Part II  Eporedia
Chapter 6
 
Bituitius and I passed over the surprisingly wide and well-constructed wooden bridge made of fine elm to enter the settlement of Caerleon. I marveled at the Silure craftsmanship for I tended to consider them as nothing more than vicious raiders. The bridge spanned the waters of the mighty Usk River, a river so important as the lifeblood to this lively Silure town. The Usk was a swift flowing tributary of the Severn and I realized how difficult it might have been to cross if we had attempted a different route upstream. Caerleon was the residence of the Silure head chieftain the aging Gutuater. It was believed by most that his days were numbered and that Orgetorix the Silure warleader from the Wye valley band would eventually seize power. However if Orgetorix ever succeeded in possessing the discs then his ambition would be much greater than simply being able to grasp the leadership of the Silures. We must make sure that would never happen.
Bituitius was holding my waist with an almost frightened grip. I supposed now my feelings for him were clear but I must put them aside and concentrate on the mission. That was far more important than my fanciful desires. He did not suspect that I had a wound on the underneath of my left thigh, a tear caused by the tusk of the wild boar. The sooner it was cleaned and bound the better. However for now I dressed myself as a Druids apprentice and with my short hair I would pass for a boy. We would draw less attention that way and as such we begun our entry in to Caerleon.
The town was in comparative darkness as the light had faded but lanterns glowed from many of the rounded wooden dwellings and we were soon able to find decent lodging for the night. A travelling Druid and his young companion fortunately roused little suspicion. Once inside I requested water and cloth to bathe my wound and clean it. Bituitius was very upset that he had not appreciated my growing distress on the journey due to the wound and wished only to make amends.
I sat on the animal furs that covered one of the sleeping areas while he insisted on cleaning the wound. The man I had longed for was at my feet tending to me as best he could. The same man that loved my sister but I had to discard all this from my mind. Tenderly and meticulously he cleaned the gash as if trying to make up for his earlier oversight. I watched him almost lovingly doing his work and I knew that it was not more than just remorse that was his motive and I began to feel so aroused.  I blushed as I could feel a wetness at some part of my body. He would not look at me perhaps from fear of consequences for he knew as well as I that things must not be further complicated and that the mission was everything. He tore a strip from the bottom of his cloak to tie around the wound and then I felt his trembling hand touch my thigh and then swiftly withdraw.
Goodnight Eporedia", he said as he almost rushed to the other sleeping platform at the far end of the room we occupied. Though the wound was sore I was relieved that it was not serious. I looked across at Bituitius and I wondered if he was asleep. Then the tension between us was overtaken by much needed sleep after that long and arduous journey from Marmesse.
I awoke to find it was daylight and Bituitius was just about to go out. "Get a bit more rest", he said, "I am going out to barter for supplies and to purchase a new horse".
Grateful for more rest I thoughtfully watched him leave. My leg was stiff but a quick look at the wound showed to my relief that there was no infection. I was fine to continue our travels.
Bituitius returned after an hour or so looking a bit tense.
"Eporedia I think we should leave straight away", he said frowning. "I have the horse and supplies but I feel uneasy because I am sure I was being watched. Also there is talk that Orgetorix and a group of a hundred warriors are camped ten miles north of Caerleon. They may well have the same destination as us in mind".
I nodded my agreement and we left hurriedly and to my relief Caerleon was soon left well behind. It seemed that we had done our business, had our rest, safely in the Silure capital. But five miles out from Caerleon the path ahead was blocked by three riders.
"How did you pay for the supplies", I inquired of Bituitius
"By blessing their holy mistletoe with divine water so that it would function as an instrument for their good fortune and a few items of jewelry", he answered.
"And were you watched", I asked.
"Yes", he replied, "and they look like the watchers".
We rode on until we faced the three riders.
"Let me talk to them and take care of it", Bituitius said unconvincingly.
I was less than sure and kept my hand on the hilt of my sword as he moved two paces forward but I feared my wound would slow me down.
"Greetings and the blessings of the Earth Mother be upon you", Bituitius said pleasantly but I saw his hand inside his cloak resting on his sturdy oak rod. One of the riders a somewhat dirty and ungainly individual with red eyes and a scruffy beard came forward and roughly said, "I will take that, pointing at the bag hanging around the neck of Bituitius's mount. He then raised his sword and had he not hesitated, Bituitius would not have been able to defend himself and I could not have saved him. Fortunately even the meanest thief would not kill a Druid easily and he did not expect the response he got. Bituitius swung the heavy carved rod into the thief’s midriff even as he pondered on whether to strike. Both Bituitius and the thief fell from their horses in the flurry of action. The second thief jumped from his horse and drew his weapon. . Bituitius was on his feet now, holding his rod to defend himself attack from two directions.  And the third one was spurring his mount to join in.  Bituitius would have no chance against three of them at the same time.
