In the blink of an eye the cavalry closed on the natives and unleashed their short spears throwing them at a closer range than they were used to because of the gradient of the hill. As they started to take their toll, the horses were amongst the enemy, their rider’s long swords slashing and gouging at flesh and felling the enemy like wheat. A few of the defenders tried to turn and run as the men inside the testudo leapt out from their positions and joined the battle, engaging them with their short swords. The natives were trapped between them and a wall of horses as they began to meet their end.
A small group of about ten men managed to break free of the melee including Cavaltergex. They fought as they ran but didn’t get far as spears and arrows cut their numbers down quickly. Cavaltergex wasn’t the last to die but he fought like a lion until he was cut down by a series of blows to his head and torso from three legionaries. As the chopping and slashing began to slow and the screams began to fade, the light infantry ran past the bloody carnage straight into the ravaged fort to complete the obliteration of the enemy.
“Brenna turned to Varro once more, “Will they spare the women and children?”
He turned and walked away from her replying, “Anything that lived in there before the battle won’t be alive by nightfall.”
Angrily she followed him, “Is that any way to win peace, to kill women and children? What does your General hope to achieve by this?”
“It’s the way of things, it’s how it is. If they had surrendered when they had the chance, they would have been allowed to live but they attacked our soldiers. We have to teach these tribes that they cannot fight or defy us and get away with it, they have to be destroyed.”
She grabbed his arm and he stopped and stared at her with a cold angry expression but he saw the pain in her eyes. “I’m sorry Brenna that’s the way of things.” She let go and allowed him walk away.
As darkness started to fall, the former hill fort had already started to be transformed by the men of the Second. Bodies of the dead had been removed, the roundhouses burned to the ground and now a small military fort was already beginning to take shape. The three wounded men that had been taken into the settlement were found mutilated and stabbed to death. By the next night the defences would be up and the base would be better fortified than what had stood there before. The attack on the hill fort had come at a cost however, twenty three had died and twice that many were injured, at least five more weren’t expected to make it through the night.
Later Varro and his small group were on their own sat round a fire eating mutton, with victory came the spoils of war and the legion would eat well tonight. Brenna had said very little since learning that that her countrymen, women and children would be cut down for daring to defy the invaders.
“Come, walk with me.” She said standing and holding out her hand. Varro stood wiping his mouth with his forearm as the others watched. They walked further into the trees away from the sprawling fires of the army camped behind them.
“Where are we going?” He asked as she squeezed his hand, “I want to give you something.” She said smiling.
He frowned, “I don’t understand.”
“You’ll see soon enough” They walked until the camp fires were barley visible through the trees, a strong smell of fir in the air. She walked to a large oak tree and turned to face him, pulling him closer reaching between his legs as she kissed him.
“Oh I see.” He said smiling and returning her kiss.
Sometime later they lay wrapped around each other still sweating from their exertions, their clothing was discarded all around them.
“How many days will it take the army to get to the west coast do you think?” She asked. He thought for a moment, “If today is anything to go by, I don’t know. I don’t think the general expected this much resistance. If we have to fight our way to the coast it could take months, maybe years. We’ll know better after we ride out again and find out what lies ahead of us.” His hand brushed up and down her naked back as he spoke, he felt himself getting aroused again.
“Let’s not waste our time together.” He pulled her up onto him grinning as they kissed again, unaware of hidden eyes watching them from some thick bushes some distance away. Eventually the watching men quietly moved off having learned how the invaders attacked the fort.
Sometime later Varro lay on his back wearing just his loin cloth, Brenna massaging his temples. “It won’t always be this way, will it?” She asked.
He looked up at her, “It will for the foreseeable future, blood, death and battle, that’s what the immediate future holds anyway.”
“It won’t be forever and it doesn’t have to be that way.”
He looked at her curiously and grinned, “I wish you were right but the General has his orders and after losing so many men today he’ll be more cautious next time and will launch more carefully co-ordinated attacks.”
She looked at the night sky where stars sparkled like jewels in the black night. Her feelings for this man were growing stronger, she felt that he wasn’t just a barbaric killer as some of his comrades were, there was more to him. If only they had met under different circumstances she thought as sleep began to take her.
Chapter Nine
The next morning the sun rose casting a warm blanket of air over the earth. As Varro opened his eyes he was suddenly aware of being watched. As his adrenalin started to build and his heart race, Brenna placed a calming hand on his shoulder as he began to rise.
“Shhhhhh. It’s okay, everything is fine.” She smiled at him as he started to relax and lay back down.
“What were you doing?” He asked suddenly aware that his sword and dagger were not even in arms reach, as they would have been last night. They had been moved and put with his uniform, women he thought to himself ‘always moving things with no idea of the consequences.’
“I was watching you sleep. Without your armour and weapons I can see you much more clearly, how you should be.” She said.
He frowned obviously confused. Maybe disarming a man and leaving him open to attack enabled a better view of his unprotected skin. He looked down at his body and felt himself stirring again.
Brenna smiled, “I don’t mean like that.” She said as she stroked his chest and then sat back, he looked disappointed.
“I mean looking at you at your aura and who you really are, your journey and where you’re going, what kind of man you really are.” She tried to explain.
He looked confused. “And what kind of man am I really do you think?”
“Kind, loyal, you always try to do the right thing. Our teachings tell us how to read these things, how to translate auras and see what they mean.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Do you mean like a soothsayer or druid?” He sat up on an elbow. “Is that what you mean? We have many soothsayers at home. Many people that believe they can see the future and can tell what the gods have in store for us. Nobles and common folk alike use them, it’s a good living I’m told, they even sacrifice animals and read their organs, have stalls in the markets and in the shops near forums. Obviously there’s no proof to what they say and by the time the things they predict either happen or don’t they are long gone. Rarely do they hang around once they’ve been paid.”
Brenna smiled, “I’m surprised that you say this. Romans accept these practices at home and yet they try to destroy them here and in Gaul. Most soothsayers as you call them move from place to place because of the suspicions they evoke. Just like you did then you don’t trust in them, yet you pray to unseen gods.”
The frown returned to his face but before he could respond she continued, “Lay back and relax, let me show you it’s true and not made up to get money and then you can make your own mind up.”