by Nhys Glover
‘Ride back toward the fort. I’ll be right behind you.’
He didn’t want to be bouncing around on a galloping horse again. It made him sick and it hurt. But he bit back his complaints, knowing that Mater must get him to safety. This was the only way.
Soon, his father would follow.
Gaius watched at Brennwen kicked her mount into a gallop and disappeared into the darkness. He didn’t want her to get too far ahead in case there were others in her path who might try to stop her. But he also needed to make sure his friends were in control of the situation.
With a quick glance around, he saw that several of the rebels were down and that Vali had just finished off the man he was fighting.
‘To the fort,’ he called to the giant Norseman, loud enough to be heard over the crackling flames.
‘Right behind you! Go after your woman!’
Gaius wanted to contradict the statement. He wasn’t going after his woman, he was going after his son. But then the truth of the words hit him like an axe handle. Brennwen was his woman. His lover. He’d made her that this morning. Was it only this morning?
But there was no time for epiphanies. Brennwen was on the dark road, unprotected, with his precious son in her arms. He had to catch up to her.
He threw himself into the saddle of the nearest horse and took off at a gallop. Around the next bend he could see the fast disappearing horse with its tiny rider, white hair flowing behind her like a ghostly flag.
Brennwen looked back over her shoulder, her face glowing like the moon. Seeing him, she began to slow her mount so he could catch her. In moments, he was at her side, and together they galloped on toward Olicana.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
How the guards on duty at the fort knew to admit them at that time of night, she didn’t know, but one word from Gaius and the gates opened. As they rode through the gateway, the legate appeared from the closest building, a beaming smile on his face.
‘A successful mission?’ Avitus asked, although, from his tone, it was clear he knew the answer to his question already.
‘Very successful. Can we find shelter here for the night? My men will arrive shortly.’
‘Certainly, I’ve had quarters set aside for you all. But first you must eat.’
‘I could eat a horse,’ Gaius said with a laugh as he dismounted.
‘If you’ll settle for lamb, I think the officer’s mess will meet your needs.’ The legate’s deadpan reply had her wondering for a moment if he truly believed Gaius wanted horsemeat. Then the commander slapped Gaius on the back and grinned.
Gaius walked over to Brennwen’s horse and reached up to take Cal from her arms. Once the boy was standing unassisted, he helped her dismount, too.
For a moment they stared at each other uncomfortably, trying to find words. But before she had a chance to express the joy in her heart, the thunder of approaching hoof-beats sent a shaft of fear through her. Surely their enemies hadn’t followed them all the way to the fort?
She looked at Gaius but he only smiled. He must have recognised his men as they approached, because he nodded his head to the legate who gave the signal to leave the gate open.
Moments later, three riders reined in and grinned down at them. The giant blonde was easy to identify as Vali, Gauis’ sister’s husband. He looked filthy but jubilant. The other two, she couldn’t distinguish until one turned his head to the side and she saw the ugly scar down his face. That was Braxus, then. Was the third man Menolus?
‘Good to see you all in one piece,’ Gaius said, the humour still in his voice.
‘It was all over a bit too quickly, as far as I’m concerned,’ Vali said with a grunt. ‘We took all these days to get here and then, in a little less than an hour, it was over. Disappointing. I’ll have to exaggerate the tale when I tell the boys or they’ll be disappointed, too.’
Gaius laughed. ‘As long as their father is the hero, they won’t care whether it took an hour or a day to subdue the enemy.’
‘I wasn’t the hero of this tale. That would be you, Gaius. I thought you never went into battle when you were a tribune.’
‘The only action I saw was the occasional fistfight in the local tavern when my men got out of hand. I’m no hero.’
‘I beg to differ. Your plan was masterful and you carried it out perfectly. We only helped.’
‘Did you leave any alive?’ The legate addressed Vali.
‘A couple, but they’re badly wounded. I saw a girl trying to help them.’
‘I’ll send out a detail to take them into custody.’
‘The girl didn’t take part in the abduction. She was kind to Cal,’ Brennwen said quickly, worried that Ardeth would be put to death for her part in the rebellion.
The legate shook his head. ‘She aided the rebels. I can’t let her off. At the very least she’ll be enslaved.’
‘Then enslave her to me,’ Gaius said, looking from Cal to Brennwen. ‘She can be Cal’s new nurse.’
Brennwen’s mouth dropped open. Hadn’t he offered her that opportunity? But since then they’d made love and she’d been emphatic when she told him she wouldn’t be his bedmate. Clearly, Gaius couldn’t deal with having her in his household and not in his bed.
In a way, she understood that. The idea of being close to him and never being able to touch him or hold him again filled her with pain. But was that pain worse than that she would experience if she never saw Cal again?
‘Are you sure that’s wise? She might seek revenge.’
‘Brennwen, do you think she might hurt Cal in any way because of what we did tonight?’
Gaius looked at her intently and she had to shake her head. Even though the idea of handing over the care of her son to someone else was an anathema, she had to be honest. She couldn’t see the kind and gentle Ardeth doing anything to harm Cal, no matter what the provocation.
