‘Your father?’ he asked in wonder. ‘Maroboodus? I routed him and the Quadi in the south last year and some lord of his early spring. This year we burned Mattium of the Chatti. Oldaric ran, and they are fugitives in the east. You mean to say they are plotting to kill me here? Even now?’
I nodded, my hands trembling. I had sent Fulcher to his death. He had had sight, and he had been right. ‘Paullus, the commander of Castra Flamma, works for Antius as well. He, Segestes, and Maroboodus are all in a league, and the latter two are ready to claim their prize. I had a scroll as proof and sent it with Fulcher.’
Drusus frowned. ‘I believe you. So. The time has come for Drusus to fall, eh? Your father is truly out there?’
‘And Oldaric with some Chatti. And the Quadi,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen them.’
‘You’ve seen them?’ he wondered. ‘Thousands?’
‘Three thousand,’ I agreed. ‘Estimate only, of course. Segestes is there now, with the enemy. They will have some twelve thousand men, at most? If Inguiomerus joins them.’
He stared at me in stupefaction. ‘He won’t.’ He leaned back, looking at the ceiling. ‘So, had you not escaped, my camp would have thousands of traitors and at some point, Segestes would have handed me to your father to kill. A fine plan. Now they have to fight for my head, no? Too bad about the scroll. It would have been rarely written proof that I am so hated by those who would strip Rome of its dignity and past. Can you guess Armin’s plan, now that they cannot slay me with betrayal?’
I waved the goblet of wine towards the west. ‘Armin did not tell me.’
‘Armin saw you?’ he asked incredulously. ‘He spoke to you? When?’
‘He escorted us here,’ I said sheepishly. ‘I did save Thusnelda for him once,’ I told him with a defensive sniffle. ‘And Thusnelda made me promise her something. But I would not trust him, and he probably has a plan beyond a simple battle. And Father is sure to have one as well.’
Drusus slapped my knee. ‘Yes. That bastard is planning more than just fighting a battle. After Arbalo and the debacle in Bructeri lands, I have grown very tired of him. And what is to become of him if they should destroy us?’ Drusus wondered. ‘They are in a forced alliance, but Maroboodus and Segestes will not bow down to a whelp should they win by Fortuna’s treachery. And I am friends with Fortuna so that it won’t happen.’
I laughed hollowly. ‘He is planning on doing all he can to destroy you. Then he will kill Segestes,’ I told him with a tired grin. ‘He will likely attack Father after. For Thusnelda. Segestes is still planning on giving the woman to him to cement their alliance. Father does not have many men, but Segestes is Armin’s first enemy after they have destroyed us.’
‘Destroying two Roman legions is no small feat, though, Well,’ Drusus grinned. ‘We will beat them in battle, and we shall spare them the need to worry about such matters. We will find the Chatti and your father, root out anything they have planned and just deploy enough men to beat them.’
‘Yes, Lord,’ I told him. ‘The Chatti. You burned Mattium?’
He waved his hand. ‘Well, no. Did you know Ebbe died?’
‘No, Lord,’ I said and felt sorry for Adgandestrius. I had liked his father; the one Drusus had imprisoned to keep the Chatti peaceful. His eyes flashed, and he waved his hand.
‘I know. You were right. They went to war with us when I took to attacking Maroboodus in the south. Ebbe did not take to the imprisonment well. He withered away. I burned Oldaric’s people out of Melocavus and built castrum there. This year, we marched past Mattium, but it was empty, and I only burnt the outlying villages. I left it standing, so we know where to find them next year. They have new lords after Ebbe died. Oldaric, Ebbe’s son Adgandestrius and some fool called Esgaroth,’ He glanced at me. ‘About the Marcomanni.’
‘Of the Marcomanni? I hear they fled, and Hard Hill has a castra as well,’ I said, mulling the rest of the wine in the cup.
He shrugged. ‘Your father led most of his people away. There are still some thousands of very well armed men under his service. And now he has led the best of them here. I fought them not three months ago, Suebi remnants, rich in cattle, but lacking in will to fight. Wise of them. So, the Vangiones tell me. Hunfried ...’
I stopped mulling the wine. ‘Hunfried?’
