‘Centurion Corvus played a full part in the action…’

‘Despite only having gone along for the experience, eh? My man Arminius tells me that the rumour around the fort is that Corvus did in five hundred heartbeats what the legion cohorts might have toiled to achieve in five thousand, and with a good deal more losses, if the natives had managed to get their palisade gates closed. And that a certain legion tribune has had his nose put out of joint in a quite spectacular way by his inability to reward one of his own centurions for finishing off the campaign. Which would probably be just another war story for both of us, except that I’ve been reading the cohort’s war diary, First Spear Frontinius.’ He lapsed into silence for a moment, fixing Frontinius with a level gaze, his grey eyes unblinking in their scrutiny of his subordinate. ‘And in the record of this cohort’s war to date your man Corvus seems to have played a full part in just about everything that’s happened in the last six months. He must be quite the man with his colleagues, not to mention the troops.’

An uncomfortable silence played out for several seconds before the prefect spoke again. ‘As I read the story of your cohort’s actions early in the campaign I began to wonder two things, First Spear. I began to wonder just how one man could cause so much disruption to the enemy’s plans…’

‘He was commanding the scout century, Prefect, and so he was always going to…’

‘And more importantly, First Spear, I found myself wondering just how on earth he managed to avoid the eye of the succession of senior officers who must have heard of his exploits and decided that they wanted to know more about this remarkable young centurion of yours. I’m sure you can understand my pondering on these questions about this cohort of mine, given that it’s my responsibility to ensure its complete loyalty to the emperor.’

The first spear opened his mouth to reply, but found himself forestalled by the prefect’s raised hand.