“Tell Saloninus,” I addressed Alex,“that we’re going to be speaking in Greek.” Of course, I wasalready using it. “Let’s see if these bastards know that.” As Alexwhispered this to Saloninus, I surreptitiously glanced over atIvomagus, encouraged by what I saw on his face. When Alex turnedback to me, I began, “They’re holding me hostage because they thinkthat the Propraetor will bewilling to pay for…”
“What language are you speaking?”Ivomagus interrupted. “Why are you using this tocommunicate?”
I did not even try and hide my satisfactionas I told him cheerfully, “Because I knew you savages don’t speakGreek, Ivomagus, that’s why. And,” I could not resist, “that’s whattruly civilized people use anyway.”
I was not surprised that this angered him,and he explained this development to Cogidubnus while never takinghis eyes off of me. If anything, his brother reacted even worse,snarling something to Ivomagus.
“My brother commands that you speak inLatin,” Ivomagus snapped, to which I tried to give a laugh thatsounded genuine.
“Or what?” I shot back scornfully.“You’re going to kill me? Right here? Right now? In front of,”since my hands were still bound, I had to use my head to indicatethe Legionaries of my First Century who were standing shoulder toshoulder, each of them holding one of their pila on their shoulders, “my men?” I paused,then something made me ask suddenly, “Are you a wagering man,Ivomagus?” This startled him, but even if he was inclined toanswer, I was not going to wait. “Because I’m willing to wager myransom that you, your cunnusbrother, and,” I used my head again to make a circulargesture to encompass the Parisii around us, “every one of thesedogs will be dead before you can even touch me. Are you willing toaccept that wager?”
I got my reward from the expression ofhelpless fury on Ivomagus’ face as he translated what I had said,and judging from Cogidubnus’ own look, which mirrored hisbrother’s, I assumed that Ivomagus had interpreted every word.
Rather than answer verbally, Ivomagusdeliberately turned away to stare straight ahead, and I could notresist another jibe. “That’s what I thought.” Then, ignoring hishiss of frustrated rage, I turned back to Alex, resuming in Greek,“As I was saying, these stupid bastards think that thePropraetor is going to be willing topay the ransom.”
“How much is it?” Alex asked, anddespite knowing this was coming, I still hesitated; I supposebecause I was still struggling to comprehend what a massive sum itwas.
“He wants my weight,” I swallowed, “ingold.”
Alex’s gasp was barely audible, but when herelayed this to Saloninus, he clearly did it loudly enough thatGemellus, Mus, and several other rankers could hear, enough of themsufficiently astounded that every man outside the camp in my partycould hear it. I risked a glance at Ivomagus, and I saw himfrowning, but in a manner that indicated he might be having secondthoughts about the amount of money his brother was demanding.
Once my men subsided, I heard howshaken Alex was when he asked, “What do you want me to do, Gnaeus?I mean,” he added quickly, “I do think that…the Propraetor,” I offered a silent prayer of thanksthat he understood why I was not using Germanicus’ name, “would payit.”
“No,” I cut him off sharply, thenrepeated, “no. You’re not going to do that.”
“But then what can we do?”
“Septimus,” I said, knowing I did nothave to use the last name. “You need to go seeSeptimus.”
For, dear reader of this account, thiswas the solution with which I had come up, during the ride from thehall to our camp. I was going to rely on my uncle Septimus,although it is always difficult for me to think of him as suchsince he is only a couple years older than I am. While Saloninusled our men back to Ubiorum, Alex would make his way to Arelate,where he would prevail on Septimus to scrape up everypossible sestertius he couldto pay my ransom. I seriously doubted that he could get his handson that much coinage, especially in gold, but I was gambling mylife on the belief that, when Alex returned with whatever amount hebrought, the greed of this petty barbarian king would hold sway,because even in my limited contact with the Parisii, I could seethey were not a wealthy tribe. Prosperous, yes, but only moderatelyso, and I was certain that Cogidubnus had never even seen so muchgold in one place in his life. Of course, neither had I.
Now that I had relayed my instructionsto Alex, I turned my attention to Saloninus, and for this, Iswitched back to Latin as I said formally, “Pilus PosteriorSaloninus, I am transferring command to you, and you are now theacting Quartus Pilus Prior. Before I do, however, I am giving youthis last order. Honor our agreement with these…” I forced myselfto refer to them as “…people and leave at first light. Which,” Isuddenly noticed that there was a lighter gray along the easternhorizon, “may not be possible given how close to dawn it is, so Iamend the
