Semper Fidelis

Chapter 39

The dog, Ruso reminded himself, would not be loose in the streets without Geminus. Geminus was definitely busy because he-and conspicuously not Ruso-had been invited to dine with Accius and Hadrian and Hadrian’s friends and officials this evening. Still, as he set off on the few minutes’ walk from the hospital to the mansio, Ruso found himself alert to the sounds and shadows in the dusk around him. As he rounded the corner he was not sorry to see the lanterns outside the mansio entrance flare into life, and to notice the door slave making his way back inside carrying a taper.

Reassured by the nearness of safety, Ruso clumped up the steps and sat on the bench next to the unstable tree, whose pot now seemed to have been roped to a post. In a minute he would go and find Tilla, but for now he leaned against the wall, stretched out his aching leg, and surveyed the street along which the emperor had passed earlier this evening. Noise and light were spilling out from the bars. Groups of native men stood outside drinking, talking, and laughing. A couple had their arms around skimpily clad girls. The respectable women would all have gone home, or to wherever respectable women went at night when it was too far to get back to their own hearths.

Ruso filled his lungs with cool evening air that smelled of beer and roast meat and spice and roses. A man needed to sit quietly and think after such an eventful day.

They have been placing bets on the recruits.

This is not the time.

Then when is?

Hadrian had been impressive. He had barely paused to recover from the march before going across to the headquarters courtyard and greeting the assembled men of the Twentieth, calling them “fellow soldiers,” which pleased them, and adding, “Now that I’ve experienced the climate of Britannia for myself, I’m even more proud of you.” There was a gust of laughter. Ruso could see from their faces that the older men liked him. The recruits, who might be excused for not trusting anyone in authority, seemed to like him too.

He thanked them for their preparations for what he called “this unexpected honor.” He was, he said, “aware of the disruption an imperial visit can cause, even the most welcome one.”

Watching him, Ruso was impressed. This man had risen from being the son of a provincial senator to become a general, a scholar, and now emperor. There was no sign of the country accent that had made him the butt of jokes when he first entered the Senate. He appeared relaxed, well-groomed, and confident despite just having completed a long march after the terrors of a near shipwreck. It was clear that Hadrian was a very determined man.

As expected, he informed the recruits that tomorrow he would be pleased to observe their final trials before their full admission to the Twentieth Legion. He would also oversee the discharge of veterans. The veterans cheered. Ruso had glanced across to where Geminus was standing as straight as a board beneath the magnificent white crest on his parade helmet. The silver disks that testified to past bravery were polished and gleaming on his chest. If he was concerned about how his men would perform, it did not show. As for the recruits themselves, Ruso was not sure it was possible for them to be any more terrified than they already were.

He stood up slowly from the bench, feeling the stitches pull in the back of his leg. The manager of the mansio leapt up when he saw who it was, assuring him his wife was safe and well and that the staff were keeping an eye on the room.

He found Tilla practicing her reading while she waited for him. Evidently they were now to sleep in a large cupboard and to be entertained by the merry whistling of the cook in the kitchen next door.

She was wrinkling her nose before he was fully in the room. “Fish sauce?”

“Good for dog bites. You won’t notice after a bit.” He had expected her to launch straight into the subject of Geminus, but instead she busied herself rolling up the poetry scroll. He said, “Have I missed any patients?”

“A boy who jumped off a wall and sprained his ankle, and one old lady who fainted and fell off a donkey. I have bandaged them both. Everyone else is too excited to be ill, or too drunk to notice. How is it in the fort?”

He hung his cloak on the back of the door and joined her on the bed. “The Horse Guards and the Twentieth are eyeing each other with mutual suspicion,” he said, “and the hospital’s full of Praetorians who haven’t spoken to anyone so far except to complain.”

“But they are all on the same side.”

“Only if there’s an enemy.”

There was a shout from the kitchen and the clang of a metal pan hitting the floor. He said, “We need to talk. I don’t doubt what you say about Geminus. But if Accius finds out you’ve been listening to more rumors after he told you to stay out of it-”

“I tried not to listen, but she was determined to tell.” She paused, running one finger slowly down his forearm. “Husband, if I tell you who said it, will you swear not to tell Accius?”

“I suppose so.”

“That is not swearing!”

“Tilla, you know I won’t tell.” That was not swearing, either, but she let it pass.

She leaned back against the side wall and tucked her bare feet between his legs while she explained about the farm she had gone to visit. “Virana is a very silly girl,” she said, “but now I have met her family I am not surprised.”

He shook his head. “What is it about soldiers that sends girls silly?”

“You should be glad of it,” she said, wriggling her toes.

“Ow.”

“Sorry.” She moved her foot away from the bandage. “So the tribune did nothing about this Geminus?”

“Oh, he did something. He conveyed my ‘complaint’ word for word to him. Geminus assures me he has no hard feelings over it.”

“And now his dog has bitten you.”

“Evidently the dog doesn’t feel the same way.”

“You could have been killed!”

He slid a friendly hand up her thigh, reminding her of what she might have lost. She did not seem to notice.

“This proves Barita was telling the truth!” she said. “Now he is trying to frighten me with a pig head and silence you too.”

“One of the recruits who complained has been beaten up.”

“Has he lost his mind? He cannot go round threatening and killing everybody!”

“He doesn’t have to. He just has to make them think it’s not worth making a fuss.”

“We must stop this man!”

He slid the hand higher. “Accius won’t do anything. If he believes anything’s wrong-which I doubt-he’s waiting for it all to blow over.”

“You will have to talk to someone more important.”

“There’s no one here-” He caught her expression. “Oh, no. No. That would be ridiculous.”

“You have met him before. You could remind him. I will pray that he will listen.”

“You’re starting to sound like my stepmother. Besides, I’ve been told to stay away from him. I’ll talk to the camp prefect about it when we get back to Deva. Until then I’ll just have to be careful. I don’t imagine any more of the recruits will step out of line.”

She grasped his hand. “Not now. I am trying to think. And I am thinking you should be very careful. I saw that pig’s head. I think Geminus is mad enough to try to stop you from getting back to Deva.”

“Unless he thinks he can make me keep my mouth shut.”

She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it. “You are a good man in a bad place.”

“And if I’m not prepared to risk my neck to make that place better,” he said, “will I still be a good man?”

“I do not know,” she said. “But you will still be alive.”