In Britannia Salutem

[Donald Reaver]

It was an excellent story , thank you.

 

[Kloka]

@Lindseyman ,you should go read Tom Colton’s Arthurian TL if you haven’t already.

 

[perdu42]

Consummatum Est

Although obviously life goes on. A thorough search finds no trace of Artos’ body. In fact the oath that the Lords of Went take on their accession still includes the line “until Artos returns”. Cerdicus and his troops are returned to Gallia and a meta-stability descends on Western Europe until the Ostangles begin their march west and a Justinian analogue turns his eyes westwards with visions of restoring the Roman Empire to its old boundaries (In the long term that overstrains the East as much as in OTL).

I started this thread on 19th February 2015 intending it to be a short thread of my version of the matter of Britain. Short! Eight and a half years in the writing, with some diversions along the way.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. It does need some drastic edits the most glaring of which is Artos needs to go to Monoida ten years before he does in the story to get Amhar and Llacheu to be the right age but, hey, as a much better author than I wrote “this tale grew in the telling”.

Thank you all for your comments over the years.

Wow!
You started this tale not long after I joined the board. It has been a constant pleasure all that time.
I know all good things must come to an end but... I don't want it to
Thank you @Lindseyman
👏👏👏

 

[Cuchulainn]

I must admit that I had hoped that this TL would continue ad infinitum, a bit like Basilius444's "An Age of Miracles".
Romano-Celtic-Saxon Britain v The Vikings. Later v the French kingdom with Brittany maybe becoming part of the realm.
Survival of a strong national entity that is religiously tolerant (pagan religions even) into the Middle Ages. etc...
But I understand that there comes a end to the story, not every novel is a trilogy.
Thanks for the years of reading pleasure 😊

Edit to make more sense, shouldn't post after drinking wine 😁
NB: where does the "sa" for "Yes" come from?
Is this a construction since Latin, like Irish, didn't originally have a word for yes or no but required the repeating of the verb, in the negative for no?

 

[Lindseyman]

I must admit that I had hoped that this TL would continue ad infinitum, a bit like Basilius444's "An Age of Miracles".
Romano-Celtic-Saxon Britain v The Vikings. Later v the French kingdom with Brittany maybe becoming part of the realm.
Survival of a strong national entity that is religiously tolerant (pagan religions even) into the Middle Ages. etc...
But I understand that there comes a end to the story, not every novel is a trilogy.
Thanks for the years of reading pleasure 😊

NB: where does the "sa" for "Yes" come from?
Is this a construction since Latin, like Irish, didn't originally have a word for no but required the repeating of the verb in the negative?

Thank You. I do have vague plans about writing the story of the reforming of the Council in the 10th Century as hinted to by various posts but that's it.
I pinched sa and na from Rosemary Sutcliff's stories.

 

[Spartan-G257]

It's ended.
It's actually finished. I am sad to see the story of Arthur end. But like all great Men their time comes and goes like the passing of Spring and Summer.

May he return in our darkest hour, when Britain needs him most.

This has been a fantastic read Lindseyman. The ups and downs unforgettable.

Thank you, from the bottom of my soul, thank you

 

[Julius Vogel]

Consummatum Est

Although obviously life goes on. A thorough search finds no trace of Artos’ body. In fact the oath that the Lords of Went take on their accession still includes the line “until Artos returns”. Cerdicus and his troops are returned to Gallia and a meta-stability descends on Western Europe until the Ostangles begin their march west and a Justinian analogue turns his eyes westwards with visions of restoring the Roman Empire to its old boundaries (In the long term that overstrains the East as much as in OTL).

I started this thread on 19th February 2015 intending it to be a short thread of my version of the matter of Britain. Short! Eight and a half years in the writing, with some diversions along the way.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. It does need some drastic edits the most glaring of which is Artos needs to go to Monoida ten years before he does in the story to get Amhar and Llacheu to be the right age but, hey, as a much better author than I wrote “this tale grew in the telling”.

