Raising Steam

by Peter Rhodan

  With a start Morghanna realised she was facing her cousin Coel of the Carveti. "Prince Coel. I give you greetings as well." She said bowing in turn. He was not really her direct cousin, they shared great, great, grandmothers so it was a bit more tenuous than the term cousin indicated, but like most of the Brython Royal families, the term cousin was used as a sign of respect and to indicate that here was a connection of sorts.

  The other man dismounted and took charge of the horses. It was then that she realised he was quite a young man. Coel indicated his companion. "Princess Morghanna of the Selgovae, allow me to present Julianus Theodorus Claudius, Tribune of the Cavalry in the second Legio." The young man bowed. This was a real Roman then. One of the old families with the traditional triple name. And a long way from home or at least from where his ancestors originated.

  "This is my uncle and adviser, Udo." She said, indicating her companion.

  Coel doffed his helmet and looked past her to the weary column slowly passing south. "You are invading us with women and children?" He asked lightly.

  She half smiled at his humour. "We have no choice. The Scotti invaded the Novotae and my father marched to their aid. There was a battle and more Scotti arrived on our army's flank and the day ended in disaster. My father is reported to be dead and my brother has been driven north with the Damnoni taking with him whatever warriors are left of our army." She paused and saw the look of surprise on the two men. Clearly word of the disaster had not reached the Romans. “A large force of Scotti warriors approached the oppidum, too large for us to stop with the men we had so I made the decision to flee south.” She paused and studied the two men for a moment.

  "I intend to ask your Dux Arturo to allow us to winter in your lands so that we might arrange a new coalition to throw the Scotti back off our shores. King Owain of the Votandi has a large army and I expect my brother to approach some of the other northern tribes."

  "I see." He paused and looked off into the distance obviously in thought. A small smile played around his mouth. "It will be interesting to see Arturo's response to this." He turned to Julianus. "How far back are the Scotti?"

  "About six hours hard marching Legatus. There is maybe eight hundred in the lead force but there is a second force of over a thousand a day's march further back."

  "You can ride lady?" Coel asked turning back to Morghanna.

  "Yes. Certainly."

  "Good. Mount the lady and her companion Julianus. They will be returning to Lugowalion with me. I will need a messenger as well to ride ahead and advise the Dux. The army may need to be assembled. Take your men and get yourself between the tail of their column and the approaching Scotti. If they get rambunctious you have permission to give them a bloody nose. The legion will be marching north to support you as soon as the messenger gets to Lugowalion. We will fall back to the border for the present, but the Dux may have other ideas so stay in touch and don't take heavy casualties."

  "Yes sir!" The young officer saluted and turned back to his men raising his arm and signalling something. Morghanna was surprised, both at the seeming willingness of the Romans to come to blows with the Scotti but also with the amount of independent authority Coel seemed to have. Very unlike the usual way things were normally done by the Romans from what she had heard growing up.

  "I will take you south myself cousin and so you can present your case to the Dux in person." He offered, smiling that odd smile again.

  A couple of cavalry troopers rode forward leading spare horses. Once they reached where Morghanna stood, Julianus first tightened the girth straps on each saddle and then showed the two Selgovae how to mount using the iron feet things, which he called stirrups. The stirrups felt strange at first, Morghanna being used to bare back riding since she was a young girl, but they certainly gave more support. She felt a bit undignified with her skirt hitched up a bit showing her ankles and lower calves but she hadn’t dressed for riding.

  "Good." Coel said once they had settled on their mounts. "We ride for Lugowalion. I will send word in due course Julianus."

  "Sir." The young man saluted again and without further ado Coel led Morghanna and Udo back toward the main cavalry force.

  "Messenger!" He bellowed as they approached. One of the Romans came trotting forward. Coel pulled a small wooden box thing from his saddlebag. It was rectangular and thin with a cover that slid off. Coel extracted a sheet of some whitish material from inside and put the lid back on. He then used this as a firm surface to write on the white stuff with a wooden tube shaped thing.

