Light twinkled on the ramparts as the sun caught helmets or weapons. There seemed to be more men up there than he would expect.

Ala I Britannica walked on.

‘Don’t look good,’ Vindex said.

‘Perhaps we should put a sack over your face,’ Bran suggested. ‘Be less frightening.’

‘Cheeky bugger. Let me in before, didn’t they?’

‘Probably learned from their mistake.’

At a walk, the approach seemed to take an age, but going faster might seem hostile. They were close enough now for Ferox to see helmeted faces staring out from the battlements. There were a lot of them up there.

‘Gates still shut,’ Vindex said.

‘I know,’ Ferox told him.

‘Halt!’ The senior decurion ordered. There was shuffling as riders nudged their mounts into better lines.

‘That means stop,’ Vindex explained and the Brigantes laughed as they halted.

Cerialis spurred forward accompanied by Arrian, a standard bearer and trumpeter who sounded a series of notes, only slightly ragged as his horse cantered. The ala and the Brigantes were two hundred paces short of the ditch, as their commander headed for the bridge.

Trumpets blared from the towers. Something flashed as it caught the sun and slammed into the ground ahead of Cerialis and his tall stallion. The animal reared, and pulled back, doing a full circle before the rider brought him under control.

‘Who comes armed for war to the gates of Nicopolis?’ The voice boomed out from the walls. ‘Speak, strangers, or the next one will sting you!’

They had agreed that Arrian should speak, for his accent was the clearest. ‘We are friends!’ he shouted, his voice impressively steady. ‘We are allies, sent by the Lord Trajan Sebastos, King of Rome and guardian of peace.’ Arrian had insisted that ideas like princeps meant little in this part of the world. ‘Here the only title they understand is king.’

‘Friends you may be, for we wish no quarrel with Rome or its king, but why do you come here?’ a voice shouted down.

‘We come in answer to the Princess Azátē, our friend, and the Lord Trajan’s royal cousin, who asks for help and protection!’

There was a pause. ‘Do you think they’re going to say, sorry try the next city along,’ Vindex said softly. The man must have picked up more Greek than Ferox realised, unless he simply guessed the exchange.

Still no answer came. Cerialis’ stallion flicked its tail and tried to back away from the ballista bolt sticking firmly into the dirt. Closer to Ferox, Bran’s mount decided to urinate and the sound of splashing was loud in the silence.

‘We come in peace and to help our friends,’ Arrian shouted when still no response came. ‘If you wish, I will come in to you, alone and unarmed, to make clear our intentions and assuage any doubts.’ Ferox had not liked the idea, but had at least managed to persuade Cerialis to remain with the force.

‘This is Nicopolis!’ Another voice shouted.

Vindex explained the shout to Bran.