“Nobody deserves to die like that not even a pig, you are right.” Brenna replied. “But you have come from a different land and you don’t understand our ways or customs. Our men fight with long swords and spears they do not hide behind shields or cover themselves in armour. They could but they believe it is more honourable to fight like true warriors not cowering behind shields. Only some high born cover themselves in such armour and use shields but that is because of their importance to their people.”
He looked at her staring into her dark eyes, “I can assure you we do not hide behind shields because we are cowardly. We have come here to conquer and to do that we use the best tactics, weapons and equipment we have available. It would be pure stupidity to fight in the way your people do. There is no honour in that, throwing your best warriors onto spears, where is the sense?” Varro responded, seeing that he had struck a chord with her and she didn’t like it. “Anyway, I’m not here to discuss tactics with you. If you’re opposed to Rome, why did you save us?”
“Varro, if my people can live in peace, are not abused as slaves or taken from our land, why should I resist? Sadly I cannot stop nor will I stop those who believe you are wrong to come here, to impose your will. I know that if we are left in peace and become part of your great empire, we will flourish and grow, we would become great allies to Rome.
The Emperor has already told us that we will become client kingdoms, which means we will still rule our people but will be overseen by the Empire. This is not a bad thing because it will in time bring peace and prosperity to my people but first we have to go through all this.” She emphasised her point by indicating with a wave of her arm.
Varro thought about her words, “So no matter what happens you win, I mean you with the way you think about all of this. If your tribes push us into the sea again, you retain your rule, if Rome wins, you become client kingdoms and so you will be happy?”
“What would you do in my place Varro? If you ruled this land or part of this land, would you fight or allow the invaders to have their way if they promised peace and legitimate rule?” She asked.
“I don’t know but what I do know is that we are where we are and we are who we are. Our destinies are decided by others and I am merely a soldier playing my part. That is all I can do for now and all I will do until a better opportunity presents itself or I complete my service.”
“Twenty five years is a long time Varro,” He raised an eyebrow, clearly she knew quite a lot about a soldier’s life, she continued, “by that time maybe we will know who has won the fight for my land but I doubt it. In the meantime we have to live as best as we can.” She leaned forward and kissed him gently taking him by surprise. He returned the kiss briefly before the image of Veranius blood spattered body entered his mind’s eye again and the horrific death he had suffered.
“I want the woman that killed Veranius,” he said, “I want to take her life and make her suffer before she goes from this world.”
“Shhhh.” She tried to calm him. “Tevelgus will prepare food and tomorrow you can return to your army if you wish, then you can find her and take her life.”
They ate their food in near silence, pork cooked over the fire. It tasted good and was washed down by some brew the Britons had brought with them. Varro was grateful to Brenna as was Decimus especially considering the alternative. Both of them could have been dead when the first stars appeared in the night’s sky or worse, cut to pieces and still breathing. Their bodies cut, torn and broken and probably either thrown to the dogs or burned.
As he tried to sleep that night, wrapped in a rough blanket near the fire, images of the day kept returning to him. He could feel the ropes cutting into his wrists and the restraints around his lower legs. That was nothing however, compared to the death that his friend had suffered. They had all known the risks they were taking before they had even set foot on the ships to come to this strange land but nothing in previous campaigns had prepared him for the torture that day.
Varro didn’t know what disturbed him more, what had happened to his friend or what would have happened to he and Decimus had Brenna and Tevelgus not rescued them. He had felt that there was something special about Brenna but would never have guessed that she was a leader of her people. As he lay there staring up at the sky, he started to feel the signs of tiredness as his eyes began to feel heavy and for the first time he thought that he would sleep that night.
Lucius and Marcus had watched helplessly as their comrades were dragged through a jeering crowd. They knew they were so close to being with them when the ambush was sprung but had just escaped. They had ridden like demons, only slowing down when they realised they weren’t being followed. Catching their breath and after letting horses rest, they had skirted back and round to the ambush point. Following a track up a slope, they could hear the cheers followed by screams of joy from the Britons celebrating the capture of the three men. Fifty paces from the top of an outcrop they tied their horses to branches and slowly edged forward, the noise below getting louder.
From the vantage point they saw the three soldiers kicked and punched to the ground, stripped of their armour and clothing and dragged to a small clearing. A local chieftain pushed himself through the gathered throng and shouted orders then retreated as did the other males, leaving the females with the soldiers.
“What the fuck are those whores doing? What should we do Lucius, we can’t just leave them.” Marcus whispered edging closer to the lip of the outcrop. Lucius looked down at the scene below and then back at Marcus, “And what should we do Marcus? What would you have us do? We barely escaped with our lives ourselves. There are two of us and there are probably hundreds of them, we wouldn’t stand a chance, they’d rip us apart. The best thing we can do is get back to the Legion and report this as soon as possible, get help.”
However as they continued to watch the developing scene play out, their friends were stripped naked and backed up to three trees where their hands were tied behind their backs and their feet at ground level. A woman stepped forward shrieking and shouting, motioning to the heavens with her arms outstretched. Marcus could see that she held a knife as she approached Varro. If Marcus had a bow, he could have taken her down from here. He estimated they were only two hundred paces from the men now helpless below. He didn’t want to watch but he didn’t want to turn his back on the three men either. He clutched his hands repeatedly sweat pouring from his forehead and almost every pore of his body.
“Come on Marcus, I can’t watch this.” Lucius said getting to his feet.
“I’m not leaving them. They might just tie them up for the night and that would give us a chance to get down there and release them.” Marcus said unsheathing his spatha, it wasn’t of any practical purpose but it made him feel a little more secure. Lucius walked back to the horses as Marcus continued watching. As the horror continued in the small clearing he saw that the men had left the three soldiers to the fate of the women totally and knew that that was probably a bad thing. Standing behind the females they stood watching, still and impassive as the women built to frenzy in front of them goading and jeering each other on, eventually some sat down as if they were about to watch a normal form of entertainment.
Marcus watched as his friends were tormented. The leading female approached Veranius and gestured at him and the others. Winding up the women around her, she built them into a crescendo and finally slowly thrust the knife into his stomach. The gathered women went wild, he saw Varro furiously struggling to free himself but to no avail. Marcus desperately wanted to close his eyes but he watched disbelievingly as the woman cut the genitals from Veranius’s ravaged body and threw them into a fire.