Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 02] The Horsewarriors

by Griff Hosker

  Atticus entered his villa. It annoyed Gaius that he did not knock but he was still playing the kind master. Atticus was another cloud on his horizon. He was too good and questioned the taxes. He pointed out that they had more than enough so why take so much from the people. Cresens could never have enough. He also wanted to make contact with the Romans. Having served as a freeman on a Roman ship he saw them as a good thing. Cresens had yet to come up with a sound argument against more contact. The young helmsman had filled out and grown up in the time he had been in the settlement. He was seen by all the young men as a hero and leader whilst all the young women ached for his body between their compliant legs. Atticus was a problem which would have to be faced and soon.

  Atticus looked at the pile of silver on the table. “That is a mighty pot Master. You have done well.” He hesitated. “Perhaps we could allow the villagers to keep more of their goods?”

  “Atticus, Atticus, I have told you,” he used his silky rather than his hectoring voice, “who pays the guards who protect the goods travelling to Derventio and Eboracum?”

  “You do master.”

  “Yes and they cost money. This may look like a handy pile right now but what about during the winter when there is little trade and yet I will still have to pay the guards.”

  “You could let them go. Some of them are little better than bandits themselves. I have had to bang a few heads together before now to stop them from abusing our charges.”

  Cresens knew that they were thugs and that pleased him but he could not let Atticus know that. “Good. I will have a word with them perhaps I will threaten to withhold some of their salary eh?” He laughed a mirthless laugh which Atticus ignored.

  “Now that the Romans are back in Derventio we may not need to protect the merchants on the roads?”

  “As you told me last week the Romans haven’t been seen for a moon and besides it is not just on the road what about the forests to the south and west? Many bandits still hide there.”

  “All the more reason to speak to the Romans for they could easily clear the forests.”

  “You seem to have all the answers Atticus. I will think on it.”

  Atticus beamed like a child rewarded with a toy. “Thank you master.” He kissed his hand,” Thank you.”

  “Be off with you.” As Atticus left watched by the smiling Cresens he did not know he had signed his own death warrant.

  Brocavum

  Aed felt confused when he arrived at the Carvetii stronghold. Although he had not expected to be welcomed with open arms he had at least expected a welcome instead he was greeting with sullen stares, mumbled curses and open hostility. King Maeve barely acknowledged him and seemed besotted with the young witch Fainch. He had followed his orders completely. He had built up the guards, disposed of the loyal ones, killed the royal family and successfully extracted his force without loss in the face of the Roman army. What more could he have done?

  Fainch found him alone and brooding at the south tower. He stood up as she ascended to the top of the tower. He was taken away by her beauty; she had always been beautiful but she had hidden her beauty under grime and dirty clothes playing the part of a witch and hiding from stares. It no longer suited her to be invisible. She was the thread which held this tenuous coalition together and she needed Aed as much as King Maeve. Aed was true Brigante and had many followers he was the future and had more claim to the throne than Maeve. She could not allow dissension. In truth he was also a good looking youth. She had deliberately dressed to attract him; the blue woad was not applied as a sign of war but used over her eyes to deepen them and highlight the colour, her lips were red with the body of a crushed beetle and her cheeks blushing with diluted beetroots. Her hair was no longer wild and striking but sleek washed and oiled to sheen and shimmer in the light of the setting sun. She had bathed in a hot bath filled with fragrant roses, jasmine and honeysuckle. Her shift although simple was cut low to give him a glimpse of her ample and full breasts and was drawn in at the waist to reveal her curvaceous hips. Fainch was not at all unsettled by her own actions. She served Mother Earth and as such she was as Mother Earth fertile and fecund. She was not ashamed of her body, indeed she would have walked around naked were she not aware that this would have created problems for those around her.

  “Aed why do you keep alone?” He did not answer, in fact he was finding it hard to speak let alone think. He just shook his head. She walked behind him and put her hands around the sides of his head. “I have powers, some you have seen, some yet to see. I will look into your mind and then your heart.” Aed found his heart pounding harder. It also seemed to be throbbing in his chest more than during the fiercest battle he had ever fought. “You wonder why the Carvetii treat you as they do when all you did was what you were ordered.” Aed started and tried to turn around. She was reading his mind! “Be still my warrior. You will not be harmed. You also want to be at the head of the army when it attacks and defeats the Romans for you feel you are a better and braver warrior than King Maeve.” His eyes darted from side to side, afraid that someone would overhear for those were his very thoughts and she was speaking them. “There is no-one to hear my words and only I can read your thoughts.” At least there was nothing more she could discover. “And there is more.” His heart began racing. “You desire me. You wish to hold me in your arms you wish to enter the sacred world of my fertile places. You wish to have me.”

  He broke away and fell on his knees before her. “Please I beg of you. I cannot control my thoughts, do not kill me for desiring you.”

