William Napier - Attila: The Judgment

THE JUDGEMENT

Attila the Hun Book Three

William Napier

Orion Books Ltd,

Orion House, 5 Upper Saint Martins Lane London, WC2H 9EA

www.orionbooks.co.uk

Table of Contents

Praise for the Attila series

[A] rip-roaring account of the boyhood of Attila the Hun, a tale jam-packed with epic set pieces, bloody battles, a fair bit of history and the requisite lusty interludes [a] gripping novel

Daily Mail

William Napier has a genius for making the blood-dimmed chaos of ancient history into the very stuff of thrilling narrative

Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and Persian Fire

He brings the fifth century back to horrible life and convincingly sets up the major players of the time for the turmoil that will have the world rocking on its axis Attilas a winner

Sunday Sport

William Napiers rattling good yarn Napier tells a great story, complete with smells and sounds, and lots of gore. The battle descriptions are particularly good I couldnt put it down

Big Issue

The final novel in the brilliant Attila trilogy is packed full of action, battles, politics and great characters. Gripping from first to last

Huddersfield Daily Examiner

William Napier is the author of three previous novels. He lives in Dorset and travels widely. Attila: the Judgement is the third novel in the Attila trilogy.

www.orionbooks.co.uk

An Orion ebook

An Orion paperback

First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Orion

This paperback published in 2008 by Orion Books Ltd,

Orion House, 5 Upper St Martins Lane,

London, WC2H 9EA

An Hachette Livre UK company

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Copyright William Napier 2008

The right of William Napier to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner .

All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN : 978 1 4091 1674 5

www.orionbooks.co.uk

This ebook produced by Jouve, France

LIST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

Characters marked with an asterisk were real historical figures. The rest might have been.

Atius* - Gaius Flavius Atius, born 398 in the frontier town of Silestria, in modern-day Bulgaria. The son of Gaudentius, Master-General of Cavalry, and himself later Master-General of the Roman Army in the West

Aladar - Hun warrior, son of Chanat, one of Attilas eight generals

Amalasuntha* - only daughter of King Theodoric of the Visigoths

Andronicus - captain of the Imperial Guard, Constantinople

Arapovian - Count Grigorius Khachadour Arapovian, an Armenian nobleman

Ariobarzanes - Lord of Azimuntium

Athenas* - married to the eastern Emperor Theodosius II, and re-named Eudoxia

Attila* - born 398, King of the Huns

Bela - Hun general

Cadoc - a Briton, son of Lucius

Candac - Hun general

Chanat - Hun general, father of Aladar

Checa* - first wife of Attila

Chrysaphius* - a Byzantine courtier

Csaba - Hun general

Dengizek* - eldest son of Attila

Ellak* - son of Attila

Enkhtuya - a Hun witch

Galla Placidia* - born 388, daughter of Emperor Theodosius the Great, sister of Emperor Honorius, mother of Emperor Valentinian III

Gamaliel - an aged, well-travelled medical man

Genseric* - King of the Vandals

Geukchu - Hun general

Honoria* - daughter of Galla Placidia, sister of Valentinian

Idilico - a Burgundian girl

Jormunreik - Visigothic wolf-lord

Juchi - Hun general

Knuckles - baptised Anastasius, a Rhineland legionary

Leo* - Bishop of Rome

Little Bird - a Hun shaman

Lucius - also Ciddwmtarth, a British leader of his people

Malchus - a captain of cavalry

Marcian* - eastern Emperor, 450-457, married to Pulcheria

Nemesianus - a wealthy man of Aquileia

Nicias - a Cretan alchemist

Noyan - Hun general

Odoacer* - a Gothic warlord

Orestes* - a Greek by birth, Attilas lifelong companion

Priscus of Panium* - a humble scribe

Pulcheria* - sister of Theodosius II

Romulus Augustulus* - the last emperor

Sabinus - Legionary Legate of the VII at Viminacium

Sangiban* - King of the Alans

Tarasicodissa Rousoumbladeotes* - Isaurian chieftain, also known as Zeno

Tatullus - First Centurion of the VII at Viminacium

Themistius* - an orator

Theodoric* - King of the Visigoths, 419-451

Theodoric* - Visigothic prince, eldest son of King Theodoric

Theodosius* - eastern Emperor, 408-450

Torismond* - Visigothic prince, son of King Theodoric

Valamir - Visigothic wolf-lord

Valentinian* - western Emperor, 425-455

Vigilas* - a Byzantine courtier

PART I

The Fury

Chapter 1

MARGUS FAIR

The southern banks of the Danube, AD 449

A morning in early summer. The great river meandering slowly through the rich Moesian plains and eastwards to the Euxine Sea. A patchwork of ploughland and meadow, and further away from the town, blossoming orchards and copses of ancient woodland. The smaller River Margus flowing down northwards from the hills to join the majestic Danube.

Darting over the surface of the water, the bright green metallic flash of damselflies, and columns of tiny waterflies rising and falling in the warming summer air. Willows along the banks of the river and alders beside the damp streambeds. Black poplars releasing their fluffy white seeds in clouds, landing and revolving and floating on downstream. Minnows flashing and darting in shoals, trout in among the brown boulders, beautiful grayling. Nodding kingcups reflected in the water, and the meadows all around scattered with the yellow of marsh marigold and yellow flag. No sound but the wind rustling the reeds, or the single peep of a duckling as it raced over the water back to its mother, beating its stubby little wings to no effect.

Riverine nature so peaceful and serene on this morning in early May, that for a brief moment you might think yourself back in Adams Eden, long before the Fall.

And then the shadow of a heron over the waters, cruising in silent and low, its cold and passionless yellow eyes swivelling downwards in search of prey.

Come closer to the little town of Margus with its ancient walls and its cathedral tower with its solitary iron bell, and you hear the sound of human bustle and chatter. There are naked children laughing and splashing in the shallows, brown and shiny as pebbles, mischievously opening the sallow-wood fish-traps and letting the fish swim free. There is laughter on the roads, and then in the meadows stretching up to the walls of the town itself, laid out in many colours and resounding with the languages of many different peoples - the great and celebrated Margus fair.