The Winter Sword: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 3)

by Alaric Longward

  I despaired and hated the rumors.

  Maroboodus, Catualda, Segestes, Antius, and Cornix. All alive. Odo. Not to mention Odo. I began to make plans for a raid to Odo’s hold in any case and decided I would soon torture Oril for any information he might have.

  Then, on the first week of Junius, the Batavi spotted smoke pillars to the south. I gathered the turma and riding that way, we ran across Thracian and Noricum cavalry that was screening the XIII Gemina and XIV Gallia. A burly, dusty man got down from his saddle as he noticed our Roman gear. He was a clean-shaven Thracian and scowled.

  ‘Batavi? Or shall we spear you?’

  ‘Batavi,’ I answered brusquely. I raised my hand at him. ‘A turma of 2nd Batavorium, from Castra Flamma. You are half a day from the castra.’

  He was nodding and speaking with his men, some of whom turned back. He then eyed us.

  ‘Thank you. We have been trekking through the forests, chasing an army of Chatti we routed a month ago. They are truly scattered. They are heading for the higher lands to the northeast, some thousands of families. Have you seen any?’ he asked.

  ‘No, not seen them. Where is Drusus going?’ I asked. ‘Castra Flamma?’

  He pointed a finger at me. ‘Consul Nero Claudius Drusus. Remember that if he passes you. He was made a consul for this year, and will end the war this year.’

  ‘I remember,’ I told him. ‘So he is coming?’

  ‘Will meet Segestes near Bhugnos River. Then we shall go and hunt Armin and Inguiomerus together. Come back and burn anything the Chatti still have.’

  ‘The Marcomanni?’ I asked him.

  He shrugged, confused. ‘Routed some of them early spring. Haven’t seen any since. Now, lead us there.’

  Fulcher leaned on me. ‘Should I go?’ he clapped the bag on his side.

  I hesitated and looked at the Thracians. They were a somber lot, irascible, and I did not trust them. ‘Go. But take your own route. We will see you soon again, Fulcher. Very soon, my friend.’

  ‘Yes, Hraban,’ he said, embraced me, and so I nodded as he waved his hand, riding to the woods. We guided the Thracians to Castra Flamma.

  Cassia came out of the castra, her hands bloody. She had been dealing with a spear wound. ‘Is he coming?’

  ‘Drusus? Yes.’ I gazed at her with love and nodded. ‘I’ve asked two Batavi to stay close to you.’ I nodded at two young men who seemed very eager to do so. Their long blond beards shuddered as they nodded at her fiercely, and both smiled. She nodded at them wryly.

  ‘I’ve seen them,’ she said. ‘Handsome boys,’ she teased me, but her voice was serious. ‘Paullus will know the Consul is coming and so …’ She stopped speaking and stared at me.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘They will move now. It is time for the summer’s oaths. Stay far from the Tribune.’

  She nodded. ‘I won’t be fooled. I hope never to see your sword again.’ She smiled sadly. ‘Be careful, love.’ I nodded at her as she left, shadowed by two young Batavi.

  Paullus walked idly to the gate, glancing at her go. ‘Decurion?’

  ‘Sir,’ I said woodenly. ‘The Consul is coming.’ I nodded at the Thracians, who were sending men back to guide the leading elements of the legions.

  His eyes grew large, and he licked his lips. ‘Thank you Decurion. The camp prefect will kick the men into shape in no time. I am missing some of the centurions. I know where they are. In the taverns. I will get them. But you have to get your men ready.’ He cocked his head at me.

  ‘Yes, of course, Tribune,’ I told him. ‘I will get the turma ready.’

  ‘You have been lax in your duty,’ he told me crossly. ‘Your men hang around in whorehouses.’

  Here we go, I thought. ‘Yes, sir,’ I told him, eying him. He was hesitant and whispered something to a man, who nodded and ran off. He raised one finger on his thin lip and nodded thoughtfully. ‘It is evening, sir, and they are with the girls, no doubt, but I shall get them,’ I told him innocently.

  ‘Your signifier is reputedly drunk in Oril’s hall,’ he said with deep loathing. ‘A signifier is supposed to be beyond reproach.’

  ‘He has balls like any other man, sir,’ I said woodenly.

  ‘Get the signifier here and make sure he is sober,’ he said very evenly. ‘Understood? Right this minute.’

