[Mkguild] Roman story part 32

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

 Here is the next part!
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   Bitt finally found the time to visit themarket again. Last time when he was just relaxing and wandering the streets.Today was different. He was looking for something else. His clan’s stolen past.He went about it systematically. Bitt started at one end of the street andworked his way to the other end sticking to one side. Then he worked his wayback up the street on the other side. There were other markets in the city butthis one was located at the base of the hill and closest to the gate to thefortress. Most of the people here were related to the legion. Eitherlegionnaires, the families of legionnaires or selling to them.    His first success came in the third stalldown where a canine of some unknown species was selling various bric-a-brac.Amidst the cups, plates, statues and countless jewelry he spotted a bronzebracelet. It had a design on it of gold, silver and green lines interwoven intoa flowing knot with three points. A design completely unknown in this part ofthe empire. That was the emblem of Cenel Fearadhaigh. The felines would be gladto have this little lost treasure returned to them. Five copper As and thebracelet was his.    Happy with his first victory he continuedhis search. Soon other things came to him. A battered old cloth covering asmall table bore a very battered circular emblem of Cenél Luighdech. Ten bronzeQuadran coins and it was his. The rabbits would be glad to have it back. Evenif their stolen property had to be bought.    It was a big market (the largest in thewhole prefecture) but Bitt had expected the search to be harder. The itemsthemselves were easy to spot. They were all done in a style that simply didn’thappen this far south. He was surprised by how much he was finding. It bodedwell for how much had survived the one hundred years since the fall ofSenaloca.    His first weapon was a dagger with a hilt ofivory and a blade of iron that was barely wider than the hilt it was attachedto. The hilt itself had two, gold loops at the end. The blade was engraved withlines and swirls that were clearly Gaelach. It had no clan emblem but thatdidn’t matter. This one cost more – a silver Sertertii.    Several stalls down he came upon a silverbrooch shaped like the letter C. Both ends were shaped like stylized bat headswith little blue eyes. It cost him no less than four Sertertii but it was wellworth it.  *****************

    The legate’s full name was Septimus MatilusVitellius. He was one of the five Tribuni Angusticlavii assigned to the legion.They were mostly intended to handle the administrative work that always comeswith an organization as large as a legion. Still the scar along the right sideof his face told that the oryx was no stranger to combat. When the legion wentto war everyone fought. No one was left behind. His primary duties had littleto do with administration. But it was a good way to hide them.    “I am sorry to bother you Legate,” Tullussaid nervously. The two were in the small room in the Principia that was theImmunes office. “It’s about one of the Legionnaires; Bitilus Aeturitis. He hasbeen reading the Legion’s history.”    “He can read and write?” the legate asked.Surprised. The number of people who were literate in the legion was small. Andthose were all working in positions like the hyena’s.    “Yes sir,” came the answer.     “A red fox,” Tullus answered. “With the 5thCohort, 7th Century.”    The oryx nodded his head. “I know him.”  “I don’t mind him reading it but he hasstarted writing on the scroll,” the hyena commented.    “He’s vandalizing it?” The Legate asked.    “No,” came the confused reply. “He seems tobe editing it. Correcting mistakes.”    The legate tilted his head to one side.“What?”    The hyena opened a scroll onto the desk andtapped a part with one finger. A name written in black ink had been crossed offwith fine red ink and the name (spelled slightly differently) written above itin a flowing script. “See. He even has a nice handwriting. Most certainly he’sbeen trained as a scribe at some point.”    “I’ve always suspected that some of thosenames were wrong. The name he crossed off is the empire translation,” the Oryxsaid absent mindedly. “The one he added must be the name in the originalGaelach.”    The Legate noted where the fox had left offas the editing stopped. Curious he read onward.
