ALEX STOOD STIFFLY to attention beside Ixillius. After Verus had left this morning, Ixillius had sent Brasus out and then stayed and given her a brief rundown of what to expect today, the when and why the men who'd participated with Valerius – and Valerius himself – were to be whipped or executed, and that they would be going to see Mark once the execution was over.
She was content about going to see Mark. She hadn't had words regarding Valerius to reply with at the time. That the young idiot had attempted theft of battle spoils was bad enough, but skipping out on patrol duties and convincing his twelve best buds to skip out with him so the theft could be attempted, on top of a dubious service record at best? She had been raised by a Legionnaire. Dereliction of duty was a mortal sin in any military in any age, but in this age they actually followed through when circumstances called for it.
As she'd learned to do over the years, she'd slept hard and fast after Ixillius had left. When she woke, it was to clean and straighten up as much as possible; ensuring a passing glance or a hard stare would find nothing worth noting other than herself. She tied her hair in a tight bun again, and the cloak Verus had given her fit her well. A few of the men, and more than a few of the officers, had stared down their noses at her, but she'd been expecting that. Ixillius had been questioned three times so far by his superiors, his answers short and clipped, and the questioners had each left to glower at her from a distance.
Ixillius had told her this morning that no matter what, she was not to look away. She could puke, faint, scream, or whatever else she needed to do after they were clear of the field. She found his concern odd after she'd killed people in front of him, but he'd just smiled at her sadly. She had no way to explain how many fallen campers and hikers she'd found at the bottoms of cliffs over her entire life, or tell him about the attempted molesting foster dad or horrible clients she'd killed, or that she'd been raised with the sure knowledge that this is what happens when you fuck up in a bad way.
Other kids had grown up with Santa Clause to look forward to. Alexandria knew to prepare against frostbite.
Valerius came onto the field first, still sneering around as if this was all just a show. That his deus ex machina was going to come at any moment. Sorry buddy, Alex thought, you've still got a good fifteen hundred years before Shakespeare's time makes that phrase common enough to help. And this was definitely not a play that he was the lead of.
The other twelve soldiers from the bathhouse filed onto the field next. The ones who were first offenders had each been stripped of their years of service, in one case he'd lost five years of his twenty-five. Those were the minority in the group, though, and easily spotted due to their lack of clothing from the waist up.
Alex noticed a thirteenth soldier filing out at the end of the twelve. The man was already bloodied, so she assumed he was Verus's ex-Optio, his face bloodied to a pulp on Verus's fists even before breakfast this morning, and sent in with the twelve now for taking only two men with himself on patrol and not telling Verus what had occurred immediately upon the happening. More infractions had come to light the longer the ex-Optio had tried to convince his Centurion to stop the personal punishment, which is why he now stood with the twelve instead of with the Legion.
She could feel Ixillius's gaze falling on her again. She appreciated his worry, but it wasn't like they were front and center. If they were in the splash zone, she would have been a lot more hesitant in being here. Where she was, standing at the head of the 6th and 4th beside Ixillius, opposite Brasus, she was fine. Death was sad, her gigno had always said, but it was also necessary. For some, she remembered from her own experience, it was more necessary than others.
Alex took her cues from the men, and when they saluted she mimicked the unfamiliar, bobbing bow she'd seen women doing in the streets of Bonna when confronted with their betters. It was a sign of respect, without any added insult from being a woman mimicking a salute, and got rid of a few of the glares from the officers that didn't want her here. The offenses were read by an orator, the list longer than she'd expected. The five men who would be lashed with a whip were beginning to look either grim or sick, both in a couple of the youngest men. The seven facing execution for blindly following an idiot friend on more than one occasion were mostly just in various states of shock. Valerius still seemed to be looking for his free ride out.
When Verus approached him, the younger brother had looked relieved and cocky. It hadn't lasted long.
"Abdico, Valerius!" The older brother had turned to the crowd and shouted, ensuring the message carried as far as possible. "Ergo iam non estis Celsus!"
Verus hadn't looked back as he walked away, despite the younger man's calls to him turning desperate as reality finally sank in. Alex didn't know the exact translation, but she got the gist of it. Valerius had dishonored the family, and so he wasn't a part of it anymore.
