IXILLIUS RETURNED LATE after his rounds because Alex needed to rest, and Verus's fate was in far more capable hands. He'd led the Training Ground and then sat with Brasus and Quintus to discuss the rumors and gossip that he needed to know. As a pleasant surprise, the day had gone well according to rumor. Ixillius tended to Max and the mare, grinning at the sounds from his own tent proving that Marcus wasn't wasting the luxury of having a tent to himself by spending the night alone.
Mikayla held a finger to her lips and smiled at him from where she was sitting at the table when he stepped into the tent, then tilted her head to where Verus and Alex were sleeping. She gestured for him to look at them, her smile softening into something motherly as she glanced their way.
Ixillius stepped lightly and looked down at them, hands clasped and foreheads together, sleeping like children. He realized when he shared a look with Mikayla that his smile matched the one on her face. She stayed at the table while he reviewed a map and confirmed tomorrow's march in his thoughts, and surprised him by reaching over and tapping a finger almost exactly where they were camped. The silent question of where they were going was clear on her face, so he followed the road to Verona with his finger.
She drew a line off the road, straight between where they were and the city, then turned and pointed toward Verus and Alex. Her look was worried. He shook his head, and then redrew the route along the road with his finger. Mikayla nodded, looking relieved, then yawned. She didn't bother trying to speak to him even though she'd been learning words and phrases from Alex during the march today. She just smiled and nodded politely, then went to lie down. Before Ixillius even had his armor off, she was asleep.
He considered sleeping on the ground, not wanting to disturb Alex, but his wife's dark eyes were staring up at him when he glanced back at her, her sleepy smile welcoming him home. He lay down with Alex without a second thought and tucked her into his arms. She sighed, content, and snuggled against him. After a moment, she started trying to untangle her fingers from Verus's. Ixillius wrapped one of his hands around both of theirs, stopping her.
"Tend your brother, I'll take care of you," he whispered.
"My good husband," she murmured, locking her fingers around Verus's and then snuggling closer to Ixillius, back asleep in moments.
***
Alex spent the entire morning in the cart, sleeping beside Verus, while Mikayla steered Max with only words from where she sat beside them. After the midday meal, Alex chose instead to ride Max for a while. She laughed out loud when, an hour before the end of the day's march, Hades swooped out of the nearby trees and cawed happily before landing on her offered arm. Mikayla had been in the middle of checking Verus's heart rate, but grinned while sighing in annoyance at the interruption of Alex holding up the bird for her friend to see.
"You see nothing wrong that she greets a kite with the affection usually granted to a child?" Verus asked when Mikayla resumed her counting. Mikey shrugged when she was finished, understanding the question.
"Of Alex, the animal is yes, the person is no," she shook her head and smiled at where Alex was cuddling the bird. "Only Ixillius, Verus, Brasus, Quintus are yes."
"And Mikayla Wyss," Verus added. The surgeon first shook her head, as if uncertain, then chuckled softly and nodded in agreement. Verus adored watching Mikayla as she spoke, although he would never let her know. Her face held no shadows or deceits as she interacted with people, her thoughts and emotions showing plainly. With Alex, he'd worked for weeks to pry beneath the guarded expressions she maintained, and she still hadn't offered him her thoughts and humor plainly until after she'd told him she was married to Ixillius. Alex was a hard contrast to the gentle surgeon.
"Lay down," Mikayla chastised, again, as Verus shifted his position.
"I am weary of your orders," he countered, trying to lift his shoulders and head a bit to look forward to where Ixillius was speaking with Quintus and Heliodoro.
"Lay down," she tapped her palm to his forehead and he lay back onto the nest of blankets. Verus glared up at her but her stare back down was even colder than his own, blue eyes hard and golden hair almost white in the weak winter sun. As soon as he scoffed, she gently poked and prodded at his neck and torso, feeling out the swelling inside his body. The slight frown he was getting used to seeing creased her skin as she worked, then eased slightly as she repeated some of the prodding and her fingers found slight improvements.
