Heanua, but I cannot let you get any closer.”
She had known he would. Her mother had ordered as much.“Is that so?” she asked. Haegre was young, and not especially useful to the campaign, else her mother would not have left him in charge of the Bachiyr, who seemed secure enough. By the look on his face, the fact that he’d been left behind to watch over a caged animal while his comrades found their glory on the battlefield did not sit well with him. Heanua could use that. “You would presume to stop me?”
Haegre nodded. “Your mother has commanded that no one be allowed to approach the creature, including you. It will meet its fate at sunrise.”
“I am not here for the creature,” she said, “I am here for you. You and your men are needed at the northern wall of the city. The Romans have proven stronger than we thought, and the northern wall still holds strong.” In truth, the northern wall had fallen an hour ago, but Heanua doubted the captain would know that. “My mother bade me to send you there right away.”
“She sent you? A princess? To deliver such a message? Does the queen use her daughters for clerks now?”
“You dare to question me?” Heanua felt the blood rush to her face. “My word is the queen’s word.”
“I’m sorry, princess,” he replied. “But I will need more than your word to disobey the queen’s command. If you have an official message, then please share it.”
Heanua fumed, but she reached into her tunic. She had expected this and come prepared, but the fact that Haegre had balked at her instructions irritated her. She pulled out a rolled piece of parchment, sealed with the queen’s brand, and handed it over, doing her best to keep her face even and calm.
Haegre examined the seal, then broke it and read the missive. He nodded, and turned to his men. “To the north wall, all of you. Quickly, now. The queen needs us.”
The men cheered. Apparently Haegre was not the only one who sought his glory on the field.
He turned to Heanua and saluted again. “My apologies, princess. A man in my position must be careful, you understand.”
“Of course. Now go. For the Iceni.”
“For the Iceni.” He saluted, then moved to the head of his men. After a few minutes, she stood alone by the Bachiyr’s cage.
Heanua sighed in relief. Haegre had not examined the wax seal closely, or he would have noticed it was made from the larger seal in the queen’s tent rather than the small one on her ring. Both were official, but in times of battle the queen often used the ring to save time. He undoubtedly knew as much, but had missed the detail in his eagerness to join the battle. No wonder her mother had left him behind. His lust for battle overruled his attention to detail. When I am queen I will have him sent to the farthest reaches of the Iceni lands.
Heanua watched them go, then turned back to the cage, where she found the Bachiyr eyeing her, its face a mixture of anger and curiosity. She stepped up to the bars and placed her hands on the wooden floor. In her right hand was a set of keys. Heanua made certain to jangle them, just to get the thing’s attention. In her left hand was a crossbow, its bolt tipped with pitch. She wanted the Bachiyr to know from the start of their conversation that she could offer him freedom or death.
“Well, now,” she said to the thing. “You are in a bad place.”
“You speak Roman,” it said in perfect Iceni. “That’s interesting.”
So the creature spoke their language. It didn’t surprise her, the Bachiyr had been paying a great deal of attention to the comings and goings around the cage, especially the orders from the queen. No one listened that intently to conversations they couldn’t understand. “It is wise to know your enemy’s language,” she replied, switching to Iceni.
“More likely you were taught Roman before Nero broke his treaty,” it replied.
She nodded. It was smart. Good. “My name is-”
“Princess Heanua,” he interrupted, smiling. “Greetings, Princess.”
“I am here because-”
“You want something from me,” he finished for her. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. Despite what you told our slow-witted friend, the north wall has already fallen, as you well know. I must admit I am curious. Why would a princess lie? Not that I am complaining, mind you.”
How the hell did he know about the northern wall? No matter. “I would make a bargain with you,” she said. “I will release you from this cage and from my mother’s sentence. In return you must perform a task for me. Do you agree to my terms, Bachiyr?”
“My name is-”
“I care not for your name, only for your answer.” She raised both hands, showing him the keys and the crossbow again. “I can kill you or set you free, the choice is yours.”
“What task do you require?” he asked. “Do you still wish to throw me back into the city to fight for your cause?”
Damn him. The Bachiyr had good ears. “I will tell you after you agree.”
“I should like to know to what I am agreeing to before I agree to it.”
“That is not the deal,” she said, jangling the keys for effect. “Agree to my terms or die with the sun. You choose.”
The Bachiyr turned his head toward the eastern horizon. The sky had begun to lighten slightly. It had not turned pink yet, but the black of night no longer reached the ground. Sunrise was an hour away at the most. He turned his face back to her, his thin lips tightened into a grin.
“It would seem I have little choice,” he said.
“I’ll have your word, Bachiyr.”
“You have it,” he replied. “Release me and I will perform any task you require of me.”
“Swear it.”
“By The Father, I swear it,” he replied. “What would you have me do?”
Heanua didn’t know what ‘By The Father’ meant, but it would have to do. She stepped up to the cage door and inserted the key into the lock, checking behind her to make sure no one was looking. Then she unlocked the cage door and stepped inside, setting the crossbow on the floor and pulling her dagger from her belt.
The Bachiyr eyed the dagger. “I have agreed to your terms princess,” he said. “There is no need for that.”
“It’s for the ropes, not you,” she said.
The Bachiyr laughed, then slid his hands from behind his back. The wrists and palms were so thin they looked almost delicate. She stared, her eyes wide, as they filled out, thickening to their normal girth in a matter of seconds.
“As I said, there is no need for that,” the Bachiyr stated, pointing at the dagger.
“You could have walked away at any time,” Heanua noted.
“Not quite. The archers, you see.”
Heanua nodded. The archers would have filled his body with arrows the moment he twitched. “Then you did need my help. So to our bargain.”
“Indeed,” the Bachiyr said. “What does a princess of the Iceni wish of me? You want me to steal into the city and slaughter the Roman guards there?”
“No,” Heanua said. “That will not be necessary. The battle for Londinium is well in hand.”
“I hear the other princess is lost somewhere inside the city. Do you want me to find her and bring her back?”
Damn him, how did he know all this? He must have ears like a bat! “My sister has made her choice,” she said. “She will turn up or not, as she sees fit.”
“Then what-”
“I want you to kill my mother.”
Baella removed her claws from the throat of her last opponent, sending a spray of blood in the air. The body slid to the street and landed in the sticky dirt with a wet thump. All around her lay the torn corpses of the men who
