The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 26

Content warning: this chapter has some NSFW.

IXILLIUS DIDN'T KNOW what to expect now that he was alone with her. Alex just stood there, where he'd left her, staring at the steam rising off the bathing water. The woman who'd led them had also stood there, glaring at Ixillius, until clean clothing had been brought for Alex.

        Ixillius stripped and washed quickly, not bothering to use the tub as he wasn't actually that dirty. Once he was dressed, he turned to his wife. She still stood in the same place, swaying slightly now. He considered calling the woman back, knowing if he stayed and helped Alex by himself that he might as well toss any honor he had left into the wind and piss the same way. He was too tired to be angry with her, and she was too exhausted to listen to him if he tried to say anything, anyway.

        "Alexandria?" he asked quietly, stepping close to her, and her eyes turned to him so full of exhaustion that she was having trouble focusing. "Do you want me to help you?"

        One of her hands rose unsteadily and prodded at the knotted mass of hair at the back of her head. She held out her palm to show him the scabs that stuck to her skin.

        "You see all the blood?" she asked.

        Her voice was small and her eyes were trying to focus on his face again. She looked as though she would shatter like fine glass struck with a stone if he touched her.

        "Do you need something?" the woman who'd brought them here stepped into view and glared in at them. The blade of the sword Alex had gained at the last village was pressed to the woman's throat in a heartbeat.

        "Get. Out," Alex threatened, clearly and slowly, her exhaustion seemingly gone as quickly as the sword had been drawn.

        The woman backed away, terror replacing the look of condescension. Alex sheathed the sword after the cover fell back over the door and her exhaustion returned immediately once they were alone again. Ixillius bit his tongue against everything he'd wanted to yell at her since yesterday and gently stripped her naked. She stumbled against him on the first step she attempted, so he scooped her into his arms and carried her for the couple of steps to the tub. Her hands curled into fists, wrapping around the banding of the warrior's clothing he'd been given to wear, as he set her in the water.

        "Do not leave," she pleaded when he tried to untangle her fingers.

        "I will not," he assured her gently.

        Her grip loosened and he was able to grab the soap from behind him. He washed her carefully, inspecting her whole body to ensure that she wasn't more seriously hurt than what he'd already seen. She'd fallen asleep more than once by the time he got her bathed, dried off and dressed, wetting his own garments in the process which made them even more uncomfortable. He looped her hair into a loose braid that wouldn't knot worse as she slept. She fell asleep sitting on the bench where he'd propped her up so he could braid her hair, so he stood to walk to the door with the intent to ask where they were sleeping. Her hand shot out and closed on his wrist.

        "Do not leave," she begged, almost falling off the bench.

        He caught her – just – and knelt in front of her so he could push her back to where she'd been. Her shoulders slipped out from his hands as her arms wrapped around his neck.

        "Do not leave, Ixillius. Please do not leave," she begged again.

        "I will not," he replied quietly.

        She fell asleep on his shoulder the moment his arms wrapped around her. He sighed, filling his head with her scent, picked up her sword in his hands, and then scooped her into his arms as he stood. Her hands curled into fists around the banding on his chest again even though she slept. Brasus pulled back the hide cover as soon as Ixillius was starting to push through.