A small pouch lay on his bedroll. “Damn you Fimbria, I'm not like you. I didn't do it for the gold.”

The body was discovered just before first light. Cries of alarm followed by trumpeting and the tolling of alarm bells roused the camp.

Cominius threw on his tunic, quickly strapped his sandals to his legs and joined his optio and the other principales in bellowing for the men to don armour and see to their weapons.

The camp was alive with milling, confused troops, trying groggily to figure out what was happening. “Are we under attack? I thought Mithridates' forces were ten days march away.” Said a young recruit, as he helped another don his chain mail.

“Sulla's legions are closer. Maybe he thinks we're coming for him and has decided a surprise attack is his best bet against a larger force.” Said another fresh faced youth, no more than seventeen years old.

“No. Not an attack.” replied one of the, far too uncommon, veterans in Cominius' cohort. “We would hear the noise from here, especially with the dogs loose outside the perimeter. Besides,” he continued calmly “outlaw he may be but Sulla is a true Roman. His troops will not sneak into our tents at night, like barbarian cowards. If he wants to attack us, his legions will meet us in the field.”

“He's a True Roman.” Came the snickering mimic from a clique of slovenly legionaries nearby. “Do you have something to say to me Cordus?” said the veteran, obviously annoyed.

“Just agreeing with you Iustus. Sulla is a True Roman.” replied Cordus, nodding in mock gravity, as his cronies giggled and grinned behind their hands.

“That's enough loose talk there.” Snapped the optio before the situation could escalate. Messenger auxia began weaving their way though the camp, delivering orders to the centurions. “Right lads,” shouted Cominius as the messenger moved on to the next cohort, “full inspection. Fall in.” He made a show of inspecting the troops and commenting on the condition of equipment, while his tesserarius counted the men and his optio verified the count.

“All present and correct, Centurion. Should I dismiss the men?”

Cominius looked at the poorly assembled cohort. The recruitment for this force had been far too rushed and as a result the numbers had been made up with raw farm boys and the detritus of the streets of Rome. Some of the veterans turned out to be pretty insubordinate and Cominius suspected more than a few of being deserters from the Social War. They could be a bad influence on their younger compatriots.

“Have the men stand at ease but do not dismiss them, optio.” replied Cominius, as he noticed the primus pilus approaching.

“A word with you centurion?” Said the primus pilus.

“Step into my tent Bellicus.”

Removing their helmets, the two men went inside the centurion's tent, as members of the First Cohort took up guard positions outside.

Cominius half filled two cups with wine, handing one to Bellicus, topping up the other from a jug of water before passing it on to the centurion of the first cohort.

“I have some bad news, Felix.” Began the primus pilus, using the informal cognomen Cominius had picked up, during his early military career. “Appius Claudius Candidus is dead. Murdered in his tent.”

“Do we know who did it?” ventured Cominius, keeping his voice level. If he were suspected of the deed he would not be talking about it over a cup of wine.

“No. He was stabbed in the heart with a pugio as he slept. No witnesses.”

“Any suspects?”

“Too many. This force is full of scum I wouldn't turn my back on. It would take weeks to interrogate them all. That said, a military tribune has been murdered; someone has to die for that and it's up to the primus pilus to ensure that happens.”

“I don't envy you that duty, Bellicus.” Said Cominius.

“That's why I wanted to talk to you. With Candidus dead, Fimbria will be commanding our part of the force, leaving us short one military tribune. I have been offered and have accepted the commission. The legion needs a steady centurion as primus pilus and I have come to offer you the job.”

Cominius was stunned. He had been so preoccupied with the vile act he had been forced into, that he had not considered that he might be offered a promotion as a result.

“I know it's not the way you would have liked to gain promotion. I feel the same but this is the way the die has fallen. It's probably better this way anyway. Candidus had a problem with Sulla and would have taken any chance to take stab at him. Fimbria is greedy. He wants loot, not a battle with Sulla's veterans. This way, we might actually get some of these kids home when this is all over.”

“What can I say? I accept.” said Cominius.

“Good. You can take command of the first cohort at mid day. It would be good if we had the murderer in custody by then.”

“I understand.” said Cominius, nodding. “I wonder if anyone saw Cordus leaving his tent in the middle of last night.”

“Your new optio was in charge of the watch last night. Upon reflection, he may remember Cordus.” Both men smiled and left the tent.