Thank you all for your comments over the years.

Only 8 years!

Well done and thank you for entertaining us all this time.

 

[Lindseyman]

Thanks a lot for your work that I have enjoyed hugely. Would it be possible for you to post an small epilogue showing modern day Britain and Europe (some of that has already appeared). Anyway thanks again.

I have given some time and effort into thinking about what Europe looks like in c2000AD and have had to admit defeat! There are too many butterflies and knockons. The only two countries that I "know" exist are the United Lordships of Prydannia and Hallia. Hallia is a constitutional monarchy and the United Lordships is, well, something else. Some of the Lordships are basically constitutional monarchies except with a Lord instead of a monarch, some are absolutist and there is everything inbetween. The actual Council is a meeting of the Lords and their Chief Ministers and is only elected in so far as the Chief Ministers tend to be elected. There is the equivalent of a United Lordship's Civil Service but this just runs Foreign Policy , Defence and transport between the Lordships.
The UL and Hallia have a love/hate relationship basically because of Amorica (only the Hallians call it "Brittany"). Logistically and economically "Brittany" is part of Hallia but emotionally and culturally it is as Prydannian as Kernow and Dumnonia. So over the centuries there have been constant skirmishes and one or two outright wars over it. However if there is an external enemy that seriously threatens either (usually Hallia) then the two tend to act in concert. They both work on the principle better the devil that you know.
Elsewhere there is a state that claims to be the Roman Empire but it is based in OTL Greece, the Aegean Islands and bits of western Anatolia. It has long lost any control over Rhum (OTL Rome) or Al-Kunstantiya (OTL Istanbul). Further afield there is the equivalent of China in both culture and extent, but as to elsewhere??? First contacts and colonisation happened VERY differently.

 

[clem attlee]

The Lay of Rhodri

The Lay of Rhodri is an epic poem based on the Battle of Willross in 928, during the reign of Constantine. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries.

The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 and 1115: an early version beginning around 1040 with additions and alterations made up until about 1115. The final text has about 4,000 lines of poetry. The epic poem is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the heroicis, a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries and celebrated legendary deeds.

Set in the reign of Constantine the Wise, it was written much later. There are nine extant manuscripts of the Song of Rhodri. The oldest of these manuscripts is held at the Caedmonian Library at Karbrok. This copy dates between 1129 and 1165.

Some scholars estimate that the poem was written, possibly by a poet named Taliesin [1], between approximately 1040 and 1115, and most of the alterations were performed by about 1098. Some favour an earlier dating, because it allows one to say that the poem was inspired by the Hellian campaigns of the 1030s[2], and that the poem went on to be a major influence in the First Italian War[3]. Those who prefer a later dating do so on grounds of what they interpret as brief references made in the poem to events of the First Italian War.

The Plot

Constantine's army is fighting the Vikings in Tir y Daniaid (OTL Danelaw). They have been there for seven years, and the last city standing is Karbrok, held by the Viking King Ragnall. Threatened by the might of Constantine's army, Ragnall seeks advice from his wise man, Thorfinn, who councils him to conciliate Constantine, offering to surrender and giving hostages. Accordingly, Ragnall sends out messengers to Constantine, promising treasure and Ragnall's conversion to Christianity if the Prydannians will go back to their own lands.

Constantine and his men, tired of fighting, accept his peace offer and select a messenger to Ragnall's court. The protagonist Rhodri, Constantine's nephew, nominates his stepfather Cadwallon as messenger. Cadwallon, who fears to be murdered by the enemy and accuses Rhodri of intending this, takes revenge by informing the Vikings of a way to ambush the rear guard of Constantine's army, led by Rhodri.

