‘We are still at peace.’

Another snort. ‘War is coming. You know it as well as I unless you have truly become a fool. So the commander’s wife has joined her husband as far as the Romans are concerned for there is much that they could not or would not understand. My warriors will know that their queen is here, her sword as sharp as any of theirs.’

‘Speaking of swords…’ Ferox pulled her towards him and kissed her. Her lips were soft, and her arms gripped onto him pressing their mouths ever closer. He was not thinking, not worrying, for the moment all that mattered was to be with her. She moaned very softly, and their bodies started to blend into one. Ferox reached for the shoulder of her dress, feeling the silk and trying to find the catch of the little brooch.

Claudia Enica’s knee jerked up sharply and Ferox groaned with the pain, doubling up as she pulled away.

‘You have to earn more,’ his wife told him, her eyes bright. ‘Now sort yourself out and be off with you. I shall see you tomorrow, but not before. Still, it is good to see you, husband.’

Ferox’s thoughts came slowly as he left the praetorium, for part of him was happy and the fears that now almost all that he cared for in the world had come to this place of danger could not yet drive the happiness away.

‘Did she hit you?’ Vindex was waiting for him.

Ferox nodded.

‘Good lass. Kick in the balls?’

‘Used her knee.’

‘Aye, well enough. She’s a queen and no mistake.’

XIV

Sarmizegethusa

The tenth day before the Kalends of May

THE STRONGHOLD OF the Dacian king was a remarkable place, and not for the first time on this journey Hadrian had thought of all those mountain cities stormed by Alexander and his men on their long road to India. As he understood it, those were made from mud brick, as brown as the land around them, whereas the Dacians built mainly in stone, and built well. In one sense it was a pity that he had left Ephippus behind, for he had wanted the engineer to examine the towers, walls and temples, and sketch as many as he could. There was never any harm in learning from others, and indeed the Romans boasted of their willingness to copy even from enemies, which was one of the few ways they showed themselves more rational than the Greeks.

Whoever had built this fortress had understood how to use the land itself, for its walls dipped and rose over the ridges, so that slopes added to the height of the defences. Merely approaching it would be hard for a tower or ram, the assault ramps having to be made very large or precariously steep, and then there were the walls themselves. Hadrian had been told – and had glimpsed in a small outpost – of the timber boxes within the stone, stronger even than the Gallic framing that had so impressed Julius Caesar. The Dacians were no simple barbarians, and they were not afraid to learn from others any more than the Romans. Greek influence was plain, most of all in the well-cut masonry and the square towers, but here and there the curve of an arch or the tiled roof of a turret showed the work of an army engineer, whether a renegade deserter or one of the men sent by Domitian at the time of the treaty. The same was true of the artillery, well maintained and cleaned – and indeed of the soldiers, all in mail, with bronze helmets, matching oval shields and spears, guarding the fortress. At any distance they were hard to tell apart from regular auxiliaries, and only closer did the untamed beards, cloaks of all shades and patterns, and long trousers stand out.