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.”
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