Daughter of Carthage, Son of Rome by Kate Q. Johnson

Author:Kate Q. Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bellastoria Press LLP
Published: 2021-03-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Entering a new city was always chaotic. A legion this large stretched out over miles as it marched, and although they maintained a tight formation, there was room to move about if you were a centurion. Marcus could ride up and down the line of legionaries, talking to his men, assessing their fitness. He could feel the hills fall away under his horse’s strong legs as he scanned the horizon for danger. Sometimes, when the day was long and uneventful, he would imagine a line of barbarians appearing atop the nearest hill. He would race to sound the horn, but his men’s feet would already be moving before he could get there. They would close ranks in a tight rectangle, each man exactly an arm’s length from the next. The hastati would form the front. They were the young men who could only afford light armor; Marcus would never put them in much danger. That was for his strongest fighters—the principes, who would arrange themselves behind the hastati in a wide triangle to plunge through the barbarian line. Behind them were the triari, the unflappable veterans and the wall of steel behind his troops. They would give the younger men courage and shelter should they need to break ranks and regroup.

But that was battle; and battle was not for today. Today, Marcus watched quietly as his men made their way through the high walls of Arretium. They were quartering in the city for the time being. If battle should find them here, there would be no carefully orchestrated formations or clash of opposing lines. It would be a siege. A long, drawn-out exercise in suffering as they waited for reinforcements they would never know for sure were coming. Marcus shuddered as he watched the walls grow taller ahead of him. He hated cities.

He twisted in the saddle to look at the back of his maniple instead. He’d told Quintus to ride there with Elissa. He couldn’t pick them out from the thickening throng of bodies, but he didn’t need to see her to know what she looked like. Exactly the same as when she’d fainted in his tent three days ago. Pale and drawn, like she was living in a tomb. Marcus sighed. She’d gone somewhere he couldn’t reach, and as much as he would have liked to, he couldn’t use her simmering desire to bring her back. The conflict between what she thought she wanted and what she actually wanted had brought her to this place. Her mind was at war with itself, and with her willfulness turned inward, she was finding the only opponent she couldn’t best. He’d left her with Quintus during the day and taken to sleeping on a rolled-up mat on the ground during the night. Let her have her war. He needed to focus on his.

The tops of his horse’s ears bobbed evenly as he trotted between the stone walls of Arretium. At least his horse was comfortable following the thousands of men who’d already entered.

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