go too far. Sawyr would return, at last, and the coins would save her. But how long would this last? Was she just prolonging the inevitable?

Even as she reported to Sawyr, a portion of her mind was still on the river and the bodies it so easily swallowed up. When she was done, Sawyr nodded his head. He reached into the sleeves of his robes for her coin. He never praised her work or criticized it – he merely accepted it. "Why does he interest you?" She asked, biting the coin to check it was real.

Sawyr made no reply so she rephrased her question in case he hadn't understood. "The man who my eyes have followed at your behest. I'm curious as to the nature of your interest in him."

"He is one of the Emperor's advisers." Sawyr explained. "The only one with any sense."

"And you don't want to the Amenian Emperor listening to sense," she deduced. For the first time, she saw Sawyr smile. Lines creased around his eyes and Caesar wondered how old he was. He was strong, and Caesar knew that his body was smooth and firm but his lined face betrayed him.

"Precisely."

Caesar started coughing. It was a nasty dry cough – gained from too many nights sleeping rough. Tears filled her eyes and she hunched over until the fit had passed. Sawyr's expression tightened with concern. "I have another task for you. One that, if accomplished, would see a permanent place made for you among my 'merry men'."

"Only speak and it shall be done."

Sawyr clicked his tongue, hesitating. He stared out across the choppy river.

"This task... the gods would not look kindly upon it." He murmured softly.

"Then with eased heart, lay the task into my hands. No gods watch over me. I slip through life in the shadows, free from their wrath or mercy."

Sawyr lowered his brooding gaze.

"The emperor's adviser has proven troublesome. He is infuriatingly immune to bribery and steadfastly blocks the path of my... less stainless creatures. No matter how large a storm I throw against his walls – I cannot get them to crumble. He stands a giant in this arena. Were he to topple, the place he occupied would not be easily filled and chaos might be induced to wade in."

Caesar considered his words. Sawyr needed this man removed from the scene. And he wanted it done behind the back of the gods. Could she do it? In exchange for a promise...