Part 6 (1/2)
”Let all retire to the woods,” the Druids said, ”and see that no eye profanes our mysteries. When the G.o.ds have answered we will summon you.”
The queen, followed by all the chiefs, retired at once to the forest, while the Druids proceeded to carry out the sacred mysteries.
Although all knew well what the decision would be, they waited with suppressed excitement the summons to return and hear the decision that was to embark them in a desperate struggle with Rome. Some threw themselves down under the trees, some walked up and down together discussing in low tones the prospects of a struggle, and the question what tribes would join it. The queen and her daughters sat apart, none venturing to approach them. Parta and three other female chiefs sat a short distance away talking together, while two or three of the younger chiefs, their att.i.tude towards Beric entirely altered by the report of the Druids' predictions concerning him, gathered round him and asked questions concerning the Romans' methods of fighting, their arms and power. An hour after they had retired a deep sound of a conch rose in the air. The queen and her daughters at once moved forward, followed by the four female chiefs, behind whom came the rest in a body. Issuing from the forest they advanced to the sacred oak and stood in an att.i.tude of deep respect, while the chief Druid announced the decision of the G.o.ds.
”The G.o.ds have spoken,” he said. ”Too long have the Iceni stood aloof from their countrymen, therefore have the G.o.ds withdrawn their faces from them; therefore has punishment and woe fallen upon them. Prasutagus is dead; his queen and his daughters have suffered the direst indignities; a Roman has seized the wealth heaped up by inglorious cowardice. But the moment has come; the G.o.ds have suffered their own altars to be desecrated in order that over the whole length and breadth of the land the cry for vengeance shall arise simultaneously. The cup is full; vengeance is at hand upon the oppressors and tyrants, the land reeks with British blood. Not content with grasping our possessions, our lives and the honour of our women are held as nought by them, our altars are cold, our priests slaughtered. The hour of vengeance is at hand. I see the smoke of burning cities ascending in the air. I hear the groans of countless victims to British vengeance. I see broken legions and flying men.
”To arms! the G.o.ds have spoken. Strike for vengeance. Strike for the G.o.ds. Strike for your country and outraged queen. Chiefs of the Iceni, to arms! May the curse of the G.o.ds fall upon an enemy who draws back in the day of battle! May the G.o.ds give strength to your arms and render you invincible in battle! The G.o.ds have spoken.”
A mighty shout was raised by his hearers; swords were brandished, and spears shaken, and the cry ”To arms! the G.o.ds have spoken,”
was repeated unanimously. As the Druids closed round their chief, who had been seized with strong convulsions as soon as he had uttered the message of the G.o.ds, Boadicea turned to the chiefs and raised her arm for silence.
”I am a queen again; I reign once more over a race of men. No longer do I feel the smart of my stripes, for each shall ere long be washed out in Roman blood; but before action, counsel, and before counsel, food, for you have, many of you, come from afar. I have ordered a feast to be prepared in the forest.”
She led the way across the opposite side of the glade, where, a few hundred yards in the forest, a number of the queen's slaves had prepared a feast of roasted sheep, pig, and ox, with bread and jars of drink formed of fermented honey, and a sort of beer. As soon as the meal was concluded the queen called the chiefs round her, and the a.s.sembly was joined by the Druids.
”War is declared,” she said; ”the question is shall we commence at once, or shall we wait?”
There was a general response ”At once!” but the chief Druid stepped forward and said: ”My sons, we must not risk the ruin of all by undue haste; this must be a national movement if it is to succeed.
For a fortnight we must keep quiet, preparing everything for war, so that we may take the field with every man capable of bearing arms in the tribe. In the meantime we, with the aid of the bards, will spread the news of the outrages that the Romans have committed upon the queen and her daughters far and wide over the land. Already the tribes are burning with indignation at the insults to our G.o.ds and the slaughter of our priests at Mona, and this news will arouse them to madness, for what is done here today may be done elsewhere tomorrow, and all men will see that only in the total destruction of the Romans is there a hope of freedom. All will be bidden to prepare for war, and, when the news comes that the Iceni have taken up arms, to a.s.semble and march to join us. On this day fortnight, then, let every chief with his following meet at Cardun, which is but a short march from Camalodunum. Then we will rush upon the Roman city, the scene of the outrage to your queen, and its smoke shall tell Britain that she is avenged, and Rome that her day of oppression is over.”
