Semper Fidelis

Chapter 27

Corinna’s son was lying motionless on the little bed in the alcove, his eyes closed and one plump arm flung above his head. Tilla bent over him, relieved when the faint rise and fall of the covers told her he was breathing. His skin was pink: His hand was warm. The poppy had done its work safely.

“I always check too.” Reassured, Corinna teased out more wool from the combed fleece by her stool and twirled the dangling spindle. “As soon as they are born, you worry about them.”

Tilla noticed again the soft burr of the Southwest in her voice. This girl was a long way from home. She left the curtain drawn back so they could see the little bed from where they sat talking in low voices by the hearth. It seemed the family lived in this one narrow rented room, with a loft above, a small plot behind where Corinna had planted a few vegetables, and an empty shop counter at the front under which they kept a stock of firewood that had almost run out. It was clean and homely and probably as good as anything they had grown up with. The child was bonny and Corinna seemed a gentle sort of girl. Wondering what could make a man leave all this behind, Tilla gave her the bag of dried honeysuckle leaves to help against weariness before passing on the news that she thought she had seen Victor at Calcaria two days before.

The girl’s eyes widened. “You know about him?”

“Virana told me.”

Corinna gave the wool a sharp tug. “I’ve had no message. There is nothing I can tell you.”

“The army are not chasing him, and if they were, I would keep silent unless you asked me to speak. Someone tried to help him, but he ran away.”

The girl laid the spindle in her lap. “How was he?”

“Bruised, but well able to run.”

“Hm.” Corinna did not seem to be sure whether she was pleased about that or not.

Tilla said, “It is not easy to be married to a man who is supposed to be married to the Legion.”

Corinna glanced over at her son again. “I thought at first that I could manage.”

“You are a strong woman. And your son will heal.”

“I want to go home.”

Tilla sat back in the battered chair. “Tell me about your home.”

“It is very beautiful,” Corinna said. “The army hardly bother us. The seas are wild around the rocks but there is good fishing. The land is rich for cows and good for crops if you lime it, but things do not change very fast. And Victor is a man who always thinks there is something better somewhere else.”

She picked up a rag from the wool basket and wiped the grease off her hands. “I tried to tell him it was a good life, but he wouldn’t listen. He is a fighter: a champion wrestler. In the old days he would have been a warrior, but of course at home he was not allowed to train for battle or carry weapons. He used to talk all the time about the legions-how he wished he had joined when he had the chance.”

“This was after you were married?”

“I doubt he meant it as an insult, but he kept saying I was the only thing that stopped him from joining. I knew the army would treat us as divorced, but he spoke of it so often that I was afraid he would run off and join anyway.”

“So it was better to agree than to lose him.”

“That is what I thought back then.” Corinna shrugged. “My mother said he was a fool, and so was I, but my father had a pair of soldier’s boots made for him as a gift. We traveled for weeks to get to this place of terrible winters. Then he was only allowed out for one afternoon every week, and when we saw him, all he wanted to do was quarrel or sleep.”

“I have met other women who say the same.”

“Perhaps it is different if your husband is an officer. The Legion was not the life he was expecting. The training is hard, even for a strong man. There were a lot of arguments.”

Tilla said, “Did he tell you he was leaving?”

The thin fingers rubbed a fold of her skirt. “He said we would slow him down. The soldiers came here to look for him, but I do not think they were sorry to see him go.”

“Was there something that happened that made him leave, Corinna?”

The girl eyed her steadily. “It was not for any reason they will tell you. That is all I can say.”

“Who hurt him?”

“Tadius.”

Tilla frowned. “I have been told wrongly. I thought Tadius was his friend.”

“He was. A good friend.”

“Then why-”

“There are things you don’t know.”

“Tell me.”

The pale lips twitched into a smile that did not reach the eyes. “If you don’t know, you are safe. You don’t have to decide what to do. You can keep quiet and not call yourself a coward, because you know nothing. And if you are a friend to my family, you will forget I have ever spoken to you of this.”

Tilla puzzled. “But if there is something wrong-”

“Don’t complain. Tadius complained. Victor wanted to.”

“About what?”

“About lots of things,” said Corinna. “But look what happened. The Legion always wins in the end.”