The Winter Sword: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 3)

by Alaric Longward

  I nodded, and the Gaul brought us ale. ‘This any good?’ I asked him, and the Gaul just gave me a snaggletooth smile.

  ‘It is better than piss,’ Lothar confirmed. ‘But I do prefer the wine.’ Something he stole from the supplies, no doubt, I thought, and stored with the Gaul.

  I shuddered as I tasted the liquid and eyed the ugly Gaul waiting to be paid. ‘I’d rather have the scar than his face. By gods, he looks like a lice ridden ass hole.’

  Lothar laughed heartily and threw the man a copper coin, and the Gaul smiled in gratitude, despite the insult. He was one of those men it was impossible to insult. I gazed at Lothar. For some reason I kind of liked him. He was an easygoing, lazy man as he sprawled on the seat, but there was practicality in him that could have been useful. He was far too luxurious to be a soldier, but I thought he was honest about his many shortcomings. Of course, he was a rogue of the first degree and evil to his core. He likely could fight if pressed. He had ring mail armor with a heavy tunic of leather, a steel helmet with horsehair crest dropped on the floor, well used hand axes on his belt. His men were two louts, fawning on him, but both had a look of practical killers.

  ‘This is Tudrus, and that is Fulcher. You know him, of course,’ I said.

  His eyes laughed as he toasted Fulcher. ‘I do indeed. I do. The Batavi who is special, riding around as he pleases.’

  ‘He was trying to find me, by orders of Chariovalda,’ I told him, playing with the ale. ‘Chariovalda, who is above a Decurion. Far above.’

  He shrugged. ‘It seems you found yourself, and he is out of the job, eh? So, now you are here. Chariovalda or no Chariovalda, I command the men here, so we have to have a chat.’

  We said nothing for a while.

  I shrugged. ‘I won’t fight you over the men. I am tired, tortured, and exhausted. I only want to take my men and leave, in fact.‘

  His eyes rounded in surprise, but only for a moment. ‘My men. All the Batavi riders, and anyone riding with them, are under my command. Even Fulcher here, since you are no longer lost,’ Lothar said, but I slammed the tankard on the table so hard it cracked, spilling dirt colored ale over it, dripping to the floor.

  I spoke, my voice nervous. ‘My men and I will go back to Castra Vetera to report to Chariovalda. I understand there is a ship? The last ship?’

  He scowled at me but nodded. ‘There is a ship, the navis onageria with a blue figurehead. Goes out with orders and sick men in an hour or two. But I say the men stay. And you should as well.’

  I was looking around in agitation and saw Lothar lose all respect for me. I whispered to him. ‘I have to go. I can pay some. I know you know the ships and their captains. I have a hoard of coins from … well. I cannot say. I found them in my captivity.’ His eyes narrowed as he played with a splinter of the tankard in the table. I went on. ‘I have important news, as well. On Segestes. He is a traitor!’

  ‘Really?’ Lothar said with an angry scowl. ‘That is surprising news indeed.’ His face did not twitch, and I hoped Manno had been right when he had told Thusnelda such news.

  I opened my hands to him in supplication. ‘I have to go.’

  ‘You are a nervous one, are you not?’ he breathed and was nodding at himself as he thought about the dilemma. ‘And this treasure? That goes to Castra Vetera as well?’ he inquired, languidly.

  ‘I wish to be away from here,’ I said, nervously. I clapped at a bulging pouch on my side and it clinked. There were but few coins there, of course, and many rocks but it worked. Lothar licked his lips. ‘I’ll give you some gold for this service. Well worth a trip down river.’

  ‘You are not what I thought you would be, Hraban. Did they hurt you much in the lands of Segestes?’ he asked, smiling arrogantly.

  I shook my head in denial, my eye twitching. ‘Nero Claudius Drusus wants me on that ship; Chariovalda wants me on that ship. So I will go. The tribune does not, I am sure, but I will not tell him. I am asking you, as a fellow cavalryman to help me out. And you will be rid of me at the same time,’ I told him as the Gaul brought me another mug, scowling with a warning. He does not like Lothar, I thought.

  ‘The tribune does not know?’ he asked, nervously.

  ‘No, he thinks I should stay, but I am sure you see it differently. I’ll just go. I’ll go and the treasure goes and the news of Segestes as well and you will be the sole Decurion in the castra,’ I told him, pretending desperation.