As Cadwallon predicted, Rhodri leads the rear guard, with the wise and moderate Gaheris and the fierce Archbishop Cai. The Vikings ambush them at Willross and the Christians are overwhelmed. Gaheris pleads with Rhodri to blow his horn to call for help, but Rhodri tells him that blowing his horn in the middle of the battle would be an act of cowardice. If Rhodri continues to refuse, Gaheris will not let Rhodri see his sister again whom Rhodri loves the most. However, Archbishop Cai intervenes and tells them that the battle will be fatal for all of them and so instructs Rhodri to blow his horn. The King hears the call on their way home. Constantine and his noblemen gallop back even though Count Cadwallon tries to trick them.

The Prydannians fight well, but are outnumbered, until almost all Rhodri's men are dead and he knows that Constantine's army can no longer save them. Despite this, he blows his horn to summon revenge, until his temples burst and he dies a martyr's death. Angels take his soul to Paradise.

When Constantine and his men reach the battlefield, they find the dead bodies of Rhodri's men, who have been utterly annihilated. They pursue the Vikings into the river Cald, where the Vikings drown. Meanwhile, Gyrd, the powerful King of Denmark, has arrived in Tir y Daniaid to help Ragnall. His army encounters that of Constantine at Willross, where the Christians are burying and mourning their dead. Both sides fight valiantly. When Constantine kills Gyrd, the Viking army scatters and flees, leaving the Prydannians to conquer Karbrok. With Ragnall's wife Bramimonde, Queen of Karbrok, Constantine and his men ride back to Went, their capital.

The Prydannians discover Cadwallon's betrayal and keep him in chains until his trial, where Cadwallon argues that his action was legitimate revenge, not treason. While the council of barons assembled to decide the traitor's fate is initially swayed by this claim, one man, Caddo, argues that because Rhodri was serving Constantine when Cadwallon delivered his revenge on him, Cadwallon's action constitutes a betrayal.

Cadwallon's friend Owain challenges Caddo to trial by combat. By divine intervention, Caddo kills Owain. By this the Prydannians are convinced of Cadwallon's treason. Thus, he is torn apart by having four galloping horses tied one to each arm and leg and thirty of his relatives are hanged.

The History

There are several sources contemporaneous with the Battle of Willross.

There is a brief entry in the Saecson Chronicle for the year 928 which states

“Rhodri ap Rhodri died fighting in Karbrok”

There are also entries in the Annals of both Rheged and Arfon and also in the Council records kept in the Library at Went which make reference to this battle. It would seem to the people of this time this battle is barely worth a footnote.

The site of the Battle of Willross has been shown to be near present day Pontecalld (OTL Hebden Bridge). There have been weapons of the right period found here regularly throughout history but it was the programme “Tim Amser” fronted by Antonius ap Robbynn [4] which actually discovered the body of Rhodri which led to the famous archaeological dig organised by the University of Karbrok.

It is now possible to piece together what is most likely to have occurred.

Rhodri ap Rhodri is described in the Annals of Arfon as a brave but opportunistic military leader. There are many complaints that his troops always turned up after the actual battle was won but in time for them to honestly say that they had taken part and be able to take a full part in any looting that occurred afterwards.

It would seem that after Constantine (the then leader of the Council) and Ragnall had agreed to peace and the integration of Karbrok into the Council, that Rhodri took it into his head to ravage the area near Pontecalld as the local leader had slain his brother Idwal in the final stages of the siege of Karbrok. He did this without Constantine’s knowledge or approval and after Constantine had departed for the Council meeting at Went.

The local levies fought Rhodri at Willross and defeated and slew him.

Origins of the Lay

So why the legend and the lay? Arfon became very disillusioned during the early 11th Century as it felt that it was being left out of the burgeoning economy of Prydannia. It began looking backwards for tales of how this had always been so and Rhodri, who had become somewhat of an idealised figure, became the focus of a national myth of how Arfon had always been abandoned by the rest of Prydannia. However Constantine was a revered figure even in Arfon so the blame was shifted to an invented character, Cadwallon [5].

