The Warrior's Princess

  ‘What is it? What is happening?’

  ‘Marcellus is going to baptise me,’ Eigon called. ‘Come. Be my witness!’

  Antonia gave a cry of delight. ‘Oh, Eigon, at last! Oh, my dear, you will be my sister in Christ!’ She slid down the bank after them, her skirt tangling round her legs as a clap of thunder reverberated down the ravine.

  It took only seconds, then the three of them hugged one another and prayed. At last, shivering and exhausted they crept back into the meagre shelter of the bank, and, huddling together for warmth in their soaking wet clothes, tried to compose themselves for sleep.

  Eigon stayed awake a long time, staring out into the rain as the thunder died away. She felt deeply at peace. What she had done was not after all a betrayal of her family’s gods, but an acceptance that she had been drawn into a greater circle of love and tenderness and strength which would sustain her for the rest of her life. She murmured a prayer that somehow her mother and father would know that she was safe and that they would soon be reunited.

  As the rain died away, no longer rattling on the leaves, silence descended on the woods, broken only by the decreasing rush of the river. Slowly it grew light. Faraway from the higher hills in the distance she heard the long lonely howl of a wolf. She smiled. Behind her the little boy stirred. He crawled out of his father’s arms and came and sat beside her without a word. She reached out and put her arm round him, drawing him close. He must be about the same age as her little brother was when she last saw him. ‘Are you all right?’ she whispered, terribly aware suddenly that this little boy had seen his mother die only the day before.

  He nodded. ‘I’m hungry.’

  She smiled. ‘So am I. Marcellus is going back to the house when it’s properly light. He’ll try and get us some more of that lovely bread and cheese.’

  ‘Then where are we going?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. She was trying to hold back the tears. She had no idea at all.

  Jess shivered. She had grown so stiff, sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, she could hardly move. She glanced at the window. Here too it was nearly light. Aching, she dragged herself to her feet and went into the small bathroom. A shower made her feel a lot better. She climbed into bed and fell asleep at once under the sheet. When she awoke it was nearly ten o’clock. Her obliging hostess provided her with hot panini and coffee and, much restored, she retraced her steps to her bedroom.

  ‘What in Hades are you going to do now?’ Lucius was standing beside Titus, watching the farrier running an expert hand up his horse’s leg, gently pressing at a swelling on its hock. ‘She’ll tell her father and then you will be in trouble.’

  ‘She won’t tell her father, that’s the beauty of it.’ Titus gave a rueful smile. ‘I’ve finally realised that her mother didn’t want him to know that I had the queen of the Silures in a sheep’s byre on some sodden hillside in a land of barbarian peasants, otherwise why didn’t the story come out at the time? Anyway she never saw my face. I’ll wager I never was in any danger! What an irony. It’s worthy of an entire satire by Horace!’

  ‘So, you’re going to forget her?’ Lucius felt a huge wave of relief sweep over him. The thought that he might be any more enmeshed in his friend’s plans sickened him.

  ‘No chance! I want her. And I’m going to have her.’

  ‘How? They escaped.’

  Titus scowled. The discovery that their prisoners had escaped by the simple method of jumping out of the back to the wagon was not something he was going to live down in a hurry. An entire cohort of the Praetorian guard had been duped. They had not noticed until they were back inside the camp ready to move the prisoners on to the dungeons on the Esquiline, constructed hastily from the cellars of houses which had been pulled down in an attempt to create a fire break. From there the Christians were to be taken either to the Circus on the Vatican plain, or to the Emperor’s pleasure gardens to act as Roman candles.

  ‘Her escape was providential as it happened,’ he said with a harsh laugh. ‘It would have been such a waste if she had been lined up for the Emperor’s entertainment. I would have been cheated of my pleasure.’ He stepped forward as the farrier straightened. ‘Is it worth saving the horse?’

  The man nodded. ‘A couple of days’ rest and it’ll be as good as new. I’ll take it round the back and dress the swelling.’ He glanced at the officer suspiciously. He’d known men like him before. He would as soon knock the animal on the head as waste time trying to save it. Gentling the sweating creature he gave Titus no time to change his mind. He led the animal away.

