He looked into Julius’s eyes for a moment to gauge his superior’s reaction before continuing. The first spear nodded reluctantly, gesturing for him to continue.
‘And here’s the key to making that happen, not that I particularly like it. Rather than try to force our way in through the front door we could send a few picked men into the valley overnight. All we have to do is kill the men set to guard the miners. Once they’re roused and armed it would take more than the strength that Gerwulf has to stop them, especially when his soldiers will be staggering out of their beds still half asleep when the wave washes over them, if we get it right.’
Julius nodded slowly.
‘It makes sense as far as it goes, even if the whole idea feels little better than rolling the dice and praying for sixes. But how would you propose to get into the valley unnoticed, even at night? They’ll have men on the heights watching out for exactly the sort of sneaking about you’ve described.’
Marcus pursed his lips.
‘There’s one person in this room who knows a way into the valley that doesn’t depend on us having to smash the gate in, or climb over the wall, or climb over the mountains for that matter. Don’t you Lupus?’
The men’s eyes turned to the child, who had long since stopped any pretence of cleaning Marcus’s boots. Julius looked at Marcus in amazement.
‘This whole idea depends on a child? And I thought I was a ruthless bastard. .’
‘Yes. He’s the only one of us who’s been inside the mountain. And as it happens, the boy Mus showed him something that might be the answer to our dilemma.’ He ushered the boy forward. ‘Tell the first spear your story, Lupus.’
The child’s voice was small in the room’s silence, and his face was pale.
‘My friend Mus took me into the mine. He showed me a tunnel they don’t use any more, one that opens on the mountain beneath the Raven’s Head. The opening is hidden from above by the rock.’
Marcus patted him on the arm.
‘Well done, Lupus. Julius, the tunnel opening that the boy Mus showed Lupus is on the south side of the mountain, the highest level of the mine that was worked out years ago as the miners were forced to dig deeper to find the gold. Nobody works in it anymore, and it would appear to have been forgotten. A party of men could enter the mine from the south, make their way through the mountain and down into the active levels. From there they could infiltrate the valley without being seen, if they were careful. .’
Julius waved Marcus to silence, turning to Lupus.
‘And if they were lucky. Very lucky. So this would all depend on you, Lupus, wouldn’t it? We’d need you to show us where the tunnel entrance is. Can you remember?’
The child nodded silently, his face white.
‘You can’t ask the boy to-’
Julius flicked his hand at Morban impatiently.
‘Be quiet, Standard Bearer. The boy wanted to come along with us, and he seems to be the hinge on which this entire dubious plan swings, so you can let him speak for himself. Now, Lupus, you’re sure you can find this secret entrance to the valley, bearing in mind it’ll have to be a nighttime approach?’
‘I think so.’
‘You think so. .’ The senior centurion put his head in his hands for a moment before standing up, draining his cup. ‘Come along then, all of you. We’d better lay this whole idea out for the tribune. Although whether he’ll see it as the answer to his dilemma or a good way to warn the Wolf that we’re on our way and get thirty men killed, is beyond me. And bring what’s left of that wine with you. He’s going to need a drink when he hears this one.’
‘If the Gods take pity on you and actually allow you to find the way into the valley, then you are under no circumstances to take on the Germans once you’ve freed the miners. For a start there are far too many of them, and if you do manage to release enough of the prisoners to start a fight, they won’t be able to see the difference between you and the men that have been abusing them. Understood? The best thing that you can do will be to head back for the mine and make your escape. And those are orders, Centurion.’
Julius looked up at Marcus until the Roman nodded his understanding, then switched his attention to the tribune mounted alongside the young centurion’s mare.
‘As for you, Tribune, I strongly suggest that you restrict your part in this scheme to getting into the woman’s house. Once you have the mine owners freed you can step back and let them organise their people, if they have the balls for it.’ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I still can’t believe we’re actually doing this. .’
A snort of grim laughter from behind him made the first spear turn to find a big cavalry horse close enough that the animal was nibbling his helmet’s crest.
‘You can’t fucking believe it? You haven’t got to lead this bunch of amateurs halfway across Dacia hoping that none of them falls off or puts his spear up the arse of the beast in front of him. Just when I’ve got one collection of idiots properly trained to handle horses, you make half of them go back to hoofing it and give me a fresh set of virgins to break in.’
Silus had walked his horse back down the line of mounted men, expertly assessing their readiness to ride with his usual mix of jaundiced disappointment and rough humour. Julius cracked a smile for the first time that morning.
‘Every dark cloud conceals a little gold, Decurion! In this case at least the prospect of my having to thrash my poor lads south at the double march will be tempered by the thought of your happy face every time one of these trainee donkey wallopers does something to upset you.’ He turned back to his superior with an expression of renewed concern. ‘And speaking of breaking in virgins, Tribune, I’d be most grateful if you could manage not to get yourself killed? I don’t want to end up being told what to do by some other weak-chinned aristo when I’ve just got used to being told what to do by you.’
He watched with pursed lips as the squadron clattered out of the fort’s gates and into the grey light of dawn, waiting until the riders were out of sight before turning back to his officers.
‘Well then, now that this morning’s excitement is over I think we’d best get back to the challenge of putting another thirty miles under our belts before the sun hits the horizon on the far side. You’d better take Silus’s dismounts under your wing, Otho, I expect the poor lambs will be needing some serious encouragement before we’ve made the lunch stop. Right then, let’s put some hobnails on the cobbles!’
The mounted detachment made better progress than Silus had feared might be the case, although their arrival at Mountain Fort soon after midday was accompanied by postures that spoke of considerable discomfort from some of the less experienced riders. The decurion ranged alongside their short column with a look of disdain for those men grimacing at their saddle sores.
‘We’ve another thirty miles to cover before we reach Apulum, so you can have a short break to water your horses and get some fodder down their necks, and your own if there’s time. Men with sore arses, report to me!’