It helped that whoever composed the Lay was a literary genius! He wrote an epic poem pulling in imagery from all the traditional Cambrian stories to weave a tale that appealed to the inhabitants of Arfon but bore little resemblance to what actually happened.

In the present day the Lay is not considered to be a reliable source for the Constantinian era but is rightly regarded as one of the masterpieces of Prydannian literature and for showing Arfon’s inferiority complex at its time of composition.

[1] Taliesin must have been extremely long lived! Any poem of unknown origin was always attributed to him even centuries after his actual death.

[2] When Prydannia became involved in the struggle of who ruled Normandy (there was extensive Viking settlement in Neustria ITTL as well).

[3] The first of several wars to liberate Roma from the Byzantines.

[4] Some television programmes straddle the multiverse!

[5] It is no coincidence that this character is named after the greatest villain of 7th Century Prydannia.

I'm rereading the whole story before catching up with the end. Delighted by this tribute to The Song of Roland.

 

[clem attlee]

A Study in Betrayal

It was a cold midwinter day and Lucius, the Commander of the Venta garrison, was looking ruefully at the pile of reports that he was going to have to read and in some cases to which he would have to reply. Ianus, his long standing deputy usually handled all this but he was on leave arranging for his father’s funeral. So, with a shake of his head, Lucius started. After fifteen minutes or so his head was spinning. Just how did Ianus cope with all this officialise? However a report by one of the watchmen caught his eye. Luckily it was written by a man whose literacy was about the same as his so used very simple words! There had been a killing at a villa about 5 stadia away. The owner a retired member of Ambrosius’ army, one Gaius Lepidus, had been found dead in one of the anterooms. The only suspect was his wife Helena. However this watchman, a former soldier himself, had some suspicions that all was not as it seemed. His neighbours were perplexed. It seemed that Lepidus was more attached to his wife than she to him. They also stated that he sometimes had bouts of deep depression and moodiness for no apparent reason.

The report went on, one evening, Helena went out in the evening with maid, Flavia, on an errand connected with her church, and came back not long afterwards. She went into the seldom-used ante room and asked the Domus to fetch her some wine, which was unusual for Helena. Hearing that his wife had returned, Lepidus joined her in the room. The Domus saw him enter, and that was the last time that he was seen alive.

The blinds were up, and the door leading out onto the lawn was open. When a slave brought the wine, she heard an argument in progress between Helena and her husband, and she heard Helena say the name "David." The slave fetched the other maid and the Domus, who came and listened. Helena was very angry and shouting about what a coward her husband was; his words were softer and less distinct. Suddenly, Lepidus cried out, there was a crash, and Helena screamed.

Realizing that something awful had just happened, the Domus tried to force the locked door, but could not. He remembered the outside door, and went outside to get into the room through that. He found that Helena had fainted, and Lepidus was lying dead in a pool of his own blood. The Domus had contacted the garrison, and also found, to his surprise, that the key was not in the locked door on the inside. Later, a thorough search failed to turn it up. A peculiar club-like weapon was also found in the morning room. The staff did not recognize this weapon.

Lucius tossed the report aside and went looking for the watchman. He enquired in the barracks

“Oh, Emchfileth” replied the centurion on duty

“He always overthinks things. Mind you he’s nearly always been shown to be right. He’s off duty, you’ll probably find him in the Golden Amphora at this time.”

Lucius went to the Golden Amphora and found the watchman with a goblet of watered wine sitting in a corner. Lucius explained why he was there. The watchman was quite wary at first. He had stood on too many toes in his quest for the truth at times. However Lucius persuaded him that he was not in trouble but Lepidus was an important member of the community and that the death needed an explanation.

The watchman, whose name was Gulielmus, believed that the case was not what it at first appeared to be. Although the slaves are quite sure that they only heard Lepidus’ and his wife’s voices, Gulielmus is convinced that a third person came into the room at the time of Lepidus’ death and, rather oddly, made off with the key. Gulielmus had deduced this from footmarks found in the road, on the lawn, and in the room.