  ‘So, how will you find her?’ Lucius asked as they strode towards the officers’ mess.

  Titus shrugged. ‘I have a feeling she will turn up. There’s a voice in my head.’ He gave a roar of laughter. ‘It tells me where she is.’ He tapped his nose. ‘Perhaps I can smell her out.’ He paused so suddenly that Lucius almost bumped into him. ‘I’ll cross young Flavius’s palm with some more silver. That will bring me news if there is any. You are right. Eigon is sure to send a message to her parents; perhaps she will even be stupid enough to go back to them and wait for me to try again. I’ll tell you something, Lucius. She’s a brave woman. She stood up to me.’ He grinned. ‘I liked that. The other one, Antonia, snivelled like a whipped pup.’

  Dan grinned. He had stopped for a meal at a service station the night before and then, exhausted, decided to book himself into a nearby pensione for the night, leaving the car in the lorry park. It had been a good decision. He felt more alert than he had for a long time, and he had dreamed about Titus. It was extraordinary. Just like a film. The detail had been incredible. It would have enthralled the kids at school. And not even an 18 certificate! He gave a wry grin. He had been looking forward to seeing Eigon get her deserts but it hadn’t happened. Somehow she had escaped. As had Jess.

  He paid his bill and walked out into the clear sunlight. The heat hit him with breathtaking ferocity as he pulled out his car key. It wouldn’t take long to get back to Rome and return the car; then perhaps he would stroll round to the palazzo and pay a visit to his friend Jacopo. The combination of money and threats had worked very well before. If there was anything to find out then Jacopo was his man – unless Titus had any luck in the meantime. He was sitting for a moment, the car door open, touching the accelerator with his toe, reluctant to close the door in the furnace heat when his mobile rang. He reached into his pocket and took it out. ‘Hello, Nat?’

  ‘Where the hell have you been, Dan?’ Natalie’s voice seemed to echo round the hot car. ‘I’ve been trying to reach you.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I’ve been out of town and my mobile was off. Is there anything wrong?’

  ‘The headmaster has been trying to get in touch with you. Something to do with the police.’

  ‘What?’ He turned off the engine and climbed out of the car, standing beside it staring across the parking lot towards the distant hills. His hands had started to shake. ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me, would he.’

  ‘No. I suppose not.’

  ‘He wants you to ring him urgently.’

  ‘Does he know I’m here?’

  ‘Yes, of course he does. I told him.’

  ‘Shit!’ Dan was sweating hard. ‘Look, there’s no point in me contacting them from here. I’ll leave it until I get back which will only be a day or so. Can you ring Brian and tell him you couldn’t contact me, but I had left a message on your phone saying I’m heading back home overland. That will give me a bit of space.’

  There was a moment’s silence. ‘What is wrong, Dan? What’s happened?’ Her voice was sharp with suspicion.

  ‘Nothing’s wrong. It is probably something to do with the school. But whatever it is, I can’t do anything from here, can I! And I’m damned if I’m going to spoil my holiday worrying about whatever it is. I’ll be back soon.’

  ‘Since when have you been on holiday, Dan?’ Natalie’s voice hardened imperceptibl
y. ‘You’re supposed to take your family on holidays, remember? You told me you’d been invited to take someone else’s place at the last moment at an educational conference.’

  ‘And so it was.’ Dan swore silently. ‘It’s just, I don’t want to cut it short unnecessarily, do I.’ He dashed the sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘Look, Nat, I’ve got to go. The next speaker is arriving. I’ll ring you tomorrow, OK? Just stall everyone if you can and I’ll sort it when I get home.’ He switched off the phone and tossed it into the back. ‘Shit! Shit! Shit!’ He exhaled loudly and stood for a moment unmoving as a huge lorry started its engine nearby with a throaty roar. After a few moments it began to pull slowly out of the crowded park, leaving him enveloped in a cloud of exhaust fumes. She had been on to the police. Well, he knew she might. That was the whole point of making people think she was mad. Not that he needed to do any more about that. She was mad. Mad as a hatter. She had only to talk to them about Eigon and Titus and the ghosts of Christmas past and they would close their little black notebooks and prosecute her for wasting their time. He lowered himself stiffly back into the car and restarted the engine. So, what to do? If he could find her, well and good, though it was bad that he had admitted to being in Italy still. That was a tactical error. He should have claimed to be back in England. Or in France on the way home. He tensed suddenly. He was on the way home. Rhodri and Steph could verify that. They were miles from Rome when he had caught up with them. It was their word against his about where he was headed.

