Bitt receives a gift from home! ******************
A year after his arrival Bitt received apackage. It was tightly wrapped in several layers of cloth bound with rope andit took the fox several minutes to fully open it. What was revealed after all that effort wasa tube made of beaten bronze and capped on both ends. It was pretty plain andbore only a single engraving of a winged bird. The ends were decorated with acomplex pattern of lines and swirls. Bitt opened the tube and took out a largepiece of leather rolled up and held closed with a tough cord. Undoing the cordand unraveling the leather revealed pouches and pockets. From one pocket hedrew out a pen and a small container filled with ink. He took out a piece ofparchment, no larger than his hand. He picked up the pen and scribbledsomething on it. Next he dropped the parchment into the open end of thecylinder and closed it. “What are you doing Bitt?” The lion asked. “Andwhat is that?” “I’m sending a message home,” he explainedand gave the tube a small shake, He took the top off and upended it. Nothingcame out as the cylinder was empty. “Neat trick,” the lion said. “But Fareem thestreet illusionist can do a dozen more elaborate ones.” “No trick,” the vulpine commented. “Rightnow someone back home a full two months journey from here is reading my littlemessage.” “Magic! True magic?” “A simple clan magic spell,” the foxexplained. “There are two tubes. What goes into one comes out of the other.” “So Mommy and Daddy can keep a close watchon you,” the lion said sarcastically. The fox laid back his ears and he raised hishackles. Bitt pulled his lips back in a silent snarl. “I do what I want. If I’ddone as my Father and Mother wanted I’d still be back at home.” “If you do what you want why do you have thetube?” Lion asked. “My cousin Gwinne is a mage,” the foxexplained. “Her idea is to have them in all the cities. Replace the Imperialpostal system.” There was silence from the group. “I didn’t think much of the idea either,”Bitt commented. “But Dad said that since I was going to the other side of theempire I could take it with me. For a true test.” “How has it gone so far?” Rolozius asked. “It does have its advantages,” the fox said.He reached into the tube and pulled out a sausage that seemed to be over twofeet long! It was certainly far longer than the tube it was coming out of. Hesniffed the food for a moment before taking a bite. “I’ve missed that little taste of home,” Thefox held the sausage out to the hound. “Want some?” Vinius took the offered sausage and cut offa small piece and passed it along. “What is it?” “A mix of beef and pork sausage,” Bittexplained. “Cooked to perfection!” He reached into the tube again and this timeproduced a bundle made of small strips of wood. Tied together in a long chainthey made for a letter. Bitt read the message written on the stripsof wood. “Mom and Dad say hello. She is sure I’m not eating enough and sent thesausage along.” Tossius held up a piece of sausage. “Thankyou, Bitt’s Mom!” The vulpine flipped over the piece of wood.“Dad says to be wary of the prostitutes. Many carry a degenerative, socialdisease.” “Oh!” The hound said sarcastically. “That’snasty.” “And they are very expensive,” the foxadded. That drew a round of laughter from them all. The lion looked at the cylinder a moment.“That is not a cheap toy.” “Tossius,” Bitt said solemnly. “When I saidmy Aunt and Uncle were leaders of my clan. I meant it.” “So you really ARE a barbarian prince,” thehyena said. Bitt winced. “Yes,” he answered. “Sort of.The phrase is Canne Ard or High Clan.” “Sort of?” the hound asked. “Just because my Aunt and Uncle are clanleaders doesn’t mean their children will be,” the fox explained. “A clan leaderis elected from one of the High Clan.” “They used to decide by personal combat,”Bitt explained. “Everyone who wanted to rule would fight. The last one standingwon. But several times all the candidates wound up dead or injured. Worse thewinner was good at fighting but generally had no idea how to lead a clan.” “Sounds like the empire,” Vinius grumbled.“Those idiots spend so much time fighting over gets to be emperor that theydon’t learn how to run it once they ARE in command.” “That doesn’t really matter,” Eteiwi countered.“They rarely keep the Purple long enough to make any real decisions.” “Maybe this is the problem with the empire,”Kegan said sadly. “There is no emperor. Just greedy furs fighting andbickering.” “Without a good leader the empire willeventually fail,” Bitt commented. “Perhaps the empire has had its time,” Roloziussuggested. “The empire has survived worse things. It willlast for a long time.” The canine said. “But nothing lasts forever,” Bitt countered. *************** Dawn was still a little way off when Bittand his contuburnium assembled in front of their barracks. Vinius was a short distance away speaking toa centurion he had never seen before. The tall oryx was talking to the hound atlength about something. Bitt noted that was well dressed in armor which he worewith the ease of a veteran. The scar on the right side of his face simplyconfirmed it. “Who’s the centurion?” Bitt asked. “That’s Septimus Matilus Vitellius,” Tossius replied. “He’s atribunus militum.” “If he is involved than it must be somethingspecial,” Rolozius commented. “He usually doesn’t command troops.” Vinius nodded his head and saluted theTribune. Turning back to his contuberniumhe made his way over to them. “Sowhere are we headed?” He asked as he checked his gladius one last time. ***************
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