  ‘I’ll go immediately, sir,’ I answered.

  ‘Good man,’ he agreed and turned to treat with the castra.

  I turned to the Batavi who had been scouting with me. ‘Tell the turma to gather outside the gate. Full gear, full speed. Be ready to ride. Get the vexillum for Hund and his horse ready,’ I told them, and they rushed to obey. I spotted Brimwulf looking down from the vallum of the castra, and I nodded at him. ‘It is time,’ I mouthed at him.

  The archer nodded and disappeared. I turned to look south, and in the distance the foremost men of the legions could be seen marching in perfect lines, their gear on their furcas over their shoulders. They were far still, but looked impressive like an army of heavily laden, single-minded ants. There were some ten thousand legionnaires and auxilia streaming for war, and many men from the surrounding areas flocked to the area, lining the lanes to see the spectacle they both dreaded and admired. The first Batavi came out along with some of the Legionnaires of the XVII Legion’s cohorts and many if not all were shining their helmets furiously.

  I decided I had waited for long enough and rode to the town. I made my way to Oril’s ramshackle hall. I dismounted and got down and entered. I pushed the door open and found Hund lounging on a bench, a pretty elfin girl on his lap. Tudrus’s Gerhild was stoking the fires. I saw Oril, a man of a bulbous nose and small eyes and a long, dark beard glance up at me from a table he had been cleaning at. I stepped in the middle of the room, cocking my helmet at Hund. ‘You. I should have guessed. Here bitching to women about your duties, you gutless piece of shit?’

  Hund spat and snorted, pushing the girl away. ‘Decurion of dogs. Come here to lick my sandals?’ For someone who hated lying, he acted pretty well, I decided.

  ‘Pay your dues to the whore master, you rot nosed fool. You, man.’ I nodded at Oril. ‘He has to pay. What does he owe you?’

  ‘Lord?’ he said amicably.

  ‘He is leaving,’ I stated and nodded at Hund. ‘The Consul is here and the legions need to begin soldiering again. Not fucking and disobeying orders. Take his money, and we can leave.’

  Oril nodded. ‘Unfortunately, Hraban, he will stay. And you will also stay here for a time until it is done.’

  Until it is done? I thought, confused.

  From the side rooms burst out not two, but six men. Hund’s eyes went wide from surprise, and I guessed he had not been paying attention to the happenings of the house for awhile. They were large, sober, and their eyes glinted in the semi-dark. They had huge shields, spears, and they nodded at each other as two stood before Oril, four behind me. I spat at Hund’s feet. ‘Hund has been very useful, Hraban,’ Oril said happily. ‘By just sitting here, he delivered you to our hands.’

  Hund grinned at me and spat. ‘I’m so happy to see you, Decurion.’

  ‘What is this, then?’ I asked them, grasping the hilt of the Winter Sword.

  ‘Nothing, boy. We will keep you safe for awhile,’ Oril chortled, putting his fingers under his thick belt. ‘Then we shall leave. You will stay. Drink this, and we don’t have to hurt you.’ He nodded at a mug of ale in his hand, and he placed it before Hund.

  ‘Will make you sleepy, is all,’ one of the men behind me grunted.

  ‘You will leave?’ I asked them, bewildered. Didn’t Odo want me after all?

  ‘You will understand in due time,’ Oril agreed. ‘We will go, you will stay. And you won’t bother anyone anymore.’

  ‘You are with Odo?’ I stated, done with the lies. ‘And he wanted to buy me from Segestes? And I am to stay?’

  Oril looked strange for a moment, fidgeting. ‘Yes. That is right. But Odo is happy now. You are free.’
/>   ‘Free? What the fuck do you mean?’ I asked, entirely mystified.

  He smiled a wide, rotten smile. ‘Fine then. An explanation. He was worried about the greater events. You know which. He had not found Veleda and Lif and saw the Raven was imprisoned. He wanted to trade Sigimer for your freedom to ensure you are going to finish your part in Lok’s curse.’ He nodded around. ‘And then there is Segestes, who is very worried about you. So is—’

  ‘Paullus,’ I hissed.

  He looked shocked for a moment. ‘Yes, of course. And Odo is worried since you have been scouting his stronghold. We are no fools, Hraban. So, we will take actions to ensure you will not speak of Segestes to the Consul, and you will play your part in Lok’s game. Drink.’

