“This,” I used one hand to indicateColumella, “is Optio Gnaeus Columella, of the Second Century,Fourth Cohort.” I knew they had no idea what anything other thanthe names meant, but it was a habit, and I moved my hand with eachone. “This is acting Optio Gnaeus Mus of my First Century, FourthCohort.” Next, I pointed to Gemellus. “This is theSignifer Servius Gemellus of theFirst Century, Fourth Cohort, and this,” I indicated Tetarfenus,“is Sextus Tetarfenus, Signiferof the Second Century, Fourth Cohort.” Finally, I finishedwith, “And this is Vibius Herennius, the Tesseraurius of the Second Century, FourthCohort.”
The crowd had fallen mostly silent, andthere was an awkward pause as Cogidubnus inclined his head inthanks before continuing, although very quickly, he got back intothe spirit of the thing.
“He is saying that, while we haveheard many tales of Rome and how…” Ivomagus faltered, and I glancedover to see him looking uncomfortable, but what he came out withwas, “…unruly her Legions are. But,” he hurried on, “as we haveseen with the Centurion and his men, they have been respectfulguests of the Parisii.” Suddenly, Cogidubnus stopped, and he turnedback to me, his eyes gleaming with amusement. I quickly learnedwhy, as Ivomagus translated, “There is one thing, however, that Imust tell you all, something that Centurion Pullus did.” I wascertain that my heart had suddenly stopped, while I tried to keepmy demeanor the same and not show the worry I wasexperiencing.
To my intense relief, Cogidubnus went on toessentially relay what I had told him about our raid across theriver, and he even repeated what I had said to him about leavingthe Brigantes alive, which not surprisingly elicited a roar fromthe guests, both the men and the women, many of whom stood andshook their fists. Finished, Cogidubnus reached down to pick upwhat looked like the horn of a beast of some sort, which had beenmade into a drinking cup, and he pointed to the cup in front of methat, while essentially the same was not nearly as ornate, wassitting on the table. Naturally, I picked it up, and we crashed thecups together, sloshing the contents over our hands, then inunison, we drained the cups as I tried not to gag at the sicklysweet taste of the mead that, while I have drunk mead before, had adistinctly different taste to what was served in Germania. We tookour seats, the food was served, and as one might expect, our tablewas served first. I was actually listening intently to Ivomagus,who was on the other side of Cogidubnus so that he had to lean overthe table so that I could hear, and consequently, I did not noticewho it was that placed a pile of steaming meat of differentvarieties in front of me. Until, that is, I heard a familiarvoice.
“Am I that forgettable,Centurion?”
Even before our eyes met, my heart began togallop, and I looked up at the copper-haired girl, instantlyforgetting what Ivomagus had been saying.
Somehow, I managed to stammer, “N-no, not atall, lady. I just did not see you coming, that’s all.”
“I see,” Ivomagus spoke up, and Iheard the amusement in his voice, “that you two havemet.”
“Yes, two days ago,” I heard my voicesaying the words, but my eyes never left hers as she stood there,looking down at me with what seemed to me to be a mocking smile,and I decided to exact some revenge by adding, “when she tried torob me when I wanted to buy a necklace.” That was when I noticedit, and I pointed to her neck. “That necklace.”
“That,” Ivomagus said, “sounds likeBronwen.” This was how I learned her name as Ivomagus explained,“She and her father Praesutagas have skinned more than one unwarybuyer. Not,” he added hurriedly, which I supposed was prompted bythe sudden flash of anger in her beautiful green eyes, “that theyhave ever cheated anyone. Praesutagas is an honest man, but it isBronwen who is the…” he tried to search for the correct term,coming up with, “…mind behind their business.”
This clearly pleased Bronwen, and she gaveIvomagus a smile that, without any warning, ignited a flare ofjealousy in me that caught me completely by surprise. And, Irealized uncomfortably, I could see she somehow knew this, althoughit was only the briefest of glances.
“I apologize, lords,” Bronwen gavewhat I suppose was some sort of curtsy, although it was unlikeanything a Roman woman would do, “but I must continue to serve theKing’s guests.”
Without waiting for permission, she turnedand walked away, and I cursed my inability to look away. She wasnot wearing that green gown this night, choosing instead a darkblue trimmed in red, with a red sash tied at her waist that onlyaccentuated her shape, and I confess I had never wanted a woman asbadly as I did her that night. I tried to hide this by turning myattention to the roasted meat, and I began devouring it. It was notfor a few heartbeats that I realized there were eyes on me, and Iturned to see both Cogidubnus and Ivomagus watching me withunfeigned interest.
I learned why when Ivomagus commented, “Wehave heard that Romans do not care for meat nearly as much as theylike their bread.”
This is certainly true, and I recognizedthat it was a valid question, so I attempted to explain, “That’strue. Most Romans do like bread more than meat. But,” I indicatedmyself with a grin, “as you can see, I’m not a typical Roman.”
They both laughed at this, then Cogidubnussaid something to Ivomagus, who said apologetically, “I mustapologize, Centurion. I told my brother what you related to meabout your father and your great-grandfather and how they were muchlarger than most Romans. He wants to know if you have ever thoughtabout why this is.”
How do I answer that? I wondered.
I decided to be honest, shrugging as Ianswered, “I’ve wondered that myself, but the truth is I have noidea.” I thought for a moment, deciding it would do no harm to tellthem, “I do know that my great-grandfather, who I told you about,”I said this to Ivomagus, “was
