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

  “Macro! You are right, I was derelict in my duty which is why I will not allow you to make the same mistake. Troopers!” He called over to eight troopers who were heading for the gate. “Arrest Decurion Macro. Put him in chains and confine him to his barracks.”

  All around the camp troopers heard the command and could not believe their ears. The eight troopers looked at each other wondering if this was some kind of joke. “Do not disobey me! Do it now!”

  Macro suddenly flexed his shoulders as though he was going to resist and then the discipline of a lifetime took over and he resigned himself to his fate. “Julius, I will neither forget nor forgive.”

  As they took him away the Prefect said to himself, “And neither will I Macro, for I blame myself more than you do.”

  Morwenna had grown into a beautiful woman in the years she had been on Mona. Aodh her lover and guard found himself more entranced and enchanted every day. When he asked her about her beauty she modestly credited the isle and the power of the Mother. Certainly she had bloomed and blossomed and since her three girls had been born she had a wonderful aura about her which was apparent to everyone. Aodh was convinced that she actually glowed although Morwenna mocked him. “You are a man and every man can be bewitched by any woman. It is that little piece of manhood dangling between your legs that enables us to work our magic.”

  The community had also grown in the years since they had crossed the narrow Menai Straits. Blissfully ignored by Roman patrols, which thought the Druidic religion gone and were far too busy protecting the gold shipments from the new mines close to Wyddfa, the sisters all flocked to the island where their combined knowledge and power made each witch even more powerful. Morwenna knew that soon they would be able to leave the island and begin the revolt against Rome. They had meditated and communed many times; Morwenna had dreamed dreams but still she waited for a sign.

  The only man in the community, Aodh, was confused. “What sign?”

  “I know not.”

  “Then how will you know?”

  Enigmatically Morwenna said, “I will know when the sign comes.”

  Aodh was also confused about the three girls he had fathered. They had been born in three consecutive years and he had expected that as they regularly made love, for Morwenna said that it was part of her religion, they had no more children. Morwenna had looked at him as one might look at a cooking utensil or farm implement. “Three is a mystical number we have no need of other girls.”

  “How do you stop… I mean how can you know we will have no more children?”

  “Because it is in my power and not yours. You have served your purpose. Your seed was female and for that I give you thanks.”

  Other men may have been hurt that they were used as a Sire, a breeding bull, but Aodh was so smitten by Morwenna that he accepted these few crumbs of affection. The three girls also showed themselves to be almost identical to their mother and Aodh was barely tolerated by them. In the community he was seen as the provider of food and nothing more. As long as he shared his bed with Morwenna, Aodh cared not.

  On the other side of Wyddfa Decius Lucullus was looking very pleased with himself. He had hit upon the idea of dressing his guards in Roman uniforms. This simple deception enabled him to ensure that the workers behaved themselves and stopped any other Romans from interfering. He had worked for his uncle, the deceased Governor of Britannia, Sallustius Lucullus, long enough to understand that if you gave someone the right title and appeared to have documentation then the bureaucratic Romans would leave you alone. The miners thought that the gold they extracted was going to Rome. They did not care for they were paid better than they had been in the mines to the south. What they did not know was that the gold was taken to Decius’ partner, Aula Lucullus who was busy buying land both in Rome and in Britannia. Decius was enough of a realist to know that they would eventually be caught out which was why he had purchased a boat which he kept at Deva; he was ready to get away to Rome as soon as danger threatened.

  His senior guard came over. He was jokingly referred to by Decius and the other mock Romans as Centurion. “Yes Centurion?”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to take some lads out and frighten the locals a bit. It’s what regular Romans would do.”

  “I know but I want us to be seen as harmless. Let them play at witchcraft on their little island, we will be gone within the year.” The Centurion trudged away shaking his head. Decius knew that the real reason he had wanted to take out a patrol was to be violent with someone. The last thing that Decius wanted was the locals causing trouble. He had, of course, lied to the Centurion; he and Aula would have left the hell hole which was Britannia by the spring thaw and then they would enjoy the heat and opulence of Rome.

  Chapter 4

  The three hunters caught up with the tail end of the retreating Caledonii. Gaelwyn had found their camp and reported back to the others. “There are no captives and they are well armed although few in numbers.”

  “You mean if we had a turma we could dispose of them?”

  “Yes Gaius but we do not want to dispose of anyone do we?”

  The three of them were camped downwind and upstream from the raiders. It had been an easy ride to catch them for Marcus was keen to conserve their mounts until they needed to ride them hard. “So we have a dilemma; do we follow these or move on and catch up with the others.”

  Gaelwyn spat the gristle from his meat into the trees. “It is obvious isn’t it? We keep going until we find some captives.”

  “Good but what about this band? Are we going to be looking over our shoulders?”

  “Gaius is right and what do we do when we find captives?”

  Gaelwyn shook his head and gave a quiet chuckle. “The trouble is you think like Romans and not barbarians. This bunch of barbarians is making so much noise that we will easily hear them and we are mounted, moving much faster than they are. When we find some captives then we cut out a guard and find out if they were the ones who raided your farms.”

  “What if he won’t talk?”

