The Roman Girl

by Arnamentia

She's a Roman who hates Britain. He's a druid who hates the Romans. When she crashes into his world, will they have the courage to let love overcome the hate, or will the might of the Roman Empire destroy them both?

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Eadweard

While we wait in the little wood for Bella and possibly her mother to arrive, I have time to think back on the past couple of days. Cador has made me sit, he won't let me pace about, so there is nothing else to do but reflect on what has happened, what is happening.

We couldn't accord the grandmother the full seven days of mourning. Already after a day she was looking grey, and the women complained quietly to Brina that she was seeping. After the mess I had made severing her head, they did not want any more fluids to have to clear up. Besides, they were a little afraid of her, even in death, even though I had assured them that her spirit had flown. They were convinced she walked after dark, and refused to be in the house with her, even though she should not have been left alone. So it fell to Cador and me to sit with her. It was all I could do to persuade Cador not to spit on her, and to show her the respect she was due. I told him he would be cursed if he did anything disrespectful to so powerful a druid. We were both massively hung over after the drinking session the previous day, so he was unusually biddable. Father decided we could carry out the burial rites after a day, but we would leave the bronze bowl on her grave for offerings, if people still wanted to make one.

As the crowd dispersed after the interment, I thought I could see the Roman woman from the port lingering at the back. She appeared to be looking for someone.

'Get in the house,' Cador said. 'I'll find out what she wants.'

I think she is quite harmless. She and her husband, a veteran of the Twentieth legion, have settled close to our village. If he had been a veteran of the Second Augusta, we would not have tolerated them. He is a hearty Gaul, and I get on quite well with him, on the odd occasion we run into each other. She sends gifts of honey, which she is no doubt stealing from the supplies that come in, but we have no compunction about taking them. Sometimes I feel sorry for her, she tries hard to be friends with the village women, but although they are polite to her, they do not admit her completely to their circle. It will not be like this for Bella, should I manage to get her safely to the village. If my father and Brina accept her, which they will not refuse to do, then she will become part of the village. I wondered if Valeria had a message for me, but I could not risk speaking to her myself. She could not know where I was; she works for Bella's step-father.

It was not long before Cador came into the house. Valeria did indeed have a message from Bella.

'She wants a meeting,' he said. 'She has asked for me, but she presumably means you. What shall I say? The wedding is tomorrow.'

So it was that night, or never.

'Tell her tonight, by the altar to –' I realised she has never told me who she worships in the little wood. 'By the altar in the wood.'

He didn't like the message, he thought it was too specific, if it was a trap, but I thought not. Valeria and her husband have to live here, which they wouldn't do for very much longer if she betrayed me. Cador himself would kill them.

'It will be all right,' I said. 'Just tell her – by the shrine. Nothing else.'

Cador spent a lot of time planning the meeting. He was adamant there had to be an escape route; he was not convinced it was not a trap. He sorted a coracle, which Bearchan left for me, tied in the rushes by the river bank. Cador's reasoning was that they wouldn't be able to follow a boat, and if necessary I could paddle to the other bank. There is no bridge.

'Don't forget, if they come, get in the boat,' he said.

'You're not coming,' I said.

'Yes, I am, but I'll be further back in the wood. She's bound to have a bag. She won't be able to carry it, you can be sure. You'll be bringing her, I'll be carrying the bag. Want to bet?'

I wouldn't bet against Cador. If she wasn't ready to drop everything and come with me when he asked, then chances are she wanted to pack – or say goodbye.

After dark, I guided Cador to her little shrine and we waited. When we heard her coming, Cador melted back in the direction of the road. My heart leapt when I saw her. I kissed her; it was so sweet. I had missed her. But she was agitated. She had news of Mona, and she urged me to go and warn them. She had no idea of how far away Mona was, how long it would take me to get there.

