The Captive Celt (2010)
“A pitiful, helpless boy, bullied by my master the senator’s daughter, the cruel Livia.
I am a prisoner of Rome.
There is no winter in Rome … not real winter like in Britannia, my home. And it was winter that defeated us, not just the Roman army. Winter and the shortest day of the year.
I remember what my father said. “The days are getting shorter – the sun is getting weaker. It happens every year. The grass will not grow and we will starve.”
“How can we make the sun stronger?” I asked.
“Give th...e gods a gift.”
“A gift?”
“A life.”
“A goat?” I had seen a goat sacrificed to the gods. The druids took their knives and cut its throat. They roasted the meat and ate it. I was given some of the scraps.
But this year, it would not be a goat.
“A man,” my father said.
“The Roman soldier? The one we captured?”
Father nodded.
The druids would never roast or eat a man. But they would kill him and give his life to our gods.
The whole village gathered on the path that led to the woods.MoreLess
I am a prisoner of Rome.
There is no winter in Rome … not real winter like in Britannia, my home. And it was winter that defeated us, not just the Roman army. Winter and the shortest day of the year.
I remember what my father said. “The days are getting shorter – the sun is getting weaker. It happens every year. The grass will not grow and we will starve.”
“How can we make the sun stronger?” I asked.
“Give th...e gods a gift.”
“A gift?”
“A life.”
“A goat?” I had seen a goat sacrificed to the gods. The druids took their knives and cut its throat. They roasted the meat and ate it. I was given some of the scraps.
But this year, it would not be a goat.
“A man,” my father said.
“The Roman soldier? The one we captured?”
Father nodded.
The druids would never roast or eat a man. But they would kill him and give his life to our gods.
The whole village gathered on the path that led to the woods.MoreLess
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