The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 29

        "Please, forgi—" she interrupted him with a kiss, being careful of his split lip.

        "I love you," she stated. He folded around her, laying half on her and half off, his head resting between her breasts.

        "You deserve better than that. I swear I won't do that again," he finally replied. She hooked his chin with her fingers and pushed until he sat up slightly and was looking down at her. She leaned up and kissed him again.

        "I love you," she told him with finality. "I enjoyed that. I deserve a meal," she added, her belly growling and a small grin playing at her lips as he leaned down to kiss her again.

        They dressed as quickly as they could in the awkwardly unfamiliar clothing, the smells of roasting meat and vegetables mixed with baking bread and making both their stomachs growl. Alex grumbled as she fought with the dress, the looping of the fastenings strange, and Ixillius complained under his breath at the barbaric pants that he was forced to wear because of the irreparable damage to his own tunics and toga.

        The glances they received were fleeting, and a marked difference over the glares during breakfast. Brasus must've done some impressive story-telling, Alex thought, or perhaps just the truth had been enough. Plates were set on the table before they even sat down, and the woman serving them bobbed a quick nod before hustling back to cooking. Lothar followed his nose in soon after Alex and Ixillius had begun to eat, blushing fiercely as he mumbled his greeting. Alex chided him gently around mouthfuls, the playful conversation quickly getting the boy to tease them back. Ixillius snorted out a few laughs, but stayed out of the conversation in favor of filling his stomach.

        The arrival of Theudelinda left the table in awkward silence as she sat. She apologized for the absence of her husband, stating that he and Brasus had spoken for an extended period, eaten at midday, and were both now sleeping. Without a word she handed the collar to Alex, then turned to her plate and started eating.

        Lothar blushed again and pointedly tried not to look at the collar. Alex smirked at the boy and tossed the collar beside his plate with a thump. He almost jumped out of his chair with surprise, and Alex almost tipped out of hers with laughter. A warbled cawing replied to Alex's laugh and the tame crow swooped through one of the high windows. Shock and disgust battled on Theudelinda's face as Alex held up her hand for the bird to roost then cuddled him to her shoulder, talking fast in her mother's language and sharing the food from her plate. Disgust won out when Lothar held out a strip of meat and the one-legged crow hopped across the table to take the offered treat out of his hand.

        Second plates, also heaped, landed on the table in front of Alex, Ixillius and Lothar as they finished the first round. Alex and Lothar dug in as if neither had already cleaned their first plates. The kite gorged himself on the offered meat and vegetables, and then turned to playing with the collar. He hopped around the table, making the buckle jingle, which even got a disbelieving grin from Theudelinda. Alex finished half the second plate of dinner before pushing back from the table and burping happily. Lothar cleared his plate, and then looked around to see if a third would be forthcoming. Ixillius grinned and thumped the untouched bread from his plate onto Alex's and passed the half-full plate to Lothar. The boy beamed at him and devoured the serving as if he'd yet to eat anything.

        Alex excused herself after a few minutes to see to Max and the mare. Lothar tagged along, the two of them walking out side by side with the kite gliding along behind then roosting on Lothar's hand when the boy offered. This time, Theudelinda made no comment about her son sharing time with their guest.

        Alex was happy to see Max and his lady friend dozing together in the middle of the corral, some hay still left over from what Lothar said he'd tossed in around midday before going for a nap himself. They both nickered at her in greeting, but neither one moved.

        "Don't let me interrupt your sordid affair," she said to them in English as she climbed through the fence and picked up the empty pails, getting a snort in reply from Max – his usual reply whenever she used that tone with him.

        Alex and Lothar were walking to the river when a booming, cracking sound echoed down the valley. Alex knew the sound well, but not in early winter. Usually that was something she only heard in the spring. Lothar was scared by the rolling echo, but calmed down completely once Alex explained that an ice dam had broken farther up the river. She advised him to only drink clean, melted snow for a few days or so after the higher water dropped back to the normal level. Sometimes the flood was sudden and drinking animals could be swept in, putrefying the water for a few days until the surge had flowed past.

        Lothar looked a bit grossed out, but promised to stick to snow. Ixillius emerged from the building and immediately scanned the river. Brasus, awoken by the distant crack and boom, was sleep-tousled but alert and arrived soon after his commander.

        "How close was the dam?" he asked Alex. "I couldn't hear well from inside."

        "I think the high water is to come to this village tonight," she said, after some consideration, and a man nearby nodded in agreement.

        "A dam wouldn't have formed this early," the man stated. "More likely that one of the ice lakes burst because of the warm weather holding out this late in the season."

        "With the run of our luck, an entire lake flooding the river wouldn't surprise me," Brasus mumbled. "What do you think? Would they be clear of the crossing?" he asked Ixillius.

        "With Verus commanding and marching light, even at a normal march they would be past the crossing well ahead of the surge," Ixillius considered. "As long as they left the ridge the day we started backtracking," he added with a frown.

        "You don't think they did," Brasus stated quietly.

        "Verus would have established a new command first, and that would take a few days," Ixillius said, mostly to himself. The two men looked at the river. After nearly a minute in contemplative silence, they both cursed impressively.

        "The water is bad?" Alex asked, and Ixillius heaved a sigh.

        "Maybe. We won't find out until we get to the crossing," he replied.

        "We should leave in the morning, before first light," Brasus advised. "Chlodochar wants to send the horses we stole from Poldi with us. Saves him the trouble of explaining why he has them when spies and traders come by, and he's already calculating the damages he may have to pay for the attack we caused on Poldi's village should his involvement become known – and that shouldn't happen if we take the horses. The Legion marching behind Minerva's 1st will pass here in a couple of days, as well, and he'd like us gone well ahead of them so there are absolutely no questions later."

        "That'll get us back faster, as well," Ixillius stated. "Will Max and the mare be recovered enough?" he asked, turning to Alex.

        "Like me, they are hungry, but not hurt," she answered. "They can march."

        Alex and Lothar left the Legionnaires to their planning and carried the pails back to the corral. She climbed through the fence and Lothar handed her the buckets. He went around and grabbed an armful of hay to toss into the trough as Alex placed the pails where they stood less chance of getting kicked over. Alex climbed out through the fence and grabbed a second armful of hay, filling the trough and feeling assured that the horses would have enough to last through the night once they woke up from their after-march-time nap.

        The horses seen to, the people went back inside and lounged at the tables while Brasus ate, Ixillius getting Lothar to finish his story of what had happened the other night once he and Alex had split off. He made all the appropriate exclamations and comments, even though he'd already heard the tale from Alex. Once the boy completed his narrative, the conversation drifted to other stories that the Legionnaires had.

        Alex surprised everyone, and made the older man smile, when she greeted Chlodochar as 'uncle' when he joined the table. He looped her into a one-armed hug and kissed her temple, then proceeded to lovingly call her 'my whoring niece' for the rest of the evening. They often happily exchanged words of hate in kindly tones, making Lothar roll his eyes on a regular basis. Alex fell into the insulting conversation smoothly, catching more than a few chastising looks and grumbles from her husband as the evening progressed, and a lot of grins and snickers from Brasus and Theudelinda until they all eventually joined in.