The Wolves of the North by Harry Sidebottom Read Free Book Online Page B

served it. On either side was a thick, feathery-topped wall of reeds. The occasional willow grew down by the water. There were more trees – oaks, ashes and limes – running in ranks along low rises in the mid-distance. There was nothing else to see, except the big sky above.
    The eunuch Amantius was still very upset. ‘I would have given him his freedom. And he knew how much the bracelet meant to me.’
    ‘Why you Romans free so many slaves? In Suania is not our way,’ Tarchon said. ‘Oh no, with us, you will die in your bonds; no hope whatsoever. We are most exemplary in cruelty.’
    Maximus chuckled. ‘The Romans would tell you it is from their innate generosity, the greatness of their soul. Maybe for some, but for most it is just another way to display their wealth; like owning villas or fish ponds, or breaking precious things when drunk. Look at what a great man I am; material things mean nothing to me; I cannot count the number of slaves I have freed.’
    ‘Aye, for once you are not totally wrong,’ Calgacus said. ‘But,as always, you miss the real thing. Granting freedom is the carrot that goes with the sticks of beating, irons and branding, crucifixion. If you run or rebel, boy, you will end on a cross, but if you are a good little
puer
, you might, just might, one day be given freedom.’
    ‘Only a fool expects loyalty from a slave,’ Hordeonius said.
    Maximus looked away as the centurion settled into another lengthy diatribe against the servile; tactless at the least, given the life story of several in earshot. Some movement beyond the southern bank caught Maximus’s eye. It was gone before he could take it in.
    ‘The only argument against branding all of them is that the bastards would realize their numbers. Even cowards draw audacity from numbers.’
    There it was again – something moving on a low hill among the trees. More than one thing, keeping among the shadows well back from the riverbank.
    ‘The old Spartans had the right idea with their helots – let the young go out and hunt some of them down; kill a few, and keep the rest in perpetual fear.’
    A break in the cover, and Maximus saw them clearly for a moment. Three riders, clad in furs and pointed hats, trotting their nomad ponies.
    ‘Yes, I have seen them,’ Ballista said softly. ‘Alani?’
    ‘Alani – three of them, shadowing us.’ Maximus’s eyesight was sharp.
    ‘The
gudja
has seen them too,’ Ballista said.
    The Goth was looking out over the black water.
    ‘He does not appear too concerned,’ returned Maximus.
    ‘No, not at all.’
    On the benches behind them, Castricius was arguing with Hordeonius. ‘Slavery changes nothing, Centurion. A fool with any education knows there is a spark of the divine
logos
in all of us.Now, me, when I was in the mines, my good daemon did not desert me.’
    Maximus leant close to Ballista, spoke in his ear. ‘Now let me get this right. We are on our way to deal with the chief of the bloodthirsty Heruli. To get to him, we have to travel for days past the grazing lands of the almost equally bloodthirsty Alani, whose king’s invasion of Suania we defeated last year at the Caspian Gates.’
    ‘Safrax,’ Ballista said. ‘The name of the King of the Alani is Safrax.’
    ‘Fine,’ Maximus said. ‘Now, I am thinking, your man Safrax, when not bothering his herds, will be sitting in his tent brooding on the horrible revenge he will be taking, should his gods be kind enough to put us in his hands.’
    ‘Most likely.’ Ballista nodded.
    ‘And in the tent with him will be that nasty little shit Saurmag, dripping poison in his ear. For, by the look of him, the Suanian princeling is unlikely to have forgiven us for removing him from the throne of his native land.’
    ‘The Suanian royal house do not appear much given to forgiveness,’ Ballista said.
    ‘And just beyond the Alani, up in the mountains of Suania, will be Pythonissa, the priestess of Hecate you fucked and left, and who cursed