The Oath Breaker: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 1)

by Alaric Longward

  Ebbe took a long swig of ale and then interrupted Segestes. 'And what of the Chatti? You speak of us as the iron fist you need, yet you give away your best fruits amongst yourselves. Who shall we marry to whom?'

  Sigimer took Armin's hand and squeezed it. 'Armin, a fine man, and Rochus. These are the boys I have. Inguiomerus has no one left, Segestes has a son, I think, but he is to be married? Yes. So, it is my boys.'

  Armin hissed something, but Sigimer ignored him. Ebbe stared at him, Oldaric as well. They, too, looked at each other, and I suddenly felt sorry for Adgandestrius. Oldaric got up. 'I have a daughter, Albine, who will marry him,' he said, and pointed at Armin. 'She is also very fair, uncommonly wise, and healthy, with not even a bout of fever in her past. Can you afford a dowry?'

  Sigimer nodded, suspiciously. A dowry for a princess was high indeed. 'It will be arranged, and Armin accepts.' Armin did nothing, smiling like a skull would.

  Adgandestrius was up, his face incredulous as he shot a venomous look at Armin and stormed out. The older men laughed, tipping their horns happily to each other. Maroboodus toasted. 'To young hearts, broken in ways a sharpest spear could not.' Armin did not toast but looked down, his jaw rigid, humiliated, yet holding his peace at great effort.

  Oldaric smiled at Ebbe, who shrugged. 'I respect Adgandestrius, but Albine needs to marry for dowry and power.'

  Ebbe was nodding his head, uncaring. 'Adgandestrius has to grow some. If he wants Albine, he has to work it out for himself.'

  Sigimer nodded. 'And Armin here,' the Cherusci noble said, 'must accept Segestes will never accept him as Thusnelda's husband. Be that right or wrong.' Sigimer eyed Segestes with hostility. Segestes snorted but did not look up.

  Ebbe's keen, piercing eyes regarded Gernot and then me.

  I felt like a man going to be selected for a sacrifice, and I gulped instinctively. I sat still, Gernot's toe grinding purposefully onto my back. Ebbe nodded at Maroboodus, his face happy, having apparently made up his mind. 'Now, you and the Chatti, Maroboodus. I have a daughter, Gunda. She is a very calm, very wise girl.'

  Maroboodus nodded. Calm and wise and so not likely pretty. I hoped she looked like a wart-ridden hog, had a temper of an irate hog, and Gernot would suffer terribly for her. Maroboodus placed his scarred hand on Gernot's shoulder. I felt my fool of a brother get up to bow to Ebbe, but he was a drunken bastard and stumbled, trying to grab my shoulder. I saw my chance as I moved out of the way, only so much, but enough to tip him over. He sprawled over my wide shoulder with a scared bellow and a vile curse and landed on his face in the hay. I smoothed my ruffled hair back in place, keeping a stoic face as the drunken mule got on his feet in front of me.

  It was all enough to make me the one who was going to be married to the calm and wise Gunda.

  Ebbe gazed at Gernot, swallowed his evident disgust, and Maroboodus slumped as he guessed what was coming. 'I value my daughter very high. You value your fine boy, and I do not dispute his worth. However, since you tied yourself with the Cherusci, yourself, not your lesser boys, we reserve the right to choose our husband. So it is him,' he said proudly as a god and pointed a dooming finger at me.

  'He is no man!' Gernot shrieked unmanly. 'He is but a simple brute, who …'

  Ebbe slammed his horn on the table. 'He is smart enough to make a fool of you, boy, and he is my choice. He has strong character, plenty of pride but also intelligence in abundance to shut up when it is needed. What say you, Maroboodus?'

  My father's eyes glittered in indecision. 'I do not trust Hraban. If he is the one to marry Gunda, he will have terribly many responsibilities, far beyond his few capabilities. I … do not know.'

  Ebbe put his palms up. 'In that case, in a few short months' time, you send them both to us, and our wise vitka chooses, in the lands of the Chatti. We still prefer him, but if he fails, utterly? Then, Gernot. Perhaps.' Oldaric shook his head. They despised Gernot, and I loved them for it.

  Maroboodus nodded calmly, his keen mind redoing his plans. 'So, Hraban. You are half-betrothed. Get up, sit down, and enjoy the feast.' I did, wondering what had happened. Half-betrothed?

