by M. K. Hume
Copyright © 2015 M. K. Hume
The right of M. K. Hume to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published as an Ebook in 2015
by HEADLINE REVIEW
An imprint of HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
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All characters in this publication – apart from the obvious historical figures – are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Author
Also by M. K. Hume
About the Book
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Dramatis Personae
Chart One – Major Roman Settlements in Britain
Chart Two – Barbarian Attacks on Roman Britain
Prologue: A Noble Roman
Chart Three – Maximus’s Journey into the South
Chapter I Strange Bedfellows
Chapter II The Boar and The Eagle
Chart Four – The Boar Hunt and the Journey to the Red Wells
Chapter III The Wise Woman of the Red Wells
Chapter IV A Strange Bargain
Chapter V The Eagle in the Sun
Chapter VI A Nasty Journey
Chart Five – The Outlaw Ambush at Vindo Cladia
Chapter VII Ambush
Chapter VIII Death in the Morning
Chapter IX Venta Belgarum
Chapter X A Feast of Vultures
Chapter XI A Cuckoo Come to Nest
Chart Six – The Way to Anderida
Chart Seven – The Battle of Anderida
Chapter XII A Saxon Summer
Chapter XIII The Return of the Roman
Chapter XIV An Odd Request
Chart Eight – The Coastal Route from Tintagel to Deva
Chapter XV A Journey Into Time
Chapter XVI Of Armoured Boots and Fair Women
Chapter XVII Fortune’s Favourite
Chapter XVIII A Long Time for Weeping
Chart Nine – Maximus’s Campaign in Gaul and Italia
Chapter XIX The Emperor of the West
Chart Ten – Barbarian Incursions into North-West Britannia
Chart Eleven – The Battle for Mamucium
Chapter XX The Roll of the Dice
Chart Twelve – The Battle of the Save
Chapter XXI The Scorpion in the Nest
The Family Tree of Flavius Magnus Maximus
Postscript
Author’s Notes
Glossary of Place Names
Glossary of British Tribal Names
About the Author
M. K. Hume is a retired academic, who is married with two grown-up sons and lives in Queensland, Australia. Having completed an MA and PhD in Arthurian Literature many years ago, M. K. Hume has now written a series of magnificent novels about the legend of King Arthur. For more information visit: www.mkhume.com.
By M. K. Hume and available from Headline Review
King Arthur Trilogy
Dragon’s Child
Warrior of the West
The Bloody Cup
Prophecy Trilogy
Clash of Kings
Death of an Empire
Web of Deceit
Twilight of the Celts Trilogy
The Last Dragon
The Storm Lord
The Ice King
Stormbringer’s Voyage (e-novella)
The Last Dragon’s Voyage (e-short story)
Tintagel Trilogy
The Blood of Kings
About the Book
The start of a stunning new trilogy charting the life of the first High King of the Britons, sure to appeal to fans of George R. R. Martin, Bernard Cornwell and Simon Scarrow.
Flavius Magnus Maximus, a man of great ability and enormous charm, is hailed as one of the most influential Roman officers in Britain. When he befriends Caradoc Strong Arm, the King of the Dumnonii tribe in Tintagel, he gains an understanding of the disunity that exists between the tribal kings of Britain and thus an ambitious plan ignites within Maximus’s mind . . .
As the first High King of the Britons, Maximus gathers together a huge force of brave Roman and British warriors and leads them into battle at Gaul. He has cast his eyes on the throne of the Emperor of Rome and nothing will stand in his way . . .
This book is dedicated to my friend, Pauline Reckentin, with my love.
Years ago, when I belonged to her writing group, Pauline swore that I would go off like a rocket when I eventually forced myself to write a novel. I may not have imitated a space-ship or exploded like a fire-cracker, but Pauline always believed in my ability, even when I expressed my personal doubts, which was often! For her faith and her trust in me and her unconditional love which overlooks my manifold flaws, this book is dedicated to her.
M. K. Hume
June 2015
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all the people who bring my books to life. You never get enough of the credit, but you are responsible for ensuring that my frail offering actually sees the light of day. I am always impressed by the improvements to the manuscript once the editorial staff begin to work their magic. Thank you, people.
My editor, Clare Foss, and my agent, Dorie Simmonds, have always given me great support and I thank them both for their patience and forbearance. I offer them a special vote of thanks for this manuscript because a major computer disaster added a bit of drama to the production of the novel. I was beginning to think the fates were conspiring against me.
One of the truly nice things about completing a new novel is seeing what the cover is like. My guesses are always so far off the mark that I’ve decided to just sit back and watch with amazement. My best wishes go to those involved in its creation.
My thanks also go to my friends and family who make my life so much easier. Thanks go to my sons, Brendan and Damian, for their assistance. Lots of love to both of you.
M. K. Hume
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Adwen ap Rhys King of the Dobunni Tribe.
Ael One of three young brothers in Aquae Sulis who insult Princess Endellion.