    The onlyother place not taken by the legion was the city cathedral. Even with theirbloodlust up few legionnaires felt at ease attacking a house of worship. Eventhose who were not Christians did not want to risk the wrath of this new God.Those who did were dissuaded by the dedication of the Great Priest assigned toit. This Bitilus Aeturitis Virgilius defended the cathedral and those takingrefuge in it with amazing ferocity. He saved many lives with his courage.    Bitt had added more in that same red ink, “He saved over four thousand people.Including my own ancestors. How he managed to fit that many people into thecathedral is in of itself a miracle. For the original building was quitesmall.”    The Legate read those last lines severaltimes. Bitilus Aeturitis Virgilius. The name leapt out at him. Helaughed and shook his head at his own foolishness. “He’s Clan, He belongs toone of the Nine Great Clans. Since he is a fox it must be Cairrge Brachaidhe.And the handwriting of a scribe.” A sudden realization came to the Oryx. Heturned to the hyena. “Mention this to no one. He seems to be harmless but the fewerwho know the better. At least till I understand why he’s doing it.”    “And what of Bitt?” Tullus asked.    “Tell him nothing,” the Legate responded.“And let him keep reading the scroll. And correcting it. Please inform me everytime he comes.”    “Yes sir!”  ***************     Bitt quickly gained a reputation among themerchants and traders of the markets. They understood that he was looking forNorthern items. Few knew where the province of Tirontach was and fewer cared.The smart ones took the time to find out. What they did know was that thevulpine legionnaire would pay well for items from there. Of course, there weresome who didn’t bother going to the effort to find real items.    The shop was small and not on one of thelarger streets. After entering through Warriors Gate he traveled across theopen plaza (Plaza of the Ara-Kime) he took the first right and the second left.It had no name just a small counter.    Bitt was standing at that counter arguingwith a rodent. The male had thin, brown fur that had burn marks in places andtold of a life working with fire and hot metal.    “I don’t care what you tell me this was notmade by Muintir Dalachaie,” the fox was holding a bronze medallion that was aslarge as the palm of his hand. In the center of it was four separate linesintertwined into a circle with the center open.    “How dare you insult me and my family,” therodent said and puffed up in indignation.     “You don’t understand!” The fox countered.“Clan Dalachaie like it. They want you to make them a dozen more.”    The rodent stopped talking in mid-protest.“Truly?”    The fox nodded. “They want fifteen more forfifty Quadran each. With the possibility of another thirty if they like thefirst group.”    The rodent pondered for a moment. Then henodded. “Fair enough!”  ***************     The morning formation was as boring as usualbut had one news item. “And let it be known that the usurper Didius Julianushas been killed,” the centurion said slowly.    “He lasted longer than the last two,” Bittcommented while standing in formation.    “The courageous Septimius Severus has takenthe throne,” the centurion said out loud in a rather bored tone.    “Meaning he killed the last emperor and thefour or five competitors for the purple,” the jackal snidely commented.    “I’ll bet three coins he doesn’t last fouryears,” the lion added.    There were no takers.  ************     The legion is a firm believer in a busylegionnaire is a happy legionnaire. At least the officers think so. So Bittbeing on limited duty should have left him with plenty of free time. That wasunacceptable so the Centurion found something to keep him busy.    Time, even in the hot, dry climate took aconstant toll on buildings and something always needed fixing. The ground underone building had settled and the earth needed to be leveled off and the stoneworkof the walls redone. Bitt found himself using the skills Fulvius had taught himand was shaping and mortaring in the stones.    “I think we’ve found your true calling inlife,” Tossius joked.    Bitt looked around and saw the lion waswalking past, headed somewhere.    Bitt stopped his work and waved his mallet inthe direction of the feline. “Come here and I’ll show my calling.”    He was working on the outside of a wall thatbacked onto another building. A storage building. It gave him a good look atthe wall of the building opposite. Since this butted against another wall thesestones hadn’t seen light of day since the other wall had been finished. And oncecompleted that other wall would again be hidden. He was starting to work whenhe noticed something on the wall. There carved into the stone was the words “LuciusPinxit”. Which translated to “Lucius Wrote this.”    