Adalwulf: The Two Swords (Tales of Germania Book 1) (35 page)

“We always do have lots on Lughnasadh of Equos. It’s a horse race time. But yes, the nobles are here to quarrel.”

“Roman visitors. High ones,” I sighed.

He was nodding. “Yes, the governor of something or the other, Marcus Lollius. Then that prefect, Tiberius. They’ll be here soon, they say.”

“Where will Tiberius stay?” I asked. “In the tower?”

His eyes went to slits. “In the tower, of course! The Roman commander, who fought in the Alps and pacified the north, doesn’t sleep with the horses and pigs.” In that, he was wrong, but I’d learn it much later. “You are not a Gaul, but a Vangione?” he asked carefully. “Right? From the south where the Mediomactri meow under your heels?” He smiled widely at the thought.

“A Vangione,” I said proudly, knowing the Mediomactri despised the Germani overlords living in their lands, so allowed by Rome. If the man before me were a Treveri, he would be happy to aid me. “I would ask a favor. I have a grudge against the chief who feeds his cows with my hay. I’d like a …final solution for that issue. The bastard’s here to make a plea to Tiberius. So I need help.”

He grinned and clapped a hand on my shoulder, leaning closer. “A Mediomactri? Is this man one?”

“A filthy pig of a Mediomactri,” I agreed. “Murdering scum.”

He smiled like a boy with honey. “And what can I do to help? And perhaps this Tiberius would rule in your favor? Romans often do prefer the Germani to us.” He scowled at the thought but gave me a small smile. We were talking about a Mediomactri after all.

I nodded and winked. “The thing is, I don’t wish to risk anything. I’ll not take my case to Tiberius, and want to stop him from doing so,” I told him conspiratorially. “In fact, I’m thinking I’ll take his land. It’s good land. His cows are fat and well-built. Perhaps you’d like a few?”

He squinted at me, and rubbed his chin, smelling trouble. “Perhaps?”

“I need men,” I said. “A hardy, dark-hearted band of men who would do this sort of thing for me. Help me find some. I know there is a group of Germani mercenaries in the city. Why don’t you send your men to find them, boys to ask around, and then come tell me. That’s all. You’ll do well to do so.”

He grinned. “That’s all? Sure. I’ll send my sons to find them.” He turned to fetch them.

I pulled his sleeve. “One more thing.” I looked at Decimus, and whispered my demands to Treveri. He looked at me oddly, nodded, and went to obey.

I turned away, hoping his sons were as clever as Ermendrud. Decimus headed out to relieve himself. “Inside,” I told him darkly. “We stay out of sight.”

“I have to—”

“There are guards out, the man said. We’ll stay inside,” I told him, and while he hesitated, Leuthard pulled him inside. The big man stepped outside, and I spoke to him quickly in hushed tones. I didn’t trust him, but I trusted him better than I did Decimus. He said nothing, but nodded, grimacing darkly. We settled in to wait.

Tiberius arrived during the night.

D
ecimus was fidgeting as he sat and stared at the doorway late that night. We had all stayed awake, and observed the torches travelling the hill, where the great Romans settled in. His eyes were red-rimmed, and he rubbed his face, tapped a finger on the metal of his helmet, and generally looked like he was ready to chew his way through the wall. Silence reigned as we sat there, looking around at the white-chalked walls. Finally Decimus nodded at me, as I was admiring the hammer. The remains of a late-night meal were scattered on a table.

“What shall you name it?” he asked. “The hammer should have one.”

“I’ll name it later. When its all over,” I told him, wondering if I should just keep it.

“You should,” he told me and shrugged. “We all name them.” He leaned closer. “What did that tavern keeper tell you?”

I smiled at him. “That the Centurion is new,” I answered. “Someone who came in just now. Surely, you know this? You said you know this one, but he’s only been here a week.”

He wiped his hand across his face. “Rumors. It’s not my tower. Mine’s not too far, but we are surprisingly isolated, yet we have rumors.”

Leuthard, sitting at the doorway, got up and hesitated. I looked at him, and he nodded, and disappeared to the night.

“Where did
he
go?” Decimus frowned. “Where in Hades’s name is he going? I had to shit in a bucket!”

“Probably has to take a shit as well,” I said. “Rather
he
take it outside than in.”

“Right,” he breathed, eyeing the doorway nervously. “So I can go out now?”

I eyed him for a while and then slapped the hammer to the planked floor, and dust billowed up. He raised his eyebrows, and knew the answer was negative. I shrugged. “So, tell me about your family, Decimus. Something, anything? How did you become a conniving, womanizing thief in the backwoods of Gaul?”

He shuffled uncomfortably. “How did I become a Centurion?”

“No, a conniving and womanizing thief,” I corrected him. “I know you can fight. I know you are a proper fighter, brave and deadly. I saw you stab Fulch the Red down.”