  She walked up to him and, putting her hands behind his head drew his face into her breasts which had suddenly, and he knew not how, appeared from inside her shift. “Your thoughts are natural oh warrior as are mine.” He found his mouth around one of her breasts and even though he fought the urge he found himself kissing the pale breast and then found his tongue touching the erect nipple. He felt her tense and put her head back then she pulled his head away, bent down kissed him full on the lips her mouth opened and her tongue darted into his. Before he could respond she pulled away. “Not now but I will come to you. Do not be afraid.” She raised him up and as she did so he noticed that her breasts were back inside her shift. She put her arm through his. “As for the Carvetii they believe, wrongly, that you should have attacked the Romans and aided them when they were attacked.”

  “But then my men would be dead!”

  “Exactly! You did what was right for the war. They wanted you to do what was right for the battle and in that they were wrong. Your warband is the finest in the army.” He started to say no but she stopped walking and stared at him her voice suddenly harsh and commanding. “No false modesty and no lies. I can read your mind but I would prefer the truth. Always the truth. Understand me?” He nodded. “Good. You have the elite warband. The others can be thrown away needlessly but you are the cutting edge. You are the only force which can defeat their auxiliary cavalry. Without that cavalry our army can move around the slow cumbersome legions and destroy them. That is why I was happy, no delighted,” her voice now purred and soothed, “when you returned complete and I want you to stay that way,” she lowered her eyes and then looked straight into his eyes, ”for me and one day you will be the most powerful man in this land and I will be by your side.” Suddenly she was gone and Aed found himself wondering if this had all been a dream. She had read his mind, she had offered herself to him and she hinted that there was more to come. Striding from the tower he suddenly felt empowered. Let the Carvetii treat him insolently he cared not; he had had a glimpse of the future and he wanted everything in it.

  Derventio

  “Well I am glad the lads did a bit of work on it but there’s a lot for us to do.”

  “Never mind Decius it will get rid of some of that flab and give you a chance to see what these recruits are like.” The recruits Marcus had spoken of were a mixture of tribes from the province, Regni, Atrebates and Canti and more traditional recruits from Cantabria, P
annonia and Batavia. Marcus noted that the provincial recruits were all from the far south and had neither allegiance nor knowledge of this land which was a good thing.

  “The first thing I’d like is if they knew their own name.”

  “Don’t you remember what it was like when you joined? I can still remember wondering who this Marcus was when inside I was Himli.” When recruits joined they were given Roman names so the first few months were a difficult time. Marcus realised now that it helped you to join in to become more Roman. It stopped you being a barbarian. He smiled as he realised he was a barbarian born but he regarded the peoples of this land as true barbarians.

  “At least they can speak Latin.”

  “That’s the advantage of being the first to be conquered, you learn it from birth. Right I’ll get Lentius’ turma and mine to finish off the fort. You get Gaius’ turma and the recruits to build the gyrus and let Cato have six or seven men to build a holding pen for the horses. He can build something sturdier later on. You get on with that and I will go and have a word with Agrippa and Macro. I didn’t get the chance on the way over”

  “Right boss.”

  He strode over to where his turma was busy unpacking. He shouted over, “Lentius, Gaius, Agrippa and Macro.” Lentius and Gaius strolled over to him, Agrippa wondering why he was in the company of decurions came at a fast walk, Macro who was convinced he had done something wrong ran over so hard he barely stopped in time to avoid the Decurion Princeps. “Steady on Macro I am going nowhere. Gaius, get your turma to give Decius and the recruits a hand to build the gyrus.”

  “And stop him killing them as well?”

  “That would be a good idea. Lentius take your turma and mine and finish off the fort. The lads did a good job but it isn’t quite ready.”

  “We’ll have it looking like the Imperial Palace!”

  “Now then I suppose you are wondering why you two are here?”

  “A secret mission sir? Capture the Brigante king eh sir?”

  Marcus and Agrippa exchanged looks. “Not this week. Macro first we build a fort. No I have an offer to make to both of you and I want you both to hear the other’s offer.” Macro looked confused.

  “The Decurion Princeps is going to offer both of us something and the roles are linked right sir?”

  “Right Agrippa. I would like you to be the sergeant in charge of weapons training. You up for that?”

  “Yes sir. That would really suit me. Thank you.”

  “I know that Drusus would have offered you something had he survived. There will be a pay rise.”

  “Always welcome.”

  “Now the thing is we are training another twelve turmae and I am certain that we will need more decurions and also that you will become a decurion sooner rather than later.”

  “Thank you again sir.”

  “So I would like you to consider taking on Macro as your assistant and training him, at the same time to become a weapons training officer at some time in the future.”

  “Thank you sir.”

  “Thank me for what I haven’t offered you anything yet.”

  “But sir you said…”

  “You weren’t listening son if I want you as my assistant you will be offered the job.”

  “But you do want me don’t you?” pleaded Macro.

  Agrippa looked at Marcus, “Well I don’t fancy him bursting into tears so I will say yes but Macro.”

