Hostage to Fortuna

wasinformed that Cogidubnus expected me to ride with him to the hall,which I did of course, but when I indicated the camp as we passedby, trying to communicate that I needed to let Saloninus know, heignored me, and he did not slow down as he swept past thePorta Praetoria at the trot. I didconsider refusing to stay on the chariot, but I was so heavilyoutnumbered that it was only for a heartbeat’s worth of time. I wasstill wearing my armor and my helmet, but that was small comfortbecause I was completely on my own. Cogidubnus did not sayanything, but I was not bothered about that since there was nothingwe could say to each other, and besides, he seemed more interestedin chattering to one of his warriors. Judging from the gestures, Ithought they were probably talking about the hunt, and there wereseveral boars slung from poles, along with a couple of stags, but Ifelt certain that what they were talking about was the wolf thatwas slung over the back of Cogidubnus’ saddle, its tongue hangingout of its half-open mouth while its eyes were open. It had a woundto its chest that I was certain was from a spear, and I wonderedwhat would happen to the skin, thinking that perhaps if I offeredto overpay for it to give to Gemellus, since his had becomesomewhat ratty and worn, it might be seen as a good faith gesture.First, however, I had to survive whatever was coming, and when Isaw the hall, I admit that my stomach did a flip. Obviously,someone had been sent ahead of our party, because what I assumedwas the entire complement of servants and slaves were standingoutside waiting to help the party to dismount, and begin theprocess of preparing what I assumed would be a major part of thefeast. Ivomagus came out of the hall, but he ignored me and walkedto Cogidubnus, speaking in their tongue. Although the king did notlook over at me, I saw his expression darken, and he began stridingtowards the hall. I moved to follow, not with the thought that Iwould be allowed, but to confirm that I would not, and Ivomagusstepped in front of me.

“I will ask that you wait out here forthe moment, Centurion,” he said, but I was beginning to getangry.

“You’re asking me?” I replied acidly. “Or are youtelling me?”

It was irritating, but my jibe did notfluster Ivomagus in the slightest, and he said only, “However youwish to think of it, Centurion, you will stay here until someonecomes to get you.”

He did not wait for my response, nordid he need to; I was not about to do something so foolish, not allalone. I was concerned that once Saloninus determined that I was nolonger in the town and not in camp that he would sound the alarmand assemble the men to come look for me. That could only endbadly, yet at the same time, I also knew that, if Cogidubnusdecided to seize me or detain me in some way, they would comebecause I would have done the same thing for any of my men, nomatter what rank. Not for the first time, I really missed havingthe rest of my Cohort with me, and I wondered if they were safelyhome in Ubiorum. My thoughts were interrupted when one of the doorsto the hall opened, and a man I recognized as one of Cogidubnus’bodyguards stepped out, indicating that I should enter with a jerkof his head. When I reached him, however, he pointed to mygladius.

“No,” I said flatly, and while he maynot have spoken Latin, he clearly understood the message, becausehis face flushed, and he reached down to grab the hilt.

That was a mistake, which he quickly learnedwhen I clamped my left hand down on his wrist and squeezed, hard,which prompted him to give a most undignified yelp of pain, butwhen he tried to jerk his wrist out of my grasp, I made sure that Iused enough force that it did not budge.

“That,” I said this pleasantly enough,“is with my left hand, my weak hand.”

“Centurion!”

I turned to see that Ivomagus had hurriedover in clear alarm, but I barely glanced at him, looking insteadover his shoulder at Cogidubnus.

“He’s not taking my weapon,” I toldIvomagus, but my eyes never left Cogidubnus.

“My brother, the King, instructed Senaculus to take your sword,”he argued, and I was certain I sensed a note of, if not panic, thensomething close to it.

“Tell your brother that if he wantsmy gladius, he can come andtake it,” I replied, trying to sound calm andmatter-of-fact.

“I cannot tell him that!” Ivomagusgasped.

I did look at Ivomagus now, the both of uscompletely ignoring this Senaculus, who had at least stopped tryingto wrench his arm out of my grasp.

“You expect me to trust you, but yourbrother is making that difficult,” I said. “Given what I’m surewe’re going to be talking about, it makes me nervous when he wantsme to surrender my weapon. Especially when,” I pointed out, “hebrought me here without allowing me to at least let my second incommand know that I was coming here.”

I saw immediately by his reaction thatIvomagus had been unaware of this. And, he confirmed I was tellingthe truth when he spun about and spoke to Cogidubnus, who, I couldsee, suddenly looked somewhat uncomfortable. The exchange did notlast long, and it was cut short when Cogidubnus gave an irritatedwave, and Ivomagus exhaled in what I believed was relief.

“You may keep your weapon, Centurion,”he said, and I immediately released Senaculus’ wrist, trying not tosmile as he used his other hand to rub it as he glared atme.

I followed Ivomagus to the table that hadbecome our customary meeting spot, except that the king remainedstanding.

Ivomagus wasted no time, beginning, “I havealready informed my brother of your actions yesterday, but he hassome questions of his own, which I will translate.” I nodded myunderstanding, then, without saying anything to his brother, heasked, “Why did you defy my order to wait for my return?”

It took a heartbeat for me to realize thatIvomagus was repeating the question directly, as if it wasCogidubnus asking.

“I made