Legionary

Chapter 60

Gallus padded the battlements, wringing his fingers as he clasped them behind his back. Night had fallen, but the legionaries still swarmed around the walls. Probably more to give themselves less time to think of their predicament than anything else, he mused. Certainly, the day just past had stretched on forever for him as he supervised the proceedings. He examined the blistered, raw patches between his fingers. All the men, officers and ranks had mucked in and made a fine job of it though. Rudimentary ballistae had been hewn from every scrap of timber which they could harvest from the fort. Mounted every twenty paces along the wall were catapults; two of them had been put together and were now being bolted onto the courtyard, one facing northeast and one northwest. Spears, plumbatae and bows were piled at every second crenellation. A fragile but lofty timber watchtower had been erected in the middle of the courtyard, giving them an eagle-eye view of every area of the wall. Zosimus and Avitus had filled the designated supply rooms and cistern to their limits. How effective all this would be remained to be seen. In his mind, Gallus saw it as a dam of twigs waiting on a tidal wave.

He blinked and gritted his teeth. The injuries and shock from the initial battle with the Huns had settled. Eight hundred and seven fighting fit men remained. Just over seven hundred legionaries — enough to line the walls with a few hundred in reserve should the gate collapse.

‘Quadratus,’ he yelled across the courtyard, seeing the hulking Gaul about to set off on his inspection of the guard. ‘What’s the latest?’

‘No change, sir. Think they’re happy to sit in and starve us out.’

Gallus felt the slightest tinge of satisfaction. In a sustained siege, they would survive in the short term, but it was effectively a stay of execution. His only hope remained as fragile as his army — Felix, Pavo and Sura; if they could slip away undetected, the Huns might fancy waiting it out and letting the Romans starve. He scanned the sea of torches swimming around the base of the hill below and sighed as the balance of play grated on his exhausted mind.

‘Give the current watch full rations. If a mosquito farts, I want to know about it.’

‘Yes, sir!’ Quadratus saluted.