Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Sorcha jerked to her feet in response to the guard’s words. She grasped her sword hilt. Fear wrapped its hands around her gut and squeezed.
Enemies?
Her gaze swept over the human debris from their celebration of the return of their trading boat from Gaul. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time!
Sorcha sprinted to the gate and squinted at the moon-dappled landscape. All she could discern was the jingle of harness and the rhythmic thud of cantering hooves. “Sound the alarm,” she commanded.
A raucous horn blared into the night.
Soon, bleary-eyed warriors staggered onto the ramparts, hastily buckling swords to their waists or clutching spears. All eyes were focused south, but Sorcha doubted they could see much in their befuddled state.
Scudding clouds freed the moon’s rays, illuminating the roadway. Four horses approached. Soon they would cross the stream before the fort.
“Stand ready,” Sorcha called to the Dun Creg warriors.
Spears were hefted and bows drawn.
Hooves sounded on the timber roadway that led to the causeway across the stream.
“Halt and declare yourself!” Sorcha ordered the riders.
The sounds of their approach stopped abruptly. “Greetings, Chieftain Sorcha.”
Lucius, here? Her heart leapt in her chest and then plummeted. Why? Was the Roman army close behind him?
At that moment, more clouds scurried from before the moon, sending bright beams of light over them all.
“And a welcoming party,” he called. “I’m honored.”
“Declare the purpose of your visit.” Her voice shook. She needed answers now. If it was to be a siege, they needed as much time as possible to prepare their defense and their escape route.
“We come in peace.”
“How many are you?”
“Two. My brother and me,” Lucius answered. Amusement sounded in his voice.
Adler. What was going on?
“Where is your army encamped?”
“Northeast of Mai Dun when we left it two days ago. We have ridden a long way. Maximus is exhausted. Open the gates and let us in. I will explain everything.”
She longed to trust him, but too many lives depended on her caution when dealing with an officer of the Roman army. “Dismount and approach the gates at a walk.”
They dismounted and crossed the causeway, coming to stand before the gateway, directly below Sorcha’s position on the platform above.
She could see his face now—haggard with tiredness while his battle-hardened body remained erect. Her heart went out to him. “Why are you here?”
“We seek refuge from the Roman army. We wish to pledge ourselves in service to you and to the protection of Dun Creg.”
What? “You have deserted and left your people?”
“Yes. I find I no longer wish to partake in the Empire’s plans for Britannia.”
A few of the warriors cheered. Lucius had some support amongst her men at least. The settlement’s acceptance of him might be possible.
New-found hope began to stretch like a waking cat within Sorcha. “Open the gates,” she called down to Maonos below. “Keep your weapons trained on them,” she ordered the warriors beside her. At her words, Lucius mouth widened into a satisfied grin.
The gates groaned open. Lucius and Adler led their horses through. The oak gates thudded closed again.
“Throw down your weapons,” Sorcha commanded. Their swords clunked onto the ground before them. “Take them,” she ordered Maonos. He hurried to comply.
“Except for the guards on the gateway, men, you are dismissed to your beds,” Sorcha told the warriors. “Maonos, please see to the horses.” She pointed at Lucius and Adler. “Follow me,” she said and led the way to her roundhouse.
Sorcha approached her mother and Garamaros where they waited before the roundhouse. They greeted Lucius warmly. “Shall we retire and talk with you tomorrow?” Alina asked.
“Please stay to hear what they have to say,” Sorcha said.
Inside the house, the central fire burnt low in its pit. “Be seated.” Sorcha filled two wooden bowls with lukewarm stew and passed them to the men.
Sorcha took her seat. “Eat, then tell us everything that happened from the time we parted at Dun Tren.”
The men scooped up the food as though they hadn’t eaten since their departure from the valley. What had happened to them?
When they finished, Sorcha passed them beakers of ale. Adler looked at the drink in confusion but followed his brother’s lead and drank the brew.
“Now, tell us,” Sorcha said.
Lucius related their journey to the marching camp near Mai Dun and his interview with the Legate.
The news that the Dumnone were capitulating, and the terms of their subjugation, giving them power to act on Rome’s behalf against the remaining Durotriges, filled Sorcha with fear.
“We need to continue to strengthen our defenses and we need more warriors.”
“If more Durotriges refugees arrive, we could re-occupy the Cantuc Hills forts, to improve our defensive network and ensure they aren’t annexed by the Dumnone,” Lucius suggested.
