ALEX HAD WALKED for about a minute and a half when she came to a pleasant little clearing, made by the fall of an old tree sometime during the past year. She stopped there and sat on one of the thicker branches, waiting, feeling multiple sets of eyes drilling into her. After another five minutes of just waiting, she heard obvious steps approaching her from behind and stopping at a distance. When she slowly stood and turned, a man was standing between the trees just at the edge of the clearing, talking very quietly with someone that was still hidden in the shadows.
Now that was someone who could star in one of her client's romance novels, she thought. He was taller than most men she'd seen, even Ixillius. A dark mass of tangled hair framed a chiseled face that she thought probably bested Verus in a side by side comparison. Unlike Verus and his base of self-confidence, however, this giant had a presence that oozed prowess, and the leather banding and leggings he was wearing left little to the imagination about his physical condition being at a peak. His eyes were so dark as to be almost black when he finally turned to face her and stepped two paces into the clearing. His gaze settled on her heavily as he made his own assessment, sparking with amusement that her stare was level on him.
"Do you to speak?" she asked.
"I do, Lady Avilia." He nodded a greeting without dropping his eyes.
Damn it, Alex thought. He not only knew who she was, his Latin sounded way better than hers, as well.
"Your man says that I am to here to sell the horse?" the question was implied by her tone only.
He grinned at her poor language skills and seemingly ridiculous errand, taking a single step closer and spreading his hands to highlight the weapons on his belt as if he was only shrugging. Alex wondered if he knew he was posing, or if posturing was the way he was. As he tilted his head and blinked his eyes, heavy with promise and little spark of anything else, she settled on the second choice unless proven otherwise.
"He does tell me that. But why should I wish to own the loser of the race?" He watched her closely, looking for any shock or surprise, seeming off balance to find none.
"I ride Max." She said the simple statement as a fact, shrugging. "And that is close enough," she added toward the footsteps slowly approaching behind her. "Young men are bold," she announced as the footsteps stopped, "and do not grow old if stupid."
Everything in her posture changed. She slid into the fighting stance with a quick shift in her weight, and the grin she shot over her shoulder at the young man, barely out of boyhood, was feral.
"Go back to the trees," she threatened quietly.
He stumbled back from her, quickly for the first few steps before turning and attempting to walk with some measure of pride. When she turned back to the first man, regaining her initial docile posture and bearing, he was eyeing her with caution. Good, she thought.
"You know what the First File says before I walk to here," she stated, but the man nodded anyway, still watching her carefully. "This horse is good for a woman," she glanced over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow where she could see the youth in the shadows, "or a boy," she finished, turning back to the man in the clearing with her. "But the horse is to need rest, and to need care. First File says the price, the Legionnaire says the fair price to be only half. I sell the horse to you for a half of that."
A shape materialized out of the shadows where the man had first stood and spoken to someone. The fellow who came out was older, very quiet, and had the same easy grace that Quintus possessed. Alex made a point to drop her eyes when she nodded a greeting to him, her gigno's lessons in respecting old soldiers ingrained so deeply that it was almost instinct, even when facing an enemy. He spoke too quietly for her to even catch a whisper, then turned and went back to disappear into the shadows at the edge of the clearing. The first man thought for a few moments, a task that furrowed his brow considerably, then gestured to his left. A young man came out, leading a young woman.
The woman looked randomly familiar, but her eyes fell on the man Alex had been speaking with and stayed there. He seemed oblivious to her adoration, or so used to that being the general reaction he got from women that he was completely nonplussed by it. The man leading the woman returned to the trees, and the one in the clearing spoke quietly to her when she reached him. She tore her steady gaze from his face to look at Alex. The woman blinked in surprise, and then her mouth formed into a small 'o' shape and her breath shifted to small gasps. That's when Alex recognized her.
"Holy shit," Alex said in English before switching to Latin again. "You are not dead."
"I was. I mean, I thought I was going to be..." She shook her head. "Hludwolf was meant to marry Hiltraud. When he found out she was... entangled, I was revenge. She'd killed the Old Father already and beaten me terribly, for fun, and he took me instead of her to give insult to her mother..." She paused. "We are married," she added, as if testing how the challenge sounded.
Helena Donati, one of the slaves who'd reacted so strangely when Alex had told her and the old man her gigno's real name back in the village before she was brought to Bonna, moved forward a few short steps that may have been close to one full stride, then stopped as if she was tied.
