Blackspire

Act 1, Chapter 1 of The Ashes of Rome

The summer sun shimmered on the sea in the distance.

I took in a great lungful of salt-laden air. It was so different from summer in the mountainsor even the gentle warmth of our homeland. I’d missed Agedincum when Brennus first led us south from Gaul, but Sena Gallica was proving to have its benefits. And with the oppidum almost completed, we would soon have more time to enjoy our newfound bounty.

Warm sunshine, good earth, and riches in game and fish all made Gaul a distant memory. Maybe one of these days, I’d find myself a woman and father a couple of brats. Catta’s smile flashed enticingly in my mind. I’d have to find her later and discuss the matter, preferably with a skin of wine and ample privacy.

“Rider approaching!” Garamaros shouted beside me, breaking my reverie and bringing me crashing back to the present.

I punched my companion in the shoulder. “Must you deafen me?”

Garamaros threw back his head in laughter. “Next time, I’ll wait until they’re within the gates and you can enjoy the sound of steel on steel instead of my dulcet tones.”

“Fah! Even then, you’d find some reason to shout. You’re like a cock that loves the sound of its own crowing too much!”

“Tell me, Talos, when have you heard a cock cry so beautifully?”

“When was the last time I was with your mother?” I quipped, then began slamming my sword into my shield to help raise the hue and cry. A rider from the west could mean almost anything, but it was most likely an offer of employment. We Senones had made quite an impression on the local Etruscans, Piceni, and Umbri. Particularly the Umbri, considering this had once been their land.

I raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “Looks like more than one rider.”

Garamaros studied the shapes within the dust plume. “I can make out three, but the dust obscures much.”

Three riders were certainly not a prelude to an attack. The Umbri knew better than to approach our oppidum with fewer than a thousand men, even to deliver a threat, and I doubted any other tribes would attempt anything so rash. I leaped over the rail and off the wall, landing lightly on the ground.

“What foolishness is this?” Garamaros demanded, looking down at me with a frown.

I grinned. “I must make sure Brennus knows about the new arrivals!”

“I’ll wager my voice can reach his ears before your legs can carry you in sight of the man,” Garamaros said. “Riders approaching! Riders approaching!” he shouted.

Laughing, I dashed off in search of Brennus. I found him not long after, atop one of the walls near the gate.

“You see them?” I called. He held his helm under one arm and his sword in the other hand. Never let it be said that our chieftain was unprepared for whatever might come.

Brennus nodded. “Garamaros’ voice carried far and fast.”

I cursed.

“Fast you might be, but I fear you’ll never best him on that score. At least not in the oppidum! You need a challenge that involves a distance great enough that Garmaros must do more than stand there with his gob open.”

“Then we’ll need either treasure, women, or wine— those are the only things he’d consider worthy of the effort!” I shot back.

Brennus laughed, then the gate creaked open, and I had no further time for banter. Four travelers— not three— approached the oppidum. Three had the look of warriors or bodyguards, and they were wary. They kept glancing up at the warriors on the walls above them as they approached the gate, all too aware of their danger.

The fourth man, the leader, had the indolent air of one born to wealth. He made a point of not looking up. Instead, he stared forward, as if our warriors were beneath his notice. While the three fighters wore chain mail, the leader wore a short tunica covered by a dark blue cloak. He fairly reeked of wealth. I was almost certain it was an offer of employment.

The four men pulled up their mounts in a cloud of dust.

“We seek Brennus of the Senones!” the leader called as they dismounted. On closer inspection, I realized he was relatively young, perhaps in the middle of his second ten of years. Dark, curly hair and a hooked nose spoke of Etruscan ancestry. Two boys approached and took charge of their horses, leading them away to water and feed them.

“I am Brennus,” came the reply. Brennus had left the wall and now stood amidst the roiling dust.

Surprise passed over the young leader’s face, and I stifled a chuckle. Brennus had that effect on people. Where others might send warriors or even a servant to fetch visitors, Brennus preferred to go himself.

The lordling made a show of bowing. “Mighty Brennus, I am Aruns of Clusium, and I come to you with a tale of woe and the demand for vengeance.”

Brennus studied the young man for a moment before answering. “I have little interest in the woes that have befallen you and even less in your idea of vengeance.”

Aruns’ youth betrayed him; his face fell in disappointment. I laughed inwardly that he would show such weakness in front of someone who might easily become his enemy. Aruns opened his mouth to speak again, but Brennus continued.

“That is, unless one of the two involves something of benefit to the Senones?”

