Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 06] Druid's Gold (22 page)

“No but if they bought the story about Marcus’ Horse then they should be with those cavalry lads.”

“I agree. We’ll follow them. It’s a gamble but with only two of us we haven’t much choice have we?”

As Cassius and the other nine galloped off, the two Explorates followed desperately trying to identify their two comrades. The problem they had was that they had to stay behind and above the riders which meant they could not see their faces. Marius and his trooper would undoubtedly be doing the same.  The thought flashed through Livius’ mind that, if he had been with Marcus’ Horse he would have been racing down to fight at five to one odds to save the settlement but now as an Explorate he would have to watch whatever depredations were heaped upon the unsuspecting community.  His new role would take some getting used to.

Cassius was the right hand of the pair and he could see that they would swing left once they had passed the settlement and crossed the small river. He edged his horse right so that he was clear of the man in front.  Once clear of the river he would kick right before they noticed. He hoped that would be too busy fulfilling their orders to worry about one deserter. As they splashed through the stream he heard the officer at the front shout, “Draw swords!” he made pretence of trying to draw but he wanted both hands free for his reins.

As soon as he reached dry land he kicked the horse hard and pulled on the reins racing up the gentle slope. He heard the shouts from behind but he kept his head down to maximise the speed of the horse.

“You two get after that deserter and bring me his head!” The roar from the angry Nuada carried clearly to Cassius.

Cassius glanced under his arm and saw that Salvius and another trooper were forty paces behind in hot pursuit.  At least he had better odds than Seius for he had a fighting chance, a weapon a horse. He risked another glance and saw that the two men still had their swords drawn. He kicked left and aimed his racing steed at a rocky part of the hillside. Sure enough when they tried to match his manoeuvre their mounts stumbled and he began to extend his lead.  Once he reached the top of the ridge he paused briefly to let his horse regain some wind. The two troopers were still fifty paces back but in the distance he could see the smoke and hear the faint cries as the villagers were attacked. “Come on then boy; let’s see if we can end this.”

He kicked the horse on and it opened its legs enjoying its freedom. Suddenly disaster struck as its hoof caught in a rabbit hole and it tumbled forward throwing Cassius to the ground. Instinct took over and he covered his head, relaxed and rolled.  As soon as he stopped he leapt to his feet drew his sword and turned to face his pursuers. The looks on their faces told Cassius that they would enjoy butchering him and he prepared to sell his life dearly.  They slowed their horses down and spread out giving Cassius even less chance.

“Another coward, a deserter, I will enjoy this.”

“Don’t count my gold until I am dead Salvius.”

“Oh you will be sunshine, you will…” the rest of the comment was stopped by the arrow which erupted from his chest.  He looked down in surprise at the barbed arrow head protruding from his chest before falling dead from his horse. His companion looked around for his attacker only to be struck in the neck by another arrow.

Cassius watched with relief and an ever increasing grin as Livius and Agrippa rode up. “Am I glad to see you sir.”

“What’s the matter Cassius did you upset your new mates? Or didn’t you fancy them?”

“Let’s just say Agrippa that they wanted to do things to me that I would not have enjoyed.” He looked around for his horse which was lying in an untidy heap, its neck broken. Cassius sighed and taking his sword knelt next to the horse.  He stroked its head, “Thank you for saving my life. May you ride with the Allfather.” He gently cut its throat and its pain ended.

Agrippa brought up one of the horses of the dead men while Livius collected the other. “I’ll keep this in case we find Seius.”

Mounting his horse Cassius said sadly.  “Seius won’t need a horse in this life.  He was caught escaping and they planted him on a stake.”

“That will go hard with Marius when we tell him.  Let us find him if we can and then seek out the others.  While we ride give me your report.”

“It is far worse than we either thought or imagined. They have a cohort of well trained and armed soldiers and, believe me, they are incredibly well trained.  There is a Brigante army training too.”

“Where?”

He shook his head. “That I do not know but it must be close by the camp I was in but worst of all, I have just discovered that Morwenna is returning with an Irish army. The rebellion is on once again.“

“I believe you are right Cassius.  I hope the messengers I sent to the Prefect prompted him to move south or it may be too late.”