"Why are you here?" Helena asked, suddenly looking worried.
"To sell the horse." Alex held up the end of the lead she was holding. Helena stared at Alex, finally taking in her clothes, hair and posture instead of just her face. She suddenly seemed worried to be even this close to Alex.
"You are with the Legion that passes on the road," Helena said, as if in accusation.
"I am," Alex agreed, and Helena looked like she had a hundred more questions. "The horse is to need rest and is not good for war." Alex turned the conversation back to the little stallion before the questions could start. "We march to Illyria, there is no rest. So I am here to sell the horse."
The man, Hludwolf was what Helena called him, stepped up behind Helena when she hesitated to speak further and slid his hands around her waist, his touch seeming to cause her all kinds of pleasure. His glare at Alex over Helena's shoulder was an open invitation.
"I ask again, why would I want the loser of the race?" Hludwolf asked.
Alex cocked an eyebrow at him, barely holding back a laugh, but keeping it in check for the sake of Helena's obviously extensive affections.
"This horse is my reason to be to here."
Alex aimed the words at Helena, who looked relieved, then turned her head to look directly at the man who'd been creeping slowly closer on the far side of the little stallion. The creeping man stopped in his tracks, knife at the ready, completely off guard when Alex simply smiled at him good-naturedly.
"You do not need to sneak to see the horse," she told him. "Good teeth, six years old, strong legs and straight back. He needs only rest and care."
These were not the reactions that Hludwolf been hoping for from Alex, that was easy to see. There were snickers from a few points around the clearing, but only silence where the old soldier stood. Alex's mind clicked through the little bits of information she had, and she shifted her gaze to the shadows where the older man had stood when last she'd seen him.
"Forgive me, sir, I do not know the word for a man above," she called respectfully to the edge of the clearing. "Will he buy the horse, or do I only stay here to pass the ten minutes by too much and make all men fight before the plan?"
She turned her focus back to Hludwolf and Helena as the snickering abruptly stopped. The creeping man stepped up behind her and – as she expected – attempted to attack. A simple throw, a few pressure points, and she pinned him to the ground in seconds in the same hold that she'd used to stop Verus's younger brother, Valerius, at the bath house in Bonna. She took up the dropped knife and held the blade tightly to the creeping man's throat, drawing more than a thin line of blood and stopping his struggles. Hludwolf and Helena stared, both suddenly shocked into stillness.
"The young do not grow old if stupid," Alex repeated quietly, her words this time for the creeping man alone.
The eye she could see rolled up to look at her, suddenly terrified, and as young as many in the 1st and 1st on the road. The old soldier finally stepped out of the shadows, fighting a grin and losing. He rattled off something to her in German that she didn't have a hope of understanding.
"That is the word you want to say for what you called a 'man above'," he told her.
"This horse does not fight. He is good for a woman or a boy or to pack supplies. Will the man above buy the horse?" She spoke directly to the soldier. "Or he wants his whelps to start a fight before the plan?"
"To buy a horse is a small thing, so was trusted to the whelps," the older man said, grinning as the look on Hludwolf's face turned as black as his eyes at the insult. "Today is, as you said, not for starting the fight." The old soldier announced the final statement clearly for the benefit of everyone surrounding the clearing, and then looked pointedly at the fellow Alex was restraining before raising his eyebrows in silent question to her. "The time is still, as you said, before the plan."
She nodded respectfully at the old soldier, assuming now that he was some kind of General, probably here to keep an eye on the young man in charge who was too busy posing within his own importance to think a woman and a nag would be a problem. Alex released the creeping man's arm and grabbed a handful of his hair, ensuring that her grip to keep the knife at his throat while they transitioned to their feet would be adequate before she started the action. The creeping man stood smoothly, matching his motions to Alex perfectly and keeping the maximum of blood in his veins.
"Go to the trees," she whispered to the creeping man. "Learn many things and grow old."
Alex released him and he ran to the nearest tree line. The General was still grinning slightly when she faced back to him after picking up the lead for the stallion again, though now he was looking at the horse.
"He seems sound," the General stated.
"He is," Alex replied. "He is to need rest and care. One, two weeks and he will be strong again."
The General sighed, as if thinking.
"I am told he is not your horse to sell," he stated. Alex shrugged and bob-bowed to him.
