The Eagles' Brood cc-3

by Jack Whyte

  "I want a column of a thousand mounted men on the move to the north-east by noon tomorrow. More, if we can manage it. The commissariat will have to be instructed as soon as possible to prepare rations for ten days for at least that many men. We'll have to disperse them in a fan. I don't want the tracks of a thousand horsemen to be visible. I don't care how that's done, but it's essential. If I'm right, Lot's people will come in from the south and west. Ours will have a chance to get out to the north and east if they move quickly, but if they leave visible evidence of their passing, Lot will know they're out there.

  "In addition to that, I want to recall every man from every outpost on our borders. That will seem suspicious to Lot, I know, but we'll declare a festival of some kind. I don't care. I just want them back here, within walking distance of the safety of the walls. Remember, we're supposed to think the danger's over for a while. We can relax our vigilance."

  Another thought occurred to me. "How are our stores? Can we sustain a siege, Father?"

  "Yes, for at least a month."

  "Good. We won't need that long, with any good fortune. The stores and supplies down in the villa buildings should be loaded up during the next few days, ready to move up here to the fort at the first sign of trouble. Have I missed anything?"

  Uther spoke up. "What about our people? The colonists here in the fort? Shouldn't we warn them?"

  I considered that briefly and vetoed it with a terse shake of my head. "Can't afford to, Uther. It's too dangerous. They have to behave normally, for the benefit of the watchers. All we can do is bring as many of them in close as we can. Of course, if we declare a holiday, a celebration of our victories and your safe return, then that will get them here. That could be done tomorrow, too. We've never done anything like that before."

  "Not so suddenly, at any rate," said my father.

  "All the better, then." I had that good feeling that comes of recognition of a right idea. "So this is unprecedented. A spontaneous holiday. Let everyone believe the feasting will start tomorrow night and continue the following day. Father, you'll have to make your invitation sound genuine, and yet peremptory. Everyone is to attend. You'll have to inform the Council of what's afoot, too."

  "I'll have to do that, anyway."

  "Then do it early, as soon as possible, but send the word out first. We need our people safely here as soon as possible. If worst comes to worst, how many people can we hold in Camulod?"

  "More than we have. Far more. No problem there."

  "Good. Our colonists have been training for this for years. Now we can only hope the training has been adequate."

  Titus announced his arrival at that point with a soft cough from the open door, and Flavius came up behind him.

  "Come in, both of you," my father said, "and close the door at your back. Pull up that chair, Titus. Flavius, you'll find an extra one in the other room. We have an emergency situation on our hands."

  it was approaching midnight by the time we got out of there. Everyone knew what had to be done, and his part in the operation, and each of us was aware of the need for speed and unobtrusiveness. We were launched on a major campaign, and the very existence of our Colony depended ·on the speed and the efficiency with which we handled it.

  My own initial part was simple and straightforward. I had to alert Ludo and the commissariat to the urgency of the unexpected requirements we were placing on them. It was also my responsibility to make all the arrangements for the removal of extra stores and supplies to the fortress on the following day. This I could handle without raising any suspicions. Since I had already made arrangements to conduct my census, the people at all our depots were expecting me. No one would be surprised by my arrival.

  Over everything else in my mind, however, hung a shadow I had placed there with my own words earlier in the evening, when I declared that only those we could see or hear could be presumed to be still alive. Cassandra's safety haunted me. I knew that her refuge was well hidden and far removed from the beaten track. Lot's marauders would not be seeking signs of life on her hilltop. But the image of the faint track down through the valley to her hiding-place terrified me, and I knew I could have no peace of mind until I had assured myself that there were no visible signs of my entry or egress there. Although I knew I had always taken the greatest pains to leave no sign of my movements there, I determined to be there with her before daybreak, to check her safe concealment again.

  I left my father's quarters and went straight to the kitchens, where I found Ludo still active. As I entered, I met one of my own men emerging. It was his misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I sent him down to the villa with a message to Strato, our masseur, to have the fires banked and the steam room ready, and to be prepared to give me a complete working over within the next two hours. I also told him to have my horse saddled and waiting for me with the guards at the main gate.

  Ludo was surprised to see me at that hour. He had been supervising a general clean-up of his kitchens and was just on his way to bed when I arrived. The refectory was empty. I sat him down and told him what I required of him and his face wrinkled wryly as he realized that he was likely to be more busy than he had anticipated over the course of the next few days. I left him taking a renewed interest in his inventory, and went to visit Questus, our senior quartermaster, to tell him the story. He at least had managed to sleep for several hours prior to my disruption of his schedule, and he accepted the situation philosophically, recognizing the urgency involved and moving immediately to accommodate it.

  My next stop was at the quarters of Lucanus, our chief medical officer. Since the affair of Cassandra's disappearance, he and I had been on terms of mutually respectful civility, but we would never be friends, I thought, or more than formally cordial in our dealings with each other. He, too, had been asleep for hours, but his discipline had accustomed him to being called upon at any time, so he was alert and already thinking ahead as I brought him up to date. I could see him mentally taking stock of bandages, splints, medications and the like as I spoke. To him, as to each of the others, I was careful to emphasize the necessity of concealing all preparations from the eyes of the visiting envoys.

