by Griff Hosker
“I know wise king that all you say seems true but Caractacus, the king betrayed by Cartimandua, had the right idea. We need all of the peoples of this land to fight, all of them to attack at the same time and then we can defeat the Romans. We will not attack yet we will wait until next year. My sisters are even now spreading the word amongst other kings so that at the feast of Eostre we will all attack. The Romans only have four legions in this land.” Maeve looked in disbelief at this woman who appeared wise and knowledgeable beyond her years. “They cannot be everywhere at once and once they are eradicated from one part of the land there will be more warriors to join and fight the ones who remain. We destroy them by all fighting at the same time. We may not be on the same battlefield but we will have the same fight.”
“But it is not just the legions. They have the horsemen; the ones who killed King Venutius. They too are mighty warriors.”
“I will deal with those men myself.” The venom in her voice made the king reel back as she spat the words out. He feared that those cavalrymen would suffer greatly. Her voice resumed its melodic cadence. “You have a spy in Stanwyck.”
Once again he marvelled at her intelligence. “Yes but…”
“All you need to know king is that I have power and knowledge and I will use it for you, for us and for the people of this land. This spy has power I believe?”
“Yes he controls a large number of the warriors in Stanwyck. “
“That will be where we will make our first assault. We will begin a revolt which will draw the legions north so that the peoples of the south and west can have fewer enemies to fight.”
“But that means they will be massed against me. I thought we were waiting for Eostre?”
“We are and we will not be fighting the Romans. We will be killing those traitors who have joined with the Romans. Once we have rid our lands of those Roman lovers the Romans will begin to repress the people even more and that oh king will give us even more men. We will wait until next year for once we have the metals and arms from Stanwyck our army will be stronger. The Brigante have to decide whose side they are on; if they are loyal to us they will live, if not they will die.”
Her words of steel and hate had convinced him. “We will do it. What is our first action?”
“You need to send more men to join the Brigante in Stanwyck and when we have sufficient numbers we will strike. I will travel to the other tribes, the Novantae, Selgovae, Pictii and they will join our cause.” She brushed her hand against the king’s cheek and whispered. “Together we will defeat them this time.”
This last act was the final enchantment she placed upon him and King Maeve would have sacrificed anything for this mighty witch.
For Marcus any thought that he would have an easier time without the role of Decurion Princeps were quickly dismissed for the new prefect still expected that Marcus would continue to function in that role. Decius and Gaius were increasingly annoyed at the way that the two sons of the prefect would avoid any of the mundane day to day tasks whilst they were worked twice as hard. Decius took all his aggression out on the recruits with the result that they worked even harder to satisfy the monster that he had become. Marcus took pride in the fact that the ala became even more efficient. To be fair to the prefect he did let Marcus know how well he was performing but it did not help that he had even less time to get to Stanwyck to see his wife and son. He suddenly realised that he would barely recognise his son who, by now, must be walking. He withdrew even more into himself.
His comrades noticed this as they drank in their off duty times. “He’s not the same you know.”
“Of course he’s not the bleeding same. How could he be? He’s worked twice as hard and those two lazy bastards do absolutely nothing. He’s doing their work as well. Someone should do something about it.”
Gaius suddenly spoke up. “Will you keep your voice down? What you are suggesting is mutiny. That means crucifixion.”
There was a short silence as they all drank their wines and reflected on Gaius’ statement. “Most of the lads would be with us.”
“Will you keep a lid on it? Do you think that Marcus would go along with mutiny?” The lack of comment showed that the other decurions agreed with Gaius. “No we just try to take his mind off it. Get him talking about Macha and his son.”
“That’s half the problem,” pointed out Drusus. “He hasn’t seen them for such a long time.”
“Well there’s damn all we can do about that is there? Desertion is the same as mutiny.”
The normally harmonious drinking session became bad tempered. They were not angry with each other, although some eavesdropping would have thought so, they were angry with the prefect and his interference in the normally happy ala. The result of their debate was that they all went to bed extremely drunk and the recruits had a slightly quieter training session the following day although they worked even harder than usual.
Chapter 5
Stanwyck
Lenta lay in her lover’s arms. Aed was the first man she had bedded since her husband and she had loved every single moment of the experience. The young man was a powerful lover and they both satisfied each other. Lenta reflected that her life was now complete. The void left by her dead family had been filled with her lover and the vibrant settlement that was Stanwyck. Despite the attempt by the Romans to make Isurium Brigantium the new Brigante capital the influx of warriors and metal workers had meant that the new capital was just a colony of retired Romans and their slaves. Lenta had garnered all the power that she had ever wanted. She was Queen in all but name. True, King Maeve had more subjects but they cowered in the west well away from the Romans. For all that she resented the Romans she was pleased that their military presence protected her and her people.
She gently kissed the sleeping Aed and went to the door of the house. As she gazed out she could see the bustle and purpose as the newly arrived mingled with those who had always lived here. In the last fourteen days over two hundred loyal Brigante warriors had arrived and it had taken all the industry of her metal workers to arm them but they now had a force which could easily defend Stanwyck from any assault launched by Maeve. Perhaps they could build more stone buildings as they were at Isurium Brigantium; the permanence of such buildings was one of the ways that Roman civilisation was measured. Perhaps one day people would measure her success by such buildings. She suddenly felt the touch of Aed’s hand on her back and it sent a shiver of pleasure coursing through her body. “I thought you had left me.”
