The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 17

        "They're dead and our supplies are secure," Brasus stated in a whisper too quiet to wake Dario. "Go back to sleep."

                                                                ***

        As expected, the transition of placing Marcus as the Optio temporarily in command of the 6th and 4th – and maintaining the Guard Commander, Caeles Aelius – went seamlessly when Ixillius and Brasus were missing in the morning. As well, none objected to the 1st cohort's Optios holding the posts previously filled by their First Orders, and only one man did not agree to Quintus Abelardus being placed as Optio to the First File, making him – right now – second in command of the entire Legion. Verus ensured that he appeared to show the appropriate level of respect to the opinion before completely ignoring the opposition. He didn't yet fully understand the appropriate politics of being a Legate, but he was good at leading men, and right now that was more important than politics. In the morning, he'd selected Centurions and Optios he knew personally, and trusted to meet the demands of the posts, to fill any remaining, needed positions within the small command structure he designed.

        He called the few commanders who were left of the Auxiliary to a meeting before midday, held at the tent of their most senior officer. At the end of the meeting, Verus was confident of the five hundred men, and that the commander who'd hosted the meeting, Heliodoro Idoya Luz, was the correct man to select to be his right hand for all things Auxiliary – in spite of the man's relation to Aquilus Naevius. Verus only trusted the new Auxiliary Legate as far as he could throw a purse filled with aureus, but that was enough for right now. The Auxiliary was camped inside the Legion fortifications by nightfall, as well, with plans already underway to include all the civilians inside as soon as possible.

        Verus expected that the new Legion hierarchy would take three days to take unquestioning effect if all men were equal in capability to those he'd promoted, so he planned on a full eight days and hoped for shorter. The first day had occurred exactly as planned, and he expected little to interfere with the days to follow as the hostile forces who'd attacked them already had what they wanted: the destruction of the Legion's command, the humiliating theft of the Eagle, and Alex and Max.

        Quintus interrupted Verus's foul line of thought by checking in to see if there were any further orders for the night. Verus smiled gratefully at his uncle and replied in the negative, dismissing his new Optio for the night.

        It was amusing, the only objection to Quintus's promotion had been from Quintus. He'd never been an officer, although many had tried to promote him and failed, and he claimed that he was happier for staying away from the politics of command. When Quintus had tried to revisit the argument over dinner, Verus had waved away the argument by saying he didn't need Quintus himself, he needed the men that Quintus had served under and who Quintus had been in the presence of when they made the decisions that Verus would now have to make. Once Quintus believed his memories and not himself was what Verus had promoted, he'd been more than happy to serve as Optio. Silly, but effective, that a trick of language could finally convince a good Legionnaire to become an exceptional officer. Verus was still proud for achieving the promotion of the man where his own father, and his father's equals, had failed on each of their attempts.

        At the beginning of the third day, the newly formed command structure finally began to fit the promise that Verus had hoped they would attain. By the end of the day, the command was shaping up nicely and the men he'd established were becoming entrenched in the routines that were required of them. That night, he finally held the appropriate rites for the dead that they hadn't yet been able to attend to. As planned, the freeness of the wine and the fullness of the meal lifted the low morale. He let the order pass easily through the encampment that the next day would be a day to mourn, giving the men a chance to recover from the wine.