  Oldaric stood up. Despite his reservations, he was also caught up in the brightening mood of the formerly sober feast. He raised his old hands. 'So, if Rome is indeed going to try to take our deep lands, going to stay in free Luppia, then let her fear. Never have so many dangerous spears been raised to a worthy common cause. When the Matticati are scattered and weakened, we must devise a plan on how to move our men there in the spring, and …'

  Isfried got up, men quieted. 'When, Maroboodus, will I marry Gunhild?'

  Maroboodus was quiet for a while, long enough for the guests to start looking at each other. Armin, his face dark with anger, shifted his gaze the southern lord.

  Finally, Maroboodus nodded. 'I told you, Isfried, already. She needs some time to come to terms with some of the happenings of the past days. Soon, Isfried, my friend. Soon. The blood of Aristovistus will be yours.'

  Armin sneered. 'Is it not the father of the woman who gives her away? Not his warlord?'

  Maroboodus played with his mustaches. 'Yes. Balderich agrees, of course. In due time, Isfried, and very soon. How is Bark, my Lord?'

  Isfried opened his mouth, his animal-like eyes betraying distrust. Bark. Father was dangling Gunhild in front of the unhappy face of Isfried and would not release it until Bark was gone. Finally, reluctantly, Isfried took a horn of mead and raised it. 'So be it. Soon. After that, I give my oaths to you, Maroboodus. To spear-rending war, lords! Let them tremble!'

  They yelled, save for Segestes and Armin, and myself. I sat on Gernot's seat, forcing him to take a lesser one, and I ate his food and regretted I had not given him boar, but a girl came and served me. I was happy enough for few moments, thinking about Gunda, determined to talk with Adgandestrius about the way she looked. That night, amidst the calm revelry, Armin brooded. He went outside sullenly, and I saw him talking with a man as he stood there in shadows. I summoned Felix to me. He looked upset. 'What is it, cur?' I asked. 'You stepped on dung?'

  Felix growled. 'If I had, I would have eaten it. They have not fed me. I was going to stab a docile Cherusci horse, for they looked juicy. Then skin, gut, and eat it. That is what I was about to do.'

  'You get food at Euric's smithy, Felix, I see to it. Some simple cereal, perhaps raw barley. You look like a spoiled rotten piece of gristle. Now, stop moping,' I said, collecting my thoughts.

  'I'll eat the fat man's horse,' he said softly. 'And leave the bones in your hut.'

  'Shut up. What did Armin do outside?' I asked. 'He left just now.'

  'Oh, the god face? He went to have a piss. He is well hung, if you must know.'

  I spat. 'I do not want to know, you twisted bastard. Did I ask about that? Be gone!' I said, but saw Felix's eyes gleaming, his mouth screwed up in a smile. I growled at him, and he leaned closer.

  'He had company. That Catualda spoke with him, for a long time. It was an extended piss, Lord. Catualda is not well hung.'

  'Do not call me a lord. It makes me feel dirty. Catualda?' I looked across the tables, where Catualda was now sitting next to Isfried. They were talking in hushed tones, not happily, but with gestures that spoke of argument.

  'Armin, he also apologized to the enraged Chatti prince. The prince was coming for him with a quivering spear, but they ended up embracing each other. Jupiter knows what that was. Perhaps they are lovers?' Felix suggested lewdly, making an obscene motion with his hips.

  I snickered and slapped him. He scattered off. 'Euric's hall, Felix. He will feed you or beat you.'

  Catualda saw me staring at him and came over, gauging my mood. 'Marriage to a Chatti?' he asked, smiling uncertainly. 'High honor.'

  'I cannot help being handsome, Catualda. What are you talking to Isfried about?' I asked him neutrally, disliking him for having manipulated me.

  Catualda glanced at the sullen lord. 'Your father asks me to smooth the nerves of men who distrust hi
m. Paranoid Isfried and impossibly situated Armin are such men. That makes me busier than a Valkyrie after a great battle. Bero's death has made Isfried very difficult. Bark is insisting it was not the Romans who killed the vitka, and he is paranoid about that as well. He does not know who is false, who is honorable. Try to survive,' he said, leaving, but I stopped him.

  'I try, Catualda. You did well, with the business of changing your alliances. In fact, you changed them far before you were … inspired by my bravery, as you called it. Tell me, does such an act make one feel like a rodent?'

  'I do not know, Hraban,' he said with a cold smile. ‘Maybe you should just bear the shame in silence. I work for your father, and he trusts me. Do not annoy me overmuch.' He ripped his arm free and left in a huff. I disliked him.

  Maroboodus leaned over to me. 'What did he want?'

