The Heirs of Fortune (Valerian's Legion Book 2) by Heather Domin

Author:Heather Domin [Domin, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heather Domin
Published: 2015-12-07T23:00:00+00:00

*

A roasted boar haunch lay in a pool of congealed juices, cold on a platter between two empty plates. Voices drifted in on the breeze from outside: men laughing, dogs barking, a sing-along, a wrestling match. Inside the tent these sounds were muted; the room was quiet except for the crackling brazier and the endless, rhythmic tapping as Valerian hacked a rind of cheese into tiny uniform bits. Across the table Dardanus tore his bread into a pile of squashed chunks, just like he used to do during those first nights in Rome when a timid boy sat at a strange table across from a strange man. But they were no longer strangers, and Dardanus was no longer a timid boy. Halfway through his loaf he dropped the crushed remains and sighed.

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Valerian did not reply, nor did his knife cease its endless chopping.

“You’re angry, I can tell. If you’re angry at me, I think I deserve to know why.”

No, not a boy anymore. But still unable to hide his emotions, or perhaps no longer trying to. Valerian lobbed off another bit of cheese, then another, and then he stabbed his knife into the block so hard their cups wobbled on the table.

“You were almost killed today.”

“The hunt? You’re still upset about that?

“Still? It shouldn’t upset me that you ignored my instructions and jumped in front of a charging boar? If Drusus had reacted one moment later, you would have had a tusk in your belly for your trouble. I thought you had more sense than that.”

“I was distracting it so he could make the kill. That’s all.”

“And if that boar had spread your entrails across the ground? Is that how you want to die?”

“I wasn’t going to die!”

“It was reckless, Dardanus. It was reckless and it was stupid.”

That stung him. It flickered in those gray eyes, a shadow of old fears and old wounds.

“Is that what you think of me?”

“I told you to stay on your horse.”

The pain in Dardanus’ eyes turned to indignation. “I don’t recall being on duty at the time, General. You’re my superior officer, not my father.”

“Don’t snap at me. If you don’t want to be treated like a child, don’t act like one.”

“You’re just angry because I did something instead of staying where it’s safe like you.”

The knife clattered to the plate and Valerian pushed back from the table. Dardanus rose to face him, eye to eye, his body taut with anger. Valerian’s hands balled into fists, but he mastered himself and walked away. After a moment, he heard Dardanus sigh.

“I didn’t mean it like that. You’re right, it was reckless. I guess… I didn’t think, I just saw it was coming for him, like it came for you, and I…”

“You defended him,” Valerian said. “As you would have defended me.”

“Yes. As I would have defended you. You would have done the same for me.”

Dardanus touched his arm, but Valerian snatched it away. His anger was irrational and unsettling, but once he acknowledged it, it welled up too rapidly to subdue.

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