  Gaius you are thinking like a Roman. I will make him talk.” The evil leer on the old scout’s face left them in no doubt that whoever they captured would gladly tell them anything. “I know you both speak a little of the language but let me speak as though I am the slave master. That way we may live through the negotiations.”

  “When we do find Ailis and the boys what then?” Gaelwyn looked at Marcus quizzically. “Well you seem to be making all the decisions.”

  “It looks like I have to for you two are too busy thinking with your hearts and not your heads. When we find the band with the captives then we approach them further along the trail, heading south, and ask if we can buy some captives. If they agree then we win for we will have what we want if they do not then we follow them and rescue them.”

  “Isn’t that a huge risk?”

  “Life is a huge risk Gaius.” There was no answer to that and the three of them went to sleep knowing that they could be on a fruitless and ultimately heartbreaking quest. All of them could die because they were all beyond the land controlled by Rome. Up in the far north there were no rules. They went to sleep early for they would have to leave in the middle of the night if they were to put some distance between the band commanded by Manus and find their loved ones.

  Many miles up the Roman road, for the raid on the farm had been one of the first, Ailis and the boys appeared to be the only ones amongst the captives who were taking the journey well. Ailis had told the boys that it was a game and their fathers would judge, at the end of it who had been the winner. The boys loved games and took pride in being stoic. The Caledonii guards, for their part, were impressed by the bravery of the young boys and took to calling them ‘the little warriors’.

  Ailis had been worried for the first few days that some of the warriors might have decided to use her but it appeared they were under strict instructions from Lulach to bring the captives whole and unharmed back to his homeland. Ail
is was not comforted by this order for it merely meant Lulach wanted the goods to be perfect he intended to sell to be in the best condition. She had not let on that she could speak their language; having been a captive before she was fluent and understood all that she heard. She knew that they would have a long journey if they were to return to the land north of Veluniate and, in a way, that helped her for it meant her husband had more opportunities to rescue her. She never doubted for one moment that he and Gaelwyn would be tracking them. She smiled to herself; there had been no need to leave extra clues for their trail was so wide that even she could have followed it. Even so whenever they came to an open area she made sure that she left a small piece of cloth torn from her shift. Of all the female captives, hers was of the highest quality and was a distinctive blue. Gaelwyn would know.

  “It is her dress. I recognise it.”

  “Of course it is. Do you think I showed it to you to confirm it? I just wanted you to know she is still alive.”

  Tetchily Gaius snapped, “I know she is alive and I don’t need you to prove it to me. I am her husband and I know she is alive!”

  Gaelwyn shrugged and Marcus could see the tension between them. It was an uneasy balance. They needed Gaelwyn to track and to follow but it galled Gaius more than Marcus that he was impotent and relying on someone else to find his wife and children. “Can we work out how far ahead they are?”

  “We have just crossed the Vedra which means the old fort at Vindomora should be just ahead. I would say that they probably passed the old fort not long after dawn.”

  Marcus looked up at the sky. “They will probably camp near to what is left of Coriosopitum then.”

  “I would say so.”

  “Let us get there first then. We can make better time than they can and the land closer to the coast is not hard for horses. The sooner we can gain an advantage the better.”

  The three of them swiftly mounted and rode down the small valley until they came to the mighty Tinea. They followed its banks all the way to Coriosopitum and saw, with heavy hearts, the burnt out ruin which had once been the bastion of the east coast. The bodies of the dead Romans had been stripped and left for the animals to ravage. It chilled them to the core to know that they could not honour their comrades with burial. They would have to leave them where they lay. “We can push on north then?”

  “Yes Gaius but first I want to bury a little of our money here.” They both looked at him as though he had gone mad. “We have brought much gold and copper I know. We do not know how much we will need but we also do not know if they will let us buy them. They may decide to take the money and the captives.”

  “So how does burying the money help?”

  “If we lose horses, or we lose money then we can return here to dig up the hoard and we know they will not build here.” Gaius still looked doubtful. “If anything happens to any of us the others can still have the money to buy back Ailis and the boys.”

  They found an area which had been disturbed by wild animals and they dug a deep hole and then buried the small amphora containing the silver and copper. By the time they had buried it and scuffed up the surface it was well hidden.

  “Now we have wasted enough time. Let us move north.”

  “Very well Gaelwyn I am contented now.” The snort told Marcus what he thought about that.

  They camped some miles from the deserted fort. For the first time in several days they were not hiding and Gaelwyn shot them a small doe which they roasted over a fire. “With luck, “Gaelwyn said, “they will scout us and be interested enough to approach us.”

  “They could also decide we look like easy pickings and slit our throats.”

  “Which is why tonight, young Gaius, we each take a watch and sleep with our horses tethered to our feet.”

  Marcus smiled and Gaius asked, “What is so funny? Here we are stuck at the back end of the Roman Empire surrounded by enemies and with no friends within a week’s march.”

  “I was just thinking back to all the times we rode up and down this road with the turma or the ala and never gave a moment’s thought to how pretty the land is around here. Gaelwyn has caught us a delicious meal and here we are, three old friends lying beneath the stars. I don’t know about you Gaius but that makes me feel good.”

