By daybreak they were at least a dozen miles from the inn, and Marcus was starting to relax. Mulberry, Aurelia tied securely to her back, was still dwelling on what she had seen the night before. She couldn’t understand how Marcus and Petro could be so sanguine about it, though maybe it was because they were soldiers and had seen violent deaths before. She was not especially surprised that Salix and Tsuga , who had been leading the group since mid-morning, did not seem terribly troubled. After all, as Petro had informed her, the two young women were professional assassins. It did bother Mulberry that no-one seemed to think that the woman following them was odd.
“Of course she followed us,” Petro had said dismissively, “She was crazy.”
Mulberry, however, wasn’t so sure that he was right. It could not be so simple as that, could it? But then again, there was no other reason for anyone to want to take an orphan child from her benefactor, and there was no way a woman in Byford Augusta was the mother of a baby found on a battlefield more than a week's travel away. It just didn't make any sense.
“Was she crazy?” Marcus asked, his voice heavy, “I mean, Aurelia isn't her baby, but maybe Mulberry's right. Maybe she did have a baby, and someone did steal it from her. There's definitely something weird going on.”
Petro shook his head, “One crazy lady isn't all that weird.”
“Yeah, but that's not all that's happened lately,” Seeing the blank looks on Petro and Mulberry's faces, Marcus asked, “The Florae didn't tell you what happened on my way back from Arcius?”
Both Florae glanced back for a moment, while Mulberry and Petro shook their heads.
“I was attacked,” Marcus explained.
“What, again? Are you, like, a bandit magnet or something?” Petro demanded.
“These weren't bandits. At least, they weren't normal bandits.”
Salix and Tsuga exchanged glances again, but did not comment.
Mulberry, quietly, asked, “So what were they?”
“Some sort of professionals. All dressed in black, like the Florae are, but they were men, not girls. Besides, Flora Salix and Flora Tsuga saved me.”
Tsuga smiled, proudly, but Salix seemed not to hear the compliment.
“Dressed in black – assassins, then?” Petro asked, sounding confused.
“But why would anyone want to kill you?” Mulberry asked.
“I think – I think it has something to do with Gaius,” Marcus said, his voice thoughtful. “One of his friends spoke with me. Said I should follow up on something.”
He dug around in his pouch for a moment, pulling out first Aurelia's documents, and then a sheet of soft paper with a few ink scrawls on it. He handed the sheet to Mulberry, wordlessly.
She looked at him in surprise as she unfolded the paper, saying, “But I can't read your -” She trailed off as she realised what she was looking at.
“Can you translate it?” Marcus asked eagerly.
“I – I think I can. The writing's a bit messy, though.”
In a moment, they were all crowded around Mulberry. Marcus looked at her hopefully, while the Florae looked on over her shoulders, and Petro stood, curiosity written all over his face, at her side.
“Look for Victoria. She and the Estavaca woman belong to your Emperor. There are traitors in your midst.” Mulberry read. Then, her voice very quiet, she added, “And underneath, it says 'Victoria means “Ear-of-mouse””
Marcus and Petro stared at one another, but Salix murmured, “Come, Junior Tsuga, we must report this,” and in a moment both girls were birds, and gone. The would not return until noon the next day.
YOU ARE READING
The Baby and the Battlefield
FantasyA baby? On a battlefield? Marcus is a clerk in the Imperial army. When he finds an abandoned baby on a battlefield, he has no idea what to do with her. His best friend is no help; he thinks Marcus is a sucker for taking the kid in. The slave who end...
