Judging by the way he’d moved about all night, he had not slept well either. She wondered what had caused his unease. I’ll ask him when he wakes. She herself had long since given up trying to rest. Despite her weariness, she was determined to be cheerful. This was the day that she had longed for since their remarkable escape from the ludus in Capua. Back then, it had been an impossible hope. Yet against all likelihood, her husband’s soldiers had defeated every Roman army that had been sent against them since. Now Mutina lay some twenty miles to their rear, the legions that had garrisoned it broken and scattered to the four winds. No battle-ready enemy troops remained in the area. The previous day, their army had crossed the bridge over the River Padus. Their path lay wide open.
Ariadne had to feast her eyes on the wondrous sight again. She unlaced the tent flap and looked out. At last a smile crept on to her face. She hadn’t imagined it. Towering before her, from west to east in an immense, unbroken stony wall, were the Alps. All we have to do, she thought, is cross those peaks, and we’ll be free. For ever. Why, then, did she have a knot of worry clenched in her gut? An old saying came to her: Many’s the slip between the cup and the lip. I won’t be happy until we have actually reached the other side of the mountains.
‘Checking they’re still there?’ Spartacus’ voice came from behind her.
She pulled her head inside the tent. ‘You’re awake.’
‘Yes. Well, have they vanished?’
She punched him lightly on the arm. ‘You’re making fun of me.’
‘Just a little. I want to see them too.’ He threw off his blankets and crawled to the entrance. He was quiet for a moment. Then, ‘Thank the Rider. I didn’t dream them up. We really are beyond the reach of any legionaries in Italy.’ In Italy, he thought darkly. What about Thrace? A wild land that most of my soldiers have only heard of in tales. Will they want to go there — to face more legions? Or will they refuse? If that happened, Spartacus was aware that he did not want to be a general without an army.
‘You’re going ahead with your plan to talk to the men.’
‘Of course. This is an immense step that we’re taking. I have to check that they’re all of the same opinion.’
There it was, she thought. The festering worry that both of them had been feeling for some time, but neither had mentioned. She couldn’t have been alone in hearing the discontented talk around the campfires. ‘You think some of them won’t?’
He didn’t answer.
‘Who? Castus or Gannicus?’
Spartacus sighed.
‘What is it?’
Despite his wish to avoid confrontation with Ariadne, he’d always known that he would have to tell her. It had to be before he addressed his soldiers too. He owed her that much. ‘A lot of men aren’t happy with the idea. There has been grumbling about it for a while, but over the last couple of nights, it has grown worse. You might not have noticed it, but I hear it all as I move through the camp.’
‘But-’
‘It’s not surprising, Ariadne. The bulk of them were born here in captivity. They weren’t freeborn, like you and I. They don’t know what it’s like to live in their own homeland, with no one to call master. As far as they’re concerned, Italy is a land rich for the plunder. It’s fertile, with countless farms and latifundia to prey upon. Why would they want to leave it? A lot of those who weren’t born into slavery think that too.’
‘They should leave because they would get away from the damn Romans!’ she said, feeling her cheeks redden with anger.
‘Yet the majority think that they can beat any army that they face. Why wouldn’t they?’ His lips twisted in a wry grimace. ‘Look at what they’ve done. I’ve told them over and over that the Romans never give up, but words mean little when they’ve never known anything except victory.’
‘There must be a way to convince them.’
‘At the end of the day, I can’t make the army follow me. It’s not as if there aren’t other leaders who will be reluctant to cross the Alps, men who want to stay in this land that has given them so much.’
‘You mean Castus and Gannicus.’ This time, she spat their names.
‘Yes. They stayed with me when Crixus left, but you know how unpredictable they are, especially that piece of dirt Castus. He has never liked following my lead. This is when he’ll make his move, and I wager Gannicus will go with him. A good chunk of the army will follow them.’ And the pricks don’t even know about Lucullus. If they did, and told the men, most would leave.
‘If that happens, what will you do?’
They stared at each other without speaking.
‘The Thracians would come with me. Carbo, Navio, the Scythians, obviously. I’d say that maybe ten to fifteen thousand other men would do as I ask. But the rest I’m not sure about-’
‘Leave them then!’ cried Ariadne. ‘They can choose their own fates! To be slaughtered in a month, or a year, by another Roman army.’ She saw the pain in his eyes. ‘I know that they’re your men, but you don’t have to act as they do.’
‘I know,’ he said stiffly. ‘But there’s more to it than that.’
She gave him a searching look. ‘Is this what have you been holding back from me?’
He didn’t answer her question. ‘When Carbo and Navio were in Mutina, they heard word of Marcus Lucullus, the Roman general who has been fighting in Asia Minor. He has defeated the Thracians who were in Mithridates’ pay and moved into Thrace itself. Large areas have been laid waste.’
‘The Romans have campaigned against Thracian tribes on and off for more than thirty years. Hitherto they’ve never bothered to mount a full-scale invasion. Why would things have changed?’
‘I don’t know, but his campaign is continuing.’
Dionysus, no! How can you have let this happen? Ariadne wanted to scream at the heavens, but she held in her rage and fear. ‘Surely it’s even more reason to leave? You could lead the fight there.’
‘That might appeal to you and me, maybe, but not to the majority. What do Castus and Gannicus care about Thrace? Or the rest of them?’
‘Do the Gauls know?’ She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.
‘No, thank the Rider. I’m not planning on telling them either. Carbo and Navio know not to say a word to a soul.’
That was some consolation, she thought bitterly. ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘I didn’t want to worry you. Besides, there was little point until Longinus had been defeated.’
‘I see.’ Although she was angry, Ariadne was partly glad that she hadn’t known until now. She had enjoyed her fantasy — which had just been replaced by a tide of acid disappointment. Her gaze moved to the bright sunlight entering the tent, and outside, the towering spectacle of the Alps. They seemed far larger than they had a few moments prior. ‘Even if we cross the mountains, the Romans will find us in Thrace.’
He scowled in agreement. ‘It wouldn’t take long for news of our arrival to reach Lucullus’ ears. He’d want to take us on — and that’s assuming that the Senate doesn’t send an army after us as well.’
‘Have you forgotten the other tribes? You planned to unite them under one banner. To lead the fight against Rome. Surely they would come together when they saw how many men followed you?’
‘I thought about this long and hard. You know how quarrelsome our people are. They like to call no man leader. It’s as likely that they would attack us as join us. It would be an enormous task to bring together more than two or three tribes. Only one man has ever ruled all of the Thracians, and he did not do so for long.’ He let out a long, weary breath. ‘Father was wrong. Thrace is not a land that can be united.’