Chapter Four.
Ships begin to land every day from Hibernia and Caledonia and set up camp. The land becomes a veritable war zone. But the whole exercise is being done with as little ceremony as possible. The element of surprise is the winning trump. The Romans think they can walk in, beat the hell out of the stupid Druids and take over the mine. Boy, are they in for a surprise.
Queen Boudica learns from her diviners that they intended to meet them on the Hill of the Warriors, run down and then there would be a massacre. The queen intends to beat them to the punch. There is a long delay as the Romans bring soldiers from the far-flung parts of Britannia. This would be a walk in the park, they think.
The day before the battle, all concerned assemble in the war room. Queen Boudica stands at the head of the table. “lhiannon what have you and your diviners to tell us?
“Dear Queen, from all we can divine, the Romans intend to take the Hill of the Warriors and make short work of us.”
“Have you any idea of their numbers?”
“From what we can surmise, there could be as many as one thousand.”
“Caractacus, how many can we muster”?
“Altogether about fifteen hundred.”
“Now, here is the drill, we already have the brow of the hill. You Celts take the left side of the hill. You Picts the right, and keep out of sight, stay in the forest until I give the signal.”
“When the signal is given, we all move as one. This will be a massacre. Bow your heads.” With that, the queen raises her arms to the ceiling and shouts, “O Tanarus, god of our father, hear our cry as we go to war. Give us victory and protect our people. Adamus, copyus, oscriptus laycupus, naternus. We’ll meet tomorrow on the battlefield. God be with you.”
