A Sword Of Wrath, Book I, K. E. MacLeod [e book reader for pc txt] 📗

get out of going without losing honor. Atticus told the rest of the village that he had heard that a sickness had arisen in the children of Little Fish and that they would need Tacitus' expertise in Two-Crows should the illness arise in their own children. Though most people in the village accepted this excuse, it was the beginning of the wedge that would eventually come between him and his brothers. And, when his father was then mortally wounded during the hunting party, the wedge grew even larger.

It was a fortnight later when his brothers returned to the village, their father being dragged behind them upon a litter. He had been wounded in his side by one of the Giants' bladed weapons and the wound had become infected. He was barely conscious by the time they had made it back to Two-Crows but still he refused Tacitus treatments, even the ones he was offered for pain.

Then, as his father lay dying, Atticus called each one of his sons to his side individually and gave them their final words. When it was Tacitus' turn, he spoke gently to him, "My son, do not blame yourself as the others have. Only the gods know what could have happened had things been different."

"But, Father, I could've saved you had-"

"You do not know that." He placed a weakened hand upon his son's head, "Listen to what I have to say, Tacitus: others in the world may not see what I see in you but I have seen something great. Your fear is not from cowardice, it's from a wise and cautious mind. The gods have blessed you with this. You must not waste it for it is a rare and precious thing to be granted a thinking brain."

"I feel there is no place for me in the Cavalli-"

"Ah, my son, but there is! Your time will come and you will see. In the meantime, I must ask you to watch over Severus. Watch over him, Tacitus, for he thinks too much about others and not enough of himself. Your mother will not always be around for him and he gets so solemn at times that I fear for his well-being. I know it may not seem like it now but he needs you, Tacitus."

Back in the forest of Aulus, around midday the party had reached its border. They decided as a group that they should dismount to feed and water the horses for the impending journey to the Eastern Shore but before they could, Vibius, along with a few other members of some of the surrounding villages, appeared before them - some on foot, some on horseback, all armed.

Severus' hand moved instinctively to his sword, though he left it in its sheath. "What do you want with us Vibius? We mean no harm."

The other larger man sat upon a black stallion, warily eyeing the two women in Severus' group. "So, you're hunting Giants with women... and a Cauda."

Tacitus lowered his eyes slightly as his heart began to pound within his chest.

Severus glowered, "We aren't hunting them, as well you know. What do you want with us?"

Vibius shrugged and tightened the grip that he had on his horse's reins, "It's simple, really: We're here, Giant-Killer, to join you." His face relaxed into a smile as the rest of Severus' party breathed a sigh of relief.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I thought about it a little while longer and ultimately, your wife was right - though I did not care for her tactics. But we are all Cavalli and we must stand together or we won't stand at all." He leaned over to Tacitus and held out his forearm, "Isn't that right, my Brother?"

Tacitus gave a relieved smile as he nodded, "Yes, Brother," and gripped Vibius' forearm firmly in return.

Then, after a brief respite, the new larger group of Cavalli warriors rode out of the forest and onto the path that ran along Eastern shore. As they rode, they began swapping old war stories and sang more songs until Severus saw something shimmering in the horizon. "What is that?"

As they drew closer, Tacitus felt a sinking feeling begin in the pit of his stomach, "Oh no..."

Everyone turned to look at him.

He sighed and answered, "That's the Unclaimed Desert."

Cries of disbelief came from the others, "It can't be! Not out here!"

Severus shook his head, "Not this far out! You can't tell me its spread this far!"

Tacitus was gutted as he nodded, "I'm afraid it has. That is no doubt that that is the sand and white hills of the Unclaimed Desert."

In a moment of disbelief, Severus kicked his heels into his horse and spurred the gelding on towards the horizon until the grass below him became sparse and sandy. He looked down and saw that Tacitus had been right, the Desert had spread since he had last been upon the land.

He climbed down from his horse and knelt down, running his hand over the sand, "I can't believe it."

Tacitus and the others arrived behind him.

Severus looked over his shoulder, "It... it is as you say, Tacitus. The desert has spread."

No one spoke for a while as they gazed upon the devastation that was before them.

Severus then addressed the group as he stood, dusting his hands off, "No one will think less of you if you decide now to turn back and return home. We did not come equipped to travel in the wasteland-"

"Are you going to go on?" Decimus asked.

"Aye," he nodded. "We first fought the Giants about a thousand meters from here, when it was still the remnants of our former grassland home. I believe that if we want to get any ideas on what it is they're planning then we need to start there."

