Адриан Голдсуорти - Brigantia

Acco laughed softly. ‘Blood of king, blood of queen,’ he whispered as they left. Crispinus turned as if he had heard. ‘Do you remember those words, Flavius Ferox? The one who said them was wrong and yet right for the hour has come. Rest a while, before you both set out on a new path.’

Again the druid laughed.

‘WHAT ARE YOU doing?’ Claudia Enica’s voice broke the long silence, even though she spoke in a whisper. They were in one of the side rooms off the main chamber, the roof so low that Ferox felt his hair brushing the stones if ever he sat up straight. He could see nothing at all, for without any light they were surrounded by a blackness deeper than any night.

‘What are you doing?’ she repeated, her tone angry. They had been placed on the damp floor, back to back and a little apart, before Acco’s men left and took the torch with them. Ferox had listened for what seemed a long while until he was sure they had gone, before sitting up and shuffling towards her. There was no way to unlock the manacles, but they allowed him a little freedom to move his hands and he wondered whether he could untie Enica’s wrists. His fingers felt smooth warm skin. She shuddered, saying nothing at first, and he eased along, pushing up the hem of her tunic until he found a knot. It felt too small, although maybe that was because his fingers were clumsy.

‘Trying to get us free,’ he whispered.

‘Huh!’ No one could express disgust quite like the Brigantes. To display the same passion as a Roman Claudia would have had to spit on the floor in public. She was silent for a moment. ‘Would you like me to bring my arms to your hands?’

Ferox remembered the slim thongs tying the young woman’s little bathing pants. ‘Sorry.’

‘So are you planning on taking your hands off my arse?’

‘Sorry.’ Ferox drew back and with some wriggling Enica thrust her tied arms so that they brushed against his hands. He searched for the knot, found something much larger and felt for an end to the cord.

‘Can you tell the difference now?’

‘I am sorry.’ There was a piece of rope sticking out of the knot, but it was so tight that at first he could not move it at all.

‘Does he mean to kill us?’ Enica asked. ‘The talk of blood was not encouraging. Though I am not yet a queen and you are certainly not a king.’

‘Silures don’t have kings. Not really. And I am just a centurion.’

‘My brother means to be king. And more in time. He sees his road leading to the Senate and even beyond to the imperial purple. Acco appeared when he was born, or so he claims. Grandmother would not have wanted him, but she was ill, and father always sought to learn about the future. My brother claims that the druid said his destiny was to rise like a burning star in the night sky, climbing higher than any of his ancestors. Big brother believes that includes Caesar himself.’ She shifted slightly and Ferox wondered whether she was shaking her head. ‘He is not very bright. Takes after father.’

‘Acco told me that it is my destiny to kill him.’

She chuckled. ‘Well, it might help us out. He does mean to kill us, doesn’t he?’

‘Probably.’ Blood of king, blood of queen. The Stallion and his men had chanted the phrase and used it in their incantations, planning to make a royal sacrifice on Samhain two years ago. ‘Did Lepidina tell you about the attempts to abduct her?’ Her husband was a king of the Batavians as well as prefect of Rome, which meant that the priest had considered her to be a queen. Ferox had managed to protect her, but had failed to save Vegetus’ wife who was mistakenly taken instead.

‘A little. Thank you for not hiding the truth.’ She chuckled again, and soon the chuckle became a laugh. ‘Poor brother, he thinks he has the armour of our grandfather.’

Ferox had managed to loosen the knot slightly. ‘He does not, because you have.’ He felt her stiffen. ‘You paid Rufus and the others for them, and then watched as they rode off with the girl.’

‘It was unfortunate, but I saw no other way.’ Her voice was soft.

‘Then you were the one who met them and rode off carrying the spoils. And who ambushed the two men I sent after you.’

‘I did not know who they were and could not take a chance. Domitius wanted the helmet and the mail. Some folk loyal to me were in debt to him and to Narcissus. They were to be payment for this year and the next and would give time to gather enough to pay the rest.’ She laughed again, grimly this time. ‘I knew who he really is, but that only made it more important to help my people. The faith of the Brigantes.’ She shrugged as well as their bonds allowed. ‘I switched the helm and armour with the ones brother is now carrying away. The real helmet is a lot plainer. I thought it odd at the time that Acco did not realise the trick. Now I guess he knew all along.’

‘Perhaps he did not care?’ Ferox suggested. ‘Do you have them still?’

‘They are safe. You have stopped work, centurion. Have you given up, or are you poised to grope me again?’ Ferox resumed his task. ‘Good. We may not have much chance of getting out, but any chance is better than none.

‘Narcissus had promised to give me the only record of one loan made to a chieftain and to cancel the debt. In return I had some trinkets belonging to grandmother that he wanted. Nothing very interesting or valuable, but they were what he wanted.’

‘And you met him at Vindolanda and found him already dead,’ Ferox interrupted. The knot refused to come free and almost felt tighter again. ‘He was stuffed in the latrine, and you, noble lady and princess of the Brigantes, jumped down into the filth and searched the corpse.’

‘You have worked it out, then? Yes, I wanted that papyrus. And found it as well, so for all his greed he had at least been honest about that. One of my people is released from a great burden.’

‘And you heard Cocceius coming, so ripped open your tunic and flashed your breasts at him to make sure he did not look closely at your face.’ Slowly, Ferox felt the end of the rope work free.

‘Was it that poor boy?’ Enica was not much older than the dead Batavian soldier, but easily assumed a superiority. ‘I wondered why he kept staring at me. Still, most men do – even the ones who don’t think I notice, centurion!’ She sighed. ‘Poor, poor fellow. He remembered, I suppose, and that is how you know.’

‘Did you kill Caratacus?’ She pulled her arms away. ‘Don’t be foolish. This is no time to argue. I merely asked a question.’ She relaxed, and painfully slowly he started to pull the knot until it began to loosen.

‘No.’ Enica spoke loudly. ‘I did not, neither would I have done save at direst need. I liked him, and did not know he was in danger until news came of his murder. I am not the only woman in the world, although I dare say by comparison the rest must fade away.’ Her heart did not sound as if it was in the self-mockery. ‘It was another who killed and stole at Bremesio, and another who went to Rome, murdered the old king, and then brought the torc to Domitius. She and her thugs served him and were well paid. Her name was Achillea.’

‘Was?’

‘We had a disagreement,’ she said mildly. ‘It was after I had saved you from the fire. A worthless deed, since it has brought me no thanks, and I wonder now why I bothered. After that I found her on a ship in the harbour. She died. One of her men joined her. The other dived into the river and so escaped.’

Part of Ferox felt revulsion at the thought of a woman killed by the sword, until he wondered whether it was so unlucky if another woman did the killing. Given that Enica now lay captive and likely to be sacrificed in the next few hours, then perhaps it was.