‘Hunfried, their king tells me most of the Marcomanni went towards the lands of the Boii. Your people are not dead. Just dislocated. I wanted to tell you, so you would not worry too much.’
‘They are not my people anymore, but I thank you,’ I said glumly. And yet, I thought, why do I keep hoping they would survive?
Drusus grinned and nodded at me. ‘Right. We might have to deal with your father eventually, if not here,’ he told me, clapping my shoulder. ‘We will try very hard to finish it here, Hraban, so the people you no longer care about will be spared further wars. And perhaps, one day, they can return to Moenus River?’ he said, twiddling his fingers.
‘Thank you, Drusus,’ I said and smiled. He read me well.
‘I have a need of you,’ he shook his head heavily, ‘in Rome. One day? When you are old and wise and less inclined to swing a sword, you might return to these lands to rule there,’ he went on, and my heart cried for joy, for that way I might be able to keep my word to the Quadi as well. He nodded and went on. ‘But that is a matter for the future, and now we have to deal with our enemies here and later, in Rome. That will mean a long, long war.’ His face looked drawn as he said that, for had not Rome fought decades worth of civil wars previously? ‘We will see. For your services, Hraban, you will be well rewarded.’ He got up and stalked around, back and forth, trying to control his anger. He stopped in front of me, bent over me, and looked into my eyes. ‘Your daughter?’
‘I hear you saw an apparition? A ghost?’ I asked, carefully.
He looked confused, squirmed and fell back to his seat, and I saw him struggling with his thoughts. Then he nodded. ‘A young Germani ghost, a girl, told me I should turn back. She glowed. She had an elfin face, and she was not of this world.’
‘Glowing, Lord? Drusus?’ I asked with a small smile.
‘She stood on the other side of this tributary of Albis River, amidst Inguiomerus’s tribesmen. They did not appear to see her, but she yelled at me, across the river,’ he said, wonder in his eyes. He got up and brushed at his sword. ‘I met with Inguiomerus later. Inguiomerus said it was a vaettir, a thing of the gods, a messenger. Men were afraid.’ He glanced at me. ‘Yes, I was too. So, we erected a monument to celebrate the trek, for few Romans have been there, so far from home. I carved the names of the Marcomanni, Chatti, and Cherusci in it, and gave it to Juppiter. I made a deal with Inguiomerus and came back to look for Armin.’
I laughed. ‘I hope the Germani have not made it shorter, Lord.’
He looked offended. ‘Inguiomerus will protect it. No matter if he fights us again one day. There is no honor in defying the gods. Why did you ask about this spirit? Your daughter? Is she alive?’
‘She is, I hear, holed up with this glowing ghost. Veleda is her name, by the way.’ I grinned. ‘She is, I think, very much alive.’
‘Where?’ He frowned.
I waved my hand east. ‘There is a mountain near here. Godsmount. I hear my daughter is hidden there. I will find her,’ I said. ‘After I have killed the Bear.’
‘The Bear?’ Armin looked shocked. ‘Your father?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I will, if you give me leave, lead my men up there and finish the matter once and for all when the battle is over.’
He nodded and grinned. ‘Do so. We will hunt your father, and then you go and tell the glowing ghost girl I will not be fooled again.’
‘I will. She seemed like a serious type when I last saw her,’ I told him and put the empty wine cup away. ‘But I suppose she did smile after Armin asked her to turn you back.’
Drusus glowered at the thought of having been duped by Armin and a slip of a girl, but soon nodded peacefully and put a ha
nd on mine. ‘You will go after all this is settled. And then, we shall plan for many great things. We will get you married, perhaps?’
‘I am married,’ I told him. ‘She was hurt in Odo’s den, but she is with the medicus.’
‘Is she pregnant, as well?’ he smiled and hooted as he saw my face. ‘She is! Gods, you shall never sleep again!’ He cackled for awhile, and I thought of Lif and how she had been a baby when I last saw her. I had not minded being a father and not sleeping at all, but I humored him with a wry smile and a shake of my head. He finally relaxed and nodded. ‘Well, they have us here then. And now we will have to kill the lot. We will be patient. Armin will come.’
‘He wants a fight, Lord,’ I agreed. ‘He and his father ...’
‘Sigimer?’ he breathed. ‘He died. Years ago.’
