Eagle of Seneca

by Corrina Lawson

  This home had been a whorehouse.

  “Where’s your owner?” he asked.

  “The coward abandoned us.” The first woman he’d rescued, an attractive little blonde, spat on the sidewalk. “He ran off on the last merchant ship to leave the harbor.”

  “You didn’t go with him?” he asked.

  “This is the only home we ever had,” she said. “I won’t trade that for being stuffed on a ship for who knows how long with bunch of pawing sailors. So he told us we could stay here and rot. He’d find other whores.”

  “We didn’t expect the fire,” said the tallest of them.

  “Neither did I,” Ceti said. If they’d gone with their owner, they’d have been badly used, especially on a ship with desperate men. He’d have taken his chances in Manhatos, as they had.

  Except now that they were out of hiding, they might still be considered community property.

  “Help fight these fires and I’ll make sure you get a new home,” he said. “As freewomen.”

  The small blonde slapped him on the back. “Done, and gladly! Your name, Tribune?”

  “Ceti, Chief Engineer,” he said. “You four, follow the hose to its source. Help the crews there. Tell them I sent you, that you’re my recruits, and that you have my protection. In the evening, go to the villa and find Commander Tabor’s daughter, Dinah. Tell her I said to get those collars off.”

  The youngest of the four, a sad-looking brunette, rushed over and hugged him. The blonde kissed his cheek.

  “You want ever to, um, relax, come see us.” She grinned.

  As he watched them walk away, Ceti touched the cheek where he’d been kissed. He smiled. If they survived the siege, they’d earned their freedom. Dinah would be happy to tear those metal collars from their necks.

  And Sky would approve, if she knew.

  He looked back to the fire, which was nearly out, thanks to the crew’s quick arrival. They were soaking the other buildings now. At least they had a ready supply of water. Manhatos had good aqueducts and sewers thanks to its original builders.

  Ceti rested against the wall and flexed his hand, feeling the pain. He had little to do now but endure the bombardment. There must be something that could be done to even the odds in their favor.

  Too bad they couldn’t set those ships on fire. But they had no weapon with that range.

  He looked at the smoke curling overhead.

  Ah. Perhaps they couldn’t set anything on fire but they could do the next best thing. He walked back up to the top of the wall and found Godwin.

  “Send a cohort to bring spare oil or anything else flammable. I want to coat the cannonballs we have with it, like we’re doing with the projectiles for the onegars and ballistrades.”

  “Adding the fire might cause our old cannons to explode,” Godwin noted. “They might not take that kind of heat.”

  “We’re not going to save ourselves without taking chances,” Ceti said.

  “Sounds right.” Godwin nodded.

  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Ceti didn’t get the chance to test the new flaming cannonballs. The fleet stayed out of reach and bombarded them for the entire day.

  From his vantage point on the walls, Ceti saw fires spring up all along the eastern side of the city. But he also saw the crews working hard, preventing the flames from spreading. Some buildings burned to the ground.

  But the city itself remained intact.

  This was only surface damage.

  He was more worried about what the fires had done to morale. Certainly, he felt miserable after today. Others must feel much worse.

  “Too bad the smoke won’t interfere with the fleet’s aim,” Godwin said with a cough. “As it is, the fires that aren’t out by nightfall will act as a beacon for them. This won’t stop with the sun setting.”

  Ceti grimaced. One simple miscalculation, about the strength of the imperial cannons, and they were nearly undone in a day.

  His only solace was that the weakened section of the wall had been further damaged. The gunners on the ships must have seen the opening because they directed more of their fire at it, opening up a wider hole in the wall’s defenses.

  Ceti had ordered his crew to look frantic trying to repair the damage, thus inviting the attack, but not to attempt real repairs.

  The trap was now truly set.

  Legate Makki had enough troops to eventually go around the trap. But he would lose a lot of men before that happened.

  I’m not going down alone, you bastard.

  The young messenger rushed up the steps. “Engineer, Ceti, sir!” The boy hit his chest in salute. “The commander wants to see you down below.”

