Marius' Mules VII: The Great Revolt by S. J. A. Turney Read Free Book Online Page A

their gaze back upon Avaricon, seething in a sea of miasmic fug. ‘I want them on our side, cousin. I would pay a good gold torc just to see Caesar’s face if he has to take this city from us.’
     
    * * * * *
     
    Cavarinos tried to catch the eye of Litavicus, but the warrior studiously ignored him.
     
    The Arverni chieftain had been among the Aedui for only two days before events caught up with them. He and Litavicus - a young Aeduan noble apparently in the pay of Vercingetorix - had been met a mile from the vast, sprawling oppidum of Bibracte by the traitor’s brother in law, who seemed hungry for news of the Gallic force gathered at Avaricon, yet more hungry for his share of the gold coins that Litavicus dropped into his hand.
    The young men had brought Cavarinos into Bibracte, through the powerful walls and along streets that ran between seemingly endless buildings, and introduced him that night to half a dozen other like-minded Aedui, including one Convictolitanis, a man currently standing for magistrate and effective control of the entire tribe. When faced with allies of this magnitude and assured that they were far from alone, the scale of the task for which they had come to Bibracte seemed diminished a little, though Cavarinos would have liked to have known more of it in advance.
    Then, the next morning, six exhausted riders had appeared at the great western gate. A party of weary and wild-eyed horsemen of the Bituriges tribe, they claimed to have ridden like the wind from the oppidum of Avaricon, their tribe’s capital, to seek aid from the Aedui. They were seemingly under siege by the army of Vercingetorix. Cavarinos had felt a nervous jolt at that news. It had begun already. In these circumstances, were he discovered to be of the Arverni himself, his peeled skin would be displayed to the Aedui within hours. And how much could he trust Litavicus and his companions? How much could anyone trust an already proven traitor-for-money?
    That afternoon, Litavicus had snuck him into a position among heavy, ancient roof beams where he could secretly observe the meeting of the tribal council in a grand hall of timber and stone. He had watched anxiously as events unfolded, aware of the potential for disaster at every turn. The Bituriges had begged for support - a relief force from the Aedui, whose tribe were so much more numerous and powerful than their own. Cavarinos had begun running through arguments against it in his head, wondering how he would get Litavicus to put them forth, but he was saved the effort when one of the tame nobles lining his pockets with Arverni silver had addressed the council.
    The man had narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he threw out his arms and reminded those present that the Bituriges were as close to the Arverni as they were to the Aedui. That being the case, and the oath to Rome being so readily forgotten among the tribes these days, how could the Aedui be sure this was not simply a ruse to drag a large Aeduan force off where it could be massacred by Vercingetorix and his rebels? Undoubtedly the new Arverni ‘king’ planned to weaken and break their main opposition, and this had all the hallmarks of a duplicitous Arverni plot. Cavarinos had felt himself exhale in relief. It was a masterful nudge, and had almost persuaded the gathered nobles to refuse their aid to the Bituriges. But then, surprisingly, the magistrate Convictolitanis - claiming the mandate of Rome - had shaken his head. ‘We must support our allies in the face of such threat,’ he had announced.
    What the hell is he doing? Cavarinos had thought. We almost had the Bituriges cut off, until this new turn of argument . But as he listened a thought had dawned upon him, and everything had quickly fallen into place. Claiming such mandate, the nobleman could act on behalf of Rome without having to actually apprise the legions of anything that was happening. In another genius stroke, the magistrate had kept all these matters from