She turned and kissed him hard upon the lips. “I will never leave you my love; I just didn’t want to disturb you.”
He laughed. “You disturbed me many times during the night.”
She laughed with him. “I could see, my love, that you were disturbed already.”
“Now that I am awake I will take some of the men on a patrol to the west. I will leave the newer men to guard the fort. It will do them good to have that responsibility”
“Be careful. Maeve has many warriors I don’t want to lose you so soon after finding you.”
“I am not afraid of Maeve. Besides with our new armour my men are all worth five of his. Remember I am of the Brigante royal family as you are and we do not run away from our responsibilities. I know what I need to do for this land of ours and I will do it.” He kissed her so hard upon the lips that it took her breath away and left her wide eyed with wonder. “. I will be careful for your sake. But we may return after dark; I will warn the sentries, I wouldn’t want them to shoot me as a Brigante raider.”
Later that day she watched with pride as the column of two hundred mailed warriors left the fort. She could see that there was a mixture of new warriors and the faithful ones who had fought alongside the Romans at Brocavum. She had made the right decision when she had appointed the young Aed to be their commander. He had an old head on a young body. The thought of his young body made her blush like a girl and she found a playful smile playing around her lips. When he returned she
would pleasure that young body as it had never been pleasured before.
Aed halted the column close to the steep cliffs above a raging torrent of a river. He turned to Grachus, the oldest of the Brigante warriors and the one who had led them before Aed’s arrival. “You keep the more experienced men here. I will take these new men for some archery practice. I think this would make a good site for a fort so cut down some of those trees and we will help to build it when we return.”
Grachus looked around. As much as he resented the young pup he recognised Aed’s prowess and acumen as a leader. “If we place them by the cliff edge we can lay out the walls easier.”
“Good idea, I knew you were the right man for the job. I think the exercise will build their muscles up even more.”
“Get those mail shirts off and get your axes. You lazy bastards are going to work today and we are going to build a fort.”
As they stripped one of the older men said, “Why here Grachus?”
“He’s got a good military eye I will say that. If you look you can see that on this side, where we are going to lay the felled trees there is a cliff which makes it impossible to assault. It is then steep all the way around to that narrow neck. Put a gate there and any enemy would have to assault that one spot. I am just surprised King Venutius didn’t put one here.”
“He never liked walls he liked to fight in the open.”
“Aye and look where it got him? Dead in a battlefield with all his oathsworn. Come on lads let’s get those trees down.”
Aed led the rest of the men a short way to the west. When they were out of earshot of the builders he halted them.”Today we begin our real work. You have all done well pretending to be Roman lovers but today that pretence goes. We will ride back and kill these Brigante traitors and then return to Stanwyck and join our brothers. We will give them a choice join us or die. Are you ready?” As they all cheered his name he strung his bow. “I want them to die not us. Use your arrows and give them no quarter. Remember we fight as Brigante not copies of the Romans.”
Grachus and his men had made excellent progress and many trees had been felled. He heard the thunder of hooves and wondered what it was. Initially alarmed by the noise he relaxed when he saw that it was Aed and his recruits. He wondered why they were galloping in a line towards them. He suddenly realised that they all had bows in the hands. The line suddenly halted and, before any of them could get arms, armour or shields a black storm of arrows rained down upon them. Most were impaled by a number of arrows and died instantly. Those further away tried to run but Aed’s plan had been thorough. There was no-where for them to run for they were on a cliff edge above a river. Within a few heartbeats they were all dead.
“Strip their bodies and then throw them over the cliffs into the river. Then we ride. Today we begin to make Brigantia ours again.” He turned to the young man next to him, “Draghuar ride to King Maeve tell them we have taken Stanwyck.”
Macha lay in her bed with Ulpius. He had a slight fever and she fretted. She smiled to herself; she was less likely to run crying to one of the village women. She looked at him nestling in her arms his face puffed up and red. If only Marcus were with her she could share her worries. She had no-one; she was as lonely as could be. Lenta seemed far more distant since the birth of her son and since she had taken up with the young warrior, Aed she had virtually ignored her sister. Macha wondered if it was a family trait for her half sister, Cartimandua, had left her husband for a young shield bearer. Would she do the same when she became older? She shook her head as though answering herself, no she loved Marcus and Ulpius too much she would be faithful unto death.