  After writing some words he stopped and handed the wooden tube to the soldier who pulled out his knife and sharpened the end of it before handing it back. After writing some more Coel folded the white stuff and handed it to the waiting soldier. "Take this to Tribune Brennus first then to the Dux."

  "Sir." The man secured the white stuff in a leather satchel then turned and took off at a gallop and was soon out of sight. Coel was joined by another Roman wearing a similar outfit but without the gold inlay.

  “This is my aid Gawyn. Gawyn, this the Princess Morghanna of the Selgovae, my cousin, and her uncle Udo. We ride for Lugowalion.”

  “Yes sir. My lady. Sir.” He nodded to the two Selgovae.

  After a small detour back to the Selgovae column to pass the word of their journey ahead, the small party rode hard and reached Lugowalion just after nightfall. Morghanna had never felt so weary and the inside of her thighs ached and her calves were rubbed red raw from the stirrup straps. Coel took her to his house and introduced her to his wife Herwyn. Herwyn was a slight, buxom woman with fair hair. After assigning rooms to Morghanna and Udo she took Morghanna to the bathing room, which wasn’t all like the traditional Roman form she had heard tales. Instead it was room with a tile covered floor and contained a large metal tub, rectangular in shape but rather ornate in pattern. Here she was assisted by two maids who soon filled the tub with hot water from another room and then induced Morghanna to sit in this, her first ever hot bath.

  “One of the better innovations of this Arturo. This will ease the aches besides getting the dirt off.” The woman said once Morghanna was ensconced in the tub. “The public baths are all well and good but so, well, public. Sometimes it is just much better to be able to soak in private.” She smiled at Morghanna who couldn’t help to smile back.

  Morghanna had heard the Romans liked their cleanliness and favoured public baths. She had been steeling herself to have to visit such a place, but this tub was easily the best thing she had experienced since discovering sex could actually be enjoyable. It was with reluctance that she finally pulled herself up and out of the now lukewarm water.

  Herwyn was a soft spoken woman who came barely to Morghanna’s shoulder. She had presented her husband with two young children and had a third on the way, although she wasn’t really showing yet. Morghanna found herself feeling rather jealous about having failed at her own chance to have children. Herwyn carried herself with a dignity as befitted her station as wife to a member of the Carveti Royal family who was also the commander of the Second Legio. This fact Morghanna found amusing as Coel had agreed to betray Maximus in her father’s original plan of campaign. Presumably no word of his intended treason had come to the ears of this Arturo Sandus who had usurped Maximus!

  The next morning brought the man himself only a few hours after sunrise. Morghanna and Udo had enjoyed breakfast with Coel and now had nothing to do but wait for Arturo to appear. The entire Legion marched out northwards first thing to face off any Scotti who came too far south. Coel assured her that if the Scotti got too close his troops would be able to deal with them

  Arturo arrived with his usual offsider, Oween, she thought his name was from their visit to the Selgovae oppidum following the disastrous battle. There were two other men, one carrying a flag and the other a horn. Behind trailed two more riders and then three figures in black.

  The tall Roman dismounted and approached the waiting figures. “Dux. May I present the Lady Morghanna o
f the Selgovae, cousin, Arturo Sandus, Dux and Primarius of the Concillium Romanum.”

  Arturo looked sharply at Coel at this last as if suspecting a hidden meaning, what, Morghanna could not decide. Coel grinned in reply and Arturo suddenly smiled. What the hidden joke was she could not determine. The Roman bowed and took her hand. “Greetings again. My condolences, Lady Morghanna. Your father may have been an enemy, but he was both a wise and honourable man.”

  The empathic genuineness of the Roman’s words nearly caused her to break down into tears. She had not expected sympathy nor real concern from the man in front of her. Thankfully he released her hand and turned to Coel. “What is happening?”

  Coel shrugged. “Not a lot. The Scotti are still about half a day behind the rear of the Selgovae column and closing but Julianus says they will not catch them before the border is reached. I ordered the Legion north this morning and they should be sufficient to see off the Scotti in the vicinity, there can’t be more than a couple of thousand.”

