‘I’m good with women, you see. I’ve got a way with them.’ He paced around the small clearing, and Felicia could feel his eyes raking the vegetation, looking for her place of concealment. ‘Want to hear something funny? The same night I was jailed for killing a man in the Noisy Valley alehouse, another soldier from my tent party was brought in for the rape and murder of an old woman. “Disgusting”, they called him, and “animal”. They knew he’d done it, because his amulet was found by the body. They reckoned she must have torn it off his wrist while he was raping her. The other soldiers would have done for him there and then, but he was locked up separately and the only people that got to have a go at him were the duty centurions, when they were in the mood. I used to watch him in his cell, his face a picture of desperation, pleading that he hadn’t done it, but nobody was having any of it, not for a moment. The only person that believed he was innocent was me, because I knew he hadn’t been near her. Have you guessed how I knew that, little missy? I’ll bet you have…’
He stopped talking for a moment, allowing the suspense to build until it was all Felicia could do not to scream the answer to his question at him.
‘That’s right! I knew he was innocent because it was me that killed her! What a night that was! I jumped my watch officer and gave him a good kicking, then I followed the old girl back to her hovel and saw to her as well. I’d slipped into another tent party’s barrack and lifted his good-luck charm from his kit before I went out, you see, so I snapped the cord and left it by her body, and that was all it took to see him in prison. It almost made up for getting pissed and killing that idiot from the Fourth Century when he tried to take his knife to me. And when I find you, little missy, I’m going to do all the things to you that I did to her…’
He darted into the vegetation on the other side of the clearing with a rustle of leaves, thinking that he had her hiding place located. In the moment of his distraction Felicia was on her feet and running almost before the decision to do so was fully formed. She would stay low, run to one side of the returning praetorians as quickly and quietly as she could, and hope to get far enough away that she could hide again. Shouts in the forest behind her told her that she had failed in her hopes of escaping unnoticed, and she abandoned any pretence of stealth and ran as fast as she could, knowing that she could never expect to outrun the soldiers. So intent on escaping from the pursuing praetorians that she failed to see the soldier waiting in her path until she was only a few paces from him, the startled woman tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground at his feet. Smiling at the look on her face, he thrust his spear’s butt spike into the earth and held out a hand towards her as she shrank away from him, holding the knife out in hopeless defiance.
‘Hello, my lovely! We’ve been looking for you!’ He shouted back over his shoulder. ‘I’ve found her!’
The first of the pursuing praetorians came into sight, and drew his sword on seeing the legionary, walking slowly forward with a cruel gleam in his eye.
‘Whoever you are, you can fuck off. This one’s ours…’
He frowned in recognition as he stalked forwards, then snorted with laughter as he realised that he knew the other man.
‘Fuck me, things must be getting desperate if they’ve put the Third Century back into the field. Run away from any good fights recently, have you, old son? Now fuck off double quick, there’s a good boy, and I’ll spare you the indignity of being put on your back. Leave that to little missy here…’
He grinned broadly at the legionary, who, to his surprise, shook his head grimly and pulled his spear loose from the forest’s hard-packed earth, raising the blade to point at his face.
‘Not this time, Maximus. You’ve missed a few important things since you ran away with your new boyfriends. Habitus!’
While the guardsman was still taking in his former comrade’s unexpected show of bravado another legionary came crashing through the undergrowth, his spear held ready to throw.
‘Fuck me, there’s another one. Is that you, Decimus? Don’t say you’ve grown a set of balls as well…’
Both legionaries pointed their spears at his chest, stepping forward either side of Felicia and facing off against the baffled Maximus.
‘You can run for it now, mate, or you can stay and find out what Roman iron feels like when it’s deep in your guts.’
Watch officer Titus broke through the wall of greenery and stopped, recognising his former tormentor in an instant, his face hardening.
