The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 15

IXILLIUS AND BRASUS spoke in low tones, mindful of Alex sleeping on the cot. The Spanish slave's story had painted the two corpses as terrors when alive, savages who tortured for fun and killed on a whim. Ixillius hadn't been uncomfortably alarmed until he'd also learned that the woman who'd attacked Alex at the public bath was the daughter of the woman that he and Alex had killed in the pit. Hiltraud had used a false name of a long dead Roman girl to trick the over-confident young Legionnaire into taking her out of the pens for the night.

        Infuriatingly, Maria was also unable to speak with Alex. The Spanish slave knew little of the friend she'd clung to, and replied that they'd mostly used a simple way of signing to have conversations when they were able to.

        The injured patrician turned out to be a distant cousin to the Emperor, but an immediate relative to one of the Legion's commanders, and from a family familiar to the ones Maria had originally been owned by. She had finally released Alex and gone to the young man when requested by name, her skills as a healer known well to him even though it was a surprise to everyone else. The cut would not be fatal if it healed cleanly, and he loudly credited Alex's defense for deflecting Hiltraud's slash as the reason his guts were not currently spilled across the bathhouse floor.

        The public bath had emptied quickly of people once the excitement ended, leaving behind only those slaves and handlers who had to be there, the men who were sent to clear the bodies and drain the bath, and the women sent to wash away the blood. Ixillius and Brasus had led Alex to the knot of terrified slaves and nervous handlers by the row of small rooms at the back of the bathhouse, remaining close after giving her over to a handler for cleaning and inspection. The handler was fearfully cautious of his duties, and twice Ixillius had to step in and aide with stripping and washing his woman when she showed agitation or resistance toward the handler, and once to aid the Accountant.

        Alex appeared shameful of her nakedness, and when presented with new clothing was hasty to dress. Brasus had grinned and nudged Ixillius with his elbow when she'd rejected the standard slippers handed to her and grabbed up the rabbit skins she'd worn to walk to the public bath, amused that she covered her feet and ankles from showing.

        Ixillius and Brasus had questioned Alex over dinner, again drawing on the table in Ixillius's room as they ate. Her version of her time in the village was much less embellished than Maria's, but the events lined up perfectly. Alex had actually fallen asleep on the table, in the middle of drawing something for them, and Ixillius had carried her to the cot. Her slave tunic fit her well, and he now saw the seams and fabric were new.

        "What is it?" Brasus asked, noting the frown on his friend's face as Ixillius settled at the table again.

        "The handler gave her newly-made clothes," Ixillius replied quietly, his brow remaining furrowed in thought.

        "She saved the life of a potential heir to the Empire," Brasus said mockingly, knowing the relation to be very distant, then producing skeins of wine from under his cloak and handing one to Ixillius. "In a rather spectacular fashion, I should add."

        Ixillius's frown deepened and he stared over at the woman on his cot. A few long days ago, he had thought her terrifying and intriguing. A few short hours ago he had thought her confusing, but completely his. Now he had no words left. Her game of sex earlier today had angered and humiliated him, dragging him – begging – to her as she casually rejected his claim and forced his heart and body plainly for her to twist as she saw fit. Then she'd sought him as a refuge after slaughtering those who'd attacked her at the public bath, a ploy of weakness to lull the surrounding Legionnaires that she didn't try to hide behind with him. He had been exempt from her acting, included in a trust of secrets.

        "She seems full of surprises," Ixillius replied after taking the offered skein and drinking deeply, speaking more to himself than his friend.

        He still had many things he knew about her that he hadn't shared with Brasus. He considered saying something now, about her search for her father or that he'd learned she was some kind of a northern nomad fighting woman, but something kept him quiet. Partly it was that he needed to think on everything, but partly because of how she'd answered questions over dinner. There were things she'd drawn for him earlier in the day to answer his questions which now she omitted. Little things, but omissions no less, and it left him uncomfortable discussing them when she wasn't part of the conversation.

        Brasus took Ixillius's extended silence without question. He was used to his friend and, while his own mind was – just as Ixillius thought – quite straightforward and plain, his Centurion's thoughts often quickly encompassed ideas and strategies that few other commanders he'd served for grasped after great lengths. Brasus wasn't overly fond of the woman that called herself Alex, she unsettled the men too much and the animals too little, but he trusted in his commander. And, if he was honest, Ixillius had been in need of the company of an honourably attentive female for some time.

        "So what other surprises has she set for us?" Brasus finally wondered out loud after nearly half his wine was drunk.

        "After today? I half expect she'll have disappeared by the time I wake in the morning," Ixillius said, shaking himself from his frown and pulling out of his thoughts. There was too much thinking today, and now he needed enough wine to dull the edges.

        "The sex was that bad for her?" Brasus asked, grinning behind his skein.

        Ixillius grinned and chuckled.

        "Oh, I'm certain of it. If she is here tomorrow I'll have to see if I can improve for her." He raked the outline of her sleeping body with his eyes, warming with the wine and the mixed memories of watching Alex during sex and then during combat.

        "Don't spend all your seed with this strange witch," Brasus laughed quietly, "you'll need some to plant a child in a new wife when you get to Rome." Brasus watched closely for the reaction he got from his loaded statement, and was rewarded with the too-late repressed reaction he was most worried about. "You can't seriously think to bed that," he pointed at the bed, "with the intent to kindle a child?"

        Ixillius scrubbed his free hand over his face and through his hair, his usual actions when a decision pulled him in many directions, then he drank deeply of his wine.

        "I admit, the thought pulls at me. Am I mad?" he asked frankly.

        Brasus regarded Ixillius closely. "No," he finally said. "You're not among the insane yet. A few more days, maybe a couple weeks at the most, your lust for her will leave you."

        Some of the agitation Ixillius felt ebbed away at his friend's assurance, but a little remained. Perhaps if he bedded Alex, disregarding her pleasure, he would recover the parts of his thoughts now dedicated to her. If he ignored her cries of his name, the giving of her body without his collar on her... Perhaps he simply needed more wine.

        "Should you still be craving her in a month's time, though, I'll have to run you through to prevent your madness from spreading to the rest of the men," Brasus added, wicked mischief pulling at his grin.