Travis Starnes
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The Trumpets of Mars (Imperium #2) - Chapter 15
🕑 Added 2022-02-14 00:23:17 +0000 UTCVelius grumbled to himself as he looked over the scrolls, papyrus, and wax tablets stacked on the table in front of him. When he’d been raised to legate, he’d accepted the bureaucracy requirements that came with the position, but since Ky’s arrival, the amount of record-keeping had exploded.
On the one hand, Velius understood the need for all of the documentation. Before his arrival, a legion was a community where the soldiers who served it rarely moved to another legion. They were almost personal units to the legate and his sub-officers as they were servants of the Empire as a whole. Considering the recent insurrection and past civil unrest, he agreed that the system had to be changed, but the new policy of shifting men around came with far more paperwork than Velius had originally envisioned when agreeing to it. Much of the systems that had previously worked had suddenly become untenable with the new system, and the solution always seemed to be mountains of reports.
In the old days, the legion would generally only know of the performance of whole units. The legate would only know about the cohorts and the commanders of the cohorts would only know about the centuries under his command, and so forth. Soldiers were raised in rank on the recommendation of the officer directly above him except in the rare case where a soldier did something noteworthy enough to become known to higher levels of command.
Now, it wasn’t uncommon for soldiers to be unknown to their officers, which meant it was impossible to know if a given soldier had done something to make promotion deserved. The move had additional complications, such as increased practice and drill times.
Combat was exhausting and even a fit, well-trained soldier could only manage to be effective for five to ten minutes of direct contact before becoming too exhausted to continue. One of the strengths of a legion is the ability for troops on the front lines to rotate back as they tired, letting fresh troops move forward to take their place.
These exchanges required fine precision built off of a unit operating as a single, well-oiled machine. If a century were off on their timing, dangerous gaps could open in the line, and even a brief exposure could lead to the line breaking. All of this was true the higher up in formations things got. The solution to this is for a soldier to know the men around him to such a degree that they could predict what those men would do before they did it. Without the familiarity bred by long periods of service with the same group of men, the only other solution was increased levels of training.
The problems only amplified as the larger the formations got, because the same thing that was true inside a century was also true between centuries or cohorts. Entire centuries or even cohorts could be rotated as needed to bring up fresh troops, and those exchanges needed larger scale training exercise, all of which would take entire legions out of combat readiness as they re-trained.
Ky had promised that, eventually, new technology would allow for some changes in this process. Velius wasn’t sure what Ky had referred to when he talked about new forms of weapons that were less physically taxing on the soldiers, but so far the Consul hadn’t steered them wrong, so Velius was sure that he’d eventually learn what these things were. Until then, however, the reality of the changes caused by rotating soldiers existed, mostly on the shoulders of Velius and the other legates.
Which brought him to the records still stacked in front of him.
“Sir,” one of the guards in front of his tent said, breaking his concentration.
Velius looked up to see the tent flap pulled back to show Ursinus, the newest legate, waiting to speak to him. Velius sighed internally, fighting to keep his face neutral.
It wasn’t that he disliked the man. In fact, the opposite was true. When he’d first heard one of Lucilla’s guard detail was being raised from a mere Optio all the way up to a legate, he’d been worried. That kind of jump almost only ever came as a reward for some favorable service done or as a political move, and always at the detriment to the legion itself.
True, Lucilla had never struck him as that kind of person, but she’d lived her entire life in the upper echelons of Roman politics and even the Emperor, who Velius knew to be a good man, had been forced to make similar moves in the past. It was just how the game was played and the repercussions of it were just something that men like Velius had to deal with.
He was more than thankful that didn’t turn out to be the case, here. Ursinus was a thoughtful and intelligent man who cared about the troops under his command while still having the ability to put them in harm’s way to get a job done, which was an important combination in a combat leader. What’s more, he’d been willing to admit to the things he didn’t know and worked to learn them or ask for help rather than bluster his way through trying to save face.
There had been growing pains, of course. You couldn’t jump two-thirds of the Roman military hierarchy in a single leap without there being issues, and Ursinus had needed more hand-holding than the normal newly minted legate, but he was trying.
Unfortunately, Velius knew why Ursinus had darkened his doorway, and why he’d had to control himself from expressing displeasure at the visit.
“Ursinus, it’s good to see you,” Velius said with a forced smile.
