The Broken Lance by Jess Steven Hughes

Author:Jess Steven Hughes [Hughes, Jess Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620067192
Publisher: Milford House Press
Published: 2019-07-20T04:00:00+00:00

*

Reveille sounded too soon. The cornus’s brassy sound shot through my head like a thunder clap, bouncing from side to side. Sprawled on top of my pallet, I barely moved. My head felt like a roaring avalanche pounding the inside of my skull. Thank the gods those accursed trumpets only blew in the morning and for taps. Painfully getting to my feet, I staggered outside and headed for the latrine, oblivious to morning camp activity. Centurions shouted orders, legionaries marched along the path heading out to relieve the night watch on sentry duty. Others with axes in hand headed outside to the nearby forest to cut wood to shore up the stockade’s defenses. Smoke from cooking fires drifted upward, disappearing in the gray morning sky.

Before I had gone too far, Crispus approached. “Thanks friend,” I grumbled, “just what I needed, a drunk.”

Crispus looked about. “I had a reason, Marcellus. I can’t explain here, I’ll tell you later.”

“Now, dammit!” I winced. “Gods, my head!”

A soldier snickered as he walked by.

“All right, let’s go to the stable. No one ought to be around yet.”

Being close to feeding time, Argento was happy to see me. His soft mouth slimed my shoulder, staining my tunic. I grabbed a wooden pitchfork and threw him some fodder as Crispus and I conversed.

“Kyar is with the gods of her people,” Crispus said in a low voice, “her soul is at peace.”

“There’s only one way that could happen,” I said quietly, praying my throbbing headache would go away.

“The pimp is dead.”

I dropped the pitchfork, a thud erupted as it hit the dirt floor. The only other sound in the stall came from Argento munching his hay. “How?”

“Budar.”

“Why? Revenge was mine, not his.”

“We didn’t want you involved.”

“What do you mean, we?” I eyed him suspiciously.

Crispus tapped his chest. “Me, Budar, Obulco, and the Germans—they helped, too.”

“What is this, a conspiracy?” Argento raised his head as if on cue. His bulbous hickory eyes seemed to be studying me as strands of hay hung from the side of his mouth. Then he returned to his feed.

He stiffened and shook his head. “No friend. We saved your arse. In your state of mind, you would’ve left a trail wide enough for the whole legion to follow. Gallus would love to charge you with murder.”

“What about you?”

He glanced around the stable. “Don’t fret, we cloaked ourselves. Whether you know it or not, the entire squadron respects you.”

I shrugged.

“No matter,” Crispus continued, “Obulco gladly volunteered when I told him what I had in mind. Others would have, too, but I figured the fewer who knew about the plan, the better.” He paused. “Everybody hated Rix. No one will miss his thieving carcass, except Gallus, and he’ll investigate. So we made certain none of us were seen.”

“What makes you think Gallus won’t accuse me of being involved? Knowing him, he’ll find a way.”

“He won’t,” Crispus answered with a wink. “Kimon stayed with you most of the night. He’ll truthfully answer you didn’t go anywhere.”

“I never saw him.

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