The Lost Knights. William Speir

to attack their rear. If we go west and then south, we’d be in uncertain territory and might still find ourselves in the middle of the Caledonian forces. And if the Caledonian forces overrun our defenses along the border, going south is no help to us, and we’d be marching right towards the returning and victorious Caledonians. Four, we go east. The problem with that is we’re already on the coast, and we can’t swim to safety. Five, we stay here. Not an ideal option, but then none of them are. I’d like to know your thoughts,” he said as he gestured to the assembly that the meeting was now open for all to comment and discuss the options.

      “What would we do if we stayed here?” Titus Aurelius asked.

      “Blend in and attempt to show the Caledonians that we’re no threat to them. That would give us time to consider our long-term options, such as retuning to the Roman territories once the current crisis is over.”

      “Why would they let us stay here?” a Principal from the Fourth Centuria asked. “They’ve already shown that they want all Romans dead and gone. Why would they ever let us live? They don’t take hostages, so using us for ransom isn’t going to happen. They don’t seem to want money, so paying them, even if we had something to pay with, isn’t an option.”

      Several of the Legionnaires nodded in agreement with this. Gaius Valerius thought about it for a moment. “We do have something we may be able to barter with,” he said.

      “What?” Titus Aurelius asked.

      “Ourselves.”

      “What do you mean? Are you suggesting we offer ourselves as slaves?”

      “No, not as slaves. We’re soldiers, and we have several wagons filled with the best weapons that the empire has to offer. We can offer our services as soldiers, and we can offer to teach them military tactics.”

      “What, to use against our own Legions to the south?” one of the Centurions asked. “Wouldn’t that make us traitors to Rome?”

      Gaius Valerius nodded. “Possibly,” he replied. “The question we have to ask ourselves is this: what are we willing to do to survive? If we attempt to fight the Caledonians or rejoin the Legions at this time, we’ll surely be destroyed. No glory, no honor, just dead. If we want to live, especially if we want to rejoin the Legions to the south, we need to determine how we’re going to live. And by live, I don’t mean how we’re going to eat; I mean how we’re going to survive in the Caledonian’s territory.

      “Right now, they want us dead, so what do we have that might make them change their minds about killing us. Weapons? If they wanted those, they would have taken them after they slaughtered our Legion. Money? Even if we had money, it wouldn’t be enough to secure our safety in or safe passage through their lands. Our value is in our skills, our training, and our knowledge of military tactics. Remember, Rome isn’t the Caledonian’s only enemy. There are Irish raiders in the west and German raiders from the east. We can offer to help the Caledonians defend themselves against their other enemies.”

      “But what’s to stop them from taking what we provide and using it against the Legions at some time?” another Centurion asked.

      “Nothing,” Gaius Valerius answered. “We can’t control how they use what we teach them, assuming that they’d even accept our services in the first place. All we can do is make sure that they understand we aren’t offering them services to be used against Romans.”

      “Are you suggesting that we become mercenaries?” a Principal from the First Centuria asked. “I don’t fight for profit.”

      “We all fight for profit,” Titus Aurelius stated, standing up and moving to the center of the assembly. “Think about it for a moment. We’re Romans, and we fight for the glory of Rome, but how many of us would still fight in the Legions if we didn’t get paid? Would we join and stay in the army for free? No! We fight because we’re paid to fight and because we get to keep the occasional spoils taken from our defeated adversaries. Let’s not kid ourselves on that point. We all joined the Legions for profit and glory, or because it was better than the alternatives. Would any of us be here if there were no money in it for us? It would be different if we were in Rome itself. We’d be defending our city which we’d do whether or not there was pay in it for us. But most of us have never even been to Rome, so what is Rome to us but a symbol, a rallying cry for our military services? Rome pays us to fight for her, but how will she pay us if we’re cut off from her and presumed dead? Do we stay loyal to a city that we’ve never seen, or do we stay loyal to each other and fight for each other’s survival? We’re already mercenaries. I think that what we need to decide here is who gets the money for our services. The Senate, the State, the Emperor, or us?”

      Gaius Valerius smiled at his second-in-command and noticed that many were nodding in agreement with his words.

      “Gentlemen,” Gaius Valerius began after a moment, “I know how hard it is to contemplate sacrificing our allegiance to Rome. I’ve been in the service of the Emperor most of my life, and I’ve fought in many campaigns on Rome’s behalf. In battle, I’d gladly die in the service of my Emperor, but if I do so, I’m actually dying for each of you, and I’d sacrifice myself to keep you safe at any time. We’re cut off from Rome with no immediate prospects of returning to her protection. How shall we live? As Romans or as men? I think the choice is that simple. If we live as Romans, we invite utter destruction at the hands of the Caledonians. If we live as men, and do what we have to in order to survive, we have a chance to stay alive in this land. If at some point we desire to return to the protection of Rome, assuming any of the Britannic Legions survive the coming invasion, we do so and make no mention of what we had to do as men to survive.”

      The discussion went on for several more hours, and Gaius Valerius made sure that each and every individual had a chance to speak his mind freely, regardless of his position on the subject. Once the assembled Legionnaires finished speaking, he stood up and addressed everyone.

      “I thank each of you for your comments. I understand the discomfort many of you have with the idea of abandoning our allegiance to the Emperor and to Rome herself. It isn’t a decision I could ever take lightly. There may be consequences of that decision down the road – dire consequences. And it may all be for naught. The Caledonians may decide to kill us anyway. They have every reason to do so, and it’s the safer option for them. We don’t speak their language, so we have to hope that someone amongst them speaks ours and can translate our offer to them…”

      “Actually, sir,” a Legionnaire said, standing, “I do speak the language of the Caledonians. I learned it years ago before I was assigned to the Ninth, and I remember most of it.”

      “Well, that improves our situation somewhat. Thank you,” Gaius Valerius said to the Legionnaire. “Here’s what I propose. I want everyone to think about this, discuss it amongst yourselves, and sleep on it tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll meet again, and we’ll vote on what to do. Majority rules, and everyone will be allowed to vote according to his own beliefs. No one will coerce anyone to vote one way or the other. Whatever the majority decides, that’s what we’ll do. If the majority wants to return to the Legions, we will all do so, even if it means our own death. If the majority wants to remain here, we will all do so and make every attempt to demonstrate to the Caledonians our worth so they’ll let us live. Agreed?”

      Everyone nodded. The Legionnaires dispersed for the remainder of the day to contemplate their futures. Gaius Valerius went over to Titus Aurelius and thanked him for his comments. “I understood where you were going,” Titus Aurelius said, “and I wanted to help make the point. What are you going to do now?”

      “I’m going to go around and talk to everyone individually and answer whatever questions I can. This is a big decision that I’ve asked them to make, and I want to make sure that each Legionnaire is making the right decision for himself.”

      Gaius Valerius spent the rest of the day walking amongst the Legionnaires, Principals and officers, answering questions and listening to the thoughts and ideas of his men. The sun had long since set before he was finally able to get some rest.

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