The Eagles' Brood cc-3

by Jack Whyte

  It was mid-morning by the time I finally went back up the hill to the fort, where I changed into more formal clothes and began to make my way to the kitchens to eat before getting ready for the Council meeting. On the way there, I heard my name being called and I turned to see, Lucanus, the head of our medical staff, looking towards me and waving. I stopped to let him approach me, wondering what he could want. He was an able surgeon, our best in fact, but I chose to think he was not himself an amiable man. He asked me whether I had seen Uther.

  "No, Lucanus, I haven't. Not since last night. Is there a problem? Can I help you?"

  He frowned and nibbled at his lower lip. "Yes, Commander, there is a problem, but I don't know..."

  "You don't know if I can help. Well, neither of us will know the answer to that until you tell me what the problem is." He still looked unsure of himself.

  "Well? Come on, man, spit it out!"

  He grimaced. "It's the girl, Commander."

  I frowned at him, not knowing what he meant. "What girl, Lucanus? I'm not a mind reader."

  "The woman, sir. The one Commander Uther brought back yesterday."

  My mind clicked. "Cassandra. What about her?"

  "I have her in my quarters, Commander."

  "Do you, indeed?" I grinned at him. "You'll get little cooperation out of that one, Lucanus. Be careful of her teeth."

  The man had no sense of humour. He frowned, heavy; browed with displeasure. "She has been badly beaten, Commander. Brutally beaten, almost to death." My breath stopped as he went on. "Some soldiers found her this morning, in the stables against the west wall. They brought her to me. I thought that since Commander Uther is her protector, he should be told immediately, but I have been unable to find him. When I saw you, I thought you might be able to tell me where he is."

  I had a sick sourness in the pit of my gut, but the lie came to my lips of its own volition. "No, I can't tell you. He rode out of the fort last night on a private matter. I have no idea when he will be back. Bring me to the girl." I followed him back to his quarters, stopping only to tell one of the men heading towards the Council Hall that I might be detained and that the session should proceed without me and without Uther.

  Lucanus had not exaggerated. The girl lay naked on a cot, hidden from view by folding screens. She had been beaten without mercy with a club of some kind, and the contusions on her white skin would take weeks to heal. Most of the blood had been washed away, and several of the angrier-looking cuts had been stitched together. Her eyes were puffed and bruised completely shut and her startling mouth, which I was immediately sure had been the cause of this, was a shattered, bloody mass. "I'll find her later and teach her a lesson she won't soon forget!" I could hear Uther's voice and my skin crawled in loathing. How could he have done this to a skinny little girl? My mind could not accept it, but there was the evidence, lying naked and smashed in front of me.

  "Has she been violated?"

  "I think you could say that."

  I heard the sarcasm in his voice and rounded on him in a fury. "Sexually, I mean, you fool! Has she been raped?"

  His eyes were glacial. I had made an enemy. "Yes, Commander. She has been brutalized and sodomized. Both by extreme force. Her vagina and her anus are both badly torn."

  I felt the room swaying around me. "Will she live?"

  "I think so, if she wants to."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  He shrugged his shoulders and ducked his head in a curious manner, pursing his lips as he did so. "Just what I say. If she wishes to live, she will live. People can die by simply choosing not to live. This young woman has had a terrible experience. Is it true she is mute?"

  I looked down at her again. "We don't know. She hasn't spoken since we found her, but we found her beside the bodies of two people who might have been her parents.

  Commander Uther thought at first that she might be in some kind of trance brought about by witnessing their deaths."

  "How did they die?"

  "We don't know that, either. There were no signs of violence, and we saw no indications that they had been sick. They were just dead, and the girl knelt beside them."

  He made that peculiar gesture again. "I suppose that could be true. She might have been in what we call shock. The body's defensive systems are a wonder we know practically nothing of. How long has it been since she was found?"

  I did a quick calculation. "Six days."

  "Hmm! Well, even if she was not in shock then, she certainly is now."

  I was looking down at her body as it lay there on the couch in front of me. Her skin was white and her body small, but she was not as emaciated as I had suspected. Her thighs were rounded and full, and her breasts small, but firm and plump. I felt another stirring of desire and was filled with disgust at myself.

  "Are there any bones broken?"

  "No. No fractures. Only contusions, as you can see, both front and rear. And perhaps internal bleeding. Whoever did this is an animal."

  "Aye, there's no doubt of that. How can you tell about the internal bleeding? Do people bleed internally?" I had never really thought about that before. His raised eyebrow was an eloquent mockery.

  "Aye, Commander, that is what causes bruising. At times, however, a severe blow will rupture a major blood vessel and cause heavy bleeding into the body's cavities."

  "And what does that mean?"

  Again the shrugged shoulders and the peculiar gesture. "It means the person will probably die."

  I squeezed my temples with my left hand, feeling as though my head might burst apart. "What time did this happen, do you know?"

  "Sometime in the night. We do not know when. But the blood was congealed when they found her."

  "What about the guards?" I was speaking to myself, more than to him. "Didn't anyone hear anything? Surely to God she must have screamed?"

  . "Not if she's truly mute, Commander."

