Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 05] Revolt of the Red Witch Read online

  Aodh and his scouts arrived at sunset and saw, with dismay, that the fort had not been abandoned. Morwenna was more phlegmatic. “We can go down stream and cross the Dunum. This is the last garrison. We need not fight until we have more men and have the Romans where we want, not hiding behind their walls where they can kill more of us.” Leaving a dozen men to watch the fort they headed downstream to where the river twisted turned and gently slowed. They were easily able to cross with just wet legs and feet as the price. “There is a small settlement to the north of here; we will spend the night there. They may join us, if not…” She turned to the two acolytes, Anchorat and Maban and spoke to them. They both kissed her on the lips, smiled at Aodh and left.

  “Where do they go?” As soon as the words were uttered he regretted saying them.

  Morwenna held up an admonishing finger. “Do not question me. Know that I do what I do and you know what I tell you. Their work does not concern you but we will see them again within a few days.”

  The settlement of Seton was close to the sea hidden from the land by a mighty wood. The people there enjoyed both the fruits of the sea and the fruits of the woods. They were prosperous and contented, ignored by both Roman and Caledonii alike. Led by a powerful woman, she was the formidable matriarch of the leading family. When her husband had drowned she had taken over the control of the settlement making both the rules and the laws. Cruatha was a strong minded domineering woman and, with the strongest five men in the village as her sons was impregnable.

  Aodh peered at the thick woods ahead of him. “Where is the settlement? I cannot see it?”

  “Which is why it is important. It is beyond the forest close to the shore. Have your men follow me.”

  “But there may be danger...”

  She smiled a thin humourless smile. “I think I will be more danger to those people than they are to me.” She moved swiftly and easily through the trees and emerged on to the beach. The gate of the settlement was open and she walked past the two men lounging there, too surprised to react. She could hear the sounds of shock as people came out of their round huts. The men of the village came out with swords and clubs in their hands. Morwenna kept her hands at her side and, with only Aodh behind her, for the rest waited without the walls; she walked up to the largest hut that she could see.

  Cruatha stepped out, an angry look on her face. She was still a relatively young woman having seen but thirty three summers and she was still strikingly beautiful with the body of a young girl. Her height made her appear larger than she was. She fixed her eyes on Morwenna who did not flinch but stared back with the same intensity. Aodh was the only one who did not find it disconcerting for he knew what Morwenna was doing; she was entrancing the head woman and bending her to her will. Cruatha found it both intoxicating and alarming at the same time. Within her she had so many conflicting emotions that she didn’t know what to do. Morwenna stepped towards her and Cruatha gave a half bow and taking the younger sorceress by the hand led her within the hut. Aodh stepped to the door, now closed and stood facing the crowd which gathered. The buzz and the conversation came from the crowd for Aodh stood silently on guard.

  When the two of them came out, some time later Cruatha was looking at Morwenna with awe, bordering on adoration. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked to have become even taller. “We welcome our Queen, Queen Morwenna of the Brigante,” and then she bowed. Aodh led the bowing and soon the whole settlement had bowed. “All her people are welcome,” with an imperious wave she summoned in the waiting warriors. “My people we will feed them and give them shelter for now we are one people and tomorrow we go to war with the Romans.”

  Many of the people looked at each other in surprise. Going to war? With the Romans? Aodh smiled to himself. They had captured the settlement without a blow and Morwenna had won the village, how he knew not, but he was not surprised. Morwenna had used her magic again and however many warriors they accrued it would increase their numbers but, more importantly give them a safe and secure base.

  When the Prefect arrived at Morbium it was with a sense of relief that no one had destroyed it and more no one had even tried. Instead of riding across the barrier Julius and the ala swam the narrow river. “Good to see you Sir. We were worried. How did things go at Eboracum?”

  “We will camp in your fort and I will tell you over food for, in all honesty, Centurion it is many days since I ate and slept comfortably. The walls of Morbium will be more than welcome.”

  “It was only then that the Centurion noticed the wounds on the men and the condition of both men and horses.”I am sorry Sir. I was so worried that I forgot my manners. Tribune Furius would have had my guts for garters.”

  Julius laughed. “Of that I am certain for he would have had a wild board roasting just on the off chance that some visitors might come.”

  “Aye he would, the old bugger loved his food.”

  “And his wine,” added Julius, who knew the old tribune well.

  “I hope he is feasting with the Allfather even now.”

  “To be truthful Centurion I suspect that even the Allfather cannot cope with his appetite.”

  As they later sat in the mess Julius proposed a toast,”To absent friends!”

  “Well Sir, you’ve been fed and watered. The horses looked after. What has happened?”

  “The Brigante have a new Queen, Morwenna. She’s the daughter of the witch Fainch.”

  “The one we crucified years ago.”

