Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 02] The Horsewarriors

by Griff Hosker

  “Tell the prefect?”

  “This will really upset some people, you know?”

  “Yes I know. If you don’t mind could I tell my, tell the prefect?”

  Decius looked at the young man with a new respect in his eyes. “You are alright, you are. Thanks son, I would appreciate that.”

  Rufius had sent patrols out each day and they had reported large war bands gathering food and animals. They had always outnumbered the cavalry and it had galled them to run from their insults.

  Decius and Gaius were exercising their mounts when they heard a shout from the sentry in the tower. “Cavalry approaching.” There was a pause. “It is Decurion Marcus and he has prisoners.”

  Decius and Gaius looked at each other. This was the day they had been dreading. How to tell Marcus the bad news? They had had days to get used to it and they no longer thought of the princesses as living but to Marcus they were still alive, right until someone told him that they were dead and his future ripped to tatters.

  Quintus and Vettius beamed with pleasure as they each led in their turma. Marcus allowed them to precede him across the bridge and into the fort. He followed the captives who had lost some of their bluster in the long march from the sea. The prefect emerged from headquarters and the three decurion saluted. “I can see that you have had an eventful patrol decurion.”

  Marcus looked across at the refugee camp, “And I can see, sir, that we have arrived back just in time.”

  “You have indeed. The three of you come into the headquarters building and let your men see to the horses. Decurion!” Decius came ambling over. “See to those prisoners. And ask Flavius Bellatoris to join us.”

  Marcus’ head was full of questions as he stood in the headquarters’ office. He had missed much since he had left and he could not work it out. He glanced at the other two decurions who looked both pleased and bemused at the same time. They had expected a torrent of questions having brought in prisoners but no-one seemed to have noticed them.

  They all stood to attention as the prefect and Bellatoris came in. Marcus looked at the prefect and noticed something different. For the first time since he had known him he seemed to be almost human his face looked sympathetic and caring. Marcus could not work out what the difference was. His speculation was ended when Flavius took him by the arm and said, “Marcus come with me.”

  The decurion looked up at the prefect unsure of what to do and the prefect nodded. As the door closed he heard the prefect say, “Now gentlemen if you would give me your report and begin with those prisoners…”

  Marcus was totally confused. “Flavius what is it? Am I in trouble? Have I done something wrong?”

  “Sit down son.” The door opened and Decius and Drusus entered. “It’s the princess and your son.” Terror filled his face along with guilt. He had not thought of them first he had thought of his career. He was a poor father and a bad husband.

  “Are they…?”

  “There is no easy way to tell you so I will give it to you straight. The garrison at Stanwyck rose and killed Macha, her sister and your son Ulpius.”

  There was a silence which seemed to fill the room. The three bluff soldiers who gathered there to provide support did not know how to give it. When a friend died you drank to their memory and remembered them that way. Your friends were soldiers and most soldiers expected to die in battle. How did you comfort someone whose family has been murdered? How do you comfort someone who cannot even bury the bodies of their family?

  Marcus stood up and grasped each of their arms in turn. “Thank you my friends. It must have been hard for you to tell me this news and I thank you for your kindness. I now know why there was an atmosphere.”

  The three of them looked in amazement at the calm figure before them, he suddenly looked a little older than when he had left but he stood before them reacting as though they had told him he had to have a worse room for the night or could not have his favourite food for a while. They could see the pain in his eyes but his voice sounded controlled. They could not know that his mind was raging with anger and hate. “I know you expect tears and there will be tears. But those tears will come when I am revenged on the murderers of my family and when I have laid their bodies to rest.” Even Decius was taken aback by the cold anger of the voice which had just been so calm and controlled. “And now I expect the prefect will need my report.”

  As he closed the door the three of them looked at each other. “Well I didn’t expect that.”

  Flavius shook his head. “None of us have taken wife nor fathered a child until we have we cannot judge this man. I will return to my farm but you, his friends must be there for him. I believe he has built a dam in his heart and one day that dam will burst. You will have to repair it.”

  When Marcus re-entered the office there was an embarrassed silence. He could see the sympathy from Quintus and Vettius who had obviously been told the news. He became angry inside. He did not need sympathy. He needed revenge. “Have we heard from the Governor yet sir?”

  The prefect nodded. He had hoped that Marcus would have a professional manner and was pleased that he was diplaying such a professional attitude. “Not yet. The slaves will be useful in rebuilding Isurium Brigantium. Well done decurion. I can see why Flavius Bellatoris holds you in such high esteem. As for the other problem, the unrest in the east, well that will have to wait. Decurion Drusus said that you know the fortress well?”

  “Yes sir I have visited there many times. I have seen the improvements they have made. I assume they said that it would take infantry to assault?”

  “Yes they did but it galls me to allow those barbarians to hold us to ransom. And where did those men come from, if there are nearly two thousand inside where did they come from?” There was a silence. “Come on man don’t be modest if you have an idea tell me. I am new to the province. Tell me.”

