![]() ![]() In this time of changes, of more and harsher regulation, Prasutagus sickens and dies. A new Emperor, Nero, comes to the throne, and Britain has a new Governor, the celebrated general Paulinus. The tribes, lightly tied to Rome before, must now turn in their weapons-save for the unsuspected swords of the women. At 13, she accepts and does not accept Prasutagus as her husband but he has a will and a patience to match hers, and in time she is joyously his wife and the mother of two girls. ![]() A small wooden sword and a small song are her compensations then when she has a great sword like her father's, Cadwan tells her, he will make her a great song of the Victories of a Queen. On that premise, Rosemary Sutcliff has recast the life of Boudicca (Boadicea) as it might have appeared to Cadwan, Harper to the Queen-who first fetches back the determined six-year-old when she runs off after the King's war-band. If Boudicca's tribe was a matriarchy and she was Queen in her own right, then her vengeance on the Romans for assaulting her person and raping her daughters takes on a different aspect, at once grander and more human. ![]()
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