It was indeed nightfall as the column made its way back through the gates of the stronghold. The guards had been chosen by Aed and were oathsworn. Once the gates were closed behind them Aed and his men dismounted and made their way to the hut containing the rest of the traitors. “We want no-one to leave. Give them all the same question do they join us. If they say yes then they live. All others must die. The longer we can deceive the Romans the better. Then we will slaughter the Romans in their new settlement.” Without the need for further words the two hundred or so men quickly surrounded each of the dwellings. All of the people were inside either sleeping or preparing food; they felt safe and secure inside the newly renovated and repaired walls. There were two exceptions, Nuada, a young metal worker and Bethan, the daughter of his master. They had sneaked out of their huts and were exploring each other’s body in the cattle byre. At first they were so engrossed in the primitive and youthful fumbling that they failed to hear anything outside until suddenly a piercing scream grabbed their attention. Quickly throwing on their clothes they crept to the doorway. What they saw shocked them to their core for Aed and his men were gathering the inhabitants shouting at them and when they received the wrong response they were butchered where they stood. Bethan saw her father stand in front of Aed and spit at him when asked the question, “Who do you support King Maeve or the Brigante bitches?” The sword from behind ended not only his life but that of his wife. Before Bethan could cry out Nuada put his hand over her mouth and whispered. “Quiet. Any noise and we will die. Let us leave while we can.” Nuada had seen enough to know that it they stayed they would join his dead master and wife.
They made their way swiftly and quietly around the back of the byre; they were aided in this by the noise of the dead and dying and the crash of doors being forced open. They found themselves close to the main building, the one in which Lenta and Macha lived. If there was one hope that there might be a sanctuary then it might be here where, surely, there would be loyal bodyguards. Any hope that the boy had was dashed when he peered over and saw the Princess Macha being dragged out by her hair. A second guard carried a screaming Ulpius under his arm. The two were thrown on to the ground before Aed who had arrived with his hand picked guards.
“How dare you touch us, we are the royal princesses!” Even faced with such terror Macha fought back. She had not survived the attempts by Venutius to kill her to let this young man terrorise her. “If you harm us the Romans will hunt you down.”
Aed pulled back the defiant young woman’s hair, exposing her neck. He drew his sax and said clearly for all to hear, “Bitch! You and all the other whores who have taken Roman lovers will die. Every bastard child of the Romans will die and then, when we are ready every Roman will either die or be driven from our land,” he looked up and nodded. The guard holding Ulpius sliced through the infant’s neck so savagely that the head dropped to the floor in front of his mother. Macha’s eyes widened in horror and a scream started to erupt from her throat. “I hope the Romans do come for we will be ready for them this time and your man will be the first to die and I will claim the sword of the Brigante for me!”
Even in her terrified state after the shock of seeing her son killed, even the fear for her husband and knowledge that she would die, Macha was still a royal princess and she defied Aed to the end, “The Sword of Cartimandua and you are not man enough to touch it let alone wield it!”
Aed’s sax slid across and her jugular was sliced through, her life blood seeping into the ground as the life left her eyes.
As they quickly headed towards the ramparts Nuada and Bethan could hear a wail slowly rise from the throat of Lenta as she saw the corpses of her sister and nephew.” But Aed, how could you do this? She was my sister.” Mesmerized the two young lovers looked back watching the tableaux below them. In widening pools of blood lay the princess and her son. On her knees before them squatted Lenta pleading with her lover and around them like voracious wolves stood the twenty bodyguards of the new lord of Stanwyck.
“She was a Roman whore and a traitor and you too are a whore. An old whore at that, just like your dead sister. Tonight the old Brigante die and the new ones take over but first, my love, as you enjoy lovemaking so much we will see how you enjoy pleasuring my men, all of them!” The last thing they saw before they fled was the sight of Lenta being held down by four warriors.
As they slipped over the wall into the ditch they could hear the screams of Lenta echoing into the night as she was raped by each of the men who had accompanied Aed. Nuada held the sobbing Bethan in his arm and he desperately hoped that the Brigante princess died quickly for that was a death no-one should endure. “Come Bethan we must find the Romans before they realise that there are survivors. Isurium Brigantium is not far away and there are Romans there. Be strong. Your father was strong and he will be avenged.” The young man became a man as he escaped. When he was old enough he would join the Romans and avenge the folk of Stanwyck.
It was barely two miles to the settlement of Isurium Brigantium and Bethan was exhausted both mentally and physically when they reached the outskirts, the barking dogs awoke the farmer as Nuada and Bethan scrambled over the stone wall. Flavius Bellatoris was armed with a spear as he challenged the intruders.
“Please help us. We are from Stanwyck it has been taken.” As Nuada blurted out the words Bethan collapsed into Nuada’s arms sobbing uncontrollably. Nuada looked at the grizzled Roman veteran. “They killed her mother and father.”
“Woman!” Flavius shouted for his housekeeper to help the distressed girl. “Who killed them?”
“It was the leader of the garrison Aed. They slaughtered any who opposed them.” He paused. “They killed the princesses.”
“Lenta and Macha?”
“Aye and the child.”
“Are you sure?” The boy nodded. Flavius sat down. He had lived too long. How could he tell Marcus that his whole world was ended? Suddenly a thought came to him; if they had killed the Brigante princesses then Isurium Brigantium with its veteran soldiers would be the next target. “Boy, get the horses from the stable. Woman, get your things we are leaving.” Hobbling with his stick the ex-prefect mounted the first horse which Nuada had brought. “When the woman comes mount the horses and await me.” As the horse raced across the track Flavius hoped that he would be able to gather the people in time.