by Griff Hosker
Livius disliked the man immediately but put his feelings behind him for the sake of the mission. “We need information first and then horses and supplies.”
“I can give what little information I have but I am afraid that there is not a single horse to be had. Many were bought recently.”
“Recently? By someone you know?”
“As a matter of fact yes, a very well respected landowner in the next valley, an important man from Rome. Now what information do you require?”
“Any strangers arrived recently? Or any new armed men in the area?”
Saturninus seemed relieved that he could answer at least part of the questioning in the negative. “No, no armed men. We are a quiet backwater of the Empire here, nothing but wine makers and salt gatherers. We are comfortable and the people content with Roman rule which has brought them affluence and a life style they like.” He sniffed and gestured at the travel and sea stained clothes of the two Explorates. “We are not the wild frontier of Britannia; we are a stable and prosperous part of Rome. Now if you will excuse me I have much to do.”
As they left the building Livius reflected that the promagistrate had, actually, little to do but wanted rid of them. “He was of course lying.”
“Lying Metellus? About what?”
“About everything. He knows where there are horses and he knows there are strangers.”
“As I thought too but it is good to have ones views confirmed. We will see what Rufius has to say and then we will find somewhere to sleep and ask the locals. It seemed to work in Namnetum.”
Rufius was waiting for them outside the promagistrate offices. “Well I found horses. Some really good ones.”
“Will the owner sell?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t you ask?”
“Stop talking in riddles Rufius, ask who?”
“The owner of the horses, the promagistrate. He has the only horses in the district.”
“The lying bastard. Well Metellus I think that tomorrow we use the frumentari document. It may persuade him to comply a little more fully with our request.”
Once in the tavern they paid for drinks and soon found out about the promagistrate who was not popular at all. He appeared to do little for the town and the three Explorates noticed how faded and grubby everything looked. Whatever the promagistrate was doing he was not investing in the town. The locals also spoke guardedly about visitors arriving during the night, secretive and furtive men.
The following day Metellus and Rufius took the letter requesting assistance to the commander of the town watch. Although they would buy some other supplies Livius had decided to take basic rations from what passed for soldiers. The commander could not question the order but Livius could tell that he was far from happy. Livius was pleased that they would have to spend only a short time in this unfriendly little port. Once they had their rations he returned to the promagistrate. This time he was not alone and an oily and dishevelled looking man was in the office with him. As soon as Livius entered the stranger covered the lower half of his face with his cloak.
“Come now I have already told you all that I know! I would gladly help the Emperor if I could but I have no more information.” Saturninus looked angry at the intrusion and even angrier at having been discovered with the stranger.
Livius did not say anything but he threw his cloak over his shoulder to reveal the sword of Cartimandua and then sat down tapping his left hand with the calf skin packet. “I just wondered if you had found any horses for us.”
“Are you stupid or merely slow? I told you yesterday that there are no horses to be had. Were you and your servant not listening?” He turned to grin at the stranger, pleased with his own wit.
Metellus would not be happy to be called a servant thought Livius. “We have found horses.”
For the first time the promagistrate looked uncomfortable. “Well why are you here bothering me! Use your, er, document and requisition them.”
“I would but it appears they are owned by you and you claim there are no horses to be had.”
“Er what I meant was that there are no horses other than mine but of course they are needed by me. Your letter asked for assistance.” He smiled sneeringly, “and I am afraid I cannot let you have my horses.” He looked at the oily man and they smiled conspiratorially at each other.
Livius stood and slowly opened the calfskin packet. “Do you know what a frumentari is?”
“Well of course. What Roman official would not know of such men? They are the Emperor’s own men.” The oily man was quicker than the promagistrate and Livius saw enlightenment dawn on his face as he slowly placed the letter on the promagistrate’s desk.
“I have already seen the letter requesting assistance…”
Putting both hands on the table Livius leaned forward and said in a low threatening voice, “Read it!”
At first confident the promagistrate’s face drained of colour and then he stood muttering apologetically, “I am sorry. Had I known… of course you may have the horses and anything else…”
In reply Livius snatched up the letter and left the office. As soon as he had left Saturninus turned to the oily man. “Narcissus, tell your master there are frumentari looking for him. You saw that I did all I could to protect him.”
“I will and find out all you can. My master will reward you handsomely.”
“That will do me no good if I am languishing in an Imperial cell…”
“Do not worry this frumentari and his servants will not return.”
When Livius and his men had collected their horses and supplies they prepared to leave. Before they did Livius told the two of them what had transpired. “Livius do you think, as I do, that our friend knows more than he says?”
“Yes why what is going on in your devious mind?”
“If you wrote a report for the Governor and gave it to him do you think it would reach the Governor?”
“Not if it contained anything which could hurt him.”
“Exactly. He would read it. I do not trust him. Why not put him and, perhaps, your brother off the scent. Write a fictitious report saying that we have not found him here and we are heading for Burdigala?”
