HOME (The Portal Series, Book 3) by Bowker Richard;

Author:Bowker, Richard; [Bowker, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 5720984
Publisher: ePublishing Works!

Thirty

Decius

Decius walked out of the meeting in the afternoon, worried and discouraged. The rebel general, whose name was Hippolytus, and the admiral, Eukippus, seemed unable to agree on anything, starting with who had ultimate command of the rebellion. And meanwhile the days passed and the soldiers grew restless. They could not stay in this port town forever. They needed to attack before winter. They needed to defeat the Gallians before the Gallians figured out how to defeat them. The strategy was obvious to Decius, but they were dismissive of his ideas. What battles had he ever won?

He strode across the plaza, heading to his cramped room in an inn on the waterfront.

It was then that he heard the woman calling out to him from the other side of the plaza.

He stopped and looked at her as she approached. She was young, with blond hair and gray, intelligent eyes. “Yes?”

“My lord, are you Governor Decius?”

She spoke Latin with a slight accent that he couldn’t quite place. “I am,” he replied, “although I am a governor no more. Who are you?”

“A friend of the viator Affron, whom I think you know.”

He stared at her, puzzled. She met his gaze. “How do you know Affron?” he demanded.

“May we speak in private?” she asked, gesturing at the people passing by.

He shrugged. “Come, then,” he replied. He led her to the inn. His room was on the third floor; in it, Corscius was writing at a table. “Please leave us for a while,” Decius said to him.

Corscius glanced at her with curiosity and then stood, bowed, and left without a word.

Decius took his place at the table and pushed the papers aside. She sat opposite him. The room was hot, but at least a cool breeze blew in through the open window. They were in Misenum, a port town on the great sea. It was the right place for the rebels to be, if they could decide what to do next.

“Your name?” he asked.

“Palta, my lord.”

“And how do you know Affron?”

“I was one of the people Tirelius was seeking last year, along with Affron and the others. The ones who escaped from Urbis.”

“You and Valleia and the boy,” he said.

“Larry Barnes, yes. You met Larry in the Circus Maximus, when Affron did whatever it as that he did to you. Larry and I were separated from the others and ended up in Gallia. We were with Feslund when he and his men took Urbis. Then we left to find Affron. We finally tracked him to Scotia. But Affron had already left Scotia and gone someplace else—I don’t know where. Larry went after him. I do not think either of them is coming back. But I returned to Roma, and from there I came here to Misenum.”

The tale was told so simply, so quickly. Here, sitting opposite him, was the girl who had helped the Gallians and then disappeared. Had he heard her name before? He didn’t think so. “Why did you come to Misenum?” he asked.

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