Jack Whyte - The Sorcer part 2 - Metamorphosis

beast. "How could it fail to? But I am a bishop, Merlyn, and this is a horse fit to bear a king. Could you not find a lesser animal for me?"

"I could indeed, but aren't you being proud again? This one came straight to meet me when I went looking for a mount for you. “I hesitated for a moment, and then went on impulsively. "He even matches you in colour, mane to beard. Here, let me help you up. "

Germanus laughed again, heartily, then leaned a hand on my shoulder and placed his left foot in my cupped hands. I straightened my knees and raised his foot to the level of the stirrups, where he swung his right leg across the horse's back.

"His name's Pegasus, " I said. "No wings, I fear, but the correct colour, and he's swift, but gentle. " I went to Germanicus and swung myself up onto his back, seeing that Tress was already mounted and moving ahead of us to where our troopers sat. When I turned to Germanus, he was sitting erect, gazing at the lines in admiration.

"Magnificent, Merlyn, quite magnificent. Rome never saw the equal of these. " He paused, his very seat indicating that the military man was reincarnate in him now. "May I inspect them?"

"That would be an honour, Bishop, but one they have earned. Yes, that would please them, and me, greatly. "

"So be it. Ride with me. "

Thus, for the next half of an hour, the troopers of Camulod stood to be reviewed and inspected by a legate of Rome.

When it was over, and the troops had been dismissed to return to the encampment, I rode knee to knee with my visitor, explaining to him that we had brought comfortable wagons with us, fitted with padded benches so that he and his bishops could ride to Verulamium in comfort, rather than walking as they had on the previous occasion. We spoke of many things on that short ride, but we were close , beset with people all around and I knew that I would have to wait some time before I might have an opportunity to discuss with him the things that were most prominent in my mind. So it was with great relief that I heard him say, just as we rode into camp, that he was looking forward to, spending time alone with me, away from the duties of his bishopric and his current mission, and that he would set; aside some time to speak with me the following day, once we had completed the first leg of our journey to the north.

Our camp was laid out, as it always was, in the fashion of the traditional Roman military encampments. For this; occasion, however, with the feeding of close to fifteen hundred personnel, I had ordered the quartermaster cooks to set up a feeding area beyond the camp itself, and the smells of spit roasted sheep and venison were carried on the gentle breeze to every corner of the camp. I led the way through the centre of the camp to my own quarters and those of my senior commanders. I had ordered three additional tents set up beside my own, for Germanus's use; the two tents flanking his own were commodious enough to house as many of his personal staff as he might choose to place there. I led him directly to his own tent and we dismounted, handing our reins to the troopers who were waiting there to take our mounts. As I turned to leave him, however, Germanus caught me by the wrist and held me there until the troopers had gone; then he cocked his head to look at me.

"Your officers, those whom you introduced to me. I can't recall their names, but they were tribunes, centurions and: decurions. I found that strange.".

"How so? Why should it be strange?"

"Those are Roman rankings. "

"So? That is unimportant, Bishop. They are military titles. "

"Call me Germanus when we are alone. Why Roman? You are not Roman, are you?"

"No, we're not, we're British, but our roots are Roman nonetheless. "

"Hmm. What do you call your officers?"

I blinked at him. "Forgive me, but what do you mean, what do I call them? They're my officers, I call diem by their names. "

Germanus shook his head, smiling now. "No, you should forgive me for being so unclear. But the historian in me knows that no Roman tribune was a cavalry officer by birth and training. The same applies to the centuriate. They were infantry to a man. Decurions were cavalry, but all your officers are cavalry. "

I was still confused. "So? What are you saying?"

Now he shrugged. "I suppose I am saying that, if you are determined to adhere to Romanness, then you should adhere strictly to that bent. The founding fathers gave their name to the Patrician order in Rome, and all others were Plebeians. Later, another order emerged, between Patricians and Plebeians, and to mark their rank, the state awarded them horses, fed from the public purse. Thus they became Equestrians, known to the world today as Knights. All of your men are equestrian, therefore your officers deserve the title of Equestrians. You should call them Knights, my friend, and find some way of distinguishing them in the eyes of other men, not merely your soldiers. "

"Knights? You mean—" My mind was racing now, seeing a host of possibilities. "You mean we should found a new order of nobility? Within Camulod?"

"Why not? Perhaps not an order of nobility, per se— nobility is such an abstract word and all too frequently misleading—but certainly a new order of military excellence. From the appearance of your troops today, I would say Camulod has come of age sufficiently to honour its own in some such signal way. It was merely a thought, but it might be worth considering. It could provide incentive for your aspiring warriors. "

"Aye, it could indeed. But how would we mark such an honour? We all have horses already, and the Colony looks after them. "

"Who knows?" Germanus shrugged his shoulders. "No doubt something will come to you. As I say, it was a mere thought. Think on it further, my friend. God will guide you, of that I am sure. Ah, and on that thought He now guides me. Here comes Ludovic, my secretary and my personal cross to bear throughout this life. Pardon me, for I must speak with him before we take the time to eat. "

I left him to the attentions of the corpulent, pink faced cleric who came bustling over to claim him and went looking for Tress, my mind in a turmoil with the idea he had stirred up in me so quickly. I had to share it with someone, and she was first and foremost in my mind.

We talked about it while we ate, and Tress grew nearly as excited as I was, her nimble mind perceiving almost from the first the exciting possibilities that founding such an order might present, were we to approach it properly. By the end of that afternoon, when Germanus was deeply involved with his British bishops in a session that would last long into the night, I had mentioned the idea to all my closest associates. None of them, however—and I was saddened to note this— appeared to see in it the potential that had screamed itself into my mind and Tressa's. Even Shelagh merely blinked her lovely, long lashed eyes and said little. I covered my disappointment and lowered the intensity of my enthusiasm, fearing to embarrass any of them, but the idea would not lose its resonance.

That night I awoke long before dawn with a vision in my mind, a vision that might well have been a dream. I saw Arthur, years older than he was, holding Excalibur in front of him as he stood within a ring of shining young men, all of them helmed and uniformly armoured and gazing at him in love and admiration. I sat up in bed in the darkness and concentrated upon what I had seen, drinking in the brightness and the light that surrounded this assembly until it faded from my memory, and then I lay back down and vainly tried to go back to sleep.

FOURTEEN

I was up and abroad well before dawn the next morning, but by the time I emerged from my tent the business of breaking camp was already well in hand. Indeed, it had been the noises from the horse picket lines and the sounds of wagons being loaded that had driven me from my cot. I washed quickly in cold water at the communal ablutions area and foraged a cold breakfast for myself in the camp kitchens, then spent the next few hours touring the encampment, supervising the preparations for departure.