The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 29

ALEX STOOD STIFFLY to attention beside Ixillius. After Verus had left this morning, Ixillius had sent Brasus out and then stayed and given her a brief rundown of what to expect today, the when and why the men who'd participated with Valerius – and Valerius himself – were to be whipped or executed, and that they would be going to see Mark once the execution was over.

        She was content about going to see Mark. She hadn't had words regarding Valerius to reply with at the time. That the young idiot had attempted theft of battle spoils was bad enough, but skipping out on patrol duties and convincing his twelve best buds to skip out with him so the theft could be attempted, on top of a dubious service record at best? She had been raised by a Legionnaire. Dereliction of duty was a mortal sin in any military in any age, but in this age they actually followed through when circumstances called for it.

        As she'd learned to do over the years, she'd slept hard and fast after Ixillius had left. When she woke, it was to clean and straighten up as much as possible; ensuring a passing glance or a hard stare would find nothing worth noting other than herself. She tied her hair in a tight bun again, and the cloak Verus had given her fit her well. A few of the men, and more than a few of the officers, had stared down their noses at her, but she'd been expecting that. Ixillius had been questioned three times so far by his superiors, his answers short and clipped, and the questioners had each left to glower at her from a distance.

        Ixillius had told her this morning that no matter what, she was not to look away. She could puke, faint, scream, or whatever else she needed to do after they were clear of the field. She found his concern odd after she'd killed people in front of him, but he'd just smiled at her sadly. She had no way to explain how many fallen campers and hikers she'd found at the bottoms of cliffs over her entire life, or tell him about the attempted molesting foster dad or horrible clients she'd killed, or that she'd been raised with the sure knowledge that this is what happens when you fuck up in a bad way.

        Other kids had grown up with Santa Clause to look forward to. Alexandria knew to prepare against frostbite.

        Valerius came onto the field first, still sneering around as if this was all just a show. That his deus ex machina was going to come at any moment. Sorry buddy, Alex thought, you've still got a good fifteen hundred years before Shakespeare's time makes that phrase common enough to help. And this was definitely not a play that he was the lead of.

        The other twelve soldiers from the bathhouse filed onto the field next. The ones who were first offenders had each been stripped of their years of service, in one case he'd lost five years of his twenty-five. Those were the minority in the group, though, and easily spotted due to their lack of clothing from the waist up.

        Alex noticed a thirteenth soldier filing out at the end of the twelve. The man was already bloodied, so she assumed he was Verus's ex-Optio, his face bloodied to a pulp on Verus's fists even before breakfast this morning, and sent in with the twelve now for taking only two men with himself on patrol and not telling Verus what had occurred immediately upon the happening. More infractions had come to light the longer the ex-Optio had tried to convince his Centurion to stop the personal punishment, which is why he now stood with the twelve instead of with the Legion.

        She could feel Ixillius's gaze falling on her again. She appreciated his worry, but it wasn't like they were front and center. If they were in the splash zone, she would have been a lot more hesitant in being here. Where she was, standing at the head of the 6th and 4th beside Ixillius, opposite Brasus, she was fine. Death was sad, her gigno had always said, but it was also necessary. For some, she remembered from her own experience, it was more necessary than others.