by Beth Webb
‘Feeding the ravens,’ she said with a smile. ‘I pray there’ll always be some living here on the White Hill of Lundein to protect our Land.’
Verulamium
Verulamium
After dark, Tegen and Owein slipped amongst the crowds of hangers-on at the back of the camp. They slept shivering under a cart, and at dawn, Owein slipped away.
‘Be careful, keep out of sight,’ he whispered, kissing her cheek.
As the sun rose, the army began its lumbering crawl northwest, led by thundering drums, shrill pipes and the clatter-blast of carnyxes.
Tegen worked her way towards the front and watched from a distance as Boudica mounted her chariot, her red hair flowing over her wing-like cloak. The crowds parted, allowing her to ride alongside the striding golem.
With shining eyes and a raised spear, the queen greeted her subjects.
They cheered and beat their swords on their shields.
Tegen worried at her sore finger. ‘Everything’s going her way,’ she said to herself. ‘The war, the magic, the adulation …’
Tegen looked around for Sabrina, but could not see her, so she slipped back amongst the crowds.
Sabrina was riding the other way, mounted on a fine chestnut stallion looted from a dead decurion. She searched for Tegen all morning, but Bel’s chariot was high before she spotted Epona’s white head nodding proudly between a waggon and a baggage mule.
Tegen was slumped in the saddle, her cloak pulled down over her face.
Sabrina wove her way between the clattering carts and screaming children, until she came alongside. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
Tegen started and rubbed her eyes. ‘Sorry, I think I was asleep. The last few days have been exhausting.’ She stroked her belly. ‘But we are both well. Did you send the secret detachment of warriors to cut Suetonius off?’
‘Venutius has chosen twenty of his best men and sent them in pairs “on scouting missions”. No one will suspect. I haven’t asked Daig or the Iceni chieftains. They think everything Boudica does is wonderful.’
‘And Addedomaros?’
‘I don’t trust him.’ Sabrina rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve sent fifteen of my own warriors – men and women I can really trust – and the Parisii have sent another dozen or so.’
‘Is that enough?’ Tegen’s voice was tense.
Sabrina slapped Tegen on the back. ‘Suetonius’s detachment isn’t large, and keeping the war band small gives our warriors the chance to catch up. Hopefully they’ll not be noticed on the road either. A few deadly spears well aimed between Roman shoulder blades will do more harm than this rabble ever could.’
Tegen nodded. ‘I feel as if we’re moving more slowly by the day.’
‘We are, and at this rate we don’t stand a chance.’ Sabrina lowered her voice. ‘I’ve a suspicion that mad spirits and wine have taken Boudica’s mind – she’s just getting worse.’
‘Has she mentioned me?’ Tegen asked.
Sabrina beckoned Tegen to lean closer. ‘Not even Boudica would dare kill a druid, but I’ve overheard her saying that she’s worried; apparently the golem doesn’t always obey her. Now Aodh is dead, I think she’d be secretly relieved if she knew you were still around – just in case it goes berserk.’
‘It might well,’ Tegen warned. ‘The demon isn’t on either side – it could just as easily swat our warriors as trample a legion. I’d like to stay out of sight for a while. Will your people bring me news of what the golem does?’
Sabrina nodded. ‘I will see to it.’
Tegen smiled wryly. ‘It’ll be a relief not to have to speak to that awful woman day after day. What do the other kings and chieftains think of me? Whom can I trust?’
Sabrina looked around carefully. ‘Rumours travel fast: they’ve heard what happened to the prisoners of Londinium – they’re afraid if they side with you, then the same will happen to their women and children. I’d say don’t trust anyone until Boudica gets over her stupid obsession with the golem. When it doesn’t do what she says, she’ll be screaming for you, then you can demand what ever you like in exchange for your services.’
‘It might not be quite that simple.’ Tegen worried at her finger as she watched children playing tag between the trundling carts. ‘But you’ll know where to find me.’
‘But not here,’ Sabrina spread her hands.
‘Why not? No one expects a battle druid riding with farmers and fishermen.’
