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were confident, too, that he would come directly to us. There was no other
place on the road that he could stop. He would not be interested in towns 
and there were none closer to us than Aquae Sulis, anyway. The few villages in
the area were full of our own people, who would direct any strangers to us,
and all of the other villas close to our own were controlled by us. Our
visitor would have to come to us and deal with Caius Britannicus, Proconsul
and Senator of Rome.
No one in the region would betray us, we knew, because everyone for miles
around depended upon our
good will and our support. If loyalty to the Empire dictated to any man
jealous of our strength that he denounce us, the fear of losing our military
presence and assistance would keep his agonizing within his breast. At least,
that is what we hoped.
In the middle of the afternoon, Caius heard the blast of a trumpet in the
distance and the sounds of a party of mounted men coming along the road
leading to the main gates of the villa. He told me later that he sucked in a
great, deep breath and went to meet them.
There were five in the advance party: a grey-bearded centurion, a trumpeter, a
standard-bearer and two outriders. They came at a gallop right up to the
gates, where Caius awaited them, and drew to a halt. The centurion did not
dismount; he looked down on Cay from a horse several hands higher that any we
had bred.
"Proconsul Caius Britannicus?" He looked unsure of himself.
Caius spoke. "I am he. Has it become customary nowadays for a centurion to
talk down to a Roman senator?"
"Your pardon, Proconsul." The man had meant no disrespect. He flushed, and his
eyes switched from
Caius to his troopers, than back to Caius again. "Escort will dismount!" All
five of them slipped heavily to the ground from the backs of their horses, the
standard-bearer achieving this feat with some difficulty, to
Cay's eyes, because of the size and length of the great scarlet standard he
carried. As the man stiffened to attention again, Caius eyed the standard.
"What emblem is this?" he asked. "It is new to me."
The centurion saluted. "New to the whole world, Proconsul. Ours is a new unit.
Heavy cavalry. Fresh arrived from Armorica by way of Gaul."
"What are you called? Your unit, I mean."
"Lead Equine Cohort, seconded from Thirty-fourth Legion on special duty,
Proconsul."
"Lead Equine Cohort! I see. The Thirty-fourth Legion, you say? Welcome, and
what may we do for you, Centurion?"
The man cleared his throat. "We have been sent ahead to request your
hospitality, Proconsul. We have been on the road from Londinium these five
days past, and our commander would like to rest here for a while with you, if
you can accommodate us."
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"Five days from Londinium?" Caius sounded surprised. "You have made good time.
Where are you headed?"
The centurion cleared his throat again. "I regret I am not at liberty to say,
Proconsul."
"No, I suppose not. A heavy cavalry unit, you say? Since when has Rome had
heavy cavalry?"
"Since only very recently, Proconsul. A few years."
"Hmmm." Britannicus's grunt no doubt sounded unimpressed. "Who is your
commander, and how many of you are there? Not a whole cohort, I trust? How
long will you be staying?"
"No, Proconsul, three squadrons only. Marcellus Vicere is our tribune, and we
have one hundred and thirty-eight men and horses, Proconsul."
"One hun  ?" Britannicus told me later he felt like an actor in a play. He
widened his eyes and made his voice reflect what he called singular
astonishment. "Do you have grain for your horses?"
"Aye, Proconsul, in the commissary wagons. And food for our men."
"Oh! I see." Cay now allowed himself to appear mollified. "Well, that's not so
bad, I suppose. I think we can look after you. For one night, at least." He
turned to one of the gawking servants. "Nestor, find Gallo and tell him to
prepare enough meat to feed a hundred and fifty extra men tonight. Tell him I
don't care where he finds it, even if we have to borrow it from our
neighbours. We can repay it later. Tell him we have company from Londinium,
and bid him have his people set up tables in the fields behind the villa of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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