Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 06] Druid's Gold (8 page)

“How come they only sent a small patrol?”

“The Governor thought we had rid the land of the rebels and thought it was safe. His priority is the road so that we can use the Classis Britannica on this side of the island as well as the other.”

*

Morwenna and Tadgh walked through the woods with Decius. Tiny had taken just one night to recover and accepted the new situation with his normal stoicism. After a more pleasant night’s sleep Decius had begun formulating his plans to take over the group.  When he had had been asked to accompany Tadgh and Morwenna he had been suspicious.  Would he suffer a knife in the back?  He did not like to be without the support and protection of Tiny and Centurion but he was now, effectively, a prisoner and would have to go along with his captors.

“You have a huge amount of treasure there how did you come by it?”

Morwenna’s question was a loaded one but Decius could see no advantage in lying.  He would lie when necessary but this occasion did not merit a lie.  “I was in charge of the Wyddfa gold mines.” His focus was fixed on Tadgh and he did not see the sudden spark of interest in Morwenna’s green eyes.

“Did you exhaust the mines then?”

Laughing Decius shook his head.  “We could have dug for another twenty years and not exhausted them.”

“Then why did you stop?”

He shrugged, “Rome was becoming a little too interested in what I was taking.”

“I see.  You were taking for Rome but keeping most of it for yourself.  Very enterprising. And now it has been taken from you by me.”

He stopped and faced Morwenna looking at her shrewdly.  “Yes but you have a plan for me otherwise we would have all died around our camp fire and you would not have done as much to save Tiny.”

“Do you see Tadgh; you did not smash the intelligence from this thief. No Decius we have a reason for saving your life.  You and your men look resourceful and I need resourceful men.  I need more resourceful men to enable us to continue with the rebellion. Your gold will fund that.”

“What is in it for me?”

Tadgh’s hand went to his sword, “Your life you dog!”

“No Tadgh he is quite right and I would suspect that if our new friends did not benefit from our new arrangement then we would soon lose them.  Am I not right?”

Spreading his hands Decius nodded, “We would need persuasion.  My men are mercenaries and work for money not ideals.”

“Good for they are the kind of men I can use. Here is the honey for you to sweeten the deal. When you have helped me to raise an army and rid this part of Britannia of my enemies I will return your money to you and help you to escape this land.” Decius began to nod his agreement. “There is however another condition, before I allow you to go you will take me and Tadgh to this gold mine so that we may extract more of the treasure of Wyddfa.”

Decius was more than interested.  Perhaps he could delay taking over the group until they were back at Wyddfa.  If he had Morwenna’s army he could get even more gold and it would easier to rid himself of Tadgh and his thugs in a land he was familiar with. “You have my support and that of my men.”

“Good.”

“And of course as an equal, my men and I will have our weapons returned.”

Morwenna stared deep into his eyes and Decius found himself almost blinking with the power. “Of course but do not betray me for I am a priestess of the Mother and I can see into your black and treacherous heart.”

Internally Delicious shuddered although outwardly he appeared calm.  Had he misjudged the woman before him?  He would have to go along with her, at least for the foreseeable future; especially until he had found where she had buried the gold. “My men and I will be loyal. Your majesty.” Tadgh’s snort of derision spoke volumes and he led them back up the hill. The relief on the faces of Centurion and Tiny, as they walked back into the encampment touched Decius.  He could see them exchange a look as they both nodded at each other.  It was obvious to Decius that they thought he had been taken away for a quick execution.  He would have to speak to them privately as soon as possible.  The others were just battle fodder as far as Decius was concerned but he needed his two most loyal comrades to help him to escape.

Morwenna addressed the camp.  “Tomorrow we begin to buy weapons and men.  Today we rest and, “here she looked at Decius’ men, “and recuperate.  Sallustius you sit with me while I feed the child.  I would learn more of your story,” she glanced up at Tiny and Centurion lurking nearby, “and tell your giants that you are safe while you are in my land.”

Decius smiled and turned to Centurion and Tiny.  “Do not worry.  Later we will talk.” Centurion saw the look in Decius’ eye and nodded, leading Tiny to the fire and the food.