The whippings took longer than she had expected. All five of them were done individually, each man's name called out and his crime or crimes stated before the punishment was completed. The executions were swift, and done simultaneously as soon as the men's names and crimes were listed – each one ending with the same sentence. Alex made a note that she would have to ask Ixillius what the final crime was when she was able. That seemed to be the bad one.
More words were said by the Orator, Alex guessed it was to the tune of 'rah rah Legion, don't let this be you.' There were more than a few reappraisals of her by the majority of the ranking personnel facing the troops, most ending on surprised at her level stare landing on them after bearing witness to the executions being carried out. There was a final salute, a final bob-bow in her case, and the troops marched in an orderly fashion off the field to return to their duties.
Alex stayed at Ixillius's side well into the encampment outside of Bonna, forcing her steps to match the Legion's pace, eventually reaching the area assigned to the 6th and 4th. It was orderly, tidy, and the tents smelled and looked like home to her. She'd spent a lot of her young life living out of tents like this after her momma died.
Ixillius passed on orders to his men, organizing and decision making, planning and deriving solutions to the daily problems. Alex stayed at his side like a shadow. She noticed a few of the men kept coming back repeatedly, and Ixillius's growing irritation with them. After a time, he barked words at one of them and followed the suddenly apologetic fellow to another area of the encampment.
Brasus frowned when he saw Ixillius following the man in his direction. The exchange between Ixillius and Brasus was short, both men yelled at the fellow Ixillius and Alex had just followed, and Ixillius had turned – leaving a clear command (even to her) that Brasus was in charge of whatever this operation portion was – and taken a circular route back to where they had started from. He spoke to nearly everyone under his command, answering questions and trading conversation and jokes, one time looping Alex into his arms and kissing her soundly to a raucous chorus of hoots and applause that dissolved into laughter when she slipped a hand around the back of his neck and didn't let him release her when he'd wanted to.
All of the men called her 'Domina', and some cracked tentative jokes about her little crow. She ended up telling one of the men who shared a tent with Quintus, through rough drawings in the dirt, how she'd come to have a one-legged carrion bird. That it was a rescue from Hiltraud which Alex had nursed, like a puppy. The short story left the man roaring with laughter, retelling the tale to his tent mates. Alex caught the gist of the joke, it was on the rest of Bonna for thinking her a witch when really she was a silly girl saving a bird, and laughed along with them.
She'd accepted a drink at another tent, the men there watching eagerly as she smelled the home-brew liquor. She'd taken a sip to try it, confirmed it as rotgut awful, and then drained off the entire cup in the hope it would pleasantly numb her throbbing body for the next hour or so. The men had laughed there as well, mostly at the fellow who'd given her the drink and expected her to spit it back out, not to cock a smile at him and hand back an empty cup.
Verus had been arriving just as they walked back to the initial starting point, the same man who'd been with him this morning struggling to keep up. Ixillius said a few quiet words to one of the nearby soldiers and the Legionnaire had gone off quickly in the direction of Brasus. Verus had hugged Alex carefully and kissed her cheek, holding her hand as he spoke with Ixillius, who simply looked amused at the actions. They spoke for a time, and then Brasus arrived with another soldier in tow.
The conversation expanded to include the new arrivals, and Verus's attention focused on the new soldier who Alex recognized as one of the men who had been in charge of something by Quintus's tent. Alex noted that the more questions the new soldier answered, the more relieved the soldier who'd arrived with Verus looked. Handshakes in the form of clasping forearms were exchanged, and Alex belatedly realized that Ixillius had put forward a recommendation of one of his men to replace the disgraced Optio that Verus had demoted this morning.
Leaving Brasus in charge, Ixillius and Verus turned to walk back toward the town proper. Verus pulled Alex's hand through his arm as though they were on a casual stroll. Alex had chuckled at this, earning a sharp glance from Verus. She'd simply stroked the shoulder of his cape, ensuring the rakish folds where he'd tossed it over his shoulder were smooth, and kissed his cheek, smiling at him with the sisterly affection she'd felt since his brothering towards her last night and then quarreling with him this morning. A few of the men had started to murmur around the scene, but it was easy to ignore as she honestly didn't know what they were saying.