Page 68 of Boudicca

Adminius snorted. “Londinium?”

I met his gaze steadily. “Yes. Did you think destroying Camulodunum would be enough to force the Romans from our lands?”

“Well. No.”

“Exactly.” I turned my attention from the chief’s son and continued. “We will take Camulodunum, Londinium, and then Verulamium—one after another—and show the Romans they cannot survive on lands held by Britons.”

“But that plan hinges on taking Camulodunum quickly,” said Mailcun. “I hear Cadoc. The city guards are lax, but no soldier is lax enough to overlook an army of one hundred thousand attacking his city.”

Rhan, Cadoc, Maldwyn, and Abertha remained silent, confidence in their steady gazes as they watched me. My advisors and I had often spoken of the fact that we must destroy all three of the major Roman cities to have a chance at pushing them from our lands, so it was no surprise to them. They knew I had a plan, and their belief in me filled me with such keen joy that my blood pounded hot through my veins.

“Briallen, tell my guard to join us,” I commanded.

With Briallen leading them, my Queen’s Guard strode into the lodge. The twenty-four warriors had been handpicked, and they stood straight and proud, looking to me expectantly, eagerly. I got directly to the point.

As I used Addedomaros’s map to explain my battle plan, I studied the warriors. Iceni are not mindless fighters. They are wise and mastersof strategy. I knew that the warriors present there in my lodge would not blindly agree to my plan. Every one of them was more experienced than I in battle. Every one of them had been raiding and fighting since before their sixteenth nameday.

I knew their response could very easily end my reign as a warrior queen before it had really begun.

When I’d finished speaking, I looked from Cadoc to Abertha to Maldwyn and finally to Rhan. Their expressions were equally ferocious, equally expectant. Rhan nodded once, and the coiled tension within me began to loosen. Then my gaze went to Briallen, leader of my guard.

“What say you, Briallen?”

Her smile was savage. “I say on tovictory,my queen!”

“Aye!” the guard echoed as Addedomaros, his shield, and finally even petulant Adminius stomped their feet and repeated,“Victory!”

***

Addedomaros, his son, and his shield departed Tasceni directly after the war council. I would not see the Trinovantes chief again until our armies joined in the forest west of Camulodunum.

Tasceni was teeming with warriors and the caravan carts that would follow us into battle. The Iceni do not go to war alone. In the rear of the army would be our support system—caravans driven by family and filled with weapons, healers, tents, and supplies, and followed by herds of livestock tended by shepherds and farmers. Our army would not sow destruction upon our lands as we moved across it. Farms would not be looted. Farmers’ crops would not be stolen or burned. We carried with us the means to survive and thrive. We would not destroy the land and the people we loved in our attempt to rid ourselves of Rome.

The forest surrounding Tasceni thrummed with the excitement of our people. The sounds of drums and flutes and women’s lilting voices drifted through the village with the chill wind. I visited many fires that evening and night, and met with the same reception at each.My people were prepared. My people were strong. My people believed in Victory.

I was inordinately glad when I finally was able to retire to my bedchamber. Phaedra had a steaming bath filled with herbs waiting for me. I relaxed, listening to her gossip about how many warriors were vying for the attentions of Wulffaed’s daughters and granddaughters. She spoke of Sunne and Mona, and how the Iceni loved that my daughters were always shadowed by their wolves. My eyelids were heavy when she finished loosely braiding my hair for the night. As Phaedra slipped out of my chamber, Rhan held the pelt curtain aside and sent me a questioning look.

“Come in, come in.” I yawned and added to Phaedra, “Please bring Rhan a mug of mead, too.” I climbed wearily into my bed and motioned for Rhan to sit beside me. “I’m glad you came. I thought you would want to talk about Derwyn and Ynys Môn.”

Rhan sat beside me and waited until Phaedra had returned with our drinks and then left us alone before she spoke. “Derwyn was forewarned that the Romans would target the isle.”

I nodded. “Yes, but it cannot be easy for you to be with me while your home is being invaded.”

Her dark eyes studied me for several long breaths before she answered. “Ynys Môn is not my home, Boudicca. My home is here.”

“I’m glad of that.”

“Derwyn and I spoke before he left. He asked me to tell you this when the time was right, and the time is now right. He said, ‘What must be will be—for us both.’”

A chill shivered across the nape of my neck. “He is going to die.”

“There will be many deaths to come,” said Rhan. “Our countrymen will die in the battles you have planned.”

I felt a shock of hurt at her words. “Do you admonish me for that?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. We each have our destiny to face.”

I sipped my mead and leaned back against the cushions Phaedra had mounded at the head of my bed. “I knew as I walked through Camulodunum that I was seeing dead men.”