Arthur II; Artorius; The Legend and Myth Chapter 3 & 4

3.

The lady dressed in the plain dirty smock stirred the contents in the big pot. She had dropped in the scraps from the family cooks and there were the growths they picked up along the walk kicking at the mudded trails dug up the wagon wheels. It was her life as a slave for over a year. She was picked up during a raid at the village on the eastern side. She was with her mother then. It started so fast and before she could run, she was captured. Since then, she was taken into the camp, treated like dirt before she was made to stand on the auction block.

The slave was sold for one denarius. 

Her new owner was the Augustus.

It was not beauty they needed her for. She was past her prime. They won’t even ravish her or auction her. She was not sure but they kept her busy doing the works. She did fight or escape for she was sure she will be rescued one day. She also knew when to fight and when to yield. Her name was Igraine and born with royalty blood. Her breed knows when to bid their time.

“Hey, lady!” The lady heard the call but she ignored it. She continued with the stirring. The hand that gabbed her arm was hard and tight. “I am calling you.”

Igraine looked up at the one holding her arm. The figure was the keeper of the slaves; a fat frame covered in the knee length tunic held loosely with the waist belt that holds the dagger.

“I heard you, Alain. What do you want of me?” Igraine glared at the keeper. “If I stopped the stirring, the broth will go bad and the others will have nasty words to say with you.”

“I….” Alain somehow feared the lady although he had punished her with the whip and the stick but the lady held a stance which he felt intimidated. He had seen it among the witches and he was unsure if she was one.

“My Lord asked for his hot bath. Pass your chore to Alison.” Alain told Igraine. “And be quick about it.”

Soon Igraine held up the bucket to pour the hot water into the tub. She heard the tent flaps moved but she was not looking back. She moved her hand to the water in the tub to check the suitability.

“It’s not the same like back then.” Igraine heard the comment. She knew the voice. It was an old one and from there, she straightened up and moved to place the bucket to the side. She heard then the next comment.

“Do you know we are at the Wall?” Igraine paused in her works while the other was still talking. “I thought you want to know.”

“I do, My Lord.” Igraine replied. “I do know my own land.”

“Igraine, how can I make it up to you?” The arms went around Igraine’s waist. “I did not know. It was all…”

“A mistake? The almighty Lord Pendragon made a mistake.” Igraine laughed. “I am truly sad if age have eroded your mind.”

“I am truly…” The other named Pendragon replied. It was then Igraine pulled away from the man. She turned to face him before smacking him on the face.

“Don’t be coy with me. This is not the first…” Igraine stared at him. “She may be …”

“I know. That’s why I came back…” Pendragon was cut off.

“You came back? You left me with the bandits and then auctioned to the Augustus. Who are they? Friends of yours?” Igraine snapped at the other. “You had me kidnapped from my …village to bring me back here. That’s a long trip for me.”

“I needed you. I would had come earlier but I was away. When I knew, I told the Augustus to ransom you.”Lord Pendragon replied.

“Some allies you have. I was ransomed and kept as a slave.” Igraine spat at the other. “Let me go back to …”

“You can’t. The village is …. No more. The Vikings done it.” Pendragon told the lady. “I only knew when I returned here.”

“I liked your tales. From my village to my rescuers.” Igraine replied. “Would it be the length of this cursed wall?”

“No. Lord Meleagant have released you back to me. I am here to take you back to my castle.” Lord Pendragon told her. “We will raise our children there.”

“On one term, Lord Pendragon. The Augustus will suffer for my indignity.” Igraine told him. “Now leave me. I will take the hot bath and get me fresh clothing.”

It was also a fresh start for the Meleagant family who were looking at the lush lands before. Lord Meleagant sat there on the chair facing the long table laid out with the foods and drinks under the huge tent. His son, Young Meleagant sat to his right holding the goblet of wine.

“Son, we have come a long way to reach here/” The Lord looked to his son. “Here we will make our new home. A new castle and household of slaves, with land providing us the revenue to grow the army of ours.”

Lord Meleagant have a small army of twenty men who had followed him from across the channel of sea. His previous home was destroyed by the Normans he betrayed to Rome. It was from Rome that he requested the parcel of lands across the channel. A new beginning to his family. Once he had a bigger army, he will return to Normandy and reclaimed his old land there.

“I dread the land here, father. It’s desolate and cold.” The younger Meleagant lament on the surrounding. “I liked our…”

“It will be back to us soon, my son. Our stay here may be short and in time, we will make our treasury piled with gold.” Lord Meleagant assured his son. “Here we are not alone. We have the Romans to assist us. We are protected by the wall here. Like the one further south of us, Hadrian Wall. It prevented the barbarians from invading the land. This one will do the same.”

“I was told but the slaves said the blood of the slain have cursed the wall.” The young Meleagant looked to the looming wall at the far distance. “I…”

“You are a warrior’s son. What is a splash of blood to one like you. You will be great one day. You will marry a noble daughter and owned many more tracts of land. The wall is just a … piece of land to you.”

4.

Gaheris watched his brother rode out following Percival. He had wanted to ride out too but then he saw the slave signalling him. He knew the slave and took the message. His direction was opposite.

The tent was not as big as the Primus but it had a fire going which was what Gaheris was looking forward to then. He dismounted at the tent and handed the reins to the slave. He took his way past the tent flaps and smiled at the family facing him.