The next morning Lucius and Gulielmus go to the villa. Gulielmus is sure that Helena’s slave holds the key to the mystery, and he is right. She claims to know nothing of the reason for the argument between the two, but once told by Lucius that Helena could easily be held responsible, she feels that she can betray her promise to her and tells all. On their short outing, the two women met a bent, deformed man carrying a wooden box. He looked up at Helena and recognized her, and she also did him; they were acquaintances from about 30 years earlier. Helena asked the slave to walk on ahead as there was apparently a private matter to discuss with this man. She came back very angry, and made her slave swear not to say anything about the incident.

Lucius and Gulielmus realise that there cannot be many men of this description in the area, and soon identify him as Ceretic, a wandering tinker, and go to visit him the next day in his lodgings in the very same street where the two women met him. Ceretic explains all. He had been a Decurion with Lepidus, who himself was still a Decurion at that time, at the time of a Pictish incursion. Also at this time, he and Lepidus were rivals for Helena. Cretic was not deformed, and much better looking in those days. They had been cut off from Ambrosius’ army, and water had run out, among other problems. A volunteer was asked for, to go out and summon help, and it was Ceretic. Lepidus had instructed Ceretic on the safest route. However, it took him straight into an ambush, and he gathered from what little he knew of the local language, spoken by the attackers, that Lepidus had betrayed him to the Picts by planning the whole business, driven by one motive - to remove Ceretic from contending for Helena's affection. Ceretic was tortured repeatedly, which is how he became deformed, spent years as a slave or wandering and when he was getting old, he longed to come back to Venta.

Then, quite by chance, he met Helena that evening. Unknown to her, however, he followed her home and witnessed the argument, for the blinds were up and the door open. He climbed over the low wall and entered the room. An apoplectic fit caused by the sight of him killed Lepidus instantly, and Helena fainted. His guilty secret was at last laid bare. His first thought then was to open the inside door and summon help, and he took the key from the now-unconscious Helena to do so, but realizing that the situation looked very bad for him and that he himself could be charged with murder, he chose instead to flee. However, he did drop his stick, the odd weapon that was later found, and he inadvertently carried the key off with him.

Lucius ponders for a few minutes and informs Ceretic that the matter will not be pursued any further, there was nothing to be gained from doing so as he suspected that Ceretic did not have long to live. Ceretic agrees, his bad health had caught up with him and a local doctor had told him that he had weeks at best.

On their way back to the garrison Gulielmus asks Lucius why he had let Ceretic go. After all he could have made it all up.

“You saw him, Gulielmus, he was not strong enough to kill Lepidus even if he had caught him by surprise.”

Gulielmus nods.

“Anyway” continues Lucius “it was Helena calling Lepidus David which gives Ceretic’s story the ring of truth.”

Gulielmus pauses and then nods again

“Bathsheba!”

“Sa” replies Lucius.

NOTE: This is a slightly altered version of a Sherlock Holmes story. I wanted to show a side of life in Britannia that would have existed much as it did in Doyle’s day OTL. I’ll leave you to work out why the watchman is called Gulielmus.

The Crooked Man with the villainous husband played by a young James Wilby. Gulielmus is William, but that's as far as I've got.

 

[clem attlee]

Sorry, I see that I actually asked those questions five years ago too.

This was an exceptional piece of writing and a well-conceived plot. Well done@lindseyman.

 

[Arariboia Guamá]

Its over? Awww man! This TL is such an epic!

What happened to everyone? A epílogue would be nice!

