‘But you were not.’
‘I could not fathom the way the Hun leaders behaved, for they did not panic when they could see plainly they were trapped. Instead they went about their task of killing the imperial cohort as if there were no militia within ten leagues to threaten them.’
Ohannes interjected, clearly confused. ‘If they did not panic, why did they kill those they had taken captive too?’
The eyes lifted and looked right at Flavius. ‘The Huns were not there to take slaves, they had no need of them and they had always intended to just kill rather than capture.’
‘In the name of God, why?’
Dardanies paused for a long time and when he spoke it was slowly, deliberately and with a sense of discomfiture. ‘They had been well rewarded beforehand.’
Flavius experienced a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach as Dardanies spoke on, describing the way they had prepared for the raid and executed it, for he knew that if the Huns had been paid to undertake it there was only one person with the means and the need.
‘Senuthius bribed them, in many pounds of gold I suspect, to come through our lands and cross the river. The Huns knew we would be unable to prevent it without much loss of life, so they asked for passage and gave us solemn promises not to trouble any of our people. They even handed over hostages who would forfeit their lives as a sign of good faith, so it was agreed to let them pass. A troubled Rome is better for our safety than one susceptible to raid themselves.’
‘It seems they came only to kill my father!’
‘If I know that now, we, the Sklaveni, did not beforehand.’
‘When did you guess the truth?’ asked a damp-eyed Flavius.
‘Once back on our side of the river the Huns were eager to boast, if not to share any of the senator’s gold.’
‘That man is Lucifer,’ Ohannes moaned.
‘I asked you before if you took part in the killing of my family and I ask you again.’
‘And I said no, just as I told you if the opportunity had been put before me I would not have hesitated.’
‘What about this journey we are on?’
‘I found myself out of favour with the tribal elders for allying myself to the Huns, but what disturbed them more was what had happened to your father, the only man on the other bank in whom they had any trust.’ The voice hardened. ‘Not that the trust was boundless, you understand, but they believe we cannot fight Rome, that to exist alongside the empire in a sort of peace is the best for which the tribe can hope.’
‘You do not?’
‘I did not,’ he sighed, ‘maybe now I do.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As good as his word, Dardanies disappeared the following day, with no more words exchanged, even easier than Flavius had supposed, given the increasingly crowded nature of the road on which they were travelling. If there was only one major highway, it had a large number of less well-maintained tributaries, viae rusticae, and from these volunteers were filtering in to swell the numbers.
Abreast of another government mansio Flavius once more quizzed the man who guarded the gate, a fellow even less forthcoming than his predecessor, probably due to his irritation at the number of men begging him for either a bite of food or a drink, many of the volunteers now without any means of sustenance. Thus the bribe had to be larger, which was a waste given the response was just as negative; there was no sign of this F. Petrus Sabbatius!
The encounter left the youngster with his thoughts, even more troubled now than hitherto, the information that had been imparted to him by Dardanies gnawing at his innards, his imaginings filled with punishments of increasing bloodiness to be visited upon Senuthius, none of which seemed to be enough to satisfy his anger.
The why was a point simple to conjecture with; the how, when he thought on it, eluded him for he was on the wing, letting circumstance carry him forward without any clear idea of where it would lead. The notion that they should find a way to detach themselves from this mass of believers and extract his vengeance foundered on one question: to where would he and Ohannes go that would advance his cause?
To seek to get back to Dorostorum without the presence of this Sabbatius and those with him was too dangerous to contemplate, and Flavius had no idea how far they had yet progressed from the capital ? all he knew was that logic demanded they should be on this road. And there was another consideration: would they seek to continue on their task in the face of Vitalian’s declared rebellion? Ohannes doubted it.
‘If I was them an’ got a sniff of this, I would set my horses for the Bosphorus and use the whip too.’
‘General Vitalian might let them pass through.’
‘In a pig’s ear, Master Flavius ? they come on the business of Anastasius so the least he would do is hold them, worst he might cut off their heads.’
Frustration made Flavius lash out. ‘Can you not think of anything to say that might bring me cheer?’
‘You’re alive, be grateful for that,’ came the gruff response, before the old man nodded and added, ‘Bit of a hold-up on the horizon.’
They were making a final approach to the encampment to which Vitalian had called for his co-religionists to assemble. Instead of a flow of bodies it now became a sort of jostle, then a heaving near-stationary mass, the cause only established when they finally made it to the camp entrance.
There some of the general’s officers were trying to sort out and direct to the right place those arriving, particularly trying to assess who had the right kind of weapons, as well as single out any who might have previous soldiering experience, set against peasants fired by religious fervour and armed with every kind of farming tool that could double as something to fight with; such people had a purpose as numbers, but as soldiers they would be a military asset of questionable value.
‘Do we want this, Master Flavius?’ Ohannes asked. ‘For there is little time to decide.’
Flavius had gnawed on that problem every time they passed a milus stone; now he was being forced into a decision: the source of his hopes and his only chance of justice for his family lay in either Constantinople or those who had been sent from there to undertake an enquiry. If Vitalian was going to force the emperor to change his religious edict that could only be done by force, which meant marching on the capital.
‘So it is in that direction we must go, Ohannes, and hope that somewhere we will meet up with those we need to aid us.’
‘Hard to get clear once you join an army and painful if you’re caught.’
‘Then tell me how we can get past this point and carry on ourselves?’
That got a shake of the head. ‘Even less safe, happen.’
‘Then we are, as we have been for a time now, in the lap of God’s mercy.’
‘Amen to that.’
Even with his years and thanks to his very obvious sword and spear – Flavius was sure his bad haircut had an effect too – Ohannes was spotted as a potential warrior. Questioned, he was quick to relate his military service and since he would not be parted from Flavius and he was equally armed, both were directed to the area set aside to form up proper units, centuries in the old Roman pattern that the leaders hoped might be able to perform like a proper army.
The shouting and the swishing of the short flagellum reminded Flavius of the vine saplings employed like whips by the men who had sought to train him and his friends in arms. But now he was under a breed of a different stripe; those issuing orders were tall and muscular, very fair of hair, with striking blue eyes and light skin that tended to peel, or at least go very red, in the sun, added to various adornments about their person of gold and silver.
‘Gautoi, I reckon,’ Ohannes informed his young charge, when he had examined them closely, adding that they had come down from the north in the last few years, providing a new source of mercenaries for the empire. ‘Worse than Germans, I hear.’