Aelheran ap Einion King of the Silures Tribe. Father of Ardunn. Father-in-law of Prince Cadal of the Dumnonii Tribe. Married to Queen Aoifi.
Aeneas The Greco-Roman hero who founded Rome.
Aeron ap Iorweth A prince of the Silures tribe. He is the son of Iorweth, Lord of Caerleon. He is also the nephew of King Aelheran of the Silur
es Tribe. He becomes the suitor of Princess Endellion.
Ambrose Bishop of Mediolanum (Milan), Italy.
Aoifi Queen of the Silures tribe. Wife of King Aelheran.
Ardunn The new young wife of Prince Cadal, elder son and heir of King Caradoc. She was the granddaughter of the king of the Silures tribe.
Bauto A general in the service of Theodosius, Emperor of the East.
Bleise ap Bladud King of the Belgae tribe.
Boudica Queen of the Iceni tribe who led a revolt against the Roman occupiers of Britannia.
Cadal (Prince) Eldest son of King Caradoc. Married to Ardunn of the Silures tribe.
Cadoc (Prince) Second son of King Caradoc. Married to Guenor of the Atrebates tribe.
Caradoc ap Ynyr King of the Dumnonii tribe.
Caradoc Major Grandfather of Caradoc Minor, King of the Dumnonii tribe.
Cessus Roman scout killed at the Outlaw Ambush at Vindo Cladia.
Chronos One of the ancient Greek gods. Better known as Father Time.
Conanus See Kynan ap Meriadoc.
Decius A decurion. Aide and personal servant to Flavius Magnus Maximus.
Drustan ap Drust The son of the Lord of Portus Adurni. An aide to Fiachna ap Tormud, King of the Durotriges tribe in Venta Belgarum.
Elen The beautiful daughter of King Meriadoc of the Ordovice tribe.
ElphinAn outlaw leader in southern Britannia.
Endellion The daughter of King Caradoc and Lady Saraid, the Wise Woman of the Red Wells.
Ercol Dumnonii scout killed at the Outlaw Ambush at Vindo Cladia.
Felix Felix Marcus Gallus. Roman Magistrate of Aquae Sulis.
Fiachna ap Tormud King of the Durotriges tribe.
Fortuna The Roman goddess of fortune.
Gethin ap Gwaun, Prince Gethin The son of Gwaun ap Mairtin, King of the Atrebates tribe.
Glanmore ap Niall Courier in the service of Emperor Magnus Maximus.
Guenor The young wife of Prince Cadoc, younger son of King Caradoc. She was the daughter of King Gwaun pen Mairtin of the Atrebates tribe.
Gwaun ap Mairtin King of the Atrebates tribe.
Hibernians The native tribesmen of Ireland.
Horatius A Roman centurion who successfully defended the bridge over the Tiber River during a period when Rome was under attack from Lars, the King of the Clusiums, in the sixth century BC.
Huw One of Caradoc’s woodsmen who is wounded by a wild boar.
Iorweth The brother of King Aelheran of the Silures tribe. He is the husband of Eavan and the father of Prince Aeron. He is also related to Llew, King of the Dobunni, by marriage.
Kynan ap Meriadoc Son and heir of King Meriadoc of the Ordovice tribe. (Also called Conanus by Maximus.)
Livia Daughter of Felix Marcus Gallus, Magistrate of Aquae Sulis.
Livinia Wife of Felix Marcus Gallus, Magistrate of Aquae Sulis.
Llew ap Adwen King of the Dobunni tribe. The son of King Adwen ap Rhys.
Llian Queen Llian. Wife of King Llew ap Adwen of the Dobunni tribe.
Lorn A warrior in Maximus’s personal guard.
Macsen Wledig The Celtic name for Flavius Magnus Maximus.
Marcus Licinus Marcus Gallenus Licinus. The magistrate in Aquae Sulis.
Marcellus Scribe and personal assistant of Marcus Licinus in Aquae Sulis.
Marcellinus Maximus’s brother. A commander in Maximus’s army.
Marcomer A leader of the Franks during the late fourth century. He fought against the forces of Magnus Maximus.
Maximus Flavius Magnus Maximus. A Roman tribune who is second in command to Theodosius, the Roman governor of Britain. He eventually becomes the governor of Britannia and, ultimately, becomes the Emperor of the Western Empire in Rome.
Meriadoc ap Nyall King of the Ordovice.
Mithras The Roman god of Soldiers.
Picts The native population of Northern Britannia.
The Red Dragon King Arthur.
Rowen ap Aidan An aide to King Caradoc of Tintagel.
Saraid The Wise Woman of the Red Wells. A white witch and a notable healer.
Sion Cripplefoot Steward in the court of King Meriadoc of the Ordovice tribe.
Sorcha ap Sion King of the Regni tribe.
Tegan Eurfron Queen of the Dumnonii tribe, and wife of King Carodoc. She is the mother of Prince Cadal and Prince Cadoc.