‘Well now, the big wheel turns in its own good time. Look what the gods have rewarded me with. I’ll have this bastard’s balls off and poke them up his backside before he’s stopped breathing! Century, to me! Habitus!’
Maximus took one look at his one-time superior’s face and turned, running for the shelter of the forest. Titus shook his head in disgust.
‘He always was too quick on his feet.’ He offered the bemused Felicia his hand, helping her to her feet. ‘And you, madam, have a friend looking for you.’
A scream of agony sounded from the trees into which the two praetorians had made their retreat, the sound cut off after only a second as whoever had struck the first blow finished the job. The soldiers stepped forward with their spears raised, only to shuffle backwards as a ragged figure in tunic, leggings and infantry boots stepped out before them, his clothes and swords dark with the blood of whichever of the praetorians he had killed moments before.
‘Marcus!’
Felicia ran across the clearing and fell upon the bloodied figure in sudden tears. After a long moment, during which the number of soldiers gathered around them had swollen to nearly twenty, he prised her loose and looked into her tearfilled eyes with concern.
‘Are you…?’
She nodded tearfully, wiping at her wet face with a sleeve, ignoring the knife she still held in the other hand.
‘All right? Yes, my love… we both are.’
A frown creased Marcus’s face.
‘You both are…?’
‘Cocidius help me! For the son of an intelligent man you’re really quite stupid when it comes to anything but butchering everyone that gets in your way.’ The frown became a gape of amazement as the young centurion realised that Dubnus was lurking behind the gawping soldiers. His friend strode out to meet him, putting an arm round his shoulder and speaking quietly into his ear. ‘If you don’t know what a pregnant woman smells like then it’s time you took a good deep breath and found out. And it’s also time for you to make an honest woman of her, I’d say.’ He stamped on the blade of his spear twice, first bending it and then breaking it clean off the shaft before handing it to the amazed Marcus. ‘Here you go, that’ll do for the ceremonial hairstyle you lot are supposed to favour in your women on the big day. It’s not been stuck in a gladiator for luck yet, but I did one of the bastards that carried her away with it just now, if that counts.’
‘Tribunes Licinius and Scaurus! Welcome back to civilisation, gentlemen, if we can characterise the never-ending din of Noisy Valley so generously!’ Governor Marcellus advanced around his desk, his normally sombre face wreathed in a beaming smile, and clasped hands with his officers. Behind him Legatus Equitius, commander of the imperial Sixth Legion and former prefect of the 1st Tungrian Cohort shot them a wry smile, raising amused eyebrows at his superior’s unaccustomed bonhomie. I’ve asked Legatus Equitius to join me in greeting you both, given his previous connection with your Tungrians.’ Equitius inclined his head as the governor continued his greeting. ‘My congratulations to you both. You have brought great honour upon your cohorts, and extinguished a threat to Rome’s frontiers for years to come.’
Licinius saluted, handing King Drust’s heavy gold torc to the older man.
‘Governor, this belonged to the king of the Venicones. We took many more items of jewellery from their dead, but I thought you might want to take personal charge of this particular item.’
Marcellus raised the torc and admired its workmanship for a moment.
&n
bsp; ‘Indeed, Tribune, an item of such value will make a fitting accompaniment for the news of this victory when it reaches the Emperor. And now, gentlemen, you must take a cup of wine with us, and explain how you achieved this unexpected triumph.’ When the story of the previous few days’ events was told he sat back in his chair with a contented smile, nodding his head slowly in satisfaction. ‘Excellent work, gentlemen, simply excellent. Any threat the Venicones might have presented to the frontier is broken, and the Votadini are free to rebuild their kingdom without any external interference from either north or west. All of which means that we can focus our attentions to the south of the Wall, and on putting these Brigantes scum back in their place. They still control most of the country between here and the legion forts to the south, and I fear that the campaign to root them out will be a bitter struggle. They’re not coming to battle as the northern tribes did, but seem happy to fight us with a dirty little war of raids and ambushes. Which means that your cavalrymen, Manilius Licinius, will have their hands full scouring the country for them. You are to ride for Waterside Fort today, and join with the Second Legion and the western wall cohorts in hunting down and eradicating these savages wherever you find them.’
