Cogidubnus indicated a table that Isuspected had been dragged to a spot in the middle of the hall.There were other men present, but they had already begun driftingtowards the entrance as the three of us sat down, with the twoParisii on one side and me on the other. Rather than sit with bothlegs on one side of the bench, I straddled it with my right leg onthe table side, because by doing so, it gave me free access tomy gladius. I did notthink it would be needed, but I didnot want to risk it, and I saw that Cogidubnus did not miss this;fairly quickly, I would learn that he missed verylittle.
He said something to Ivomagus, who asked me,“Would you care to eat first before we talk?”
A part of me knew that I should have had thestrength and discipline to say no, that we needed to discussmatters first, but almost as quickly, I convinced myself that byeating first, I would have more strength in the event things turnedout badly, and whereas if they did, I may have ended up dyinghungry. Perhaps it is what the philosophers call a rationalization,but it made sense at the time.
I actually grinned at Ivomagus, answering,“If you’re willing to wait, I am.”
He laughed, shook his head, and said,“No, Centurion. I am notwilling to wait.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Iassured him.
Before we were fed, a pair of womenappeared from behind a partition at the far end of the hall, one ofthem carrying a pitcher, the other three large wooden cups, andthey wasted no time, setting one in front of us while the otherfilled the cups from the pitcher before setting it down. I was notsure if there was a ceremonial aspect to this; I got my answer whenCogidubnus picked up the cup and drained it without uttering aword, so I lifted it to my lips, as did Ivomagus, and our eyes met.We never spoke of it, but I am certain he had the same thought,that the likelihood of this being poisoned was such I need notworry, just as I had assured him the night before. Iwas slightly disappointed that itwas water, although it was pure, quite cold, and only slightly lesssatisfying than the night before when I finally slaked my thirst.My cup was refilled by Ivomagus, and the same pair of womenreturned, this time with wooden plates and a platter of meat that Isupposed had been sliced off the roasting animals. There was morethan one kind, and there were cakes of some sort that tasted likeoats, all of which I had to fight myself to consume slowly. We hadonly gone hungry for two days, but I had heard too many storiesabout what happened when men gorged themselves after being deniedfood for an extended period of time, and the thought of vomiting ona king during our negotiations did not appeal to me. It is probablynot a surprise; if I had been asked, I would have said this was thebest meal I had ever consumed, though not long after the last bite,I realized that having only water was a blessing, because I wasbeginning to feel quite lethargic, and I realized if there had beenwine or mead, it would be worse.
“Centurion,” Ivomagus began theserious part of the meeting, “I have already told my brother whatyou are asking, and what you are offering in return.”
“And?”
I directed this to Ivomagus, but I kept myeyes on his brother, whose expression had returned to what Isuppose he thought of as his kingly demeanor, his eyes back totheir cold gaze.
There was a silence that lasted long enoughto make me turn to look directly at Ivomagus, but he did say,“While he does not reject the deal outright, he hassome…questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
When Ivomagus repeated my query, Cogidubnusbegan speaking, and since I only had his tone to go by, I was notgetting a comforting feeling. He spoke for several heartbeats, andI began watching Ivomagus more intently, because once the king wasfinished, instead of translating it, Ivomagus appeared agitated andtalked to his brother, using his hands quite spiritedly, includingpointing at me. The king clearly did not like what his brother wassaying, and while he did not raise his voice to a shout, I sensedmovement off to the side, and I glanced over at the door just intime to see a bearded face peer in through the crack, clearly drawnby the noise, although he shut it quickly, neither Parisii seemingto notice. I felt the sweat starting to trickle down my temple; Ihad taken my helmet off and set it on the table, and I tried tosurreptitiously drop my right hand from where it had been restingon the table to my lap. Fortunately, I was completely forgotten asthe two brothers argued, but finally, Cogidubnus’ voice changed toan inflection that I did not need translated, because it was thesame tone I used with a subordinate when I was done discussing itand expected them to obey orders.
Ivomagus’ face darkened, yet there was onlya slight hesitation as he turned to look at me and said, “KingCogidubnus says he has not made up his mind, but he orders me toremind you that he only has to say a word, and five thousandwarriors will be at his command.”
He stopped, dropping his eyes from mine.
“And?” I demanded, and my voice wasevery bit as cold as the king’s. “I don’t think that’s all he said,Ivomagus.”
“No,” he admitted, then took a breathand went on, “he
