Адриан Голдсуорти - Brigantia

‘You were with her when she died.’

How did she know that? Ferox had been the only Roman in that desperate fight on the clifftop. Vindex had arrived later, and not really known who the Mother was. Ferox had never said much to anyone about the woman and her pupils. He was not quite sure why; it just felt as if their world should remain secret, a living memory of the old world of heroes, before the Romans came. ‘I was,’ he said at last. ‘We were losing. There were just too many of them and they kept coming. She knew the price of breaking her oath, but did it for her children, and it saved them.’ That was only half-true. Vindex, Longinus and the others had come to their aid and the main force of Romans was on its way. Some of them might have lasted until that help arrived. ‘She killed and died because of it.’

‘She was special, even among the long line of Mothers back to the beginning.’ Enica’s voice had a reverence Ferox had not heard before. ‘Brigita of Hibernia may be another.’ The solemn face broke into a smile. ‘You are surprised? The whispers of the Mother reach her children wherever they are. For our whole lives we are bound to her and each other.

‘Brigita was coming to the end of her time of training there when I arrived. An older one is given as a guide to the newcomer, and I was bound to her. She was…’

‘A tough bitch.’ There was enough sheer admiration in his tone for her to nod. A queen of a Hiberian tribe, Brigita had been abducted by a band of deserters from the army, the same ones who had taken Sulpicia Lepidina. Ferox led the rescue, and then watched as the queen fought alongside his men. When it was over, she turned her back on her tribe and homeland to become the new Mother.

‘She was hard on me, very hard, and so I learned well.’ She lifted up her right leg and spun so that she was sitting in the saddle as if it was a chair, facing him. The horse did not stir and her balance was perfect. ‘You don’t often swear, do you? I hear that is the way with Silures.’

‘Waste of good anger. But these days I seem to curse a lot more.’ He snorted with laughter. ‘I must be turning into more of a Roman.’

‘To live in two worlds at once.’

Ferox nodded. ‘I guess in that we are alike. You are young, though, and I know you were educated in Gaul, so how did you find the time to go north?’

‘My mother – my real mother – decided, and father did as he was told. They sent me to Lugdunum when I was eight and then later Massilia to improve my Greek and gain understanding of the philosophers.’ She shook her head. ‘Very dull old men, most of whom have never lived and will never live, but love to talk.’

‘Unlike the Brigantes.’

‘We talk, it is true. You Silures should try it sometime. It is very freeing. So I learned, and they condescended to say that I was quite bright for a little girl. So I smiled as if I was proud, and made a joke about Epicurus, but made sure to get the details of the story slightly wrong so that they could feel secure in their wisdom. Soon I was nearly fourteen and it was clear I would not be a girl for much longer. The features your friend so admires appeared overnight. Well, began to show anyway. My tutor sent word home, and my parents whisked me away less I be debauched by fellow pupils or master. As if any of those fools had a chance! Pigs and apes the lot of them, and all so very stupid. They brought me home and then sent me to the Mother, to learn and to stay chaste. A son and daughter are not permitted to lie together,’ she explained. ‘Three years on and the Mother told me that I was ready to go back. I knew it too, although I feared being made to take a husband on my return.

‘Thankfully, my parents sent me to Rome instead, to “complete my education”.’ She snorted scornfully, and the grey horse shook its head in surprise. Without shifting from her awkward, sideways posture, she cooed to the animal and it calmed. She even crossed her legs and somehow remained balanced. ‘What a place. You have been there, I know. So many people, so many temptations and vices. Thus Claudia was born. Yet I had a guide and she steered me through. What is it Caesar said, like a helmsman avoiding a reef. Though if I recall he was speaking of oratory.’

‘So I understand.’

‘Do you, or are you just pretending? Half of life seems to be about pretending, doesn’t it? Not making others feel uncomfortable. In the old tales the heroes boast all the time and parade their prowess. I sometimes wonder whether wisdom is about hiding who you really are and what you are capable of doing.’

‘Yesterday you killed two men. At the amphitheatre you killed two more. From the ease with which you did it I doubt that they are the first. Now you ride like a centaur and speak of hiding your skills.’

She stuck her tongue out at him like a child. ‘Half of life, I said. And here there is no one to see, apart from you. Even so, those are just a few of my talents. There are lots of others. I can stand on one hand with my feet straight up in the air, but I hardly ever do. Especially when I’m wearing a dress. And if Vindex were here he would no doubt have muttered “Pity” at that point. And I can juggle.’ She frowned. ‘Your seriousness can be a bore, do you know that? Try acting as if you are entranced by my wit. I well see that my beauty stirs you.’ She glanced down, and before he knew it he did the same. There was nothing to see, as he should have known. ‘Got you,’ she said, and stuck out her tongue again.

‘Who was your helmsman?’

‘Oh, back to business. Can’t you guess? I thought you were supposed to be good at rooting out the truth.’ He said nothing. ‘Then perhaps if I say that my family’s old friendships and the emperor’s favour recommended me to the house of the Sulpicii?’

Ferox laughed and once he started he could not stop. Claudia Enica watched him with the expression of an indulgent parent. For a while they rode side by side, until she hooked her right leg back over the saddle, then pushed on the horns and jumped, placing her boots on the saddle. She stood upright, arms straight out on either side. The grey walked on, apparently oblivious.

‘Clever.’

‘Not really. Clever would be if the horse could stand on my back. Still, at least it has brought an end to your yokel-like merriment. As you have guessed, I met Sulpicia Lepidina four years ago and we got on from the start. I think she found it a pleasant change from conversation with the buffoons in her family. She was not married then, and her brother was busy getting exiled, while her father drank too much, made unwise investments and generally wasted the family’s wealth. Frankly she needed company. She took me in hand, refined my manners, we talked for days about clothes and then went shopping, came home and talked even more. Better yet she sneaked me into the local ludus. Of course they thought two noblewomen were only there for a bit of rough. You know what some are like. Personally, I could not see anything very appealing about muscle-bound and scarred heavies, but each to his own. One tried it on, so I slid his knife out of its sheath, gave him a cut on the arm and then had the point at his throat ready to press. After that they were all lambs, and they let me train and taught me the curved sword and more than a few tricks of the arena.’

‘Sulpicia Lepidina did not join you?’ For all his surprise, Ferox found the story all too easy to believe. The lady was never one to be bound by convention and clever enough to hide it. Still, the thought of her handling a sword was unlikely.

‘She just watched. I made her laugh, you see. She did not have much to cheer her in those days. She kept a couple of the bigger household slaves with us in case of trouble, but there wasn’t any need. She charmed them. You know how she can, and I amused them, and they could see that I was good. The lanista even wanted me to be in a show fight at the games!’ She slid down, smacking into the saddle and making the grey bound forward. ‘Good boy,’ she said, stroking its ears.