Chapter 8

Half-way down the stairs, Corvus realized he was grinning like an idiot and forced himself to take on a more stoic mein. His rooms with Rose and Clover in them might have been an oasis for the night and a much-needed respite from the stresses of the day, but it wouldn't do to show up in the presence of the general looking overly jovial.

He knew General Gallicus considered him a son and not just a stepson. Corvus also know that the man wouldn't necessarily always think so. But, in the meantime, he was being treated better than most sons who shared their father's blood were. It was the time to ask for favors, but he was aware that too audacious a request might sour things between them.

So he schooled his features and stepped out on the terrace. Gaius sat at one end of the table eating lunch while Marcus, and a nervous little military man stood at either elbow listening to him speak.

When Corvus emerged, Malcolm leaned down and spoke quietly to the general, who nodded. The steward gave Corvus a reassuring smile as he strode past on his way back into the house. It helped unclench Corvus's worried gut.

"Sit." The general indicated a chair with one hand. "Have you eaten?"

Corvus sat. "In truth, I only just woke up. I didn't get to sleep until late last night."

The general gave a brief nod. "Marcus relayed your request to me this morning. It seemed rather urgent, so I had him put things in motion immediately."

Corvus inclined his head. "Thank you, sir."

The General considered him thoughtfully. "You're certain you want to be so involved in this matter? I know you and this Regula girl were close, but this whole thing could be a huge political mess." He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. "Not that I mind a good fight on any battleground, but they'd certainly try to drag me through the mud by your testicles."

Corvus covered his mouth, trying not to laugh at the image. Again he forced his face to be serious. "I do, sir. Regula's father may be a traitor, but I haven't heard anything to suggest she did anything wrong herself. I'll help her if I can."

The general gave a grunt. "Treason is a stain. It corrupts everyone it touches. That's what they say anyway. If her father was stealing the money, she was undoubtedly spending it. She may not have known where it was coming from, but that doesn't make her blameless."

Again, Corvus inclined his head. He'd learned about high crimes and the notion of a family being stained by them, sometimes for generations, but it had been an abstract historical fact he'd never argued with. He didn't want to start now.

General Gallicus sat back. "If we help one of your former friends, most likely the rest will be along in time looking for the same."

Corvus nodded. "Truth be told, I didn't have a lot of friends in school. And it seems remote that all of their parents are traitors."

Gaius chuckled. "I suppose we'll manage, then. But if they are, you'll have to buy the next batch yourself."

Corvus allowed himself a faint smile even though the joke seemed to be in horrible taste. "Thank you, sir."

The general rose. "I am afraid that some of the cost will come out of what I was planning to spend on your official residence. I can raise more if we have to, but buying two houses will strain my ready cash."

Corvus raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I thought this would be my official residence. It's a very nice house and it is in my district."

"It is?" The general turned to look at him. "Bit of good luck then. But, it won't do as my gift to you on your formal elevation. It doesn't cost enough."

"Sir?"

Gaius shook his head. "When I had much less income, I acquired a reputation for being cheap. This gift is supposed to send a clear message that I can be generous with my friends. The whole household's costing me less than a hundred thousand denarii."

Corvus furrowed his brow. "Oh ... Could you pay more for it?"

Gaius laughed as if he'd been joking. "I could, but I won't. I'd rather spend it getting you set up in your new life. What else do you need besides a house and some slaves?"

"I..." Corvus wracked him brain, coming up blank for a few seconds before he remembered. "I could use a car."

"Buy one," said Gaius. "Use the ImpEx card."

"Thank you, sir." Corvus allowed himself to grin now. It seemed appropriate. He'd just been gifted a house full of slaves and a car.

"Also, I'll be lending you the use of Malcolm to get your new household off on the right foot," said Gaius. "But, start looking for your own steward. I'll need him back."

Corvus's grin faded a bit. Malcolm had been very useful in this matter, but the man still made the young patrician nervous and never seemed more than a few words away from outright insolence. But the general was being exceedingly generous and probably correct as well that his steward was the best man for the job.

