MARCUS HAD BEEN beyond livid: with himself for leaving her supposedly alone, with Ixillius for going behind the First File's back and attending on the secret appointment Verus had made, and with Alex and Ixillius for getting laid when the point of the visit was to make sure she wasn't pregnant. Ixillius had been helping her get her armor back on when Marcus had asked to enter the tent. Alex checked by a glance for Ixillius to grant permission, her husband had nodded, and Alex quietly replied for Marcus to come in. Marcus's polite smile had faded to shocked, contained fury when his look fell on the two of them, the smell of sex hanging close in the small tent.
In reply to the Optio's sputtered curses, Ixillius had pulled loose the thin leather strap Alex had worn around her neck since Brasus had returned the message that Ixillius told her to keep the wedding ring as long as she wanted to be his wife. She'd kept the purse tucked in her breast wrap, held tightly out of sight, and close to her heart. Not even Verus had wrested from her what hid in the coin purse, though he asked at least daily and tried to find an excuse to spy it out whenever she washed. Marcus had held his tongue once Ixillius had slipped the ring on her finger, remembering well that in Bonna she'd been named by Quintus as wife to the Centurion in spite of no other men confirming themselves as witnesses.
"The marriage is real?" the Optio asked through his teeth, his jaw clenched tight in his anger.
"The marriage is real," Alex replied quietly as Ixillius wrapped her belt at her waist and fastened the buckle, setting her sword exactly as he'd seen when she'd walked in. Confusion battled for dominance on Marcus's face.
"But... Verus maintains her?" Marcus finally asked, stepping closer. His voice was low in regard to the thin cloth of the tent and the density of people outside. Ixillius sighed and wrapped her in his arms, tucking her against his chest.
"Right now, she's a slave and I'm no better," Ixillius murmured, "the marriage is what we both want, and we are of equal enough class to maintain the arrangement," he paused, collecting the right words. "When her father claims her, and she is Avilia, then the marriage will end."
"No," Alex whispered, arguing, looking up at her husband. "I says to you that—"
He silenced her with a touch of a finger to her lips, a sad grimace attempting to be a smile at his mouth.
"No lies," he murmured, the pain of what he thought would be the end of their time together plain in his eyes. "You promised Brasus you would only tell me the truth, remember?"
"I do not lie," she stated, her whisper a final statement.
If she could just tell him, she thought, without him thinking her completely insane. Or worse, actually thinking her to be whatever Underworld witch the rumors of the day said she was...
He kissed her gently, releasing her completely when he broke away and stepped back from her. His glance fell to her belly before he turned to face Marcus.
"Take her back to the First File," he muttered. Marcus looked between the two of them.
"With respect, sir, a man's wife shouldn't live with his friend," he stated quietly.
"And her father's name, her name, demands a husband that isn't a disowned, dishonored and now dishonest Legionnaire. Take her back to the First File, Marcus." Ixillius scrubbed a hand over his face as he turned away and walked the few steps to the other end of the tent, ending the discussion.
When Marcus seemed about to continue the argument with her, Alex slipped the ring off her finger and dropped it into the coin purse hanging loose from her neck – the ring clinking quietly against her momma's medallion – then tucked the purse back inside her tunic. Marcus's shoulders slumped beneath the weight of understanding as Alex took on the poise she would need for walking back to the tent her husband told her to live in, touching the Optio's arm to encourage him to do the same.
They were half way to the First File before Marcus finally asked if she loved her husband. Alex had smiled at him sadly, and answered 'no' honestly. She wasn't sure what she felt, but from what she remembered about love from her first marriage, it wasn't a strong enough word now.
***
Verus had also been livid when Marcus had returned her to his care. Unable to yell, or even comment due to the bustle of messengers and people in general around the tent, he'd sat, vibratingly furious, and glared at her as she finally ate dinner. His thoughts showed clearly on his face as his mind quickly whipped through every option he had to punish the parties involved, his countenance growing darker and darker as he realized he could act on none of them. Marcus had hovered at the table, his whispered report rushed and clipped when confronted with Verus's anger. The Optio hesitated for a split second when dismissed, then took his leave from Verus and then from Alex – surprising both as he'd never treated her above her gender until now – before he turned on his heel and walked out.
