War Prize (A Roman Britain story)

Chapter Eighteen

This chapter was horrible to write. Horrible. It is what i call a transition chapter, a chapter where not much happens but is needed to be written to forward the plot and make the change in Auelia's and Kailen's relationship believable in later chapters. Also it has info dump of tribe life that i tried to write that didn't sound like a history lecture.

I'm not sure if i pulled it off, but i feel it is needed and i hope you guys won't be too disappointed.

Chapter Eighteen

 

It was far too easy for Aurelia to immerse herself into a life with the Silure tribe. Their way of being had a certain peaceful and industrious quality to it that was so different from her life as a noble woman back in Rome. She welcomed it after everything that had happened since leaving her home's shores.

She remembered a time when her father read snippets to her mother of Julius Caesar’s report on the very first expedition he had made to Britain, how he described the British tribes as nothing more than a backwards rabble that’s society was virtually uncivilised.

It went against everything she was coming to know of this tribe in particular. They didn’t have paved roads (in the territory that wasn't conquered by the Romans), or lofty marbled buildings. They didn’t pray to their Gods in splendid temples where their likeness was depicted on statues. They didn’t surround themselves with wealth in gold and sumptuous fabrics to awe their neighbours and elevate their own status.

Instead, they had a close kinship with the animals that was their livelihood and the earth that they farmed. It reflected in the Gods and spirits that they paid homage to. Like Sucellos, the Sky God who wielded a hammer that caused lightning, and Sulis, the Goddess of the healing springs. They respected the elements as it could make or break the tribe come winter time.

Their income came from livestock farming such as sheep which was the main source of meat on the island. They also grew cereal crops like wheat and kept it dry in large buildings called barns as the weather was so wet and cold and could spoil it. The tribesmen took it to a local market to sell and they bartered in goods rather than in coin, a concept that floored Aurelia when she watched Kailen barter crop seedlings for rough tin and a beautiful British made woollen cloak that was fastened at the neck with a bronze clasp in the shape of a serpent's head.

“To your people, this is a piece of clothing that gives the impression of the wearer to be the height of fashion.” Kailen explained as he placed the cloak around Aurelia’s shoulders, his hands lingering on her shoulders before pulling away sheepishly. “It will get colder now that we are getting closer to winter. You will need something warmer about you.”

Aurelia thanked him with a murmur, the warm glow at his gruff words kept her smiling for the rest of the day.

The British were also incredible metal workers, making anything from the finest swords and spears to intricate designs in jewellery worn by the aristocracy. Bronze was their favourite metal, but tin was in high demand. They worked carefully with the earth that produced the metal as the ground around the Silure’s territory contained earthy veins that was rich with the stuff. The product was meticulously ground down, smelted and purified. They bear the metal into masses and carried it to an island of Britain called Ictis, where merchants all across the Empire bought the tin and carried it back to be made into anything they wanted.