‘But these are Trinovantes. They support Daig and Addedomaros. We must go to the Dobunni – our own people are honour-bound to give you refuge. That’s where Owein has hidden Claudia and Ula.’
Tegen’s eyes brightened. ‘They’re alive!’ she exclaimed. ‘I hadn’t dared think that Boudica would keep her word.’
‘She might change her mind if she finds them.’ Sabrina shrugged. ‘Boudica’s word doesn’t mean much these days. She thinks she’s invincible: she believes the golem is Gwyn ap Nudd incarnate and she has Death at her command. That’s why she’s not bothering to hurry after Suetonius.’
Sabrina put her hand on Tegen’s arm. ‘Follow me. We’ve got to get you properly hidden. Epona shines like the sun on a rainy day. I’ll make sure she’s made muddy and walks well apart from where you’ll be hiding.’
Sighing, Tegen stroked her swelling belly. ‘I could do with a rest.’
For the next hand span of the sun, they wound their way between the marching crowds until the cloak colours changed and people bowed as Sabrina passed.
‘We’re home, with my Dobunni,’ she smiled.
Dismounting, they handed their mounts and a few coins to a boy, then Sabrina lead Tegen towards a covered waggon. She pulled back the oiled linen flap. ‘Get inside. Keep your head down. Someone will bring your things, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.’
Tegen clambered in. The waggon roof was made of leather stretched over wooden supports, making a dark tent on wheels. It was hot, stuffy, and loaded with bundles. She could just make out two cloaked figures at the far end, one lying down with her head in the other’s lap. They were whispering quietly and didn’t even look up.
Tegen was glad to be left alone. She made herself comfortable in a corner and thought.
I must use the courage and strength Bran gave me, she told herself. While that thing is leading Boudica’s troops, we’re all marching to our deaths.
She tried to imagine the golem dead at her feet, but the picture was faint and unreal.
‘I’m too tired to think,’ she murmured as sleep claimed her. She dreamed of throwing fire at Suetonius Paulinus, and wrestling with the demon when it inhabited Enid on Cadair Idris. Then she saw herself making the golem from the blood and ashes of Camulodunum. She had made it with such great care. Had it really been loving care?
Then the waggon jolted and woke her.
Aodh was right, she realised. I do love the golem – for its magnificence and power. But I loathe it as well.
If you kill our child, you will never come into your glory or have your revenge, came a whisper in her head. Together we will be so powerful – we will rule the world.
Then Bran’s voice echoed in her memory, Take courage Star Dancer … Remember my head is buried here to protect Britain. For a short while, you are my hands and feet in the Land, but respite is coming.
Tegen breathed more slowly. Bran would protect her baby. He would show her how to destroy the evil she had also made.
‘All shall be well,’ she whispered; then she slept again.
But her dreams were of warriors trapped between Roman swords and fire. Mothers and children fleeing, their cloaks aflame. Then the image changed to Suetonius scowling under his thick brows, and he was searching – for her.
Just then, Owein climbed into the waggon with a clatter. He knelt beside her and wrapped a comforting arm around Tegen’s shoulder.
She opened her eyes.
‘You’re shivering,’ Owein whispered. ‘Are you ill or just cold?’
Tegen leaned against him, tears wetting her cheeks. ‘It’s only a dream.’
‘Do you want to talk about it? ‘
She shook her head. Until she knew what it had meant, she daren’t say anything. It had all felt so real. Too real.
The women at the far end of the waggon were sitting up and watching her intently.
The nearer one made a gesture – Tegen guessed it was a sign against evil. The figure that had been lying down wriggled forward. ‘Sextus?’ she asked, hoarsely. ‘Tegen?’
Owein knelt by her side. ‘I have bought you some food.’ He opened his satchel and handed out several packages.
Tegen stared. She’d forgotten about Claudia and Ula. ‘You’re safe! And we were hiding in the same cart. How long have you been here?’
Claudia crawled closer and touched Tegen’s fingers. ‘Since that night when your queen wanted to kill us. My betrothed is a good man and cares for us well. But why are you here?’
‘The same as you,’ Tegen replied. ‘Now Owein and I are out of favour with Boudica, we must hide too.’
