Echoes of Germania (Tales of Ancient Worlds Book 1) by H. B. Ashman

Author:H. B. Ashman [Ashman, H. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-01T22:00:00+00:00

“Amalia!” Arminius’s voice woke her from a deep slumber. Her arms and legs felt weak, her head pulsated in pain.

“Amalia!” he shouted again. He shook her gently by her shoulders.

Slowly, Amalia opened her eyes. Arminius was kneeling between her legs, his face inches away from hers. He looked tired. Blood and dirt were smeared on his neck and cheeks.

Amalia looked around. She was leaning against a tree in the woods, its hard, cold bark pressing into her back. The sky was the grey of early morning. A depressing cloud of fog swallowed the woods around her, a fitting scene for the morning after such a battle.

“What happened? Are you injured?” Arminius asked, his forehead wrinkled in worry, his warm hands firm on her shoulders.

Amalia straightened her back and rubbed her stiff neck. “No. I don’t think so.”

Arminius sighed, one of his hands slipping off her shoulder.

“By Jupiter,” he said, shaking his head. “Did I not tell you to stay in the cave? I thought you were dead!” He ran his hand through his sticky hair. Amalia watched him, amazed. She’d never seen Arminius so emotional before.

Suddenly, the memory of what happened last night came back to her, sending icy waves through her body all over again. The screams, the blood, the stench . . . the man she killed with her own hands. The look on his face when the light in his eyes started to fade. The thought made her want to vomit.

“A rebel attacked me,” Amalia said. “I killed him, and then I must have walked over here and passed out.”

Arminius lifted her chin, looking into her eyes. “You did well to kill him. Did he hurt you?”

Amalia wanted to answer, but the gentleness in his gaze robbed her of her words.

Arminius opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of hooves hitting the ground caught his attention.

“Arminius!” Germanicus shouted as he rode up to the two of them. “Marius has ordered all men to the building site.”

Arminius nodded and rose. Germanicus looked down at Amalia.

“You have been seen on the battlefield with us,” he said in a serious tone. “What they say about the Germanic women is true. You people north of the Rhine River are warriors like no other.”

Amalia stared back at him, her face blank. She hadn’t fought for Rome, her slavers. She hadn’t killed a man to gain respect. What she did last night was to save her life, nothing more.

Carefully testing her legs, Amalia pushed herself onto her feet as Arminius walked back to his horse and mounted. She expected him to charge off, but instead he rode his horse right next to her and reached down his hand.

Amalia stared at him. She hadn’t been allowed on a horse since they found her by the lake. What changed? You are a killer now, she thought. A tool of Rome.

“Come,” Arminius said, stretching his hand even farther. Amalia grabbed it and let Arminius pull her onto the horse.

As disgusted as she felt for what she had done last night, the horse’s trot was soothing.

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