They rode in silence for a while and then Cassius blurted out, “There are things about this new role that I did not expect decurion.  The hardest thing I had to do in my life was watch poor Seius die. All I wanted to do was to free him.”

“I know Cassius and if you had freed him then what?”

He looked at Livius perplexed.  “Then we would have fled.”

“And would you have escaped the four hundred men hungry for your blood?” The silence spoke volumes. “The answer, which you know, is no and you would have died and we would not know either of the Brigante army nor the Irish army and many more men would have died. It is sad that Seius died but his death enabled you to prevent further death and, you are correct, our role has changed and it is a hard role but, Cassius, it is a vital role.”

When they reached the meeting point the whole of the Explorates were there. “For us it as a fruitless exercise,” Drusus spread his hands in apology.  “We tried but no one wanted a deserter.

Marius was excited. “We managed, like you decurion, to plant Seius in the rebel camp.”

Cassius walked forward and grasped Marius’ arm. “I have some news which will be hard for you to take. He was captured and…. butchered.”

For Marius it was the first of his men that he had lost. Seius had been amongst the first recruits from Marcus’ Horse and a close friend of Drusus. Cassius took him to one side and told him the whole story of the dreadful death of the young Seius.  Cassius waited with Marius as he cried the tears of frustration and, when he was composed, led him back to the others.

The Explorates understood Marius’ grief and they all dealt with it the same way. They ignored it.  They would all say prayers for their friend and they would all remember their comrade but none would speak of it.  It brought their own end too close to think about, it made them think about mortality and for a soldier that was never a good thing..

“We found where the ships came ashore.  I can confirm what Cassius said, the Queen has been here and she will return.  This is a rebellion.”

Livius nodded.  “You have all done well, Metellu. Far better than anyone could have dreamed and our losses were lighter than they might have been.  The Prefect should know of the situation which means we can now try to find the Brigante camp and then the bitch Morwenna.”

*

Although the raid had been successful Decius sat at his desk, incandescent with rage. Centurion, Tiny and Nuada all quaked before him. “How in Hades did a spy manage to get into our camp?”

“We don’t know that he was a spy.”

“Nuada are you an imbecile?  He runs off and two of our men are slain by Roman arrows.” He held up his hand. “I worked for Rome and I know Roman fucking arrows when I see them. What I am asking is how did he get through?”

Centurion knew the leader the best and he stepped forward.  “You and Morwenna asked us to get deserters.  We did.  You asked us to get them into action as soon as possible. We did.”

“So you are saying this is my fault?”

“In a nutshell?  Yes. For we did not bother to check the men and to find out if their stories were true.  In the end it did not cost us much but now Rome knows what we are about and we need to strike quickly.”

Nuada and Tiny shrank back form the inevitable onslaught. Decius looked at the desk. “You are right.  Thank you Centurion. No more recruits. We work with what we have and, Nuada, send a rider to Brennus warn him that his camp may have been infiltrated.”

Nuada left, pleased to be away from the intense heat of the off ice. “Now the Queen is on her way with her whole army; over fifteen hundred warriors. With the one thousand Brigante and our four hundred we only need fear the Ninth and they are on the northern border. The Queen will be here by the end of the month. We have two weeks to disrupt even more and our first target is the fort at Mamucium.”

“Mamucium! Are you mad? Attack a fort without siege equipment?” Centurion thought that his superior had finally lost his senses.

“You have been to Mamucium. How would you describe the fort Centurion?”

“Alright I admit that their security is lax.”

“Lax? The vestal fucking virgins from Rome could walk in there! The point is, if we take it then that will make the Twentieth Valeria get twitchy, hide themselves in Deva and it will secure our southern flank.  When the Brigantes take Bremmetenacum then the Queen can march up to Glanibanta and take it easily.” The silence told Decius that he had won his argument. “But,” he held his finger up to emphasise the point. “There are Roman spies out there. Keep your eyes open for them. He looked at Centurion, “The spy; who did he come in with?”

“No-one.”

Friendly with anyone?”

“He walked next to the runty looking soldier; the one I thought was lame.”

“Fetch him and we will see what he knows.”