  I shrugged. 'He annoys me, and is ugly as a bloated trout.'

  Maroboodus snorted. 'Get over it, Hraban. So you cried in his deceitful arms, so what? He told you the truth.'

  'Ah, he told you about that,' I growled.

  'He gave you comfort for Bero and Balderich's crime, and perhaps he meant it, no matter if he worked for me already. Yes, he could have told you about our deal, but he is keen enough to know how to handle a fool like you. He has a position here, Hraban. He is trying to …'

  'Smooth over wrecked nerves, all save mine,' I snorted.

  He laughed. 'He does as I asked. Good.'

  'You trust him to work on such delicate nerves as Isfried's and Armin's?'

  'I told you; he is keen enough to handle such matters. He came to me, Hraban, and was key to killing the cursed priests and whittling down the enemy, giving information on Bero's simple plans. Now, everyone thinks the Romans killed the vitka, and that is how it will remain. I am a high lord of Marcomanni. I reward those who serve me very well. He did. You have a lot to prove, Hraban.'

  'I did serve your interests, or Isfried would sit in this feast as a guest of Bero's,' I told him softly, not looking at him. He grunted noncommittally. 'If I marry Gunda, the ring goes to me?' I asked him, knowing I was pushing my luck.

  He looked at me incredulously and then ran his fingers through his hair. 'You must be mad. Utterly, entirely out of your damned mind. No. You will hold it for the marriage, perhaps, but you heard the Cherusci. They will eat out of my filthy hands if I can keep the wild Suebi out of their much raided lands. And I can, mostly. That ring is a powerful thing, something Bero hunted for long years. Remember, Hraban, my father stole it. I took it to Rome. It is an elusive thing, that ring, and I would not think about it too often.'

  'I hear the Semnones and the Langobardi might respect the old myths, but what if they think this is not the real one, our ring? Surely any fool could ride around, looking high and haughty, hefting a fine ring, claiming to be son of Woden,' I asked in spite, and for a second or two, I was sure he was going to turn away in disgust, but he sighed.

  'The ring was given to Aska by Woden. A gift, to his fine, yet rebellious creation. So, Gothoni in the north, especially the ancient island of the Goth in Mare Suevicum as the Romans call it, bow to it, they know it by its looks over there. Gods have wooden and stone temples up there, and not these trees the common vitka adorn with silly totems. In time, men broke away from the frigid north and came south. They know its power, the old Suebi nations, for they were once all Gothoni. Semnones have myths and so do the Langobardi, and their old ones know this ring. It is hard to duplicate. It can give Cherusci peace from Suebi, free them to war on Rome.'

  I found myself enjoying the moment with Father.

  His calm, rumbling words and bearing were noble, and when not degrading me, he seemed like a lord of great fame, one of the heroes with generous nature and wise, keen words. He schemed like a devious sprit, he had tricked me foully, and called my mother a whore though perhaps he had not meant that, as he claimed. However, he was a hard man to hate when he gave you his time and full attention.

  He glanced at me and then put a hand on my shoulder. I saw Gernot's eyes go to small slits, and his face was ashen. Maroboodus rumbled. 'I admit, you have many qualities I had when I was your age. I was brutally whipped by a dutiful Roman soldier for not being able to obey the simplest orders when I had enlisted.' I nodded, not sure how to react to his steady hand. He saw it and squeezed my shoulder gently. 'Yes, I was brutal to you. I was. I am. I will be. I am a father more than a friend, and expect you to obey and grow, not cry and sulk. I am also a soldier, and if I punish my sons with a heavy hand, it is no different from what I have learned in my bloody past. I think you will benefit from it, too. Germani are too chaotic. Too wild.'

  I nodded, struggling. I wanted to hate him. Instead, I said, 'I understand.' I was miserable, but I could not help it. The sweet mead I drank, the warmth of the roaring fire, Gernot's miserable face? They all made me uncannily happy. The nightmares of terrible deeds, my loved ones who had died, the innocents I had slain all haunted me at nights and days. I needed a father, and someone to speak to me kindly, to make it all worth it. It had been the false Balderich and Bero who had given me such comfort, but Father was there then, holding my shoulder.

  I was running with the wind, and the wind changed directions chaotically, and I felt helpless. 'I will try to serve you, Father, if you will have me. I will prove myself. I will avenge the wrongdoings, and keep my previous oaths to you, out of free will. I only want Vago and Balderich dead, and your acceptance.'

