For some reason, he did not find this asamusing as I did.
I only spent a few moments on theship, huddling with Saloninus, Columella, and Mus, not asTesseraurius but as the temporaryOptio of the First, explaining what was happening.
“Are you sure you can trust them?”Saloninus asked.
It was a sensible question; it wasalso an unanswerable one, but I felt confident enough to say, “Am Isure? No.” I shook my head. “But I am sure that they’re clever enough to know thatif they do something to me, they’re going to be responsible for theslaughter of every Parisii aboard this ship.”
And with that, I walked back to the boat,telling Motius with a grin that he did not have to come with methis time.
Just before I dropped down the rope ladder,Alex grabbed my arm and whispered, “Be careful, Gnaeus. Your menneed you.”
Since I did not know what to say, I simplynodded, then dropped into the boat and sat down as the crewmanshoved away from the ship with an oar. Since we were not as heavilyladen, we crossed more quickly, and I saw that the crowd hadthinned considerably, but I had been so busy that I did not seewhether the onlookers had dispersed on their own or if they hadbeen hurried away by the king’s bodyguard. The brothers werestriding down the street to the dock just as I stepped onto it, andI wondered whether Cogidubnus was going to insist on going througha repeat of the saluting nonsense. Fortunately, he did not; mostimportantly, they were leading a line of men, each of whom wascarrying a basket, but it was Ivomagus who spoke first.
“I need to warn you, Centurion,” hesaid apologetically, “that there may not be enough to feed all ofyour men. As you can see,” he indicated the collection of huts, twobarns, and other outbuildings, “this is a small village. If we takeenough for your men to eat, our people will have nothing to eat forseveral days.”
It was yet another thing that should haveoccurred to me, but I also understood that Ivomagus was correct, soI tried to sound as gracious as I could.
“Whatever you can spare at this timeis appreciated, Ivomagus. Hopefully, where we go to effect therepairs will be able to feed us as well as provide materials.” Idid not want to do so, but I added pointedly, “I know I don’t haveto tell you what’s at stake for both of us.”
He flushed and gave a curt nod, but whenCogidubnus apparently demanded to know what I had said, Ivomagusshook his head. The men walked to the boat and started loading thebaskets, which we watched for a moment, then satisfied that all wasgoing according to plan, I indicated that I was ready to go towherever they had appropriated for our negotiation. I wascompletely unprepared when, following the pair, they strode over towhere the king’s chariot had been turned about, which Cogidubnushopped on, while Ivomagus walked to another one and did the same.Meanwhile, I had come to a complete stop, and I will say that I hadno intention of jumping on what to my eyes looked like little morethan a platform on wheels that was open on both ends, while thesides, which were made of wicker, probably came up to just above myknee.
“Centurion!” Ivomagus called out. “Mybrother has asked that you ride with him in his chariot. This is agreat honor!” He paused, then while it was slightly quieter, therewas an emphasis there as he added, “And to refuse would be a greatinsult.”
“Can’t we just walk?” I ventured,trying to hide my apprehension.
“We will be using the lord’s hall,which is about a mile from here,” he replied. “Walking will taketoo long.”
“Fuck me,” I muttered, but I wasmoving, ignoring, or trying to ignore the fact that Cogidubnus wasmaking no attempt to hide his amusement.
The chariot shifted under my weight andCogidubnus wasted no time, snapping an order to his driver, whocracked the whip above the pair of horses, matching blacks, causingthe chariot to lurch. This was when I was certain he was trying toembarrass me by pitching me out of the chariot, but I had a hiddenally, at least of a sort. Having just spent more than two weeksaboard ship, I had become, if not accustomed to, at least equippedto handle standing or walking on a surface that was constantlymoving, so that before I had any thought to do so, my knees bent tolower my weight as I leaned in the opposite direction so that,while I was a bit wobbly, I was not pitched into the mud. My rewardwas the look of disappointment on the king’s face, which Ipretended not to notice, not hard because, while it was muchdifferent than riding a horse, I reveled in the feeling of speed asthe chariot bumped and bounced down the muddy track. We were out ofthe village almost before I could blink, and while most of myconcentration was on feeling the moving wooden platform under myfeet, I pretended to be more interested in the surroundingcountryside, which seemed to be little better than marshy groundthat still reminded me of the northern coast of Germania.
Since Cogidubnus could not speak Latin,there was no need for conversation, and I spotted the thatched rooffirst, off to our right as the road bent slightly, until the entirebuilding came into view. In appearance, it did not look muchdifferent than any of the dwellings in the village, except that itwas larger and the roof was higher. There were severaloutbuildings, but it was the number of saddled horses left in a pennext to what had to be the barn that made me uneasy, which I triednot to let show. The stop was much smoother than the start,directly in front of the double doors to the hall, which were openso that I could see several long tables, while lamps were hangingfrom the support beams that held up the roof, which was peaked. Idropped onto the ground, then waited for the two Britons to lead meinto the hall…and I almost dropped to my knees from the smell