  ‘You seem a wreck, Hraban. A wreck,’ he told me with amusement. His men laughed obediently.

  ‘I am tired, Lord,’ I told him. Fulcher and Tudrus were glowering at the two men with Lothar, unhappy with my dishonorable act. ‘We shall sail.’

  ‘I see,’ he mulled it over in his head, glancing at me. He was a proud man. I could see it. His chest heaved as he decided the matter, and he forced a laugh from his chest. ‘No,’ he said simply.

  ‘No?’ I said weakly, my hand shaking.

  ‘No,’ he repeated, smirking at the shake in my hand, and my nervousness.

  ‘But—‘

  He cut me off. ‘I command the Batavi and your men stay here if they signed up. You take your prizes to Chariovalda alone if I let you.’

  ‘I cannot leave my men and my woman!’ I told him, and he shrugged.

  ‘Your men belong to my command. Who is your woman?’ he asked, curious.

  ‘Cassia, the healer. We just reunited, and she cannot keep her hands off me,’ I told him, smiling blissfully, if nervously.

  That did it. His face took a grey hue as he regarded me, his eyes rolled in his head, and he looked away, spat on the floor, and thought deep. Then he nodded. ‘I will escort you to the ship and keep your horse here. I will also send men to fetch Cassia. The ship leaves soon. The men stay here as well,’ he said, pointing at Fulcher and Tudrus.

  I got up, and Tudrus and Fulcher nodded at me as I clasped hands with them. ‘I will see you later then.’

  Lothar smirked as he adjusted his armor. ‘It is too bad Cassia must come with you, Hraban. But she will keep you hale and help you overcome your … timidity,’ Lothar said mirthfully. ‘You will come back, and bring her with you. She is a great one with herbs. She once healed my … well, down there.’

  I swallowed and nodded, and his men laughed at my discomfort and the insult. Fulcher was about to open his mouth, but I shook my head. ‘She is a great healer. She is,’ I agreed.

  Lothar sneered at me in disgust but nodded towards the door. He picked up his helmet. ‘Shall we?’ He threw a copper on the table. We went outside, and Fulcher and Tudrus mounted their horses.

  Lothar faced my friends. ‘You two, ride to the barracks, and wait for me there. I will assign you your orders when I come back,’ he told them and gestured for the ship as Fulcher and Tudrus rode away. He leaned to speak to a small boy, servant of the Gaul, and he scattered off, mud flying. ‘He will get Cassia. Shall we?’ I nodded, and we rode to the ship in silence and dismounted. The ship was new, obviously, with fresh paint on its sides, and a happy crew, for they were keen on leaving. There were some sick men covered with blankets, a few wounded legionnaires and an optio with orders and reports, likely the one the tribune was sending to Drusus. The trierarch, a short, stocky man was on the deck, and Lothar climbed a gangplank to him, gesturing at me to stay back. He spoke with the man, a grizzly sailor with a surprisingly clean tunic and gestured at a shoddy structure on the side of the pier. They argued, and Lothar pulled a coin out of his pouch, evidently cursing the man’s greed. The trierarch nodded happily and all was made well, apparently.

  Lothar clambered back down the gangplank and gestured at me to go inside the building. I turned to walk that way. The two men followed me.

  ‘Come! It cost me, but nothing is too good for dear Cassia. You have all your treasure with you? None left behind? I forgot to ask,’ he said, and I noticed some panic on his face.

  I patted a bulging pouch. ‘All here. Gold. So much of it. I’ll pay you. Over there?’ I said, gesturing to a doo
r in the wooden structure.

  ‘Indeed,’ he said, guiding me that way. ‘Best you pay me where few see it. It’s not a safe place to flaunt gold at, this harbor. And they are not ready to depart. Soon. Hide here so nobody can see you. I know this place very well.’ He opened the door for me, smiling at some sailors looking on, and pushed me in. An oil lamp was sputtering on a desk, and I walked over to it as Lothar came in. The room was a dark one, its corners unseen.

  But then, I knew the room already.

  ‘You like it?’ Lothar asked. ‘Homely and dry.’

  I nodded as the two men came in with him, their armor jingling. They stood to face me.

  Lothar smiled at me as the door closed. ‘The pouch, please,’ he said, his hand out.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I squeaked like a girl.

  ‘I’m robbing you, you damned fool,’ he explained.

  I looked around, playing scared. ‘You did not send anyone for Cassia?’