  But he had told Nat he was still at the conference. Shit again. He would deny it. She would think she had misheard. She was paranoid anyway that he was having an affair with someone at school. He would say it was her jealousy talking. He glanced in the rear view mirror and headed out onto the road. He had a day or two at most to find Jess and deal with her. He would ring Nat again and confess he was in Switzerland. Make up some story to pacify her. Exhaustion would be good. And true. Confess there was no conference – the police would check that easily, so there was no point in sticking to that alibi, perhaps beg Nat to come out to him. Cry on her shoulder. Get her to bring the kids. No, not the kids. On her own she was more vulnerable. Less of a mother tiger. On her own, he could win her round easily, and she would back him up. She always did.

  Now all he had to do was contact Titus. Titus would help him. Titus was sharp and he was hard. He would know what to do. He would know where to find Jess. He smiled as he put his foot down, closed the windows and cranked up the air conditioning. Someone in Rome was going to know where she was. If it was Kim then Jacopo would find out. If it was Carmella then it was up to him. And he had just realised how to do it. God, it was so obvious. How could he have been such a fool!

  25

  ‘I can see no one watching the entrance,’ Marcellus said quietly. They were hidden by darkness, beneath the stone pine near the high walls of Eigon’s home. The gates were open and a torch burned in the holder by the door.

  ‘They could be in the porter’s lodge, or inside,’ Eigon whispered. ‘Normally the gates would be locked at night.’

  ‘Normally you would be at home at night,’ Antonia said tartly. ‘This is madness. Anyone could be watching from the orchards, and anyone could be inside. You said the man who brought the message walked straight in. He was an officer.’

  Eigon bit her lip. ‘If I could get a message to Aelius or Flavius it would be all right.’ She glanced at Marcellus. ‘They don’t know you.’

  ‘Our enemies do.’ He stood up straight. ‘But as you say, we’ll be out here all night if we don’t do something. I’ll walk in and knock.’

  He strode out into the moonlight before they could say a word, approaching the gates in full view of anyone who was on watch. The others held their breath. He walked right up to the gates and stepped through them, calling out. There was no reply.

  Eigon bit her lip. ‘Something is very wrong.’

  Stephen put his hand on her arm. ‘Stay here with the children. I will go and see. No one knows me either.’ Marcellus had walked across the courtyard and was approaching the front door. They all watched as he raised his hand to the bronze eagle which served as a knocker. The sound echoed out to them on the road.

  ‘No, wait.’ Eigon put her hand on Stephen’s arm. ‘Someone is coming.’

  The door was opening. They saw Marcellus speak to someone inside. He turned and beckoned.

  ‘It’s all right.’ Eigon stepped forward.

  ‘No, let me go first.’ Stephen moved out of the shadows and approached the gate as Antonia caught the children by the hand to hold them back.

  Marcellus met him and exchanged a word. They beckoned the others.

  ‘Eigon, I’m afraid your father is very ill,’ Marcellus said gently. ‘The whole household is at sixes and sevens according to the servant girl I spoke to.’

  Eigon gave a small cry of distress. ‘Let me go to him.’ Pushing past him she ran ahead of them and into the house.

  Caradoc’s bedroom was filled with the light of dozens of torches and lamps. Cerys sat beside him, her hands clasped around his. He appeared to be unconscious.

  She glanced up as Eigon appeared. ‘Where have you been?’ Her face was swollen with crying. ‘He’s been asking for you incessantly.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mam. I couldn’t help it. I will explain later.’ Eigon tiptoed towards the bed, aware that a dozen or so people were standing round the room. ‘Papa?’ She turned a stricken look to her mother. ‘What happened? He was fine last time I saw him.’