‘Then she’s yours and I’ll make sure she understands that you saved her life by this decision.’
Sometime later, Brennwen sat beside the bed of her sleeping son. In the glow of the lamp she could see that his rest was natural and peaceful, his cheeks a healthy pink.
Although Cal had complained about being put to bed when there was still so much excitement happening around him, Brennwen prevailed, with the assistance of a stern word from Gaius. And now she watched the precious child, wondering at the bounty that had befallen her. Not only had they rescued her son and brought him to safety, but her fears of being a cursed messenger of misfortune had been finally allayed. On this monumental night, for the first time in her life, she had proven what she had always believed: Her dreams were there to help. They didn’t predict unchangeable calamity.
And for that she would always be grateful to Gaius.
The door to the officer’s room she shared with Cal opened and Gaius, looking cleaned up and immensely happy, entered quietly.
‘Is he asleep?’
‘Yes. For all his complaints about not being tired, he dropped off the moment his head hit the pillow.’
Gaius moved further into the room and looked down at his child with pride and longing. ‘I thought I’d never see him again. I thought the last memory I’d ever have of him was me closing the door on him after I told him I was too busy for him. Do you know how that ate at my gut every moment of every day since? I was too busy for this one precious being in my life. I was too busy trying to be indispensable to the governor. My pride, always my pride!’
‘If you weren’t indispensable to the governor, do you think he would have agreed to this plan of yours? Do you think he would have played at sickness to give you your chance to rescue your son?’
‘If I wasn’t part to the governor’s inner circle, Cal would never have been taken in the first place.’
‘No, some other man’s son would have been. Someone the governor favoured less.’
Gaius sighed and rubbed at his short hair with his fists. ‘It doesn’t matter now. Because of you, none of it matters now.’
>
She felt the warm glow in the region of her heart. Because of her, this brave, sensitive man had his son back. Because of her, the child of her heart, if not her womb, had his life back.
It was enough.
‘Thank you,’ Gaius said gruffly.
She picked up his closest hand, turned it over, and kissed his palm. ‘You are very welcome, Gaius.’
Vali and his men left the following morning, but Gaius wanted to stay on at the fort for a few more days, until he was satisfied that Cal was up to travelling.
On the last day of the week-long Cerialia, Gaius took Cal and Brennwen down to the festivities in Olicana. With several armed guards in attendance, they bought a wreath of spring flowers from a stall and placed them as an offering before the clay statue of Ceres that stood in a grove of trees just beyond the town’s borders. Then they watched as young girls formed a circle around the statue and danced to the beat of deep-throated Celtic drums.
‘She doesn’t look like you,’ Cal stage-whispered into her ear. ‘You’re much prettier.’
Smiling, Brennwen kissed the child she held in her arms.
The next day, Gaius hired a comfortable two-horse carrus to convey Brennwen and Calidius to the coast. From there, they took a merchant vessel south to Londinium.
It was the first time Cal had ever travelled by sea and he was so excited he jumped up and down for an hour as he watched the scenery change and the sails billowing in the wind.
Gaius, in turn, watched his son with bemused joy. His precious child was back with him, and seemed no worse for his hardships. Brennwen had reported that he wasn’t even having nightmares about it. Even in his most optimistic moments, over the last week or more, he hadn’t believed such a complete return to ‘normal’ was possible so quickly. It was a miraculous gift given to him by his white raven.
Once back in Londinium, Gaius settled Brennwen and Cal in at his villa while he went for an interview with the governor. He’d heard threads of information about the successful mission the moment they landed, but before he could be sure his son was really safe, he had to hear it from Lucullus’ mouth.
As soon as he entered the governor’s office, he was greeted enthusiastically by Lucullus himself, who was quick to fill him in on the details of the mission.
‘For all they planned well, they were not aware of your seer’s input. They expected that we would arrive ready to negotiate for the release of the boy, but instead, we arrived with an army to smash them to pieces. The difficult parts were staying out of the way for the few days I was supposedly sick and finding a man who looked enough like you to take your place on the journey north. It would have looked exceedingly wrong if the father of the child to be traded hadn’t been there.
‘But we tricked them into making their play, their hundred-strong warriors in wait for my twenty men. Little did they know, we had two hundred more men ready to surround them. They were caught in a trap of their own making.’ Lucullus’ delighted satisfaction was apparent.
‘Are there any concerns that we may not have got them all?’ Gaius needed to hear that he could relax his vigilance now. The only trouble was, he doubted he would ever be able to let his guard down completely again, or get back to that innocent view of Britannia he’d held only weeks ago. For him, this cold, wet island had been a place of peace and relative freedom, far from the corruption, danger and politics of Rome. Now he knew different. There was just as much danger here for him and his loved ones as there was at home. It was just different. The thought exhausted him.
‘None. They’re all dead, or enslaved and on their way to Rome. I still can’t help gloating when I remember the shock their leader showed when he realised his trap had failed.’
‘They wouldn’t have expected me to go along with such a dangerous plan. I’m not known for risk taking.’ Gaius rubbed his head where the ache had started up again. The headache came every time he thought about what might have happened without his little white raven.
