
Four months after release from years as a Roman hostage, you stood with Boduoc looking across at Camalodunum. Brick, stone, and the temple to Claudius are not beauty; they are occupation made visible over displaced people. You step into this one-chapter preview with Boduoc at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. You crossed into the atrium as your former teacher rose from his parchment and spoke your name. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
Read Beric the Briton