"My respects to you, sir, and to the man above." She smiled warmly at the General's chuckle, then turned to leave the clearing the way she had come.
"I did not say I would not buy the horse, Lady Avilia. The man above has a woman who would enjoy such a stallion," the General called. "But ownership must pass honestly. Theft is a low man's crime," he said heavily, glancing at the couple near him, his gaze hard when he looked at the young man in charge. Alex tied the stallion to a thick branch of the fallen tree, vaulted smoothly over the trunk and walked half the distance toward the General, then stopped to wait. He slipped forward, nearly silent, and she clasped hands with him to solidify the deal.
"And what if the horse's owner is not inclined to honor your deal?" the General asked, his grip tightening around her forearm. She smiled brilliantly and winked at him as she flipped the creeping man's knife into the air and caught the flat of the blade with her left hand, holding out the hilt to the General.
"Then I am to make him have respect."
He watched her eyes for a moment, and then broke out in a matching smile.
"You are your father's girl in many ways," he said quietly. She chuckled and shook her head, suddenly not surprised that this General knew her gigno.
"We are past the ten minutes, sir. Do you run?"
"Like a deer, Lady."
He set an easy, but quick, pace back toward the road. Alex stayed with him without trouble and slowed her breathing easily when the General stopped, making sure she wasn't looking in any way panicked or distressed when she came out of the trees. She laughed quietly when he offered his arm to walk her the rest of the way, as if they were old friends or young lovers.
"You know my father?" she asked him, part from curiosity and part from wanting to ensure he appeared friendly through simple conversation. She settled her hand on his arm. He smiled at her fingers, amused that she had given her hand to him so easily.
"When he was here many years ago, I knew him," the General agreed.
"You are a friend with him?"
He thought for a moment before answering.
"Of a sort. We were, and are, respectfully on opposing sides, Lady."
He paused, as if expecting her to react badly, but was instead surprised when she only nodded. Her gigno often spoke highly of the men he fought against – when they were competent and honest. He had less pleasant things to say about men who were not, with little regard to what side they fought on.
"My father is to teach me the big men make the war, and the small men do not get to pick their sides. To give respect to a man on the opposing side is to be as a friend after the fight."
"Your father is a fair man, Lady," the General said, his arm stiff under her fingers. "He treated all men and animals well."
"I think when opposing sides are gone, I want to visit the horse," she said, honestly. He smiled at her poor words, still catching the meaning of friendship she was trying to convey during this small moment of truce, even if by the look on his face he didn't return the sentiment as easily.
She heard the call to Verus as soon as they were spotted coming through the trees. The First File and Max both came at a purposeful stride to meet her at the edge of the road, with Naevius in a royal temper stomping along behind Verus.
"That is the man whose horse I buy?" the General asked, eyeing Naevius.
"That is him," Alex agreed. The General slanted a smugly caustic grin at Alex that she'd only seen at such a masterful level when done by Brasus. Alex laughed out loud.
"I like you," she stated, giving his arm a squeeze, and was rewarded with seeing a flash of a real smile in return.
Naevius dodged away from a random bite aimed at him by Max before Alex called the big stallion to hand. Verus stood back and waited for Max to settle before approaching Alex and the General. Alex had to caution her guest away from holding out his hands to the brute so he wouldn't get bitten, or worse, in Max's current temper. Verus handed her a length of rope once he deemed the brute safe to get close to and she looped it over Max's head, calming the big horse simply by holding his lead and talking gently to him.
"Beautiful," the General sighed, looking up at the big stallion with the same hungry stare Verus had worn his first time meeting Max. "He is yours?" he asked Verus.
"Only in trust until the Lady Avilia is delivered to her father in Illyria, sir," the First File bowed his head respectfully. "The Lady, and only the Lady, rides this brute. Any other he would kill, or die in the attempt to unseat them."
Alex felt the General's gaze fall on her, his assessment of her changing again. She smiled as he looked around at the surrounding troops, all quickly settling after moving back from where the big horse was near. Alex shouldered Max further back, commanding him off the road so she could talk to the General and First File, making some of the closer men shift further away again.
"She is your woman?" the General asked point blank and Alex stifled a laugh at the look of surprise on Verus's face.
"I am her guardian," Verus replied cautiously, uncertain the direction the conversation was suddenly taking.
"You have your hands full, then," the General said with a small grin.
