“Men from the desert,” Decimus repeated, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “You accompanied the general to Egypt. Were these men from Egypt?”
“Once,” Aulus Nervanus answered, nodding. “With the general some years back. The general’s last command. He took me along as his personal physician. We were in that god forsaken hot country for two years. Two horrible, horrible, years.”
Decimus almost smiled. Egypt was a country you either found interesting or you detested it to the very core of your being. Apparently, the doctor was of the latter persuasion.
“You said the general’s wife looked startled when she turned to look at this person. Tell me more.”
“Oh, not just startled, tribune. Not just startled. She looked as if she had been stabbed in the heart. She threw up both hands to her breasts