I could take on any one of them if my leg was unhurt.  Being as it was, I would become more of a liability than a help.  Still, I recognized that something, anything had to be done to save us from this predicament.  I reached for my sling and locked a pebble onto it.  The third man saw what I was trying to do and shouted a warning.  I was quicker though and a shot sliced through the air and knocked the first thief between his eyes.  His eyes opened wide and fell with a curse, then lay still.  I was not sure if he was just wounded or dead and I did not have the time to find out as now Bituitius was being attacked by the two remaining thieves.  I locked new shots and let go but this time, they were prepared.  One ducked unharmed while the other deflected it with his sword, sending the pebble flying back at my direction.
“Watch out!” Bituitius shouted.
I did not need him to warn me.  The returning pebble was lethal and if I was hit in the head, that would be the end of our quest.  I shifted my body weight to one side, forgetting that the other leg was hurt and could not balance me as under normal circumstances.  The horse neighed and unsaddled me, though it was well trained enough to avoid crushing on my wounded leg.  Still, I was out of action for the moment and could do nothing but to stare in horror as the two of them closed in for the kill.
Needless to say, we both knew they were not common horsethieves.  They were too good.  The swordplay and the co-ordination would take years of training and working together.  Bituitius was having trouble to fend off the alternate waves of attacks now and it would not be long before one such attack got lucky.
I struggled to my feet and loaded another shot but I knew it would not be easy to dislodge any one of them.  One reason was Bituitius was in the midst and I did not have a clear field of shot.  Bituitius recognized that too and sweat was running down his temple as his attackers stepped up the frenzy of killing cuts.  One of the attackers was smiling in my direction, showing his yellowish teeth.  I shuddered as I read his mind of what kind of spoil he was expecting to get when he won.  
Then, Bituitius did something, which surprised all of us, me included.
Instead of parrying an attack, he flipped the rod the other way round and pushed it into the other hand of one of the thieves, the hand that was not holding the sword!
“Are you crazy?” I was close to tears.  What was he doing?
But he was far from being crazy.  The two attackers had been relentless with their well co-ordinated attack.  The two swords were like the two powerful limbs of a giant spider, striking and defending in perfect timing.  The addition of a rod into one of the thieves’ arsenal of weapons was totally outside the expectation of the attackers and caused a temporary confusion.  The cadence of attack was broken and they sought to disengage themselves as one tried to let go of the rod.  It only took two seconds but that was more than enough for me.  One attacker uttered a cry as a stone banged against his left temple.  He slumped onto the ground and lay stiff.
Bituitius was unarmed now but the remaining attacker had lost his nerve.  Making two feign cuts, he quickly disengaged and ran for his horse.  He never had the chance.  Bituitius kicked up his rod and made a stunning blow between the man’s shoulders and he collapsed from his saddle onto the ground.
"I thought you were not a man of action", I said smiling.
"When the situation calls for it", he replied smiling back and holding up his shaking hand, "Later I will have to pray to the Gods again for our deliverance.
We decided it would not be wise to stay longer to interrogate our prisoners, though we had no means to determine if they would ever be able to talk again.   We mounted our horses; Bituitius took over one from the gang, and galloped away as quickly as possible and made good time still following the bank of the mouth of the Severn.
“Who are they? Silure?” I finally asked Bituitius when we had put enough safe distance between us and the possibility of more attackers.
Bituitius was deep in thought and it was quite some time before he answered me.
“No.  They were not of the Silure hordes.  They were sent by someone who would know about our mission and did not want us to succeed, obviously.”
That was obvious enough, but it did not answer my question.
“Epi,” he had begun to use that shorter form to address me.” How often were you attacked by boars in the rain?”
I shook my head.  Boars were dangerous, of course but unless they were hunted or antagonized, would seldom charge.  My eyes shone up.  Now things began to make sense. We had barely left Marmesse when we were attacked by that boar!
Bituitius nodded as he urged his mount forward at a trot.
“Yes, Epi. Someone from our tribe would like to make this a very short trip.”
But now the land on the other side of the great estuary was no longer visible. This meant one thing we were leaving Silure territory and entering Demetae land.