“As soon as you hear the horn, I want you upand ready to kill anyone who tries to escape out the north gate,” Itold them. “You’ll only have a couple of moments before they’re outof range if they’re running for it, so don’t miss. Especially anyhorsemen. They must be stopped, do you understand?”
As cautiously pleased as I was that theyhadn’t brought their cavalry with them, I could not neglect thepossibility that one of the mounted nobles may keep his wits andbolt for Serdica. To that end, I had instructed the Evocati toremain mounted, having them gather along the southern wall, butjust around the corner from the western wall where the originalbreach was to keep them from sight. Nevertheless, that was still adistance of five hundred paces they would have to make up, racingalong the western wall in pursuit. That was where I would be aswell, and I was thankful that at least the rubble pile had beencleared away. Also, I had actually had the men remove some of therocks embedded in the ground as well to give us a smoother track.At the sound of the horn, we would go immediately to the gallop,and make it as quickly as we could to the northern wall in order tokeep any men from escaping. Roughly half of the men of the8th gathered outside the wall were between the hole andthe corner of where the southern and western wall met, lining upimmediately behind us and, at the signal, they were to move at thedead run around the corner to enter the fortress through theoriginal breach. The other half would go through the newer, easternhole, while the men inside the fortress were to burst from hidingand move as quickly as possible to the northern gate, cutting theirway through those Thracians who tried to stop them. The weak linkto the plan was that northern gate, yet even after much discussion,with ideas being accepted from everyone in the command group, thiswas the best we could come up with. I was not worried about the menof the Serdi infantry escaping; we would be able to run them downand it was too far away from Serdica for anyone on their wall tosee anything before we ran men on foot down, no matter how swiftthey were. Men on horseback were another matter, and when I hoppedaboard Ocelus, I had to wipe the nervous sweat from my palms to geta good grip on the reins. With nothing left to do but wait now, wesat quietly, nobody talking, not even whispering, in order to avoidalerting the Thracians, and I had to wipe my palms a few moretimes. Suddenly, I was struck by another thought, and I turnedOcelus to walk back to where the first of the Legionaries werewaiting. I told one of the men to give me one of their javelins,not sure exactly what I was going to do with it, but deciding if itcame down to the last chance to stop someone, I would rather haveit than not. Seeing me, most of the other Evocati did the same,taking a javelin from one of the men, who did not begrudge givingone up. It’s somewhat awkward carrying the extra javelin in yourleft hand along with the shield, and although one becomesaccustomed to it, any chance to get rid of it is usually welcomed,at least by the men. Their Centurions perhaps do not feel the sameway, but nobody objected. My mouth was dry, seemingly in theexactly opposite proportion to the sweat pouring from my palms andunderarms, and I regretted not thinking to bring my flask with me.I thought to get down and find a pebble, but I did not want to riskbeing on the ground when Caldus sounded the alarm, and it is a goodthing I did not.
Even when one is waiting for something likethe call that Caldus made with his cornu, the bass notessounding muffled because of the wall between us and him, it stillis startling when it finally happens. I could feel Ocelus’ musclesbunch underneath me, his ears pricking forward at the sound, likehe knew what it meant, even though there was a moment’s hesitationon my part as I almost jumped out of my skin. I could feel my faceburn at the thought of showing the kind of nerves one would expectfrom a tiro facing his first battle and not Titus Pullus,Camp Prefect. I am afraid I took my embarrassment out on poorOcelus, giving him a much harder kick than normal, and he respondedby leaping forward, almost toppling me from his back before Imanaged to grab the saddle with my free hand. In the time it takesto blink, he was moving at the full gallop, the wind roaring in myears, yet even above that I could hear the shouting of men,recognizing the panic and surprise in their cries. It sounded likethings had gotten off to a good start, except it would beimpossible to know until I laid eyes on what was happening.Although I might have been technically riding Ocelus, the fact wasthat I was a passenger, trusting my horse completely to choose thebest path to take in order to avoid any hazards. I imagine that iswhat marks the difference between a true horseman and a man whorides horses, since Caesar for example, was always the one incontrol. The wall of the fortress was to my immediate right, littlemore than an arm’s length away, blurring by as Ocelus thunderedalong the western wall. Passing the original breach and ruinedgateway, I risked a glance to the right, but all I could see was amass of confusion and movement, catching just a brief glimpse ofThracians milling about. I was now about halfway to the corner ofthe northern wall, and I could sense the rest of the Evocati behindme, albeit by several lengths,