Before I could even start to persuade her to leave with me, Cador shouted a warning. There were soldiers running down the hill. The Romans were coming, they had missed her in the fort. After kissing her, I promised to come back for her. But she held on to my hand and chose to come with me, despite the dangers. We started running to the river, to Cador's boat. We splashed into the water. Once I had loosed the mooring rope, the boat drifted a bit too far and because of the depth of the river, she was unable to haul herself in. I managed to climb in and intended to pull her in beside me, but the rope was caught on the reeds. Suddenly she turned and went to free it, despite me shouting at her to leave it and give me her hand. She threw the rope as hard as she could towards the boat, yelling 'Go, go!'

Anguished, I had to leave her and steer out into the current. It was my only chance. I couldn't save her. I lay flat in the coracle, my heart pounding. Fortunately, the tide carried me out towards the middle of the river. The Roman spears came close, a couple of them bouncing off the boat, and one splintering the side, the point landing very close to my shoulder. Without the light of the moon, I couldn't see what had happened to her, although the shouting carried across the water. When I thought I was far enough away from the bank, I risked starting to paddle. With the boat starting to ship water, I went downstream, towards the sea, as that was the way the tide was running. When I was past the harbour, I steered into shore. I very nearly had to swim for it.

When I finally got back to the village, Cador was waiting, pacing anxiously.

'It was a trap, a trap,' he said as soon as I lifted the door flap and entered.

'It wasn't. They just missed her in the fort. That was always a possibility.'

'You have to go – now. Don't wait. Who knows if they will come to search the village.'

'They have no idea which way I went. But what happened to her? Did you see?'

'The soldiers got her. They dragged her back inside the fort. Don't ask me if she's okay. How in the name of all that's sacred would I know that?'

That did not sound good to me. They saw me, they would have seen her with me, seen her help me escape.

'You can't help her,' he said. 'You need to leave.'

'I can't.' The thought haunted me that they would probably kill her. 'Not until I know she's safe.'

Better death with you than life without you, she had said. But I was not sure she meant like this.

'Oh, I'll just invite myself to the wedding, shall I?'

'Valeria might be able to get in.'

'Listen to yourself. She's Roman. They're Roman. Why would she not be safe? Haven't they just rescued her from you?'

'No. She – she was coming with me. I don't know if they realised it. And she's just helped a druid to escape Roman justice. Her future husband won't like that.'

I told Cador that I was bound to her intended husband, because he had my ribbon. I had to get it back or kill him. He did not know enough swear words to express all of his frustration and anger. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Which is why I hesitate to tell him things. There is always the risk of an angry reaction.

'So what are you going to do? Knock on the fort gate and challenge him to single combat? He'll just arrest you and execute you. Both of you, probably.'

We both paced up and down, trying to think. We have never needed spies in the fort. We leave them alone, and they mostly leave us alone. I thought about sending Father to speak to the fort commander.

'Sometimes I wonder what you have got for brains,' Cador said, unusually calmly after his outburst. 'They'll just take him hostage till you turn yourself in. Don't even think about it.'

He was right, of course. Without a large armed contingent, I couldn't march in there and get her. I couldn't send anyone to find out if she was all right. We couldn't negotiate – the price of her freedom was me. Even then, her freedom was not certain.

'I'm going to wait a day,' I said. 'The wedding is tomorrow. Either she will get married and go to Glevum, or . . . '

'Most likely – or. She won't be getting married.'

He shrugged. He gave up then, deciding there was no arguing with me. But he sent me to my shelter on the hill, in case the Romans decided to stage a dawn raid.

'Don't come back too early,' he said. 'Give them a while to decide what they are going to do.'

The effort of trudging up the hill was good for me, it burnt off the tension, but still I didn't sleep very well. Every sound startled me out of whatever doze I might have been in. As the valley lightened in the morning, I watched the fort for signs of activity, but the gates remained closed, the search party did not come. I hoped they had decided that I was far away by then. As I should have been, if I knew what was good for me.

Instead, Cador came, bringing food. We sat and ate and watched the gates of the fort as the sun rose higher.

'I don't understand why they haven't torn the village apart looking for you,' he said.

'They don't know exactly where I am. I could be at the bottom of the river, for all they know.'

But how long before the Romans either worked out or found out what might be keeping me close to the fort?

'You have to – you have to be ready for the fact that they might kill her,' he said.

'I know.'

He put a sympathetic hand on my arm. 'I'm sorry.'