When Crispa Iunius met Corvus at the front door of her house, she was dressed in a stylish navy dress jacket and matching pencil skirt. Her hair was slicked flat and tied in a tight bun at the back. She wore lightly-tinted sunglasses and looked for all the world like a high-level executive assistant.

"What's with the get-up, cousin?" Quad asked.

Crispa spun. "Corvus said he needed my assistance today, I thought I would dress for it."

Corvus grinned. "I just meant I could use some advice. I hope you didn't bring a resume."

Crispa shook her head, walking towards the car. "I don't think I'd make a very good employee. Today, I want to play secretary. Tomorrow, I might be a pirate."

They climbed into the back of the limo, Crispa facing the two men. "So, what's on the agenda?"

"A fun errand first," said Corvus. "My father wants me to pick out a car as part of my elevation gift."

Quad was suddenly even more alert. "He does?"

"I'm not getting a Gloria Wasp," said Corvus firmly. "I barely even really know how to drive yet and that much car would be wasted on me."

"It would take months to get one anyway." Quad grumbled and slouched.

"But we are going to pick out something cool," Corvus continued. "My father seems to want to spend a lot of money on it ... as a matter of propriety. I have never owned a car or expected to own one. So my knowledge is extremely limited. I was hoping between the two of you that I could find the right car."

Quad narrowed his eyes. "What do we need her for? I know a ton about cars. I know exactly what you should get."

Corvus chuckled. "You know cars, but I don't want to get something that's only going to impress uncouth gear-head centurions. Crispa, I'm hoping you'll bring a ... woman's perspective to the subject. I have absolutely no experience impressing women."

Crispa smirked. "You're in luck. I have lots of experience impressing women."

That got a laugh. "I was actually hoping for your perspective as a woman."

"Oh, well. Even better. I have even more experience being a woman than I do impressing women." Crispa looked pleased with herself.

A look passed between the cousins that Corvus couldn't read. He pressed on. "Plus, I was hoping for some good counsel on a rather weighty matter I'm in the middle of. So, I thought we should start with something fun first."

"After one meeting, you're seeking my counsel?" Crispa raised an eyebrow. "You're either very perceptive or a bit of a madman. Either way, I am at your service."

"Good," said Corvus. "But, let's look at cars first. There will be time enough for serious talk once we've had our fun."

In the end, Corvus chose an Isotope Shark. Quad had argued that it wasn't a "real classic" and lacked pedigree, but Crispa called it "a real panty-peeler."

Isotope was a new company, spun off from the Oracle Corporation. The Shark was a sleek-looking low-to-the-ground model that looked like it would slice through traffic like its namesake through water.

The Isotope dealership was brand new and built to look more like a race track than a car dealership. The showroom was set on an open plain outside the city and surrounded by a long, elliptical track cut out of the surrounding farmland, paved and painted like a real road. Potential buyers took the cars out on the track so they could drive them without much traffic. For a powerful little sports car like the Shark, it was like a carnival ride, all centrifugal force, hard turns, and squealing tires. When Corvus found the car he wanted - a glossy black convertible with silver accessories and wine-dark seats, he drove it for almost an hour, going faster and faster until the needle pegged all to the right on the 110 mile per hour speedometer and stayed there for laps.

As he and Corvus got out of the car, Quad said grudgingly. "She's got a really nice engine and the transmission is super-smooth. If you're not going to get a Gloria, this might be the next best thing."

"High praise indeed." Crispa strolled over from trackside where she'd been sitting in the shade and sipping a cold tea drink brought to her by one of the dealership's slaves. She looked it over. "You going to buy it?"

Corvus nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to buy it."

Quad raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't want to try the Contrail?"

"Too much car," said Corvus. "Any more displacement than this and I'll end up airborn."

Quad frowned and nodded. Crispa leaned in to Corvus and stage-whispered. "Maybe my cousin would like to try the Contrail."

Corvus wanted to smack himself in the forehead for having missed the obvious. "Quad, maybe you should try the Contrail -- in case we need more than one car."