“Legionnaire, we are having supper. Do join us.” The head of the Augstus invited the young Legionnaire. It was rare for a Legionnaire to be seen in the company of a noble family from Rome. Gaheris saw the vacant seat among the five at the table. The food and drinks on the table were few but it was a relief from the camp’s food.

“We are simple here.” Lucius Augustus formerly a noble from Rome, have helped many to the Senate but his days were over. He chose to retire from Rome, and Britanica then seems like a good choice.

“The land of barbarians and druid? You must be mad in your old age.” Augustus peers have sounded to him. “Retire down south to the beaches where the sun shines daily. Or to the dark continent. There are plenty of lands for grab.”

“Or go to Gaul. We may have tamed the barbarians there.”

Augustus ignored them all. He was set on going across the seas. He took his family then under objection. His only daughter. Elaine Augustus had objected greatly. He did not argue with her but made her followed him. It was to let her cool down but she was a stubborn like him. She wouldn’t talk to him until they reached the shores of the new land. There they met Gaheris and all changed.

Elaine was once more the grateful daughter.

‘Tell me, Gaheris. Are we at the final stop? We can build our homes here.” Augustus asked the young man. “We need to rest after so many months of moving. And Elaine need to …find a home soon.”

“I think so, Master Augustus. We are at the Antoinne Wall.  We are to restore the wall and protect it.”

“Like the Hadrian Wall. It will then flourish the lands before it. I was there during the debates on building this wall. I was a weakling then.” It was Augutus way of making himself small to the audience. As usual his wife will support him with a word of comfort.

“No, Lucius. You were young then. Father had seen the greatness in you.” Julia Augustus was the daughter of the local Lord in Britannica and wedded the younger Augustus from Rome then for the coming glory as promised by her lover then. He did deliver it but in his elderly years, he had moved back to the land of his lover.

“We are all weaker at our young age. That’s why we needed the guidance of the elderly.” Gaheris was diplomatic in his reply. It was one of the qualities liked by Augustus who met the young man on the journey. There were others including Centurions but he settled on young Gaheris.

“So, you do.” Augustus smiled at the young man. He knew in his heart that Gaheris will be a great man one day. “Tell me of Lucius. Have you been to his tent?”

Augustus knew his way around the powerful. He knew that Galahad dined at the Centurion’s tent. He knew also the young Gaheris was there before.

“Not of late. I have been busy with the patrols.” Gaheris replied. “Centurion Lucius have his aides to dine without me.”

“Aye, you must dine there too. We can always hold a seat for you here….anytime.” Augustus smiled. “I am sure Elaine will be pleased.”

Elaine Augustus expression beamed up in embarrassment on the mention of her name. She had liked the young rider because they shared some interests but beyond that, she was unsure. She had nothing to wished for than to be wedded to the one she loved but the decision lies with her father. She cannot decide but could influenced. She looked to Gaheris and smiled.

“I am honoured to be here.” Gaheris replied once more in a diplomatic tone. He then decided to change the subject matter. “Tell me, Master Augustus. What do you know of the wall?”

“Besides its name, not much. It was to be our new line of defence against the barbarians from the north. The Emperor does not favour an open boundary like in Gaul. So he decided on the second wall and maybe the third until he cornered them like we did the barbarians at Gaul. The difference was we have the seas on both side. Today, the Antoinne Wall, tomorrow maybe the Caesar Wall…”

“Or one day, Gaheris Wall.” Those words came out from Elaine without thinking. “Sorry, I was out of line.”

“No….”Gaheris raised his goblet. “It may not rival the wall here but it will keep my family safe.”

“To the family.” All the sixth of them raised the toast.

It was the toast or was a it an agreement then by the group of warriors seated there by the small fire place. They don’t need a bigger fire with the coats of furs; a single coat may not work on a cold night and the extra fur does sometimes stopped an arrow from piercing deep. There were four of them, and their mind was fixed.

“We strike at them before the next moon rise.” The one who spoke was a huge one with the broad shoulders and wider girth on the waist but his huge forearms held the double-edged battle axe. He picked the axe from a dead warrior who almost cleaved him with it. “I am unhappy to wait for long.”

“Kay…” The one on the left was snapped off.

“Its Sir Kay to you all. Except him.” Sir Kay the Huge made his point. He was motioning to the one the enemies called the Ghost. The other two nodded. They held command of twenty warriors each but seated there, they were all equals except for Sir Kay.

“We are facing the First Cohort. I been tailing them.” The third one seated opposite of the Ghost voiced out. “That is about a hundred and sixty legionaries and maybe forty Auxiliaries’.

“I know.” The one who was named the Ghost replied. “I have fought the Legions before. Now we planned the skirmish.”

“Skirmish? I thought we were going to …” The fourth one hit out.

“Are you mad? I am the one who was supposed to be mad. Not any of you.” Sir Kay was upset. “We can’t fight them all. We can only engage them with hit and run.”

“Yes, we will hit them but not at them. We will go behind them. We can hit the elites. If we hit them there, it will hurt them.” The Ghost told them.

“The wall had the other cohorts to guard it. So how are we going over there?”

“We sneak across in groups of three.” The Ghost told them. “Four in one run, different locations. Then we hit tomorrow dawn.”

“Which one?”

“The one which I will lead all of you.” The Ghost told them. “We will hit them hard and then leave.”

“Which one? And where do we meet?” The fourth one asked.

“I don’t know but we will meet at the dry river bed by the lilac.” The Ghost told them. “Now let me consult with the druid.”