  He shook his head. ‘The boy ran on some other errand. I will have Cassia. You will not. She is a proper woman for a man like me. I tried to hump her once, you know? I grabbed her and pulled her over me, but she had a pugio on my throat! Imagine that! But if you are gone, she will need a man to console her. A real man, not a nerveless turd like you. Besides, I will have to deliver you back to whence you came from.’

  ‘To Segestes?’ I mouthed, tired with the game. ‘You … you do not work for him?’

  ‘He pays well,’ Lothar grinned. ‘I was mulling about how to do this, but you solved my problem. You will stay here, cuffed and bound until the night. So you’ll live awhile. Be happy!’

  I nodded in faked terror, dropped the pouch on the ground. Lothar scowled at me and nodded one of his men to fetch it. The man came forward, leering at my weakness, pulled a sword, and leveled it at me while reaching for the pouch.

  ‘Your helmet, armor—‘ Lothar began, but was interrupted.

  An arrow flew from the dark corner and hit the man with the sword. It shuddered in his eye, and the man fell like a sack. Lothar’s mouth was open, his friend cursed and pulled a cudgel and a dagger and charged. They were Batavi. They would not die easily, but I did not care. I pulled my seax and ran for Lothar, ignoring the man coming for me. Agetan emerged from the shadows, grinning like a terrible monster from the dark mountains as he tackled the man with the cudgel to the darkness, and I saw Bohscyld receive him, and together the brothers broke his arms while keeping him silent. Lothar had in the meantime drawn his axes, but his eyes were darting in the darkness, full of fear. He turned, pulled at the door, which opened up as Tudrus pushed in, and Lothar retreated for me. He looked like a cornered, pretty doe as Brimwulf appeared with a cocked arrow from the corner.

  ‘All good?’ I asked them all.

  ‘Fulcher is outside, and nobody of importance saw us,’ Tudrus said. ‘Have to pay the captain to keep him silent. But I suppose this curly fool has coin on him to cover what I promised him, no? What shall we do?’ he gestured for Lothar, whose axes were shaking as he looked at Agetan and Bohscyld emerge from the dark, leaving behind a corpse, a man they had killed barehanded.

  ‘I will fight you Lothar,’ I said. ‘Just you and me. You see, I am not really a gutless turd. And you have made a mistake.’

  ‘I cannot just disappear!’ Lothar said, dropping his axes.

  ‘Men disappear all the time. We looked for you. Waiting for you in the tavern. You never showed up,’ I said. ‘Who is to claim otherwise? I’m sure the Wart won’t. And you did try to hump Cassia, right? Pulled her over you? And she healed your cock? Did she?’

  He sneered, nervously. ‘She did not, and I did not, do not be a fool. I am a Decurion of the turma, and you should consider how my disappearance will look like.’

  ‘You are a lazy thief. Few like you. But you are also a clever one. I might spare you,’ I told him coldly, and Tudrus pushed him forward, and I punched him. He flew to the floor, and I placed a seax on his throat as he held his nose, eyes full of terror. ‘You know much about Segestes, and his misfortunes at my hands, do you not?’ I said, prodding him. ‘And mine at his. So, tell me all you know. ’

  He shook his head. ’I’ll not survive if I speak of him!’

  I leered at him. ‘You have to trust the word of an Oath Breaker right this very moment, cur and not fear rage of Segestes in the future. And I promise you will howl like a dog if you do not speak out. What do you know of Segestes and this village?’

  ‘You wish to know of his men in the village?’ he ventured and looked confused. ‘But you caught his man in the village.’

  I laughed. ‘You work for Antius. He pulls the strings of Segestes.’

  ‘I know nothing of that,’ he frowned and then nodded vigorously as the seax broke skin. ‘Yes. But I am alone here! Nobody else gets paid like I do!’

  ‘Yes?’ I asked and pushed the blade on his throat. ‘Perhaps I shall believe you. And I hear you dealt for Segestes in the case of Odo. No?’

  ‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘He has a man here, as well. I guess you know that, as well.’

  ‘Speak,’ I spat, and he did.

  The ship sailed with Lothar, for he was ill. He had broken ribs, a dislocated jaw that prevented verbal communication, but he lived. I was made a Decurion of the turma, and I had to save Sigimer. And there was a man who might help me. Reluctantly, but he could.