Claudia sat next to Tegen. ‘So – you’re that famous battle druid everyone’s talking about! And I thought you were just some girl I talked to because I was bored.’
Tegen nodded. ‘Ula guessed.’
Ula remained on the far side of the waggon, scowling. ‘But I didn’t guess you were cruel.’
‘But I’m not …’
‘Why else would you give Boudica that killing-monster?’ Ula raged. ‘I’d rather die than have that thing running loose because of me!’
‘Ssh! Keep your voices down,’ Owein warned. ‘It wasn’t like that, Tegen thought she had outwitted the queen, but the creature chose its own mistress.’
‘Pah!’ Ula spat.
Tegen smothered a yawn as she took a piece of fish from Owein’s supplies. ‘Look, I’m sorry you aren’t happy about being alive. I’m very tired and hungry, can we discuss the rights and wrongs of saving your life another time?’
Ula turned her back, but Claudia stared with fascination as Tegen ate her food.
Out of sight, under her cloak, Tegen laid her hand over her growing child. ‘You have been four moons growing inside me now, little one,’ she whispered. ‘Bran said you’re a girl. I shall call you Gilda after my beloved friend.’
She let her fingers drift to Tonn’s stone egg, stroking its reassuring coolness. Bran had spoken to her. What he had commanded must be done.
The golem must die.
The sack of Verulamium was worse than Londinium and Camulodunum. It was cruel and bloody. The daylight hours were filled with clattering, honking carnyxes mixed with weeping and yelling.
As before, the townspeople had seen the monstrous army lumbering along the road and most had fled. In retaliation, Boudica ordered the looting and burning of every farm and village along the way, whether British or Roman.
Tegen felt too exhausted to move. She lay in the back of the waggon, writhing with stomach cramps and praying she wouldn’t start bleeding. She knew she’d lose the baby unless she rested.
What’s more important? she asked herself, The birth of my child who is the hope of Ériu, or miscarrying so I’ll be strong enough to protect the people of Verulamium?
Too ill to think, she slept.
The fighting ended at sundown. Tegen was still asleep. The prisoners were slaughtered.
The next day, they set off once more. Tegen still lay, unmoving.
On the other side of the bumpy waggon, Claudia moaned about her lot, while faithful Ula tried to calm her.
Neither girl spoke to Tegen. Ula hated her, and Claudia feared her.
Sabrina and Owein brought food and news. Boudica was losing her grip; the tribes were fighting each other. Worst of all, the hand picked warriors who had gone after Suetonius on Sabrina’s orders were found slaughtered, with British daggers in their backs.
‘The only thing Boudica truly cares about is the golem,’ Sabrina sighed. ‘It’s almost as if nothing and no one else matters. She doesn’t even sit with her daughters any more. She’s in a daze. She scarcely eats or sleeps. She no longer leads us. At this rate, the tribes will have destroyed each other by the next moon. ’
Sabrina ran her hands through her hair. Threads of silver wound through her dark curls. She turned to Owein. ‘I think we should pull the Catuvellauni and Dobunni away. I can’t fight on in good conscience. This isn’t war – it’s mass murder.’
Owein chewed the end of his beard. ‘If we did that, we’d be pursued and wiped out. She is merciless.’ He turned to Tegen. ‘Could you hold the golem back if she turned it against us?’
At that moment, Tegen felt a flutter in her belly. She laid her hand over the place. All she wanted was to go somewhere safe to have her child, as Bran had promised.
‘Tegen?’ Sabrina touched her shoulder, ‘What do you think? Can you control the Golem for a short while?’
Tegen groaned. ‘I don’t control anything any more. I need sleep. I’ll try and dream an answer.’ She lay down, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw burning waggons and fleeing people once more. She sensed it was a warning rather than the inevitable – but how to avert it?
Tegen tossed and turned for half the night. The stone egg in her pouch dug uncomfortably into her side. Pulling it out, there was just enough moonlight to make out the features of Bran the Blessed.
Peace would come. It was just a matter of how to make it happen.