‘No, he is with Armin again,’ I said. ‘I … uh.’
He turned to me. ‘You found and returned Sigimer to them?’ he asked with a wry smile. ‘Was there a good reason for it?’
I nodded, reserved. ‘There was and I did, Drusus.’
He laughed and embraced me. ‘Thank you. If Sigimer leads the enemy, this will be easy. More high nobles to their camp, I say, and they will fight badly and forget Armin’s plans.’
‘But not the plans of Maroboodus,’ I warned him.
‘Wait,’ he said and took me out of the tent. He pointed his finger to the east. There, far, a low range of hills or even a mountain rose. I thought I could make out low, wooded slopes, crags and twin peaks, but I was not sure. ‘In case I die, that is where your Lif is. That is the place they call Godsmount. I asked as we passed it.’
I stared at that far away place and felt a flutter in my heart, impatience pulling at me, and I longed to find a horse and make my way there. ‘Thank you, Drusus.’
He stopped to look at me strangely. ‘You are welcome. You know. My father used to call me his bear. It is amusing to have something in common with your father. And I am sorry for Fulcher. He was a worthy man. Is. I … hope he is still alive.’
I bowed to him and swallowed my sorrow. Was Drusus called the bear? I cursed the elusive prophecy and felt like a leaf in the wind as I walked out, pulling my helmet on.
CHAPTER 30
My friends and the Batavi took the news of Fulcher’s loss heavily. I honed the Winter Sword, thinking about his family and how we would miss his practical wisdom and skills. He had set out to avenge his son, and he had, but now I did not even know what had happened to him.
In the meantime, wolves prowled around the camp. Night and day, they howled in the fields and woods around us and then, in a few days time, they went silent. That was disquieting. We would see all across the horizon great flocks of birds flying in scared droves before scattering to the four winds. Deer and moose were seen running wildly past the castra. After being issued new orders by Drusus, the auxiliary commanders had begun to set exploratores on high alert to find the enemy.
Soon, they did.
One day, I saw Thracian cavalry pummeling for the castra, and soon an exploratore was pointing his spear to the north and west. A military tribune was listening and then ran, his helmet spilling from his head. ‘Armin’s army is here,’ Tudrus said as we looked on at the porch of the barracks reserved for the Batavi. He was braiding his hair and shook his head. ‘Last bit ahead, Hraban.’
‘Perilous bit,’ I breathed. ‘But yes. Armin’s alliance is here. Or Father’s, rather.’
‘At least the Luppia tribes are busy,’ Tudrus grumbled. I nodded and turned to look east. There, the clear weather made it possible to see a mountain’s outlines. It was, I decided, rather more like a series of very tall hills, superbly wooded and full of ravines and crags. It looked deceitfully low, but I was sure it was painful to climb. Somewhere out there, Lif awaited. I gazed at its slopes, the hills around it, the two hazy tops and the woods scattered around it. A bear was to die. Then I would go there.
Later, I watched with the Batavi as Drusus gave a speech to the gathered legions. He exhorted them, reminding them of home and a road to victory would lead to riches, loot, slaves, and glory. They listened willingly, sturdy and tough soldiers and prepared for battle, and the somber, frightened mood was dissipating from the ranks. Looking up to the ridges surrounding the valley, we could see fires already burning in the woods, and men were making jokes about the foe.
The next day, the exploratores rode busily along the woods and ridges. Some did not return but most did. I tended Cassia and Agetan, or Bohscyld was always there to guard her. Tudrus entered and looked at her breathe peacefully and nodded. ‘She will be fine. The chirurgii claimed there is no fracture on her skull.’
‘Any news?’
Tudrus nodded. ‘The ridge is full of Cherusci. Segestes is in the middle, his army best armed currently. Armin’s and Sigimer’s men are to the left of Segestes, and then there is the army of the Chatti to their right.’
‘Chatti?’ I asked him, surprised. ‘They did not keep them hidden to make things interesting in the flank?’
‘No,’ Hund said. ‘They are up there, and they will be in a huge shield wall the day we march up the hill and ridge. Oldaric’s standard is there. But the exploratores have seen the Marcomanni to the woods to our south. They are laying low. Some thousand of them.’
‘The best men Maroboodus has,’ I agreed. ‘Likely those he trained to fight as Romans.’