“I doubt that, since I know you have an idea of why I’m here.”
“I assume it’s the unit changes you got this morning.”
“You assume correctly. Did you see the list I received?’
“Yes. I approved all of those changes.”
“I get that we have a manpower problem, but mine is the newest legion and has the smallest number of experienced small unit leaders and yet I have the largest collection of Pic… sorry, Caledonian transfers of any legion. Ten of whom are scheduled to become Decanus and one whose supposed to be an Optio.”
“You feel they shouldn’t be leading other men into combat?”
“They don’t have the experience fighting in our style of close drill, let alone leading other men to do it. Besides, we’re already having issues with soldiers not wanting to follow untrained leaders. What do you think will happen when they find out they have to report to one of those people?”
“Have you spoken to any of the ten men?”
“Not yet,” Ursinus said, looking wary.
“You really should. These men have led hundreds of their own warriors into battle, so eight Romans shouldn’t prove that much of a challenge. On top of that, they have done well in adapting to our style during training. Be glad you’re not Aelius, who was in here this morning complaining about his transfers, a full third of whom are officers pulled out of the surrendered Carthaginians.”
“Ohh!” Ursinus said.
Velius didn’t blame him. It was easy to get lost in your own problems and miss out on the bigger picture. It was, actually, one of the bigger problems he’d had in adjusting to his new position as overall commander.
“I’m surprised you didn’t complain about the large contingent of ex-slaves you were assigned.”
“I thought so too when I first saw them, but they had already been dispersed to their units while I was in the city, and the reports I received when I returned were generally fairly good. They are, as a lot, uneducated and have to be taught the simple things I’d expect any other new recruit to learn, but my officers couldn’t stop commenting on their drive and motivation.”
“That’s generally what everyone else has reported, too. All of the fears about their wanting to overthrow the government or whatever seem to be unfounded. If anything, what I’m hearing is that they want to prove themselves, and go twice as hard as any regular recruit.”
“Which is my biggest complaint about the north men. My men constantly report unwillingness to train and contempt towards any attempt to motivate them. They look down on any Roman officers over them.”
“That also seems to be common among the complaints I heard, which is why we gave you the majority of the Caledonians slated to be officers. They don’t have contempt for all leaders, just a cultural bias that we have to get around. Until they adapt, put the Caledonian offers in charge of the units with the largest number of their countrymen, and have them camp next to the units that don’t have Caledonian officers, but still have units with higher proportions. They’re more likely to keep their countrymen in line. Before he headed north, I brought my concerns about this very topic up with the Consul, and he assured me that, once they’d all been tested in battle together, a lot of the prejudices would go away, or at least be tempered.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Which is why I am paid so well,” he said, and both men laughed.
Traditionally, Legates made a notable amount of money, but usually, through their hefty percentage of the spoils their legion collected. Although they never came out and said it, Velius had been sure that one of Eborius and Pius’s big complaints had been Ky’s making the taking of spoils illegal and banning it from all of the legions. He’d compensated the soldiers themselves with regular pay that more than made up for their losses, considering they only got spoils during times of actual conflict, but the amount of money a legate could make from the sack of a fair-sized city was more than anyone would pay one commander, when they actually had time to think about it.
Although legates were still compensated more than any other class of soldier, it wouldn’t set them up in a villa for the rest of their lives.
“Since you’re here, you could always stay and help me go over these reports,” Velius said, waving at the stack in front of him.
“Uhh … I suddenly realized I have a staff meeting I have to prepare for,” Ursinus said, half turning to go while eyeing the paperwork.
Velius laughed and came around the table, “I was only joking, don’t feel like you have to rush out immediately. How about having dinner instead?”
“I guess the preparations for the staff meeting can wait,” Ursinus replied.
While he didn’t end up helping Velius with his paperwork, the command legate did find it helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of. The one thing they both could agree on was that they’d be happier when Ky returned.
The Village of Rhaeadr
Lucilla made good time getting north, although she didn’t ride horses until they dropped dead like Ky had done for his mad dash, so she didn’t quite make the same time he had. Even in her haste, she hadn’t failed to notice how well Modius and Cynwrig had worked to get her to Ky as quickly as possible, sending riders north to both the praetorians and the Caledonian scouts patrolling the border.
