I nodded, although even as I agreed, I knewhe would understand the gesture more than the words.
“Yes, he is, and I know…”now, I was the one struggling to find the words, “he…Pullus thinkshighly of you, Tincommius. He thinks you are a good man as well.” Ipointed to him as I said it, and whether he truly understood ornot, he seemed pleased.
I walked over to where thesmall boats were drawn up on the riverbank, looking for one that Ithought I could handle, but then Tincommius called out something,and when I turned, he was shaking his head. Pointing out tothe Salacia, he then made agesture as he said something else. It took a few heartbeats for meto realize that he was telling me to signal the ship to come to thedock. My first impulse was to refuse, and I cannot provide a goodreason why I believed that Tincommius was not acting on the ordersof Cogidubnus for some sinister purpose. Certainly, some of it wasbased in my own fatigue, but I walked over to where the large oillamp was suspended from a tripod and gave it a nudge to make itmove. I was counting on Marcellus to have someone standing watch,and I was rewarded with a shout. Cupping my hands, the first thingI did was shout the first watchword we had agreed on when Gnaeusand I left, receiving the proper second one, then I shouted at themto bring the Salacia in tothe dock. There was a wait, of course, and I was certain that I hada good idea of what Squillus would be saying about me rousing himand his crew in the middle of the night, but a few hundredheartbeats later, I heard the splash of oars in the water. The shipmaterialized slowly out of the darkness, and despite my overallopinion of Squillus, he handled the approach to the dock in thedark with considerable skill. It was left to Tincommius and me tograb the lines that Squillus’ crew threw out, and it took threetimes before I managed to catch it. It was Marcellus and Hemina wholowered the plank over the side, and only then was Tincommiussatisfied, disappearing into the night without a word, leading thethree horses off before I could say anything. I walked up the plankand explained to Marcellus, Hemina, and Squillus, who was asirritated as I had expected, what was happening.
Glancing up, Marcellus said, “Not quite twowatches, then.”
That was my assessment aswell, and Squillus offered a grunt that I had learned was his wayof affirming something. Marcellus remained on deck, while Heminawent below with me, but it was to relieve Celer, who had been theman sitting on one of the chests with hisgladius in his lap, while I went tothe cabin. Squillus’ cabin was not only more cramped thanthe Brizo, it was filthy, andI had been forced to share space with him, although I was wiseenough not to complain. Now that autumn had come, the nights weregetting colder, and as bad as it may have smelled, it was stillwarmer than sleeping under the awning on deck. The only thing I didwas unsling my satchel, drop it to the deck before following it,dropping into the hammock that Squillus had grudgingly strung upfor me against one wall. It had meant that I was banging into itwhen we were at sea, and I consoled myself with the idea of howGnaeus would respond to this, chuckling myself to sleep, whichprompted a growl from Squillus.
Only later did I learn that I had actuallybeen asleep for almost a full watch when, from above us, I heard amuffled voice call out, not in outright alarm, but in the mannerthat someone wants to alert others. I came awake immediately, ofcourse, recognizing Marcellus’ voice, but Squillus beat me to it,rolling out of his hammock, crossing the small cabin and going outthe door just as my feet were touching the deck. I did not botherputting my boots on, scrambling up the ladder to join the others.There had been a crewman on watch, of course, along with Marcellus,but they had been joined by first the other deck crewmen, thenSquillus, and finally, me.
“Someone’s coming,”Marcellus said curtly. “I heard what sounds like a wagon, from thatdirection.”
He pointed directly towards the area where Iknew that the road leading to our old camp then the hall waslocated, but while we heard them long before they came into view,it seemed to take forever. And, when we could see movement, it tookeven longer for the shape to materialize into somethingidentifiable, and Marcellus beat me to it.
“Is that achariot?”
It was, but we still had to wait to see thatthere were two figures standing in it, a bit longer for me todiscern one of them was shorter than the other. Even so, I wascompletely unprepared to see that it was a man and a woman, andthat man was Ivomagus, and the woman Bronwen, which only becameapparent when he guided his chariot within the pool of light thrownoff by the large oil lamp.
“Who isthat?” Marcellus gasped, and Iinstantly understood not only that he did not mean Ivomagus, butwhy he had reacted the way he had, because Bronwen had just pulledthe hood of her cloak from her head.
I love Algaia; I love her with every part ofme, and I love being with her, but seeing Bronwen, with the lightfrom the lamp seeming to bounce off her magnificent head of hair,making it appear almost as if she was wearing a crown made offlames, is a sight that I will never forget. And, at the time, Ithought how Gnaeus Volusenianus Pullus was either blessed byFortuna or cursed, depending on why she had come.
“What should we do?”Marcellus asked, breaking the spell.
Before I could think about it, I beganmoving, dropping down