  Ceti sighed. Breda must want a report. It would be brief: We sat here and let them shoot at us.

  He told Godwin to keep watch and make sure the day to night shift change went smoothly.

  Ceti coughed on his way down the steps. Would he never get this smell out of his nostrils?

  He glanced across the street and noticed the whorehouse that had been on fire earlier had been saved. It had no windows or door, exposing the bar area where patrons must have waited for their whores, but it still stood. Maybe that was a good sign.

  He wondered how long it would take before one of the exhausted day shift snuck inside to raid the bar for drink.

  The smoke cleared as he reached the street.

  “Engineer, tell me why you’re letting a section of my wall crumble.”

  Ceti turned, his mouth open in shock. It was not Breda who had summoned him.

  It was Tabor.

  The leader of Manhatos and Seneca stood near the shuttered gate, with the Viking giant Mykle at his right elbow and his stepson Gaius to his left.

  Tabor wore the chest armor emblazoned with Seneca’s eagle and a flowing red cloak that could not be missed.

  He wanted his men to see him.

  “Sir! It’s not safe here,” Ceti said. And how in the name of Vulcan’s hammer are you even standing with that knife wound?

  “It’s not safe anywhere in Manhatos,” Tabor said. “This bombardment is meant to scare us into submission.” Tabor bared his teeth. “I’m not scared, engineer. How about you?”

  Terrified. “No, sir.”

  “Good. Now explain to me why you’ve allowed a section of my wall to crumble. More, explain why you’re not trying desperately to repair it.”

  Ceti explained the plan to force attacking soldiers into uncertain footing in the mud.

  “The whole thing section of ground could slide away under their feet,” Tabor said.

  “More likely, it will just stay mud, but that should slow them down long enough for our people to concentrate fire on their ranks.”

  Tabor grinned. “I like your trap, Ceti.”

  “It was Sky’s idea. She talked about how a Roman attack further south had been halted by leading soldiers into a swamp.”

  Tabor sighed. “Would that all my soldiers thought so creatively as a Lenape princess.”

  Ceti nodded, his throat tight. With all the action of the day, he’d been able to put aside his worry about Sky. But the image of smoke rising from across the river kept haunting him during the quiet moments.

  “Walk the streets of Manhatos with me, Ceti. I want the men to know that this fight isn’t over yet.”

  “Are you sure it’s wise for you to, um, walk?”

  “It’s completely fucking stupid.” Tabor grinned. “But I never wanted to die in bed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As they paced the streets of Manhatos, cannonballs whistled overhead. Tabor paid them no mind. Neither did Mykle. Gaius kept glancing at them when he thought no one was looking. Ceti would have laughed at the boy except he was doing the same thing.

  As they inspected the soldiers at their stations along the wall, Ceti noticed that Tabor kept hold of Mykle’s arm. It was done in a casual manner, but Ceti was close enough to see what a death grip Tabor had on Mykle’s arm. He wondered how much this “walk
” cost his commander.

  None of the men who cheered Tabor’s appearance noticed his reliance on Mykle, as Tabor no doubt intended. Ceti suspected they would see no sign of weakness until Tabor dropped dead.

  “Sir, where’s Dinah?” Ceti asked as they headed back to his command post on the east wall. He should have asked sooner but he didn’t want to hear any more bad news today.

  “Dinah has been busy. She and a small group of servants from my villa fought off an attempted invasion.” Tabor smiled. “A scouting party from the fleet attempted to sneak into the city through my aqueducts.”

  “Was Dinah hurt?” Ceti asked.

  “No, the last I saw, she was ordering her makeshift army to hide the imperial bodies, so it would appear they simply vanished.”

  “Oh.” So Dinah was taking out her frustration on the enemy. He wished he could do the same.

  Tabor lowered his voice. “And I’ve ordered Dinah to lead the children and the rest of the civilians out, if needed.”

  “You will go with her, of course, sir,” Ceti said.

  “My place is here.” Tabor gritted his teeth. “I can’t ask the Legion to stay and protect the city without staying with them.”