‘It seems like a futile battle,’ Tudrus grunted. ‘There is nothing else out there. Nothing. This time Drusus has had his men ride far around the land. Nothing, nothing beyond the enemy army. Inguiomerus is in the east, driving Semnones back. The enemy is numerous. Some ten thousand. Nine on the ridge. But that is it. After Segestes was exposed, it seems like they have nothing but spears to set against our Consul.’
Hund nodded. ‘They are not even on the top of the ridge. They are down the hill and the ridge, halfway there.’
I shrugged. ‘We will let them grow bored for a day or two more as we scout.’
And we did.
The Batavi joined the activity and Marcus Lollius Paulinus, the young tribune who had been with Drusus since Luppia River gave us our orders. He sent us on errands, mostly on bold excursions to scout behind the enemy lines. Drusus took no risks this time. Exploratores were out, wide and far. I sat on my horse with my Batavi from morning to evening.
When not riding, I enjoyed Cassia’s gradual recovery. She was weak, but she smiled, though she did not speak yet. The chirurgii again deemed her skull to be intact and a capsari, a low ranking medical assistant was charged with keeping her healing process going. The young man enjoyed the role so much, I had Agetan growl at the man to keep him on the right track.
Then, after five days of scouting, the army had been told to get ready for the morning.
That last night, we were sitting around Cassia, discussing softly with each other. We had spent the evening counting fires on the hills, and the ridge and soldiers grew restless. Tudrus sighed. ‘Tomorrow? Drusus had better fight it out soon. They think he has lost his balls somewhere,’ he growled. ‘And optio was brought in today, complaining as he had a huge laceration on his knee. Some Marcus was apparently going to take his place. Said it would not have happened if they had fought and gone home already with their loot and slaves.’
‘Drusus will fight,’ I said gloomily. ‘He will get his men up tomorrow and march them up the hill.’ I was glowering at the oil lamp, deep in my thoughts. My plan had failed. Or, they did wish to have a bloody battle, with no devious plans involved, I thought.
‘But ...’ Hund argued, and then a legionnaire popped his head into the tent.
‘There an uncouth bastard by the jawbreaker name of Hraban here?’ he asked brusquely.
‘I am Hraban,’ I said, getting up.
‘Big bastard, aren’t you?’ he cooed. ‘Yet, afraid of the toilets as are all the Germani. You lot shit around in the woods and our horses shy away from the stink. I remember—’
‘Can you get
to the point, you motherless hen herder,’ I grunted and the man grinned, not insulted at all.
‘Well, that is more like it. There is a man on the Porta Decumana. The back gate, in case you wondered.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Doesn’t know the passphrase. We thought him a spy and planned of jailing the big bastard, but he seems to ride from the Fox himself and claims to be there on a mission. So, before we truss him up and clobber him, you want to have a word with the man?’
‘Is it Brimwulf?’ I asked, brightening.
‘I don’t fucking know if it is Brimwulf. He said that is his name, but it could be Clodius for all I know. Get there and find out,’ he spat and laughed and left.
‘Brimwulf?’ Tudrus asked, horrified. ‘I had forgotten him. I have not seen him since we left the Cherusci.’
Hund grinned. ‘Where did you send him?’
I strapped on my weapons. ‘Agetan? You mind …’ The boulder-like Quadi nodded and pulled his wicked ax. He sat by Cassia. ‘The rest. Strap on your weapons and come on.’ The Batavi did, Hund telling them to gear up.
‘Where was he?’ Tudrus echoed Hund as he pulled on a helmet. Bohscyld followed suit and filed after me as I rushed out. ‘Hraban?’ Tudrus demanded.
‘He has served his uncle who is close to Sigimer,’ I told them. ‘I gave him two things to do. One was to bring news if he found out something. After I had heard Segestes was there with Armin, I wanted him to spy.’
‘The other?’ Tudrus asked.
‘To keep him alive,’ I whispered.
‘Who?` Tudrus demanded. ‘Armin?’
‘Yes, Armin, for I promised Thusnelda I’d do everything in my power to do so,’ I grimaced. ‘This is the best I can do.’ I did not tell them how Brimwulf was to keep Armin alive.
The Winter Sword: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 3) Page 38