Having Llassar along proved its worth when he cut through any hesitancy by Caledonians who didn’t see the need to help the daughter of the Emperor the way the praetorians would, and getting them to both lead Lucilla’s party to where Talogren was currently camped and send a rider ahead to make sure they knew she was coming.
This saved the time it would have taken wandering around the northern hinterlands searching for their chieftain. That had been helped by the fact that Talogren had remained camped outside the field of his last battle, which concerned Lucilla.
They were well north and west, essentially at the edge of their territory. According to Llassar, the villages further north or against the coast were so small as to generally be ignored or go unnoticed. Considering all of the people and land Talogren had added to his newly expanded league, it didn’t make sense for him to stay so disconnected, especially since the base of his power was at the very opposite end corner of Caledonian lands. Staying here meant needing to constantly communicate with local chieftains about the various items that plagued any chief of state, which was a cumbersome way to lead.
Lucilla could think of very few things that would keep them sedentary in one spot like that, and Ky being seriously injured was one of those.
Ky’d related how personally the north men had taken his connection to the Empire and the value they seemed to place on him. At the time, he’d mostly been explaining as a way of complaining, since he was not a fan of what he considered undue attention, but it was an indicator of how important he was and what his incapacitation would mean for them.
Instead of taking them to Ky directly, they were directed to a tent in the center of the camped Caledonians that was slightly larger than the tents surrounding it. Talogren had been speaking with someone when they walked in, waving the person off as soon as he saw them. Lucilla couldn’t help but notice the chieftain’s eyes flicking to Llassar, who remained standing beside and slightly behind her. She’d learned enough about the northern culture to know this position was one of, not quite subservience, but something like it. It allowed the primary person in a group to stand ahead of the rest and be seen and heard. In groups of roughly equal status people, they’d all kind of hustle to be closest to the person they were talking to, usually with a fair amount of pushing and shoving. She assumed Llassar remained there as a show of support and a silent sign to his chieftain that she wasn’t the same person who’d been brought bound into their camp the last time she’d faced Talogren.
“Why are you here?” he asked, skipping all of the pleasantries and preamble.
“I felt that Ky was in trouble and I came to see him, and hopefully help him if I could.”
Talogren’s eyes narrowed at this.
“Are you claiming to be some kind of seer?”
He was rightfully suspicious. In Rome, people who claimed some kind of power from the gods were all too common. They could usually be found on street corners offering to see your future for a few sesterces, although the more talented con men had managed to amass a small fortune grifting off people who desperately wanted some kind of sign. In the north, powers from the gods were taken a lot more seriously, and men who could not prove their claims or found to be frauds were often found murdered by their disappointed targets.
It’s one of the reasons they’d been so easily persuaded by Ky. Had just a warrior, no matter how talented, shown up offering an alliance with the Romans, there would have been little chance any of the Caledonians would listen, let alone go along with it. They’d all witnessed some of Ky’s remarkable feats. He’d been able to do things, visibly and in front of witnesses, that could only be made possible with gifts from the gods.
Lucilla’s claim of knowledge she couldn’t possibly have had was rightfully suspicious to them.
“No, but Ky does, and I have a connection with him that let me know he was in danger.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn’t help but be amused at how carefully she was choosing her words, and the parallels with how Ky had also done the same. She’d originally thought it strange that he didn’t just agree that he’d been sent by the gods, but she could see now that not only would the lie have bothered him, but how careful he had to be to maintain the trust he was building with everyone. Now that she knew, at least in a theoretical way, since she’d never understood his and Sophus’s full explanation, that his gifts were somehow man-made, she found herself trying to thread the same needle.
“We sent messengers south,” he said, clearly still unconvinced, skeptically looking for a plausible explanation of why she was here.
“I know, we met them halfway here on our way north. We let one continue on to Devnum so my father could have a first-hand account, but we brought the second one we met back with us. They told us you dispatched them five days ago, but we left Devnum seven days ago.”
“That was the same day he was injured,” Talogren said, his tone suggesting he still thought she was somehow lying, although his eyes went to Llassar again, looking for confirmation.
She saw the by-play, but only tangentially. That was the first time she’d actually heard someone confirm that Ky was hurt, and it felt like a fist had been driven into her stomach, temporarily blocking out her processing anything else.