  “Aye. She has raised the Brigante people against us and they tried to capture Eboracum. Well we stopped that but we lost many of the ala. When the Ninth came they raised the siege and we are looking for them. We followed their trail north and then lost it around the river nearby. Did you see a large horde?”

  “No Sir. There were some warriors in the woods across the river, not enough to cause a nuisance but enough for us to keep an eye on.”

  “We’ll have a look for them tomorrow. I don’t think it is over. I expect the Legate will reinforce you when he can but it will take time. The barricade was a good idea.”

  “The trouble is this fort was built to protect the bridge from raiders in the north not those from the south. We could do with a fortlet on the other side.”

  “When you get your reinforcements build one. It can’t hurt. And now Centurion we will sleep our first peaceful sleep in a while.”

  The next day Livius and his scout found where they had been observed by the scouts. “It looks like the trail goes east Sir towards the coast. There is a good crossing point about twenty miles east.”

  “There is another one about ten miles east. We will try them both.”

  They rode along the gentle banks of the Dunum as it meandered between fertile lands on both sides. Suddenly a rider appeared. “Sir, Decurion Princeps sent me Sir. He has received reports of a warband in the east towards Stagh-herts.”

  “Do you think our lot have joined them?”

  “It doesn’t matter. We head east to where we know a warband is. If the band we were following has crossed north then they are not raiding here and if they have joined the ones being pursued by Decurion Cilo then we need to stop them. “He looked ruefully at Livius. “At the moment we do not have enough men anyway. The Decurion Princeps can’t contain the larger warband on his own. I am not sure we can either but at least we will have eighty men which gives us a little more to work with.”

  The settlement at Streonshal had grown well under the stewardship of Atticus the one time Roman helmsmen, shipwrecked just up the shore. He was a thoughtful and compassionate leader who had learned that not all men are what they seemed. He had been badly duped once by the traitorous and murderous Gaius Cresens, ex-quartermaster of the Second Pannonian Horse. Now that Atticus was into his middle age, he had become even wiser. The warriors employed by Cresens in the past were now members of the community and their sons provided the defence for the shore side settlement. Trade with the Romans was brisk and had brought great wealth to the communit
y that, a generation ago, had been a few huts and a population slowly starving to death.

  Atticus had been receiving reports that Derventio had been all but abandoned and there were signs of burning in the distance. The last time that had occurred Streonshal had nearly been destroyed and Atticus was taking no chances. “Bring the livestock in the stockade and tell Ael to double the sentries. Keep the gate close and barred.”

  Ael, who was the defence’s leader, appeared concerned when he finally found Atticus who was supervising the storage of the freshly cured fish. “What is wrong leader?”

  “As far as I know Ael nothing but Derventio’s garrison has left and there are signs of burning. I thought that we could keep watch for a while until we see another Roman patrol.”

  “The Romans are still in their signal tower. They would know if anything were amiss.”

  “Perhaps but their job is to pass messages up and down the coast,” the grey haired, powerfully built man pointed west, “that is where we saw the burning. It will do no harm to keep the animals in the stockade for a few days.”

  “But it is inconvenient to have to open and close the gate,” grumbled Ael.

  Laughing the genial headman pointed at Ael, “You know Ael you sound for all the world like a small child told that they cannot play outside because of the weather. If there is a danger out there, and my senses tell me there is, then our duty is to keep this community safe. Have I ever been wrong about things like this?”

  Shaking his head Ael wandered off mumbling to himself, “It is me they will all complain to when they want to leave.”

  Ownie’s warriors had already destroyed two settlements which refused to join their revolt. They found another two which had been destroyed ion the Caledonii raids earlier in the year. He had decided to follow the next instruction from Morwenna. He would destroy the signal towers; the Romans would be blind. He had started in the north and so far it had gone well. His scouts returned with consternation written on their faces. “What is it that you look so worried?”

  “There is a settlement in the next bay and they have closed their gates.”

  “And what of the signal station?”

  “It is further south.”

  Ownie stroked his chin thoughtfully. If this was a stockaded settlement then it was a large one and if they had barricaded it then they expected trouble. The Brigante in this part of the world were an unknown people; they lived from the sea and kept to themselves. On the other hand if they had numbers of men and were rich then his band could be expanded. “We will ride and visit with these people.”

  “We will have to go some way inland for there is a wide river with steep banks. There is a crossing but it is some miles upstream.”