Adler remained silent, a frown wrinkling his forehead as he clearly struggled to understand the conversation.
“There is much to consider,” Alina said, “but now I think we need rest more than anything. Adler, you may sleep there.” She pointed at a pallet in an unoccupied sector of the house.
“You may both wash using water from the barrel outside.” Alina turned a meaningful look on Sorcha.
“I’ll let you organize Lucius’s accommodation. ”
Sorcha blushed. “As you wish, Mother.”
“Garamaros and I will retire to our roundhouse now,” Alina said.
Lucius led Alder outside to bath.
Alone in the roundhouse, Sorcha paced nervously. I thought I would never see him again. Now he is here and wants to stay, to protect our people. But can I trust him? A host of butterflies took flight in her stomach. She inhaled a deep breath to calm herself.
The men returned scrubbed clean and bare-chested. They still wore their trousers, but held their grimy tunics.
She pointed to their Roman tunics. “I’ll organize replacement clothes for you both in the morning.”
Adler nodded, probably without fully understanding, and trudged to his sleeping place.
Lucius stood before her, his shaggy hair damp from his ablutions, still bearded, because his dagger had been taken from him.
Sorcha’s heart fluttered in her chest. Her attraction to him hadn’t died. If anything, it burned stronger.
“Why are you really here?” she asked. She still had doubts. Was his story true, or had he been sent to spy on them? The survival of her people was everything to her.
“I told you why.”
“No, you told me what happened with Vespasian, but you haven’t told me why you have turned your back on the Roman army, the Empire, and your future as a powerful man in that world.”
He reached forward to take her hand.
Sorcha shook him off. “I want the truth, not seduction.”
Lucius dropped his hand to his side, his wrinkled brow revealing his confusion. “I have finally freed Adler.”
“Freed him? What? She blinked. “He was your slave?”
Lucius looked over her shoulder as though ashamed to meet her gaze.
“He is my half-brother… but he was also my slave. I almost lost him once when my father sold him as a child. I never wanted to lose him again, so I didn’t free him when I could have at any time since I became an adult. I bitterly regret it.”
Sorcha took a few moments to digest the revelation. “I’m glad you’ve freed Adler. Your brother should never have been your slave. That was unworthy of you.”
“You’re right. I realize that now. I only hope that Adler will forgive me one day.”
“I suspect he has already.”
“Why do you say that?”
She raised an eyebrow. Lucius really was obtuse at times. “He is here with you. By following you to Dun Creg, he gives up everything he knows to enter a new world with different values and ideas, one he hasn’t experienced as you have. He must love you a great deal.”
Lucius’s mouth pursed, and his gaze turned up to the thatched roof for a few moments. “I hope you are correct.”
She snorted. Yes, obtuse. “So, why are you here?” That was the question she really wanted answered.
“I no longer wish to return to the Roman world. I realize that being a Roman citizen is no longer important to me. Fighting for the survival of Dun Creg, far from the tentacles of Rome, is. The life I had here with you and your people was far better than the life I led in the army.” He swept his arm in an all-encompassing gesture.
“It involved love and compassion and a shared sense of achievement that didn’t involve the conquest of others.
I value the community this group of survivors has created.
I didn’t feel that as part of the machinery of Rome, or even as part of my own family. ”
So it was Rome and his estrangement from his family that he was escaping, and this was as good a place as any?
“Ah, I understand now.” She tried to beat down the disappointment that rose in her chest and pointed to an empty pallet near Adler. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
Lucius stepped in front of her as she moved towards her own sleeping quarters. “That is not all.”
Hope flickered in her again. “Tell me, then,” she challenged.
“You must know, I’ve come back to be with you—here at Dun Creg or anywhere else you go. I want to be by your side. Always, amica mea.”
Sorcha’s heart swelled with emotion. She searched his eyes for the truth… and saw nothing but sincerity and love in his steady gaze. Could she believe him? She wanted to, so much it hurt.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
She nodded. “I do.”
He raised an eyebrow, as though to elicit more explanation.
“I have some doubts, but wouldn’t you?” she added.
He shrugged. “Perhaps. I will prove myself to you. Acta non verba. Give me time to convince you. I won’t let you down.”
“All right.” Hope was a warm glow in her chest. She wanted to be convinced. Her future happiness—and she suspected her clan’s future—depended on the truth of his words.
“That man—Lucius Gallus Antonius—is dead. Now, I am just Lucius.” He turned to his pallet.