The girl’s eyes widened. “You know about him?”
“Virana told me.”
Corinna gave the wool a sharp tug. “I’ve had no message. There is nothing I can tell you.”
“The army are not chasing him, and if they were, I would keep silent unless you asked me to speak. Someone tried to help him, but he ran away.”
The girl laid the spindle in her lap. “How was he?”
“Bruised, but well able to run.”
“Hm.” Corinna did not seem to be sure whether she was pleased about that or not.
Tilla said, “It is not easy to be married to a man who is supposed to be married to the Legion.”
Corinna glanced over at her son again. “I thought at first that I could manage.”
“You are a strong woman. And your son will heal.”
“I want to go home.”
Tilla sat back in the battered chair. “Tell me about your home.”
“It is very beautiful,” Corinna said. “The army hardly bother us. The seas are wild around the rocks but there is good fishing. The land is rich for cows and good for crops if you lime it, but things do not change very fast. And Victor is a man who always thinks there is something better somewhere else.”
She picked up a rag from the wool basket and wiped the grease off her hands. “I tried to tell him it was a good life, but he wouldn’t listen. He is a fighter: a champion wrestler. In the old days he would have been a warrior, but of course at home he was not allowed to train for battle or carry weapons. He used to talk all the time about the legions-how he wished he had joined when he had the chance.”
“This was after you were married?”
“I doubt he meant it as an insult, but he kept saying I was the only thing that stopped him from joining. I knew the army would treat us as divorced, but he spoke of it so often that I was afraid he would run off and join anyway.”
“So it was better to agree than to lose him.”
“That is what I thought back then.” Corinna shrugged. “My mother said he was a fool, and so was I, but my father had a pair of soldier’s boots made for him as a gift. We traveled for weeks to get to this place of terrible winters. Then he was only allowed out for one afternoon every week, and when we saw him, all he wanted to do was quarrel or sleep.”
“I have met other women who say the same.”
“Perhaps it is different if your husband is an officer. The Legion was not the life he was expecting. The training is hard, even for a strong man. There were a lot of arguments.”
Tilla said, “Did he tell you he was leaving?”
The thin fingers rubbed a fold of her skirt. “He said we would slow him down. The soldiers came here to look for him, but I do not think they were sorry to see him go.”
“Was there something that happened that made him leave, Corinna?”
The girl eyed her steadily. “It was not for any reason they will tell you. That is all I can say.”
“Who hurt him?”
“Tadius.”
Tilla frowned. “I have been told wrongly. I thought Tadius was his friend.”
“He was. A good friend.”
“Then why-”
“There are things you don’t know.”
“Tell me.”
The pale lips twitched into a smile that did not reach the eyes. “If you don’t know, you are safe. You don’t have to decide what to do. You can keep quiet and not call yourself a coward, because you know nothing. And if you are a friend to my family, you will forget I have ever spoken to you of this.”
Tilla puzzled. “But if there is something wrong-”
“Don’t complain. Tadius complained. Victor wanted to.”
“About what?”
“About lots of things,” said Corinna. “But look what happened. The Legion always wins in the end.”
Chapter 28
“No, no, no, no, no!”
The orderly seized Austalis by his good arm and wrestled him back down onto the bed.
“No, no!”
Ruso raised his hands to show they were empty, but Austalis was too frightened to care. The orderly kept him pinned down while Ruso retreated and leaned against the wall.
“No.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Ruso assured him, which at that moment was true.
The “No!” was more of a whimper now: Austalis had reached the end of his strength.
Ruso stood motionless, as he would have with a frightened animal. Eventually he said, “Would you like some water?”
“No.”
“You’re very ill, Austalis.”
“No.”
“The surgery would help.”
The voice was very weak now. “Don’t … cut.”
Ruso nodded to the orderly, who stood up, hitched his torn tunic back over his shoulder, and retreated to a corner. To Austalis he said, “You’re in a bit of a mess there. Shall I put your bed straight?”
There was no sign of Austalis caring one way or the other. Ruso straightened the bedding and poured a few drops of water between the cracked lips.
“Let me tell you about Clementinus,” said Ruso. “Clementinus used to be a vet in the Twentieth. Now he earns a good living as a dog breeder and he’s fathered two children. Or there’s Amandus the brewer. He’s got a wife and a son. Both men lost an arm at about your age, and I did the surgery.”
A whisper of “No.”
“We can give you something to dull the pain and I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“No.”
“If it’s the arm or you, I know which I’d choose.”
The silence was encouraging.
“It’s the best choice. We’ll get rid of the diseased-”
The door burst open and Geminus strode into the room. He loomed over the end of the bed, eyed the startled patient, and announced, “That arm’s coming off, then.”
“Out!” Ruso had him halfway to the door before he recovered his balance.
Geminus twisted free and blocked the exit. “He’s my man.”
“He’s my patient.”
Ruso was taller. Geminus was solid muscle. There was no sign of his shadows, but they were probably out in the corridor somewhere. Ruso said, “Not here.”
“You didn’t listen.”
“Not here!”
Ruso was conscious of a faint voice behind him. The words were in British. “Not my arm-no.”
“Don’t worry,” Ruso assured him in the same tongue, keeping his eyes fixed on Geminus. “Nothing will happen here unless I say so.”
“Outside,” growled Geminus, stepping back to let him pass.
Ruso murmured, “Stay here and keep him calm,” to the wide-eyed orderly, and gestured to Geminus to go first. He was not giving that man a chance to get near his patient again.
“You were told to mind your own business.”
Ruso envied Aesculapius, whose tranquil gaze across the entrance hall was undisturbed by the centurion’s tone. He had brought Geminus here because if there was going to be a fight, he wanted witnesses. He also wanted help, but he doubted he would get any. Still, at least there was no sign of the two shadows. He said, “If you want to talk to my patient, you talk to me first.”
“I should have known you’d be trouble.”
“Did you have me followed?”
Geminus glanced around to make sure no one but the god was listening. “My men have better things to do than get you out of places you shouldn’t get into.”
“You told me Tadius died at night.”
“I told you everything you need to know.” Geminus moved closer. He smelled of the sweat of the training ground. Ruso stood very still.
“When I heard you were coming,” Geminus said, “I asked some questions. And I got some very interesting answers. Why was it you left the Legion last time?”
Ruso knew now where this was heading, and he did not want to go there. “I was injured. By the time I’d recovered, my contract was over.”
“Nothing to do with your woman, then?”