He smiled pettily, but deigned to answer anyway. “My family? We were poor, or at least periodically. Father was a …baker. He had a shop, and sold to local servants, who were out shopping for their masters. Many clients, men who were headed out for their morning salutation with their patrons, visited there, in the alleyway each morning, hoping to find a delicacy so their requests would be granted. Mostly we sold focaccia. This bread, you see. Always bread.” He shook his head, and looked to the doorway darkly.

“You hated the life, didn’t you? Your little hands full of flour, up at night, late to bed.”

He snorted, and said nothing for a while. “He is taking his time, isn’t he?”

“Leuthard?” I asked him with a smile.

“Who else?” he retorted, scowling at me. He grabbed his helmet, and put it in his head. “Clusium was a great city, old Etruscan, and the hills and gardens were breathtaking. I didn’t hate all of it. I’d often sneaked out to the old tombs to look at the pictures of the life they lived there before Romans, and I could see so much wealth and happiness in those old walls. People were rich, fat, affluent—”

“That’s probably why the Romans took the land,” I interrupted him.

“Maybe,” he allowed. “But it would have happened in any case. The city is by a river leading to Rome. Tiber is near, green and beautiful, before it combines with another near Rome, and turns golden. We have always been tied to Rome, one way or the other. Before the Gauls sacked Rome—”

“Gauls have
sacked
Rome?” I asked, full of wonder.

He smiled. “Yes. Rome was not always a city full of wealth and drenched in power. Once, it was just a city on the banks of Tiber, full of hard people living on seven shitty hills. Their pretension to having divine favor is just gilding over very treacherous politics. In any case, the Gauls tried to take Clusium first, but Rome helped us, and then Brennus and his savages went to Rome instead.” He hesitated. “It was like that for me.”

“You were tied to Rome?” I asked. I heard shouts outside, up the hill. “Wonder it Tiberius is having nightmares?”

He shook his head. “He should. He’s about to deal with the Treveri and Mediomactri. Surprised he hasn’t killed himself. As for your question, no, I was tied to
someone
. I tried to help him, and then I got stepped on. Father couldn’t help us.”

“Your brother?” I asked him, tilting my head and smiling coldly.

“My cousin,” he snarled. “Not all cousins are like yours were. Some are just bastards.”

“Another Caecina?” I asked him with a savage smile. “I bet
his
name is Gaius. You don’t seem like one for imagination.”

He shook his shoulders, and eyed me from under his helmet’s rim for a while. “Yes. Another Caecina. And yes, Gaius. But in my defense, he uses my name when he does something naughty. We have been doing that since childhood.” He was quiet for a time and spoke easily, eyeing his spear, which was leaning on the wall. “And I guess you heard this name when you spoke with whoever was in that cave?”

“He did mention a Caecina, Decimus,” I said and got up. “The tavern keeper knew of Gaius. You thought to run and warn him of us?”

He smiled nervously. “I have no idea—”

“What is this?” said a voice on the doorway. I turned to look at Roman so like Decimus in look and face, you could hardly mistake them for strangers. Both had faces like chiseled rock. “
Who
is this?”

“A man who tries to ruin the act,” Decimus said, getting up. “It has been tedious.”

“What?” Gaius asked nervously. “How?”

“A long story,” Decimus snorted. “I’ll explain it later.”

“And you brought him
here
,” Gaius breathed. “You fool. Did you at least get the coin off Seisyll?”

“No,” Decimus cursed. “As it happens, that bit of business ties to this one. I’ll explain it later. I followed them here,” Decimus murmured as he retreated from me for his spear. “I could have escaped earlier, but then how could I have kept an eye on them, eh? I had to stay with them. Things still moving?”

The man nodded. “Some fools tried to find Raganthar. Two young Gauls. They won’t find anything.”

I stiffened. That part of the plan had failed. I’d have to survive and find them and that meant confronting Tiberius. The thought made me nauseous.

Gaius stepped in fully, his sword out. “But here we are. At least you got a message out. Very good, cousin.”

Decimus frowned. “They didn’t give me the opportunity to escape, though,” he said, frowning. “And I got no message out. How come you are here?”

He squinted. “What?”

“I got
no
message out,” Decimus growled, and turned to look at me ferociously. “
What
did you tell that tavern keeper?”

I stood away from them. I was looking out of the door where more men milled, and starting to feel anxious. “I had him deliver a message. And you are both traitors,” I snarled.

Gaius agreed. “Yes, traitors, perhaps so. But when there are so many masters, it’s hard to see who one should serve.”

“King Vago bought this murder,” I said, taking my place in the middle of the floor. “He did. And he is
not
your lord, Roman.”

