I had no idea what to say, but somehow, Iheard the words come out of my mouth. “You’re free now.”
Bronwen did not appear frightened, butneither did she seem pleased, yet she did not look away either. Iwas close enough to her to see her eyes go to my cheek.
“You’re hurt,” she said, then with atrace of the slightly commanding manner I had noticed in her, shewent on, “That will need stitches.”
“That’s what I have Alex for,” Imumbled, suddenly completely unsure of what to say.
More crucially, I could feel the wave ofwhat I suppose could be called the lethargy that always follows oneof these fits, and I knew that I could not afford to allow it totake hold, because I was acutely aware that my fate still hung inthe balance. Nevertheless, I felt that it was more important tospeak to her at that moment than Cogidubnus.
“I want you to know,” I said, hopingthat I sounded sincere, “I didn’t do this because I expectedanything from you.”
Somewhat to my surprise, she did not respondimmediately, but I felt her eyes searching my face, and it was aquite odd sensation, both uncomfortable, and strangely,reassuring.
“So,” she finally spoke, “you arewilling to leave here, leave Petuar, and we will never see eachother again?”
Before I could think about it, or stopmyself, I blurted out, “I hate the very idea, but…yes. If that’swhat you want.”
She did not have time to reply, because frombehind us, Cogidubnus called my name, and I turned to face him; indoing so, I was looking back at Berdic’s corpse, which people werenow gathering around, and I wondered if, given his high rank, hewould be interred with his chariot, which I had been told byIvomagus was the custom with high-ranking members of their tribe.Honestly, I would have been perfectly happy if he was draggedoutside and left for the dogs, but I certainly did not say as much.Although Cogidubnus reached me first, I saw him hesitate, his eyessearching my face as if he was looking for something there; onlylater when Alex told me what he had witnessed did I understand. Hestopped a few paces away from me; just, I thought with a flicker ofgrim humor, outside my reach, and he glanced over his shoulder atIvomagus, who had just hopped down from the table and was hurryingacross the square. When Ivomagus reached us, Cogidubnus beganspeaking, at length, and I did not need a translator to know thathe was agitated.
Finally, Ivomagus addressed me. “My brothersays that this is the most extraordinary thing he has everwitnessed.” He hesitated, then added, “And I say the same thing.Truly,” he shook his head, but his eyes never left me, giving methe sense that he was prepared for me to suddenly attack him, orhis brother, as if he could do anything about it, “what you didhere will be spoken of for generations…Gnaeus.”
The use of my praenomen seemed to be some sort of signal, butseeing that they expected an answer, all I could manage was, “Hemade me his enemy when he obeyed,” I looked directly at Cogidubnus,“your orders to strike me from behind…like the coward he was.” Itwas, I understood, an incredibly stupid thing to say, but whenIvomagus gave a shake of his head, I said sharply, “Tell him,Ivomagus. Exactly what I said.”
When he did so, Cogidubnus’ face flushed,but after a long moment, the king gave me a curt nod, and whileIvomagus had nothing to say, I understood this was as much of anacknowledgement as I was going to get, so I decided to move on toother matters.
“Now that you’ve had your feast,” Ialmost smiled but managed to maintain my composure, “I will beretiring to the quarters you provided me, and at dawn tomorrow, wewill all go to Petuar, and the final piece of this business will bedone.”
Once more, I could see that Ivomagus plainlydid not want to convey my words, but I stared at him a long moment;I suspect the blood still covering my face, although it was drying,helped my cause. When Ivomagus spoke, I did not watch him. Iobserved Cogidubnus and his face as Ivomagus spoke, and I wasrelieved to see his lip lift, presumably at the reminder that hewould be wealthier when the sun came up the next morning.
The king responded, shortly, and Ivomagusrelayed, “That is acceptable to my brother. You may return to yourroom.” He hesitated, then said, “He also is offering his healer toattend to that cut.”
“Thank your brother.” I tried to soundsincere; with every heartbeat, my mind was filling with therecognition that tomorrow I would be leaving this place forever,having cost my family, who had only known me a bit more than ayear, a substantial amount of their wealth, which had already beenreduced because of Gaius’ greed and incompetence. “But Alex isexperienced with these kinds of cuts. All I require is some warmwater.”
“You shall have it immediately,” heassured me.
While we were talking, I saw that Alex hadgathered up my things and was waiting for me to tell him what todo, and while I knew I should bow, I gave Cogidubnus a nod that wasonly slightly deeper than normal. He did not like it, but he didreturn the nod before he, very deliberately, faced away from me ina clear sign of dismissal, while Ivomagus gave me an apologeticglance before turning to stand with his brother.
Although Alex followed me readily enough, assoon as we were in the space that had become my quarters, he asked,“Are you sure it’s wise for you to stay here, Gnaeus?”
It was not, and I knew it, but I was beingcompletely honest with Alex when I replied, “No, it’s not. But I’mnot up to riding back to town, Alex. So,” I dropped onto the onechair, sighing with relief as I did, “once you stitch me up, youcan go back to the ship.”
“What makes you think that
