“I assure you, Centurion, there is nodesire to poison you, as you pointed out to me several days ago,”he reminded me, and I confess I had forgotten that moment in thecabin of the ship where I actually felt some sympathy for thistreacherous bastard.
“I’m not worried about poison,” I saidshortly. “I just don’t want it to be mead.”
He chuckled at this, but I ignored him as Istuffed the food in my mouth, then washed it down with water. Iconsumed everything quickly, and I barely noticed that Ivomagus,the guards, and a couple of the slaves had stopped to watch. Onlywhen I looked up and saw them looking at me did I have a hint theyfound something unusual, which Ivomagus brought up.
“Centurion, I do not believe I haveever seen anyone eat as much and as quickly as you.”
I still had my last mouthful that I waschewing, so I used that as an excuse not to answer immediately,because I sensed that this was something of a peace offering on hispart, an attempt to establish at least a veneer of cordiality.
Somewhat against my first inclination, Idecided to accept it, so I shrugged. “I’ve always eaten a lot, andsince I joined the Legion, I’ve learned to eat quickly.” Istretched out, let out a loud belch, then asked, “Now what?”
“Now,” Ivomagus responded with a shrugof his own, “you are free to walk about Petuar.”
“As long as these two are with me?” Ijerked a thumb in their direction, and he nodded, although he said,“For now, yes. We will be rotating your guards. And,” he added,“neither of them speak your tongue, Centurion, nor will any of theothers.”
This made me chuckle, “You’re not taking anychances, are you, Ivomagus?”
“No,” he agreed, “I am not. And whenyou return, I am certain the King’s healer will be here to tend toyour injuries.”
There was not much else to say after that,so I got up, and without a backward glance, walked out of the hall.I had to wait for three horses to be saddled, but when I mounted,before I could do so, one of the guards reached out and took thereins, shaking his head and offering a grunt that, frankly, I didnot need translated to understand.
“What is your name?” I asked thisguard, who was a bit older than me, with a scar that ran diagonallyacross his face that meant there was a gap in his reddish mustacheand beard. When he only stared at me blankly, I tapped my chest,and said, “Pullus.”
Then I pointed at him, and while I saw thathe understood, before he answered, he glanced at Ivomagus, who wasstanding in the doorway, who gave him a nod.
“Cunovindus,” he said, in asurprisingly deep voice. Pointing to his comrade, he supplied,“Tincommius.”
“Very well, Cunovindus,” I made asweeping gesture with my hand towards Petuar, “lead theway.”
I had to stifle my grin at his bemusedexpression, but he obeyed, and I took comfort in this small victorythat I had issued an order. Little did I know how important itwould become to find these small ways to fool myself into thinkingI had any control over my fate.
This set the pattern for the next severaldays, and I will say that Ivomagus was good to his word; I wasallowed to roam about more or less as I pleased, but as I learnedvery quickly, the sights of Petuar can be seen in a morning.Indeed, the real highlight was when the healer, who had been therethe first time I came back from Petuar and was surprisinglyskilled, pronounced, through Ivomagus, of course, that the stitchesAlex had put in could be removed so that I did not have to wearthat stupid bandage. And Ivomagus was also telling the truth aboutrotating the guards; I was never guarded by the same combination ofmen two days in a row, and it would take a fair amount of timebefore there was a repetition of the same guard. Nor did they speaka word of Latin, which I tested by calling them a variety of names,but while smiling at them and using a friendly tone as I did so.Some of them were actually decent men who seemed to view my plightwith some sympathy, although it never led to them turning theirback on me. Honestly, what proved to be the most difficult aspect,aside from the boredom, occurred every market day, which was everyfourth day, because there was no way not to see Bronwen there. Thefirst time, which was two days after Saloninus and the men left, Istruggled to stop myself from rushing at her to continue mydiatribe that had been cut off the day of my capture. That day, awarrior named Gorteryn was one of the guards, and he clearly saw myexpression when I caught the glimpse of hair the color of copper atthe same stall she had been at when we met. Fortunately, she didnot see me…that time, and Gorteryn quietly but firmly interposedhimself between me and Bronwen, although he was facing me. He saidnothing, just gave a shake of his head, and while I will not lieand say I was thankful at that moment, later, I did appreciate hisaction.
The townspeople ignored me for the mostpart, at least to my face; I caught more sidelong glances or guiltylooks when I turned suddenly than I can easily count, but they werenot hostile. What proved to be more difficult than I hadanticipated was my anger towards Bronwen. When you have a lot oftime on your hands, and nothing much to do, I suppose it is naturalfor a man to dwell on the events that have brought him to hiscurrent predicament. And the more I relived what had happened, Ibegan to have some doubts about my certainty that Bronwen was anactive, or even willing participant in my confinement. Cogidubnuswas gone, returning to Danum, leaving Ivomagus in charge, and Ifelt certain that I was more likely to get the truth out ofCogidubnus than Ivomagus about her role, if only because I do notbelieve he would have cared one way or another about any
