As she watches, her vizier knocks on the door. If she gives him leave to enter, he bows respectfully. "My lady, the children of the Nubian general have arrived. They request, well, demand, an audience."
Pesca chuckles, holding his wet fingers up for her to lick clean. "I've found that it's a useful skill. Now, I have to rally my men."
Maat smiled, and sucked his fingers, in a long, extended way, that sent shivers down his spine. When she was done, she shook her head. "Do wait some more, general. You are still dead, and the most important person is yet to pay respects." Maat said.
"Ah, I see." She nods. "Derva's camp'll do fine. It's out of the way, and only you and your men know where it is. Well, me and the woodsman, too." Agorix looks around. "Alright, try to get your men on side. I don't really see another way to do this."
The two Nubians stride in confidently, the man openly looking at Anai like a piece of meat, while the woman has an cooly intelligent that reminds Anai slightly of herself, though still tinged with desire at the sight of the Egyptian's curves. Despite the size difference, the brother waits for his sister to speak, quite possibly illustrating the power dynamic between them. "Lady Anai." The sister performs a small bow. "We've come to settle a dispute. A few nights ago, some of your Amazon allies stormed a mansion filled with traitor nobles. We were at the mansion, the traitors having invited us, probably to try and gain our loyalty, though the Amazons attacked before they made their pitch." She states her case bluntly. "The Amazons attacked everyone without distinction, and we had to defend ourselves." The brother speaks, his voice deep, a sense of intelligence also there like in his sister's, but also the hint of menace, though Anai guesses that he sounds like that with everyone, not that he's trying to specifically intimidate her. "We killed several Amazons in self defence. They've attacked my sister and I twice since, in a vendetta. We would like you to call them off, before we're forced to butcher them all."
Aulus headed to his men, they would probably be shocked to see him. He tried to explain what had transpired and what they had to do.
Barbarous, so named for his uncharacteristic facial hair, is the senior among he enlisted men of Aulus' squad. He does a double take as he sees his commander. As Aulus explains, Barbarous looks unconvinced, and the men seem to take his lead. "I don't know, sir. I mean, we trust you, but that sounds a lot like sticking our necks out. If things don't go our way, then we'll be executed as traitors, for attacking a superior officer." Aulus thinks of a few options to convince the men: - He can bully and browbeat them into obeying orders. - He can call upon their patriotism and loyalty to the general - He can promise vast rewards to effectively bribe them - He can call upon their personal loyalty to him, reminding them of how he saved them at the farmhouse, and how his leadership kept casualties to a bare minimum in the forest - Or, as Agorix seems to want, he can simply kill Barbarous, to make the others fall in line.
"I see..." She said slowly. Dammit! Five minutes of unity shattered. It was just one problem after the other! "Those nobles, you speak of- the traitors, what happened with them?" She asked.
"Isn't that obvious?" Maat asked as she smiled. "The priest." She paused. "Or priestess coming to make the last rites, give you an obol... and make sure you are the general and not a decoy."
"Most were killed by the Amazons," the woman answers, "but one of them escaped through a tunnel which led into the palace. The guards did a room to room check, but this was the same night the high priest made his coup attempt, so the nobles got out amidst the chaos." The brother frowns. "The fact that the survivor fled here suggests that they have one or more conspirators within the palace."
Anai frowned as she looked back to the spectacle. "That are grim news." She said, then stayed quiet for a moment. "I will talk with Amazon chieftess." She paused. "Can you tell me about the nobles that escaped... and the ones who did not?" She would need to search the palace...
Maat nodded and moved next to the exit, to see when someone was coming while staying unseen. Almost an hour passed when Quintus started losing patience, but then he heard Maat. "Someone's coming."
The sister nods. "Very well. The one who escaped was a mid level noble named Niut. According to the Amazons, she had tried to open the gates for the Romans, been caught, and fled to the mansion of her friends. At the mansion, were Niut's husband, and some other nobles of the same rank. We assumed that they invited us for dinner because they were trying to secure us as bodyguards in case the city fell, or maybe because they wanted to have an orgy, but we're pretty sure they were going to invite us to join the conspiracy."
Pesca nods, taking up the poisoned dagger, and standing to the side of the tent entrance, so he won't be seen either, until the approaching person is inside.
Anai tried to remember if she knew this... Niut. "Who's estate was it - that firend?" She asked. Then narrowed her eyes. As she glanced at the duo. "So, why did you join the party?"
'Pesca is alive and he's a brilliant general, this Titus Andros is an average career climber, he'd sacrifice us all if it got him a little pat on the back in Rome,' Aulus looked at them, 'And "Andros" sounds awfully Greek to me, you want to follow a Grecian?' 'Besides, have I steered you wrong yet?' Aulus chuckled.
As he moved to shadows, he did not have to wait long to hear steps coming closer, as someone approached.
