Heather Oak and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff

Author:Rosemary Sutcliff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dutton
Published: 1972-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

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In the end, they had decided that he had some sort of rift in his heart that the strain of the campaign had worsened, and he was invalided out with a small sickness gratuity, just about the time the news came through that Felix had won the Corona Civica for clearing the Picts from the hill spur after the Wing Captain was killed, and thereby most likely saving the Legion.

They had been back at Trimontum leaving the north quiet behind them, a good while by then, and Aracos was going south next day with a returning supply train; south, and out from the service of the Eagles.

Felix had hunted him out, where he had gone down the river glen to make a last small sacrifice at the Altar to Fortune which one of the garrison had put up long ago. The boy looked old and haggard, as though he were the one who had been ill. "I cannot go through with this!" he said desperately.

"Yes, you can."

"I can't! I'm going to tell them. I don't care what they do to me, anything would be better than this!"

And Aracos had caught him by the shoulders as he had done once before. "Now listen! The Gods know why I was fool enough to do what I did for you, but this I know; you're not going to undo it all now!"

There had been a long silence, broken only by the voice of the little stream that flowed out from under the shrine, and then Felix had moaned softly, like something with a physical hurt. "I could hack myself to pieces! I don't know what happened and I don't know it won't happen again.... If only I could be the one to pay...."

Aracos had tightened his grip. "You'll pay your share, all right. All your life you're going to have to wear that circlet of gilded oak leaves through your shoulder strap, and feel men's eyes on it, and know the truth behind it. Oh, you'll pay, Felix, so we can cry quits."

And he had seen the slack despairing lines of the boy's face tauten, and his head go up, as he took the strain.

"But what will you do?" he asked after a while.

"Stay on in Britain. I spent my first year in the province on garrison duty at Burrium. There's good horse country among the Welsh hills. I might try to get work there. I've my gratuity; I shan't starve while I'm looking for it."

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