The Gates Of Rome

CHAPTER 32

Alexandria hammered at the door of the little jeweler's shop. There had to be someone there! She knew he could have left the city as so many others had done, and the thought that she might be just drawing attention to herself made her go pale. Something scraped in the street nearby, like a door opening.

"Tabbic! It's me, Alexandria! Gods, open up, man!" She let her arm fall, panting. Shouts came from nearby and her heart thudded wildly.

"Come on. Come on," she whispered.

Then the door was wrenched aside and Tabbic stood glaring, a hatchet held tightly in his hand. When he saw her, he looked relieved and something of the anger faded.

"Get in, girl. The animals are out tonight," he said gruffly. He looked up and down the street. It seemed deserted, though he could feel eyes on him.

Inside, she was faint from relief. "Metella… sent me, she…" she said.

"It's all right, girl. You can explain later. The wife and kids are upstairs putting a meal together. Go up and join them. You're safe here."

She paused for a moment and turned to him, unable to hold it in. "Tabbic. I have papers and everything. I'm free."

He leaned close and looked her in the eyes, a smile beginning. "When were you anything else? Get upstairs now. My wife will be wondering what all the fuss is about."

There was nothing in the battle manuals for assaulting a broken barricade set across a city street. Orso Ferito simply roared his dead general's name and launched himself up the litter of broken carts and doors into the arms of the enemy. Two hundred men came behind him.

Orso buried his gladius in the first throat he saw and only missed being cut by slipping on the shifting barricade and rolling down the other side. He came up swinging and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch of bone. His men were all around him, hacking and cutting onward. Orso couldn't tell how well they were doing or how many had died. He only knew that the enemy was in front of him and he had a sword in his hand. He roared and cut a man's arm from his shoulder as it was raising a shield to block him. He grabbed the shield with the limp arm falling out of the grip and used it to shoulder-charge two men from his path, trampling over them. One of them stabbed upward and he felt a warmth rush over his legs but paid it no attention. The area was clear, but the end of the street was filling with men. Orso saw their captain sound the charge and met it at full speed across the open space. He knew in that moment how it felt to be a berserker in one of the savage nations they had conquered. It was a strange freedom. There was no pain, only an exhilarating distance from fear or exhaustion.

More men went under his sword and the First-Born carried all before them, cutting and dealing death on bright metal.

"Sir! The side streets. They have more reinforcements!"

Orso almost shook off the hand tugging at his arm, but then his training came to the fore. "Too many of them. Back, lads! We've cut them enough for now!" He raised his sword in triumph and began to run back the way they had come, panting even as he noted the numbers of Sulla's dead. More than a hundred, if he was any judge.

Here and there were faces he had known. One or two stirred feebly and he was tempted to stop for them, but behind came the crash of sandals on stone and he knew they had to reach the barricades or be routed with their backs to them.

"On, lads. Ma-ri-us!"

The cry was answered from all around and then again they were climbing. At the top, Orso looked back and saw the slowest of his men being brought down and trampled. Most had made it clear and as he turned to run down the other side, the First-Born archers fired again over his men's heads, sending more bodies to die on the stone road, screaming and writhing. Orso chuckled as he ran, his sword drooping from the exhaustion that was threatening to unman him. He ducked inside a building and stood gasping, his hands braced on his knees. The cut in his thigh was bad and blood ran freely. He felt light-headed and could only mumble as hands took him onward away from the barricade.

"Can't stop here, sir. The archers can only cover us until they run out of arrows. Have to keep going a road or two farther. Come on, sir."

He registered the words, but wasn't sure if he had responded. Where had his energy gone? His leg felt weak. He hoped Bar Gallienus had done as well.

Bar Gallienus lay in his own blood, with Sulla's sword pressing against his throat. He knew he was dying and tried to spit at the general, but could not raise more than a sputter of liquid. His men had found a freshly reinforced century over the barricade and had very nearly been broken on the first assault. After minutes of furious fighting, they had breached the wall of piled stone and wood and thrown themselves into the mass of soldiers beyond. His men had taken many with them, but it was simply too much. The line had not been thin at all.