Licinius nodded his understanding, and Marcellus turned to Scaurus with a gentle smile.
‘And as for you, Rutilius Scaurus, I must presume upon your cohort’s willingness to endure hardship once again. I had originally intended sending you west with your colleague’s horsemen to strengthen the Second Legion’s forces, but I have received a request for assistance from my colleague in Gallia Belgica in the last few days, assistance I feel well suited to your particular blend of skills and experience, not to mention your cohort’s original recruiting base.’ He turned to the desk behind him and picked up a scroll, handing it to the young tribune and raising his voice to issue his formal orders. ‘Rutilius Scaurus, you are hereby ordered to march your men to the port of Arab Town at the eastern end of the Wall, and there to take ship for the mainland. Once landed, you will make your way with all possible speed to the fortress town of Tungrorum. Once there, you are to establish a secure camp and then to carry out whatever operations you see fit to disperse and destroy the various bands of bandits, both large and small, who are plaguing the region.’ He shot Scaurus a glance. ‘Of course, you will be wondering exactly why your men should be needed, when there are three perfectly good legions only a few days’ march away in their fortresses along the River Rhenus, any one of which might comfortably cope with any local problem. As it happens, not only have the German legions been somewhat depleted by the need to reinforce our losses of earlier this year, but they have also been stretched too thin by a series of barbarian incursions in the last few months. Things are not so bad that the barbarians could attack across the river in strength, but bad enough for the area around Tungrorum to have fallen prey to the worst kind of scum, deserters and brigands who are making life intolerable from the accounts I’ve received.
‘They’ve tried to deal with the problem, of course – indeed, three detachments of increasing strength from their auxiliary cohorts have been sent into the area. They were either defeated by force of arms or, as seems to have been the case with the last force that was sent to the area, a full cohort of infantrymen mind you, they’ve chosen to desert to the enemy.’ He took another sip of wine before continuing. ‘There are three reasons why I’ve chosen to send you and your men to deal with this situation, Tribune. First, the legatus here tells me that your men are the best we have for hunting down and destroying these brigands.’ Scaurus shot a glance at his cohort’s former commander, who could only shrug apologetically. ‘Second, your command is two cohorts strong, which ought to be sufficient to deal with the deserters who, I suspect, will be your main problem. And third, your men are more likely to want to protect their original settlement than the local auxiliaries, who are after all drawn from lands thousands of miles distant.’
He fixed the tribune with a level stare, tapping the order scroll in his hand to underline the significance of its contents.
‘In dealing with these matters you are to cooperate as fully as possible with the local authorities, but you are also to consider your command as independent from civilian control and make any necessary decisions required to remove the threat to civil order represented by these criminal scum.’ He smiled thinly at Scaurus. ‘Everybody, Rutilius Scaurus, is going to want you to achieve everything at once, which is why I’ve deliberately written these orders to allow you to set your operational priorities as you see fit. In the meantime, it will take at least ten days to gather enough ships to carry your command across the German Sea, so I suggest that you march your men back to their home fort and allow them time to say their goodbyes. And that, Tribunes, concludes my orders. May the gods smile upon you both.’
The governor nodded and turned back to his desk, and the two men saluted and began to leave, only to stop at the office’s door as he spoke again, frowning at a tablet he’d picked up from the desk’s highly polished wooden surface.
‘Ah, but there was one more thing. Trivial, perhaps, given the events of the last few weeks, but potentially serious for all that.’ Both men turned back to face him, sharing a quick glance. ‘It seems that a pair of imperial investigators rode through here a few days ago. Tribune Paulus reported the fact to Legatus Equitius when we arrived here. Apparently they were seeking some fugitive from justice who has managed to upset the praetorian prefect in some way or other
…’
Scaurus kept his face neutral, thanking the foresight that had made Licinius send a rider south in advance of the legion, taking the news to Paulus that Rapax and Excingus’s mission had failed with the death of one man and the complete disappearance of the other.