“She speaks the truth. She announced seven days ago that she felt Ky was in some sort of trouble, although she said she couldn’t be precise on anything beyond her feeling, and that she was leaving that day to come north. She gave her guards and anyone wanting to travel with her two hours to gather supplies and prepare, and then she was leaving, with or without us. We have learned she is very headstrong and didn’t doubt she would leave us behind.”
“I’m not lying to you,” Lucilla said, pulling herself back together. “I am also not claiming any kind of connection to the gods of supernatural powers, although I know it sounds like that. We both know Ky has some kind of abilities, and my connection to him allows me to know some impression of what is happening to him. It is difficult to experience, let alone explain, and I know you have no reason to trust me. The last time we met, I was your captive and left shortly after, so you have little reason to believe anything I have to say. It is why I brought back some of your countrymen you sent south with us. I have worked with them every day since we left and they know my character. Talk to them, and they will tell you I am not someone looking to curry favor or convince you of anything. I am only here to see Ky and, if possible, do what I can to help him.”
“The men have come to respect her, both as a warrior and as a leader. Especially after she put Cynwrig on the ground three times, beating him in one of his beloved wrestling matches.”
“My nephew has always had a problem underestimating challenges.”
At no point had anyone mentioned her new guard was the nephew of the Caledonian chieftain.
“That’s true, and he most definitely underestimated her abilities, but afterward he volunteered to be her personal guard. He may be headstrong, but we both know he’s no fool and never agrees to that kind of obligation lightly.”
“He’s her guard?” Talogren asked in disbelief before turning back to Lucilla. “He’s your bodyguard?”
“One of them, yes. He and a few others of your people asked to become part of my guard detail after an attempt on my life. They serve alongside Romans, who also protect me. I’ve also found him helpful in giving me perspective when working with your countrymen.”
Talogren didn’t say anything for a moment, but she could see him reevaluating her.
“I will tell you, there has been some doubt about how real your Consul’s abilities are among the men.”
“You’ve all seen the things he can do with your own eyes, and now you doubt him?”
“I’ve also seen charlatans perform supposed miracles when they were the ones deciding the time and place and they were prepared for it, but were unable to reproduce their feats when called to do it. Yes, I’ve seen him do wondrous things, but when it came time to protect himself from actual danger, he wasn’t able to do it again. I will tell you now, I am not confident our alliance can survive his death, especially this early and under these circumstances.”
“Don’t count him out yet,” Lucilla said.
“I’m trying not to. I like Ky and I’ve noticed he’s never claimed any ability other than the ones we can actually see and he’s never tried to use those abilities to convince people he’s more than they are. He’s a man of action, and I admire that. However, the Caledonian League itself is barely out of the cradle and our alliance with you is even younger. My people give up their independence unwillingly and it’s taken all I have to just keep the league alive. It would take very little for my people’s faith in the new alliance to waiver, and if I have to choose between the alliance with you Romans and the continued existence of the League, I will choose the League and confront the problem of the death worshipers when it comes to us.”
“I understand, and I will do what I can to reassure your people. Can I see him?”
“Yes,” he said, directing her out of the tent and leading her to one not far away.
The Romans guarding the entrance to the tent would have told her where Ky was even if she hadn’t had a guide. Always a dour group of men, the unusually haunted looks on their faces told her she should be prepared for what she was about to see.
Pushing through the tent opening, she stopped so abruptly that Talogren nearly ran into her. Lucilla covered her mouth to contain the sound that threatened to escape when she saw Ky lying on the mount of furs in the center of the tent. He’d been stripped to the waist and a large, blood-soaked bandage covered his chest. At first, she thought he might actually have died before she’d gotten to him because of how absolutely still he was.
“We thought he was dead at first too,” Talogren said, seeing the thought cross her face. “I’ve never seen anyone so still before that wasn’t a corpse. You can still feel the blood running in his veins and a slight wind from his nose if you get close enough, however. He’s alive, although the healers keep telling me all signs are so weak that he should go at any time.”
Lucilla pushed back the fear and distress of seeing Ky like this and tried to think about what she was seeing logically. Although they’d never explained it specifically, she’d worked out that Sophus had some hand in running his basic processes. She didn’t know if he could continue to breathe without Sophus, but it made sense that if the disembodied voice had gone silent, then it would make it difficult for Ky to breathe normally.
