He chuckled and redressed, not that he had taken much off.
A few minutes later, we stood by the training arena watching the training. I had dressed in my normal combat fatigues, with no armour. The girls were still at the building stage: building confidence, strength and stamina through hard work and exercise. I noted that there were a lot of spectators from amongst the other legionaries. They were jeering and catcalling, so I decided to select the largest and noisiest with whom to make an example. He was easy to spot. A big man, by Roman standards, so five foot ten inches, but very stocky. His neck must have been the same width as his head. He had shaved his head, as was common amongst the Legions, as it prevented lice and was far easier to maintain.
He was sitting on a bench, with his feet on the rail laughing and joking. There was a group of around seven of them. They weren’t of the Ninth, of that I was certain.
I walked up behind him, simply listening to him jeer. He was calling the girls slit-arses, in relation to their genitalia. I felt the familiar rise of anger, so quelled it. There was a better way.
I lifted him bodily from behind, one hand under his belt and the other holding his collar. I threw him onto his face, over the rail and onto the sand of the arena. He turned, spitting mad and determined to swing at whoever was responsible. He saw me and looked aghast.
“So, noisy little worm, don’t like it when a mere slit-arse gets the better of you. I’m sure your friends will be impressed that you can put your money where your mouth is. I bet you a month’s salary I can get you to submit by the time the Primus Pilus can count to thirty.”
Gaius was standing behind me, still in his full uniform.
“When you’re ready, Primi Ordines,” he said, giving me my official title – Ordinary Centurion.
The man swore and sprang to his feet, displaying rare agility for a man of his bulk.
“You, a centurion?” he said, and then laughed.
At that moment he sprang forward, swinging a large fist to where he judged my face should have been. I stepped in close, grabbed his swinging fist and then used his body and momentum to throw him onto his face again, this time delivering one well-placed kick into his abdomen to wind him. My foot felt the hard muscle of a man who was fit, so it barely winded him.
He was on his feet again in seconds; his eyes narrowed, watching me warily.
“Lucky cow!” he said, but his eyes told me he was playing to his audience.
He looked away, as if to gloat to his friends, so I knew an attack was imminent. Sure enough, he immediately rushed me, attempting to get me into a bear hug. I grabbed him by the tunic and went back, onto the ground, throwing him over my head so he landed with a crunch onto the ground behind me. This time, I rolled onto my feet and delivered a single punch to the solar plexus, which rendered him useless.
I then placed my foot on his neck and started to push.
“Submit?” I said to him.
Unable to speak, he attempted to get my foot off. When he failed, he must have been on the verge of blacking out, so he banged the ground with his arm.
“Fifteen!” shouted Gaius with a huge grin.
“So,” I said to the soldiers who were now jeering their erstwhile comrade. “See what a split-arse can do to this man. Who is he, by the way?”
“Servius Bentus; the champion of the Sixth Legion.”
I looked at the wreck on a man who was coughing and spluttering on the ground behind me.
“That, is your champion?” I said, disparagingly.
The men were clearly uncertain as to how to deal with me. Gaius stepped forward.
“This centurion has recently been enlisted into the Ninth,” he said. “She was a warrior princess from the barbaric north. She attacked the Ninth with an all-female band of warriors and defeated us before finally being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Her fighting prowess and that of her comrades will put you all to shame. Do not underestimate her and her warriors’ abilities. Just thank the gods that they are now on your side. If we hear of any more vulgar remarks about these women, we will use you for active sparing with sharpened blades. If she can defeat your champion in fifteen seconds with no weapons, just think what she could do with a Pilus or sword!”
I reached a hand down to the man on the ground and helped him to his feet.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
I smiled.
“I simply used your advantage against you,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Your weight and strength; I simply took you off-balance and took you down. Once down, you were easy.”
He drew himself to a vague semblance of attention.
“I apologise for my offensive remarks, ma’am. It will not happen again.”
“No, Servius, it won’t.”
I turned to go when he spoke again.
“Ma’am?”
I turned back.
“I respectfully request transfer to your unit. Perhaps I can assist in the training and effectiveness of your recruits, ma’am.”
“You mean you want to learn my tricks?”
He grinned.
“It crossed my mind, ma’am.”
“Put it in writing through your command.”
I then turned and walked across to where Iona and the grinning recruits stood.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Good, if it wasn’t for the spectators.”
“I think you will find they won’t be a problem anymore.”
Iona smiled.
“Thanks.”
I felt a pang of guilt. She was a spectacularly attractive woman. However, as I glanced at Gaius, it dawned on me that, as a woman at least, I had a specific default. It had been interesting, but I couldn’t get away from my in-built feelings. Whether they were imprinted on me by my socialisation or whether I was naturally that way inclined, I had no way of knowing.
Chapter Ten
I became aware that someone was shaking me. I awoke instantly, to see Gaius at my bedside.
“The Port patrol has sent word. Glax’s ship sailed an hour ago.”
“He wasn’t due to sail until tomorrow, wasn’t he?”
Gaius shrugged.
“The tides up that damn river are difficult. I think he took advantage of a high tide. Anyway, they managed to get on board to check the manifest against the cargo.”
“How?”
“They used the reason we gave them; stolen military stores. He just had a cargo of timber and about fifty slaves.”
“Where are they?”
“Who?”
“The patrol.”
“Outside.”
“Damn it, I haven’t got the man’s uniform here. Ask them what the timber looked like, and whether all the slaves were big men, and young.”
To give him his due he simply grunted and disappeared. While he was gone, I dressed, splashing some water over my face. Not having to shave was a definite advantage, but then I had that bloody mane of hair with which to contend. I tied it back and slipped into my clothes.
By the time I emerged, Gaius was on his way back.
“They said the timber was not what they expected; just like sheaves of two metre poles bound together. Apparently they use them for thatch support in the east.”
“Poles? How thick?” I asked.
He held up his finger and thumb as a circle.
“Damn! Longbows.”
“What?”
“And the slaves?”
“They were as you said; big young men.”
I nodded. So, here was the connection, and why the previous agent was killed. Still, I now had the necessary intelligence that could be auctioned. If only I could have got on the ship before it sailed. However, I hadn’t, but even if I had, I’m not sure what I could have done about it. At least they were none the wiser, and believed they were in the clear.
The answer was to put in place a countermeasure so their weapon would be less than effective.
“What is this longbow?” Gaius asked.
“You have archers?”
“Yes.”
“How effective are they?”
“That depends. They need to be quite close, and certainly any man who is not locked in with his shield is vulnerable. Cavalry are particularly open to being hit, but they can cover the distance quickly, so the archers have to be protected by infantry.”