  I heaved a sigh that was part sob and jerked my eyes away from the girl's ruined body, fighting to bring my anger and revulsion under restraint and keeping my back to Lucanus until I could control the muscles of my face. Finally, I calmed down enough to hide the roiling sickness in my soul and to speak evenly.

  "Thank you, Lucanus. You have done well. Where are the men who found her?"

  "I sent them back to their duties."

  "Hmm! So word of this will be all over the fort by now. Whoever is responsible for this will know she is still alive. I want guards posted outside every door to this place. I'll see to it myself. As soon as you know whether she will live or not, I wish to be informed. In the meantime, you will stay here with her. Don't leave her alone for a moment. That's an order." He nodded his head and I made myself go on, "If Commander Uther should return today I'll send him over. Do what you can for her, Lucanus. She did nothing to deserve this." Not if she'd bitten it off, I added to myself.

  He stopped me at the door. "Commander?"

  "Yes? What is it?"

  "How do you know her name?"

  I frowned at him and then realized what he meant. "We don't," I told him. "It's our name, not hers. She seemed tragic enough, even then, to be Cassandra of Troy. Uther named her."

  "I see."

  I grimaced, deciding in mid gesture that I had no smiles in me. "No, Lucanus, you don't see." Because you did not see what I saw, my mind added.

  Outside again, in the bright sunlight, the image of that bruised body still tore at my eyes. I started to walk towards the Council Hall, but when I saw my fellow councillors thronging in that direction and thought of the dry, bloodless, boring trivia on that day's agenda I knew I couldn't cope with it in my present frame of mind. I turned aside and walked off, fighting to keep my face blank and my mind empty, and nodding to the people who greeted me at every step. I ended up beneath the scaffolding against the inner wall, where the masons were at work adding new quarters abutting the main defences of the fort. I sat there in the shadows undisturbed for a long time, thinking this whole mess through.r />
  Had I been the only one who knew the circumstances of this affair, I would have sat on my knowledge until I could face Uther with it privately, but I was not the only one who knew. Our four consorts of the previous night had witnessed the whole thing and would lose no time in airing their knowledge. Struck by a sudden thought, I stood up quickly and made my way back to the games room. It was not yet noon.

  As I approached the door, it opened and two of the girls came out. I stopped them with a stiff, insincere smile on my face, and open arms, and asked where they were going. To eat, they told me. They had not yet broken fast? No, they had just arisen. And where were the other girls? Still abed. In my relief, I almost betrayed myself, but managed to guard my features like a hardened liar. I turned them both around, led them back inside, told them to take their clothes off again and promised to bring food, wine, a masseur and Uther back with me shortly. They were surprised, but complacent. I fondled the one with the long tongue—I never could remember her name, but I never forgot her—and asked her if she had tasted the other two as she had the one with whom she had shared Uther. She had not, she said, but was willing to, if they were.

  My two erstwhile companions looked at each other uncertainly, wondering what I was up to, but I clinched it by offering a golden aureus to the one who seemed to enjoy it most when I returned with Uther. Even in a society where money is not used, gold is a powerful persuader. I left them settling down to experiment and made my way directly to Titus's quarters.

  He was working on his records and looked up at me in surprise as I entered. "Shouldn't you be in Council?"

  "I should, but something came up. Is anyone else around? I need to speak with you alone."

  "Right now?"

  "Immediately."

  "Speak then. There's nobody here. What's going on?"

  "I'll tell you everything later, Titus. For the moment, I can only ask you if you trust me enough to do something for me at once, without explanation."

  "That's a silly question, Cay. What's up? What do you need?"

  "A squad of men you can trust completely. I want you to come with me to the games room and help me abduct four women."

  "Only four?" He was smiling.

  "I'm serious, Titus. I'll tell you what it's all about later. Have you seen Uther today?"

  "No. Why?"

  "Never mind, it's not important now. Will you do what I ask?"

  He looked at me appraisingly for three long counts and then rose to his feet. "It'll take me a little while to round up some men I can rely on. I presume you want men who can keep silent?"

  "Yes, I do, above all else. I've got some things to round up myself. I'll meet you in the courtyard in a few moments."

  When I opened the door and stepped inside with Titus in tow, the looks on the four girls' faces ranged all the way from lively interest to disappointment.

  "Where's Uther? And where's our food?" the long- tongued one asked.

  "The food is coming, girls. Uther's left the fort on emergency business. Now, sit up, all of you, and listen carefully to what I have to say. This is important." They sat up and stared at me, beginning to wonder what was going on. I perched with one buttock on the edge of the table and looked at them, considering what I was going to say, how I was going to phrase it. These young women were creatures of pleasure. I reached into my tunic and brought out a leather bag, heavy and rich-looking, and dropped it onto the table top with a solid, metallic thud.

  "Gold," I said. "Uther and I have a proposition for you ladies." I opened the drawstring of the bag and poured a stream of gold coins onto the table. "There are eighty gold; aurei here—twenty for each of you. That's enough money to see all of you set for life. At current value, you are looking at about forty thousand silver denarii." All four pairs of eyes were fastened on the pile of gleaming coins. I produced another bag and poured a second stream. "Twenty more for each of you. But there are conditions. You have to earn it." All four of them together could not have earned twenty aurei if they had serviced an entire legion on their backs for five years.

