“Absolutely! Now that Grimwald is gone… by the way, that was a clear act of God, the improbable events of Patavium… now that the Arian champion is gone, our plans for Italy can continue. Soon Ravenna will be part of the Kingdom, and at the same time, the Pope’s religious authority will be unquestioned throughout the Kingdom of Italy. Catholics and Longobards will be one and the same.”
Chapter 20
SLAVIC SLAVES
Spring season was around the corner. Polo had already left with a small sailboat for Istria. Over there he was gathering produce from his farm, and purchasing from neighboring farmers all the food supplies for a trip that had to feed hundreds of people: several weeks for the slaves, and perhaps a few months for his crew. He had to account for everything. He did not want to find himself spending more than expected around the Mediterranean ports.
Marcello and his men were gathering all the salt from the ponds on the western portion of the lagoon. It was not enough to fill eight ships. As in the previous year, he had at most enough salt to fill only three ships. He then ventured south of Cioza, in the marshland near the old port of Adria. There he would attempt to purchase from the locals the salt they had gathered from their ponds. That marshland belonged to Ravenna, but the Venetians took the rivalry one step further. Marcello wanted to anticipate the Ravenna’s merchants and offer the locals double the price, which was still cheap compared to the price they could get down at the Mediterranean ports.
Claudio had already finished refurbishing the ships. Before they were just sailing ships with a couple of oars to enter and navigate inside the lagoon, but now each ship had twenty oars, ten per side, in order to row in the high sea even when there was no wind. On deck, there were benches nailed to the floor, and iron shackles and chains were secured on each bench. Everything was ready to keep slaves imprisoned.
Primo and his men had just reached Patavium. He had brought with him ten boats, and twenty men (two per boat) to row. Each boat would be able to hold four prisoners in the center. He figured they were physically weak, so they could be subdued quickly and easily if they attempted to escape. He would have to make four trips to get enough slaves for every ship they had.
The boats reached the canal next to Patavium’s prisons and Primo dismounted while his men turned the boats around, ready to load the human cargo and proceed back downstream. At the prison, Bertwalt was waiting for Primo.
“Primo! I see that you are ready to load all my prisoners up! We never talked about price…”
“Yes, Bertwalt, I am not sure what commission to charge you for this favor I am doing you…”
“Primo, I am not in the mood to joke around. You know what I did to your father-in-law, and don’t make me do the same to you. I know perfectly well what the price of a slave is!”
“Well, you must know more than I. All I know is that these prisoners have been depleting your food resources all winter long, and they will cost me a fortune to feed during my trip in the high sea.”
“You must be selling these slaves for at least ten golden solidi! You need to pay me at least half of that for each.”
“Look Bertwalt, I was bringing up a couple of barrels of salt to sell at the market here in Patavium. I will give you these two barrels in exchange for the first forty prisoners I can hold. And I will bring a couple of barrels for each forty prisoners I come back to take.”
Bertwalt was quiet. Several barrels of salt were not bad. He needed supplies for his army. He was still in charge of an amassed Longobard army that had been sitting idle the whole winter. At least with Grimwald they kept busy, and from war booty, they managed to keep the military going. Now some of the men had returned to their duchy, some in Spoletium and some in Tuscia. The Beneventum Longobards were remaining loyal, but they were restless.
“I will take the salt,” Bertwalt replied, “if that’s what you have, but I need more than two barrels!”
“This is what I brought at the moment… Let’s do this exchange and as a sign of good faith accept my two barrels. I will be back tomorrow with more. It takes me a full day to row all the way to Patavium and back!”
“What I meant is that you need to pay more than just two barrels of salt for forty prisoners!”
“I understand! What else do you want me to bring to you on my next trip?”
“Bring me gold!”
“Fine, I will bring you gold! Now let’s load them up!”
The Longobard guards carried out the shackled up prisoners. They looked weak, pale and malnourished. They squinted against the sunlight as they stepped outside, as if they had not seen daylight all winter long. Once the ten boats were loaded with the first forty prisoners, they headed back down the Brint River, toward the lagoon.
As soon as they exited the canal that led from Patavium into the Brint River, Primo spotted a Cimbrian convoy navigating down with a load of freshly cut timber.
“Primo!” Boiorix yelled.
“Boiorix! Good to see you! I see that now you don’t even bother to stop in Patavium and you come straight to Rivo Alto to sell your wood!”
“Well, you are building ships like crazy! You are our main customer, and you also pay better! I reserve the best timber for you, Primo!”
“That’s good to hear!”
“We are also coming directly to Rivo Alto in our first trip of the year, because we have some news for you!”
“I hope it is good news!”
“I don’t know… I hope it is good news…” Boiorix replied.
“What is it?” Primo asked impatiently.
“In the fall, Lugius found in the woods one of your friends… He was badly injured and dying. We rescued him and treated his injuries all winter long!”
“Who?”
“Your Longobard friend, the one who now lives with you people in the lagoon… Adalulf!”
Primo felt a cold chill down his spine. His face turned pale and his jaw opened.
“Are you all right?” Boiorix asked. “You do not seem happy about it… Is it bad news?”
