Roman - The Fall of Britannia (11 page)

‘
Seems a good enough reason,’ said Perre. ‘Twice as much would
be a better one.’

The two men
stared at each other before Cassus peeled off another
note.

‘
Better,’ said Perre. ‘now we talk. I can take you to Gaul,
but there are conditions. First, you look after yourselves and
provide your own supplies. I am no nurse maid.’

‘
To
be expected!’ said Cassus.

‘
Secondly, you keep yourselves to yourselves. You don’t tell
anyone your business and if there is trouble, you are on your own.
We will dock in village ports each night and I don’t want any
unwanted attention from the locals if they found out there were
wannabe legionaries aboard.’

‘
We
didn’t say we were legionaries,’ said Cassus.

Perre
sneered.

‘
It’s not difficult to guess, young’un,’ he said. ‘Your letter
is from that rogue Marcus and you want to get to Gaul as fast as
possible. Something to do with Britannia, I would
wager.’

Cassus stared in
silence.

‘
Don’t worry;’ said Perre, ‘it is the worst kept secret in the
known world.’

‘
But
I thought Gaul was safe,’ said Cassus, ‘Caesar defeated them many
years ago.’

Perre laughed
out loud again,

‘
Oh,
the tribes are quiet enough when they hear the footfall of six
thousand legionaries marching past, but I promise you, most
wouldn’t think twice about skinning you two alive if they got the
chance. After all, you could return in a few years, fully trained
killers, so they may as well kill you now. Cuts out the middle man,
if you see what I mean.’

‘
What else?’ asked Cassus

‘
That’s it,’ said Perre. ‘Just meet me back here in one
week.’

‘
Agreed,’ said Cassus, ‘but we need to buy some horses and
supplies.’

‘
Buy
the horses when you get there’, he said. ‘In the meantime, take one
of your notes to a trader called Sellack in the village. Tell him I
sent you and that you are travelling on my merchant. He will give
you all you need, though no doubt your purse will feel the pain. We
start out at first light seven days from now and I will not wait.
Now get out of my sight. There’s a pretty barmaid over there who’s
been staring at me all afternoon.’

He barged past
without another word and made his way over to negotiate with the
woman as Cassus and Prydain left the tavern to seek
Sellack.

----

Two months
later, they stood on a hillcrest looking down into a cleared
valley. They had travelled overland since leaving Perre’s ship and
headed east toward Belgica, each riding a horse purchased in a
local market and leading a shared mule carrying a tent and their
supplies. Both the landscape and climate had changed dramatically
the further north they had travelled. The temperature had fallen,
and being from lands that were baked by the sun most of the year,
the two friends struggled with the climate. The addition of two
heavy capes purchased from a village en-route, did little to raise
their mood. Soon, they had left the coast far behind and the
landscape had changed into heavily wooded hills.

‘
Keep to the road,’ had been the instruction from Perre, ‘it
is patrolled by auxiliaries and you should have few problems.
Wander into the forest, and you may not be seen again.’

Rome’s influence
increased as they neared their goal. More mounted patrols were
encountered as they rode alongside the road and after receiving
directions, they left the road to follow a winding path up a hill.
Eventually, they reached the edge of a cliff overlooking a valley
over two miles wide.

Immediately
below them was a rambling maze of huts and tents, filling every
inch of available ground between the wooded hill and the banks of a
winding river. The town was alive with the day-to-day commerce that
was the focus of its very existence, and the smoke of hundreds of
fires filled the air, as the inhabitants carried out the familiar
struggle to survive. Sounds of animals and people echoed up from
the valley and the smell of roasting meat wafted past the noses of
the dozen or so men who had joined them on their
journey.

‘
I’m
starving,’ said Prydain. ‘We should buy ourselves some
mutton.

However, it was
not the smell of meat that caught the imagination of Cassus or even
the massive sprawl of the village, but what lay across the other
side of the valley.

The river flowed
toward the bluff before returning on itself in a giant loop and
disappearing into the distance, and on the large knot of land, was
the first permanent Roman fort Cassus had ever seen. Despite his
inexperience, he could see that the positioning was perfect. It was
surrounded by the fast flowing river on three sides and overlooked
a large open plain to the fourth. A deep ditch encircled the fort
and a single well-guarded bridge approached the only visible
entrance. Cassus knew that there would be similar entrances on the
other three sides, mimicking the layout that every legionary camp
followed, no matter where they were built throughout the empire.
The walls, made from quarried stone and cut from the cliff by
thousands of Germanic slaves, were topped with a wooden palisade,
incorporating fighting platforms and watchtowers. The entire
enormous rectangular fort was a fierce statement of intent and a
fantastic monument to the might of the Roman army.

Alert guards
were visible along the ramparts, looking down with feigned interest
at the activity on the plain beyond the fort’s walls. A scene they
often took part in themselves and one that they did not
envy.

Throughout the
plain, instructors were drilling thousands of soldiers in groups
ranging in numbers of ten to several hundred. Centurions barked
commands causing large bodies of men to march and turn in unison,
instead of the hundreds of individuals that formed its shape. Many
more were lined up before poles sunk into the ground, assaulting
them with wooden training swords, while others took part in Pilum
practise against other squads, their points padded to avoid injury.
A channel had been cut into part of the river feeding a man-made
lake and Cassus could see dozens of men swimming back and fore
across the deep water, an important skill for every Roman
soldier.

Prydain pointed
to one side and Cassus turned to see a full Cohort of four hundred
and eighty men running at double time toward the fort. Each was
fully armoured and carried both shield and Pilum. Even from this
distance, the pain was clear on their faces, and the commands from
the Centurions could be heard across the clearing along with the
occasional thwack of Vitis, the vine stick used liberally to
reinforce their authority.

