The Centurion's Woman

Chapter 27

CW - violence and fear. There's one part with violence toward a child, and the section breaks around it will be &&& if you want to skip it. I'll put a quick summary below the section for the pertinent story parts.

MIKEY WATCHED THE training just like every day for the past weeks, since Verus had been well enough to watch, although today – as with yesterday – they'd traveled from his father's house in Verona to be here. Yesterday she'd missed being here for the whole day, although the busy quiet at the small mansion had been lovely, and she was happy that Ennius expected them in the camp. This really was turning out to be an adventure! Mikey wasn't certain she wanted to spend her golden years here, but this era was more than enough to keep her captivated right now.

        She was watching a few children playing, darting through the tents and tagging along with the older boys who were carrying messages, as the new Prefect approached the same side of the field where Mikey and Verus were sitting. Half the camp's fighting men were in Verona, working on projects for the Governor, and the other half were here on the parade ground going though drills. The habits were familiar and she had grown used to not paying attention to the men unless Verus called her to watch something he found of interest to speak about.

        Suddenly Verus sprawled across the ground behind the stool he'd just been sitting on. Mikayla twisted and dropped to her knee beside him, the question of what had happened that was already on her lips getting knocked out of her mouth. When she came to, she spit out the mouthful of blood, her left ear ringing from the blow and her mind struggling to check through the personal injuries she'd sustained. Verus was on his feet, fighting the Prefect in what, confusingly, appeared to be more than just sparring. The children she'd been watching were staring, and the oldest boy among them was gone.

        "The Legion pays men who fight!" the Prefect hollered over the ringing that was still blocking Mikey's full thoughts from working. "So show the Legion you can fight!"

        Mikayla looked up and saw Verus blocking the attacks of the Prefect, but she knew that wouldn't last long. The older man was far stronger with Verus in his current condition. Mikey came to her hands and knees and started crawling away from them as the match drove Verus closer to her, her stomach turning with vertigo she ascribed to the blow to her head. The Prefect shouted about women making men weak, poisoning the strength of the body and spirit. Mikayla looked around the Ground, seeing some Legionnaires staring at the Tribunes who were yelling at them to take the Prefect's 'lesson' to heart, and most watching her as she tried to crawl faster.

        The Prefect knocked Verus off balance, forcing all of his weight onto his bad leg – the one Mikey had scraped down to the femur and then had rebuilt the remaining muscle structure so he could still walk – and Verus missed blocking fully. The next hit threw him to the ground and the Prefect laughed, jeering at Verus to stand up again, or stay down and prove he was weakened by the woman who tended to him. Verus looked at Mikey, his breathing ragged, and his features hardened as he climbed back to his feet to defend her. The Prefect attacked with the same fury, and Verus quickly started losing ground.

        Mikey heard the heavy pounding before she saw the source. Max raced past the Parade Ground at a full gallop, clods of earth churning up wherever his hooves touched down, and charged between the tents where the boy had been. The boy old enough to deliver messages. Mikey felt her stomach clench with the realization of where the boy had already gone. Mikayla's ears were still ringing too loudly to have heard the whistle. When she looked back at the Legionnaires, most were backing away from the Tribunes, the realization clear on their faces for the same thing she already understood.

                                                                ***

        Alex had been enjoying the morning's sparring. The group had accepted Victoria without question, and Victoria was surprisingly happy to help teach. Alex was starting to think they would be able to split their days, one of them teaching in the morning and the other in the afternoon, giving them both more time for the usual chores and Alex some extra time working with Max, without sacrificing the same training schedule as the men. Now she was trying not to throw up, the vertigo of a timeline change from an unknown source pulling at her stomach.