Petro sat in the tavern on the ground floor of the inn, nursing a cup of wine. Mulberry sat across from him, a fitful Aurelia on her lap. Petro told himself he didn't mind babysitting the two of them, not really. Still, it put a crimp in his plans. He didn't get into a town often, and to be stuck watching over Marcus' slave woman and new-found baby had not really been his goal. There were pretty girls somewhere in this town, and thanks to his obligations to Marcus, Petro was being prevented from finding them. He sighed.
Hearing Petro sigh, Mulberry looked up from the baby.
“Are you worried about him?” She asked, her expression serious.
Although taken aback, Petro realised she meant Marcus. He sighed, saying “I suppose I'm a little worried. I still can't get over the fact that my dream came true. That's never happened to me before.”
“You told me you don't have Abilities,” Mulberry said, “So, as I said before, your dream must have been sent by God.”
“You and your Estavacan God!” Petro snorted, “Why you'd think there was only one, when the world is so complex . . .”
“Hmph. As if your Imperial gods are so logical and perfect! A bunch of adulterers and river-spirits.”
“Shh, you're going to get the baby crying,” Petro commented, changing the subject.
Mulberry looked down at Aurelia, who inattentively swiped a crust of bread from the table, and began to chew on it. Mulberry archly raised an eyebrow, saying, “She's going to cry, is she, Petro?”
Petro shrugged. “Anyhow, gods or not, I had another dream last night.”
“Another nightmare, like the last one?” Mulberry asked anxiously.
Petro grinned. “No, not this one. This one was -” he paused for a moment, searching for the right word, “Beatific.”
“Beatific?” Mulberry asked, bouncing Aurelia on her lap.
“Well, there was this girl, see -”
“Ugh, I do not need to know!” Mulberry protested in disgust.
“No, no, she and I were married.”
Mulberry looked surprised, “Married?”
“Yeah. Her name was Valeria, and she was my wife. We owned an inn – I've always thought I might own an inn, when I retire from the service - and we had this little roly-poly baby. Maybe another kid, a little older, too. I never saw the woman, really, in the dream, but I saw the baby. It was littler than Aurelia. I was – I was happy,” he said, sounding almost surprised.
Mulberry laughed, “I don't think that one is going to come true. I mean, you aren't the marrying sort, are you?”
Petro looked hurt. “I'm not the marrying sort now, but some day. . . I mean, not soon! There are too many women in the world to tie myself down! But still, it might be nice, someday, to have a girl to come home to. I don't know. You were married. It didn't totally stink, did it?”
Mulberry shrugged. “I didn't much care for it, but it wasn't horrible. He wasn't particularly pleased with me. I think – I think if I had loved him, or he had loved me, it might have been nice. It might have been as nice as the marriages you read of in books. Maybe. I don't miss it, though, not the way it was.”
“I take it I'm not going to see you trying to set up housekeeping with Marcus, then?” Petro asked, sipping his wine.
Mulberry blushed. “Of course not!”
“Pity. He'd be improved by having a woman, I think.”
“He's fine as he is.”
Petro was about to give a biting reply, but instead decided to pursue the interests of peace. “Let's put Aurelia to bed, alright?”
Not wanting to argue, Mulberry nodded in agreement, and swept the baby up in her arms as she walked towards the stairs.
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...