  It was the darkest part of the night by the time I left him, and I was twice "challenged by sentries as I made my way to the main gate, carrying a torch that was beginning to burn low. I had completely forgotten my promise to talk to Donuil the Hibernian. My horse was saddled and waiting for me as I had ordered, and I could see the speculation in the eyes of the guards as I approached.

  "Did the trooper I sent out get back yet?"

  "Yes, Commander. About an hour ago."

  "Good. He'll be asleep by now. Lucky man. And my masseur down at the villa will be cursing my sleeplessness, which is now his. How long till dawn?" ·

  They glanced at each other, and the one who had spoken before replied, "About two and a half hours, Commander."

  "Good. By that time I'll be bathed, oiled, rubbed down and wide awake, though my name will be unkindly mentioned by the people I'll be inspecting at such an ungodly hour. Take this, will you?" I handed him my guttering torch, and pulled myself up into the saddle. "One thing about being prepared for a nasty, unpopular job is that nobody else ever is. Good night to you!" I kicked my horse forward as they opened the great gates for me, and left them looking at: each other, no doubt in agreement that all officers were insane and Moody-minded tyrants.

  The moon had set, but die skies were clear, and as my eyes adjusted to the starlight I discovered that I could see more than adequately for the journey down the road to the villa, where lights were burning in the bath house.

  XIX

  In less than two hours, I was riding again in the direction of Cassandra and Avalon. I had steamed and bathed and dozed, and I had been oiled and perfumed and scraped and pummelled until my body tingled. I felt good, and my mind was attuned to the problems facing us, and to the steps we would take to solve them. I arrived on the hilltop before the first hint o
f dawn appeared in the sky, having left my horse tethered below, safely out of sight, and I sat on the summit and watched the eastern sky give birth to the new day, as I thought my own thoughts about the young woman who slept soundly in the valley below me.

  As soon as there was enough light to see by, I went to the entrance to the pathway and scoured the ground for signs of human passage. There were none. Nothing at all to indicate that anyone had passed this way in years. I had taken great care to avoid leaving any marks in the past, and the path, though clearly enough a path, was freshly overgrown with grass and undisturbed. I had to be content with that, since it would have been impossible to hide the pathway entirely. My examination complete, I tried to think of anything I had missed—anything that might in any way betray Cassandra's refuge to a casual passer-by, but I could think of nothing, although all at once, it seemed, there were more than a dozen good reasons in my mind for going down to her. I should check that she had enough food and fuel, for one thing. I should make sure that her hut was warm enough, now that the nights were growing colder, and I realized that I had not brought the clothes with me that I had scrounged from Aunt Luceiia. I cursed myself for my thoughtlessness, but was able to console myself that I would have good reason to return with them later. My mind turned to its real reason for wanting to see her, and I felt my belly tighten at the thought of climbing into her warm bed and feeling her taut young muscles clench against me. Tonight, I promised myself, and began to make my way back to my horse.

  At the very top of the rim of the hollow hill, however, I stopped dead in my tracks, my flesh crawling in horror as the aroma of wood-smoke gently drifted into my nostrils. Her fire! She must just have lit it or rekindled it from embers, piling new twigs and branches to feed it, and if I could smell it from here, so would anyone else who came within smelling distance. I turned on my heel and headed back the way I had come, wondering already how I was going to persuade her that she would have to live without fire for at least a week. I had to convince her of the danger of her fire without reawakening a fear of rape and mutilation in her mind.

  I had no doubt of the welcome with which she saw me entering her little valley. She climbed all over me, her warm mouth covering my face with kisses that I was happy to return. But eventually I took a firm grip on myself and pushed her gently away, holding her firmly by the wrists until she stood looking at me expectantly. When I was sure I had her attention, I pointed to the fire and made a show of sniffing the smoke. She frowned at me at first, and then her face cleared and she smiled, tugging at the fabric of her tunic, trying to hold it up to me with one hand and beckoning me to approach with the other. Wondering what in Hades was in her mind, I approached her and let her pull my unresisting head down to her tunic. It smelled of wood- smoke! She had understood me.

  Encouraged, I smiled and nodded at her and went back to the fire, where I traced the path of the smoke upwards with my open hands, pointing to where it was drifting into and over the trees. She followed with her eyes and nodded again to me, her smile now a little more uncertain. I kept my face solemn as I mimed the way the smoke drifted, and how I, or anyone else, smelled it in passing. My nostrils twitching like a rabbit, I feigned surprise, identification, then a search among the bushes, sniffing all the time, and then discovery of her fire.

  She understood, watching me closely. Convinced now that nothing I did would escape her, I crossed to the pile of wood beside the fire and selected small, dry sticks that would burn with a minimum of smoke. I carried these a little way from the fire and lit them with a branch from the existing fire. When they were burning brightly, I indicated that there was no smoke, or very little. Quickly then, I crossed to the nearest bush and tore off a green twig which I threw on the big fire. It began to smoke immediately, and I pulled it off and stamped it out. I then took my helmet off, filled it with water from the lake, and doused the large fire, leaving the small one burning clearly.