  “Good. We won’t fight unless we have to. Too many of our men are still not trained properly.” He turned back to Morghanna. “Your brother is now King and is in the north?”

  She nodded. “He retreated with the Damnoni. I do not know how many warriors he had left. He sent word that he would try and make alliance with the northern kings and Owain of the Votandi and drive the Scotti out next spring. I have come to beg your protection for the winter.”

  Arturo nodded and surprisingly did not look upset by the notion of having a bunch of former enemies thrust upon him.. “Have you have brought food?”

  She shook her head. “Not a great deal. We have only what we could carry less that which we consumed on the march. A lot of the crops are still in the ground.” She explained.

  The Roman nodded and appeared to consider things for a moment. “Your people will have to be broken up into manageable sized groups. I cannot guarantee they will be well fed all winter, but I can promise there will be sufficient for them to survive.” He looked at her for a moment. “They will be required to follow my officer’s orders.” He glanced at Udo. ”And to adopt our cleanliness methods. Other than that, I would suggest they should largely keep to themselves. There is still a lot of ill feelings here amongst the civilians about the attack.” He turned to Coel. “We will refurbish some of the old forts we are not using. It should not take too much work to make them habitable for one winter.”

  Coel nodded looking a bit surprised at the speed with which Arturo had dealt with the influx of Selgovae. “Yes. Good idea. We can house some in the unused wall forts and the rest between here and Maglona. I image that should do.” He turned to Morghanna with a quick smile before looking back at his boss. “If we can get the First up here to help with the refurbishment we should be well placed by the time the first snows arrive.”

  Arturo nodded. He looked at his aide, Oween, before he turned back to Morghanna. “Are there many women whose husbands were captured by us in the battle?”

  Morghanna nodded. “Some, yes. A few have drifted south to join their men already.” She seemed to reluctant to admit this, as the women heading south to join, their menfolk, although part of the peace agreement involving the prisoners after the battle, had been frowned upon by her father and brother after the Romans had left.

  Arturo smiled. “I am happy for them to be reunited with their men. If they want to stay here of course. You can organise that?” He said to Coel.

  The Cavetti Prince looked surprised but nodded. “Certainly Dux. We will need to throw up more married men’s quarters but that should not be too difficult. I, well, that is good of you Arturo.” He gave a little nod.

  The Roman smiled. “Letting families get back together will reduce the number of dependents crammed in the old forts as well.” He turned back to Morghanna. “My lady, you will need a house of your own for the winter.” Before she could respond he turned to one of the young soldiers with him. “Cinhil. You are hereby assigned to the Lady Morghanna as aide and bodyguard. You will assist her in finding a house that is suitable for a Princess of the Selgovae and you will also help her in any way she requires getting her people settled.” The man nodded looking a little bewildered by this change of command.

  “My lady. Needs must take me north.” He bowed to her then turned to Coel. “Well Legatus. Shall we ride north and see if the Scotti are feeling frisky today?”

  Coel smiled at the strange mood of the Primarius. “Certainly my lord.” He bowed and held out his arm indicating Arturo should precede him out the door. “My lady cousin.” He said, nodding to Morghanna as he followed the Roman commander outside. It was all a bit much for Morghanna. The generous offer to house everyone, the casual acceptance, the instant action.

  Morghanna did not see any of the senior Romans again for two days, during which time she oversaw the billeting of her people. The Roman fort in Lugowalion itself was now largely unused, the Second Legio being based at a larger fort just to the north of the town. The oldest and those in the poorest health were housed in the old fort within the town. Most of the women and children were housed in forts along the wall between Lugowalion and Vindolanda which was kind of ironic she thought. After centuries of being used to keep her people out, the now empty forts were being utilised to house her people over the winter.