After a pause, he continued:

'When we were up here that time – with Cinnia – do you remember? I said I hoped she was worth it.'

'Yes. She is.'

'Just because the gods have told you, or . . . ?'

'Not just because the gods have told me. I didn't want it at first, that relationship. I tried to fight it. But now. . . '

He nodded. 'Some things you can't fight. Especially the gods.' He paused again. 'Would you die for her?'

He surprised me with that question. I surprised myself as well as him with my answer. 'Yes.'

He studied me for a moment.

'It's that serious, then.'

'It is.'

'Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.'

I couldn't see how it was going to come to anything other than death. Better death with you than life without you.

'Eadweard.' He was urgently seeking my attention. 'We need to decide what we are going to do.'

'I need to give it another day.'

'How will we know . . .?'

'The gods have chosen her. It is for them to tell me that they have changed that decision.'

He pressed his lips together and for once he didn't express frustration. He nodded.

'How will you ask them?'

'I will make an offering. Then, if we have no news by tomorrow night, I will go to the sacred grove and ask the spirits and the ancestors.'

'If the answer is no?'

'I will move on.'

He patted my shoulder. The right answer, in his view. We set off, to return to the village. On the way down the hill, he told me he thought Ula's village would be a good hiding place, for a change. Her oldest brother was a brute of a man who would protect me: no-one would want to mess with him. When I questioned him about that, it all started to come out about the extent of his relationship with Ula; the fact that he also would be hand-fasted if the Romans hadn't burst in at Beltane; that he will marry her, because he wants to and not because Brina is making him. In return, he was able to tease me about how everyone in the village knows almost everything about my relationship with Bella, whether they want to or not, while he thinks his is still quite secret (I didn't tell him how much he and Ula are talked about in the women's house). We traded banter about who would leave behind the most broken hearts when news got out that both the sons of Kaswallon were spoken for; we laughed; he lightened my mood for a short while.

Once in the village, Father wanted to talk to us about the news he was hearing about the Iceni, the Trinovantes and the fighting in the east. The east was apparently going up in flames. The stories told of rape, of floggings, of theft from the Iceni by almost anyone connected to Rome, including their slaves, even though the late king had been a friend to Rome. If this was how they treated their friends, the stories said. . .

Word was spreading quickly that the Iceni had destroyed Camulodunum and killed a large number of Roman soldiers from the legion Ninth Hispania. They were mortal, they could be killed. Perhaps they could be defeated after all. He wanted an augury, and the answer, before a meeting with the heads of households that evening, so my offering would have to wait.

Cador was reluctant to let me sleep in my own bed that night, but I was tired of the hardness and the cold of the shelter. I had no idea where life would take me after the next day, so I craved a bit of comfort. He relented, on condition he slept in the house as well, sword beside him.

The night was uneventful, although I did not sleep as well as I had hoped. In the morning, I went to the sacrificial grove to make my offering – a fat lamb from Father's flock. Beside the body of the lamb, I knelt in the presence of the gods to offer my respect, my reverence, my humble obedience to their will. I listened; they did not send an answer, but I knew that they had heard me. I heard and felt their presence.

When I got back to my house, I found a strange woman sitting there with Adsiltia and Cador. They all turned to look expectantly as I entered. From their faces, I assumed the woman was something to do with the fort.

'Is she all right?' I asked breathlessly, before anyone could explain anything. 'Is she all right?'

The woman burst into tears, which I took to mean no.

'She's alive,' Adsiltia said quickly. 'At the moment. This is Bretta, one of the – the – slaves of the Second Augusta.'

'Not any more,' I said fiercely. 'What has happened?'

Bretta explained to me why she was here, that Bella had sent her to Adsiltia to get a quick-acting poison.

'Her step-father wishes her to kill herself,' Bretta said. 'If she does not, perhaps the Romans will kill her here, or they send her to Rome, for the Emperor to do it.'

'Do you know where? Where is she going to do it?' I asked.

'Not inside. Not in the fort. She wants to go outside, I think.'

'I gave her poison. She should have some.'

Bretta shrugged.

'No matter.'

