Enemies of the Empire: (Foundation of the Dragon Series: Book 3): A Gripping Historical War Fiction Book about Britannia and the Roman Empire. by Robb Pritchard

Author:Robb Pritchard [Pritchard, Robb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robb Pritchard
Published: 2024-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

XIV

Kenon’s journey was a lot more forced than it could have been, and for that, the only man he blamed was Magnus. If it wasn’t such an urgent task for him to get to Theodosius in Constantinople, he could have spent his days reclining on cushions in a carriage rattling sedentarily through the countryside, rather than having to ride a horse over sixty miles a day.

Mostly though, he thought about the girl who’d been promised as his wife. Half a night of talking, of hearing her sweet voice, of speaking with a girl who wasn’t disgusted with him, or was taking plenty of coin for the privilege had felt like a glimpse of heaven. The touch of her fingers on his had felt to him like a full baptism, and had instantly made him a better person. And the only price to have all that the bishop offered was to betray Magnus.

It was no price at all.

When he wasn’t thinking about Ursula’s green eyes, how the moisture on her lips had caught the candlelight, he looked at the view from the back of his horse, he found himself constantly excited at the new sights that arrayed themselves over the crest of every rise. Like most educated men, he’d often wondered what other parts of the empire looked like, and stories from travellers had never been quite enough to satisfy his curiosity.

What he enjoyed most though, was how the other road users, forced off to the sides as his entourage rode past, looked up at him. Awe, deference, fear! It had been so long since anyone had treated him as a superior he’d almost forgotten what it was like. Up to a few weeks ago he’d thought he’d never manage to summon the courage to leave the safety of the farm he’d been left on, but fortune could change quickly. Although at least several times a day it struck him as unbelievable, he really was a dignitary on official business between emperors. It was a role he’d never even dreamed of, plus what the bishop had promised him afterwards. And then he was thinking of Ursula again.

Every muscle sore from such a long ride, they trotted into Massalia, the horizon full of the glistening sea. Massaged in the bathhouse, a night in the plushest room of a nice inn, and at dawn the next day, with guards flanking him, he walked to the docks. Waiting for him at the busy harbour was the finest ship he’d ever seen. They weren’t just getting a berth on a dirty room of a cargo ship; it was a liburna. Twenty-five oars to a side, the fastest ship in the Imperial Fleet. It was just for him.

His place was on a large chair just ahead of the tiller with a cover over it to protect him from the harsh southern sun. He watched breathlessly as in unison the rowers lowered the oars and with a similarly amazingly coordinated movement, slowly manoeuvred the ship out into open water.

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