Page 138 of Boudicca

Maldwyn whipped our chariot around, heading toward a wagon and the dozen Romans who had formed a movable phalanx to attack it. On horseback, Comux, with his shield beside him and his Chief’s Guard following, thundered past us, making it to the wagons ahead of us. Maldwyn pulled Ennis and Finley up hard when a centuria ofRomans closed a circle around the wagons and Comux—and cut every one of them down.

As Maldwyn drove our team back and away from that slaughter, I had time to look up at Cartimandua.Now!I wished I could shout above the cacophony of battle around me.Now is the time for you to signal your attack!

For a moment I felt a rush of relief as the sigil was caught in the same ray of sunlight that had illuminated Cartimandua earlier. But she didn’t raise it. She just sat there staring down at the bloody valley. And then a second horse and rider joined her. I could tell that it was a man and that he wore a cloak of Trinovantes scarlet.Trinovantes scarlet?My racing mind was having difficulty processing what I saw.

Cartimandua passed the sigil to the man, who moved his horse closer so that he could take it. As he did so sunlight flashed on him and everything within me recoiled. Adminius, wearing the torque of a Brigantes chief, glared down at the valley in which his people,his tribe,were being massacred. Adminius lifted the sigil and waved it over his head before he deliberately threw it to the ground. Then he and Cartimandua turned as one and disappeared down the far side of the hill.

Cartimandua’s voice swirled in my mind.Tell me, how doyouhandle traitors?... I choose to kill traitors.

No Brigantes joined the battle. Not one warrior pressed the Romans from outside the valley to trap them between our armies. I understood then what I later learned to be truth. The signal given to Cartimandua’s army was not to join us. It was their sign to leave us to our deaths. The Brigantes queen hadn’t tired of the Romans. The Romans had lost interest in dealing with a woman and had decided to usurp her throne and replace her with a man they could control. When banished Adminius fled to Cartimandua, the queen seized the opportunity to maintain her rule by pretending to make him chief of the Brigantes—and then together the two of them betrayed us and solidified their allegiance with Rome.

“To your right!” Maldwyn’s warning tore my attention back to the battle. A large group of Roman soldiers was bearing down onus, clearly attempting to cut us off from the rest of the army. I threw three spears quickly, one after another, striking only one man lethally. Locked shields repelled the rest. If not for the speed of Ennis and Finley, my battle would have ended there.

We raced back to the main group of chariots, now surrounded by our cavalry. Foot soldiers ran from the rear of the valley, roaring tribal battle cries as they threw themselves over and over against the walls of scarlet-painted shields.

“What has happened?” Cadoc shouted as he and Abertha pulled to a halt beside us.

“Cartimandua betrayed us. Adminius was with her.” I jerked my chin up in the direction of where the traitors had been.

“Adminius!” Cadoc spat over the side of his chariot. “May he receive the death he deserves.”

“What now?” Abertha showed no sign of panic. Her steady gaze was filled with confidence in her queen. She simply waited for me to answer the question.

Before I could respond, a wolf raced up to us—and then a second wolf joined him, followed by Briallen and my white-faced daughters.

“We could not get out of the valley,” Briallen said quickly.

“Go to the rear of the valley. Climb the hill! Even if you have to leave the horses, you must get the girls to safety.” I was amazed my voice was steady. Seeing my daughters there within the killing field had me utterly terrified.

“We tried,” said Briallen. “Romans are on the ridges cutting down all who try to pass.”

“W-we’ll fight with you, Mama,” Enfys stuttered through lips blue with fear.

“Yes.” Ceri nodded. Her face was the color of old milk.

“Move! We must move!” Maldwyn shouted. “They’re targeting us, my queen!”

My gaze snapped back to the battlefield, where a large group of Roman cavalry charged toward us. Cadoc blew the carnyx and Iceni warriors shrieked our battle cry in response, rushing to stand between the Romans and me. With Cadoc and Abertha flanking me,and Briallen following with my girls and their wolves, our little group retreated.

“Follow me! Now!” Rhan’s voice, filled with authority, blasted at us. She sat astride Tân, who pranced in place, beckoning us with a raised arm. Maldwyn responded immediately, turning our chariot toward the Druid. She wheeled Tân around and galloped deeper into the rear of the field, heading to the dozen wagons that had sheltered us the night before.

The camp was deserted. I could only hope that Phaedra, Wulffaed, and her daughters had managed to escape. Rhan pulled Tân up and slid off her before the mare had fully halted. She turned to face us and I saw nothing of my lover before me—only the high Druid, though she no longer wore her distinctive white robes.

She wore a pair of my battle leathers. She’d rolled them up and belted them, as she was slight and slender and I was not. And then with a jolt of shock I realized that she’d painted her arms to match mine. She’d tied on my spare set of shin and forearm guards and even wore one of my older breastplates.

“Why are you dressed like this?” Even as the words slipped from me I already felt her answer deep within my battered spirit.

“I have prepared.” The high Druid repeated the familiar words to me. She strode to us. “We have little time. The battle is lost. Cartimandua’s army has departed. We are betrayed. Queen Boudicca, if you remain here either you will be killed or you will be captured, taken to Rome, and paraded through their streets before they execute you.”

“No, I—”

Rhan interrupted. “But they will not kill you until your child is born. Then the babe you carry will be torn from your arms and dashed against a wall as you watch or allowed to live as a Roman pawn. Enfys and Ceri will be killed or imprisoned. They might be sold into slavery after Rome has made a spectacle of them and murdered their mother.”

I tried to speak but my girls had moved their horses to me.

“Mama, we can never be taken by the Romans again,” said Enfys. She reached out and grasped Ceri’s hand. My youngest daughter had her lips pressed tightly together so that she made no sound as tearsdripped down her pale cheeks. “We have decided. We would rather die.”

“Y-yes, Mama.” Ceri’s voice shook but her gaze never wavered. “W-we would r-rather die.”