Between Two Worlds [Excerpt Only] | NOW A PUBLISHED NOVEL

Chapter III

'ROME!'

The cry echoed from the top deck and resounded into the depths of the ship. I still knew little of the Latin tongue, but that word I understood clearly. We captives awoke from sleep at the sound; the sun was rising in the east, and as I rubbed the last remnants of sleep from my eyes, I began to wonder what would now become of me.

Rome.

The very word filled me with a strange mixture of terror and curiosity. I was afraid of Rome—what might happen to me in that place. The fate of Boudicca's daughters crossed my mind, and my heart pounded. Even should I be spared similar mistreatment, I feared I would be given to a harsh master. Fate had not been kind to me thus far; why should I think it would go well with me now?

Yet oft I had heard tales from passing traders of the great Eternal City. A place, they said, of culture and literature, the arts and sciences; words that were almost meaningless to me, but I longed to know what they meant. Little had I known then that I would have not long to wait.

Sometime later—for every passing moment seemed to last an eternity—the ship docked at the harbor of Rome. We heard a great scrambling and shouting of orders, but knew nothing of what it meant. Then men came down and untied the ropes that bound our ankles and wrists, leading us up on the deck.

The sea air combined with city stench nigh overwhelmed me, and I felt lost, overcome by the roar of the populace. The city seemed to last forever, buildings upon buildings stretching for leagues, rising up on hills and extending into the far distances. Around us were ships of all sorts and sizes. Behind us, beyond the choked harbor, was the rolling blue ocean, its waves sparkling beneath the morning sun. I had never seen anything this large and grand; Venta Icenorum, though seen from a distance, had seemed to me immense, but it was nowhere near as colossal as this great capital of the Redcrests' empire.

My wonder did not last long. I was brought back to the present by being roughly hustled off the ship and onto the docks with my fellow slaves. Chains were locked around our wrists and ankles in place of the ropes that had once bound us. Our shackles were connected into one line as we were marched off like animals for the butcher, the slave dealer leading the way and his men goading us along. The ground was strangely firm after the pitching surface of the ship, and my first steps were mostly stumbling on smooth pavement.

Despite my fears of the near future, I gazed in amazement at my new surroundings. I had always imagined what a city built by the Redcrests must be like, but all my speculations fell utterly short of the reality.

The farther we traveled from the low hovels by the docks, the greater the buildings became. The roads were smooth, straight, and broad, with raised stones across the streets connecting walkways on either side, allowing both passersby and chariots to travel without difficulty. High buildings reared up into the sky on either side of the street, surrounded by shops on the ground level and living quarters further up. I had never before seen a structure with more than one floor, and I marveled at the strange phenomenon. What sort of people were so great as to create such things? 'Twas no wonder they called my people crude barbarians.