Free The Alexandrian Embassy by Robert Fabbri Page A

unattended.’
    â€˜Now that is a very foolish place to leave it.’
    â€˜Not if you want it to be stolen and never to hear of it again. I’m sure the Urban Prefect will rest much easier if he knows the whole thing has disappeared and is completely out of his hands.’
    â€˜And I’m not someone to disturb such a great man’s rest, if you take my meaning?’
    â€˜I do, Magnus; so when you’ve done whatever you plan with that Scorpion, destroy it and we’ll consider ourselves equal for the favour that you did me in keeping Philo out of trouble until the Emperor could decide his fate.’
    â€˜Now tie that off with a good tight knot, Sextus, and then secure it with a nail that doesn’t go all the way through.’
    â€˜A good tight knot and nail it, right you are, Magnus.’
    As Sextus carried out his instructions Magnus looked with admiration at the Scorpion, now reassembled in the moonlight on the roof opposite the West Viminal’s headquarters.
    â€˜She’s a beauty, ain’t she, Magnus?’ Marius said, stroking his hand along the groove in which the two-foot-long bolt would rest.
    â€˜She is indeed, brother,’ Magnus readily agreed, examining the wound torsion springs, made of animal sinew, in which the bowarms were set. ‘There should be ample power in these for our purposes. Are you ready, Tigran?’
    The easterner grinned and slipped off his tunic leaving only his trousers and a small sack hanging from his belt. ‘The less weight the better, I would say, Magnus.’
    â€˜You’re the lightest we’ve got and you’ll be fine, brother; the pace with which this thing will thump into that wood over there will make it impossible to dislodge the bolt. I’ve seen these things pass through two barbarians in a row before getting stuck in a third. Very pleasing to the eye it was too.’ He tested the stability of the weapon standing on four splayed legs as if perched atop a pyramid. ‘Perfect. All right, Cassandros, wind her up.’
    The Greek attached the engine’s claw to the bowstring and then wound a pair of winches at the rear of the weapon to ratchet it back tight against the counter tension of the torsion springs.
    â€˜Sextus, the bolt,’ Magnus said as the weapon reached maximum draw.
    â€˜Right you are, brother.’ Sextus picked up the two-foot wooden bolt, as thick as his thumb, with a vicious-looking iron head and three leather flights at the other end. Tied to it, with a good tight knot, was a hemp rope; a nail was driven into the bolt just behind the knot.
    â€˜The sharp end goes at the front,’ Magnus said helpfully when Sextus appeared confused. ‘And make sure that the nail is upright.’
    The bolt in place, Magnus looked along its length, sighting it up towards its target. He made a couple of adjustments to the weapon and then, when satisfied, hit the release mechanism.
    With a crack that echoed off the surrounding buildings, the two bow arms, set in straining sinew, blurred forward and whacked into the restraining uprights, sending the bolt fizzing through the night, pulling the fast-uncoiling rope behind it. An instant later a resounding hollow thump announced its piercing of the wooden structure on the opposite roof, closely followed by the vibrating thrumming of the missile juddering, lodged firm in its target.
    Magnus took hold of the rope and gave it a couple of test tugs before putting all his weight against it; it held. ‘Tie that off with a nice tight knot, Sextus.’
    â€˜If you don’t mind, brother, I’ll do it myself,’ Tigran insisted. ‘Then I’ve only myself to blame if I end up splattered all over the street below.’
    â€˜Fair enough,’ Magnus said as Tigran fastened the rope to a roof beam exposed by the removal of a couple of tiles.
    When all was secure, Tigran dangled himself from the rope upside down with his legs curled