I immediately noticed how Ivomagus suddenlyshifted position, so that his back was to the doorway, and when Iglanced over his shoulder, I caught the barest glimpse of a facepeering out that suddenly vanished when I looked in that direction.Obviously, Ivomagus had seen the same thing.
“Gnaeus,” he began, and I saw he wassuddenly nervous, “I know that you are angry at me for going alongwith my brother when he decided to make you a hostage.” I saw nopoint in denying this, although I only nodded. “And,” he admitted,“at first, I was still very angry about what happened to me, and tothe men who were captured with me and all that we endured over thelast three years. Then the Brigantes came, and you did not have tohelp us hold Petuar, although I can see how you were helpingyourself as much as us.”
“Which,” I pointed out, “I toldyou.”
“You did,” he agreed. Then he tore hisgaze from the ground to look me in the eye. “But you did not haveto step in and save my life, Gnaeus. In fact, when I saw youcoming, I was convinced that you just wanted to stand there andwatch me die.”
“Oh,” I said cheerfully, “I thoughtabout it.”
Whether it was the words or my tone, thisdid make Ivomagus laugh, but he quickly turned serious again.
“Berdic is pressing my brother to keepyou here until the ransom is paid. And then…”
His voice trailed off, but I felt certainthat I knew the rest.
“Then,” I said coldly, “Berdic willkill me. Or,” I sneered, “he’ll have someone else do it.” I got myconfirmation by the manner in which Ivomagus said nothing and justlooked away. Still, there was something that did not make sense tome, “But why would Berdic be willing to risk Rome’s wrath bykilling me?”
This brought Ivomagus’ attention back to me,and he asked quietly, “Why do you think, Gnaeus?” I suppose he sawmy bewildered expression, because he explained by asking, “If mybrother takes the ransom money, but then you are killed…who wouldRome blame?”
This was when it all became clear.
“Juno’s cunnus,” I believe was what I said. “You’reright. The Imperator won’t care whether it was Cogidubnus or one ofhis nobles.” I was actually about to add something, that I believedit was highly doubtful that Rome would rouse itself to exactvengeance for the death of a Centurion, even if he was a PilusPrior, but while I believed Ivomagus was being sincere and honestwith me now, I was not willing to risk putting that thought in hishead. And yet, I could not shake a nagging doubt, which Iexpressed. “Still, even if Cogidubnus gets the blame, Berdic has toknow that all of the Parisii would suffer, and he could very wellbe one of them. In fact,” I went on as my mind developed this, “inthe aftermath, he would probably be demanded as a hostage himself,by the Imperator. So,” I returned to the original question, “whywould Berdic be willing to risk that by killing me?”
“You really do not know?” Ivomagussounded surprised, but I could only shake my head and assure him Iclearly did not. “Gnaeus, he has seen the way you look at Bronwen.”I opened my mouth to argue that, even if I did have feelings forher, I would be leaving, but he beat me to it. “But moreimportantly, he has seen the way she looks at you. And,” he smiledfor the first time, “so has everyone in Petuar.”
I felt the sudden rush of heat to my face,but I did not say anything, mainly because my mind was filled withone thought, and one thought only; Bronwen had feelings for me?Truly, I suspected as much, that we held a mutual attraction toeach other, but as confident as a man may be when it comes towomen, there is always a nagging worry that your feelings may notbe reciprocated. More than that, however, the thought that shewould be forced to spend her life with someone that duplicitous andtreacherous towards his own king was what put the idea in my mind.All I needed was a pretext, and true to his nature, Berdic handedit to me just days later.
It was two days before the Ides of Octobernow, and closing in on three months since we had rowed up the riverinto Parisii territory. My life had settled into a routine, and Iconfess that it was not all that unpleasant. Because of my actionsthat night, the townspeople no longer viewed me with suspicion, andin fact, I was invited to dine with grateful townspeople on analmost daily basis. Tincommius and I had developed a friendshipthat flourished despite our language difficulties, but we taughteach other our respective tongues, so that I can now curse like aParisii, and he can curse like a Roman. His woman, Esselt, is anexcellent cook, specializing in roasting meats of variousvarieties, and I was even allowed to go hunting, although I mostlyprovided comic relief when I was handed a bow. Nevertheless, whileit was good to have such relative freedom, the tension I wasfeeling and trying to keep inside me was building every day, andall sorts of things ran through my mind. What if, for some reason,Alex had not been allowed to disembark before returning to Ubiorum?If that happened, would Germanicus forbid him from leaving forArelate? This, as worrying as it was, I did not deem very likely.What seemed more likely in my mind was that Alex had made it toArelate, but there was simply not enough money left to the Pullusfamily to fulfill this ransom, at least in ready cash. Although Ihad been apprised of the changes that had been made by Septimusafter our return to Ubiorum, I certainly did not have a ready graspof what those things we still owned were worth, and how much thoseslaves that we sold had accrued. Frankly, once Alex had informed meduring our return to Ubiorum that Septimus intended to recoupenough to satisfy the requirement to return me to the EquestrianOrder, I had refused to think about it.
This day, after my training and aquick scraping, I had ridden into Petuar with Matugenus andMeriadoc as my