Bar smiled to himself, revealing bloody teeth. He knew Sulla could reinforce quickly. It was a shame he wouldn't have the chance to mention this to Orso. He hoped the hairy man had done better than he had, or the legion would be leaderless again. Foolhardy to risk himself on such a venture, but too many of them had died in that dreadful first day of havoc and execution. He'd known Sulla would reinforce.

"I think he's dead, sir," Bar heard a voice say.

He heard Sulla's voice reply, "A pity. He has the strangest expression. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking."

Orso snarled at the centurion who tried to help him stand. His leg ached and he had a crutch under one shoulder, but he was in no mood to be helped.

"No one came back?" he asked.

"We lost both centuries. That section had been reinforced just before we charged it, sir. It doesn't look like that tactic will work again."

"I was lucky then," Orso grunted. No one met his eye. He had been, to hit a section of the wall where the strength was low. Bar Gallienus must have laughed to see himself proved right about that. It was a shame he couldn't buy the man a drink.

"Sir? Do you have any other orders?" asked one of the centurions.

Orso shook his head. "Not yet. But I will have when I know where we stand."

"Sir." The younger man hesitated.

Orso swung to face him. "What is it? Spit it out, lad."

"Some of the men are talking of surrender. We are down to half strength and Sulla has the supply routes to the sea. We cannot win and-"

"Win? Who said we were going to win? When I saw Marius die, I knew we couldn't win. I realized then that Sulla would break the back of the First-Born before enough could gather to cause him any real difficulty. This isn't about winning, boy, it's about fighting for a just cause, following orders and honoring a great man's life and death."

He looked at the men around the room. Only a few couldn't meet his eyes and he knew he was among friends. He smiled. How would Marius have put it?

"A man can wait a lifetime for a moment like this and never see one. Some just grow old and wither, never getting their chance. We will die young and strong and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"But, sir, perhaps we could break out of the city. Head for the mountains…"

"Come outside. I am not going to waste a great speech on you buggers."

Orso grunted and hobbled out of the door. In the street were a hundred or so of the First-Born, weary and dirty, with bandages wrapped around cuts. They looked defeated already and that thought gave him the words.

"I am a soldier of Rome!" His voice, by nature deep and rough, carried across them, stiffening backs.

"All I ever wanted was to serve my time and retire to a nice little plot of land. I didn't want to lose my life on some foreign ground and be forgotten. But then I found myself serving with a man who was more father to me than my own father ever was, and I saw his death and I heard his words and I thought, Orso, this may be where you stand, old son. And maybe that's enough, after all.

"Anyone here think they will live forever? Let other men plant cabbages and grow dry in the sun. I will die like a soldier, on the streets of the city I love, in her defense."

His voice dropped a little, as if he were imparting a secret. The men leaned close and more joined the growing crowd.

"I understand this truth. Few things are worth more than dreams or wives, pleasures of the flesh or even children. Some things are, though, and that knowledge is what makes us men. Life is just a warm, short day between long nights. It grows dark for everyone, even those who struggle and pretend they will always be young and strong."

He pointed to a mature soldier, slowly flexing his leg as he listened.

"Tinasta! I see you testing that old knee of yours. Did you think age would ease the pain of it? Why wait until it buckles from weakness and have younger men shoulder you aside? No, my friends, my brothers. Let us go while the light is still strong and the day is still bright."

A young soldier raised his head and called out, "Will we be remembered?"

Orso sighed, but smiled. "For a while, son, but who remembers the heroes of Carthage or Sparta today? They know how they ended their day. And that is enough. That is all there ever is."

The young man asked quietly, "Is there no chance then that we can win?"

Orso limped over to him, using the crutch for support. "Son. Why don't you get out of the city? A few of you could break off if you slipped past the patrols. You don't have to stay."

"I know, sir." The young man paused. "But I will."

"Then there is no need to delay the inevitable. Gather the men. Everyone in position to attack Sulla's barricades. Let anyone go who wants to, with my blessing. Let them find other lives somewhere and never tell anyone they once fought for Rome when Marius died. One hour, gentlemen. Gather your weapons one more time."

Orso looked around him while the men stood and checked their blades and armor as they had been trained to do. More than a few clapped him on the shoulder as they went to their positions, and he felt his heart would burst with pride.

"Good men, Marius," he muttered to himself. "Good men."