'But you don't want her to take it,' Adsiltia said. 'You can't send it.'

'I'm not going to. And you, Bretta, are not going back to the fort. You are free now.'

I gambled that Bella would go back to her shrine. Like a wasp to a honey pot, she was drawn to it. Cador insisted we got ready and set ourselves in the wood before Bella left the fort. We needed to persuade several of the young men to arm themselves and come with us. I am always surprised at how eager they are to take up their swords. I warned them that it might come to a fight with legionaries, but Cador was convinced that even if soldiers came to the wood, it wouldn't be the whole detachment.

'Six, perhaps ten, at most,' he said. 'After all, it's just a girl and probably her mother. She won't do this alone. How many are they going to need to deal with that?'

'Don't forget to count her step-father and intended husband.'

'Fat functionaries. They won't be able to fight.'

'I'm coming,' Adsiltia announced.

'No, you're not,' Cador and I said together.

'Yes, I am. And armed. And I'm going to bring Bella's sword. She might need it.'

'And me,' Bretta said.

Cador and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. This was turning into a – a – what, we were not quite sure. But not a raiding party. He swore softly, but the women got their way.

'But you stay back, out of the way. And if the fighting starts, you run. That means you as well.' He pointed at Adsiltia. She pulled a face at him.

As we were gathering our fighters in the middle of the village, Cinnia emerged from the women's house. I had no idea she was back. She ran towards Bretta and they embraced. Bretta told her the news and the plan.

'She's not coming,' Cador said firmly.

'Yes, I am,' she declared.

Cador looked at me as if to say, when did we start letting the women run everything? I shrugged. I was too nervous, too tense to even think about what might happen. I tested the edge of my sword; sharp and keen. I had never drawn it in anger. I looked up and around, at the hills, at the sky over the forest, for a sign that this would end well for us. There were no crows, which made me feel a bit better.

We had to set off in ones and twos, and take different routes into the wood, so that we did not draw the attention of the sentries on the ramparts of the fort. Once in the wood, they could not see us. We settled down to wait. And to think.

Cador makes me sit. He talks through with the others what we will do. They decide that I will approach Bella, if there is just her and her mother. If there is an escort, we will all show ourselves.

It is a pleasant afternoon, just a little chilly in the shade. The sun is heading down, some of the men are dozing, Bretta definitely is, when we hear people approaching. It is Bella and her mother. My heart skips a beat. Cador puts his hand on my arm and stops me from rushing to her straight away. He puts a finger to his lips; we are all to be quiet.

Bella is looking about her, as if taking in all the beauty of the day and the little clearing. I am not sure if her eyes are glittering with tears. We draw back silently as she starts to collect sticks for a fire, and I recognise the type of stick she is looking for. When the fire on her altar is alight, I watch her and her mother make an offering to their goddess, whoever she is. The familiar sweet-smelling smoke swirls in the breeze and I step out into the clearing.

There have been many times in the past few days when I thought I would never get to take her in my arms again. The other night, and again today, I just want to hold on to her and protect her, to keep her with me always. Hopefully today is the day.

I hear Cador hiss. I have to push her away gently and melt back into the trees, putting my finger to my lips. Cador is right, Romans are approaching. We crouch down, swords drawn.

It is the obnoxious step-father, and presumably the intended husband. This is my first chance to study him. He is short, like so many Romans, losing his hair, and not what a British woman would consider good-looking. He is also a lot older than her. This is the Governor's druid hunter, the man who would hang me from an oak tree, but that would just be the end of the torture. I think of the druids on Mona, and what they might have suffered at the hands of the Romans. They think we are barbaric, but they can teach us a lesson or two when they want to.

The step-father and the druid hunter have not come alone. The garrison commander and a small detachment of soldiers are with them. I count ten. The step-father carries an unsheathed sword – clearly he means business of some sort. It is difficult to follow the discussion, but he seems to be demanding the right to kill Bella himself. He does not look like he has the balls to do it, but he is determined. He shows her something: a phial. It is something to do with honour. My heart contracts. He knows. Somehow, he knows.

