safety of the town and call for you?"
"So you admit she is a woman." Caddaric grinned, finding Ede's jealousy amusing. "It gladdens my heart to know your eyesight is so keen. Had you named her child again you would have remained behind tonight. I want none to fight who cannot distinguish child from adult or post from Roman."
Ede was not to be diverted. "Who is she, Caddaric?" she hissed.
"A Roman. The same Roman who yesterday extended her hand to Queen Boadicea and earned her life," Caddaric said calmly.
"The same Roman who gave our brave Caddaric flowers," Heall put in gleefully.
"By the gods!" Ede's hand fell to her dagger. "I shall kill her with my own hands."
"Nay." Clywd, too, entered the conversation. "By the Queen's own command this one is to be spared and given to the warrior who captures the Roman Procurator."
Ede's face glowed with malice and she eyed Caddaric as he leisurely bit into one of the wheat cakes and handed the basket to Clywd. She waited impatiently until the two older men retired some distance away to share their meal before continuing. "Then I shall capture the Procurator. Does that suit you, Caddaric?"
Caddaric raised a mocking eyebrow. "Do you ask my permission, Ede? Or do you but toy with the idea of having a slave? In truth, I doubt you would find Jilana of little help in building a fire or sharpening your battle-axe."
His knowledge of Jilana's name added fuel to Ede's jealousy. "You would use her well, no doubt!"
"Enough." Caddaric's patience and amusement had reached their limits.
"Nay," Ede spat. "I know you well, Caddaric. You want this woman for yourself. I have seen the hunter's gleam in your eye often enough to know what it foretells." A sad catch colored Ede's voice. "Why do you take such delight in causing me pain?"
"You cause your own pain," Caddaric told her bluntly. At the tears which welled in Ede's eyes, however, Caddaric softened. "Ede, 'tis over between us. We parted nearly six months ago."
"You loved me," Ede protested, her chin trembling.
"Mayhap, for a time." Caddaric took her strong hand in his. "Brave as you are, glorious as you are, I could never take you to wife. In the time we shared together your jealousy ate like a canker at my mind and soul."
"But if you took me to wife in front of our village and your father—"
"Nay, Ede." Caddaric interrupted as gently as possible. "You would not change, nor would I. Choose another, Ede; any warrior in our village would die of happiness if you honored him as you have done me."
Ede pulled away from Caddaric. "I will have no other! From the time we were children I have sworn you would one day take me to wife and you shall. If I must destroy your Roman slut then—"
Caddaric delivered a calculated slap to Ede's cheek and when she fell into sullen silence he warned her coldly, "Touch one hair on Jilana's head and you will earn my hatred as you have just earned my wrath. She will be mine, Ede, mine. I will tolerate none of your interference!"
Caddaric watched as Ede fled, sobbing, into the forest. He had not meant to be cruel but it was the only choice Ede had left him. Caddaric ran a hand through his hair, shrugged off the unpleasant scene with Ede, and joined his father and Heall.
****
Night came again to Venta Icenorum and as the strengthened Iceni force crept from the forest and scaled the walls of the town, Lucius, strode from the villa to the garden and found, as he had been told, a slender woman seated on one of the marble benches. As he covered the distance between them, Jilana turned and the breath caught in Lucius' throat. Here, in the moonlight, Jilana was more startlingly beautiful than she had been during the preceding hours. Her hair—artfully threaded with seed pearls—had been swept up to reveal the slender column of her neck and the right shoulder was bared by her toga while an ornate brooch held the fine linen in place over her left. She had clung to him tonight, deferring to his opinions in all
"So you admit she is a woman." Caddaric grinned, finding Ede's jealousy amusing. "It gladdens my heart to know your eyesight is so keen. Had you named her child again you would have remained behind tonight. I want none to fight who cannot distinguish child from adult or post from Roman."
Ede was not to be diverted. "Who is she, Caddaric?" she hissed.
"A Roman. The same Roman who yesterday extended her hand to Queen Boadicea and earned her life," Caddaric said calmly.
"The same Roman who gave our brave Caddaric flowers," Heall put in gleefully.
"By the gods!" Ede's hand fell to her dagger. "I shall kill her with my own hands."
"Nay." Clywd, too, entered the conversation. "By the Queen's own command this one is to be spared and given to the warrior who captures the Roman Procurator."
Ede's face glowed with malice and she eyed Caddaric as he leisurely bit into one of the wheat cakes and handed the basket to Clywd. She waited impatiently until the two older men retired some distance away to share their meal before continuing. "Then I shall capture the Procurator. Does that suit you, Caddaric?"
Caddaric raised a mocking eyebrow. "Do you ask my permission, Ede? Or do you but toy with the idea of having a slave? In truth, I doubt you would find Jilana of little help in building a fire or sharpening your battle-axe."
His knowledge of Jilana's name added fuel to Ede's jealousy. "You would use her well, no doubt!"
"Enough." Caddaric's patience and amusement had reached their limits.
"Nay," Ede spat. "I know you well, Caddaric. You want this woman for yourself. I have seen the hunter's gleam in your eye often enough to know what it foretells." A sad catch colored Ede's voice. "Why do you take such delight in causing me pain?"
"You cause your own pain," Caddaric told her bluntly. At the tears which welled in Ede's eyes, however, Caddaric softened. "Ede, 'tis over between us. We parted nearly six months ago."
"You loved me," Ede protested, her chin trembling.
"Mayhap, for a time." Caddaric took her strong hand in his. "Brave as you are, glorious as you are, I could never take you to wife. In the time we shared together your jealousy ate like a canker at my mind and soul."
"But if you took me to wife in front of our village and your father—"
"Nay, Ede." Caddaric interrupted as gently as possible. "You would not change, nor would I. Choose another, Ede; any warrior in our village would die of happiness if you honored him as you have done me."
Ede pulled away from Caddaric. "I will have no other! From the time we were children I have sworn you would one day take me to wife and you shall. If I must destroy your Roman slut then—"
Caddaric delivered a calculated slap to Ede's cheek and when she fell into sullen silence he warned her coldly, "Touch one hair on Jilana's head and you will earn my hatred as you have just earned my wrath. She will be mine, Ede, mine. I will tolerate none of your interference!"
Caddaric watched as Ede fled, sobbing, into the forest. He had not meant to be cruel but it was the only choice Ede had left him. Caddaric ran a hand through his hair, shrugged off the unpleasant scene with Ede, and joined his father and Heall.
****
Night came again to Venta Icenorum and as the strengthened Iceni force crept from the forest and scaled the walls of the town, Lucius, strode from the villa to the garden and found, as he had been told, a slender woman seated on one of the marble benches. As he covered the distance between them, Jilana turned and the breath caught in Lucius' throat. Here, in the moonlight, Jilana was more startlingly beautiful than she had been during the preceding hours. Her hair—artfully threaded with seed pearls—had been swept up to reveal the slender column of her neck and the right shoulder was bared by her toga while an ornate brooch held the fine linen in place over her left. She had clung to him tonight, deferring to his opinions in all
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