The new recruits
were awestruck. They could never have imagined the sheer spectacle
of an entire legion and its auxiliaries all stationed in the same
place. Cassus and his comrades dismounted and sat on the cliff edge
for an age watching the legion train, each lost in their own
thoughts as they anticipated spending the next twenty-five years as
part of this machine. Finally, Prydain stood up.

‘
Right,’ he said. ‘Pointless putting it off any longer. We’ve
travelled a thousand miles for this, so why wait? He mounted his
horse and turned to Cassus. ‘Coming or what?’

Cassus mounted
his own horse and stared down at the fortress.

‘
So
it begins,’ he said, before wheeling away to descend the path to
the valley floor far below.

----

Chapter
7

It had been
three months since Gwydion had returned from the Cerrig, and when
he had brought back not only the horses, but also the untouched
purse containing the gold, he had been given command of ten
warriors as a reward, one of ten such bands in the clan.

Autumn had
arrived early, and Erwyn had taken a large trading party south to
trade for winter fodder from the Ordovices. The trip would take
several weeks and involved all of the clan’s carts, along with half
of the available warriors. All were necessary to protect the bag of
braided gold jewellery that they intended to trade.

The clan had
been left in the protection of Robbus, Erwyn’s brother, and Gwydion
had been instructed to patrol the surrounding lands by the
temporary leader. They were coming to an end of one such patrol
when returning to the stockade, they saw two heavily armed riders
outside the closed gates.

Gwydion and his
group galloped out of the forest to confront the
strangers.

‘
Hold,’ shouted Robbus from the wall, realizing that Gwydion
and his men had drawn their swords.

Though
maintaining their readiness, the riders lowered their weapons and
encircled the strangers.

‘
Who
are you and what business do you have here?’ asked Gwydion
eventually.

‘
We
are on the King’s business and seek the one called Erwyn,’ said the
taller of the two.

Robbus shouted
from above.

‘
He
is not here, but I speak in his name.’

‘
My
words are for his ears only,’ he replied. ‘We will
wait.’

‘
He
could be weeks,’ said Gwydion. ‘Will your message wait as
long?’

The two men
looked at each other.

‘
Perhaps not,’ answered one.

‘
Then you will talk to me,’ called Robbus and turned to
address those inside the palisade. ‘Open the gates.’

Gwydion and his
men sheathed their weapons as the gates swung slowly inward. The
visitor addressed Gwydion quietly.

‘
Do
you answer to this man?’ he asked quietly.

‘
Until Erwyn returns.’ he said. ‘It is our way.’

‘
We
will humour him,’ said the stranger and they all wheeled their
horses to enter the stockade.

As soon as they
entered, Robbus’s men disarmed the two visitors and led them up to
the largest lodge in the centre of the village. Inside, Robbus was
already there along with six armed warriors.

‘
State your business,’ said Robbus finally.

‘
I
am Alwood of the Deceangli,’ he said. ‘We seek warriors for
Idwal.’

‘
Why
do you need warriors?’ asked Robbus.

‘
He
is sending a fist to aid the Catuvellauni.’

‘
Why
does Idwal send our men to aid our enemies?’

‘
It
pains me as much it does you,’ he answered, ‘but our King has
forged an alliance with Caratacus to turn back the Romans. The
Catuvellauni are the first line of defence and seek support from
all tribes.’

‘
The
answer is no,’ said Robbus bluntly.

‘
You
would deny your king?’

‘
The
Deceangli have not united in battle for years,’ said Robbus. ‘We
are told that the Romans covet our lands and yet our weapons remain
un-blooded. Perhaps they do not come after all.’

‘
They will come,’ said Alwood. ‘Many years ago, when the
Romans last left our soil, they left a client King at the head of
the Atrebates. For years, he sold out to the Romans, enjoying their
patronage and best trading terms. Often they filled their bellies
while neighbouring tribes went hungry, but recently they went too
far. The new King, Verica, started to raid Catuvellauni lands using
the Roman army as a threat should they retaliate, thinking they
would bend a knee to their rule. He thought wrong. Cunobelinus took
the Atrebates lands, burnt their villages and razed their capital
to the ground. They will never make that mistake again. Verica
himself disappeared and no one knew whether he lived or
died.’

‘
That is until now,’ said his comrade. ‘We now know he fled to
his paymasters in Rome, throwing himself at the feet of the idiot
Claudius and begging him for help to regain his lands.’ He spat on
the floor in disgust. ‘Begging a Roman to invade the lands of his
fathers. If I ever see him again, I will eat his heart.’

‘
How
do we know this is true?’ asked Robbus.

‘
Even now they gather their legions across the sea. Traders
tell us of many ships being assembled on the shores of Gaul,
clearing the mountains of trees for miles inland to supply timber
for their hulls. They will come, Robbus, it is a fact.’

Robbus leaned
forward.

‘
Why
should we leave our villages unguarded?’ he asked. ‘If the Romans
do indeed come, we need to defend Deceangli lands not Catuvellauni.
Over half our warriors are in the south and we do not know when
they will return. I cannot send what is left to the King and leave
this clan at the mercy of brigands and Cornovii raiding
parties.’

‘
You
don’t have to,’ answered Alwood. ‘He does not seek a war party,
just ten well trained men, and in particular, he wants one man. The
one known as Gwydion.’

----

Gwydion was busy
in the stable, rubbing down his horse with a deer-fur
glove.

‘
Hwyl,’ came a familiar voice and he looked up to see the
smiling face of Gwenno, her arms and chin resting on his horse’s
back.