There it was; my worst fear seemedconfirmed. A barbarian king was nakedly threatening me, a Centurionof Rome and the two Centuries aboard that ship, with slaughterinstead of negotiation. Suddenly, I felt something deep inside mestir; I can only use the description my father had given me, thatit was as if a slumbering beast deep within me had just beenawakened and was stretching itself, ready and waiting for me tounleash it. I was growing angry, there is no doubt; however, I alsohad a small voice telling me that this was more of a test than athreat. What I did know with certainty was that much rested on myresponse and the manner in which I responded.
It was through clenched teeth, but Ianswered, “That is true. Your brother could order his warriors toattack us, and there is no doubt that his warriors could kill us tothe last man.” I paused, letting Ivomagus know I wanted him tointerpret this, which he did, although Cogidubnus’ demeanor did notalter as he continued to look at me steadily. Once Ivomagus wasfinished, I continued, “However, I would be remiss if I did not pointout that my men, from the Fourth Cohort of the1st Legion, are only herebecause of a storm that blew us off course. We were returning home,as you know.” Suddenly, I had an inspiration, and I asked Ivomagus,“Did you tell your brother the particulars of our voyagehome?”
“Particulars?” I could see he waspuzzled by the unfamiliar word.
“What I meant was, did you tell himthat we were heading to Ubiorum because we defeated Arminius? Thathis confederation of tribes has been shattered, and Rome hasconquered Germania?”
While most of this was true, I wasstretching the truth about whether we have conquered Germania, butI got my answer in Ivomagus’ reaction, which was to shiftuncomfortably on his bench, dropping his eyes as his brother eyedhim with curiosity.
“No,” he admitted. “I didnot.”
“Tell him, Ivomagus.”
“I do not see why that isnecessary…”
“Yes you do,” I countered, beingcareful to keep my tone civil. Then I took a gamble. “I don’t thinkyou like where this is going, Ivomagus, and neither do I, forobvious reasons. You need to tell him why we’re here.”
He did so, or I assumed he did, andconsidering I heard “Germania” and “Arminius,” I felt confident hehad, although it was Cogidubnus’ reaction that was the mosttelling. Britannia is an island, that is true, but I was confidentthat they had heard enough about Rome’s campaign against Arminiusthat this barbarian king would be familiar with his name.
Once I was satisfied that Cogidubnuswas aware of our recent history, I continued, “What that means toyour brother is that my men are very experienced, and while I do not doubt whathe says, I am asking that he not doubt me when I tell him that thecost of what he is talking about will be very, very high for theParisii.” Ivomagus, looking every bit as reluctant with his brotheras he had been with me, did relay my words, but before Cogidubnuscould respond, I held up a hand, which infuriated him, to add,“Finally, there is something else he needs to know. First, ask himif he knows who Germanicus Julius Caesar is?” Ivomagus did so, andCogidubnus nodded, and I went on, “My father, who died not longago,” the sudden stab to my heart when I said this caught me bysurprise, but I kept going, “was a close friend of Germanicus. Infact, he served as the Primus Pilus…” I realized that term had nomeaning, “…or the chief Centurion of the Legion that boreGermanicus’ name a few years ago, in Pannonia.” This is true, but Iwas not finished. “And before my father died, he asked Germanicusto personally look after my welfare and do whatever he could tohelp me.” This is also true, which I am still trying to comprehend,although I now know more about the true nature of that agreementnow than I did at that moment. “And I have been personallydecorated by Germanicus himself.” Within these pages, only herewill I say that this is not true; or it was not true at the time, although I hadreceived a set of phalaraethe year before at his order, but I still believe it was fora good reason. Continuing, I indicated myself as I said,“Naturally, if you have to slaughter my men, you will have to killme to do it. And,” now I leaned forward to get closer to theParisii king to look him directly in the eye, “if that happens, theentire might of Rome will visit this island, and your people, andthe other tribes of Britannia, will curse the name of Cogidubnusfor bringing such destruction and horror to theselands.”
“I cannot tell my brotherthat,” Ivomagus gasped, but I was not going to beswayed on this, and I spat, “You better tell him every fucking wordof what I said, or I swear by my gods and yours, I’ll gut youbefore I’m struck down.”
Now Ivomagus was visibly shaking,which his brother noticed, his eyebrows plunging down towards eachother, and his tone was sharp as he, presumably, demanded to knowwhat I had said. There is no way to accurately calculate the timeit took for Ivomagus to translate my words, but it was long enoughfor me to wipe my right palm on my tunic before placing it on thehilt of my gladius, under thetable. Naturally, I watched Cogidubnus with keen interest asIvomagus, in a shaky voice, relayed to his brother what I had toldhim. And, if truth be told, I was certain that I had sealed myfate, judging by the manner in which the Parisii king’s face wentthrough a range of emotions. I was certainly not trying to keeptrack, though I definitely noticed them; the widening of the eyesand the glance at me as his brother presumably spoke of my father’slink to Germanicus, the intense expression as Ivomagus explainedhow that connection pertained to me, followed by a sudden rush ofcolor to his face as his brother conveyed the last