  When I looked at her again she nodded her head firmly to show she understood and then pointed to the shrivelled green bough I had stamped out. She waved her arms to indicate smoke and shook her head in a determined negative. No more smoke. I breathed a sigh of relief and gratitude for her obvious intelligence, but her next series of movements worried me again. She moved close to me and took the helmet from my hands, holding it upright, and then laid her hand flat against my bronze breastplate, after which she drew the sword from the scabbard by my side, bracing the helmet against the sheath for purchase. I made no move to stop her. She looked at the sword and then at me and then she gestured up at the hills around us, swinging the sword, and sniffed, looking around her for the source of the smell, which meant, You are wearing armour, dressed for war, and you mean that there are others up there, enemies, who might smell my fire, don't you?

  I nodded slowly and emphatically, and she returned my nod. Then she replaced the sword in its scabbard, returned to the lake to refill my helmet with water, and doused the remaining fire. She was perfectly calm and self-possessed, and I knew there would be no smoke coming from the valley until I returned. I reached out and grasped her gently by the upper arms and watched her great eyes watching my lips.

  "Woman," I told her, smiling, "beautiful, wondrous woman, you have me bewitched!" She watched my lips move, and cocked her head slightly to the side in that enchanting way of hers, before moving close to me and slipping her arms around me, armour and all. Time passed as we stood there hugging each other, I know not how long, and then I became aware again of where and who I was, and of what remained for me to do. She felt me tense as the awareness came to me, and leaned backwards in my arms, raising an inquiring eyebrow and a pointed finger towards the path.

  I kissed and released her, hating time and the way it sped. As I picked up my helmet, I pointed again to the fireplace, with a warning shake of my head which she repeated. She would not forget. One more hasty kiss, and I was on my way back to the outside world. My horse whickered in recognition as he came to meet me and I heaved myself up into the saddle with a great sigh of regret.

  As soon as I was mounted, I set him at a gallop on the road for the nearest stock farm, leaving him to pick his own way as I looked around me in every direction for signs of life. I was far from sociable as I clattered into Terrix's farm and summoned the senior officer. I tersely explained the situation, and the need to start his men moving out immediately, in small groups, to the north and east. He listened without comment as I emphasized the danger of leaving any recognizable trail or signs that a large number of men and horses had left the area. When I had finished speaking, I asked him if he had any questions.

  "Just one, Commander. Where are they going? I know how you want my men to go, but not where?" There was a nuance in the tone of his voice that I couldn't define, but it made me realize that I was being unfair to this man, who had done nothing to justify my shortness with him. In an effort to moderate my harshness, I summoned a smile.

  "Your pardon. My mind is taken up with so many details that I tend to lose sight of the major objectives. Years ago, before we drew in our borders, we had established a camp far to the north-east, towards Aquae Sulis. Do you remember it?"

  He nodded, smiling. "Aye, Commander Merlyn, I remember it well. I was second in command there, just before we abandoned."

  "Good. Then you know the place. That's our marshalling point. Have your men assemble there and wait with the contingents from the other farms for Commander Uther and myself to join you. We will be there before noon on the third day from now. You should be set to march when we arrive."

  "To march back here, you mean?"

  "Aye, or wherever. It depends on where the enemy appears. But there's one thing more. Have your people load up every extra piece of supply material you have. Have them do it today and move it all to Camulod as soon as they can. I want nothing left out here that Lot's people might be able to use."

  "What about livestock?"

  "To the fort. The stables might be crowded for a while, but that's
too bad. Now you had better get busy, my friend. I have five more farms to visit by mid-morning. And be sure to keep your men aware of the importance of this whole thing. We are dealing here with a treachery that threatens our very survival. See to it."

  "Don't worry about us, Commander Merlyn. We'll do our duty."

  "Good man."

  By noon, I was back in Camulod, my rounds completed, and for the next hour or two I checked on the progress of the arrangements I had made the night before. I was congratulating myself on how everything was going according to plan when I heard my name whispered urgently, and looked to my left to see young Donuil beckoning to me from the entrance to his quarters. I remembered only then that I had promised to speak with him the night before, and I felt a momentary twinge of guilt that was very quickly lost in my curiosity over why he was being so furtive. I moved towards him and he ducked back inside. I stopped at the threshold, leaning against the door frame.

  "Donuil? What's wrong, man? Are you in hiding? What have you done?"

  "Come inside, Caius Merlyn, and close the door. I have to talk with you!"

  I stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind me. His quarters were much like my own but smaller and darker, with a tiny window that let in a minimum of light. He was sitting on the edge of his bed in deep shadow and I had a sudden, uncomfortable feeling that something was far from right with him. I stood there and looked at him for a long time, waiting for him to speak, until I began to grow impatient.

  "What's going on, Donuil? Why all the secrecy? What is this?"

  "You should have come to me last night, Commander Merlyn. You promised that you would. I waited all night."