‘But he didn’t know us.’ Valerius looked south, across the water, to the white island. ‘What was your name, before you were the Leopard?’
‘My given name was Sebastos Abdes Pantera. But that man died in the forests of the west. Now, I am Hywell of the white scar, father to Gunovar of the Dumnonii, who will grow to be a warrior one day, in a roundhouse kept safe by her mother’s people. So that leaves you,’ Hywell faced him. ‘You were Bán, brother to the Boudica long before you were Valerius.’
‘But it was as Valerius that I lived and saw the Boudica die and it is as Valerius that I shall remain. There needs to be one Roman left alive in Britain, to speak with the spy-master who will be Emperor, and whoever comes after him. As long as the legions stay away from these shores, I am happy to be that man.’
Valerius turned, shading his eyes against the low Western sun. ‘Shall we go now, to join the warriors? They will want to celebrate the news that our island is ours once again.
Manda Scott was a veterinary surgeon and taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Dublin before taking up writing as a full time profession. Now founder and Chair of the Historical Writers’ Association, her novels have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize, nominated for an Edgar Award and translated into over twenty languages. In addition to the bestselling
Boudica
series, she is the author of an acclaimed sequence of Roman novels featuring the Emperor’s Spy, Pantera. For more information on her work, please visit:
www.mcscott.co.uk
Also by M.C. Scott
HEN’S TEETH
NIGHT MARES
STRONGER THAN DEATH
NO GOOD DEED
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE EAGLE
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE BULL
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE HOUND
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE SERPENT SPEAR
THE CRYSTAL SKULL
ROME: THE COMING OF THE KING
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
A Random House Group Company
www.transworldbooks.co.uk
ROME: THE EMPEROR’S SPY
A BANTAM BOOK: 9780553817676
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN: 9781407093635
First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Bantam Press an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Bantam edition published 2011
Copyright © M.C. Scott 2010
Map copyright © Tom Coulson at Encompass Graphics
M.C. Scott has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
A CIP catalogue for this book
is available from the British Library.
Addresses for Random House Group Ltd companies outside the UK can be found
at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk
The Random House Group Ltd Reg. No. 954009