Domina Triumphans

Chapter 17: 47 AD, Verulamium, Orontes River, and Caesarea

Birds raised a racket in the courtyard nearest her room as Urracca roused. She used the pot and climbed back into bed, snuggling against Sego. Antylla had written her a few weeks before the wedding, and Urracca had taken her advice to heart.

...You will find marriage to a Celtic man interesting and challenging, to say the least. Particularly so since yours, like mine, is royalty. They are devoted to their families. They will take care of you and give you anything you desire. I had no doubt Artos would let me become a midwife and he is my cheering section for my medical studies. On the downside, they are high maintenance. Prepare for constant pregnancy. And life in their kingdoms and families is nonstop fur flying...

Aunt Fortuna and Lady Claudia echoed these sentiments. Sure that her teaching career was safe, even in Britannia, Urracca was willing to satisfy her man. Sego roused.

"Morning," he said.

She kissed him.

"I smell breakfast," she said.

"Can it wait?" he asked.

She stretched herself against him, inviting him.

"I think so."

....

Grainne, Caradoc's wife, went through her bedchamber and dressing room, one last time. The night before, Cyllin had sent a clear warning, addressed to her.

...Mother, I am writing to you, not Father or Uncle. You, the girls, and my unborn brother or sister, are in mortal danger. You know they burnt the fort last time and it had more stonework in it than it does now. Please have Father let you go to Noviomagus and take the girls out with you. I have arranged with Iolarix to grant you safe conduct, but you have only hours to make up your mind...

Caradoc accepted the offer, which pissed Togodubnus off. They had had words, and now were trying to lead a revolt without speaking or being in the same area together. Grainne hoped that Cyllin and Iolarix were filling the Romans in on who the real troublemaker was. Caradoc hated the Romans and wanted them out of Britannia. He would do anything to achieve that goal. His younger brothers Togodubnus and Aviragus were of like mind. Aviragus was killed during the invasion and Caradoc then had to keep a lid on Togodubnus, as well as rule Britannia and, now, fend off the Romans.

Grainne was a Caledoni from further north. She married into a family that was odd, to say the least. Caradoc's father Cunobelinus, was a decent sort. He had an older daughter, Litogena, from a prior relationship. Then his three sons, and a younger daughter Carys, who had had two different children by Roman officers, one from Cassius Scaevus, and another from somebody named Afranius.

Life with Caradoc was not all that bad. Handsome and personable, when he chose to be, he was a loving husband and father. He treated Grainne well and took an interest in their children, teaching his boys and Carada how to ride, hunt, shoot, and fish. The incest with his half-sister was an aberration. Fertility rights often took place at night, involved disguises, loud music, and heavy drinking. Besides, it had been Togodubnus' idea to have his younger brother playing the role of Cernunos, a forest and fertility god similar to Pan. Both Litogena and Togodubnus were initiated. Caradoc was a lay priest only as needed, which is why he was filling in that night. That Togodubnus wound Caradoc in to set him up somehow was no surprise.

Togodubnus was two years younger than Caradoc and there was no love lost between them. A dark, angry man who found reasons to dislike everyone else, Togodubnus trailed chaos and trouble around him like a cloak. He had been married twice. Both wives left him because of his drinking, cruelty, and obsessive ideas. He had also been with a young warrior in Caradoc's bodyguard. That man later developed a relationship with an enslaved kitchen maid and Togodubnus was furious. Both male and female servants were terrified of him because he would not take no for an answer. He had been beaten several times, either by outraged fathers or men who were not interested in him. Cyllin fought him off more than once, and now he seemed attracted to Coel. By letting his sons cooperate with Rome, Caradoc hoped to hedge his bets if he was defeated, but also to keep them away from their uncle, who was becoming more dangerous. He had sent Carada to stay with Uinda in Noviomagus for the same reason.