The druid had an unpleasant glint in his eye now. The chief was asking him something, but the druid ignored the man, waving a hand at him dismissively. Paetus was impressed. He knew these priests held a powerful place in the northern societies, but to have the authority to silence a powerful chieftain with just a gesture? If only the druids could be persuaded to the Roman view. Still, he had almost won them over.
“And thirdly, and most importantly for both you and I, the command staff will be there, jammed between the Twelfth Legion and the supply train. And if you time things exactly right and are very, very disciplined, like a Roman army would be, you could get Caesar. Cut the head from the snake and watch the body wither, my friend.”
He saw the druid flinch at those last words and worried for a moment whether he had just ruined his whole argument by insulting the man. But no. He sighed and relaxed as the druid turned to the chief and they had a very heated conversation. Finally, the huge man turned back to Paetus.
“If what you say is true, we could end the Roman invasion of our lands in one quick move. A decisive battle. Probably at the Selle river. The Romans are busy putting down the cowardly Bellovaci dogs right now and will then turn north. They will have to cross the Selle at some point and, when they do, we can be waiting for them.”
Paetus smiled and nodded.
“A river they must cross? Yes. That would be it.”
The druid frowned.
“What do you ask in return for this important knowledge, Roman?”
Paetus smiled.
“Three things. Three very small things.”
He watched the man’s face carefully.
“When the battle is concluded and the Belgae are free, I will be freed and given food and horse to return to Rome.”
The druid shrugged noncommittally.
“Also, when you attack, I be allowed to watch. If Caesar is to die, I want to watch his blood spill to the earth.”
The druid nodded.
“I can do better than that, Roman. If this comes to pass, I will put you in the front of the attack with them.”
Paetus opened his mouth to object, but realised that arguing would be of no use with this man.
“And thirdly, when it is over and I am to leave, you give me Caesar’s head to take with me.”
The druid held a brief consultation once more with his chieftain and the two nodded.
“On the condition that all of this plays out as it should, we will agree to your terms. However, before that may happen, the chieftains must all agree on the same course of action which, given this information, is likely, but far from certain.”
He smiled unpleasantly and gestured to his companion.
“And, of course, before the matter is taken before the chiefs, Boduognatus here must be sure of the authenticity of the information.”
Paetus started and turned to look at the chieftain, who had slowly, and with a horrible rasping noise, pulled a long and surprisingly jagged knife from its sheath.
He swallowed nervously.
‘For Calida. Nemesis protect me.’
Chapter 14
(Approaching the river Selle)
“ Dolabra: entrenching tool, carried by a legionary, which served as a shovel, pick and axe combined.”
“ Bacchanalia: the wild and often drunken festival of Bacchus.”
The column waited, shuffling its feet in anticipation as the officers, having gathered at the head of the column, went into a last tactical discussion before the army passed the last half mile to the chosen site.
“Caesar, I’m still concerned about the absence of the Aduatuci,” Sabinus said quietly.
Fronto nodded. The same thought had gone through the mind of every senior officer in the army. He stared at Caesar.
Fronto had wrestled with his conscience over the matter of Paetus several times since the night the man had vanished. While he was still angry with Caesar over the betrayal, now was not the time for a confrontation. The entire army was in dangerous enemy territory. Besides, Paetus had not stuck around to make his point, but had disappeared, presumably back to Rome.
He cleared his throat.
“I’ve spoken to both the Remi and Bellovaci auxiliaries serving with us. They all say the Aduatuci are the ones to watch. The Nervii are vicious and tough, but the Aduatuci are much the same and cunning besides. What if the Aduatuci are sweeping round behind us?”
The general nodded.
“I’m hoping that the Aduatuci are either late, or are not coming at all to the aid of the Nervii, but you’re both right. We do need to be prepared. I want a few changes made. As soon as the column begins to arrive at the Selle, have the cavalry sent across the river to harry the Nervii and their allies.”
The general cleared his throat and vaulted from his horse. As the other mounted officers joined him, he began to draw in the flat dirt with a handy stick.
“This is the lay of the land according to our scouts.”
He drew a wavy line across the patch and tapped it.
“The river. Only about twenty feet wide here and not more than about three feet deep. Crossing it should not be a problem, but that means it’s not a problem for them either.”
He marked out several areas with hatching on the near side of the river.
“There are a lot of areas of copses and scrub, but the scouts have checked them out and they’re empty and too overgrown to hide any real number of men.”
He drew a set of arrows to denote slopes.
“There’s a gentle decline down to the water at this side, and then a low hill opposite with areas of woodland around the crest. My scouts estimate around a hundred thousand of them on the other side of that rise in a camp, which suggests they’ve been there a while.”
He drew a large mass there.
“Presumably they either believe they can keep their numbers hidden from us, or perhaps they’re worried about our artillery range and are keeping out of direct line. Either way, so long as they remain safely behind that hill, we have time for the entire column to arrive and to set up camp here.”
He drew a square on the slope descending to the water.
Fronto nodded.
“It’s a plan, general, but there’s a few suggestions I could make too.”
“Go on?”
Fronto sniffed. “Well, if you’re sending the cavalry out front to deal with the enemy scouts across the water, that means the staff will have no escort and protection. You’ll be a lovely little target riding along slowly between the legions and the wagons. One good archer could effectively remove the high command.”
Caesar blinked.
“You think they actually could try such a thing?”
Fronto shrugged.
“Who knows, but I think that, given the odds here, we ought to play it as safe as we can. My suggestion would be to get the staff distributed among the legions, yourself included. That way, not only are you much harder to target, but you’re well defended too. And it might give the lads a bit of a boost to see the staff alongside them. Especially on foot.”
Caesar frowned for a moment and then nodded.
“It’s a good idea, Fronto. See to it.”
“And the other thing,” Fronto said, glancing back over the lines of men, “is that when the legions begin to make camp, usually we have a screen of cavalry and our men have time to re-arm if threatened. With the cavalry away, we can’t afford to have all of our men busy moving earth sods and not easily armable. I would suggest that each man keeps his armour and helmet on while they work and their shield and weapons within arm’s reach. I would like to know that every man can defend himself at short notice.”
Caesar frowned.
“You’re being uncharacteristically careful, Fronto?”