Mocius looked apprehensively at the three men before him.  He had served in the Roman army for long enough to know that you avoided officers at all costs.  Now that he was in this copy of a Roman army he felt the same way. The smile which Decius gave him when he walked in was not reassuring. It was the smile of a cat greeting a mouse. “Now then…?”

“Mocius … sir er General.”

“Relax Mocius; this is not a trial we just want to know as much as we can about this Cassius who ran off today.”

A chill ran down Mocius’ spine. “I barely knew him. I only spoke to him that first day when we came from Mamucium.”

“Well then there is nothing to fear is there? What did you learn of him?”

Mocius was in a dilemma.  Did they know about the trail which Cassius had laid? Even if they did they could not know that he knew of it.  He determined to keep silent on that issue but tell the truth about the rest. “He said he had served in Marcus’ Horse and he left because of…, “he paused uncertain of the effect of his next statement, “your brother Livius. Cassius said that he was a cruel bastard.  Sorry sir.  His words not mine.” Decius held his hand up.  “When he told the optio he had been in the cavalry he was whisked off to the horses and I didn’t see him any more.”

“Well thank you for your honesty Mocius you may rejoin your unit.” He stared hard at the man who was obviously frightened.  “You have a future in this army and I will not forget your loyalty.  You will soon be an officer.” When Mocius had left Decius turned to Centurion.  “Make sure he is in the front rank when we fight the Romans at Mamucium.  He is a loose end I would like to be rid of.”

“Was he right about your brother?”

Decius laughed, “My brother a bastard?  He was as soft as they come.  No that was just confirmation that my brother sent him in as a spy.” He thought for a moment, “And, probably, the other one we executed; the one who tried to run.  That means that Marcus’ Horse is out there.”

“But the word was that they were disbanded.”

“Smoke and mirrors Centurion; I have no doubt that there is no ala called Marcus’ Horse out there but that doesn’t mean that the men and officers from the ala aren’t out there.  We will have to be on our guard.  The Queen will be interested in this news for she hates Marcus’ Horse with a passion which you would not believe.”

“Do you know why?”

Decius nodded.  “They crucified her mother.  If she got her hands on my brother I dread to think what his fate would be.”

Centurion nodded.  “She is one woman I would not get the wrong side of.”

*

The ten troopers who met at the rendezvous were in a sombre mood.  Cassius had told them of the manner of Seius’ death and it had had a sobering effect.  It was one thing to die in battle but to be tortured to death was another matter.  Cassius’ and Metellus’ news of the size of the army had also disturbed them.

“One thing is for certain they will be on their guard now which means no more infiltration of their camps.”

“If we knew where their camps were.”

“We know where one is Drusus.  Marius I want you to take your maniple and keep watch on the Roman deserter’s camp.  You know where that is.  Let me know if and when they move. Drusus you need to ride to the coast and watch for ships and the Queen.  My maniple will try to find the Brigante camp.” Metellus cleared his throat and coughed.  Livius smiled.  “Well out with it Metellus either you are coming down with something or you have an idea.”

The others laughed as Metellus reddened. “It seems to me sir that the best place to enlist rebels would be in the villages that your bro.., that the deserters have pillaged.”

“All of you do not step around my feelings so carefully.  I know from Cassius that my brother is a traitor but I already knew that.  He betrayed my uncle and he betrayed Rome. At least we know who the enemy is and I will recognise him, believe me. Carry on Metellus.  You were saying.”

“The village yesterday; there will be warriors who will join the rebels to gain revenge on Rome.”

“And?”

“And we follow them.  They will know how to reach the hidden camp even if we do not.”

“That is such a simple idea that it might work.  We will use this dell as our base.  One rider from each maniple should ride back here each night and camp here.  The three can share information and I will be kept informed.  When our riders return from the Prefect they too will come here. We can also hobble our spare horses here for it will keep them fresh and from what I have seen this is a remote spot well away from accidental visitors. One more thing, from what Cassius has told us these are not the kind of soldiers who will treat you well.  If you are captured you will die painfully. Avoid capture at all costs.  Discretion rather than heroics; a dead Explorate can give no one the valuable information in his head.”