The Ghosts of Glevum by Rosemary Rowe

Author:Rosemary Rowe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781472205100
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2013-04-10T18:30:00+00:00

XIV

I awoke to thin winter sunshine streaming on to my face, and the chatter of excited voices somewhere nearby. At first I could not work out where I was, but as I moved my head – slowly, because my neck was very stiff – and took in my surroundings, the events of the night before came back to me.

The pathetic nature of the hut was much more evident in the light of day – the bunch of reeds and skins on which I lay, a few tools, a single stool, a pot, and the row of little clay bowls by the wall. There was a rough log serving as a bench, on which rested a jug of water, a few herbs, a crust of bread and two battered cups – that was the extent of the possessions here. And yet these people, with a roof and fire of their own, talked about days when ‘times were hard’ and knew that they were fortunate compared to some.

Cornovacus was still there, sitting at his post by the door, but when I looked for the old woman she was nowhere to be seen. It occurred to me to wonder where she’d slept since there was no sign of bedding anywhere, and then realised – as I should have done before – that she must simply have curled up in her cloak beside the fire. She’d given up the only bed to me.

What rich citizen, I asked myself, would have done as much?

As if she’d heard my thoughts she hobbled in, a dead hen dangling by its feet from either hand, and her wizened face lit in a toothless smile. ‘Ah, Citizen Libertus, you are awake at last. Don’t try to move. You have slept well but you still need to rest.’ She shook the chickens at me. ‘But see what Lercius has brought us from your house. A good broth of one of these and you’ll soon be on the mend.’

‘From my house!’ The brazenness of it made me sit upright.

Or try to sit upright. The instant I moved, I fell back on the bedding with a groan. Instead of being a creature with mobile arms and limbs I seemed to be one solid throbbing ache, as stiff as if I had been thrashed from head to foot. I had endured some savage beatings when I was first a slave, but not even they had left me feeling as weak and battered as this. I could scarcely turn my head and, although I could hear someone else coming through the open door, I could not twist myself enough to see.

‘I wrung their necks. You should have heard them squawk!’ It was Lercius. He burst into my view, his face alight with frank, unholy glee. He had his right hand concealed behind his back, but now he had my attention he brought it out to display a bloodied bundle in a bag. ‘This one’s even better. I cut off its head. Crunch, I went. Sosso let me.

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