Bitt looked at the graffiti and laughed. Hewondered how long it had lain hidden behind that wall. The fox picked up a chiseland set to work. He worked quickly and scratched into the stonework the words“Bitt was here,” and an image - his clan emblem – the mountain flower. The foxadmired his work for a few moments then set about rebuilding the wall next tothat one. In the space of a few hours his little message was hidden from sight.He wondered how long before someone would see it.   *************     Bitt made sure to visit the market at leastonce a week. Moving calmly among all the stalls looking carefully. Most visitsbrought some discovery. Sometimes it was small, sometimes it was big but mosttrips resulted in Bitt finding some long lost, clan treasure. These werecarefully wrapped up and stored in a chest till it was full. Then he took it tothe harbor which was only a few hours trip west.    The harbor of Caesarea was always busy withships coming and going and goods and passengers being loaded or unloaded. Ittook Bitt an hour to find what he wanted. He could always find at least oneship headed north to Senaloca.    As a kit he used to go to the harbor and seethe ships sailing to distant and exotic lands. He tried to imagine what thosedistant lands were like. Now he was in one of those places and Senaloca was thedistant, exotic land.    The ship was no war galley. It was a largeand slow sailing, cargo ship like a dozen others in port. The warships and generalsgarnered the glory but it was the merchants and ships like this that kept theempire going. They were the life blood of it.    What caught his attention about this ship wasthe flag flying from the mast. A green background with the image in white of alightning bolt striking and splitting a tree.    The captain wasn’t a tall stallion like wasso often associated with Clann Drugain. Instead she was stout pony whose browncoat was liberally peppered with small, white and gray spots.    “Iam Bitilus Aeturitis Brachaidhe of Clan Brachaidhe, Sept Brachaidhe andFamily Brachaidhe,” the fox said solemnly and bowed.    “I am Aingael of Clan Drugain of House MacBloscaidh and family Mc Cleary,” the mare responded and bowed in return. “Howcan I be of service?”    “I need this box sent to Senaloca,” Bittexplained as he tapped the chest now resting on the deck between them.    “And who does it go to?” Aingael asked.    Bitt thought for a moment. “Harailt and Abagail Brachaidhe,” he finallyanswered. “They are at Carraigsiona itself. I have a message to go withit.”    Afew minutes haggling and the price of two hundred Sertertii was agreed upon.    Withbusiness concluded they relaxed for a little while and spoke of home.    “Howlong have to been stationed here?” She asked.    Bitthad to think on that for a moment. “Over two years. Time seems to move fast.The legion keeps me busy.”    “Howdid you wind up here? So far from Tirontach,” Aingael asked.    “I wanted to see the world,” He answered.“And the governor decided I should travel far.”    “You certainly couldn’t find a moredifferent place,” she responded. “What do you think this land?"   “It’s all so exciting and different. So much to see and experience. ButI miss the cold of winter,” Bitt commented wistfully. “It’s always hot here.And it never snows.”    Aingaelnodded in agreement. “It’s the smallthings like snow that you miss.”    “Imiss the rain,” He said wistfully. “I used to love just listen to the rain asit comes down.”    “Itrains here,” the mare replied.    Henodded. “A little but not like the true downpours we get at home.”   “True,” she responded. “But since there is no winter they can grow cropsall year round. Living here is easier. Farming is easier.”    “Itwould be if they could stop killing each other,” Bitt commented.   “They lie along a natural invasion route,” she commented.    “Ahorn sounded suddenly. The low, deep blast echoing across the docks.”    "Whatwas that?" Bitt asked.    "Harbormaster,”the captain explained. “Warning that the tide is turning soon. It’s time to go.Unless you want to travel with us to Senaloca you need to get off the ship.”    Bittlaughed. “I’m not that homesick. Thank you and I wish you a good journey.” 
  *********************     His injury took time to heal. Long enoughfor Bitt to grow thoroughly tired of cooking and stonework. It was over twomonths before the medico declared him fit for full duty. 
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