“Sallustius?” Was that not the name of the Governor of Britannia?” She paused to place the babe on the nipple and to gauge the effect of her next comment, “the one executed for treason.”

“He was my uncle and was the grandson of Cunobelinus the last king of Britannia and he was executed for naming a lance after himself.”

She smiled.  “And you believe that no more than any other British prince.  He would have rebelled had he not been discovered.”

Decius shook his head, “I don’t know but it is irrelevant now.  He is dead.”

“You of course are of the royal bloodline as am I. Are you not?”

“I suppose we are but does it matter now that the Romans rule both your lands and mine?”

“What was taken can be returned.” Already an idea was forming in Morwenna’s mind.  A child born to the two of them would have a much wider appeal to the people of Britannia; uniting two of the more important tribes in a single dynasty. It could even be a boy. She almost chuckled at the thought of The Mother weaving her strands and plans to create such a possible future.  The Mother had brought Decius to her and she had thought it was for the gold but now she could see another motive just as powerful. She leaned over and said quietly, “When it is night time come to my cave I would speak further with you.”

“Your wish is my command. I will obey you in all things.” He walked back to his comrades bemused.  Was she flirting with him? Perhaps he had been wrong and she was not as distant as he had thought. His charms and attraction must still be working on women, as they normally did.  When he reached the fire and the food he was quite cheerful. He playfully punched Tiny’s enormous bicep. “It is good to see you awake.  We thought for a while that you had gone to the Allfather.”

“When the time is right Tadgh will feel a much heavier blow from me.  Tiny does not forget.”

Decius leaned in conspiratorially, “Well for the time being let us play nicely with our hosts.  There will be a time for revenge but for a while, at least, we will go along with them and be keen and loyal rebels.” He turned to Centurion.  “Have you found the gold yet?”

“So far they have not let us move away from the area around the cave entrance. I glanced down the cave and could not see it and the ground here is too rocky. “He gestured around them.  “The Romans must have used this as a quarry for their fort and tower.  They must have put it somewhere else but it will be close.”

“I know it will be hard but let us be friendly towards the warriors.  It may be that they will tell us what we wish to know if we can gain their favour.”

“It will be hard. Tiny and I would just like ten minutes alone with some of those who attacked us.”

“As would I but look at the situation.  We are safer here than we were.  The gold is safe even though we know not where it is and we can sleep at night without the worry of having our throats slit. Our day will come. The Queen wants us to take her back to the mines at Wyddfa.”

Centurion looked surprised. “What?  Now?”

“No later, when we have raised an army.”

“Isn’t that risky returning there?”

“No for they must have searched already and assumed we have fled and besides when we return we will have an army with us.  We will be safe.”

“And once in the mines…”

“Exactly.  So let us make the best of this. Build up our strength.  Arm ourselves and find where the gold is.  Then we can make our move.”

*

The land south of Brocauum was teeming with bandits and deserters. They preyed on the small isolated hamlets and the merchants bringing good to the forts and new settlements close to the border. It was a hand to mouth existence but at least they were free from the Roman yoke.  Their weapons and equipment were so poor that they could not take on soldiers but anything else was fair game. The ten bandits were returning from a fruitless raid on the road between Luguvalium and Brocauum.  The Prefect’s patrol had prevented them from replenishing their supplies at the Roman’s expense. When they saw Drusus and his five men making their way along the lakeside they saw an opportunity to return with plunder.  The six horses and whatever food and weapons they might have would be welcome additions to the band’s resources. The leader, a deserter from Gaul called Alerix was a little worried that the men looked to be deserters, as they were, for they rode like cavalrymen even though they looked like bandits but he thought they could be taken as he had the advantage of the woods in which to hide and ambush. His men’s bows stood a good chance of taking at least two or even three men out and the others would be overwhelmed by his ten men.