  'And I,' he rumbled, happily, 'will do my best to repair the damage we have suffered.'

  That is all it took, and I loved him.

  He saw my sincerity and took his hand away, apparently reluctantly. He eyed Isfried, who was getting drunk. He noticed Armin talking with Tudrus the Older. 'Isfried is a problem,' he mused.

  I agreed. 'Gunhild would not enjoy him. Like she would not have enjoyed Catualda.'

  'Catualda?' he said, musing.

  'Bero meant to keep Gunhild for Catualda. Lucky for us, you found Felix, who helped you find the contract, this scroll from the Roman emissary. This is how you procured Isfried's help that night,' I said and saw him flinch. 'Is this not so?'

  'Quite. I knew Bero. He has always wanted Aristovistus's blood in his family. I am sure Gunhild's husband died at Bero's hands, not on a Matticati spear.'

  Isfried was gazing back at Maroboodus, and I guessed he was wondering of all he had erred by supporting Maroboodus. Bark's words were weighing heavily on his mind. Bero and Balderich's treason was evident, but had he acted yesterday, it could be him sitting where Maroboodus was sitting, having spent the night with Gunhild. He was undecided, unhappy to rely on Maroboodus. Father grunted as he looked away from Isfried. 'Serve me, Hraban, by suffering. I will make Gernot a simple law speaker, and thus elevate him even higher. He will be known in Hard Hill, and eyes will rest on him.'

  'Eyes will rest on him on his burning pyre,' I mumbled but shut up as Maroboodus grunted angrily.

  'You will not touch him again. He will have his uses. Everyone knows you hate each other, so you will serve Gernot like a sodden, angry dog.' I growled like one. He peered at me with a glinting warning in his eyes and spoke softly, elaborating his words. 'That way, Isfried will see you as a potential ally. It is a long game. You will see that a wise lord plans for patient solutions. You will get your high position eventually, perhaps Head Taker, and possibly, when I die, Draupnir's Spawn. You will serve miserably and suffer greatly, but I will reward you for it. All will see your misery, and it will bring us victory.'

  'This plan has already been tried, Father,' I hissed. 'You made me your enemy, and I betrayed you. Surely they won't …'

  He laughed softly. 'It worked once, and it is surprising how many times you can use such a simple plan. They think you chose me, and they know you expected to be rewarded, but instead, they see the spite and crude treatment you will suffer, and you will rue the day you betrayed Bero. They will take pity on you.'

  I looked at him prudently. 'You do not
intend to give Gunhild to him?' He laughed happily and shook his head. 'And you need to topple Isfried, take Bark's head?' He nodded resolutely. 'And Tear and Odo?' I said, resisting the excitement from showing on my face.

  He thrummed his strong fingers on the table, musing at the question. Finally, he shrugged. 'I have no vitka. They are making me powerful, and their words will make me seem honest. They are mine, to a degree, but mayhap I am theirs in equal measure, and it will end one day. For now, we will endure them. They will demand time and deeds from you, but we can see it does not get out of hand. I will dispatch of them when the time is right.' He was casually brutal and ultimately deceitful, but I did not care in this case.

  'Ishild?' I asked carefully.

  He grunted. 'Keep away from her, Hraban. I am no great believer in dark magic, but there is something creepily dangerous about her. She evidently likes you, but she will never disobey Odo and Tear. Do not let her pull you into their mad schemes.' I nodded, agreeing with his words, though I regretted losing and possibly hurting Ishild. He glanced at me with mirth. 'Besides. You have the spirited woman.'

  'Is Gunda spirited?' I asked him, interested.

  'I do not know. I was talking about Ermendrud,' he said with near perverse joy and took a swig of ale as his eyes laughed at my shock. He leaned on me. 'She is with Gunhild. She came to us yesterday, claiming you have ploughed her. I denied her words, threatened her with deep swamp, but I believe her. I would have ploughed her as well in your age, but it is dangerous, Hraban, to sow seeds for you never know if they start to sprout crops. A dangerous game, that. For her silence, she will expect a marriage, and now, you have the Chatti to think about.'

  'What shall I do?' I moaned and slumped like an empty sack on my seat.

  'You will enjoy yourself, Hraban, and find a way to get her out of your hands. She needs a good, solid man, so make her think some other man has better prospects. She will see you suffer humiliation like a mindless idiot, so she should not be hard to convince you are no favorite of mine. Even if you might be. Ploughing the pretty daughter of Fulch the Red in his very own bed! Jupiter’s hairy balls! You must be my mad son.'