I am trying to decide at what point to intervene when Bella demands the right to speak. Her voice shakes a little with anger as she accuses him of killing her father. I know the story of her father's death, of course, but not this bit. This must be a revelation from her goddess. Her bravery takes my breath away. She demands the right to avenge him. The camp commander is clearly out of his depth here, and has no idea what he should do. This is not in the military manual, I am quite sure. So this is my moment. I step forward, out of the trees and the smoke, like their worst nightmare.

The legionaries unsheathe their swords, a sound to strike fear. They advance a step as well, but so do Cador and our fighters. Adsiltia comes to stand next to me. When the legionaries see she carries swords there is an audible gasp and a murmur among the men. I have heard they are unsettled by women who fight. And Adsiltia can fight.

The druid hunter seems excited by my appearance. It is almost like he thinks I have walked into a trap he has purposely set for me, when I know he can't have had any knowledge that we would be here. He asks me a question, but for once I don't understand the Latin. I am pretty fluent, but there must be some words I have never needed to know, and this is one of them. I can guess that it is a pretty nasty word about Bella's purity. Because he feels humiliated, he has made sure they all know now, which makes me angry. I am proud to defend her honour, and to suggest that she leaves with us. I would gladly fight him for her. After what he has just implied, he is not worthy of her.

But this is not his fight. Nor mine, at the moment.

I can see only one way out for Bella. I don't want to pick a fight with the legionaries. Even if we win, they will come after us in the village. When Father agreed to let Bella come into our settlement, he didn't agree to defend her at all costs. She will have to win her freedom herself.

'Let them fight,' I declare.

I am relying on the step-father being more talk than action. But either he fancies himself as a swordsman, or he thinks Bella won't have the first idea, because he doesn't back down. The druid-hunter is excited, convinced he will have me captured at the end of all this. Adsiltia hands Bella her father's sword. We have cleaned and sharpened it. A brief look of puzzlement flits across the step-father's face. Good. He now has a doubt about how this is going to go.

'Bella.' I call her attention to me. I need to convince her she can do this. She has to believe it.

She prepares. She pulls the rear hem of her tunic through to the front and tucks it in. After receiving a blessing from her mother, she takes her stance. She is as ready as she can be. She just has to remember Adsiltia's lessons.

I have to stand impassive as the fight progresses. I have one eye on the druid-hunter, just in case he gets ideas about anything. I know Cador is watching the camp commander, looking for a secret signal to action. The step-father is arrogant, assuming that Bella will be easy prey. I wonder if he has actually killed a person before, face to face, looking into their eyes as he drives home the sword. I don't know whether Bella will have the same problem. She leads him a dance, as Adsiltia has taught her. The soldiers jeer. I can only assume they are jeering him, being made to look stupid by a mere woman. They have no idea what Adsiltia has taught her. When she has to start to attack, she varies her attempts, so he never really knows where her sword will be coming from. Cador nods in approval, patting my shoulder. She manages to cut him, and he does the thing Cador warned us not to do: he pauses to look at the blood, like he can't believe she managed a successful strike. She knows what she needs to do to follow up, to end the fight, and she tries, but fails. The doe does not hunt, it does not kill. I can see the hesitation, the doubt, in that first opportunity. Adsiltia grips my arm tight as the chance passes.

He starts to use the sword like a legionary, thrusting forward. She struggles to keep out of the way, and he manages, by luck, to nick her arm by suddenly changing the direction of his cuts. For a brief moment I feel pride as she follows Cador's instructions and ignores it. She keeps her concentration, and although she manages to get in a bigger cut on him, she is tiring and getting desperate. I pray that I won't have to watch her die. Cador puts a restraining hand on my arm; I can't intervene, much as I want to.

Fate, or luck, or the gods take a hand. He falls on to the fire, seemingly dead – which he can't possibly be. But he doesn't move, even though he must feel the flames. When she approaches to check, he grabs her ankle. Bringing Bella crashing to the ground, he advances to make his kill.

'Sword up! Get your sword up! Face him!' Adsiltia yells for all she is worth. She may have been screaming as well.

I hold my breath and tense myself to fight. It will end, one way or another, in the next few heartbeats.