‘I am certain of it. But Caesar believes he has plenty of time. He will be convinced he has tricked us into running south to protect our homes. He is not coming for us, and I want the Aedui behind our banner before he does. I am not yet considering time my most pressing concern. Every day we reduce the Boii, the Aedui are watching us and our men among them twist their leaders to our cause. No, Vergasillaunus, we are under no pressure here.’
He looked up once more at the walls.
Gorgobina was a small oppidum, the home of a tribe Caesar had settled here years before in the aftermath of his victory over the Helvetii. The tribe who occupied it was a small one, but loyal to both the Aedui, who sponsored them, and Rome, who had settled them with grace rather than extinguishing or enslaving them. The walls of the place were only a few years old and had been constructed with Aedui help and Roman resources. They were powerful and high and thick.
But nature had given them only a trickle of water within, and their own unpreparedness had left them short of grain — the grain which was even now being gathered by the Arverni and added to their own supplies. If the Boii had been clever, they would have torched their fields when they retreated within the walls and left nothing for the attackers. But then, they were not warriors like the Arverni, they were Roman lap-dogs.
The pair stood silent for a moment and then the king stretched. ‘Give them an hour to drop their guard and then send another small foray in from the north. Let’s keep them nervous and exhausted. We have the numbers, they do not.’
Vergasillaunusnodded and frowned as he saw a solitary warrior running towards them.
‘What’s this?’
The man closed on the pair and dropped to a knee, bowing his head before rising again. ‘There is a small column of horsemen coming in from the north, my king.’
Vercingetorix glanced at his cousin with an arched eyebrow.
‘Who knows?’ the man replied, and then turned to the warrior. ‘Any idea who they are?’
‘No. They’re not Romans, though. And they don’t look like Aedui. They will be here any moment.’ He rose and gestured to the north, where they could just make out a small party of cavalry cresting the low rise and moving down to the lower ground where the army had made camp.
The two commanders of the Arverni army waited patiently and watched as the horsemen approached, were met by a dozen spear-bearing Lemovice warriors and questioned before being permitted to proceed into the camp.
‘Friends, then,’ Vergasillaunus mused. They kept their eyes on the group as the two lead horsemen came on through the wide camp and the rest — clearly their escort — peeled off elsewhere. Vercingetorix was peering through the grey with narrowed eyes and trying to identify them when his cousin straightened with a smile.
‘Our favourite brothers return.’
The king frowned and gradually the creases around his eyes moved into a smile. But by the time the two chieftains had closed on the commanders’ vantage point, he could see the seriousness of the brothers’ expressions, and his smile had slipped away again.
‘My king,’ Critognatos said, sliding from the horse straight into a curt bow. Cavarinos simply nodded his head respectfully from the saddle.
‘You bring bad news?’
‘Not I,’ Critognatos said, earning him a cold look from the other rider. ‘Many thousand warriors are on their way from the Meldi, the Parisi and the Catelauni, and upwards of two thousand from the tiny unimportant tribes. The Carnutes and the Senones are with us still, and will send men in due course, the first moment the Romans turn their gaze away.’
‘And there lies the problem,’ Cavarinos said with a sigh. ‘Caesar is already abroad with his army. He has taken the grain stores of Vellaunoduno and moved on with eight legions to Cenabum, which I can assure you will by now be naught but bones and burned timbers… you know how the Romans hold a grudge. I wish we had got word to you faster, but we were delayed in our journey by having to avoid Aedui lands. Caesar has sent word to them, and the northern Aedui towns would sell us out to Rome in a heartbeat.’
‘The man moves with the speed and sureness of a snake,’ Vercingetorix said, shaking his head admiringly. ‘I wonder sometimes what the Romans have done that their gods gift them with such men to win their wars. Still, our own army is not led by fools. Caesar seeks to divide us from our northern allies? Let him concentrate on keeping the Carnutes and the Senones out of things. We already have many of their number with us. Plus we’ll soon have the Aedui — no matter what the Romans’ ambassadors can offer — and their numbers more than make up for the loss of any further Carnutes.’
Critognatos’ face took on a sour cast. ‘You would abandon the Carnutes and their neighbours to the Romans simply on a matter of numbers?’
‘Frankly, yes,’ Vercingetorix said, matter-of-factly. ‘We cannot afford to be sympathetic or sentimental at the cost of this war… you have seen for yourself what we are up against. Do you think Caesar would abandon pursuit of a large ally to rush to the aid of a small one?’ He rolled his neck wearily. ‘Besides, once we have the Aedui with us and we have the numbers to crush Caesar, we will move north and help our brothers the Carnutes, sure in the knowledge of our success.’
Cavarinos stirred uncomfortably in his saddle. ‘I’m afraid it might be a little more urgent than that. While at Vellaunoduno, I learned that once the Romans have destroyed Cenabum, their sights are turning to the south. Caesar seeks to enforce his alliance with the Aedui and the Bituriges. He will march upon Novioduno, and then Avaricon. And given how long we have taken to get here because of the cursed Aedui, the Romans will most likely be closing upon their first destination already.’
Vergasillaunus turned a surprised expression upon his commander. ‘Avaricon is only forty miles from here. Do we have the men yet to bring him down?’
The Arverni king affected a far-away look as he made mental calculations of strength. ‘No. I do not believe so. Not without the Aedui. Caesar has eight legions and all of them are veterans, having cut their teeth on the shields and bones of our people for years. They have no fear of us and are more than familiar with our battle skills and tactics.’ He rolled his head, his neck clicking. ‘Besides, I have no intention of rushing off to aid Avaricon and abandoning all our work here.’
‘But cousin…’ Vergasillaunus began.
‘No. Avaricon is the strongest fortress in the west. The Bituriges can hold it for many weeks. Long enough for us to raze Gorgobina, conclude matters here, enlist the Aedui, and then move west and crush Caesar against Avaricon’s walls. We stick with our plan.’
‘Unless,’ Cavarinos murmured, ‘both Novioduno and Avaricon both open their gates to him willingly. The Bituriges have long been his allies through the Aedui, and they are not yet truly bound to our cause by aught other than fear.’
The Arverni king nodded thoughtfully. ‘I agree. Both cities must be bolstered, Novioduno in strength and Avaricon in courage. Novioduno is almost twice as far away — perhaps eighty miles. We will be truly fortunate to have a force reach it before the Romans do. We will sadly be forced to sacrifice the place in order to preserve Avaricon, but it will serve a purpose in delaying Caesar.’ He turned to Vergasillaunus. ‘Lucterius frets at being here and not in open battle. Send him with three thousand cavalry to Novioduno, as fast as they can ride. He can strengthen their defences with his men, and his own courage will bring forth their own. He must hold the place as long as possible and deny the Romans their supplies even in the end. When the place falls, I trust him to burn all the Bituriges’ supplies and find a way out and back to us.’
His cousin nodded with a smile. Lucterius would relish the chance. Having been forced by expediency to abandon his attack on Narbo, he had been champing at the bit to take red war to the Romans.