The following years were no fun anymore as you can imagine. Father was not only conservative but kept a tight rein over everyone and everything, hence the name Severinus by which all soldiers refered to him. Of course he was flattered once he found out about it.

As soon as I was allowed to wear a toga he dragged me with him to all kinds of events and even military meetings since he fancied I would join the troops. Not that I was allowed to say anything. Father more and more grew into his role, acted as a judge and councellor, and indeed managed to pacify the hot-blooded tribes around us.

I'm afraid, I never was the son my father had dreamed of; military life bored me even more than politics, though, as I discovered by and by, the soldiers did not. Father lived up to his name and kept tight reins on me; when I wasn't with the tutors I stood faithfully at his side, as if he'd been an emperor introducing his heir to power - which I wasn't of course.

I did my best to please him, but I suppose it wasn't enough. At least I managed to keep from him that I had begun to develop intense dreams that would have put him off completely. These dreams seemed to come true when, on one of this half-chilly nights, we set out to follow an invitation to a feast held in honour of my father.

As a special treat our host had hired a singer who, despite his age, already was well known and famed among the tribes. And a special treat he was - I wasn't able to keep my eyes off him, and when he sang those strange songs of his home, accompanied only by a crude drum or a harp, I was in rapture. Of course I didn't understand one single word he was singing, even though whole worlds appeared before my eyes to the rising and falling of his voice. This was how I saw and heard ▶ Eirik for the first time.

As a rule, singers and musicians don't mean much to Romans, at least not as much as they mean to the folks of Britannia or the even stranger Northmen; father diplomatically acknowledged our host's efforts but I could tell from the way he narrowed his eyes that he was as bored by the music as I was by his rantings about military strategems. However, I persuaded him to hire the stranger to perform at our place.

I was more than just nervous when I approached Eirik, and you can imagine my bliss when he looked at me with a genuine smile - not only on his face, the smile warmed his blue eyes as well. Somehow I'd managed to cross his shield of haughtiness without realising I did, and a few hours later we sat outside the house, huddled up in cloaks and passed a jug of wine between us, talking as if we'd known each other for a whole lifetime already.

He came to our place as agreed, and again I was lost in the music. I was far beyond happy when winter set in early and Eirik took up residence in the village. Soon after the roads had become impassable we became lovers. At last I could put to use the rigid training father had forced upon me - I climbed out of the window and vanished into the night at every opportunity. Sometimes I think with a smile that, in a way, he would have been proud of me after all, since I never got caught. But then, I don't think so.

However, Eirik and I came together almost every night during the winter, and our mutual bond grew stronger each time. As spring set in I had reached a decision, and in my enthusiasm I was utterly sure Eirik would not only approve of it but would be nothing less than delighted. We'd never talked about the future, and since I was sure of what I had to do I acted without telling him.

His face, when I broke the news to him, was priceless. I showed up at his place, carrying all the things I wanted to take with me, and I informed him that I'd left a note for my family, telling I wouldn't come back so they needn't search for me. Instead of being thrilled by the news he simply stared at me and was at a complete loss for words. "You did what?" he finally croaked. I was crestfallen, but then he whirled into action.

Eirik grabbed his possessions, urged me towards the stables, and we were on our way at the first stirrings of dawn. Slowly it occured to me that I might have acted quite rash and possibly done something incredibly stupid. Eirik never said a word about it, and after the initial shock had worn off he was his usual cheerful self again. But there was a sense of brooding in him that I'd never noticed before.

Living on the road was nothing like I had imagined. Any romantic notions I had harboured before soon evaporated - it was still early spring and it was freezing cold. We stayed clear of the main roads, bought what we needed at small farms or gathered what we (that is Eirik) were able to find. I was ill prepared, and immediately after Eirik had taken stock of my clothes that were suited for short trips but were of no use for a life outside, he acquired new clothes for me.

It vexed me greatly since by then it had finally dawned to me how much I had upset his life. Eirik's calm nature is in love with peace, he's nothing like the Northerners are always described. Oh yes, he can be fierce alright, but it takes a good deal of taunting until he loses his temper. I urged him to teach me his trade, and proved to be an acceptable musician, but try as I might, I couldn't carry a tune.

I felt unhappy and utterly useless since I couldn't really contribute to our living. All the things I'd learned proved to be irrelevant for the life I'd chosen. I guess it was the first strain on our relationship. Eirik, though, was the soul of patience; after the initial commotion my actions had caused, he soon had settled into his new life without any fuss, though he sometimes gazed at me quite thoughtfully. We were heading south-west as fast as we could manage towards, as Eirik put it, 'safer grounds'. In this case 'safer grounds' meant 'no Romans around'.

After our mad dash across the island of Britannia we arrived at a village of the Silures, still not subdued, the Roman's fiercest enemies at least in the southern half of Britannia. Of course - though it would have surprised father - everything about me screamed 'Roman', and only because Eirik vouched for me time and again we made it safely into the heartlands of the Silures.

Of course I was eyed with distrust and even veiled hostility; it says much about Eirik's relation to the Silures that their eldest accepted us both as guests. After some time I met their druid, and she saw something inside me that I'd never been aware of; as a consequence she took me under her wings and gave what even Eirik couldn't give me - a purpose.

I'm not a druid, it would be more than presumptuous to claim that; but I've been taught by one about the ways of healing with herbs and tending to wounds; under her tutelage each lesson was put to practical use right away - because of the constant war there was never a lack of patients. I finally had found something I was good at, something of my own - and something useful.

We stayed with the Silures for more than one year; a precious year for Eirik and me, because I finally grew up and we both emerged stronger and more firm and sure of ourselves and our love than before. As summer set in we set out to tour the lands as we did every year from then on. At late autumn we returned ot the Silures and stayed for the winter, able to offer our skills in return for the tribe's hospitability.

Eirik already had and I found many friends among the Silures, especially one of them grew dear to us, his name is ▶ Idris, who is now with us in Pompeii, quite a fortitious reunion, no doubt orchestrated by some god, I'm sure of that.

We would happily have continued to live this good and comparably comfortable life - we both had earned us names among the tribes - but the Fates had other plans with us, plans that finally led us to ▶ Pompeii.