She also tried to think over what he’d said about the tiny things swimming through his body, how they fixed injuries and repaired living tissue. She thought to how she’d felt since Sophus had decided to put some of those in her, and how her father had recovered from his near-certain poisoning. He said they were controlled by Sophus, but he’d also said the ones in her would work for a set amount of time without Sophus’s control, only needed instructions or replacements from time to time.
She leaned over Ky, hoping it looked like she was mourning his condition while blocking her actions from the men around her. They’d already seen his wounds when they bandaged them, but if her guess was wrong, she didn’t want to add a reminder of how bad it clearly was. Lifting the bandage slightly, her shoulders sagged for a moment. She heard a noise from Talogren behind her, although if it was from sympathy or annoyance or just general frustration, she couldn’t tell.
Loosening the bandage, she stepped out of the way, pulling it with her, revealing the area it had been covering to Talogren, Llassar, and the handful of men that had followed them into the tent. Ky’s chest was as smooth and chiseled as it had ever been. Not only was the wound completely gone, but so were all traces that it had ever happened in the first place. Anyone looking at it, no matter how closely, would find no trace of the wound, not even a scar.
Talogren sucked in a breath and moved forward, running his hand across where the wound had been.
“How? I saw it when he was brought in. The cut had exposed bone and organ.”
“Ky isn’t like us. True, often weapons cannot touch him, but he has never claimed to be invincible. He does, however, heal very quickly from even the most dire wound,” she said, partially repeating what Ky had said and partially embellishing to make her point.
“But he still doesn’t move.”
“I know, and I think that has always been separate from his injury. He warned me something was coming and he was experiencing physical symptoms from it. I don’t really understand all of it, but what I did understand was that this is something that can happen to people with his abilities. It isn’t supposed to be permanent and he thinks he will recover, but he knew he would be incapacitated. Of course, he thought he had more time than this. If I had to guess, his sudden unconsciousness was why his opponent was able to cut him at all.”
Now she was flat out lying, partially because she didn’t really know the truth and partially because she didn’t understand what she did know enough to explain it to anyone else. Either way, she couldn’t really tell Talogren that another consciousness lived in Ky’s head and the two were at war over his body or that this might be permanent. If it was, she’d deal with it then, and mourn his loss, but for now, she was going to continue as if he’d recover. She had little choice to do anything else.
“Why didn’t he say anything? If he was leading men into battle, he should have told us this could happen.”
“Because he believed in your leadership and thought things would be better when the north was finally under your command. And because he really did think he had more time. I’m sure if he knew it was this close, he wouldn’t have been fighting on the front lines.”
“I see,” Talogren said, thoughtfully, his mind clearly turning over the new turn of events. “This should buy us time, I think. I will put what pressure I can on my people. Once word spreads of his miraculous recovery and that this is a condition set on him by the gods in return for his abilities, I think my people will fall in line.”
Lucilla hadn’t tried to give him the impression that what had happened was some kind of ailment brought on by the gods, but she also had been very careful to not dissuade Talogren from coming to that conclusion on his own. She knew Ky wouldn’t be happy with her decision, but she hoped he’d understand the need to convince him and all of his followers to continue with the alliance.
“I’m glad to hear it. As I understand it, these were the last large independents you had to pacify to finalize your control of the entire region, and you only held here because of Ky’s condition. I’m assuming you have much to do, now that everyone has been brought to heel, most of which you’ve been delaying, to see if the alliance would hold.”
“I do,” he said, not embarrassed at all at the calculated decisions he made over the possibility of Ky dying. “As soon as we leave here I’ll put out the word to break camp and start the ride. There’s still several hours of daylight we can use.”
“Good. Since Ky was only staying until you finished consolidating your rule, I will be taking him south with me, but I’d like to travel with you back to your village first. When he wakes, Ky will want reports on what your next moves are and to ensure the first days of the alliance go smoothly for you. He was very specific in his demands on my father that you and your people be treated as equals in the alliance, and not as junior partners. I want to ensure we live up to that.”
Talogren didn’t answer right away, again evaluating her.
“You should let her travel with us,” Llassar said.
Talogren again looked at his lieutenant, this time with the same calculating expression.
“You’ve certainly won over my men,” he said.
“Hopefully my charm will have the same effect on you.”
“We'll see,” he said before leaving the tent to prepare his men to move.
Comments
Idaho Spud56
Good to find out what is happening to Ky.
Sergiu Moscovici
Good chapter
