The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 10

BRASUS STILL WASN'T sure what happened. The deer he'd been stalking had stopped, sniffed at the air, and then bolted. Knowing he was crosswind, he'd kept the arrow pulled and scanned the trees where the breeze had blown from. Movement where the deer had been drew his eye back, and he'd seen...

        He didn't know what he'd seen.

        The air had become a solid shape.

        There had been nothing there before or after the deer, and a glance confirmed there were no other tracks in the snow.

        The shape shifted, separated, and two strangely-dressed people – people? – were standing there amongst strange bags that one of them was setting on the ground.

        His mind was still trying to catch up to his racing pulse when one of them started talking. Her language was... the sounds were like one of the languages Lady Avilia spoke to her animals. The second person, the one who'd held the bags, laughed. His blood turned to ice, making his hands shake and his knuckles whiten.

        The Lady Avilia replied to the other woman, calling her... Nike?

        They conversed quietly in familiar tones and shouldered the oddly shaped bags, turning to walk directly toward him, toward the encampment. The other woman – woman? he thought, nearly laughing – saw him first and stopped in place. She looked alarmed, but there was no fear in her gaze, just as there had never been fear in the Lady.

        The words of the slaves they'd taken from the village where Ixillius had found the Lady echoed in his ears... she pushed up from the earth, the Underworld... her magic makes her stronger than the warriors... she brings death, the wild kites follow her around the village...

        The rumors that had quieted on the march had flared since she'd disappeared two nights ago, compounded by the strange disappearance of her father and the rumors that were catching up from the time Brasus and Ixillius had been alone with Alex on the road. The owl she'd called to hand, the training, the First File taking her counsel, the healing knowledge...

        Brasus sank to his knees as she set the odd bag on the ground, emptying her hands, her face kind and worried at his reaction. The bow relaxed as the strength left his arms, and then fell out of his grip completely. He turned his face, averting his eyes. He desperately needed to pray, but to who?

                                                                ***

        Alex put Mikey down and waited for the other woman to freak out. The church, the smells of the city, the constant pounding of traffic and people, were gone. That had all been replaced with the forest surrounding the encampment. In the distance, Alex could hear a few good-natured shouts and sword clashes coming from exercises on the Training Ground, but otherwise there were just a few quiet animal noises, the breeze in the trees, and the fading sunlight.

        Mikayla did a slow circle in place, her eyes wide. She breathed deeply and clasped her hands like a girl, her face breaking into a smile when she finished the spin facing Alex.

        "Fuck me, I thought you were full of shit. This is amazing!"

        Alex laughed at her outburst. She picked up the heavier of the two medical kits and slung the strap over her shoulder. Mikayla picked up the other and linked her free arm through Alex's.

        "You're taking this rather well, Mikey," Alex said, impressed.

        "After I left the hospital, for two years I flew into war zones and disasters to sew pieces of people back together," Mikey replied. "Appearing in a beautiful forest, knowing clean water is nearby... this is brilliant!"