  ‘Someone came. They said you had become a Christian and that you had been arrested and would die in the arena!’ Cerys cried. ‘I told them it wasn’t true, but they said they had proof. They brought your gold bangle.’

  Eigon clapped her hand to her wrist. The bangle was missing and she hadn’t even noticed. ‘Oh, Mam. I’m so sorry. Antonia and I were arrested but we escaped. We came back as soon as we could.’ She glanced round the room. ‘Someone close the gates and bar them!’ she cried. ‘Why were they open?’

  ‘They were open for your spirit to come home, child,’ Cerys said, more gently now. ‘We have heard what they are doing to Christians in the city. To lose Melinus was enough. My own child –’ She shook her head. ‘I could not bear that. I told him that it wasn’t true. That you weren’t a Christian. That you never had been, but he didn’t believe me and it has finished your father.’

  ‘Papa?’ Eigon sat down on the bed and took her father’s hands in her own. ‘Papa, it’s Eigon. Can you hear me?’

  Caradoc didn’t stir. His face was grey, his eyes closed.

  ‘Papa, I am safe. I came back as soon as I could.’ She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. She looked up again. ‘Who was it who came and told you I had been taken?’

  Cerys shrugged. ‘An officer of the guard. He said he felt it was his duty to inform us.’

  ‘Did he speak to you personally?’

  ‘To both of us.’

  ‘And you didn’t recognise him?’ She held her mother’s gaze.

  Cerys blanched. ‘Not – him?’ She shrugged. ‘I never saw his face, how would I recognise him?’ she protested at last. Her voice trailed away.

  Eigon nodded. ‘All these years he’s been waiting.’

  ‘What did he do to you?’ Cerys took a deep breath. Her voice was shaking.

  ‘Nothing. Oh, he intended to, but his escort arrived and he thought better of it in front of so many witnesses. He contented himself with throwing Antonia and me into a wagon with Marcellus and Stephen and the children.’ She indicated the others who had hung back near the doorway, awed by the situation. ‘He was right. We were destined for the palace gardens.’

  Cerys gave a moan of misery.

  ‘And then he realised of course that he could hurt me far more by coming here.’ Her face was white. ‘He decided to destroy me, by hurting you.’

  Cerys held her gaze. ‘He would have told your father everything had Caradoc not coll
apsed and lost consciousness. That was what he wanted. It was so easy. To kill a king.’ She paused. ‘But it’s not that easy, is it. Now you are here. Aelius?’ she called. ‘Where are you?’

  There was a shuffling of feet at the back of the room and the steward stepped forward.

  ‘Have you bolted the gates?’

  ‘It has been done, my lady.’

  ‘See that these people are looked after. They are our guests.’ She recovered some of her composure. With it came new resolution. ‘And clear the room.’ She looked round as though seeing the crowd of servants and slaves for the first time. ‘Give my lord some air. Now Eigon is back she will help him. Everything is going to be all right.’ In a very short time the room was empty but for Eigon and her mother. ‘Do you need anything from your healing room?’ she asked quietly as Eigon sat holding her father’s hand.

  Eigon shook her head. She was praying.

  ‘Shall I order them to make soup for him?’

  ‘No, Mam.’ She looked up at last. ‘There is nothing I can do. Papa is dying. We must just be here for him. He is going home.’ She gave her mother a sad smile. ‘His heart has not been strong for a long time. You know that. I can feel it under my hand. It is very weak. Scarcely beating. Already he can see the hills of home.’

  Cerys stared at her, blind with tears. ‘No,’ she whispered.

  ‘It will be time, soon.’ Eigon moved slightly, making room for her mother beside her. ‘Here. Come and hold him. Let him know we are both with him.’

  ‘He was better!’ Cerys wailed.

  ‘I know. Perhaps that was the last of his strength.’ She leaned forward and kissed her father on the forehead.

  They sat in silence for a long time after he stopped breathing. When Eigon broke the silence at last it was with a quiet prayer. ‘Dear Jesus. My father never had the chance to know you. But bless him and keep him safe, I beg you, in the land of the ever young.’