Legion That Was (The Ironbreakers Book 1) by Hare Vijay

Author:Hare, Vijay [Hare, Vijay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

THE CEREMONY BREEZED by mercifully quickly, although to the spectators in the atrium outside it surely dragged on for hours. The reek of cloying incense filled Orbus’ nostrils, as the priest’s gentle droning chants washed over his ears. After some time the two become one, a single soft melange filling the senses. None of it particularly set him at ease.

The five pairs of eyes on his back weren’t entirely welcome either, but after a while they became forgettable. It was far from his most pressing concern right now.

Orbus stood before the libripens at Venus’ altar, Aemilia Volscania beside him. The young woman gave him a momentary sideways glance, a look that was surprisingly amenable, before her focus returned to the rites.

She was a beautiful woman, if he was fair about it. His thoughts drifted, once more, to that morning spent teasing Publius about his betrothal on the Field of Mars. Was this how he’d felt?

Only Publius and Falvia, against all odds, had come to truly love each other, first with youthful passion and then with mellow wistfulness. From that love had sprung young Iulus here, and their familia had been one the Praefector had envied as much as he’d felt a part of.

Part of him wondered what Caesula would have made of this, and the precocious young maiden stepping up to take her place.

The libripens ended his weary sermonising, slowly lifting up his burnished weighing scales. Orbus felt the men behind him quieten further down, rapt in anticipation. Here they all were at last.

The Praefector reached into the pocket of his exquisite chiton, fishing out two faded golden rings and placing them in the scales’ sacramental dish. The opposite dish was already full, holding some incense and a broach that had presumably belonged to Aemilia’s family. The old priest balanced the dishes, weighing each offering up.

Symbolism was everything. A coemptio was, as legend had it, the purchasing of a wife, and here the libripens indulged the pantomime, playing the part of a cattle market merchant weighing up the amount of money to be spent.

And then he nodded, satisfied.

‘ Sponde?’ he abruptly asked, breaking the silence without ceremony.

Deucalios Lemnon smiled, nodding his assent.

‘ Spondemus.’ His happy avowal filled the air. We give in marriage.

‘Good.’ The libripens lowered the scales, letting his lungs fill with incense. ‘Then all we have left are the formalities.’

Orbus and Aemilia turned to each other in the same moment, knowing what was to come. The way he saw it, if he was to sup from this venomous chalice, then he might as well drain it to the bottom.

‘Indeed,’ he told the priest. ‘Formalities.’

And with that, he clasped Aemilia’s face in his hands, and kissed her for long enough to seem willing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.