***
During the week since leaving the spring, the constant small attacks and badgering from the locals against the Legion started stopping. Ixillius felt like cheering at the end of the first day when he learned an entire day's march was free of harassment, and actually did cheer at the end of two days in a row with the same report. A few days after the daily attacks had ended, support for continuing the civilian training began dropping. Support for them to retain their armor and weapons continued strongly, though, Quintus had reported with a grin.
Tonight, Alex laughed at the more creative insults being hurled at the women who still attended on the Training Ground. This was her first time out here since she'd been stolen, and Ixillius wasn't sure if he should be proud or worried that she chose to rejoin the group rather than practice alone. She'd joined one of the two small lines of wives and daughters and only performed the drills as instructed. When the sparring started, Alex moved to the side – as had been her habit before – so she could practice her own advanced skills. Ixillius called her over, Brasus already beside him.
"First File," she stated crisply to his rank.
"Lady," he nodded politely to her stature. "How are the civilians doing in their training?" he asked them both quietly.
"Better than expected," Brasus replied, his mind on the subject was something that Ixillius already knew.
"Most are too well trained to be at the sword since the winter spring. Their men have taught them before, and the training improves them," Alex stated after a moment thinking over the answer.
"How are you feeling?" Ixillius asked Alex specifically.
"I am well," she smiled a bit at his obvious concern at how tired she'd been from helping heal Verus.
"I want the civilians tested tonight," he announced after a few seconds mulling over the thought, and wagers between the nearest watchers quickly started escalating. "Optio, spar with each of the men. Lady, spar with each of the women. Two minutes at most for every match, and report their abilities once you've completed all the matches," he ordered. "Boy," he called one of the messengers out from the crowd, "fetch four pali."
The boy took off through the crowd. Once dismissed, Alex and Brasus removed their weapons. Brasus gave his to his Guard Commander and Alex locked her scabbard and left the jian in Verus's tent. They ordered the civilians into two single columns, women in one and men in the other, the lines nearly equal in length. Alex noted that the two girls Ixillius had told her about were here tonight; Portia – the one who'd been in his tent wearing Alex's clothes – was smiling smugly at being at the very end of the line, and Tanaquilla – the one who'd cut the merchant – was nervously waiting near the front.
The boy who'd been sent for the pali came back at a run, his arms full of the requested wooden swords. As the nightly tournament started on the other side of the Training Ground, Alex and Brasus chose their wooden weapons from the armful that the boy offered before he gave the remaining two to the first of each line of civilians. Alex tested the feel of the palus, which was bulkier than a standard Roman sword, although the same length, but was balanced remarkably well.
"Have you used a palus before?" Brasus asked quietly.
"No," Alex shrugged in reply.
"Avoid small motions where you can, the bulk gets in the way and the movement is wasted," he advised. "They're only good for early training, and bludgeoning."
"Thank you," she replied sincerely.
"And don't forget that only Ixillius and I have seen you in battle," he cautioned in a lower tone. The statement gave Alex pause. Her thoughts flashed through the latest rumors, filled with dissension and desertion as undertones again, and took a moment to adjust her mindset to a fighting level more appropriate to what she would like people to know she was able to do. Brasus nodded once he saw the understanding on her face, and then smacked his wooden blade against hers. She lifted her palus into an obvious counterstrike that he easily blocked, both of them grinning at the hollers from the watching crowd that wanted them to spar each other, and then laughing at the disappointed grumblings when they didn't.
Alex and Brasus agreed on appropriate boarders between their matches, so they wouldn't interfere with each other, and then called up the first opponents. Brasus sparred with the man, offering small comments throughout the two-minute match and mostly saving his breath for the extended fighting he'd been tasked with. Alex sparred with the first woman for just over a minute, saying nothing during the match, and then filled the remainder of the two minutes with coaching.
"We were ordered to spar for two minutes," Brasus muttered to her as the civilians passed off their swords to the next in line, his glance going to Ixillius over at the tournament matches.
"Two minutes at the most to make a report of abilities," Alex corrected quietly. "I spar for one minute so I know, review the fight and teach for one minute so I remember for each woman."
"And to have a one minute break between each match," Brasus grinned.
"We will each have forty matches," she shrugged, winking at him.
