"I am glad to hear it," said
Nefertiri with a nod and a smile. "Here is what we shall do. You shall wait until
Caelia has had time to reach the entrance to the villa before proceeding down the road in the same direction, pretending to be a lone traveler heading for Ostia. You can watch for the signal. It will arouse no suspicion for you to be looking at
Caelia the whole time, as she is a quite beautiful woman. However, you must not turn about and return down the road. The guards would notice that, and that would be suspicious. Instead, you will need to circle around the villa. You can either attempt to gain entry over the wall, or you can go all the way around the villa and report back to us. If
Scaevola is not at home, we need to know. Otherwise, if we do not see you, we will assume you have gone inside and that
Scaevola is at home. I know I can depend upon you, or I would not have recruited you. I wish you good fortune, both of you. Victory shall be ours, I can feel it."
Caelia walked over the rise and approached the villa. There were two of
Scaevola's Egyptian guards standing on either side of the gate, and they opened it when they saw her coming. "Good morning,
Lady Caelia," said one to her when she arrived. "Please, enter." At that time,
Marcus reached the top of the small hill on the road.
Meanwhile,
Decius Lupus set out around the side of the villa, the hill blocking him from the guards' view, heading for the rear.