They moved swiftly through the woods, travelling faster than the horsemen who seemed in no hurry. They took up their ambush position and were twenty paces from the lakeside, well hidden by the brush and dead trees. The horsemen came along in a long line and Alerix had placed himself at the end so that he would be the one to initiate the attack with his bow. He had pulled the feathers next to his ear when suddenly the men they were ambushing all slipped to the other side of their horses and the man next to him fell gurgling to his death with an arrow protruding from his neck. Even as he continued his turn to face this new onslaught he saw three more of his men fall to arrows from the unseen foe. Catching a glimpse of a movement he began to turn but the sword from behind sliced though his neck leaving him to wonder as his life blood seeped from him how the hunter had become the hunted,

“Thank you for that Drusus.  Your timing was excellent.”

As Drusus wiped the blood from the dead deserter from his blade he shrugged.  “Thank you and next time someone else can be the bait. They were poor ambushers, we knew where they were the whole time.”

“Which is why they deserted; they weren’t very good soldiers.” Cassius waved from the far end of the line as the last of the bandits was despatched.

“It is a shame we couldn’t have taken any of them prisoner.”

“I know Metellus but it was too great a risk that one could have escaped and brought others here.”

“At least we might have found out if there are others and where they are.”

“True but I think from their direction of travel it is south east of here and we are heading west. It is a good job that Rufius has such sharp eyes and spotted them this morning.”

Agrippa nodded as he searched the body for weapons and gold.  “True he is a good tracker, almost in Gaelwyn’s class.  “He nodded at the dead deserter. “A Gaul by the look of him.  He still has some of the auxiliary armour.”

“Yes and a couple of others are Brigante. Looks like there is a little army here.  As soon as we get to Glanibanta I will send a message to Cursus. If Eboracum can spare them then the Gallic Horse might be able to root them out of their little den in the woods.” They led their horses to the lake.  “We will camp tonight down there at the end of the lake.  It looks like we will have to take watches tonight.  This may well be the main route the bandits use.”

“They could have caught the engineers.”

“No Drusus.  There were at least eight armoured legionaries.  These ten would have stood no chance against them.  I think that we will either find the engineers alive or they ran into a much bigger force than this and we will find their whitening bones.”

*

Decius wondered what lay in store for him when he approached the cave. Tadgh was just leaving when he saw Decius approaching.  He deliberately walked at Decius and made no attempt to move out of his way.  When Decius moved to the left Tadgh shunted him into the rock wall and as the young man lay on the floor he glared down at him. A disembodied voice from the cave echoed, “Tadgh!” and the Brigante warrior reluctantly carried on walking to the main camp. Rising to his feet and dusting himself off Decius entered the glowing cave.  It was the first time he had been in the cave and he was surprised how big it was.  There was a large pool of water in the middle and Decius could see a glow from a fire in a smaller cave off to the left. Assuming that was where Morwenna was he made his way nervously towards the glow. Sheepskins and deer pelts line the alcove in which a naked Morwenna with a naked Maban next to her reclined.  The soft glow from the fire made them both appear to be a pulsing pinkish red. Morwenna’s long red hair cascaded down to her breasts and she waved him over to her.  Maban slid over to allow him to sit between them and Morwenna took his chin in her hand and kissed him long and hard on the lips. 

Decius was in a dilemma; it was a pleasurable experience but, as the man, he had normally initiated such lovemaking.  The fact they there were no words uttered made it even more disconcerting.  When Maban began to undress him and kiss the back of his neck as she did so he stiffened and tried to back away.

“Peace Decius.  Relax.  Is this not pleasurable?”

“Yes but…”

“Yes but it is not the woman’s role to start such love making? This is my land and my rules.  Tonight my acolyte and I will pleasure you; each other and you will pleasure us both.  Tomorrow night Anchorat will replace Maban. We will do this until we are with child. This is not a discussion it is a command and what did you say before? Your wish is my command, well this is my wish. Accede to it.”

Decius found himself naked and between two beautiful women. Aula Sallustius had been a beautiful woman but she had been approaching middle age; these two were perfection with blemish free skin and no sign of any unwanted flesh.  The smells in the cave and around the herb fuelled fire were intoxicating and made it easy for him to succumb to the two beautiful women. Even as the thought came into his head he asked himself why he was fighting this.  Nothing bad could come from it and how many men would object to two women making love to him. “You are my mistress and I bow to your will.”