"He is here to buy the horse," Alex said simply, pulling their attention away from how unruly she was and back to the current business, causing them both to briefly grin at her. She rested a hand on the General's shoulder and smiled at Verus. Many of the surrounding Legionnaires started snickering and Naevius's countenance grew even darker – something Alex wouldn't have believed possible if she didn't see it herself.
"The Legionnaire says a fair price, I agree to sell the horse for half."
Naevius seemed about to protest violently, his sword coming stiffly to his hand in two jerks, and then the Centurion froze as if thinking of what to do now that the blade was out. The General calmly offered back the knife Alex had just used in the clearing. She smiled at the General and shook her head for 'no', instead pointing to Verus's offered sword. She spotted a man that had been at the bath house the night she'd killed Hiltraud.
"I am very good with the borrowed sword, ask the man." She nodded at the Legionnaire, who grinned and agreed loudly. "And," she switched to English and commanded Max to intimidate Naevius again.
The Centurion paled and re-sheathed his sword quickly as Max strode forward, going from docile and mildly aggravated to pissed and having something armed to take it out on in less than one step. Alex called Max back to her side once Naevius was thoroughly humiliated. Again. She pushed the big stud back where he'd been as the First File settled his weapon comfortably back on his belt, the General laughing loudly.
As if knowing what would occur in the trees, or maybe just hoping, Verus wrote the price on a cut scrap of parchment and then held out the hastily prepared letter that already ended with the signature of Naevius. The General plucked the sale note from his hand and, when he finished reading, looked at Alex with a stare that would have verbally been 'damn, girl'. He chuckled and then tucked the letter in a pouch on his belt. He pulled out a coin purse and counted out the amount that Alex had offered the little stallion for in nothing but Roman coin. Naevius at first refused the money, but eventually held out a sullen hand, his whole body shaking with furious indignation.
The General beamed a smile at Naevius and thanked him for the stallion, stressing that the little horse was definitely fine for a woman, then nodded respectfully to Verus and wished him luck with Lady Avilia. He then surprised everyone by formally bowing when he turned to Alex.
"My respects, Lady, to you and your father. May he find long life."
When he straightened, Alex stopped him from going with a touch to his hand.
"Forgive me, I do not know the words. Please for me, tell your man above I say thank you," she said, holding out her right hand. He clasped her wrist in farewell as Alex added, "My respect to him, and my respect to you."
The General stared at her for a moment, assessing and calculating something behind his eyes that she didn't comprehend as he looked at the surrounding Legionnaires. He seemed to come to a decision and pulled a small medallion out from the same pouch he'd put the letter in. Alex stared at her momma's pendant, and then stared at the General in absolute confusion as he tucked it into her hand.
"You give this back to your father," the General whispered quietly. "You tell him the debt is repaid, and I owe him nothing."
"I don't..." She shook her head, looking down at the pendant, and then she closed her fingers. "I will tell him," she promised, not having a clue what she was promising but assuming a high level of importance, and then she squared her shoulders and looked the man in the eye. "And I will visit the horse, when there are no more sides," she added with a small smile. The General chucked her chin with his finger as though she was a child.
"Avilius told me you were this. I had thought his words exaggeration and a father's doting. I see I was mistaken. Goodbye, Dria."
Alex watched the General disappear between the trees, still trying to catch her breath from being called by her gigno's nickname for her. When he was gone, she opened her fingers to stare at the pendant again. She ignored Naevius as he cursed her, and everything about her, as he was picking up his saddle and bridle to carry everything back to his century by himself. Verus stepped close once the Centurion had departed, wanting to be heard over the laughter of the men, but not to speak loudly and have any of them listen in.
"Alex?" he asked quietly, pulling her attention from the pendant. "What did you mean when you said 'man above' just now?"
"I first met a son to talk about the horse. The man," she nodded at the trees where he'd gone, "he made the buy for the father, the 'man above'. He said the words for the man, but I do not know." She shrugged. Verus rattled off the same words in German, and Alex nodded in agreement, impressed.
"That's not a word, Alex, that's a name. His name, to be exact," Verus said, tilting his head toward the trees where the soldier had gone, an incredulous smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he realized she had no idea who she'd just sold the horse to. "There is no 'man above' him in this territory." Verus cradled her hand and looked at the pendant. "I think you did more today than just sell a horse, dear one."