  CHAPTER 25

  The winter had blanketed the land with snow. It was near Yuletide and the cohorts had settled in to a comfortable, dull life, getting fat and keeping a lazy eye out for trouble. The tribune had put me in charge of the turma of Batavi, and so I found myself leading twenty-one men, suspicious men at first, but soon happy enough as I put them through much more rigorous duties than Lothar had. Apparently, Lothar had not been very popular, except with the men who were corrupt and evil, and we had dealt with both. I quickly found out that one of the two men we had killed had been the duplicarius, a double pay man and what in turma was the same as an optio in a century of legionnaires. A sesquiplicarius, a one and a half pay man, had been the other one. In effect, we had killed the under officers of the turma. So, I had only a signifier, a standard-bearer with the unit standard to help me out, and he was a young, brave man, with an easy grin, white teeth and no beard. His name was Hund. I chose two of the brightest men to take the under officers’ places, and they were happy with taking some of my duties for the extra pay, and it was so easy for Lothar’s legacy to be forgotten.

  Our routine was simple. Half the men would ride patrols, half would train and fix gear, and I got to learn how much time leading a group of men took. It took me a week to settle into the duty and to plan my next steps. In a week’s time, I found Tudrus and sat him down. ‘Friend. How do you like a Roman castra?’

  ‘It is … organized, I suppose,’ he allowed and saw my face. ‘I hate the morning wake up and the meager breakfast. But I guess you really wanted to ask me something else? What is it?’

  ‘Do you like the town?’ I asked him with some intensity.

  ‘No Germani likes the town.’ He frowned. ‘It’s filthy and full of mongrels. Wait. You are going after this man of Odo next? Right?’

  ‘He is the key to Odo.’ I grinned.

  ‘What did he tell you about the man?’ Tudrus said with a frown. ‘He was whispering and you never told us.’

  ‘Well, his name is Oril. Have you heard of Oril when you have visited the filth of the town?’ He shook his head though I detected there was a brief frown of worry on his face. ‘You sure?’ He smirked weakly.

  ‘I have seen one Oril,’ he told me very reluctantly. ‘And I doubt there are many. And you know where I have seen him.’

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘I know.’

  He blushed. ‘I was curious.’

  ‘A whorehouse can be a curious affair. There was one in Castra Vetera, as well. But I merely drank in there.’

  ‘I also only drink in there,’ he said fiercely. ‘That a woman would subject herself to s
uch a–’

  ‘They all terrible creatures, eh?’ I inquired with a sweet voice.

  ‘Well, yes!’ he huffed, his lean face clouded. He was trying to rip his newly grown beard, but noticed I smiled at that and gave up on it. ‘No. There are some that are. Most are just, women.’

  ‘Sad victims of the war, no?’ I asked him.

  ‘But ...’ he breathed. ‘Their honor.’

  ‘They are people. And Oril, the owner is Odo’s man.’

  He blinked. ‘I wish you had told me Oril is Odo’s man,’ he growled. ‘I would have been visiting some other tavern.’

  ‘I was planning,’ I answered. ‘And it is a good thing you have been curious. He knows you.’

  ‘Barely,’ he frowned. ‘I have visited the place and enjoyed the wine they offer.’

  ‘If there were trouble, someone might help clean the house?’ I asked him. ‘We will need to get close to Oril.’

  ‘Oh!’ he nodded. ‘I see. I’ll be sitting there and toss out some scum you pay to make trouble. I assume you pay them to take a beating?’

  ‘That would work, no? Especially if one drew blade on Oril? And perhaps punched him. He would be scared and grateful. Such things bond men.’

  ‘It might,’ he agreed. ‘But I don’t want to be bound with Oril.’

  I grinned and whistled. Hund, the signifier entered the room. He was a sturdy lad and had jumped to help us out. I leaned on Tudrus. ‘Hund will make friends with Oril. You take the punch. They know you, no? They will know you rode in with me.’

  He scowled. ‘Oh?’

  ‘I thought you hated the place?’ I said, surprised.

  He grimaced. ‘Why don’t we just take Oril to the woods and find out what we want?’

  ‘He might not be alone in the village,’ I told him. ‘Cannot risk going after Odo if the bastard is waiting for us. We have to know Oril. His friends, if he has any. And it is winter, and we have time.’

  ‘I see,’ he growled. ‘I suppose that makes sense.’

  ‘So, will you make trouble there?’ I asked him with a small grin.