 

[Lindseyman]

Venta
It was the Winter Solstice and the various religious groups were celebrating in their own ways. The Christians had the Nativity, the few Jews left in Venta had celebrated Hannukah, the equally few followers of Mithras had celebrated his birth and the Cult had their own festival. Lucius was sat in a small room in front of a fire. Typically for Britannia the season had not seen any snow but there had been high winds and lots of rain. Lucius dozed off he was woken by Livia shaking him not too gently.

“Wake up, you have a visitor”

“Ehm, whom?”

Livia shook her head in mock sorrow

“An old colleague of yours. Why he should bother you is beyond me but he has”

“Well show him in then!”

A moment later a tall hooded figure came into the room. Lucius sat bolt upright.

“Gullielmus?”

The figure pushed his hood back

“Indeed”

“What brings you to me at this time of year? This season is important to you as the other religions”

“Religion?” queried Gullielmus

“You know what I mean” retorted Lucius

Gullielmus looked around

“Sorry, please sit down” stated Lucius indicating the other chair near the fire.

Gullielmus did so

“I came to you as I seem to have stumbled on a mystery”

“I have retired, Gullielmus, as you well know. Go to the Watch, Conatus is the man for a mystery”

“Normally I would agree with you but there are circumstances”

Lucius sighed

“Go on then”

“A few days ago, Aedh, my assistant, witnessed a gang of roughs assail a drunken man in the street. Aedh rushed forward to help the man but everyone in the group ran off. The victim of the attack had dropped his cloak and a goose when he ran. Aedh brought the items to me, I suggested that the goose be taken to the cooks as it needed to be eaten whilst I retained the cloak”

Lucius groaned

“What did you deduce about the owner?”

Gullielmus smiled one of his rare broad smiles

“You know me too well! The owner was once a rich man as the cloak was of very high quality. However, it was shabby and had been repaired several times so the owner had fallen into reduced circumstances but still had some pride about how he looked”

Lucius frowned

“Once rich and now poorer if not poor? There are not a lot of men in Venta who match that description these days of prosperity, well apart from..”

Gullielmus nodded

“Indeed, those suspicions grew deeper when the cook came in showing me what he had found in the crop of the goose.”

Gullielmus fished in a pocket and pulled out a blue gemstone. Lucius almost shot out of his chair and took it from Gullielmus.

“This is..”

Gullielmus nodded

“That is my assumption also”

“No wonder you don’t want to involve the Watch”

Lucius paused

“What do you want me to do?”

“Put it about that you have come into the possession of the cloak and a goose. I will give you the cloak and a goose and see who comes to claim them. They may well come to you whereas they would not me even in these days”

Livia came into the room

“Why is there a cloak that has seen better days and a goose by the door?”

“Livia, my sweet, can you get the word spread around that I have them”

Livia glared at both Lucius and Gullielmus

“I am as retired as Lucius”

Gullielmus raised an eyebrow. Livia smiled wryly

“I do still have my contacts, I’ll use them”

She swept out of the room.

Livia did as she had promised, a day later, a rather shabby man came to collect.

“Why Gaudenius” exclaimed Lucius

“Your nest eggs not worked out as expected?”

“You know that they haven’t thanks to your damned Watch” snarled Gaudenius

“They are not my Watch anymore” replied Lucius mildly

“They’re still as much a pain to businessmen such as myself”

“Obviously. Here is the cloak, and I am afraid, a replacement goose. If we had kept it any longer it would have been no good to anyone”

Gaudenius eyed the goose

“That is a rather better one than the one I lost. I’ll take it!”

“We have kept the crop and so on of the one that you lost”

“Why? Feed them to your dogs. No, I’ll be perfectly happy eating that fine bird”

Realising that Gaudenius had no idea about what his goose had contained Lucius gave him both the cloak and the goose.

“By the way” he asked

“Where did you get the original?”

Gaudenius looked at him carefully

“Why? Oh, no matter, the little farm just outside the west gate. Run by Parricus now his original business is not viable, no thanks to the Watch”

Lucius nodded and his (well Livia’s) servant showed Gaudenius out.

