The daughter, though, was slighter, slimmer, and she walked with a loose-jointed beauty. She wore a long skirt and tunic of pink and silver-grey, the colours somehow blending perfectly together, and she wore a scarf around her neck, some purple-pink fabric as light as mist. She was so delicate, so pale-white, she seemed only loosely attached to reality. Again he felt like a clod with his black hair and dark colouring, a lump of earth compared to this creature of air and fire.

Severa was watching him. ‘You must be Brigonius,’ she said dryly.

He was staring at the girl, still sitting on his milestone like a child. He clambered to his feet, making dust rise in a cloud. The daughter’s eyes widened as he revealed his full height. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘I am Claudia Severa. My daughter, Lepidina.’

The girl turned away coyly. He tried to fix his attention on Severa. ‘How did you know me?’

‘You weren’t hard to spot,’ Severa said. ‘I just looked for the beard. The Cantiaci go clean-shaven, you know, like all good Romans!’

‘I, ah—’

The girl spoke for the first time. ‘You seem fascinated by me, Brigantius.’

‘Brigonius. I am a Brigantian. My name is Brigonius—’

‘Do you like my scarf?’ She touched it. Its colour perfectly complemented the grey of Lepidina’s tunic, and it cast reflected sunlight over the soft white flesh of her throat.

He was staring again. ‘I’ve never seen material like it.’

‘Well, you wouldn’t have. It’s silk. It comes from a land far to the east, even beyond the Parthians. Nobody knows how it’s made - imagine that!’

He saw now that the scarf was fixed by a small brooch: a crossed-over curve of silver wire, a stylised fish perhaps. ‘That’s a pretty design. The fish.’

Severa evidently hadn’t known the brooch was there. She glared at her daughter. ‘Cover that up, you little idiot!’

With bad grace, Lepidina tucked the brooch out of sight.

Severa walked around Brigonius, eyeing him up and down as she might a horse. ‘Well, you’re evidently a lust-addled fool, like all men. But you’re healthy enough, and you seem honest. I think we’re going to be able to do business, you and me. But first we’ve an emperor to greet. Will you ride with us to Rutupiae? We’ve room.’

Lepidina, girlishly friendly now, linked her arm through his. She was soft and fragrant, like a scented cloud. ‘Oh, yes, do. We’ve got fruit and wine. It will be fun!’

So Brigonius found himself sitting between mother and daughter in the shade of the carriage’s awning.