The Raven's Rose

III

III

Another glass of wine she took.

‘And Claudius spread his arms and cried: “this is awesome!”’, Cordelia exclaimed with glee, imitating and recounting tales of her past comrades in battle. ‘Claudius always was the little brother of the Honor Guard,’ she reflected with a subtle smile.

Somewhere along their conversation back at the Imperial Palace, Corvus, having sensed the prefect’s restlessness and anxiety at the party, had taken it upon himself to change the situation. Officially excused from her duties, Cordelia accepted his offer to leave the palace and join him for a drink outside, of a place of his choosing, without much reservation.

He knew that Cordelia, though still enduring physically and mentally, has had enough of the conflict for one day. She had been through so much in the span of a few days, and quite frankly he knew that she could do without the Emperor, without the Praetorians, without the Palace, without the soldiers, without everything that had been taxing her emotionally, for a night - even for a moment.

She needed a break.

She needed a drink.

But more than that, she needed someone to take her worries off.

Corvus, being the renegade outlaw he was, had masterfully “liberated” a handful of amphorae containing the best wine he could find from the feast. What was socializing without the sweet taste of the finest grapes in the Terran Peninsula? Nobody would notice. Besides, it was a party - everything was free.

On top of one of the old citadel towers that marked the bastion of the Imperial Sanctum fortress, the two settled comfortably. No sentries were stationed. It was one of those fortifications that were relics of the old days. A couple of drinks down, Cordelia was starting to unwind, exchanging stories with her devious raven-haired host.

‘He had a beautiful, singing voice...’

‘Whatever happened to him?’ Corvus asked with genuine interest. To have the cold and stern prefect of the Praetorians opening up to him in itself was a feat, and he considered himself fortunate to have had this chance with her.

‘Took a lance in the eye at Ophelia,’ the female general said without pretense. Her light brown hair covered a part of her left eye as she took a quiet sip from her glass.

‘Oh,’ Corvus said. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Fact of the matter is, he saved my life,’ said Cordelia, her beautiful green-tint eyes withdrawing to a remorseful shade.

‘It was a tactical withdrawal,’ she began, recounting those days with perfect clarity. ‘Alliance-backed barbarians were hounding at us like mad. I left my guard down for a second, and all of a sudden this frenzied berserker came at me with a seven-foot steel lance,’ she recalled.

‘Claudius stepped in with his shield to protect me. Lance skewered through and pummeled his face.’

‘Brave soldier,’ Corvus managed.

‘I felt terrified - his blood was on my face.’

She shuddered.

‘Shock turned to guilt, guilt turned to anger.’ she continued, trembling as the wine goblet shook in her hands. ‘So I took my sword in both hands, and cleaved the head clean off the son of a bitch.’

‘then…’ she struggled to continue, even as Corvus placed his hand on her shoulder to steady her shaking frame.

Her eyes froze for a second.

‘Then I snapped.’

Corvus only managed to tighten his hold on her shoulder, remind her that she was not alone.

‘I breached discipline, broke formation and threw myself at the horde. I entrusted my safety to my blade and resolved to myself to kill as many of the barbarians as I could. I slashed left and right with no regard for my safety.’

‘What happened then?’ genuine concern panged his features.

‘I’m not quite sure to be honest,’ her tone was resigned.

‘According to the unofficial account of the conflict, it took the entire first century of the first cohort to restrain and drag me back to the legion standards,’ she confessed, an unnerving smirk forming on her lips. ‘But not before I slaughtered a hundred of the foul enemy.’

‘I didn’t know,’ Corvus attempted to offer her his sympathy. ‘The official record didn’t mention the first part,’ he edged closer to her, both his hands now on her shoulders, to keep her strong. ‘You know I always admired you when I heard-‘

‘That I was a hero?’ the female interrupted him, her eyes boring deep into his with criticizing scorn.

‘Well… yes.’ he said.

Corvus could see it right in front of him: the stoic general was faltering with herself. Behind all the stories of her prodigious leadership, extraordinary fighting skills, and legendary victories against impossible odds, was a simple woman struggling with the burden of her duty and actions.

‘A hero?!’ her eyes began tearing up. ‘I couldn’t even save Claudius!’ she broke into tears that began streaming down her eyes. ’He was a good soldier! And a better friend! Yet I couldn’t…’

Her sorrow came flooding, her emotional restraint failing like a collapsing dam from the surging tides.

‘…I couldn’t even protect him.’ she sobbed, tears disfiguring her angelic features and reddening her face with flushed emotions.

‘I wanted to kill, kill them all, to avenge him. Claudius’ death was worth more than that!’ the female general cried. ‘I couldn’t, no – I wasn’t!’

‘You did your best Cordelia!’ Corvus raised his voice in a burst of mixed emotions, interrupting her with a puncture.

‘No! I promised them!’

‘Yes you did!’ he retorted, holding her tightly by her shoulders to keep her from falling apart.

‘I promised them that I would bring them all back home!’

‘There are no promises in war! You did what you could, and that’s more than anything what Claudius or the rest of your soldiers could ask of you!’

‘I failed them!’

For all his training in aggressive, yet intelligent combat tactics, he had been a complete reprobate fool.

 An idiot.

There was no calming her now.

He should have seen that, plain as daylight.

She was beyond any measure of words to console.

So Corvus threw all his reasonable options into the void, let them hang and did what he should’ve done in the first place.

Without a word, the raven soldier pulled the rose general into his arms and held her tightly.

‘Corvus?’ Cordelia paused teary-eyed, stupefied of his sudden advance.

‘Weep no more,’ he began, facing her eye-to-eye, purposeful through his raven-black hair as raindrops fell from the clouds.

‘I got you,’ were his last words.

With nothing left to say, Corvus leaned and kissed her lips.

The Rose General, in her fit of the moment, had found nothing else to hold onto – nothing, except the Raven.

With all her heart, Cordelia Octavia Vostroya submitted, returning his kiss and embracing him fully, the rainfall washing down her angelic face, dousing away all traces of her sadness.