“Well?” asked Livia

“You know as much as I, since you were listening at that spyhole in the hunting scene.”

Livia kissed him

“Hmm, you’ve spotted that one have you?”

“And the others. Don’t you trust me?”

“Absolutely not!”

Both smiled at each other and hugged. Eventually Livia pushed him away

“No, not now. Go and see your old friend. This runs deeper than even he thinks”

Lucius got his cloak and left the building.

(To be continued)

 

[Ramontxo]

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AlanJWhite]

Venta
It was the Winter Solstice and the various religious groups were celebrating in their own ways. The Christians had the Nativity, the few Jews left in Venta had celebrated Hannukah, the equally few followers of Mithras had celebrated his birth and the Cult had their own festival. Lucius was sat in a small room in front of a fire. Typically for Britannia the season had not seen any snow but there had been high winds and lots of rain. Lucius dozed off he was woken by Livia shaking him not too gently.

“Wake up, you have a visitor”

“Ehm, whom?”

Livia shook her head in mock sorrow

“An old colleague of yours. Why he should bother you is beyond me but he has”

“Well show him in then!”

A moment later a tall hooded figure came into the room. Lucius sat bolt upright.

“Gullielmus?”

The figure pushed his hood back

“Indeed”

“What brings you to me at this time of year? This season is important to you as the other religions”

“Religion?” queried Gullielmus

“You know what I mean” retorted Lucius

Gullielmus looked around

“Sorry, please sit down” stated Lucius indicating the other chair near the fire.

Gullielmus did so

“I came to you as I seem to have stumbled on a mystery”

“I have retired, Gullielmus, as you well know. Go to the Watch, Conatus is the man for a mystery”

“Normally I would agree with you but there are circumstances”

Lucius sighed

“Go on then”

“A few days ago, Aedh, my assistant, witnessed a gang of roughs assail a drunken man in the street. Aedh rushed forward to help the man but everyone in the group ran off. The victim of the attack had dropped his cloak and a goose when he ran. Aedh brought the items to me, I suggested that the goose be taken to the cooks as it needed to be eaten whilst I retained the cloak”

Lucius groaned

“What did you deduce about the owner?”

Gullielmus smiled one of his rare broad smiles

“You know me too well! The owner was once a rich man as the cloak was of very high quality. However, it was shabby and had been repaired several times so the owner had fallen into reduced circumstances but still had some pride about how he looked”

Lucius frowned

“Once rich and now poorer if not poor? There are not a lot of men in Venta who match that description these days of prosperity, well apart from..”

Gullielmus nodded

“Indeed, those suspicions grew deeper when the cook came in showing me what he had found in the crop of the goose.”

Gullielmus fished in a pocket and pulled out a blue gemstone. Lucius almost shot out of his chair and took it from Gullielmus.

“This is..”

Gullielmus nodded

“That is my assumption also”

“No wonder you don’t want to involve the Watch”

Lucius paused

“What do you want me to do?”

“Put it about that you have come into the possession of the cloak and a goose. I will give you the cloak and a goose and see who comes to claim them. They may well come to you whereas they would not me even in these days”

Livia came into the room

“Why is there a cloak that has seen better days and a goose by the door?”

“Livia, my sweet, can you get the word spread around that I have them”

Livia glared at both Lucius and Gullielmus

“I am as retired as Lucius”

Gullielmus raised an eyebrow. Livia smiled wryly

“I do still have my contacts, I’ll use them”

She swept out of the room.

Livia did as she had promised, a day later, a rather shabby man came to collect.

“Why Gaudenius” exclaimed Lucius

“Your nest eggs not worked out as expected?”

“You know that they haven’t thanks to your damned Watch” snarled Gaudenius

“They are not my Watch anymore” replied Lucius mildly

“They’re still as much a pain to businessmen such as myself”

“Obviously. Here is the cloak, and I am afraid, a replacement goose. If we had kept it any longer it would have been no good to anyone”

Gaudenius eyed the goose

“That is a rather better one than the one I lost. I’ll take it!”

