From Night On: Magdalene

Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21:

Brothers

In the darkness of the tents, after the lamps were extinguished, few were able to relax enough to rest. Meira, Thomas, Mathew, and Quaden wrestled with their thoughts upon their bed mats, tossing and turning in the discomfort of what to anticipate next. Even the other seasoned veteran centurions, who were unaware of the godly threats, were unable to gain any more than a couple hours of sleep before needing to get up and move, shaking out their anxieties with a brisk patrol through the camp.

Braving the pressure of the hidden presence that continued to watch them, three lanterns, dangling in the darkness like swaying fireflies, converged to meet at the head cart. "Still wishing for your mater?" Patricius joked as he recognized the figure coming towards him.

"Wishing for YOUR mater," Justus quipped.

"Nobody is missing my mater?" chuckled Lucius, who was approaching from the other side. "She's a lonely woman! Couldn't either of you be a friend and visit her, sometime?"

These three men drew strength and courage from their shared humor and banter, their lighthearted back and forth aiding in reducing any weight that settled on their shoulders. Unfortunately, on this occasion, their fears were overwhelming their mutual sense of levity and, after their short session of joking about each others mothers, they fell into a heavy silence until they found their courage to discuss their true concerns.

"You know how Mateus and Thadaeus renounced their old lives?" Lucius said, breaking the quiet as he stared upwards towards the fixed stars. The two others grunted in confirmation. "I've been thinking of doing the same," he admitted as he causally picked at his teeth. "We may not leave this desert alive, so it might be in our interests. I know I've been a good man, but I know that I have also done things to send me to Tartarus."

Patricius and Justus both understood very well what he was alluding to. The three men had known each other for much longer than they had known their commander. Together, they had all acted on orders that any wise man would have condemned without hesitation, leaving them with regrets and ghosts that even their shared humor could only keep at a distance for periods of time.

"Do you think there is a way to avoid the consequences of our crimes?" Patricius asked. "We can only do good from here on out and hope that Charon shows us mercy."

"What do you think it means," Lucius asked, "to renounce our old lives? Do you think Mathew and Thomas actually left their past behind them?"

"Where else do you leave your past?" Patricius laughed.

"I MEANT," Lucius responded, rolling his eyes, "do you think it actually worked? Do you think they actually left their crimes and their consequences behind them, like a snake shedding its skin?"

After a moment of thought, Patricius answered, "I don't know, but are you ready to make such a decision?"

"What do you mean?" Justus asked.

"He's asking if any one of us would be ready to abandon our lives," Lucius clarified. "Are you ready to leave that mater of yours? What about those sisters you promised to introduce me to?"

Justus laughed loudly, "Are YOU ready to abandon my sisters?"

"If they look anything like you," Lucius laughed as he moved to relieve himself into the sand. He walked just to the perimeter of the lantern's reach before lifting his tunic. "Futuo!" he exclaimed as he tried to release. "I hope you like what you're seeing," he called out into the darkness, expressing his frustration over being watched.