‘You’re a careful planner, my friend. That’s a strength, not a weakness. And from what I hear, your strategy to get back your son was very successful. You’re a man of many talents, Gaius, and I’m lucky to have you.’
‘Thank you, sir, but I had a great deal of help, not least of all the seer. Without her…’
‘Are you sure she wasn’t involved in the plans, initially, and then got cold feet?’
‘She’s legitimate. Brennwen hadn’t been in Brigantes territory for many years and had no loyalty to them. I believe she’s indeed a very gifted seer.’
‘I may call on her for her insights into our next mission to the north.’
‘I don’t think her gift works that way. But certainly, I can keep you abreast of any calamities she foresees in the future.’
‘You seem to be very impressed by this girl. Not too smitten, I hope.’
‘I care for her more than I should, but because of her status I am only too aware that I can never marry her. She is a slave of the Belgae and I plan to buy her.’
‘You will make a bedslave of her?’
Gaius shook his head and frowned. It destroyed him to be discussing Brennwen this way. She wasn’t a possession, she was a person of great value, just as Vali was. She deserved so much more than he was willing or able to give her. But he had laid it out before her plainly, and had made no promises. Their status would always keep them apart.
‘Then what will you do with this woman who has assisted you so well?’
‘She’s asked me not to make her my bedslave. She’s been badly used by the men in her past and being used by me in that way would shame her. So I’ll buy her from her master and find her a place in my father’s household. She’ll be close enough to Cal to see him regularly, yet far enough from me to make sure I don’t misuse her.’
Lucullus shook his head and sighed. ‘This doesn’t sound like a workable solution to me, my friend.’
‘It’s the only one I have.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
By the time he got back to his villa, Cal was in bed. He could hear Brennwen’s laughter coming from the kitchen at the back of the house where Cook, who had been remarkably kind to the girl, seemed to be entertaining her. It pleased him that his slaves had accepted the strangely pale girl so easily. It probably helped that her part in Cal’s rescue was already well known.
Without realising it, his feet took him to Cal’s bedroom, a habit he had acquired long ago. It gave him more pleasure than ever to stand over him and watch him as he slept. But now that he had the boy back, he was determined not to fall back into his old patterns. This was not going to be the only way he saw his son. Cal needed him, and though he’d told Lucullus that he would continue to do what he could for him, his priorities had now changed.
His son came first.
Looking down at the peaceful face, he was amazed at the resilience of youth. But while Cal might be able to forget the painful experiences, Gaius never would. No matter what it required, he would keep his son safe from now on.
As he brushed a few stray locks of black hair back from his face, Cal’s eyes drifted open.
‘Mater?’ he said sleepily.
‘No, it’s Pater.’
The child’s lips turned up at the ends in a sleepy smile. ‘Oh, good. Mater said you’d be back soon.’
‘Why do you call Brennwen Mater?’
A small frown formed on the child’s forehead. ‘Because she is. I knew her the minute I woke up. She looks just like her statue.’
‘Statue?’
‘In the Temple of Ceres. The white one. I’ve always dreamed about her, ever since I can remember. But ‘til we started going to the temple, I didn’t know what she looked like. In my dreams she used to be… just a feeling. A warm mother feeling.’
‘Brennwen isn’t your Mater, Cal. You know your Mater died when you were born. She had black hair and eyes just like yours.’
‘That’s my other mother…’
Although Gaius wanted to talk more
about Cal’s ‘other mother’, the child drifted back into sleep mid-sentence. Frustrated and oddly disconcerted by his son’s reasoning, he leaned against the door and continued to watch the child sleep.
What had Brennwen said? She’d watched over her child in her dreams since he was born? Something like that. He’d dismissed the idea as a traumatised woman’s delusions. But now Cal was saying something similar. And why would he select a white statue of Ceres to represent his mother?
Gaius knew the one he referred to. Made of white clay, the crudely modelled figure sat atop a box, surrounded by rampant snakes. She held two lit torches in her hands and on her head was a wreath of blood red poppies. Why would Cal think that a statue of a goddess was his mother?
At least he was pleased to know Brennwen hadn’t gone against his wishes and put her foolishness into Cal’s head. He would never have been able to trust her again if she’d been guilty of that. His doubts about her had played heavily on his mind over the last week. In a way, he’d been grateful for them, because they’d kept him from seeking her out in private. But they hadn’t lessened his desire for her, which seemed to have grown more powerful with each passing day.
He wanted to go to her now and beg her forgiveness for ever doubting her. He wanted to bury his face in her lap and forget that there were barriers between them. He wanted to make love to her in his bed and lose himself in her, until there was nothing but the two of them in the world.
But he couldn’t do that. Now that he had taken up his mantle of authority again, he couldn’t be just a man with the woman he desired. He was a patrician in charge of his son’s paterfamilias, overseeing his wealth and property; he was the governor’s spokesman and confidante, a man who must remain free of scandal. He couldn’t do what Lara had done to be with the man she loved.