"We will stay with you, Giant-Killer, wherever you lead."

"Aye," Vibius agreed. "For the good of the Cavalli!"

The rest of the party raised their arms into the air and shouted in agreement.

Severus looked at Tacitus, who nodded, "Yes, Giant-Killer, we will all follow wherever you lead."

 

***

 

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

 

The day of the munus had arrived and Odalia's white walls shone like the sun that bore down upon the spectators lining the seats of the Amphitheater. Nearly twenty thousand people from every district in the capital filled the stands and such a wave of excitement roared through them that no outsider would ever suspect that any rumors of civil unrest could ever be true.

The day had begun with all of the pomp and circumstance that the White Palace could muster, beginning with a parade led from the Palace steps by the Emperor Tiberius himself riding upon a resplendent chariot. Following his chariot was a mass of beasts, exotic wildlife and performers the likes of which the Empire had never seen: hippopotamuses and ostriches from Southern Noba, trained monkeys and bears with strange black and white markings from the Land of the Golden Men and giant, horned ox-like beasts from the furthest reaches of the Hairy Men's tundra. Rounding out the parade at the end were the crowd's favorites, the gladiators, dressed in their full armor as Euric, Felix and Castor led them in the processional.

As Juko plodded along beside Kai, T'tembo and the others, he could think of no other time in his life when he had felt more uncomfortable than he did right then, dressed head to toe in colorful plumage and scale-like armor. The bright color patterns of the dyed feathers that lined his costume armor were offensive to his eyes and had surely been created in the imagination of someone who had never even seen the N'bari traditional dress. But still, the crowds gasped as he walked by, their gasps soon evolving into riotous cheers and applause as they began to shout out, "Kabaakia! Kabaakia! Kabaakia!" A bastardized version of the N'bari word for 'Chieftain,' that was the name that Euric had given him as part of the backstory he had secretly spread around the capital.

When the parade had at last arrived in the Amphitheater, the wealthy citizens of Odalia entered the structure first and took their seats upon the lowest tier of the stands, followed by the less wealthy citizens and the next until, at the very top stood the poorest of all Lycania's citizens. Most of the lowest class attendees were from the Ala District and had been enticed to attend the munus by both the free seating and the promise of free bread loaves to be handed out later - a state-sponsored charity rite that was frequently performed to appease the gods.

The Emperor and his son, flanked by the Centurion and the Decanus and surrounded by his special guard, arrived in the royal seating box that was located in the center front of the stands. In the box, Tiberius remained standing as a pageboy appeared beside him and presented the Emperor with a laurel wreath resting upon a pillow. He then took the wreath and cast it into the dust of the arena and as it landed, the crowd cried out a huge cheer and the munus was officially opened. Tiberius then took his seat and motioned for the Orator to begin.

The Orator nodded and took his place below the Emperor's box, which allowed him to be heard throughout the entire Amphitheater. He welcomed everyone as he ushered in the opening ceremonies. "Greetings, citizens of Lycania! Welcome to the Emperor's Munus!" The crowd cheered madly as Tiberius covered his eyes and flinched from the headache that had been steadily growing all morning.

The Orator continued, "This munus is quite a special one as it honors the death of a very important man!" He flung his hand into the direction of the large double doors on the floor of the right side of the arena from where all things entered the Amphitheater. As the doors opened, a line of musicians entered playing a ceremonious tune while following them were a trio of slaves, each carrying a pike in their hands. Resting upon each pike were the heads of Lord Heron, his wife and their adolescent son, Antonius, and upon the sight of them, the residents of the Ala District that lined the uppermost seats shouted and screamed, horrified by the scene before them.

The Orator ignored them and continued speaking, "Join me, citizens of Lycania, in giving our respects to Lord Heron and his family!" The lower tiers began to laugh as the upper tiers grew angrier and shouted down at them.

"Let this be a lesson," the Orator continued, "do not betray your Emperor!"

The slaves then placed the pikes into the ground around the arena so that they would be on display during the entire munus. Once they had finished their task, they exited and the animal trainers entered with their display of unusual animals. Spurius sat on the edge of his seat and excitedly pointed out to everyone nearby the ostriches, bears, zebras and leopards that jumped and leapt around to the songs of the musicians. After the performing animals were finished, next came the dancers - a group of young men and women who depicted in an uninhibited naked dance the ancient story of the birth of the Two Brothers.

As the noon hour drew near, the Orator announced the next act on the schedule, "Citizens