Roman - The Fall of Britannia (39 page)

Gwydion
considered carefully.

‘
It
is a calm night,’ he said, ‘I suppose we would only need to be out
there until they cleared this area. It is worth trying I
suppose.’

‘
I
can’t,’ said Gwenno suddenly.

‘
It
is our only chance,’ said Prydain, ‘we have no other
choice.’

‘
No,’ she continued, ‘you don’t understand!’ She looked at him
with fear in her eyes, ‘I can’t swim.’

There was an
awkward silence as each realised the implications.

‘
You
two must go,’ she said. ‘It is me they seek. There is no need for
us all to be caught. You swim out, I will tell them you left me
alone hours ago.’

‘
I
gave you up once,’ said Gwydion, ‘I will not make the same mistake
again. Either we escape together or we die together.’ He walked
over and held Gwenno tightly in his arms, her head resting on his
shoulder.

‘
It’s not over yet,’ said Prydain suddenly, ‘I have an idea!’
He ran toward the bramble thicket, returning a few minutes later
dragging the driftwood they had used as a backrest. Out in the open
it was obviously the remains of a plank, a remnant of an ill-fated
ship that had gone down somewhere out at sea.

‘
We’ll use this,’ he said. ‘Gwenno can lie on top while we
swim alongside.’

Both men looked
at Gwenno in anticipation.

‘
Well,’ said Gwydion, ‘what do you think, can you do
it?’

Gwenno looked at
the plank and back at Gwydion.

‘
It’s our only chance isn’t it!’ she said.

‘
That’s the spirit,’ said Prydain. ‘Come on; help me get it to
the water.’

They dragged the
plank to the water’s edge before the two men stripped off their
clothes to avoid the weight dragging them under. Gwenno watched
surreptitiously as they tied their bundles of clothes on to the
plank.

‘
Gwenno, you will need to take off your clothes as well,’ said
Prydain.

‘
Why?’ interrupted Gwydion defensively. ‘She will be on the
plank, there is no need for her to strip.’

‘
If
she falls off, the weight of her cloak will send her straight to
the bottom,’ said Prydain, ‘she can lay her tunic over her, but has
to be able to discard it quickly if needed.’

‘
There’s no need...’ started Gwydion.

‘
Oh,
Gwydion,’ interrupted Gwenno, ‘in the name of the Gods, don’t be
such a prude. This man has helped save my life; I have nothing to
hide from him.’

‘
But...’ started Gwydion.

‘
Shut up, Gwydion,’ said Gwenno already starting to disrobe,
‘our lives are in the balance here.’ She gave the cape to Prydain
and paused before lifting Willow’s red tunic over her
head.

‘
Right!’ she said, holding the garment in front of her. ‘Let’s
go swimming.’

The two naked
men dragged the plank into waist deep water closely followed by
Gwenno, gasping as the cold water crept up her body. They guided it
over the swell and held the board steady while Gwenno hauled
herself up. For a few moments, her naked body was fully exposed in
the moonlight, and modesty forgotten, both men stared in awe at her
natural beauty before she steadied herself and laid face down on
the wood. Gwydion spread the tunic the best he could over her back
to help her maintain some semblance of warmth. The board sunk a
little lower in the water as it took Gwenno’s weight, but as soon
as the load distributed evenly, it floated well enough.

‘
Time to go!’ said Prydain and indicated the light of the
burning torches coming over the dunes.

The two men
kicked out, propelling themselves and the raft further out to sea,
conscious that they not only had to be out of range of the
torchlight, but also far enough out that they couldn’t be picked
out in the moonlight. They swam gently, keeping the splashes to a
minimum. For ten minutes they continued before Prydain called a
halt.

‘
I
think this is far enough,’ he said and they each held onto the raft
as they trod water, getting their breath back.

‘
Are
you allright?’ asked Gwydion to Gwenno.

‘
I’m
fine,’ she answered, her voice shaking with the cold. ‘How about
you two?’

The two men
looked at each other, each knowing how the other felt. While they
were swimming, it wasn’t so bad, but now they had stopped, the cold
was beginning to bite deeply.

‘
I’m
good,’ Gwydion lied. ‘How about you, Roman?’

‘
Never better!’ said Prydain through chattering teeth and they
all floated in silence as they waited for the distant burning
torches to disappear.

----

They lasted ten
more minutes before Prydain knew they couldn’t wait much
longer.

‘
I
think they are leaving, ’he said, ‘their torches are further
away.’

‘
There is only one torch,’ said Gwydion, ‘the rest must have
already gone.’

Prydain’s brow
furrowed as he stared at the shoreline. He swam around to Gwydion
and whispered quietly, so as not to alarm Gwenno who had the tunic
over her head.

‘
We
have to go back,’ he said. ‘Now!’

‘
What’s the problem,’ asked Gwydion, ‘they are leaving anyway.
A few more minutes won’t hurt.’

‘
They are not leaving,’ said Prydain. ‘That light you see is
not a torch but a fire. They have made camp on the
beach.’

‘
Can’t have,’ said Gwydion, ‘it is too far away. They must
have retreated into the dunes.’

‘
They are still on the beach,’ said Prydain. ‘It is us who
have retreated. The tide must have turned and we are drifting out
to sea. We have to get back in right now.’

Realising the
danger, they kicked out as hard as they could toward the shadowy
land, half-numb with cold and silently terrified at the thought of
drifting out to sea. Though some feeling came back to their limbs,
it was soon obvious that they were making little headway. Their
strength left them and they finally stopped their exertions,
clinging on to the raft as they drifted in the darkness, the fire a
mere pinprick in the distance.