  “Probably the same place they did the last time from the north, could be Carvetii, Novontae or even Votadini. And then there are the Caledonii and Pictii who have yet to meet us in battle; they are numerous. Normally they fight amongst themselves but if I were a gambling man I would say that the Brigante have some powerful allies.”

  “So Decurion this could be the start of something far bigger than a warband sacking a Roman town. This could be the war Governor Cerialis predicted.”

  Fainch

  Even as they spoke those powerful allies were gathering in the heartland of the Pictii. The chiefs had come from all over, the Selgovae and Votadini from the north east, the Dumnoni and Novatonae from the west. There were even chiefs from the north the Caledonii and Venicones. The diminutive figure of Fainch sat amidst them with King Maeve on her right. If any of these warriors felt that the woman’s presence was an insult they did not mention it. All of them were in awe of the priestess. They could see her power. For Maeve it had gone beyond just power and the two of them were now lovers. He was entrapped by his heart as well as his crown.

  The war chief of the Novantae was speaking. “It is true that the Romans are gradually moving on my lands. It was not long ago that they destroyed two of my warbands. If we do not stop them soon then they will take all of our lands.”

  “We of the Caledonii do not fear the Romans. Our lands are far to the north and they will not get there. If they do attempt to conquer us they will find that our land and our warriors will defeat them. No-one has ever invaded us. But my warriors are keen to test themselves against these foreign warriors who seem to make others fear them.”

  “Do not be so certain oh mighty king. In my father’s lifetime there were no Romans in the whole of this island and look how much they have conquered. There are parts of the Canti land where there are no local tribes only Romanized tribesmen. They are coming, they are coming.””

  Fainch spoke and there was silence. “The Romans defeated the tribes in the south because they attacked separately and the Romans could defeat them little by little. We are not asking for an attack now but next year at Eostre.”r />
  The king of the Votadini spoke for the first time. “Then why did you take Stanwyck? Surely the Romans will come north to punish those rebels who killed the royal princesses?”

  Maeve thumped the table with his huge hand; he could not contain his excitement. “That is the brilliance of Fainch’s scheme for they will send their legions north to do as you say but we will fall before them and draw them into the land of the Carvetii, north of the land of the lakes. We have a battle field chosen between two mighty rivers there the legions will not have the advantage and we can destroy them or we can slip south and ambush them in the land of the lakes and they will be destroyed in the cold winters there.”

  “Over the winter! Who fights over the winter?”

  Once again Fainch’s small voice silenced the booming warriors. “The Romans do and once we defeat one legion they will have to send for the others. When Eostre comes the kings in the south will rise and there will be no legions to control them. That is when we will use all your warbands to crush the Romans and it will be on ground of our choosing.” She put her hand on King Maeve’s. “The King is excited, as I am for we will defeat them but what is important is that we draw the legions up here, far from their bases so that our brother kings can destroy the legions that will be thinly spread out. We do not need to defeat them in one battle we need to bleed them.”

  There was much nodding and agreement until Niall the King of the Dumnoni spoke. He had a scarred face and had fought at Brocavum. “That was the plan of Venutius was it not? Did not the Romans defeat Lord Woolgar in the land of the lakes and did not Venutius choose his battlefield which became his deathbed?”

  “True King Niall and you fought well on that day but Venutius was a fool, a brave fool but a fool. We will make sure that when we fight the Romans they are surrounded. We will make sure that they cannot use their mighty war engines and we will make sure that they get no supplies. An army without weapons is no army at all.” There was much nodding. Most importantly we will make sure we have powerful allies.” She swept her arm around the hut.” Powerful allies who can help us to bleed and then disembowel this Roman beast and finally when it is lying helpless we will take off its head and Britannia will be ours again.”

  From the nods and smiles Maeve could sense that they had agreed but he needed to put it to the test. “Do we fight?”

  “We fight!” They chorused back.

  Fainch took over. “Prepare you soldiers remember the Romans are well armed and armoured make sure your warriors are. The Romans use all weapons, swords, arrows, horses and javelins; we must do so and the Romans are well fed. If we are to win then we must be well supplied.”

  King Niall spoke again. “We are all agreed we will fight but I am still concerned about Stanwyck. How will you draw the Romans on and have you men willing to die for such a victory?”

  “”You are wise King Niall. We have two and a half thousand warriors inside Stanwyck. They all have horses. When the legion arrives it will surround the fortress and build siege engines and assault the walls.”

  “And the walls will fall.”

  “And the walls will fall.”

  There was a gasp. “Then what is the point of such a sacrifice?”

  “The walls will fall but not before the defenders have left. King Maeve has another twenty thousand warriors, some Brigante, Carvetii, Novantae and even Votadini. They will attack the soldiers attacking from the west, slaughter them and destroy their engines. The warriors inside will then escape. They can have the fortress but they will not have the warriors. The Romans do not have as many men as we do. They have to send to other lands for their troops. As long as we kill more of them and especially more of their legions then we will win. It is the legionaries who will man the engines and assault the walls and they will not be protected by shields and large numbers as they man their machines. It will be like hunting a wild boar; we do not need to make the killing blow at the start of the hunt we can hurt it and when it chases us hurt it again and again until it bleeds to death. We will bleed the Romans in the lands of the west like the wounded boar it will follow us, follow to its doom.”