“Well, it’s news… let’s just leave it at that. I am not sure if it is good or bad. But I am surprised because the word was that he was killed off after a battle with Grimwald…”
“When Lugius brought him up in Sleghe,” Boiorix continued, “…we thought he was not going to make it either. So I am not surprised if they left him for dead!”
Lugius was observing Primo, and he noticed something was wrong.
“Primo! You seem troubled…” Lugius asked. “Should I have left him to die?”
“No… it’s just, let’s just say that he might want revenge, so I am glad that you alerted me!”
“Well, he has nearly recovered,” Boiorix continued. “He wanted to come down on this trip, but I told him we will come back down again in a month and that it was better for him to wait…”
“So he will be back when we are away in distant ports…” Primo thought out loud.
That evening Primo was meeting in Olivolo at the shipyard with Sabino, Claudio and Marcello.
“I don’t know if we can leave the lagoon with Adalulf coming back!” Marcello said. “He will definitely want revenge!”
“I think we need a hostage…” Primo replied.
“Aldo?” Sabino asked.
“Yes…” Primo decided, “…that is the only way to guarantee the safety of our women and children and still travel.”
“Perhaps we should move our women to Istria for the time being…” Claudio suggested. “Polo keeps saying it’s safe over there…”
Primo ignored Claudio’s option, as he was first concentrating on how to take Aldo.
“Marcello, are the first ships ready?” Primo asked.
“The salt is all loaded up in the first couple of ships, and the slaves are split twenty on one ship and twenty on the other. They have been fed and they are all
shackled up sleeping on deck.”
“Good!” Primo replied. “I say that tomorrow Sabino sails off with the first two ships. We put Polo’s sailors in the second ship. Sabino, you will sail to Istria and meet Polo at the port in Ruvinium. It’s better to keep the slaves there instead of here in Olivolo. But, one more thing…”
“What?” Sabino asked.
“Sabino, tomorrow morning, before I go back to Patavium, Marcello and I will go to Canareclo and take Aldo. Marcello will then bring Aldo to you and you take him to Istria with you. He is ten years old now, he is old enough.”
The next morning Primo was leading the ten boats, but Marcello was there with his own rowboat. They stopped in Canareclo. It had developed a great deal since the first winter Adalulf’s Longobards had arrived. There were wide wooden platforms stilted up high above the water, elevated enough to stay dry during the periodical high tides. Their huts had smoking chimneys, either for warmth or for the continuous blacksmith activity. From one of the huts Hermetruda came out, together with Fabia and Aldo. Fabia was getting tall, and she was fifteen by now. Hermetruda acted a bit cold, as not knowing what to expect from Primo this time.
“Hermetruda, I have good news…” Primo began, “…and then some more good news… which one do you want to hear first?”
Hermetruda was not amused, and she replied sarcastically:
“Primo… why don’t you give me the good news first?”
“Hermetruda… Adalulf is alive, believe it or not!”
“What!? How?”
“After he defeated Grimwald, he was hit by Bertwalt and left for dead. He would have died if the Cimbrians had not found him. He spent all winter in the mountains recovering.”
“I can’t believe it! My Lulf! My Lulf is alive!”
“I just heard this yesterday. The Cimbrians are down here in the lagoon. You can send him a message back if you like.”
“Yes! I will absolutely go and find the Cimbrians right now! Where are they, in Rivo Alto?”
“Yes, either there or in Olivolo…”
“Primo… what is the other good news?”
“The other good news regards Aldo! We have decided that he is old enough and brave enough to sail off to the Mediterranean markets with us! What do you say, Aldo?”
“I would love to!” an unsuspecting Aldo replied.
Aldo was ecstatic. He had always been interested in trading and navigation. When in Rivo Alto he always asked questions, and he was definitely more interested in being a merchant than a simple blacksmith. Hermetruda, on the other hand, was staring at Primo, and Primo was staring back. She understood that he had dressed up a hostage taking as a form of good news for the boy. She also realized that she had no choice, that the Venetians needed some sort of hostage to prevent any retaliation from Adalulf. She reluctantly accepted Primo’s disguised offer. She really had no choice because she was well aware that if she resisted they would have taken Aldo by force, and she did not want that for her son.
Marcello brought Aldo with him and sent him off to Istria with Sabino. Primo continued to Patavium for his second meeting with Bertwalt.
Primo arrived in Patavium in the early afternoon of the same day, and Bertwalt greeted him:
“Primo! Did you bring five gold solidi for each prisoner?”
“Not a chance! I don’t have that kind of money! I brought you two barrels of salt again!”
“You are joking me…”
Bertwalt was quite offended. He wanted to get rid of all these prisoners quickly, and anything he could get for them he would take, especially now that Grimwald was gone. But being offered the same price as yesterday was insulting to him, and he was considering turning Primo down and send him back empty handed. And perhaps, if he got enraged, even kill him right there on the spot and send his head back to his brother.
“Primo… I hope for your sake that you are joking and that you brought more…”
“Yes, I did bring five gold solidi, but that’s all that I have. Take the salt and take the gold solidi, and if you are wise about it, you let me come back tomorrow and I will make sure to borrow whatever I can from other merchants. But more I could not do in just one day.”