His timing couldn't have been better. The dealer had just emerged and now gave a lugubrious smile. He didn't have to sell a lot of cars to make a profit and two to the same customer on the same day would be quite a windfall. He clutched his hands behind his back. "Would you like to show Josh which car you want to try? He'll be happy to bring it out to the track for you."

Quad looked at Corvus, who gave a faint smile and a nod. The centurion practically bounded into the showroom.

"And the Shark?" the dealer asked. "How did you like it?"

"Very much," said Corvus. "I'll take it."

The dealer beamed. "Very good, sir. Will you be driving it off the lot today?"

Corvus opened his mouth to say no, but Crispa spoke first, "I wouldn't mind seeing how it handled the open road. The Imperial Coast Highway should be pretty quiet at this time of day."

Corvus turned and looked at Crispa. She gave a little wriggle and the glint in her eye could easily be read as a challenge. He shrugged. "I'll ... be driving it off the lot today."

Traffic on the ICH was sparse, but it blew by so fast that the Shark, approaching via the on-ramp, rocked from side to side in the backdraft.

"Caesar!" shouted Corvus, his heart suddenly pounding. He'd known in the abstract that this stretch of road had no speed limit, but hadn't thought too much about the consequences.

"Punch it!" Crispa shouted back, gesturing forward. "We need more speed when we merge."

He glanced at the young widow to see if she was kidding, but she gestured again. And she was right. If they merged at their current speed, cars would have only a fraction of a second to see them and swerve around them. Fortunately, the Shark was built to be one of the fastest cars on the road.

He pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor. The car surged forward, but there was a lot of drag. Corvus realized he'd given the engine too much gas and eased up before bringing the pedal down more gradually.

The car accelerated smoothly, but two faster moving cars approached on the right with less than a dozen lengths between them. Corvus could have slowed down again and fallen in behind them, but he felt like he was losing face by the second. He continued to push down on the gas and drew nearly even with the lead car. It switched lanes to get out of his way. The shark slid into its place and kept accelerating. Crispa gave Corvus a wide-lipped smile that made him feel good in a way he couldn't entirely explain.

When they blew past the car that had been in their way and had to move off, she gave a happy, little war-whoop. Corvus took it as a license to keep accelerating. The speedometer needle again rose until it was all the way to the right of the numbers and stayed there.

Heading north, the road was a long, gentle parabola that gave them an occasional flash of the ocean as the coast dipped closer. At full speed, Corvus gained on every car in front of them and had to move back into the left lane every so often to get around them.

Each time, his heart raced. If he waited a second too long, got distracted, or jerked the wheel too rapidly, they could easily crash into the cliffs from which the highway was cut or burst through the guardrail and end up crashing into the surf below. He kept glancing at Crispa to see if she would tell him to slow down, but she leaned forward like she could feel the wind rushing by outside and couldn't stop smiling.

The gods must have been looking out for madmen that day because they didn't crash and die. Instead, they slowed down when the signs warned of beaches ahead and pedestrian crossings.

"We should pull over there." Crispa pointed at a sign. "I know a nice picnic area where we can talk."

Corvus pulled off the highway and, as Crispa's direction, onto a side road that led up a cliff that overlooked the wide expanse of beach.

As he pulled into a parking space, Crispa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. In his ear, she whispered, "I told you. Total panty-peeler."

Corvus wasn't sure he'd heard correctly and turned to ask what she'd said. Crispa kissed him again, full on the mouth, her tongue darting past his lips for just a moment before she pulled away and opened her car door. "Come on. It's not far."

He sat stunned for a couple of seconds, but she was out of the car and headed up a path before he could respond and he had to rush not to lose sight of her. He caught up with her at a small area with three picnic tables and a grill looking over the ocean.

"I love it up here," she said. "I haven't been in a couple of years."

"You ... kissed me back there," said Corvus, trying to catch his breath.

Crispa smirked. "Noticed that, did you?" She sat on one of the tables, looking out over the water. "So, what did you want to ask my advice on?"