  Tabor didn’t sound the least aggrieved by this possible death sentence. “Seneca needs you—”

  “Seneca has what it needs,” Tabor snapped. “I’ve never abandoned a command before. I won’t start now. I will not let civilians die under my watch again.”

  Tabor had been forced to retreat initially in the Battle for Seneca. Many had died, including Senan, Gaius’s blood father. Senan had also been Tabor’s lover. The commander never spoke of Senan by name. Even passing references, such as now, were rare.

  Dinah might have argued with Tabor in this fey mood. Ceti was not going to do so.

  Tabor stumbled. Mykle steadied him by grasping his elbow.

  “He needs to sit down,” Gaius said. “Now.”

  “I wouldn’t object to a chair and a drink,” Tabor hissed.

  Ceti pointed to the whorehouse. “In there should be all manner of drink. He can see out and the men will be able to see him.”

  Gaius and Mykle cleared away debris and sat Tabor down on a couch that might have been a bright shade of purple once. The smoke had turned it black.

  As word spread of their commander’s presence, off-duty soldiers and civilians pressed into the ruined whorehouse. Ceti ordered a few to act as makeshift bartenders.

  Ceti imagined that this had been a seedy, boisterous, and dangerous place before the fire. It was still dangerous, given the cannonballs overhead, and it was more seedy than ever, but now it seemed a world apart from the chaos.

  Few of the soldiers spoke, save to thank the servers for their drinks. Most of them walked up to Tabor and bowed.

  Tabor asked questions to put them at ease, then the audience would be over until the next man approached him.

  Some of the soldiers simply stood in the ruined tavern or just outside, soaking in Tabor’s presence like some sort of sweet wine.

  Ceti wished he didn’t know so many details of the siege. Then he might have the same hope.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “I don’t understand. How could my mother and the others have been taken?”

  Nighthawk had insisted gathering the rest of elders together before telling her the full story. Sky’s patience was like the string of a drawn bow, tension ready to be released.

  The elders included Deep Water and the war chief from Shorakapkok. Sky wished she had a chance to talk to Deep Water alone. Her father and younger brother were so angry, they were feeding her rage. What Sky needed now was someone who would calm her down and explain what happened to her village right now.

  “You should eat, Sky,” her father said.

  “Food is the last thing I want,” she snapped. “Tell me what happened to our home.”

  Nighthawk sighed.

  “Tell her,” Deep Water said. “Waiting is going to make it worse. When Quiet Dog comes back from hunting, he’ll be in time to hear how Sky came back to us.”

  Quiet Dog had been staying at her village, hoping for news of the Romans in his role as Turkey Clan war leader, and been caught in this mess. No one had yet recognized Ghost Wolf. Sky didn’t enlighten them. Let that reunion wait for the brothers.

  “Yes, Shaman.” Nighthawk nodded and took a deep breath. “Sky, the Romans entered our village in the dead of night. Somehow, their soldiers snuck inside the longhouses and took the women hostage. When we discovered what was happening and tried to counter-attack, they threatened to slit the throats of their captives in front of us.”

  “They were going to kill them all. We had to let them go,” Sea Otter said. “What else could we do?”

  “Nothing comes to mind,” Sky said in a small voice. “Are we sure my mother and the others are still alive? And, if so, where did they take them?”

  “Our scouts followed the Romans to their fleet. Your mother and the others were alive when they were brought aboard Makki’s flagship,” Nighthawk said. “But if we attempt a rescue, they will be killed. If we stay out of the fight between the Romans, Makki promised to release them after his victory.”

  “You believe him?” How could her father trust Makki after this? In his defense, Nighthawk didn’t know that Ahala had already tried to kill his daughter.

  “They had mother and the others at sword point!” Sea Otter shouted. “Don’t you understand that?”

  “Of course we don’t believe them, Sky.” Deep Water’s calm voice cut through her younger brother’s panicked protests. “But as Nighthawk said, there was no choice. When the battle is over, we may have another chance to rescue them. There is no one to blame save the Romans for this.”

