To Love Again - Bertrice Small [54]
The young men looked distinctly uncomfortable. Then Corio, Cailin’s cousin, said, “Most of the lads want to return to their villages, Wulf. The planting is already under way, and their families need them. You never really expected that they would form an army for Berikos and carry out his foolish plans, did you?”
Wulf Ironfist laughed. “No, Corio, I did not. However, Quintus Drusus is the fellow who murdered Cailin’s family, and was responsible for Brenna’s death. I promised Cailin when I wed her that I would regain her family’s lands for her, and for our children.”
Corio’s blue eyes widened, and then he grinned. “So that is why you have never pressed grandfather about the lands he promised you! You knew all along that you would have Cailin’s property.”
“I will only have it if you and the lads will help me to retake it, and mete out justice to this Quintus Drusus,” Wulf Ironfist said honestly. “I cannot do it without your help, Corio.”
Corio turned to the other young men. “ ‘Twill only take a few days of our time,” he told them. “We will right a wrong, and Cailin can go home again to raise her children, to give honor to her dead family, to live in peace as we would live.” He looked to his companions, and when each head among them nodded in assent, he turned back to Wulf Ironfist, saying, “We’ll do it!”
“Get a good night’s rest, then, my lads,” the Saxon told them. “We leave in the morning.” Then he dismissed them, but Corio touched his arm, obviously wishing to speak further with him as the others hurried off in all different directions. “What is it, Corio?”
“I must tell you something, Wulf,” the younger man said. “It’s about my grandfather, but you must keep what I reveal secret for now.”
“I agree,” Wulf said.
Corio did not dissemble, but came right to the point. “The men have had a clandestine meeting. As you know, Berikos lives in the past—a past he was not even a part of, which makes it even odder. As he grows older, this determination of his to drive all the Romans from Britain grows and eats at him. Brigit encourages him in it. We have no wish to join him in his folly, but while he is our chief we must give him obedience. However, we have the option of replacing him with another. My father, Eppilus, has been chosen to lead the hill Dobunni. Berikos can retire with honor and spend his days amusing himself in whatever manner he chooses.”
“When will this happen?” Wulf Ironfist asked.
“Just before Beltane,” Corio answered him. “We will retake Cailin’s lands, and then we will return to help the others depose my grandfather.”
“I think it a wise decision that has been made,” Wulf said. “Some men in power grow old, and their wisdom but increases along with their age. Their judgment remains sound, and good. Others, however, lose their sense of proportion with the passing years. Berikos is one of these, I fear. Your people will never truly have peace as long as he is your ruler. I understand your desire for peace. I have seen enough war to last me a lifetime. I will not fight again except in defense of my lands and my family. There is no other reason for it.”
“I have lived my entire life here among these hills,” Corio replied. “The farthest I have ever been away is to the town of Corinium. It is a wondrous place, with its paved streets, its shops and pottery works, the theaters and the arena. Still, I could not have lived there, Wulf. It is too noisy, too busy, too dirty; and there are, I am told, places even larger than Corinium, here in this land. They say there is a huge town in the southeast called Londinium. Two roads from Corinium lead to it if one rides far enough, but I never have had the desire to follow either of those roads.
“I have heard your stories of the battles you fought in Gaul and in the Rhineland. They did not fill me with excitement like