Ivomagus had begun pacing, looking down atthe floor while rubbing the back of his neck, and when he glancedup at me sharply, I did not think he was going to answer, but hefinally said, “We have just learned something…distressing. TheBrigantes are gathering a large number of warriors at,” he namedthe town, which I cannot pronounce or spell, but was the place Ihad sent Saloninus on his diversion, “and we have reason to believethey are about to cross the river.”
I was startled certainly, but I still shouldhave held my tongue, yet I blurted out, “Wait…you didn’t know?”
“Of course not,” he snapped. Then heabruptly stopped his pacing, and he studied me closely as, Isuppose, the import of my words sunk in, and he asked coldly, “Why?Are you saying that you knew about it, Centurion?” Even before Iopened my mouth, his expression transformed yet again, his eyesgoing wide in shock. “Did you make some sort of bargain with them,Centurion? Is that why you know? That you have somehow arrangedsomething with that…dogDiviciacus to attack us so that you could escape?”
Gnaeus, you better talk like you have nevertalked before, I thought to myself, while aloud, I injected as muchscorn as I could, “How would I have done that, Ivomagus? I’ve beenhere under guard.”
“You could have arranged itbeforehand!” he snapped, and for yet another time, a new expressioncrossed his face, that of a man who thinks he has solved theriddle, and he pointed a shaking finger at me as he practicallyscreeched, “It was when you were speaking Greek with your slave!That is when you instructed him to make contact withDiviciacus!”
More than anything, this told me how badlyIvomagus was rattled, because never before had I seen anything thatwould lead me to believe he was not very clever.
“Are you saying that you didn’t haveSaloninus and my men followed when they left Petuar to return toUbiorum?” I shot back, and was rewarded by the flash of what mighthave been chagrin as I pressed, “Did they report that the shipstopped? Or even slowed down as they passed by? Did they see anyoneshouting something?”
He did not answer immediately, but hefinally muttered, “Yes, I had your ship followed, and no, nothingunusual was reported to me. But,” he pointed, “I saw by yourreaction that you knew about this. How?”
While I was relieved that I had managed toconvince him that my instructions to Alex had nothing to do withthe Brigantes, I knew I was not out of danger.
“Because,” I answered truthfully,“when Pilus Posterior Saloninus returned and we met, he and theother officers informed me that when they anchored in the rivernext to their dock, that a large force of Brigantes showed up. Isimply assumed that since you followed the ship and caught up withit, you saw them there.”
This last part was a lie, but he did notneed to know that, while I could see that he was not completelyconvinced, asking suspiciously, “Who told you that we sawthem?”
“Pilus Posterior Saloninus,” I lied,then decided to embellish a bit, “and my acting Optio Mus. And,” Ipretended to think, “my SigniferGemellus. They all told me that they saw your mounted scoutson the opposite side of the river, and that when they turned aroundto sail back upriver, the Brigantes remained in sight, making surethey left, so the Brizo couldnot have blocked your men’s view.”
They had said no such thing, and in fact hadinformed me that the Brigantes had withdrawn before the first ofthe Parisii who had gone galloping downstream after my men hadarrived. Fortunately, they were long gone, hopefully either veryclose or perhaps even already arrived in Ubiorum, although I alsoknew, or strongly suspected, that Alex would somehow convinceSaloninus to agree to put him ashore further south on the Galliccoast to put him closer to Arelate. And, I was fairly certain thatnow, when Ivomagus questioned those men of his who had been thequickest to react to follow Saloninus, and they denied ever seeingany Brigantes, he would at least suspect that they were lying tosave themselves from being punished.
If that was what was going on in his headand he was convinced by my story, or he simply decided that it wasnot worth pursuing in the moment, he sat back down and gave adismissive wave. “Very well, Centurion. I suppose it does notreally matter. What does,” his face was set in grim lines, “is thatCogidubnus and the men he has with him arrive before the Brigantesscum work up the nerve to cross the river.”
Because Motius sailed farther south than heneeded to, or should have, we put in at Gesoriacum. I did nottarry; the plank was barely down before I was hurrying down it toask for directions to the nearest stable where I could rent asaddle and packhorse. We had rowed into the harbor before noon, andI do not think a third of a watch elapsed before I was back at theship, and thanks to Saloninus, I had help in transferring Gnaeus’baggage from the cabin to the pack animal. Before our arrival,Saloninus had used one of the last wax tablets in his possession towrite out an order authorizing me to use the Imperial relaystations to switch out mounts.
“I’m signing this as theQuartus Pilus Prior of the 1st,” he told me, “so I’m not certain itwill work. And,” he grinned, “I’d
