Islands Of Mist – Jeff Jones (1)

“Arus!” Galba turned briefly to acknowledge the older man. “What brings you this close to danger? I thought the governor would be keeping you safe on the other side of the forest.” “Thank you for your concern, Centurion Galba, but no, the governor decided that for morale purposes if nothing else, every officer including himself should be fully visible throughout this battle, though I use the word loosely.”

To their right, Corvo half-listened as orders to straighten the lines and prepare javelins were barked out by centurions and optios. “Do you know something we don’t, Arus?” he asked, suddenly concerned. “I should perhaps have used the word ‘slaughter’ rather than battle. The governor has decreed that the druid scourge is to be wiped from the land for good, so has ordered that every man, woman and child is to be killed.”

“Women and children?” asked Corvo. Whilst he acknowledged that sometimes the women had to die as well, particularly if they fought alongside their menfolk as they had in Germania, killing children did not sit well with him and never had. “Women and children too,” repeated Arus solemnly. “I have told the governor that I strongly advise against it and that if a rebellion is indeed brewing in these islands, then his actions here today will do nothing more than stoke the fires until they rage out of control.”

“And what did he say?” “He told me that when he needed advice on spying on his family or neighbours, he would seek me out, but until then he suggested that I — and The Damned — go and sit in a dark corner somewhere and let professional soldiers do their job.” “Really? He said all that?” asked Corvo. “He used fewer words, some of which were more colourful, but yes, that is the gist of it.”

“Javelins ready.”

Eastern Britannia, early spring AD 61 Tribune Gaius Crispus anxiously glanced about as he and the two hundred soldiers that constituted Procurator Catus Decianus’ escort marched up the road leading to the Iceni capital the Romans called Venta Icenorum. Road, he realised, was probably a bit of a stretch — dirt track would have been a more accurate description, as the only roads on this damp and misty island were the ones the Romans had built themselves.

That would soon change, of course. Wherever the Roman Empire conquered, they brought civilisation and progress — roads, aqueducts, buildings. This island would be no different and once pacified, it would reap all the benefits of becoming a Roman province. But some of the tribes were still actively resisting. Crispus didn’t blame them; if his homeland had been invaded, he too would have fought for his freedom. Still, this tribe, the Iceni, were an ally of Rome and as such their king, Prasutagus, had been allowed to continue to rule his lands as a client kingdom rather than as a subjugated people.

But things had changed. King Prasutagus was dead and to appease Rome, in his will he had bequeathed half his kingdom to the Empire. The other half had been left to his daughters so that they might continue to peacefully rule in the same manner as he himself had been permitted to do. Whether he had been acting on orders from Emperor Nero or simply taking the initiative himself, Tribune Crispus was unsure, but either way Procurator Catus Decianus had opted for a different path when King Prasutagus had died.

It was a path fraught with danger in an already volatile land. Procurator Decianus had been left in temporary charge of Londinium and the southeastern corner of Britannia whilst Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was away campaigning far to the north, and it hadn’t taken long for Decianus to start flexing his newly acquired power.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 497e6ef1eb34c879
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,294,131 bytes (2.188 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 197
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 367.56 minutes
• Total Words: 73,511
• Total Characters: 415,573
• Average Words per Page: 373.15
• Average Characters per Page: 2109.51

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