The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 25

THERE MUST BE a god's curse on him. She'd yielded to him! He'd felt it. For one moment, he'd held Alex completely. It had been her name: Alexandria. As soon as he'd spoken it, she'd faltered in her rage against him, she'd gasped at their names combined. She'd been his!

        Then she'd shuddered and her will had redoubled, her fight growing fierce enough that he released his hold to stop her from injuring herself against him. Her shouts of off! ... Then she was gone, out of his grasp and out the door like a shadow. He never once thought she could move like that, even having seen her in a fight; that standard Legion combat was nothing compared with this. She was like smoke.

        He threw on his clothes and caligae as quickly as possible, nearly pulled on his armor out of battle excited habit, but dropped it with a shake of his head. He took up his sword belt and strapped that on and ran out the door. He had to catch her.

                                                                ***

        Quintus had been close to the building where Ixillius kept a room. Verus had delayed their dinner over to breakfast after the messenger had delivered his news, giving them both the evening to attend to duties. It was pleasant for the older soldier to visit with the sons of his friends, and Verus was a good son to his father so the visits with him were usually full of laughter.

        When the man had still been a boy, Quintus had been 'Uncle' to him. Once the boy grew up they'd lost touch, as young men are prone to do with their father's friends, but four years ago Quintus had been passed to Minerva's 1st and they had met on the street in Bonna. The grown man had cried out 'Uncle!' just as in his youth. Now they had a habit of one or two meals together, as time allowed, whenever they were able, the same habit that Quintus had shared with the man's father during his first twenty-five.

        He was startled from his happy recollections by the sudden appearance of Lady Traversi, her hair loose and her feet bare, on the steps of the building where she slept. Her breath puffed once in the dim glow of the torches, and then she was around the edge of the building, a black shadow swooping down from atop the roof to glide behind her.

        Seeing she was alone, he quickly followed her direction. It seemed odd for her to be off so swiftly so early, stranger still with her injuries, but he didn't question. There were better minds than his to think on what she could be doing; right now she was his Centurion's woman, alone, at a poor time of the morning for a woman to be such. She seemed unaware of him following behind, and her pace was quick but not overly fast. He matched her at a distance that allowed him to attend immediately if she was endangered, but provided her privacy with her tame kite.

        Her turnings were random and often sudden, and kept her to streets that had already been trafficked this morning. A couple of times he nearly lost her, but her bare feet left a slightly darker impression atop the frosty mud than a usual step. It covered over quickly with new frost, but once he spotted it her tracks were easy to follow at his determined distance.

                                                                ***

        Ixillius scanned the street. The few people there turned to him, all from watching in one direction. A pair of whores saw his distress, then turned quickly away at the remembrance of seeing the slave who'd just run off. He forced himself to ignore the wenches and set off the way everyone had been looking, hoping to catch Alex before she found more trouble.

                                                                ***

        Alex had gone through a few twists and turns, not really watching where she was going and just dodging around buildings whenever it struck her to, before she noticed the little shadow flitting along with her. Hades was up early, happy to have someone else to play with for a morning jaunt.