‘Anyway, gentlemen, it seems that these two officers and their escort have been lost without trace. As an essential formality I must ask you both if you made any contact with them after they left this fortress?’
Both men answered the question with blank stares, and when Licinius spoke his voice was hard with suppressed anger.
‘None of my men have reported any such encounter, Governor, although I lost two message riders around that time, left to rot where they fell by unknown assailants. When we found them one was lying unburied beside a roadside campfire, and the other was face down in a ditch five miles to the south. He had a throwing knife stuck through his neck, a knife that my armourers tell me was Roman in design. The presence of imperial spies might go some way to explaining their deaths…’
Marcellus frowned in his turn.
‘I see. Well, there’s probably little to be gained from any official comment on the matter, and since these men seem to have been operating independently of my office I intend to leave the matter where it lies. In any case they’re certainly dead. Only a fool would have ridden this far north into the heart of a tribal uprising with such a flimsy escort, never mind crossing the Wall with the northern tribes still in ferment.’ He shook his head and dropped the tablet on to the desk. ‘Dismissed, gentlemen, let’s get on with this war and leave the mystery of their disappearance to a quieter time.’
Stepping out of the principia into the supply fort’s usual bustle, the two tribunes exchanged a glace, and Scaurus breathed a slow sigh of relief before speaking.
‘It seems that young Paulus decided that he was better off having a legatus and two tribunes beholden to him than to spill the beans to the governor.’
His colleague nodded slowly.
‘Yes. But I’d still be happier knowing exactly what happened to that odious creature Excingus, and that last praetorian for that matter.’
Scaurus nodded thoughtfully as he stared down the fortress’s main street to the opened gates, watching as the guard century supervised the arrival of the first supply convoy to reach Noisy Valley from the legion fortress far to the south since the start of the Brigantian rebellion. His men had buried the praetorian dead after hunting them down through the forest, but no s
ign had been found of either the corn officer or the soldier who had hunted Felicia through the trees after her escape.
‘Dead, or enslaved, I’d guess. They had a long stretch of road to cover just to reach the Wall, and the tribes won’t be in a forgiving mood. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a cohort to get on the road west. If they miss any more of the time they have left at the Hill than necessary they won’t be all that forgiving either, given where I’m about to take them.’ He turned away to head for the infantry barracks, then stopped and turned back.
‘Colleague, given that I’m detached to go hunting bandits, I’d be grateful for the continued loan of your horses until we return. A squadron of cavalry could make all the difference when we’re chasing around the forests after shadows.’
Licinius gave him a jaundiced look.
‘You’ve got sticky fingers, young man. Every soldier that comes into contact with your cohort seems to end up as part of it. Hamian archers, borrowed cavalrymen. I’ll even wager you that the half-century of legionnaires Dubnus borrowed from the Sixth will end up in your establishment. And yes, you can extend the loan if you think it’ll do you any good, and you can keep that decurion you promoted to command them. But there is a price you’ll have to pay for the privilege.’ Scaurus raised an eyebrow, waiting in silence for the older man to make himself clear. ‘Given that young Aquila seems to have put the cart before the horse by getting our lady doctor with child, I’m assuming that they’ll be quietly marrying each other some time in the next few days. And don’t try to fend me off with all that nonsense about it being illegal for soldiers to tie their hands together, because we both know it happens. So, if you want to hang on to my horses a while longer, you’d better make sure that I’m there when it happens. She’ll need someone there that’s known her for more then a couple of days to stand in for her father.’
‘You’re sure that you want to go through with this, m’dear? We both know that it’s illegal for a soldier to marry. Are you sure you want your centurion to take that sort of risk, just to…’
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