“—as well. But even so I cannot permit you to—”
The sentries on the roof parapet began to whang their gong violently. An instant after the first bronze note echoed down the temple’s interior, a barb outside screamed like she was being disemboweled—which was likely enough to be the truth.
“By squads and wait for orders!” Froggie bellowed. He strode to the door with the certainty of an ox pacing through stubble, sliding men off his shoulder to either side even though many of them were bigger than he was.
The few troopers not already wearing their cuirasses began locking them on with the help of friends. Swords clashed into sheathes; the air filled with the jangling of hinged cheekpieces as men donned their helmets.
Froggie’d ordered the door kept closed but not barred. Two men stood in full armor just inside, ready to support the sentries in the street. Froggie waved them back and jerked the door open.
Laesio and Five Metellus hunched in the door alcove behind their upraised shields. Beyond them, mobs streamed down the three approaching streets, waving torches and shouting. The front ranks were local warriors with spears and wicker shields. Froggie caught glimpses of the foreign axemen, but they were staying back a little—safe from Roman javelins and able to prod the locals forward if they hesitated.
“Inside!” Froggie shouted, clapping the armored shoulders of his two guards. Even if he’d been able to deploy the whole century in the plaza, they wouldn’t have a chance against five or six hundred warriors with a couple thousand women to throw stones down from the roofs of the surrounding buildings.
Turning his head he added in the loudest voice he could manage, “Head for the fort by squads! Move ’em out, Verruca!”
The guards backed into the building, guided by their centurion’s touch. Stones banged off the wall of the building. Froggie felt the doorpanel shake as he held it closed while the back-up team slid the bar into place.
When the Romans arrived, the temple door had a catch that was barely strong enough to keep the panel from blowing open in a storm. A timber as thick a man’s thigh had replaced it immediately. The barbs could batter a hole in the walls quicker than they’d get through that bar.
They weren’t planning to do either thing, of course. The mob’s torches weren’t just for light.
“Centurion Froggie!” Slats cried as Froggie turned around. His mouth chirped close to the centurion’s ear but the Latin words came disconcertingly from the chest-level lavaliere. “What is happening? Are we in danger?”
“Keep your mouth shut and do exactly what I tell you!” Froggie said. “Then at least you’ve got a better chance than a lot of them barbs outside do.”
The administrator jerked his head back and wrapped all four arms around his thin chest. He stood upright, quivering like a poplar tree in a storm.
Verruca had the evacuation in hand. First and Second Squads had already disappeared through the doors to the sanctum in back. Third Squad was providing the guards at this hour, so Fourth had fallen in behind Second.
There wasn’t any pushing or open panic, but the troopers were tense. They were veterans, but nobody likes the thought of being burned alive.
“We’ve got plenty of time, boys,” Froggie called cheerfully. “It’ll be a good ten minutes before you’ll even smell smoke in here—and I’m the last one out, remember!”
“Smoke?” Slats said, forgetting to stay silent. “Is there a fire, Centurion Froggie?”
“Sure, they’re going to burn this place down,” Froggie said, rubbing the side of his neck with his swagger stick. His nonchalance was a pose, but calming other people in a crisis had the effect of settling the tribe of field mice dancing in Froggie’s own stomach. “Don’t worry about it, Slats. You and me ain’t staying much longer.”
“But there’s no other way . . .” the administrator began, then quivered to a halt.
Laena had been one of the roof sentries. He joined Froggie as his partner fell in with the rest of his squad, at the end of the line that shuffled toward the sanctum.
“Top?” he said. “We saw one of the girls—not one of ours I don’t think—run down the street toward here. There was the whole damned town right after her, it looked like. The guys in front threw spears and scragged her. You think she was trying to warn us?”