  “I don’t blame any of you.” I’m the one to blame. If I’d never gone to Manhatos, Ahala would not have concluded that an alliance between Tabor’s people and our clan was in place.

  Sky clasped her brother’s hand. “Do you know how they sneaked into the village?” She looked at the dog that had led them here. “Why didn’t the dogs raise the alarm?”

  “I don’t know,” Sea Otter answered.

  The answer, Sky suspected, was that the betrayer had somehow caused this. Part of this tragedy was her responsibility.

  But part of it was not.

  Nighthawk shook his head. “I don’t know how they kept the dogs quiet either.” He sighed. “It’s your turn to speak, daughter. You have much to explain.” He looked past her. “And we need introductions.” He peered closer at her companions. “This is Licinius from Red Moon’s line?”

  Licinius nodded. “Well met, bard.”

  Nighthawk nodded cautiously. “Your other companion is one of us but I don’t—”

  A warrior swept past them and lifted Ghost Wolf off his feet, much as Sky’s brother had done to her moments earlier.

  “Brother!” Quiet Dog hugged Ghost Wolf tight against him. “Laughing Dog.” Tears ran down his face. “Brother,” he whispered.

  The brothers were locked in an embrace so tight that Sky wondered how they could breathe. She basked in their joy. Ghost Wolf’s rescue did not make up for her failure to protect her clan, but it meant the world to Quiet Dog.

  She would take the small victory.

  When the din had quieted down, Deep Water called everyone to order.

  “Sky, tell us what happened after you joined the longboat,” Deep Water said.

  There’s no time. We need to get working on a rescue plan. But one look at the shaman and her father convinced Sky that nothing would be done until she told her story.

  Sky detailed her arrival at Tabor’s villa, describing the home carefully, using narrative tricks she’d learned from years of sitting at her father’s elbow. She talked about the baths, and the food, and of Tabor’s hospitality.

  This was the way of stories. One needed to tell everything and include details, so the truth could be passed on by others.

  The silence was almost
oppressive as she related how Ahala had put the knife at her throat the first night, the trip through the Roman town with Ceti and Ghost Wolf’s rescue.

  There were cheers as she described how Ceti and his men had fought off the imperial soldiers, and more cheers when she related how she, Tabor, and Ceti had defeated Ahala in the workshop.

  “When Ahala escaped, we knew he would bring word to his war leader,” Sky said. “So we tried to rush home as fast as we could.”

  “And you were too late,” Nighthawk said.

  Sky closed her eyes against his anger and bitterness. “To my everlasting regret, yes. But we must get my mother and the others back.”

  “It was your actions that put them in danger,” Nighthawk said.

  Sky winced as if he’d physically struck her. “That may be so.” She cleared her throat to steady her voice. “But there was already a betrayer in our clan before I went to Manhatos. Ahala and Makki planned to move against us, they were simply waiting for the right moment to strike.”

  “That’s if you accept Ahala’s words that he was working with one of us,” Nighthawk said. “I do not. Nor should any of us believe the words of a man like him.”

  “Someone helped the Romans get inside your village without raising the alarm, storyteller.” Quiet Dog put his arm around his brother. “And it’s not just Ahala’s word. My brother overheard the betrayer converse with the Roman snake.”

  Nighthawk sighed. “Your brother has been a prisoner for years. He was abused. He could be...confused.”

  Sky shook her head. “It’s true he’s been hurt, body and soul, but Ghost Wolf is not confused about this.”

  “I agree,” said Quiet Dog. “Watch your words, Nighthawk. I won’t hear my brother called a liar.”

  “I would never do so,” Nighthawk said. “I merely point out his ordeal could have clouded his judgment. We do not need to decide what to do based on anger. We must remember our responsibility to protect the rest of the clans too.”

  “We cannot protect ourselves with a traitor in our midst,” Quiet Dog said. “We need to expose him, and quickly. And then we need to rescue the elders of the Wolf Clan. I won’t trust Roman promises of their safety. Neither should anyone else.”

  “And what makes you think that Sky’s Romans will prove any more trustworthy than Makki?” Nighthawk asked.