The Votadini king laughed at him in shockingly open defiance, stiffening Calgus’s posture with astonished anger.
‘They tell us that we got lucky, Calgus. They tell us that you turned a Roman against his own, to lead a legion on to ground that made them helpless against our attack. We cannot expect such fortune again, if indeed I should call it fortune. We may have defeated a legion, but before the end of that day we were running like frightened children with two more legions on our heels, and their bloody cavalry. I lost a son to their spears, a son I will never see again thanks to this adventure of yours. A son whose head will have been taken by their soldiers to decorate some barrack or other…’
His nephew Martos, a scar-faced warrior with a fearsome reputation in battle, stared at Calgus from behind his uncle’s chair with a look of thinly veiled anger, a half-dozen of his men at his back. Brennus sat back in the chair, his eyes locked on Calgus’s, and with a flash of insight the Selgovae king knew that the challenge was coming. He strolled easily across the ground between them, looming over the old man and bending to speak quietly into his face. Martos and his men stiffened, ready to air their blades if Calgus as much as touched their leader.
‘Got a new champion, have you, old man? Could it be your sister’s boy that’s stood behind you, perhaps? Or will you do this the old-fashioned way and turn your men loose on mine, see who prevails, eh?’
Brennus looked him straight in the face, no sign of fear in his eyes.
‘There will be no challenge if you agree to make peace with the Romans. They have two full legions on our soil even now, they dominate the land around their destroyed forts on the north road as they start to rebuild them, and yet you claim to have broken their grip on us for ever. If we seek to offer them resistance those legions will roll over us and grind us into the ground we stand on.’ He shook his head at Calgus, then turned to the men behind him. ‘This rebellion is over! We’re back in the iron fist, but this time there’ll be no Roman tribute payment to soften the indignity of our lost sovereignty. The best we can hope for is to trade those cursed spoils of battle, and humble promises of peace and good behaviour, for some measure of normality. Until we do their legions will trample our land and people under foot, forever seeking revenge for their wounded pride.’
Calgus turned away, affecting to consider the suggestion. It was more than a suggestion, of course, more like an order from the leaders of the other tribes arrayed behind the old man, and an assured death sentence for him. If the tribes negotiated with Rome he knew that nothing less than his own head, alongside that of the Roman legatus currently sat in a jar of cedar oil in his tent, would satisfy their lust for revenge. Not unless they could take him alive, of course, for a lengthy humiliation and eventual ritual execution. He turned back to face the implacable faces with a slow secret smile.
‘So, it’s to be peace at the price of my head. If that’s how you all want it, I suppose I have little choice. And I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that my sacrifice won’t be the only one you have to make.’
He stood and waited, watching a glimmer of understanding dawn on the old man’s face while the others around him frowned their incomprehension.
‘You have hostages?’
Calgus shook his head sadly.
‘Brennus, Brennus, what do you take me for? Of course I’ve taken hostages. Since you’re all culpable for our defeat, you can all pay the price for our surrender. If you betray me, you betray your closest family members.’ He pointed at each man in turn. ‘Your sons will never reach manhood. Your wife will never warm your bed again. Your daughters will never run to their father’s arms again. And, to be quite clear, they will all leave this life in slow, hard ways. I’ve sent the right men to make sure of that.’ He spread his arms wide, encompassing the gathering with a feral grin. ‘So, if you want to take my head for your would-be Roman friends, go ahead.’
He waited ten long seconds for anyone to move. ‘I thought not.’ He stepped close to the seated elder, a grim scowl replacing the smile. ‘In that case, let’s get back to business as usual, shall we? And in case any of you are tempted to put a sword in my back, I’ll warn you that if the men holding your family members don’t receive messages from me as expected, then you’ll be killing your loved ones just as if you’d put the knife to them yourselves.’
Brennus stared up at him with a look of horrified distaste.
‘Do you expect to rule us in this way for ever, Calgus?’
‘For ever, Brennus? Of course not! But I will keep you under control for long enough that we can finish the job we started. The Romans may have twenty thousand angry troops in the field, but they’re on unfamiliar ground in a land filled with hostile tribes, and the legions from the south and west can’t stay up here for ever. The first sniff of trouble in their own areas and the governor will have them away down the road to their fortresses, leaving the Sixth Legion and the auxiliaries to hold the line. I’ll have them bottled up behind their wall by the end of the summer, and then we’ll see if your people still want peace on Roman terms. I’ll chop our invaders up piece by piece, I’ll make them rue their desire to expand into our lands, and I will send them away with their tails between their legs. And you, Brennus, all of you fools, you should worry less about for ever and more about the next few days.’
Marcus was still discussing the next day’s march to Arab Town with his friends when the prefect’s orderly delivered a polite request for the centurion to join Prefect Scaurus and the first spear in his residence. He went back to his quarter, changed into a clean tunic and hurried up the hill just as the evening’s quiet gloom was finally surrendering to night, and the torches were being lit along the fort’s streets. Inside the building he was conducted to the prefect’s private rooms, where he was surprised to find Scaurus sitting opposite Frontinius, a sword unsheathed in his lap. At the room’s far end stood a foot-high statue, surrounded by a ring of small candles. It was a representation of a man in the act of stabbing a bull to death, his left hand pulling back the animal’s head while the other wielded the knife buried in its throat. The first spear nodded to the chair set facing the two men.
‘Take a seat, Centurion.’
He sat down with a questioning glance to both of the men, already pretty much sure of the reason for the summons. The prefect nodded a greeting, tapping the sword’s blade.
‘Forgive the impolite nature of this meeting, Marcus Valerius Aquila, but given the circumstances I decided that not to take the precaution would be foolhardy.’
Marcus nodded his understanding, keeping his eyes fixed on the prefect’s.
‘You’ll know why I’ve asked you to join us…?’
He nodded again.
‘You’ve uncovered my secret, Prefect, and you want to talk to me before you decide what to do with me.’
The senior officer raised an eyebrow.
‘You’re assuming that I haven’t already made that decision.’
‘Yes, sir, I am. If you’d already decided to have me arrested I would have found myself at the point of a sword without warning, my hands bound, and then thrown into the punishment cells for safe keeping. And if you’d already decided to ignore my situation I probably wouldn’t even be here, you’d be agreeing with the first spear the best way to keep me out of trouble. As it is you have a sword ready to use, which implies either mistrust of my potential actions or a lack of confidence in your own abilities. Or both.’