Alex had been washing before bed when Verus's fists settled on the stand, his arms on either side of her and his body nearly as close against her back as when they'd ridden Max in the race. She continued scrubbing at her arms as she had been before he'd trapped her.
"You are just a whore slave, then?" he asked, his whisper hard in her ear.
"You sent me to the tent for where that work is," she replied using the same whispered tone. "The collar is in his pocket, but still on my neck by law. And the sex is good," she added, flippantly. His breath hissed against her neck, the muscles in his arms standing out in cords as he tensed at her words, and she sighed, "He is a good man, and he gives me very much of his love. The midwife said a word to make him sad," she paused, and then decided to be fully honest with Verus for once. "She said a word to make me sad."
He scoffed sharply, not moving away from her.
"You make a liar of him, Alex. He swore to leave you untouched for the march, declared as such to the men and your father, to protect his—" Verus cut off the word 'family' before he could say it. "He still carries respect. If you take that last thing from him I will end you. Your father can have a corpse."
The First File's eyes bored hard into hers through the reflection in the small shaving mirror over the basin. Alex turned as she started drying off, facing off with the dressed and armored officer while wearing just a breast wrap and underwear. She studied him for a moment, suddenly understanding that he wasn't putting up with her poor behavior out of fear of her father, but because of his own respect for her husband. Moving Verus up in her own trust circle to the same level as Brasus, she dropped the cloth she was using to dry herself with and picked up the coin purse from where it sat on the stand, holding it out for him to take. He actually stumbled back a single step when the ring dropped into his hand, closely followed by her momma's medallion. Alex took the ring from his palm and slipped it on the proper finger.
"In Bonna, Quintus says I am the wife of Ixillius," she whispered. "He did not lie. We are married. Ixillius bought this ring the same day I came to you. The day we rode Max, the purse fell when Brasus took the cloak back. I only told Brasus, he told Ixillius. Ixillius returned the message to keep the ring if I want to stay his wife."
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, visibly hurt that he'd been excluded. Shit, she thought. He wasn't only putting up with her because of his love for his friend; he genuinely cared about her, too.
"All the time you are to be..." she copied some of his common movements, appearing light. "This, right now, you are real," she touched his cheek. "I do not see the real you before. I am sorry," she apologized sincerely.
He cursed quietly, but at himself or at her she didn't catch. "Who else knows of the marriage?" he asked. She dropped her fingers and crossed her arms, thinking.
"Ixillius told Marcus tonight so he would not be so angry, because the walk to here, and now you," she shrugged. "Brasus and Quintus," she added. Verus thought for a few moments, tapping his knuckle at his lips and looking aimlessly down.
"The rumor will circle quickly that you went to the midwife, and Marcus speaks out of turn when he drinks too much wine. I'll ensure that the rumor of your marriage in Bonna follows closely the new rumors of tomorrow. Then the situation becomes desperate and sad, rather than your Centurion being an outright liar. What would you have done if you had been with child?" He looked back up at her, suddenly raw. Alex reached for his armor and started unfastening the bindings, keeping her hands busy while she thought of the right words to answer.
"If there was a child?" she wondered out loud, thinking through all the scenarios that would have caused, and ending at a very different conclusion than she knew her husband had thought. "Then I am a happy wife, and Gigno is a happy grandfather, and my husband is not sad," she finally answered. She finished undoing his armor so he would be able to take it off without calling Marcus back. He stared at her oddly, and she realized she'd never helped him with the fastenings before.
"And what will you do now?" he asked.
She shrugged and took the coin purse from his hand, dropping the ring and medallion back inside and slipping the leather strap back over her head. She tucked the purse inside her breast wrap as he pulled off his armor.
"Now I will still be your sister and his wife." Alex smiled and pressed her palm to Verus's chest, kissing him on the cheek. "And I will trust you, but I will still be a dick to you, big brother," she cautioned. He almost grinned as he looped a hand around the back of her neck and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Dear one, from you I want nothing less."