Chapter 8 #2
“He has told me the sequence of events used for a Roman siege. And he believes that the Mai Dun siege would be underway by now, and once begun the Romans will not give up.”
“Never?”
“Not according to him. It becomes a matter of honor to them. They must break those within the fort and punish them, for all to understand the might of Rome and the consequences if they resist it.”
“Have they no honor?” she asked, her voice shrill.
“Their idea of honor is not the same as ours,” he replied.
“Obviously.” The customary rage she felt when she thought of her father’s death, and the destruction the Romans had brought, bubbled like boiling pitch through her veins. She took her mother’s arm and strode toward the chieftain’s roundhouse. Her brothers followed.
Tonight, Sorcha’s aunt sat beside Alina rather than her husband.
Sorcha shamelessly eavesdropped on their conversation.
“You honor us with your presence, Rigana,” Alina said.
“My chance to talk with you has finally arrived, sister. This is your last night with us, is it not?” Her usual haughty look was softened for a moment as she looked into Alina’s eyes.
Alina returned a fond look.
They chatted about some inconsequential matters until the king’s gaze no longer rested on them. When he began to converse with his high druid, Rigana lowered her voice. Sorcha leaned closer under the guise of filling her beaker with wine, but couldn’t hear their whispered conversation.
Sorcha’s mother kept her eyes lowered to the food before her. When Rigana finished talking, Alina nodded and their conversation returned to its previous volume and general nature.
At meals-end, Alina delivered a warm leave-taking to the king. “We leave at dawn tomorrow, so we will bid you farewell now and thank you for your hospitality and the refuge you are providing to the Mai Dun people.”
“Sister, you are very welcome,” Bledyos responded. “Tomorrow, I ride out early to hunt, so I will not be present for your departure. It is fitting we part cordially now.”
Alina bowed her head to Bledyos in acknowledgement.
Sorcha and her family headed for their temporary encampment as usual. When they had walked beyond the last roundhouse of the Dun Cam people, Alina halted her offspring with a hand on her youngest son’s arm. “Fetch Garamaros, quickly,” she commanded Munganos.
“Mother, what is going on?” Sorcha asked, keeping her voice low.
Alina squeezed Sorcha’s arm and kept walking, all the while her gaze flitted around their surroundings.
The craftsman joined them as they arrived at their campfire.
“My children, we must swiftly and quietly pack everything, ready for our departure at dawn,” Alina said in a hushed voice.
“Why?” Sorcha asked.
“Bledyos intends to ambush us tomorrow morning on the roadway leading to the turnoff for the northwest and seize the Roman.”
“How do you know?” Sorcha persisted.
“My sister told me. She overheard him planning the ambush with his warriors.”
“Should we be ready to fight them?” Maonos asked.
“Fight his warriors?” Sorcha shook her head. “We wouldn’t win.”
“Rigana told me that Bledyos holds firm to our Celtic law that forbids him to harm us while he has offered us protection here. And he knows he will have to fight us to take Lucius,” Alina answered.
“But once we leave his protection tomorrow, there is no such restraint,” Alina said.
“He will track us down and demand we relinquish our prisoner to him.
If we resist, he will take Lucius by force and with impunity.
There was a collective gasp from Sorcha’s brothers. She gritted her teeth. As Sorcha suspected, her sneaky uncle could not be trusted. “We need to pre-empt his plan,” she said.
Garamaros cleared his throat. “I suggest Maonos and Sorcha take the prisoner over the ramparts tonight and get well ahead of us. That way, when we are stopped by Bledyos tomorrow, we can say the Roman escaped once we got into the woods and that Maonos and Sorcha are tracking him,” he said, as he cast his gaze around the group.
“They should head across the farmland to the woods that lie to the south and then head westward to the trackway that leads to the Cantuc Hills. We will head south on the trackway until we reach the track that leads to our northwest territories.”
As much as Sorcha wanted to disagree because it was Garamaros’s plan, she could see no fault in it.
“You need to be ready to leave as soon as the gates open at dawn. Harness our mounts to the wagons so no one notices Maonos and I are not riding them. Let’s hope they don’t count heads and find that two of us and the prisoner are missing,” Sorcha said.
“We brothers look very similar. If we leave Sorcha’s chariot here and the boys move around a lot on their mounts, maybe no one will miss me,” Maonos added.
“Won’t they see the Roman is absent, and Sorcha?” Alina asked
“If anyone asks, he’s sick and trussed up in the wagon with Sorcha nursing him, because he would slow us down if we made him walk,” Garamaros said. He looked around the group for agreement.
Sorcha nodded her assent and the others followed. They could collect her chariot at some time in the future.
“Anything not already packed on our wagon, load it now. Quietly,” Alina said.
“I’ll provide the Roman with different trousers so he looks like a Durotriges. We’re about the same height,” Garamaros said.
“We should leave as soon as possible. Do you think the Roman will resist?” Maonos asked.
“Surely he wouldn’t be that stupid?” Sorcha said.
“Perhaps you should go with Maonos, Garamaros, as you can speak his language?” Alina suggested.
“Garamaros’s absence from our group would be too obvious,” Sorcha said. “I can communicate with the prisoner now—a little. And if he doesn’t understand my words, he’ll understand my dagger.” She tapped the weapon at her waist.
The others murmured their assent.
“I’ve packed my wagon already,” Garamaros said. “I’ll explain to Lucius that he needs to comply with you and Maonos or he risks being tortured and killed by Bledyos.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sorcha said. “I must improve my language skills.”
Garamaros raised an eyebrow, as though he didn’t quite believe her reason.
When they reached the prisoner, Sorcha prodded him awake with her foot.
They had to get the Roman away from Dun Cam without being caught, but this whole plan relied on his compliance.
What were the chances that he would use the opportunity to escape?