Page 73 of Boudicca

Surprise jolted through me. “You have spoken with her?”

“She did not speak to me, but she appeared in my dreams each of the nights I fasted and worked on the sigil. Arianell looked young and beautiful. She watched you from a distance and she blazed with pride so fierce it was clear Brigantia stood with her.” Rhan squeezed my hand. “Your mother knows you will avenge her.”

“Lately I have missed her so much,” I admitted.

“It is because she has been close. You feel her presence.”

“Do you think she’ll stay close after Camulodunum?” I asked.

Rhan moved her shoulders. “I think she will always come when you have need of her, but the peace Arianell will feel after you destroy her enemies will allow her to rest easily in Annwn. And remember, one day you will see her again and feast with her at the goddess’s table.”

I gave a little snort. “I look forward to that day, though I hope it will not come too soon.”

Instead of answering, Rhan caressed my hair. Combing her fingers through my long fire-colored strands, she hummed a Trinovantes lullaby that I remembered hearing the women of her tribe sing, causing sleep to pull me into its waiting arms.

Chapter XXVI

I woke before dawn and dressed quickly. The camp was just beginning to stir when I exited the tent to find my Queen’s Guard waiting silently in a half-moon formation. Briallen stood in the center of them, calling the warriors to attention as I emerged.

They watched me with an intensity I’d come to understand from my months of training. They were the spearhead of our attack and I knew their strike would be true. They had exchanged their distinctive Queen’s Guard blue tunics for bland brown. Swords were strapped to their backs, concealed completely by worn travel cloaks. Behind the warriors stood twenty-three of our swiftest horses. Their only tack was the slightest of saddle blankets and slim bridles.

“Remember to blend in with them. Call no attention to yourselves.” I walked along the half circle, meeting the gaze of each warrior. “Wait for the carnyx.”

“Aye, they are ready, my queen,” said Briallen.

“No queen has ever had a better guard,” I said. “You make me proud. May Andraste guide your swords.”

They mounted and, with the ominous sound of pounding hooves, disappeared into the dove-colored dawn.

“I know you wish you were going with them,” I said to the silent warrior at my side.

Briallen shook her head. “There is no honor greater than being entrusted with the lives of my queen’s bairns.”

I rested my hand on her shoulder. “I can fight today with a clear mind knowing they are under your protection.”

“I will keep them safe, my queen.” Briallen’s accent thickened with emotion. She cleared her throat and added, “I’ll be readying thebairns’ horses the now.” She bowed to me and headed to the hobble line behind our tent.

I watched her stride away and from my memory lifted a vision of her that day when she had been sliced up, beaten, and violated by Rome, yet she had clawed her way back to my side, back to my girls.Andraste, be with Briallen.There was a movement in the boughs above me, and a raven croaked and clicked before taking wing into the lightening sky.

***

There were no victory shouts as we broke camp and made our way to the Roman road. The army was subdued but expectant, calm and confident. Each Iceni knew his or her role in the coming battle, and each Iceni was ready.

Tribe Trinovantes met us as we reached the Roman road. Addedomaros and his many warriors were in full battle dress and they were an awe-inspiring sight. Their red cloaks waved bloody in the breeze. They’d painted themselves in scarlet and black. Each horse was dressed with white ribbons in their elaborately braided manes and tails—honoring their patron goddess, Epona.

Addedomaros, his son, and Mailcun joined me at the head of our combined armies and we marched toward Camulodunum. We made no attempt at stealth. That would have been foolish. There was no hiding an army that swelled to almost one hundred twenty thousand. I’d sent out scouts to the west, the direction from which the Fourteenth and Twentieth legions would return should Paulinus get word of our attack. Scouts were also sent north, following the Ninth Legion’s path, with orders to return to me if they caught sight of the centuria Decianus had said he would recall to protect Camulodunum. And, of course, our fleetest scouts went before us to return with movement reports.

As we drew closer to the city, we came upon groups of people fleeing Camulodunum. The majority of them wore the colors of the Catuvellauni. We allowed them to pass unmolested, though I saw fearand awe in their furtive gazes as they began to understand the strength of our army.

As dusk approached, we pulled back to halt within the cover of the last tree line before Camulodunum. The Balkerne Gate was visible in the distance, a sacrifice waiting for the knife. Addedomaros and his army, except for their chariots, melted away from us. Half of his army skirted the city to the north and the other half to the south. Tribe Trinovantes would wait within whatever cover they could find until they heard my signal. Then they would rush the city, their infantry and cavalry entering through the four gates we’d chosen because of the shallowness of the ditches that framed them.

While the chariots were brought to the front and made ready, my daughters and I went into Wulffaed’s caravan, where Briallen, Rhan, and Phaedra waited. Enfys and Ceri dressed in short, brightly colored tunics that would allow them to run or ride or fight without the hindrance of skirts. Wulffaed painted them in bold swirls of woad blue while Rhan and Phaedra saw to me.

I dressed in my own short, sleeveless tunic made from cloth Wulffaed had dyed especially for battle. It was a blaze of color. Iceni blue created a strong background to strips of red and yellow, green and purple, that were woven throughout it. Onto my forearms and legs Phaedra strapped thick leather guards. Rhan braided raven feathers into my hair. Around the ends of the thin plaits she added the smallest of the eagle’s bones, so that when I moved they clacked and clattered around my waist. Finally, I placed the new bronze helmet on my head. Trimmed in Tân’s red mane and tail, it seemed to be an extension of my hair. My daughters donned their own helmets and I felt such pride in them that I hugged the girls tightly, whispering to them how fierce and fine they were and how much I loved them. I kept my breathing steady, refusing to allow nerves or fear to taint this moment.

“May Andraste’s strength fill you,” said Wulffaed.

“May the goddess keep you safe,” added Phaedra.