Theodora Roman wife of Magnus Maximus. Lives in Augusta Treverorum, Germany.
Theodosius A Roman governor of Britannia in the fourth century. He was a kinsman of Flavius Magnus Maximus.
Trefor A hunt-master in the service of King Caradoc.
Varrus A courier sent to Caradoc by Maximus during the campaign in Italia.
PROLOGUE
A Noble Roman
The reason why we have two ears and only one mouthis that we may listen the more and talk the less.
Zeno of Citium, Lives of the Philosophers
A fitful winter light fell on burnished iron helms, breastplates, coats of ring-mail and gleaming swords and spearpoints. Without warning, the Roman cataphractarii swept out from the margins of a dark and dripping forest and struck the line of Hibernian warriors with the force of a giant hammer. The superbly trained horses used their sharpened hooves to pound the enemy into the mud until the world was filled with wild Hibernian screams, crushed flesh, wild-eyed steeds and straining men who hacked and thrust at each other in scenes reminiscent of the Christian Hades.
Magnus Maximus grinned with a flash of teeth that was more of a grimace than a smile. This was war and it was all he knew. Yet it accorded him no pleasure and bugger-all satisfaction, in the crude description of his manservant, Decius, a hard-bitten decurion.
‘For Rome!’ Maximus thundered, and heard his call answered, raggedly at first, but then repeated from three hundred disciplined throats. ‘For Rome!’
Rome was a city that most of them had never seen; nor would they choose to, even if the chance was offered. But the name still conjured up the familiarity of centuries of rule, of unimaginable power and of deep-rooted corruption under the white marble.
‘For Rome!’ Maximus bellowed again and slashed down at a leering Hibernian face.
The general kneed his horse to the top of a small rise from where he could survey the battlefield and make a cold and calculated assessment of the conflict’s progress. His horse took the climb in its stride, for this particular bay gelding was a superb specimen of horseflesh, one that had been raised on the sweeping plains of Maximus’s homeland in the province of Gallaecia in Hispania. Maximus had been born in the wide, spreading estates of Count Theodosius the Elder, his kinsman and the patriarch of their family. As a notable soldier and an aristocrat, the commander scorned to use the hardy hill ponies of the Britons, for the indignity of his feet dangling only inches from the ground offended his sense of self-importance.
In truth, Maximus cared more for the welfare of his horse than he did for most of his men. To his experienced eye, the Eagles were not what they once were, although the Roman cavalry could still be classed among the cream of Britannia’s military might.
The Britons are the only tribes in these lands who use horses, Maximus thought sardonically. Yet the other barbarians shun the use of beasts in battle, and reject anything that takes attention away from their own personal heroism.
In the chaotic scene below him he immediately recognised the core of order and planning that lay beneath the messy detritus of violent death. The cavalry had done well, even the Britons who were all hair and talk. He was satisfied, for he could rid himself of the irritating Hibernians, at least for a time. His kinsman and commander Theodosius would be pleased. Maximus turned in the saddle and pointed his sword towards the dimness of the forest.
The tribune’s gestures became sweeping and decisive, as his sword tip was now pointed directly at the melee below the elevated knoll where his horse was standing so alertly.
‘For Rome!’ he howled, until the wind plucked at his voice and carried it into the tree line.
In answer to his call, a cohort of Roman infantry marched out of the woods in crisp and menacing formations. They moved purposefully towards the enemy with their shields overlapping to provide protection to their comrades, while their short stabbing spears bristled outwards like the spines of primeval beasts.
Maximus allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. Even after fifteen years of war, the tribune could still feel a visceral thrill as his legionnaires bore down on their enemy at an unhurried pace as inexorable as the death that would claim so many souls.
The same breeze that fluttered the standard of the boar and made the eagles appear to dance at the top of their tall poles lifted Maximus’s scarf, scarlet for practicality, that he had knotted around his throat to protect his skin from the cold and abrasive iron of his cuirass. This particular Roman was large for his race; men from Hispania tended to grow tall and lean. His profile was sharp and aquiline, while his features were as elegant as a beautifully smithed knife blade, and as masculine as the frozen face of the god, Mithras, who silently overlooked his altar. His hair was so dark that it shone like the breast of a raven. Despite having been shaved by Decius at noon, a blue shadow was already beginning to cover his cheeks and chin. A pair of heavy black brows formed a ridge above a pair of sharp brown eyes. A single clean scar had caught the edge of his mouth on the right side to give every smile a sardonic twist. It added gravitas to one who was very young to have attained his high rank during a short career, although his peers realised how resentful he was of the slow pace of his climb through the ranks.
The Roman troops had reached the edge of the knoll when Maximus gave an order that instructed the cataphractarii to vacate the field. His eyes passed regretfully over the fifty or so wounded men, but perhaps the strongest of them would survive the ministrations of the field surgeons. With a shrug, Magnus consigned the Roman wounded to the mercies of their own particular gods, for the subtle deities Fortuna and Mithras between them ruled the battlefield.