  The kings and chiefs began to bang their table to show their approval. Her hunting image had shown them quite clearly the brilliance of the strategy. Maeve looked adoringly at the witch for she had won over the men of the north with her words and her wisdom. If her sisters were as effective as she was then Rome would lose not only its legions but its province.

  Lindum

  Quintus Cerialis read again the report from the prefect. He was not angry for he had expected such an act. In fact the act itself helped Rome for in murdering the last vestiges of the Brigante royal family any action taken by the legions would now be justified as retribution for the murder of a client king. At last the Brigante could be subdued. They would no longer be a client kingdom but a vassal, a part of the Roman Empire. The tax collectors and officials would move in and the province milked of her riches. He looked again at the maps and writings of the divine Claudius. He had recognised that the Brigante were the largest tribe in this island with the largest power base. When he crushed them, and crush them he would then he would turn his attention to the Pictii and tribes to the north. The prefect had been quite correct the auxiliary unit could never assault the fortress for that he would need legionaries. The Second Adiutrix was untried but they were handily placed in the middle of the province. He would leave them as a mobile reserve in Lindum and then, with the Ninth he would march to defeat the Brigante. Julius Agricola would bring the Twentieth Valeria Victrix up the west coast and between them they would crush the Brigante. Two legions would be more than enough. The reserve at Lindum could march north to support them or west to support Frontinus. The aggressive general was retaining a little caution so far from home.

  He shouted for his clerk. “Bring me the rosters of the available auxiliary units.” As he waited he tapped the map before him. It was detailed in the east but not so in the west. When the clerk returned the Governor ordered him. “Write an order for the Tribune responsible for the Classis Britannica. I want him to sail around the west coast of this island and meet me at,” he looked at the map. “Glanibanta. There is some sort of fort there. He can make his way across land; the reports say that it is but a day’s march from the sea. Make sure he has copies of these charts if he knows his business he should already have them.” As the clerk scurried away Cerialis felt his hear sink as he looked at the meagre forces at his disposal. There were but four auxiliary units in reserve, all Batavian one cavalry and three foot. If he took them all he would leave the two legions controlling the rest of the province without that useful support. He decided to take just two infantry units. He would have to rely on the Pannonians.

  When the clerk came back with the order for him to read he gave him more instructions. “I want a request sent to imperial Headquarters for four more auxiliary units. I do not have enough. Send for the tribune of the Second Adiutrix; he has begged for something to do well now he will have his hands full.”

  Morbium

  That night Gaius sat with Marcus, Drusus and Decius. Lentius would have been with them but his task had been to escort the refugees back to Isurium Brigantium as the prefect deemed they were not in danger as long as there was a patrol between Stanwyck and Dere Street. Lentius had been unlucky enough to have the first duty. The other three had decided that Marcus should not be alone. Marcus, for his part, did not mind their company but he did not need it. He had his thoughts and his memories.

  “You’ve got to let it out sir.”

  “Let it out Gaius? Let what out?”

  “Well you must be upset, anyone in your position would be. I mean if that happened to me I wouldn’t be able to think straight. I would find it hard to get up in a morning.”

  Marcus took a long pull on the wineskin and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Do you remember when the Queen was murdered?” They nodded. “I asked the same thing of Ulpius. He said to me, ’Marcu
s we cannot change the past. Would that the Allfather allowed us to but the past is gone. It is the far shore of youth which is green and growing now we are on the rocks of age and they are grey and they are tired. As much as we want to go back to the green times of youth we cannot.’ And that has helped me,” he smiled fondly. “The old tyrant is still helping me. “Do you see what he meant I can’t go back and change what happened? Perhaps if I had left the army and been there…well that would have just meant that I was dead as well and besides that couldn’t happen. I couldn’t leave the army. I wouldn’t be allowed to. No I’ll do what Ulpius did. I’ll focus on all of you and make you the best ala in the army for by doing that then my family will have a better chance of being avenged. . The difference between Ulpius and me, apart from the fact that he was a better soldier,” the others shook their heads in disbelief but he waved his hand to silence their protests. “The difference is he knew who to look for, Gaius Cresens.”

  “Aye I wish I knew where that fat bastard was. I bet he’s long gone to Gaul or Rome or somewhere.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure but at least he had a goal. And then at the end he found out about that witch, whatever her name was and wherever she is and I think that made him hurt even more at the end for they had both got away with the murder. He had killed the man who ordered it but not the murderers. I don’t even know that. I don’t know who killed them. That gives me something to do. Find out their names.” They all took another swallow from their beakers and stared, reflectively into the glowing brazier.

  Decius belched loudly and then took another drink. “I was talking to the prefect, no not the arrogant bastard, the proper one Flavius. He reckoned he had been in the fortress lately and the man running it was someone called Aed,” he leaned in conspiratorially, “apparently shagging the Princess Lenta and that young lad Nuada told me that he was the one who ordered Lenta raped. He said he thinks it was him.”

  “There you are then sir. You have a name.”