  I took some steps forward and reached for the mug. I saw Hund nod ever so slowly. ‘No, I’m not really thirsty,’ I said, and the Winter Sword came out at the same time as I rushed forward. Woden’s call rang in my ears as the blade swished into the air and came down, cutting the man who had been reaching for me. He fell like a lump of stone as the man next to him thrust his spear hard at my legs. He could have skewered one, but Hund pummeled into him, stabbing with a pugio. Oril’s eyes opened up wide, and he turned to run, but Tudrus’s girl was there, grinning impishly as she swung a broom’s handle on his face. Blood flew, Oril’s nose flattened, and he fell over the man I had killed.

  Behind me, yells.

  The four men were charging, holding their shields high, spear points flashing in the dark. Hund was getting up next to me, ready to face the enemy, but there was no need for that.

  The door burst open, and Tudrus, Agetan, and Bohscyld charged in. They held wicked axes and shields and Brimwulf’s arrow tore into the back of one of Odo’s men. He fell screaming, and Agetan and Bohscyld tore into the enemy’s ranks. The axes flashed, and fist-sized bits of flesh and clothing fell to the floor. The huge, wide men kept at it, grunting, and soon the three men of Odo were nothing more than quivering corpses on the floor. ‘Enough,’ Tudrus told the twins, both of whose bristling hair was caked with blood. ‘Anymore, and the girls will never get it all off.’

  I glanced at him and grinned, and he shrugged sheepishly as Gerhild came to peck him a kiss. She was blonde and short and had a beguiling face, and I bowed at her in thanks. She dimpled in gratitude. ‘No other customers here?’ I asked her.

  ‘No, Oril drove them out,’ she told me shyly. ‘We were careful.’

  ‘And those men?’ I asked Hund. ‘Where did they come from, eh?’

  ‘I forgot,’ he said with a frown. ‘I did tell you they hinted at having more men in the town, no? And nobody told me things were happening. Didn’t matter anyway. We took them.’

  I toed Oril savagely. ‘Brimwulf, can you wake him up.’

  Agetan grunted, pushed the archer out of the way and picked up the Chauci by the hair. He lifted him high and slammed the man on the table so hard it broke and Oril’s eyes flew open in shock and pain. He squealed like a whipped dog and stared around in stupefaction. Bohscyld appeared at his side and slapped him to get his full attention, and we had to wait until Oril spat a bloody molar to the floor from between his lips. He glared at us balefully.

  I stepped in front of him. ‘Now, Oril. I see into your future.’

  He snorted. ‘Do you see Odo using your skull as a shitter?’

  I slapped him, and his attitude was immediately changed to a more humble, very attentive one. ‘I see you living far away, far in the lands to the west. You will be a discontent house slave, one beaten, perhaps fucked by your master. I will find you a master like that, Chauci. There are some Romans who have a taste for such as you, even ugly and old. Or perhaps I will find a man of trade? You look strong. Perhaps an ore mine where you break your back? I know not. Your future line of work does not really concern me. That is for the buyer to decide. But I will find one that breaks you, one way or other. I see this in your future. Tears and shame and death.’ There were girls looking out of some rooms, frowning at Oril. I grinned at them. ‘You should be glad. These options are a far better future than leaving you at the mercy of the girls here. You did not hear it just now, but the new owner of the establishment …’ I looked up at Hund, and he nodded at an older woman, standing with a happy glow on her feral face. ‘That one there, the eldest of your freshly freed slaves, just decided they will eat your balls.’ It was not true, of course, but scary enough by the terrified look on his face.

  He went ashen gray as he strained his neck to look at that woman. She flashed him a sweet smile that sent him sputtering. ‘I was going to leave. And would like to, still.’

  ‘Let us speak then,’ I said with a growl that made him flinch. ‘I wish to know what you meant to do with me? And I wish to know of Gulldrum.’

  He held his hands over his face and sighed. ‘I see. And you want to know about Gulldrum? The hole?’ he mused, sweat pouring and mixing with the blood on his beard.

  ‘Gulldrum? Yes, we wish to know about it. What is it like, how many ways are there in and out and where do they hold Sigimer?’

  He snorted again. ‘And the girl?’

  ‘The girl?’

