comfort of their shelters. Thanks to the equipment seized after their victories over Furius and Cossinius, a sizeable number had leather tents. Hunching his shoulders, Spartacus moved his feet closer to the edge of the fire. There could be a frost tonight.
‘You’re still up,’ said Ariadne, emerging from the darkness.
‘Of course.’ He studied her face for clues, but her expression was closed.
‘Is there any stew left?’
‘Yes, I left you half.’
She tutted at him. ‘You need food far more than I do.’
‘I’ve had plenty,’ Spartacus lied, knowing that she usually gave him the lion’s share. He watched in silence as Ariadne scraped out the pot and sat down to eat.
‘Aren’t you going to ask me if I saw something?’
‘Did you?’
‘Yes.’
As ever, his belly tightened. ‘What was it?’
She countered with a question. ‘What are your long-term plans?’
‘I haven’t got any,’ he replied frankly. ‘In my game, it’s best not to. A warrior never knows when his life might end.’
‘You must have had some thoughts about it.’
He considered her words. ‘I’d like to forge an army, a proper army. Beat the Romans in open battle.’
‘To what end? That wouldn’t be enough,’ she retorted. ‘The bastards never give up.’ That’s been my plan since I first left my village all those years ago.
‘I know. Even after Hannibal wiped out their army at Cannae, they didn’t despair. It took them nearly twenty years but they beat him in the end. And Hannibal had a proper army. What have I got? A few thousand slaves!’
Ariadne hadn’t heard him talk like this before. ‘Don’t give up,’ she urged.
‘You mistake me,’ he retorted. His eyes glittered fiercely in the firelight. ‘I have more men here than the warriors of several tribes in Thrace. I haven’t had to fight to unify them either. While that number follows me, I will never give up! Nor will I ever be a slave again. But I also know the realities that we face. The Republic did not become the power that it is for no reason. Its people are proud, warlike and brave, but most of all, they are stubborn. The majority of races eventually accept defeat — Thracians included,’ he added bitterly. ‘Not the Romans, however. They would rather be wiped out than give in. That simple fact is what someone like Crixus will never understand. Varinius is but one commander of a score that the Senate could call upon. His troops are a tiny fraction of Rome’s manpower. Each time we defeat them, we make it more inevitable that ever greater numbers of soldiers will be sent against us. That’s why it is so important not to run off and offer battle to Varinius like a wild beast defending its territory, but to make every encounter take place at a time and a place of our choosing. Another truth that Crixus does not see.’
‘There is a different option,’ said Ariadne softly.
He gave her a sharp glance. ‘What — to leave Italy?’
‘Yes. It would be easy enough to do. A small band, travelling fast, could easily avoid the troops looking for us. Carbo says that it’s only three hundred miles or so to the Alps.’
‘Winter is just around the corner. The mountains are no place to be when snow is falling.’
‘Hannibal crossed them at this time of year,’ she challenged.
‘But he was coming into Italy, to fight the bastard Romans. Not to run away from them.’
‘That’s not what you would be doing,’ Ariadne protested.
‘Is it not? Supposing we made it back to Thrace and I overthrew Kotys. Would I just forget all about what we’re doing here?’
Ariadne felt her cheeks flame.
‘Is that what you saw?’
‘No.’
‘Good. I can hear the whispers in my village even now. “Spartacus raised an army of slaves, and just when they needed him most, he abandoned them to their fate.”’ He scowled. ‘Because that’s what I’d be doing. If I left, what do you think would happen to the people in the camp here?’
‘They’d splinter into small groups. Get picked off by the Romans, probably.’
‘That’s right. The lucky ones would be enslaved again. The rest would starve to death or get killed by wolves.’ He stared at her. ‘I can’t leave them. I won’t.’
Ariadne wasn’t surprised by his response. ‘My conscience wouldn’t let me do that either.’ Liar. If the other event I saw comes to pass, I’d try to get away in a heartbeat. I can’t tell him that, however.
‘I’m a warrior who stands and fights, not a yellow-livered coward who skulks off when times get hard, leaving the weak to fend for themselves.’
‘I know,’ she said gently. ‘And if you could take the whole army over the Alps?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘That is an entirely different proposition. However, there’s more chance of the Great Rider appearing before me right now than of persuading the Gauls to go along with that idea. They were born into slavery. So were most of the Germans. They hate Rome and what it stands for, but Italy is their entire world. It’s a rich land, with easy pickings for men like us. Why would they even consider leaving it?’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘That’s what came to you? The army crossing the Alps?’
‘It was one thing that I saw, yes.’
‘Were there others?’
She nodded.
‘Tell me.’
‘You’ll believe that I’m making it up. Trying to make you leave Italy.’
‘I won’t think that. Whatever you see is sacred, sent to you by Dionysus.’
She studied his face for a moment. ‘Very well. I am to bear you a son.’
‘A son?’ Spartacus’ face creased into a huge smile. ‘That’s wonderful!’
‘It might not happen,’ she said quickly. ‘Nothing about visions is certain.’
‘I know, I know. But a son!’ He reached over and squeezed her knee. ‘You’ll make a fine mother.’
‘And you a strong father.’ Maybe this will change his mind?
‘If what you saw is true, it’s even more reason to stay with the men,’ Spartacus declared. ‘Let’s say that we left now and travelled to Thrace, and our son grew up safely there. Imagine his opinion of me when he found out what I’d done. He’d think I was a damn coward, and he’d be right too.’
Ariadne was surprised to feel little disappointment. There was a trace of shame that she could even contemplate leaving, but the dominant emotion was pride. Pride in Spartacus. Yes, his ego was surely fed by his exalted position, but that was not his primary reason for staying. Ensuring the care of his men was. A tiny part of her still longed to escape their existence, however. ‘He wouldn’t think that if you’d beaten the Romans and left them to rot while you took the whole army out of Italy.’
‘Now there’s an idea!’ he said with a smile. ‘All I need to do is win over Crixus and Castus. First things first, however. For you to bear me a son, we have to make one.’ He took Ariadne by the hand and pulled her upright. ‘Let’s go to bed, eh?’
This time, Ariadne did not resist.
Carbo went looking for Spartacus at dawn. Over the previous few weeks, he had barely seen his leader. He’d been too busy himself. When he wasn’t helping Navio train the men, or in his tent coupling with Chloris, he had been out on foraging missions for food. On his most recent expedition, from which he only returned late the previous evening, Carbo and his comrades had spied out the town of Nola, which lay some eight miles to the north-east of Vesuvius. Thus far, it had escaped the slaves’ attentions. The wealth of the estates around Nola, and the visible lack of Roman troops, had been apparent to everyone in Carbo’s party. Here, in a neatly circumscribed area, were warehouses full of grain, stores of wine, dried meat and other foodstuffs, all ripe for the plucking. This was bounty that could not be left untouched. It had fallen to Carbo to bring the matter to Spartacus’ attention.
He met Spartacus heading purposefully towards Glaber’s former headquarters, which had become the leaders’ habitual meeting place. There was no missing his leader. Spartacus was dressed in a mail shirt that had been burnished until it shone. His sheathed sica hung from a gilded Roman military belt, and he wore a stunning