“If he reads it he will send it on and tell whoever he is protecting that we are going there.”
“When in actual fact we will be going in the opposite direction.”
“Good plan. It can’t hurt. We can write a real report and send that later.”
When the promagistrate received the letter he did not even wait until Livius had exited the building he took a very thin blade which he warmed over a candle. He then slid the warmed blade between the seal and the document. This was not the first time he had opened another’s letters. Once he had read it he breathed a sigh of relief. Had the message been harmful to him or his principals it would have been burnt but as it did nothing to hurt them he resealed it and placed it with the other messages to be sent on the next Imperial packet. The oily messenger was still hovering nearby. “Tell your master that it is safe. The frumentari are heading in the wrong direction.” As Decius’ messenger hurried back to the hillside lair Julius decided he had earned a reward and ordered himself the most exotic dinner he could. His lavish lifestyle was safe for the present at least.
Livius felt exhilarated to be mounted once more. This was their natural environment and it made the three Explorates feel more confident about their mission which had seemed so impossible when they had left Eboracum. Rufius was well pleased with the horses. “The promagistrate had kept the best for himself, Livius. These four mounts are as good as any that Cato has bred.”
Even had they been mounted on the worst nags in the Empire the three men could not have been happier. They were away from cities and the sea, they were well mounted and they were pursuing a hated enemy. A week ago they had thought the task hopeless and now they were within sniffing distance of the beast that was Livius’ brother.
* * * * * *
Centurion was drilling t
heir first six soldiers when Decius returned from his morning ride. The ex-legionary looked critically at Decius. He could see that their luxurious life style was having an effect and there was a certain flabbiness about him that Centurion found distasteful. The old soldier in him needed the discipline of army food and exercise. He had noticed his own growing paunch and decided to do something about it. He determined to speak to Decius later on. It did not do a man any good to let his standards slip. True, they were safe and comfortable but Centurion was wary of visitors and he knew that any visiting army unit could recognise them. He was under no illusions; if they were caught they would be crucified. Their apparent affluence was no protection should someone come from Namnetum. The thought of a life in Africa still haunted him; had they had a bigger ship they could have fled to a land which was beyond Rome and yet which had all the luxuries they desired. Perhaps they could still effect a change. When they had trained men they could purchase a ship; their own promagistrate in Pontus Santonum would facilitate that. Their overseer, the slimy but useful Narcissus would do all the buying and all they would need to do would be to leave their villa and board their ship. Centurion knew why Decius had baulked at the decision, he was still enamoured of Morwenna. The witch had insinuated herself into his mind and, until it was purged, he would never leave. He knew that when in his cups Decius talked about returning to Britannia to collect his lover and his son. The dreams of a dynasty were still deeply embedded.
“Come on! Move! You are flabby and unfit. My sister could beat you.” He smacked his wooden rudius into the stomach of one of the trainees and he groaned with disappointment when the man doubled over. “Tiny! Get over here and show them how to spar.”
Tiny grinned and wandered over his own rudius held in his paw like hand. He and Centurion hacked, slashed and pushed each other until they were both heaving with exhaustion and covered in sweat. “Now when you look like us you can have a bath and we will eat but if not you are here all night!”
The six men began to spar a little harder and Centurion threw his arm around Tiny. “We need more warriors like you and me, Tiny. Not these soft girls we have. It is no wonder they left the legions, they were probably thrown out.”
Decius had watched the bout with interest and he joined them. “We need more soldiers.”
“Not like these Decius. These would not last more than a few moments with real warriors. We ought to go to the big cities. There will be a much better selection and more effective soldiers.”
Decius shook his head. “No it is too soon. Our faces will still be known let us wait another year.”
“Well we will have to make do with substandard specimens like these six.” He looked around. “Isn’t Narcissus back yet?”
“No. Something must have happened. He normally gets back as soon as he can. Perhaps Saturninus has heard something.” Decius had soon made the promagistrate loyal to him by feeding his need for money. In return the fat, greedy official kept Decius informed of all comings and goings in the province. He was the most valuable asset Decius had outside of Centurion and Tiny. He was his own early warning system. He was not going to almost lose everything as he so nearly had at Eboracum, this time he would protect himself. “Let’s eat I am starving.”
Centurion put his arm out. “You need to work up an appetite. You are getting fat.”
The blunt words of Centurion made Tiny giggle and Decius colour but Centurion was the only one who could and would tell Decius the truth. “I am not fat.”
Centurion ignored the comment and handed him a rudius. “Come on. You can fight me first and then Tiny. We are all getting lazy.”
Realising that he had no choice Decius slipped out of his toga and went into the crouch. “Come on then. Show me how it is done.”