The decision was received with satisfaction. A fortnight was none too long for making preparations, a.s.sembling the tribesmen, and marching to the appointed spot.
”One thing I claim,” Boadicea said, ”and that is the right to fall upon and destroy instantly the Romans who installed themselves in my capital, and who are the authors of the outrages upon my daughters.
So long as they live and lord it there I cannot return.”
”That is right and just,” the Druid said. ”Slay all but ten, and hand them over bound to us to be sacrificed on the altars of the G.o.ds they have insulted.”
”I will undertake that task, as my tribe lies nearest the capital,”
one of the chiefs said. ”I will a.s.semble them tonight and fall upon the Romans at daybreak.”
”See that none escape,” the Druid said. ”Kill them and all their slaves and followers. Let not one live to carry the news to Camalodunum.”
”I shall be at the meeting place and march at your head,” the queen said to the chiefs; ”that victory will be ours I do not doubt; but if the G.o.ds will it otherwise I swear that I shall not survive defeat. Ye G.o.ds, hear my vow.”
The council was now over, and the queen mingled with the chiefs, saying a few words to each. Beric was presented to her by his mother, and Boadicea was particularly gracious to him. ”I have heard great things predicted of you, Beric. The G.o.ds have marked you out for favour, and their priests tell me that you will be one day a great champion of the Britons. So may it be. I shall watch you on the day of battle, and am a.s.sured that none among the Iceni will bear themselves more worthily.”
An hour later the meeting broke up, and Parta and Beric returned to Cardun, where they at once began to make preparations for the approaching conflict. Every man in the tribe was summoned to attend, and the exercises went on from daybreak till dusk, while the women cooked and waited upon the men. Councils were held nightly in the hall, and to each of the chiefs was a.s.signed a special duty, the whole tribe being treated as a legion, and every chief and fighting man having his place and duty a.s.signed to him.
In Camalodunum, although nothing was known of the preparations that were being made, a feeling of great uneasiness prevailed. The treatment of Boadicea had excited grave disapproval upon the part of the great majority of the inhabitants, although new arrivals from Gaul or Rome and the officials in the suite of Decia.n.u.s lauded his action as an act of excellent policy.
”These British slaves must be taught to feel the weight of our arm,”
they said, ”and a lesson such as this will be most useful. Is it for dogs like these to complain because they are whipped? They must be taught to know that they live but at our pleasure; that this island and all it contains is ours. They have no rights save those we choose to give them.”
But the older settlers viewed the matter very differently. They knew well enough that it was only after hard fighting that Vespasian had subdued the south, and Ostorius crushed Caractacus. They knew, too, that the Iceni gave but a nominal submission to Rome, and that the Trin.o.bantes, crushed as they were, had been driven to the verge of madness by extortion. Moreover the legions were far away; Camalodunum was well nigh undefended, and lay almost at the mercy of the Britons should they attack. They, therefore, denounced the treatment of Boadicea as not only brutal but as impolitic in the extreme.
The sudden cessation of news from the officials who had gone to take possession of the estate of Prasutagus caused considerable uneasiness among this section of the inhabitants of Camalodunum.
Messengers were sent off every day to inquire as to what had taken place after the return of Boadicea, but none came back. The feeling of uneasiness was heightened by the att.i.tude of the natives. Reports came in from all parts of the district that they had changed their att.i.tude, that they no longer crouched at the sight of a Roman but bore themselves defiantly, that there were meetings at night in the forest, and that the women sang chants and performed dances which had evidently some hidden meaning.