  The Tongue licked her lips. "What.. .conditions?"

  "You leave Camulod now, immediately, saying goodbye to no one. I'll provide an escort for you as far as Glevum." That was more than sixty miles. "Once in Glevum, you will buy a house, set it up for...your own purposes, shall we say?...and keep it warm and welcoming for Commander Uther and myself and the Legate Titus, here. As you know, we returned yesterday from a long patrol. We found no entertainment in Glevum. For a while there, in fact, we were beginning to look attractive to each other."

  None of them smiled at my attempt at humour. One of them, one of the two who had been mine, asked in a husky voice, "When do we get the money?"

  "Now. It's yours as soon as you agree to the terms."

  "Why would we have to leave right now? What's going on here?" This one's voice was sullen with suspicion.

  "Going on?" My mind was racing. "That's an easy question to answer. I'll tell you what's going on, if you really want to know."

  "Well? We really want to know."

  I cleared my throat and charged ahead with the lie that had come to me. "Uther and I decided to do this when we were in Glevum. To set up a house there, I mean. This morning, at breakfast, we decided that if we are to do it at all, we have to do it quickly, today, in fact. General Picus, my father, is due back today. He would forbid it, totally. He spends much time now with the Christian priests and talks of the pleasures of the afterlife. He disapproves of our casual ways with women, and he would have apoplexy if he thought we were dispatching soldiers on such escort duty. If you leave now, immediately, you will be gone by the time he arrives and he will never know. But you must leave now, and you must go secretly, for if anyone suspects what we are doing, and the word gets back to General Picus, he'll have us court-martialled and our lives won't be worth living. Neither will yours."

  The sullen one was still not convinced.

  "Of course," I went on, bluffing with all my power, "if you don't like the idea, you can all stay here and there's no harm done. I'll return the money to the treasury and we'll forget the whole thing." I picked up a handful of coins and let some of them slip through my fingers back to the table top. That did it.

  "How do we get there?" one of them asked. "I can't ride."

  "Don't be silly, girl. We'll send you in comfort, in a wagon with seats and an awning. You'll go in haste, but in style, too."

  "What about your soldier boys," asked the Tongue. "Aren't you afraid they'll blab?"

  "No," I smiled. "Not until they get back. After that, when they know they stand to lose their visiting privileges: in Glevum and be in trouble with the General, I don't think they'll say too much. And I'm sure they'll have a pleasant journey, at least one way."

  It was her turn to smile.

  They were aboard the wagon within half an hour, their money in their hands, with enough rations to feed an army. Titus had instructed his men on their duties as escort, and together we watched the party proceeding through the gates and down the hill road. Uther's games room was empty. Every skin and fur and cushion had gone aboard the wagon.

  When they were safely out of sight, Titus turned to me with a slight smile. "Aren't you amazed at my patience? What is going on, Cay? You just gave away an emperor's ransom. What's it all about?"

  "Rumours and reputations, Titus, that's what it's all about. Let's take a walk where we can't be overheard and I'll tell you the whole sorry tale."

  He was gazing closely at me now, his mind working quickly. "Where's Uther, Cay? There's something here I can't grasp."

  "Huh," I grunted. "There's something here that will stink in the nostrils of God, my friend."

  We walked down the hill and I talked for half an hour, telling him everything I knew. He was as shocked and profoundly disturbed as I had been. When I had finished talking he stopped and caught my elbow, turning me so that he looked me in the eye.

  "You don't really think it was Uther, do yo
u?"

  I turned away and started walking again, letting my words drift back over my shoulder. "What else can I think, Titus? I've told you what I saw and heard. It all adds up to Uther, and Uther is nowhere to be found. Am I wrong?"

  He caught up to me. "You must be, Cay. You have to be. Uther couldn't be capable of the bestial savagery you're talking about."

  "I know, Titus. That's what I would have said, until ,today. But you have to admit he is capable of savagery. You've seen him enraged; we both have. He can be a killer."

  "Of course he can, in battle. We're all killers then." He shook his head. "No, I can't see it. He might have beaten her after she bit him, while he was so angry, but not like this! Not in cold blood." His face cleared suddenly, and hope gleamed in his eyes. "But you said she was raped, front and rear. He couldn't have done that, with a bitten cock."

  I shook my head then, too. "I don't know, Titus. I don't know. That had occurred to me as well, but I really don't know how badly she bit him. I thought at the time he had been more shocked than hurt, but I don't know with certainty. He might still have been capable of that. And there's another thing that crossed my mind, too, although I think I'm leaping at shadows."

  "What?"

  "She had been beaten with a stick of some kind. No one could find it, apparently." I had to stop and think again about what I was suggesting, before I went on. "It occurred to me that he might have used whatever he beat her with to penetrate her, too, so it would appear she had been raped when we knew him to be incapable of rape because of his injury."

  "Sweet Christ, Cay! You're making him into a ravening beast!"