* * * * * *
The land over which the three Explorates travelled was totally unlike the land of Britannia they knew so well. The terraced hillsides were covered in vines and there were few big hills. It made scouting more difficult than they were used to. For there were few vantage points. Rufius was the happiest of the three. “The thing is this is what I love. None of this tossing up and down on a boat. Here I know where I am and where we are going.”
“Then tell me my young friend just where is the brother of Livius to be found?”
“That’s easy.”
Both Livius and Metellus stopped their horses and looked in amazement at Rufius. “Explain!”
“Remember where we found him in Britannia? He had a location high above the ground where he could see for a long distance. He made it a very defensible site and so we can expect somewhere high up, overlooking the land around and probably with a wall or defence around it.” He waved his arm airily around, “Nowhere near here but if you look in the distance you can see the land rises up a little higher and there are small hills. I reckon that as that is north of us it would be a good bet and a good place to start.”
Metellus shook his head. “The thing is Livius that our intelligence must be rubbing off or he is stealing it for the boy appears to be getting cleverer.”
“No Metellus. As soon as we left the sea I felt better. It’s what I do.”
They rode along in silence with Metellus and Livius happy to let Rufius confidently take them northwards. “The trouble is Livius that I still can’t see how we can capture them. They have to outnumber us. There were at least eight of them on the ship when we saw them and these are tough legionaries. It won’t be easy.”
“I know Metellus that has worried me. We have no soldiers we can call on which means we have to do it by ourselves.”
“What I am trying to say Livius is that it is not enough just to find them. We have to find them and make the battle winnable. There are no reinforcements racing to our rescue. I had hoped that there would be an ala nearby but it is obvious that this place is settled and pacified.”
“Right then that is our first objective. Find them and watch them and then hope that that brain of yours can devise a way to defeat them.”
“You have a great deal of confidence in my brain Livius.”
“I have as much confidence in your brain as I do in Rufius’ ability to track.”
Metellus waved an arm in front of him. “Point taken. I shall do my best and then hope that you are better with that sword than your brother.”
Grimly determined Livius replied, “Oh I am, believe me Metellus when I face my brother sword to sword there will be but one victor.”
“Then you have decided not to take him back.”
“See your brain is working already. No he will die here. Firstly he will be hard to beat and he might escape on the way back but most importantly some of the family name will be protected if he dies. There will be no trial and no whisperings. It will end here in Gaul. The Emperor wants the gold returned and the thief punished. We will do both.”
“Good. That makes sense. But don’t expect me and Rufius to be able to take down the two big buggers he has with him! We will need something special for those two.”
“Hopefully the Allfather will show us the way.”
Metellus looked up at the sky and said seriously, “Sending Macro back to aid us might be a start.”
As they lay in their camp they felt content although Livius complained that his hair and beard itched. “Good, for that means you will act differently. It is all part of the disguise. And now I will sleep for I believe that I have the middle watch.”
They both nodded. The Explorate way in the field was to take it in turns to sleep. One man was always on watch. As the worst shift was the one where you awoke and watched and then returned to sleep, they each took that one in turn. Tonight it was the turn of Metellus. Livius and Rufius lay watching the stars and listening to the night insects.
“It seems a totally different world to Britannia does it not? The nights are warmer. The land smells differently and I have never heard so many insects.”
“True Rufius and yet we are, in truth not far from home. When I looked at t
he map I was surprised how close we are.”
“We may be close but we are a world away. And I have noticed how dry the land is. Does it never rain here?”
“It must do or they could not grow vines but it does seem dry.”
“Well sir, sorry, I mean Livius, enjoy the stars and I shall enjoy the sleep and dream of this strange and exotic land.”
The following morning the sky was overcast and heavy. “Well Rufius looks like you wished rain on us.”
“Sorry Livius. Still it clears the air after a storm. I’ll take point again.”
They rode up a gentle slope which wound along the terraces taking them ever closer to the line of tree topped hills in the distance.
“Have you come up with a plan yet?” Metellus knew that they were approaching the time when they would need to make decisions.
“Metellus I didn’t bring you along for your good looks but your intelligence. I am sure that whilst you were on watch last night you devised a plan.
“Well sort of.”
“Go on don’t keep me in suspense.”
“When we find them we will know it because of Centurion and the giant. There can’t be two like that in Gaul. Once we know where they are we do what we do best, we scout and hide. We just have to watch them and not be seen. There is no rush we wait until we know every uncia of the place and where everyone is. The fact that we think they are close to us and we have found them so soon is an advantage we didn’t have when we left Britannia. Once we have that knowledge we can work out how to whittle down the opposition to manageable numbers.” He held up his hand. “I still have no idea how we take down Man Mountain and Scarface but if we can get rid of the rest that leaves us three on three and we may have a chance.”
“No that is a better plan than any that I have. I now regret only bringing two of you. Had we had more I could have sent one of you to Namnetum for troops. Coccius seemed a competent sort.”