Starting in the next match, Brasus copied what Alex was doing. They worked steadily through their lines, exchanging quips and insults with each other, and compiling the needed reports in their heads as they went. Alex was pleased that Tanaquilla – the girl who'd cut the merchant – was good to spar with, so spent a few extra moments engaging her in a second short match to emphasize the coaching. There were a few more above-average women that Alex gave extra time to as she and Brasus worked through their assigned opponents, and most of the women doubled back on the line to share their pointers with their friends.
The nightly tournament ended and some of the crowd drifted away. The families of the civilians remained as the testing continued, including some of the fighting men who'd been in the tournament, watching closely to guess at what the results would be, and at why the First File had ordered the testing. Brasus stuck tightly to his two minutes for each man and completed testing on his line while Alex still had two women left. He left the men with their families and walked the short distance to start giving his report to Ixillius.
Alex found the second to last woman was actually enjoyable to spar with, so provided her with a quick second match after the short coaching session. The woman beamed a bright smile up at Alex when the second session was over and passed off the palus to the last girl in line; the one who had already tried on Alex's clothing. Portia was painfully obvious in her contempt of her opponent and overly confident in her own rested abilities as she eyed up the sweat she could see on Alex's face and arms.
Alex simply noted that the girl's footing was well set, and that she tested the swing of the wooden sword typical to how Alex had – only without the smooth swoosh. Portia attacked quickly, pressing for any advantage over what she considered to be a tired foe, but her talent ended at posturing and her skills were below the average. She did, however, have a creative streak that would serve her fine when she was fighting solo, but would be a hindrance in formations. The coaching session went well, which was a surprise as Alex was expecting more of the poor attitude that Ixillius had spoken of.
Alex decided to do a quick demonstration of one of the moves from their match and ordered the girl to follow along. As soon as her back was turned, Portia lived down to expectations and Alex heard her breathing change sharply. Alex spun and registered the surprise on the girl's face, that the armor she wore was plated leather, and that Portia was holding the palus for a strike from above. Alex jabbed the blunted end of her own wooden blade hard into the girl's belly, hitting the leather between the chest plate and groin plate – directly into the girl's solar plexus. Portia huffed, trying to regain her breath, and still tried to attempt the attack. Alex simply heel-kicked her in the center of the chest plate and knocked her on her ass.
"That is why you want to have armor that is one plate," Alex lectured the surrounding group, pointing at her own solid bronze. "One plate is not as comfortable for your breasts, but the protection is much better for hits to the stomach."
The girl scrambled to her feet, fighting to hide her wounded pride as she tried to breathe. She glared at Alex with pure hate, tightening up her grip on the palus she now held in both hands.
"Think wisely," Alex cautioned her.
Heliodoro stepped out from the crowd and grabbed Portia's right forearm. Her glare shifted to him, then surprise flashed over her features and the wooden sword tumbled out of her hands. He whispered sharply to her in Spanish and she cringed away from him. Alex heard Brasus stop speaking behind her as he and Ixillius suddenly realized something wasn't right with the women's testing.
"I apologize for the behavior of my cousin," the Auxiliary Legate said. "Such actions will not happen again," he threatened the girl. Heliodoro bowed politely to Alex, and then shoved Portia toward the other women who'd been tested. He retrieved her palus from the ground and offered Alex the hilt first. Alex thought quickly and nodded politely at the Auxiliary Legate in the manners that Verus had taught her.
"A poor thought when the blood is high does not require an apology," she offered him as she straightened her neck and held out a hand for the wooden sword he held.
"Kindness sits well on you, Lady, especially when unwarranted," he smiled, taking the needed steps to rest the hilt in her open palm, stopping closely enough that they could speak privately.
"Ensure your cousin understands I will be kind only once," she closed her fingers on the hilt and returned a smile that only touched her lips.
"Her understanding of the matter will be complete, you have my word," he held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary before releasing the blade of the palus. "She will not trouble you again."
"She does not to trouble me," Alex let the statement hang, and Heliodoro buried a chuckle in a polite bow as he took his leave. He'd watched nearly every night when Alex had trained with Verus and knew well that his young cousin was a poor match for the enemy she was trying to make. He hoped he could get that point through to Portia before Alex had to.