Aruns smiled slightly. “I believe that both may benefit your people.”

Brennus threw a muscular arm around Aruns’ shoulders. The young man’s bodyguards reached for their weapons, but the pair were already moving away as Brennus led Aruns somewhere quieter to discuss the situation.

“This way,” I said to the bodyguards, gesturing for them to follow me. “I will show you to the guesthouse. You need not fear for your lord’s safety while he is with Brennus. We honor guest rights.” For a moment, I thought they might refuse, but with shrugs, they followed me.

✷✷✷

“Lucomo must pay,” Aruns all but shouted, slamming a fist into his open palm.

I entered the meeting chamber, having gotten the visitor’s bodyguards settled. Brennus’ raised brows and rolling eyes told me all I needed to know. Aruns was a pompous windbag filled with his own self-importance. Still, windbags often paid well. There was something about protecting their egos that encouraged them to shower men like us with gold if it could help them achieve their ends.

I took stock of the situation. Aruns and Brennus sat together near the central fire pit. Captured Umbri men and women carried food and drink around. A few armed warriors stood around the space, more out of curiosity about our visitors than any real need for protection. Also present were Urus and Lukotorix, although there were reasons for that.

Urus’s purpose was clear; he was not named after the aurochs for nothing. The man stood over seven feet and was proportionately broad. His presence was likely to awe Arun’s fragile nerves while also giving him pause should he take umbrage with something Brennus might say and decide to shout for his bodyguards. Aruns kept looking from Brennus to Urus as though unsure which should command his attention.

Lukotorix served another sort of purpose. The Mouse King’s ever-present cloak of rodent skins and necklace of mouse skulls would keep Aruns off center and perhaps a bit more pliable. Brennus always did like to hedge his wagers.

“Talos, thank you for settling Aruns’ people,” Brennus said.

I bowed my head.

“Perhaps you can help me decide what’s to be done in this delicate situation. Would you hear our guest’s tale of misery?”

I shrugged. “If I can be of help,” was all I said. Gods knew I had no real interest in the windbag’s story, only if it would serve us.

Brennus grinned. “Well, you are well known for your wisdom. Pray, share it as I recite what I have been told.” I had advised Brennus in the past, but he usually kept his own counsel. I took his suggestion to mean that he wanted to put on a show for our visitor.

Brennus took a deep breath and then launched into a recitation of Aruns’ various claims that culminated with, “Lucomo, king of Clusium, a man who has no honor and shall die nameless and unmourned, did knowingly seduce and debauch the wife of Aruns, one Pevtha. When Aruns demanded satisfaction, the king refused and had Aruns cast out of the city if he did not beg for forgiveness.”

“A tale of woe and misery indeed,” I agreed, stifling a laugh. These soft southerners! A Senone woman would have either removed Lucomo’s manhood at the insult, left her husband beforehand, or invited the husband to participate.

“He humbly requests the aid of the Senones in restoring his honor and bringing retribution against the king of Clusium.”

I glanced from Brennus to Aruns and back again. “I sensed as much when he rode in.” I crossed my arms and scowled at Aruns. “But what does he offer the Senones in return for our assistance?”

Brennus grinned, and I could see the fire in his eyes. This was all mere formality! He had already made up his mind. “He promises us land around the city, including established vineyards suitable for the production of wine, sufficient for as many able-bodied men as heed his call to arms.”

That settled it, then. Gold was good, but land was better. Arable land, especially wine-producing land, was worth far more. “A generous offer, indeed, but what of Clusium’s forces? Surely, Lucomo will not simply hand everything over and turn tail on our approach.”

Brennus looked to Aruns, who shrugged. “Lucomo could likely field a legion on short notice, more if he has time to prepare. But do not let that worry you! They are mostly farmers, not trained warriors.”

I studied Aruns through narrowed eyes. “It’s been my experience that farmers fighting for their homes are more apt to be trouble than warriors fighting for nothing more than gold.”

Aruns sputtered something about our warriors also being farmers, but I cut him off. “But if he can field nothing more than a legion, then it matters not whether they be farmers or demi-gods. We can march with three times that many.” I leaned toward him because I wanted my next words to truly register. “And Senone farmers irrigate their fields with the blood of their foes.”

Aruns backpedaled at my grin. Brennus threw back his head and laughed. Aruns looked from me to Brennus and back, unsure what it all meant. Urus and Lukotorix grinned at me, eyes alight with the same excitement that swelled in my own heart.

The Senones were going to war.

Next →