  Dismissing the problem with a wave of his hand Ownie led the band of warriors inland. His band had not grown but he had not suffered any losses. His men numbered more than a thousand and everyone acknowledged that they were the best of the warriors who had assaulted Eboracum. He grudgingly agreed with those who said that Aodh’s elite were the best man for man but they were only fifty. If you were to win a war you needed warriors like Ownie’s. He was proud of the fact that at least half of them sported Roman armour and weapons which they had acquired at Cataractonium. They were fiercely loyal to him and he had, of late, begun to wonder about Colla’s leadership. In the campaign so far he had not shown himself to be the powerful warrior they all hoped. When he met up again he would challenge Colla for the leadership. With Morwenna as queen and himself as general they would sweep the Romans back to the southern half of the country and the yoke of the past thirty years would be removed.

  After they crossed the river and turned the bend of the wide river bed he could see the impressive stockade on the top of the cliffs. The path which led to it was twisting and narrow. He noted that the lower end of the path had seaweed upon it showing that the tide would cut it off at high tide. “Caddell take twenty men and ride south. Approach the settlement from that side. I want to know if there is another path or entrance.” Ownie hated the thought of being trapped by the sea. This was an intriguing place. Living on the high moors he had only seen the sea in the distance before and he could see that it could be an ally or a foe. He would not underestimate this place and its leader.

  When they reached the top of the path they found themselves in a cleared area, ‘a killing place’ Ownie thought to himself. His men arrayed behind him bristling with arms and armour. Ownie would intimidate those who were inside. He began to think how he might use this as a base himself in the future. He counted the men on the ramparts. He noticed with some disquiet that they all appeared to be well armed and there were more of them than he had expected. He kicked his horse on and rode with open palms towards the gate. As he drew nearer he saw a grey haired but powerful looking man on the ramparts above the gate. Alarmingly the two men next to him had bows drawn and aimed at him.

  “Who are you and what do you wish of us?” The voice from above was calm and without fear.

  “I am Ownie, chief of the Brigante and servant of Queen Morwenna.”

  “Queen Morwenna? I have not heard of her.”

  “She is the rightful queen of the Brigante and we are here to ask that you join us in our fight against the Roman usurpers.”

  “I see. Well I have to tell you Ownie, Chief of the Brigante, that we do no believe the Romans to be usurpers. They are our friends and we will not be joining you in your fight.”

  Ownie was disconcerted by the calm reply. “Will you not ask your people? Ask your council?”

  “My people feel as I do. I need not ask them, I know.”

  Ownie was confused. He had expected, at the very least fear but there was none. “We can take you and your settlement easily for we are many.”

  “True you are many but you would lose more than we and Ownie a word of advice. Bewared the tides for as you can see,” he waved his hand to his right, “the tide is fast approaching.”

  Ownie could see that he and his band would be soon trapped; he turned and rode back to his men.”Sceolan stay here with fifty warriors. We will return when the tide has gone out. Hopefully Caddell has found another route not dominated by the tide.” Turning he shouted to Atticus. “Your last chance to aid us. Refusal will mean that all will be put to the sword.”

  Nodding Atticus said, “That will be as the Allfather wishes.”

  By the time he had found Caddell the light was fading. “There is a path over the ridge but on the other side there is a gully filled with rocks and a ditch.”

  “What of the far side?”

  “There is a steep cliff dropping to the sea and the rocks.”

  “Could we camp there?”

  “Probably.”

  “Good then lead us there we will camp there tonight and then decided how we remove this winkle from its shell.”

  Julius met up with the Decurion Princeps close to where the Dunum met the sea. Salvius pointed off to the headland where as spiral of smoke rose gently. “They have destroyed the signal station and killed the auxiliaries there. It looks like they are heading south.”

  “Streonshal.”

  “That is what I thought. We can save time by heading due south and approaching from the south west.”

  “Yes I remember it well and the signal station is the south. With luck Salvius this time tomorrow we may have caught up with this elusive little band. Tell me do you know how big it is? Is Morwenna with it?”

  Salvius shook his head. “They have left no survivors but from the tracks it is not the whole warband. I think there are less than two thousand.”

  “I would like to catch that witch.”

  “It is a good job that Macro is not here isn’t it Julius.”

  “Aye he would be off on his own trying to defeat the whole Brigante army on his own. Well let us be off. We will soon see if we have caught the queen herself or one of her leaders.”

  Chapter 11

  Gaelwyn halted the bad some way along the trail. “The l
ittle ones will need some food and we must save the horses. Whilst you feed them I will go back down the trail and try to make it less obvious to anyone pursuing us.”

  Gaius gave the boys the dried venison to chew on while Macro went round with the water skin. “Where is Marcus?”

  Gaius pointed north west. “He is waiting on the beach for a boat to take us south.”

  Little Marcus looked up in terror. “We are going on the water? To the ends of the world? The monsters will get us.”

  Macro’s son, Decius, gripped his father’s leg tighter and tears welled up in his wide eyes. “I don’t want to be eaten by monsters.”

  Macro laughed. “You need not be afraid of monsters while your father is here. “Why there is no monster out there that I cannot destroy.”