The Siege by Nick Brown Read Free Book Online

horses by the reins, they walked steadily towards the fort. Cassius stared fixedly at the wall, hoping rather than expecting to see the reassuring sight of a standard or a raised spear.
    By the time they neared the closest of the palms, this preoccupation had distracted him from what Simo had already noticed. The Gaul tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards the tree.
    A large, black-feathered buzzard had just hopped out of the palm’s shadow. Claws scraping the sand, it shook its head at the strangers. Clasped in its crooked beak was something red with flies buzzing around it. With a single flick of its neck, the bird swallowed the morsel and hopped back towards the palm. Still looking on, Cassius belatedly realised what Simo had been pointing at all along.
    Wrapped in faded shrouds, and arranged in an untidy line under the tree, were six bodies.

IV
    Covering their noses with cloth unwrapped from their headgear, Cassius and Simo stared down at the corpses. One was no more than a pile of bleached bones, wrapped in a thin sheet that looked like it might blow away at any moment. The shrouds covering the middle four forms were a little newer. A section of cloth covering the face of one had come loose, revealing a portion of sunken, lined skin. This figure was notably smaller than the others.
    ‘A child perhaps,’ said Simo quietly. Unwilling to open his mouth, Cassius nodded and turned his attention to the last body. It could not have been there more than a week. Apart from the sweet odour of rot, the skin, visible where the buzzard had pecked a wide hole, had hardly decayed at all. Flies had gathered on the wound.
    Cassius felt a wave of nausea, reminding him of the seasickness he had endured during the three-week crossing from Ravenna to Seleucia Pieria, the port that served Antioch. He had eventually resorted to offering daily prayers to Neptune, with no obvious effect.
    He clapped his hands, driving the bird away. It hopped towards three more of its brethren, gathered together under another palm.
    ‘Well somebody put them here,’ he said.
    ‘Victims of disease perhaps?’ replied Simo, following Cassius back towards the horses. Neither of them chose to mention the obvious suspicion. Outbreaks of plague had afflicted the area for years; the disease could arrive at a settlement borne by a single individual and spread to the entire population in weeks. Cassius was fully aware of the risk; his uncle had died during one such outbreak while stationed in Cyprus.
    Taking his mount by the reins, he started towards the south-eastern corner of the wall, examining the structure as he walked, knowing he might soon have to depend on it. The clay brick looked solid enough, the edges of each block visible under a thin layer of white paint. The foundations also seemed secure, with little evidence of slippage or subsidence. The top of the wall, however, was rather unconventional: there were no guard towers or battlements.
    In the time it took them to traverse the southern side of Alauran, not a single sound was heard from within. It was almost midday; Cassius could not conceive how a garrisoned settlement, even one so remote and undermanned, could remain so deathly quiet.
    They reached the corner. Cassius stopped and handed his reins to Simo.
    ‘Your knife is at hand, I see.’
    ‘It is, sir.’
    Cassius retrieved his helmet from one of the saddlebags. If there were any troops left, first impressions would count. Having secured the strap under his chin, he took a final drink of water.
    ‘Eyes and ears open then.’
    Simo took charge of both horses, looping the reins together as he followed Cassius round the corner.
    In the middle of the eastern wall was a small but sturdy-looking gatehouse. The two towers bore the familiar hallmarks of a traditional fortress, though on a far smaller scale. Each was square, perhaps ten feet wide, extending two yards above the wall, with several arrow slits close to the roof.
    The gate itself