Then Vindex appeared, from off to the side.

‘Hullo, who lost that?’ The thrown javelin had not driven deeply into the wood and was hanging down limply.

‘Not mine,’ Vepoc said, lifting his up as proof.

Ferox walked his horse over until he could grab the shaft and pull the weapon free. ‘No harm done,’ he said. ‘But time we went home.’

‘Home?’ Vindex muttered. ‘Oh, you mean the fort.’

Ferox let Vepoc ride behind them and before long they were back with the rest. None of the Brigantes or anyone else with the patrol was missing a javelin and no one had deserted. Rain started to fall and for two hours they rode back, gusts of wind blowing the drops hard against them. No one said very much and by the time they rode up the track to the main gates they all felt numb with cold.

Sabinus was waiting for him, and let the hood of his cloak fall back as he hurried over to see Ferox. The news was not good.

The ape was dead.

The forest

The same day

‘THAT IS FEROX,’ the Briton said and spat.

Brasus could see the centurion at the head of a couple of dozen riders. He was no longer surprised by Ivonercus’ hatred of his former commander. The Briton did not appear to feel much resentment to Rome, and his hatred was deeply personal. According to him the centurion and his friend had killed Ivonercus’ king and destroyed his family, taking lands from his father so that the broken man died in poverty.

‘And the pig Vindex beside him.’

They were too far away to make much out. Both were tall men by the look of it, even compared to the long-limbed Britons who made up half of the patrol. They must have been higher up the valley, which meant that it had been right to stay in the trees and walk rather than ride. The Briton had resented that, saying that it was easy to ride amid a forest like this, but had obeyed. He was being tested and he knew it. If Ivonercus ever wanted to be more than just a soldier for Decebalus then he needed to demonstrate that he was useful in other ways. So Brasus had brought him to help scout the Roman fort at Piroboridava – and brought two of his most trusted warriors along just to be sure. Fifty more men were waiting back at the tower and soon there might be more. The walls were to be rebuilt and the king’s presence in these lands restored. There was a plan. Brasus knew a little of it, and understood that the king wanted to learn more before he gave orders. The time was not yet right, but the first preparations were under way.

‘How many men does he command?’

Ivonercus showed a flash of anger. ‘As I have told you before, between five and six hundred. Maybe a quarter cavalry. Half of the rest are legionaries.’