“We have kept the crop and so on of the one that you lost”

“Why? Feed them to your dogs. No, I’ll be perfectly happy eating that fine bird”

Realising that Gaudenius had no idea about what his goose had contained Lucius gave him both the cloak and the goose.

“By the way” he asked

“Where did you get the original?”

Gaudenius looked at him carefully

“Why? Oh, no matter, the little farm just outside the west gate. Run by Parricus now his original business is not viable, no thanks to the Watch”

Lucius nodded and his (well Livia’s) servant showed Gaudenius out.

“Well?” asked Livia

“You know as much as I, since you were listening at that spyhole in the hunting scene.”

Livia kissed him

“Hmm, you’ve spotted that one have you?”

“And the others. Don’t you trust me?”

“Absolutely not!”

Both smiled at each other and hugged. Eventually Livia pushed him away

“No, not now. Go and see your old friend. This runs deeper than even he thinks”

Lucius got his cloak and left the building.

(To be continued)

et sic ludus iterum incipit

Or should that be
agus mar sin tòisichidh an geama a-rithist

 

[Lindseyman]

Venta

Lucius walked towards Gullielmus’ villa. At least the rain had stopped although there was still a gusty wind. Lucius wrapped his cloak closer about him and walked on. He reached the entrance to the villa and was stopped by a burly guard.

“What do you want with the Master? No one is allowed in without prior permission”

“Young man, I was your Master’s superior officer long before you were born. He asked me to come here when I needed to do so”

Just then a cowled figure scurried out from the villa.

“Let him through. The Master is expecting him”

“Nobody told me” grumbled the guard

Something about the grumble made Lucius look more closely at the guard

“Don’t I know you?”

The guard looked a little sheepish

“We have met many years ago when I was a street urchin”

“Oh! You were one of his “cursores””

Lucius looked closer

“Antonius isn’t it”

Antonius nodded

“Then since you knew who I was why didn’t you let me in” roared Lucius

“Orders” quavered Antonius

“Don’t blame Antonius” stated the cowled figure

“You won’t believe who tries to get in to see the Master. Not all with good intentions. I believe that the Bishop also has employed such”

Lucius shook his head

“Shouldn’t need them with the Watch”

“Which can’t be everywhere and by its nature is reactive rather than proactive and that isn’t a criticism. You can’t arrest people on just the suspicion that they are going to commit a crime”

Lucius shook his head

“You must be young if you don’t think that that has ever happened!”

“Oh, I remember Llacheu, all too well. Now, the Master is expecting you. What have you found out?”

Lucius cast a jaundiced eye at the cowled figure

“That is for his ears, not yours!”

There was a chuckle

“The Master said that you would say that”

The figure reached up and threw back his hood. Lucius was stunned

“You look like he did when I first met him!”

“A distant collateral relative”

“You are not Aedh, I have met him”

“Na, I am called Pontius”

Lucius followed Pontius to a room where Gullielmus waited. Pontius made to withdraw but Gullielmus raised a hand

“Na, stay Pontius. You have as good a mind as mine. You may see something that we do not”

Lucius looked askance at Gullielmus

“Sa, I trust him. In many ways he would be an ideal successor but he is not senior enough and questions much as I used to do. That is not a way to succeed in hierarchies, unfortunately”

Lucius inclined his head and sat in the chair which Gullielmus indicated.

“Now, what have you found out?”

 

[clem attlee]

Are you back in business or is this a coda?

 

[Lindseyman]

Are you back in business or is this a coda?

Well Artos is "dead" so his story has finished but for some reason this world won't let go. Posting will not be as regular as it used to be but I will give into temptation when the muse strikes.

 

[clem attlee]

Then we will all account ourselves fortunate.

 

[altwere]

That we will.