  ‘Your woman? His sister? The one he gave to your brother. Yes, he did. He punished her for letting you go last year,’ he giggled, and so I beat him. I did it with little passion. I broke his fingers until he howled like an animal, and even the whores were silent as I worked.

  ‘I have a woman, man,’ I hissed at him. ‘And if Gernot has hurt my friend Ishild, I will add him to the pile of corpses this summer.’

  ‘Yes, you have a woman,’ he chortled in his pain. ‘Fine. There are three halls in Gulldrum. It is ancient and holy; the whole place as old as your family. The trees and mountains were young when Lok spawned his men there in challenge to Woden’s and there they live still.’

  Tudrus toed him. ‘The specifics, not poems, cur.’

  He nodded. ‘Three halls. There are ways between the three, and the bottom one holds rooms for the prisoners. Sigimer is there, likely unless Odo wishes to keep him in the middle one out of the goodness of his heart.’ He chortled. ‘So he is likely at the bottom. There is a way out there, yes, at the bottom.’

  ‘Go on, you dog-faced bastard,’ Brimwulf told him, squatting by the door, looking out. ‘There are some men looking in.’

  ‘Keep them out,’ I said and kicked Oril. ‘More.’

  ‘The middle room is where they live,’ he panted in pain. ‘There are beds and bunks and a holy altar.’

  ‘Reeking of blood, no doubt,’ I spat.

  ‘Odo lives there with his men. Some --’

  ‘Hundred,’ I told him.

  ‘Yes, you have been scouting.’ He grinned. ‘Tribune told us it was so.’

  ‘The Tribune has a lot to answer for,’ I said bitterly. ‘And the top chamber? The one beyond the door?’

  ‘Ah, that one,’ he said. ‘Nothing.’

  ‘I will give you over to the ladies now,’ I told him and began dragging him to one of the rooms.

  ‘It’s trapped,’ he blurted. ‘The roof? It can be collapsed if you hew down some pillars. I would not be standing in the room if they go down. No.’

  ‘Really? And who are there to hew them down?’

  He shrugged. ‘He has fanatical men who are just waiting to do his bidding.’

  ‘Not quite as fanatical, are you?’ I told him. ‘Where is the doorway out? Exactly? And are there more than one?’

  He squirmed. ‘I do not know. I don’t know that! Never used that door!’

  ‘That door? Only one door?’ I asked him coldly. ‘Any ideas? At all? I would have some if I were you. Right now.’

  ‘I don’t know!’

  My face hardened. ‘Fine. And what were you to do with me? Keep me here? Until?’

  ‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘If you will let me go, I will tell you.’

  ‘Speak,’ I told him and grasped his broken finger, and he was trying to breath in throes of pain. I let go, and he banged th
e floor with his legs until the pain abated. I lifted my eyebrow at him, and he made no more demands.

  ‘The Tribune,’ he whispered. ‘Segestes could not kill you. You couldn’t easily disappear. You might have managed to send your messages to Chariovalda, after all, and they might have be asking for you one day. No, you had to be alive, and that is what Odo wanted anyway. He needs you and so we needed a Raven that would not croak. We wanted you to simmer and suffer and be quiet. So both Segestes and Odo wanted something to keep you calm and docile.’

  ‘What is that, you nasty cur?’ Tudrus asked.

  ‘There was a way to keep you silent until everything is finished and done with. Eventually, Odo would see you find Veleda, and Segestes would have Sigimer and do whatever he is to do and ...’

  ‘Maroboodus would slay Drusus. And why would I sit still?’

  ‘Paullus,’ he hesitated.

  ‘What about the bastard?’ Tudrus asked him, his patience wearing thin. ‘He failed. He sent Hraban here and failed. As we planned.’

  I slammed my fist in his face and grabbed his beard. ‘Speak.’

  ‘Lothar is back,’ the man whispered.

  ‘We mangled Lothar!’ Tudrus demanded.

  ‘No, he is a hard man to mangle,’ Oril told us with pity, but then stuttered as he looked at his own condition. ‘Lothar has been back a few months. Bleeding and hurt he was but the negotiatore Antius had him fixed up and sent back after Maius. He barely made it in the snows. They will send Odo something to keep you on track. Something very precious to you.’

  Hund was looking at the corpses. ‘These are not the men who lived here this spring. The ones with the extra horse.’