Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 06] Druid's Gold Read Online Free PDF

westwards the decurion reflected that if he failed with this group of men then the Exploratores as a concept was already dead.
    He wondered how he would look if the old Prefect, Marcus, could see him.  He looked like the other troopers with no sign of rank.  Like his troopers he wore no helmet, it was attached to his saddle.  The leather armour was covered by a dirty and nondescript tunic which gave Livius and the others the look of bandits fallen on hard times.  Of course their Roman mounts and their healthy bodies would have left no one in any doubt as to who they were but Livius had encouraged his men to let their beards and hair grow; they would make them look more like the natives than Roman.  He also planned on splitting up his group; six men were too large or too small a number.  He planned to operate in threes with a ten mile gap between them. 
    He found himself oddly excited by the assignment and, when Julius had told him the devastating news about the ala Livius had thought that his world had ended; now he saw that the Parcae had a different plan for him and a new future. His first stop on his first patrol would be close to Morbium for he wanted to seek the advice of Gaelwyn, Marcus and Gaius; the three warriors he respected more than any other.
    *
    Cato and Marcus had ridden over to the farmstead of Ailis and Gaius to give them the news of Marcus’ Horse. The bonds of friendship were so deep that they were, in effect, an extended family. The three boys Decius Gaius Aurelius his brother Marcus and their adopted brother Decius Macro Culleo were always eager to hear the stories these revered warriors told.  Decius Gaius was no longer a boy.  He had now seen fourteen summers and was becoming a man.  He and his father were very close in every way, looks ,manners, they way they spoke and Decius modelled himself on the father who was also his hero. It was obvious to his mother that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and run the farm. The two younger boys were more like brothers than had they had the same parents.  They were born very close together and, when Macro’s mother, the witch Morwenna had abandoned him, Ailis had fed and cared for both boys.  They were both her sons. Now they were still young men enjoying young men’s adventures. They dogged Gaelwyn, desperate to learn how to become hunters and warriors.  The old man feigned annoyance at their demands but in reality he loved training young minds and bodies.  The two of them were fast becoming the best trackers and hunters for miles around.
    When they saw the two riders approaching the three boys ran from the field in which they had been working; mending fences could wait but the chance to eavesdrop the conversations of their elders was a treat not to be missed. By the time they crashed through the villa door Cato and Marcus were sat with Gaelwyn and their father around the family table.
    “Stop! Where do you think you are going?” Ailis’ voice was raised slightly but it stopped the three of them in their tracks. They hung their heads in silence. The four men grinned at their discomfort. “You know the rules; when you come from the fields you wash your hands and take off your sandals.”
    Young Marcus Gaius looked pleadingly at his father who grinned and shook his head.  “If you think I am going to argue with your mother think again. Go and wash your hands.”
    They would have flashed their grubby paws through the water had Ailis not stood with arms folded and a stern expression making sure that they did a good job.  After checking them back and front she nodded her assent and they raced into the room.
    Gaius, their father was speaking, “So the ala is no more eh?”
    Cato shook his head. “To be honest Gaius it would have been a new ala anyway.  After the retirements and deaths there were but a handful of men left.”
    “I wonder what Ulpius would have thought?”
    “He had no sentiment about the ala.  It was the people in