  Gaelwyn nodded but Gaius would not let it go. “But Ailis and my children are in danger.”

  “And that is why we are here and tomorrow we may all die. Your family would still be captives and we would be dead so let us enjoy this night for it may be our last but it does not have to be filled with dire and dreadful thoughts eh?”

  “He is right Gaius. You are blaming yourself for the raid. Do not deny it. You have been itching for a fight with someone since we left the farm. You are not to blame. The barbarians have been raiding Brigantia since… well so far back we cannot count the years. If you want to avoid the raids then move your family, when we rescue them, to the far south for there it is safe. Would you do that?”

  Gaius looked for all the world like a truculent little boy with pouted lips, “No of course not.”

  “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “Accept that we do what we can, we do our best but we take each moment as though it were our last for remember Gaius, none of us are young anymore. When Decius Flavius died I swore then that I would enjoy life and by the Allfather I have. I do not want o be here because my family is in danger but if I am to be here then I will make the best of it and hope that someone is watching over us.”

  “And as you are so full of evil thoughts you can have the first watch. Wake the Tribune next and then me. Goodnight.”

  He was asleep in moments. “You have been a little irritable with Gaelwyn you know.”

  “I know it’s just that he didn’t seem to care.”

  “Oh he cares but he doesn’t upset himself or others, he keeps it inside. We will find them and we will save them.”

  “What about dying tomorrow then?”

  “Oh we could die tomorrow but that makes me determined even more that we don’t and then that will make tomorrow night even sweeter. Goodnight and stop worrying. Trust in Gaelwyn and the Allfather.”

  Lulach’s men left Coriosopitum and did not follow the road north as Gaelwyn had anticipated. Instead they followed the road built by the Romans towards Luguvalium. Lulach and his other warbands had been looting the lands of the Carvetii and the Novontae. His chiefs were wary of attacks from the south and the east. Marcus’ Horse had a fearsome reputation and Lulach had impressed upon his leaders that they had to avoid the ala at all costs.

  As soon as Ailis realised that they had left the northernmost road she, once again, placed apiece of her dress in an obvious place. As they trudge along the road, tucked behind the ridge rising to the north she said to the boys, “Today we must play a new game.”

  “I like games,” said a very serious looking Marcus. Decius, Macro’s son, always liked to copy Marcus and he too tried a serious face but it didn’t quite work; it came out as a lopsided grin making Ailis smile.

  “Today’s game is to make our people smile.”

  Marcus’ brother Decius looked at the cook and the other slaves and saw how sad they looked. “Why do they look sad mother?”

  “Because they are captives as we are and they are going to be slaves in Caledonia.” Ailis had decided right at the start of this ordeal that she would try to be truthful with the boys wherever possible.

  Decius pondered on this and then asked, “But I thought they were slaves already? Aren’t they our slaves?”

  “Yes they are but we treat them well do we not Ula?”

  Ula, the cook, gave a half-hearted gap toothed smile. She had been listening to the children talk and found her own troubles receding. “Yes young master Decius your mother and father are kind, even grumpy old Gaelwyn is kind in his own bad tempered way but we are going to a strange land and I fear that we will be treated badly.”

  Ailis flashed her a sharp look, “But w
e are together are we not?”

  “Yes mistress.”

  “Well in that we have hope and they have not mistreated us yet. So boys let us see if we can make the people smile today.”

  Gaius was almost disappointed when the night passed without incident. He was even more perplexed when no-one came up the road from the fort. “You two break camp and I will ride back and see where they are.”

  Gaelwyn galloped off and, after they had packed their equipment away they took the opportunity of taking out the swords they had secreted in the saddle cloths. Gaius had brought the Sword of Cartimandua for, as he said to Marcus when questioned, “If I cannot use the sword to save the last of the Brigante royal family then what is the point of the sword. Besides I believe it will protect us. It always protected you when you used it did it not.”

  Now as they checked the edges of their blades it was brought home to them just how perilous their journey was. They were indeed on a knife’s edge themselves and one slip could end in disaster.

  Gaelwyn rode in a short while later. “They have headed east, I found their trail and this,” he held up the piece of dress.

  “She is still alive then?” The relief in Gaius’ voice brought a smile to Marcus’ face.

  “She is still alive.”

  “Let us follow. When we are closer I will try to see where they are exactly in the column. They had been joined by many more raiders and captives. They must have sent a mighty force south.”

  Marcus looked down the road to the distant and unseen fort of Morbium. “I wonder where the ala is?”

  “And I wonder how the Prefect has tethered Macro for surely he would want to be here.”

  “He would. Gaius he would.”

  Back at Cataractonium Macro was cursing his own honour and training as a soldier. He could have broken free of the troopers, they would not have held him but he obeyed orders. He had spent his life obeying orders. He had no wife, the bitch had betrayed him and killed his friend, but he had a son and he would protect his son, with his life if needs be. He made a momentous decision; he would desert and find his son. Once he had come to that conclusion he felt much better. It would be a small task to escape. They had merely tied his hands and the room he was in was not locked. The trooper on guard outside would never hear him when he did escape