  “Yes sergeant?”

  “You need to become a man quite quickly for you will be giving other men orders. Do you understand?”

  To Marcus it looked as though he grew a whole head taller. “Yes sergeant.”

  Grinning Marcus said to Agrippa, “Work out a schedule with Decius. Take the ones who become riders first.”

  The two men snapped a, “Yes sir “and strode off.

  Decius had been right he thought they were a perfect match. The older sober Agrippa and the keen as mustard Maco. It would be building for the future. The weapons training had always been handled by Ulpius and, after his death by Drusus. Marcus had felt that the role needed someone who was not a decurion for they had to deal with every man in the ala.

  Chapter 12

  The nights were drawing in and the first frosts of the year had made the men build their fires a little higher by the time the fort was finished and the gyrus up and running. Marcus felt he could take the opportunity to go with Cato and select some horses for their stud. Decius was more than happy to take charge of the fort. As they rode south to the farms that dotted the rich soil of the east of the land Marcus noticed the change in Cato. Not only was he happier he looked younger, he was more inclined to smile and he seemed less nervous around Marcus. The change was due entirely to Marcus and the gentle way he had had with men. Ulpius had been a barker and a shouter. Marcus preferred persuasion.

  “Well sergeant. What do you think we should look for today?”

  “I’ll be happy with one stallion and four or five brood mares. It doesn’t do to start these things too fast.”

  “Explain your thinking sergeant.”

  “If we have two or three stallions we increase the friction between horses, fights and so on. More than one stallion means that you can’t be certain who sired which foal and if you are trying to breed certain characteristics.”

  “I can see the logic in that and the four or five mares?”

  “The same really sir. We will make mistakes at first. Too many mares means too many mistakes. I need to train my men up as well.”

  “Good I like your thinking let’s get some horseflesh.”

  The land they were travelling through was the land of the Parisi. There were many farms and most had numbers of horses which were well suited to the land. It was coming to the time of year when fodder was becoming scarce and the two auxiliaries were hoping to pick up bargains. They were lucky at the first farm for the farmer there had a large number of horses and he happily sold them three mares. They asked about other horse farms and he directed them north of Derventio.

  “It means a ride of about twenty miles sir.”

  “I don’t think decurion Decius will mind being in charge a little longer eh sergeant?”

  “No sir.”

  “What about the actual stud? Any thoughts on where that should be?”

  “Away from the fort sir. You don’t want the other horses being spooked by the mating. It is also better for the foals sometimes they can be hurt if there are a lot of horses nearby.”

  “When we get back you had better find somewhere suitable.”

  They crossed the small river which ran through Derventio about ten miles down stream. The autumn rains had not swollen it yet and the water only came up to the horses withers. They made such good time that they reached the first farm just before sunset. There was a rudimentary palisade around it but the farmer happily let them in when he saw their uniform.

  “Would you care to spend the night here? The wife has cooked a nice game stew and we have space in the hut.”

  “We will share your food but we don’t want to put anyone out.”

  The farmer, a man as round as he was tall laughed. “You’ll be putting no-one out. The round house is big enough.”

  The farmer’s wife was as skinny as the farmer was fat but once he tasted the food he realised why. She was a wonderful cook. Army food was plentiful but dull. This stew had rabbit and squirrel and was flavoured with elderberries and brambles. After the meal they comfortably sat and talked horses.

  “Excuse me sir but are you from the fort?”

  “Yes, I am the commander actually.”

  “So you are putting men back in there?”

  “Why is that a problem?”

  “No we are delighted. It means we can send our produce to Derventio and we’ll be safe.”

  Cato and Marcus exchanged looks.”Why would you not be safe?”

  “The bandits.”

  His wife interjected, “it was a lot worse last year.”

  The
farmer looked crossly at his wife, “Who is telling this tale you or me?” She quailed. “ Right. Sorry about that sir. The wife’s right, until last year we couldn’t send anything anywhere. Bandits would rob us. Sometimes they would steal slaves. Two years ago they took Sceolan, he has the next farm up the valley, and they took his two bairns. Two lads.”

  “Didn’t you go to the authorities in Eboracum?”

  “The problem is sir if you go off there what happens to your family and your farm when you are away? We all thought that when the Romans came life would be better but once the fort was abandoned then all the worst kind of rogues came out like wood lice from rotten wood.”

  “You say it is better now?”

  “Well a little better. About a year ago some new men came to Streonshal on the coast they started sending their fish here for us to buy and we sold them grain and the like and then seemingly the pirates up the coast were killed.”

  “That was Romans. Was it a little place almost near Dunum Fluvius?”

  “The big river. Yes that was it. Didn’t know it was Romans. The people in Streonshal made out it was them.”

  “What changed?”

  “Well it is safer and we can move our goods but we have to use their guards and they charge us a tenth of the goods to protect it.”

  “Do all the farmers pay this,” he paused to let the word take effect, “tax?”