Gwenno lay still
on the board, soaked through with the wash of the swell. She had
heard the explanations and despite her own fears, she didn’t want
to add to the men’s distress and shame at failing her. Her hand
crept forward and her fingers intertwined with those of Gwydion.
They drifted aimlessly and Gwydion knew he could not hold on much
longer. His head lay in the crux of his arm, which rested on the
board, and he had lost all feeling in his lower body. He heard a
mumble from Gwenno.

‘
What did you say?’ he asked lifting his head.

‘
Horses!’ murmured Gwenno weakly through salt encrusted
lips.

‘
Horses?’ queried Gwydion. ‘There are no horses out here
Gwenno.’

‘
I
can hear their harnesses,’ she said weakly. ‘Perhaps, we are
nearing death and the horses await us in the next life.’

Gwydion smiled
weakly.

‘
You
will ride a white stallion my love,’ he said, ‘as befits a
princess.’

‘
Wait!’ said Prydain lifting his head. ‘I hear them too -
listen.’

‘
It
sounds like bells,’ said Gwenno. ‘Tiny little bells.’

Gwydion suddenly
looked at Prydain, realising the source of the sound.

‘
Fairy bells,’ confirmed Prydain and they both started
laughing.

‘
Fairy bells?’ asked Gwenno. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘
Fairy bells!’ confirmed Gwydion through his laughter. ‘We are
saved Gwenno; our fisherman is here.’

Without any more
explanation, both men started calling out across the water. Gwenno
watched for a few moments in bemusement before, without quite
realising why, raised her voice to join the others.

----

Chapter 35

Caratacus stood
at the mouth of a cave contemplating the scene below him. The
stream pouring through the gulley had carved this feature in the
landscape over tens of thousands of years and the water fell
angrily from the inaccessible gorges above. For years, it had been
the hiding place of fugitives and brigands, but the sight of five
hundred battle weary warriors descending on their hideout had
persuaded the incumbents it was probably in their interests to move
out, and Caratacus had taken over the gorge with little
argument.

They had been on
the move for weeks and their numbers had increased to over a
thousand men, women and children with more arriving by the day. He
looked down at the makeshift camp with growing concern and turned
to his servant.

‘
How
much food do we have, Holler?’ he asked.

‘
The
meat is gone, the grain runs short and the people eat the frogs and
creatures that live at the water’s edge,’ he said.

‘
How
fare the hunting parties?’ asked Caratacus.

‘
No
matter how successful the hunt, Sire, there is never enough. We
send riders to the local clans but they fear the Romans and know
that any village caught helping us, will be slaughtered to the last
child.’

‘
How
many fit men do we have?’ asked the King.

‘
About five hundred, Sire,’

‘
Bring me the leaders,’ said Caratacus. ‘We cannot continue
like this.’

Ten minutes
later, ten battle hardened warriors sat in a circle around the
small fire Holler kept burning outside the cave. Caratacus emerged
from the cave and joined the surviving leaders of his decimated
army.

‘
I
will get straight to the point,’ said Caratacus. ‘Three weeks ago
we came here with the aim of raising an army and taking the fight
back to the Romans, but we have become distracted. It was never my
intention to carry women and children with us, especially refugees.
While they are here, our time is taken up foraging to keep them
fed. This is not the way of warriors.’

Everyone looked
at him in silence.

‘
Every day we spend here,’ he continued, ‘the people get
hungrier and we are one more day away from spilling Roman blood. We
have to take action.’

‘
But
what?’ said one of the warriors. ‘We hide like rats from dogs, but
if we leave, the Romans will catch us in days.’

‘
Yet, if we stay,’ interrupted another, ‘it is only a matter
of time before they find us anyway. We will be trapped and killed
like fish in a pool.’

‘
We
are safe here,’ replied the first warrior. ‘This place is almost
impossible to find unless you know of its existence. Only the
locals know how to find it.’

‘
And
how long do you think it will be before someone shares the
information in return for a crust of stale bread?’ interrupted
Caratacus.

‘
They are your people, lord,’ said the warrior. ‘They will not
betray you.’

‘
They are loyal, I agree,’ said Caratacus, ‘but loyalty
doesn’t feed the stomach twisted in starvation and the point of a
blade is very efficient at loosening a loyal tongue. No, we cannot
stay. Even as we speak, my people are suffering through their
silence. The sooner this Plautius thinks I have gone, the sooner
our people can get on with their lives. We have to leave
tonight.’

The first man
spoke up again.

‘
It
is impossible,’ he said, ‘our people are too weak and our wounded
still need to heal. They cannot travel and we cannot leave them
here.’

‘
That is exactly what we must do,’ said Caratacus. ‘We aim to
rebuild an army in order to help our people, yet it is they who are
our greatest threat. The longer we stay the more likely it is that
we are discovered. We must seek other tribes to join our
cause.’

‘
We
cannot leave our people to starve!’ shouted the first warrior,
jumping to his feet. ‘What sort of King are you?’

‘
Blennus,’ said Caratacus calmly, ‘your concern is admirable,
but you are still a young man. Sometimes the benefits of leadership
are great, but they are countered by the weight of responsibility.
This is such a time. We have to leave them for the greater
good.’

‘
You
would see them starve to death?’

‘
We
will leave them what food we can and draw off the Romans so they
can escape to the villages. The foreign devils seek me, and if they
know I have been unearthed, they will take up our trail leaving our
people time to escape.’

‘
And
where would we go?’ asked another chieftain. ‘This area is swarming
with Romans and more arrive by the day. Already they send envoys
into the villages preaching cooperation or annihilation. Our source
of recruits grows smaller by the day.’

‘
There is one place where the arm of Plautius has yet to
reach,’ said the King, ‘the land of the Deceangli.’

The warrior spat
on the floor and many voices were raised in anger.

‘
Seek union with our enemies,’ shouted one, ‘I would attack
the Roman legions alone before sharing their campfires.’