The Soldier of Raetia by Heather Domin

Author:Heather Domin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, ancient rome, bildungsroman, romantic adventure, male male, sword and sandal, bisexual fiction, roman army, roman soldiers, roman legion, coming of age romance
Publisher: Heather Domin

XXIV.

The main tent at camp headquarters stood open to the morning air. Outside its leather walls soldiers and slaves moved to and fro, busy even at this early hour; the tied-back flaps let in the sounds of activity growing with the sunlight, but the men inside the tent were mostly silent.

The meeting was no secret; everyone knew the legion would march soon. They had done everything short of sending Ingvarr an invitation. It was a clever move, Dardanus thought, from a tactical perspective. He had plenty of time this morning to consider all perspectives—he had blended into the background since his arrival, holding up a tent post with the rest of the furniture. The tribunes had greeted him civilly as they arrived, but since then no one had so much as looked in his direction. He was only a page, not a laticlavius—his duty was to watch and speak only if spoken to. Since dawn he had kept his place in the corner and observed in silence. He had no difficulty remaining invisibly mute, but he was less successful at silencing his racing thoughts.

Lessons from years past came back to him, all those books about tactics and strategy, but so far he had no answers for the questions in his head. Murdering a battalion of forty was an act of defiance, but it did not amount to a rebellion. It seemed to Dardanus that the enemy had rolled the bones on money he did not possess, and the general had swiftly called his play—what he could not understand was why the Ingvirii king had made such a foolish wager to begin with. What outcome could it gain him except defeat? Legio XXIV had been at Castra Danuvia for five years, but other legions had patrolled Vindelicia for decades. Why move now? Why like this?

"Something's not right."

He flinched—the person who had spoken was not himself, however, but Tribune Castor. He stood by the table with the rest of the tribunes, scrutinizing the great vellum map stretched across it and held down with figurines and carved wooden blocks.

"The Ingvirii murder a scout party, leaving one man to make sure we know who did it. Then a bunch of farmers wave their scythes at us in broad daylight. Now the whole legion is on Ingvarr's doorstep, and they're still assembling. It just doesn't figure."

"So what do you think?" said Tribune Quintellian.

"Damned if I know. He ought to know that what he did would call down the fire on him."

"I think you give him too much credit," said Tribune Pontius. "He's a bog dweller who thinks he's a king because he wears a crown."

"He thinks he's a king because he rules a people who would die for him," Quintellian replied. "It would be wise not to underestimate that."

"Alright, then, what do you think he's up to?"

"I haven't got a clue. I've never been able to make sense of the man."

"Castor's right."

At the head of the table, where he had stood since the meeting began, the general frowned down at the map.

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.