Volume I Part 18 (1/2)
”Justice shall be done, doubt it not. We charge all Romans present with the examination, and leave the sentence to the Roman Senate. Choose a defender.”
”I defend myself,” said Cethegus coolly. ”What is the accusation? Who is my accuser? Where is he?”
”Here!” cried the King, and threw back the curtain.
A Gothic warrior, in a full suit of black armour, stepped forth. We already know him. It was Teja.
The Prefect turned away his eyes in deadly hatred.
Teja spoke.
”I, Teja, son of Tagila, accuse thee, Cethegus Caesarius, of treason against the Goths. I accuse thee of having hidden the banished traitor, Albinus, in thy house in Rome. Death is the penalty. And, besides this, thou art plotting to subject this country to the Emperor of Byzantium.”
”That least of all,” said Cethegus coolly, ”Prove your accusation.”
”I saw Albinus, with my own eyes, entering thy garden fourteen days ago,” continued Teja, turning to the a.s.sembly. ”He came from the Via Sacra, enveloped in a mantle, a wide-brimmed hat upon his head. I had seen him on two former occasions; this time I recognised him. As I went towards him, he disappeared through a door, which closed behind him.”
”Since when does my colleague, the brave Commandant of Rome, play the nightly spy?”
”Since he had a Cethegus at his side,” retorted Teja. ”But as the fugitive escaped, this roll fell from his mantle. It contains the names of distinguished Romans, and opposite to each name notices in an unknown cipher. Here is the roll.”
He gave it to the King, who read:
”The names are Silverius, Cethegus, Licinius, Scaevola, Calpurnius, Pomponius. Canst thou swear, Teja, that the disguised man was Albinus?”
”I will swear it.”
”Prefect of Rome, Earl Teja is a free, unblemished, honourable man. Can you deny it?”
”I deny it. He is not unblemished. His parents lived in an illegal, incestuous marriage; they were sister's children. The Church has cursed their connection and its fruit. He is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and can not bear witness against a n.o.ble Roman of senatorial rank.”
A murmur of anger burst from all the Goths present. Teja's pale face became still paler. He grasped his sword.
”Then I will defend my word with my sword,” he said, in a voice stifled by rage. ”I challenge thee to mortal combat! G.o.d shall judge between us!”
”I am a Roman, and do not act according to your barbaric customs. But even if I were a Goth, I would refuse to fight a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
”Patience,” said Teja, and quietly returned his sword to its sheath.
”Patience, my sword; thy day will come!”
The Romans in the room breathed again.
The King resumed:
”However that may be, the accusation is sufficiently well founded to justify the arrest of the said Roman. You, Ca.s.siodorus, will decipher the secret writing. You, Earl Witichis, will hasten to Rome and make sure of the five suspected men; search their houses, and that of the Prefect. Hildebrand, arrest the accused, and take his sword.”
”Hold!” said Cethegus. ”I will guarantee not to leave Ravenna until this question be settled, with the forfeiture of all my property. I demand an examination upon a free footing; such is the right of a senator.”
”Trouble not thyself about that, my son,” cried old Hildebrand to the King. ”Let me arrest him!”