The Kin

  ***

  There were twelve men in the general’s dining room, seven of whom were lying on couches and helping themselves to the marvellous array of dishes on the table in front of them. The other men were moving around, filling the cups with fine wine or standing guard at the door way and at various points around the room.

  The young quaestor was only a few years older than Junius, a young man of the same rank who’d served as tribune in the army, then worked as a lawyer in Rome before attaining the next stage of the cursus honorum. The two young patricians had been chatting and comparing their experiences, but now Junius had another question.

  “Have you heard of the fungus cockspur that infests rye and wheat?” he asked, changing the subject.

  Kanus laughed. “I heard you’d been asking about that. I hadn’t until I came here. It was the first thing I was warned about. We check the grain as well, even though it’s been inspected back in Sarmizegetusa. We drop it in water, the bad kernels float, the good ones sink. This business with the illness; it’s not cockspur, my friend.”

  Junius smiled. “So you won’t mind if I watch your sorting process tomorrow?”

  Kanus popped a small bird into his mouth and chewed. When he’d finished he picked out the bones and grinned. “Not at all, it’ll be good experience for you in case you get sent to a wet province like this.”

  “Junius,” the general called over. Junius moved so that he could see the older Roman. “I’m sending Cluvius Celer with you when you go up to the fort. You’ll take your escort as well, and maybe a century of men. You won’t need any more.”

  Junius bowed his head in appreciation. “My thanks that will be more than adequate.”

  Sulpicius Rufus nodded. “You’ll only need to stay a night or two, then get back to Rome and assure Hadrian that all’s well in Dacia and under control.”

  Before Junius could reply Celer spoke. “It will be an honour to guide you, sir.”

  “Now,” Rufus interjected. “Tell us about the campaigns in Parthia with Trajan. That must have been an experience to be out in the field with the Emperor himself.”

  Junius sighed and smiled: he’d been expecting this question. Trajan’s conquest of the east was the biggest territorial gain since Britannia and of huge importance and significance to the military men all over the Empire. It was most men’s dream to serve with the Emperor and especially such a formidable soldier as Trajan.