The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 34

ALEX WAITED OUTSIDE the shop close to where Ixillius had told her to stand, stroking the nose of a gentle mare the color of walnut shells, while Ixillius went in. From the looks she was getting, she assumed that providing attention to a mount that wasn't your own was bad manners. Right now she didn't care. The mare didn't seem to mind much, either.

        The numbing effects of the alcohol she'd had this morning were wearing off, and she was starting to feel the strain of the day on a body that couldn't handle it yet. The warnings from her various martial arts and kickboxing instructors rattled around in her head, repeating in different ways that forcing her body to work through injuries didn't help healing. Her mind ticked through the list of things that had happened the past few days, piled on top of the past month, then attempted to guess at what else might be coming. Everyone she'd seen in the camp today looked like they were packing. Alex closed her eyes and hoped she wasn't going to be left alone in Bonna.

        "Alexandria?"

        Alex braced and stepped away from the kindly mare, giving the shiny walnut coat a final pat before turning to Ixillius. He wasn't carrying any obvious packages. She forced a smile, knowing that he could see she was fronting. His pace was slower than it had been for the rest of the walk back to his room.

        He stripped her of her cloak and hung it over the window slit, lighting just one of the lamps and then pouring water into the basin. Alex stifled a couple of yawns while taking off her rabbit skin boots and leg wraps, mindful of her throbbing rib, grateful that the stool she sat on didn't wobble.

        When she straightened – and that term could be used loosely, she thought – it was to see him mixing wine into a cup half filled with water, a small packet of folded paper laying empty on the table. He didn't stop her from picking up the paper or smelling it. It didn't smell great, that was certain. He did crack a smile when she dropped the paper back to the table and eyed the cup suspiciously.

        "Veni mecum," Come with me, he said, wrapping her in his arms and helping lift her from the stool to her feet with ease.

        She took the limping steps from the stool to the bed slowly, leaning heavily on him. He tried to loosen her hair, but she batted his hands away. Waking up with her head pinned sideways because she had rolled onto her braid was the last thing she needed right now. She tried to lay down, but he stopped her. Ixillius gently cleaned the trickle of blood that had dried on her lip, then fussed at her collar for a moment. She heard and felt the little lock spring and he loosed the buckle. She tried to lay down again once the collar was off, but he told her 'no' again and stopped her, reaching back to grab the cup off the table.

        "Bibere." Drink.

        He put the cup in her hand. Alex smelled it. Mixing whatever had been in the package with water and wine had not improved the smell.

        "Nope," she replied, trying to hand the cup back to him and succeeding only in having him firmly cradle the back of her head in his one hand and secure her fingers around the cup with his other.

        "Sunt tibi bene?" Are you well? he asked, voice sarcastic as all hell. She glared at him over the rim of the cup.

        If she replied, he would pour it into her mouth as soon as she opened it to speak. The thumb of his hand at the back of her neck was hovering close to the pressure point just behind her ear which would force her jaw open. Spilling or spitting out the foul smelling concoction would be a direct insult, and a waste of his money.

        "Bibere, Alexandria." Drink, Alexandria. His voice was gentle and firm, leaving little room for arguing.

        Her sigh hissed out between her teeth, and he grinned at the near growl that came out of her throat at the end of her breath. She choked down the entire cupful as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid tasting it as much as possible, his hands remaining in place to ensure she did. It tasted worse than it smelled, and Ixillius chuckled quietly at the face she made when it was finished. He set the cup on the floor and helped her finally lay down, taking her weight at her shoulders in one arm and lifting her legs onto the cot with his other, then pulled the blanket up around her. Alex noted that her mouth was already going numb.

        He stepped away from the bed and rinsed the cup with water, tossing the dregs into the chamber pot. The numbness in her mouth was spreading pleasantly down her throat when he came back and knelt beside the cot. He set his knife on the bed and wrapped her hand around the hilt. She smiled at him through sleepy eyes and he kissed her forehead.

        "Dormite iam, uxor mea." Sleep now, my wife.

        He stroked her cheek with his fingers and kissed the unbruised side of her mouth. It wasn't until after he left, the door firmly closed and locked behind him and his footsteps faded, that she realized she'd just understood everything he'd said. Then she passed out.