As the days passed, a rage like a red mist was infecting the camp. There was no sense or reason. Squabbles were turning into fights and suspicion brewed dissent. Owein rode up and down the straggling phalanx, reading the mood of the people and trying to calm the warriors who knew him.
One evening, two men galloped along the road, their cloaks streaming behind them as they raced towards the tediously slow caravan of rebels. They reined their mounts at the sight of the golem. It was now as tall as a house with steam and smoke perpetually seething from the cracks in its skin.
They made the sign against evil and dismounted near the leading group of chariots.
‘Where is the queen?’ one demanded. ‘We have urgent news.’ They were quickly escorted to Boudica, who was reclining on a litter heaped with silk cushions and carried by slaves.
‘Take me aside, I will talk to these men,’ she commanded. Her bearers obeyed, leaving the golem and the huge army to march on, ponderous and relentless.
The travellers, grey with exhaustion, bowed their heads. ‘Our chieftain Ninian sends loyal greetings, lady.’ Then the eldest man raised his head and took a deep breath. ‘And he also sends a warning. The self-proclaimed Roman Governor, Suetonius Paulinus has set up an ambush for you. It’s two hard days’ ride north from here. The road passes over meadows and a stream, then climbs uphill to a narrow wooded valley where they’re hiding. It’s a little beyond where their road from Sul’s land joins this one. Spies say Suetonius has summoned reinforcements from the southwest; we’ll be trapped between them.
The queen raised a heavily be-ringed hand and made a lazy gesture. ‘How many are there?’
‘Ten thousand men, my lady. All well armed.’
Boudica smiled slowly. ‘And how many do you see with me?’ She spread her arms wide.
The men exchanged glances. They knew her army was said to be beyond counting. The second warrior bowed. ‘But they are a crack fighting unit, my lady. They are fresh and deadly.’
Boudica raised an eyebrow. ‘Do you mean my fine war band are lesser warriors than a handful of Romans?’ She spat over her shoulder.
The first messenger stared at the golem’s back as it strode ahead. He shuddered. ‘No my lady, that’s not what I meant.’
‘Good,’ she replied. ‘You will accompany us and point out where this puny little ambush is.’ Then she turned to her aide. ‘For now we will rest and make camp. Someone find me that awful druid girl. I know she’s still around. I have a feeling we might need her, much as it galls me to admit it.’<
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Sabrina, who had been riding close by, heard Boudica’s orders and slipped away through the crowds to the waggon where Tegen was hidden.
‘Boudica is calling for you,’ she whispered urgently. ‘She’s as angry as Andraste herself, you’d better come quickly.’ She explained about the ambush.
Tegen gritted her teeth. ‘Tell her I’ll come when I’m ready!’
Sabrina’s eyes widened, then after a few moments, a slow smile curved her lips. ‘What are you going to do?’
Tegen thought for a moment, then her eyes twinkled. ‘Sabrina, will you tell the queen that I will visit her soon. Tell her … tell her I am currently in a trance speaking with the Goddess. Would you ask someone to groom Epona and make her look as fine as possible? Owein, would you mind being my acolyte? Can you borrow lamps and incense burners, anything to make a big religious show the queen won’t forget? Get everything alight and piled with incense. Meet me in Boudica’s tent in one hand span of the sun.’
Sabrina exchanged a look of amazement with Owein. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I think …’ Tegen began, her face bright with mischief, ‘I’m getting the hang of being a battle druid, and it’s time Andraste took a leading role. Will you help?’
‘At once, your holiness!’ Owein laughed and swept a bow, then he and Sabrina climbed out of the waggon.
‘What’s going on?’ demanded Claudia petulantly. ‘I don’t like all of this travelling and war. I want to go home.’
‘So do I,’ Tegen replied as she clambered across the baggage. Sitting by Claudia and Ula, she took their hands. ‘I know you don’t feel safe with me – what with the golem and everything, but I’ve never willingly hurt or betrayed anyone. The time has come for me to stop Boudica’s madness. To make my plan work, I need to strike awe in everyone who sees me.’
She looked into each girl’s eyes. ‘And you are the people I need to make that work. Will you help?’
Andraste Speaks