  Many of her people, particularly the older ones, found the whole experience somewhat surreal and kept waiting for the Romans to enslave them. Udo, in particular, refused to leave her side for any reason seeming to expect the Romans to do unspecified but evil things with her at any moment. His paranoia would have been laughable if he wasn’t so serious about it. Lanwyllyn on the other hand seemed to adjust to being in Roman lands without any effort.

  Her people themselves seemed mixed. Most were fearful but resigned to their fate, as Morghanna herself had said, better a Roman slave than a Scotti chattel. The children were the least affected, adjusting to their new surroundings readily once they were settled in their billets. At least there was no boredom at this stage due to all the work needed to make the old forts liveable.

  Even the Roman civilians turned out to be very helpful despite Arturo’s words, which Morghanna found somewhat surprising. Given most were of Brython stock and there were several related families on both sides of the border it was perhaps understandable for some to be both helpful and friendly. That didn’t explain why most were quite so welcoming which was unexpected. Help was given freely and there seemed little or no resentment of the refugees despite the fact that only a few months before her father had led his warriors south intending to raid these same people.

  What struck her most was the vibrant nature of Lugowalion. The town had clearly seen better days with over half the buildings derelict, but there was a life and energy to the place despite the run down nature of much of the town. Buildings were being refurbished and re-tasked. A large swathe of the western part of the town had been levelled to make way for work on what looked like some huge road running through the edge of what had been the town’s wall. This road, if that is what it was, headed south west and forked outside of town, one part heading south east. Many of the workmen were Selgovae who had chosen not to serve in the Roman army. Surprisingly she was allowed to speak to the captives who assured her that while they were worked hard they were treated no differently than the other workmen on the site.

  When she asked the young Ensign that had been assigned to her as a liaison about was being built, he had waved his hand at the works, simply saying it was the track bed for the rail line which they were still hoping to have open to Lugowalion before the snows set in. What a rail line was she had no idea, but it was clearly something the young officer was very proud of. Forbearing to show her ignorance she simply nodded knowingly and let the matter drop.

  With the help of this charming Ensign Cinhil she acquired a nice Roman style house inside the town not too far from the fort. It had not been occupied for some time and needed some work to bring it into shape but was not
in too bad a condition overall. It had obviously been owned by a wealthy civilian or army officer, although it must have stood derelict for quite a few years by the state it was in. There were some lovely mosaics on the floors, once they had been swept clean and she found the atrium rather a charming feature, once it was cleaned out and made presentable. Being conscious of maintaining her position, Lanwyllyn found a couple of women in the refugees who were willing to serve as her maids as well as general housekeepers. By the end of the third day after arriving, these two, their bevy of offspring and several local tradesmen had transformed the derelict shell into a liveable home, if one that was overly Roman in design.

  That afternoon a Roman messenger arrived with a note he gave to Cinhil. The young, athletic ensign bowed to Morghanna. “My Lady, the Dux requests your attendance at dinner tonight in the civic basilica. You may bring one or two retainers as you see fit. And me of course.” He grinned at this last.

  Morghanna did not think she was much older than Cinhil yet he seemed like a boy to her in many ways. He was a local, educated by the town priest along with several other boys whose families could afford to pay the priest for his trouble. Nearly all were now in the army, serving as Ensigns. Apparently one of the requirements of being an officer in this new Roman army was being able to read and write. Another of the reforms of the enigmatic Dux, apparently. Why you needed to be able to read and write to be a soldier she didn’t understand, and Udo just shook his head muttering something about “bloody Romans”.

  Despite his boyish manner Cinhil had served in the battle against her people so was not so innocent as he appeared. She rather feared he had developed a crush on her, which was amusing at this stage although if he became particular in his intentions it could be a problem.

  Dressing for dinner presented another problem. She had not really brought much in the way of formal clothes, preferring to pack more essential items. One of her maids, Arela, produced a very fine dress of Gallic cloth which she had kept with her on the trek south, having been married in it. At first Morghanna tried to persuade the women that she could not wear her maid’s wedding dress but Arela, supported by the older and rather more intimidating Moyna at length convinced her that she needed to look equal to her status at a formal dinner.