“Fine…” Bertwalt conceded.
Primo loaded up the next forty prisoners and as he was leaving, he turned around and asked Bertwalt:
“Bertwalt… why didn’t you kill him?”
“Kill who?”
“Kill Adalulf!” Primo replied. “He is alive. He has been recovering in the mountains and now is seeking revenge!”
“How do you know this!”
“I am a merchant. I talk to other merchants. Bertwalt, we are on the same boat the two of us. He wants revenge on me just as much as he wants it on you… we need to help each other out!”
Bertwalt was silent, watching Primo as he floated away on his boat.
“Bertwalt!” Primo shouted. “Let’s think about it! Let’s talk tomorrow! I tell you what I know, you tell me what you know. We are inevitably allied on this one!”
When Primo returned to Rivo Alto, he met again with Marcello and Claudio. The Cimbrian convoy was also there to be paid for the wood they brought down.
“So we have two additional ships loaded with salt and with slaves, right?” Primo asked.
“Everything is ready to go,” Marcello replied.
“So we send Claudio with one, and your father Justo with the other one…” Primo continued.
“My father is ready to go,” Marcello replied. “He cannot wait to venture to distant markets. It has always been his dream.”
“And that makes four ships. Do we have enough salt for the next four ships?” Primo asked.
“Not really… I managed to purchase more from Adria, but that’s enough to fill another ship and a half… We would have to wait another couple of weeks to load up another two ships… At least a couple of weeks, maybe more…”
“It’s too much time,” Primo determined. “We need to get going. We will leave for the Mediterranean with six ships. Tomorrow I go up to Patavium and get the last forty slaves and then we sail off to Istria… fast!”
“Tomorrow you go to Patavium again?” Boiorix asked. “Good! We too are on our way back tomorrow. We can take the trip together…”
“No, Boiorix,” Primo replied. “I suggest you take your raft and navigate through the lagoon to either the Athesis or the Piave River. It is not safe for you to navigate the Brint and go through Patavium.”
“Why?” Gaesorix jumped in.
“Because Bertwalt is aware that Adalulf is alive and in the mountains. He might want to interrogate you, or keep one of you hostage until you bring back Adalulf’s head. Just reach the mountains through another river and then walk back to Sleghe via mountain trails.”
“I say we take the Piave,” Lugius suggested. “Once we are up at higher altitude we can cut across the mountain trails easily.”
“No, let’s take the Athesis River,” Boiorix decided. “It’s closer to here and then, as we cut across, we can stop to see our cousins, the Cimbrians from Lissinia.”
“Either way, do not go up the Brint River…” Primo warned. “I am not entirely sure if tomorrow I should go back up to Patavium myself!”
The next morning Primo and his convoy arrived back at Patavium’s prison to retrieve the next forty slaves. Bertwalt was waiting there, but he was not saying anything. Also, there were more Longobard guards. Primo sensed that the situation was fraught with danger, and he whispered to his oarsman:
“Go get my mother-in-law Lucilla. Tell her to leave immediately and pack essentially nothing. Take her on the riverbank outside town. We will pick her up there on our way back…”
He then smiled at Bertwalt and greeted him jovially:
“Bertwalt! I brought you ten gold solidi this time! I had to borrow them, but I think it
is going to be worth it!”
Bertwalt kept silent as Primo tied up his boat.
“…and of course I also brought you the two additional barrels of salt!”
It was not working. Bertwalt was not warming up. Primo could sense that something was wrong. He realized it was a mistake telling him about Adalulf. Bertwalt snatched the pouch with the ten gold solidi from Primo’s hand and said:
“You know, given the news you gave me yesterday, gold and salt are less important to me, now that I have to worry about my life! I did not sleep very well last night… In fact, I did not sleep at all!”
Primo saw that Bertwalt was not well. After a restless night, he could behave erratically, now that he knew his life was at risk. Bertwalt had always followed orders. Now that he was without Grimwald he was unpredictable and scared.
Primo had to think quickly:
“Bertwalt! I came up with an idea! An idea that will guarantee our safety and Adalulf’s end!”
“Speak!”
“I wanted first to ask you, before acting on it, but what if tomorrow I bring you Adalulf’s son? He is ten years old and he is the only son Adalulf has left! He would rather turn himself in than have his child executed!”
Bertwalt was calming down. Primo had given him something to think about. He was planning to imprison Primo, in order to negotiate with Adalulf. Now Primo was offering to bring Aldo, and that would be even better. Wait another day, and take two hostages, Bertwalt thought, that would definitely placate Adalulf’s wrath.
“You can bring his son here tomorrow?”
“Absolutely, I see him every day! I don’t even need to kidnap him. I just tell him to come on a day trip with me!”
“Very well, Primo. Take down your forty prisoners and I will see you tomorrow with Adalulf’s son…”
“You bet! See you tomorrow!” Primo saluted Bertwalt.
Primo hopped onto his boat and led the convoy out of the canal and into the river. As soon as they turned, he spotted his man together with Lucilla waiting. As they boarded, Primo told Lucilla:
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