Gaius squinted at me. “You know much. Too much. But no, no flighty Vangione is a Roman lord,” Gaius stated with a bored voice. “No matter their citizenship, no matter if they spew some kind of Latin, they still herd cows north of Alps. But, here we are, and I have no need to explain it to you. You say you sent me the message? Why?”

I lifted my hammer and prepared myself. “Why? I wanted you to come down and say hello. Now that you have, I find it hard to say which one of you is the nastier specimen,” I said spitefully. “Despite having glorious war-gear, and speaking Latin, you are both drenched in piss.”

Gaius ground his teeth together. “We are equally rotten. Both bad apples.” I saw Decimus didn’t quite agree, scowling at Gaius, but kept his peace. Gaius grinned at his cousin, and pointed a finger at him. “I heard you speaking. And you heard Decimus. I got him into trouble, he claimed, but no man can force another to steal, especially from his family. He has always blamed me for his troubles. I stole his father’s money. I was starving, so was my family. We had just been dumped to the street from the insula we had lived in, because father’s business burned down. I needed food, my sisters needed a roof over their heads, and so I took it from them. Family, or not. And Decimus,” he said and smiled at his cousin, who stiffened, “he helped me. For a price. Turned out there wasn’t all that much to take.”

“We were poor as well, cousin,” Decimus said resentfully.

“Oh, come now,” Gaius smiled as three scruffy legionnaires entered, their shields out. “You smiled when you had your part of the loot.” He turned to a wide legionnaire. “Did you send men after that big bastard?” He nodded.

They had men after Leuthard. Poor souls,
I thought.

Their weapons were out and of the best quality, the ring and chain mail immaculate, helmets spotless. They looked powerful and good fighters, but they were perhaps a bit drunk, by the listless looks on their faces.

“So, you’ll kill Tiberius for a war. For King Vago,” I said, hoping to buy time. I held my hammer tightly, and they all kept looking at it, being seasoned fighters.

“Yes, for Vago. And gods know if it was Vago’s idea, eh? I think not,” Gaius said simply as his men spread on each side of him, and all held wide shields up now. They’d hem me in against the wall, slash their weapons at me until I died, and then they’d go away happy. “Now, enough of this. I’m not sure why you sent word up to the tower, but I guess you think too much of yourself, eh? And no matter what you planned to do to stop Raganthar, Adalwulf, it’s too late. It’s all taken care of. My optio helps with this.”

Decimus stirred. “Kill him already.”

“Kill him,” Gaius said and pointed a finger my way. “Then we bury him and his huge friend—”

Leuthard entered behind the men like an evil shadow. Decimus whirled, Gaius rushed away from the threat.

I charged.

Woden’s rage roared in my head. It called to me. I felt him watching. I felt his savage glee, knew his door would be open should I fail, and so, I attacked. I saw Leuthard push Gaius out of his way with a savage thrust, and his crude sword cut air at the turning legionnaires. A man screamed.

I went for Decimus.

I swiped the hammer at him, he cursed, no shred of weakness in him, only the fighter, and danced back. The heavy hammer went past his face. I saw Gaius charging me from the side, having recovered from Leuthard’s assault. I spun on my feet, and the terrible weight of the weapon swung with me. I snapped it at Gaius, whose face betrayed his terror, his gladius went up and met the weapon.

The blade held.

The hammer took it with it as the weapons crashed into his helmet. His own sword cut a savage wound across his face, which filled his left eye with blood. He fell on his back, screaming like an animal. I bellowed, because Decimus was on the attack, fast as an asp. It was too late to dodge. His spear ripped into my thigh, and I fell in pain. I felt him coming, standing on top of me, and then Leuthard saved me.

A legionnaire crashed into Decimus, taking him down into a heap of flesh, leather, iron, and arms right next to me.

I climbed to my knees, and swiped the hammer blindly at the heap. I realized it was going for Decimus’s face, but the bastard kicked the half-conscious legionnaire towards me, and the hammer struck his back. There was an odd sound, similar to when the women are cleaning cloths on rocks, a strange, sharp slap, and the man’s body arched with the power of the hit. I kicked back, as Decimus made an incoherent, bull-like snort, his eyes wide, the spear thrusting under my armpit. I stumbled, and he pulled away. He charged me, the spear out again, and thrust it with all his power for my chest.

I fell back, and rolled to my feet.

Decimus was coming on relentlessly, and I saw he was not alone. Enraged Gaius, his centurion’s helmet bloodied, face slashed, was right next him, and they hacked and stabbed at me so fast, I fell to a corner. They were there, before me, trying to stab me into shreds. Decimus’s spear went though my tunic, pinning me to the wall, and Gaius struck me with his shield. Half-blind, he aimed his gladius for my throat, but I ripped out of the spear, rolled past them, and while I did, desperately grasped a dangling cingulum belt of Gaius and pulled him as hard as I could. He fell and hit Decimus with his shield as he did so they both fell over my legs with curses.