Page 66 of Ensnaring the Dove
“Haughty bitch!” someone yelled from the back. “Stand aside, or we’ll trample you too!”
Fear beat in Colombia’s chest like a panicked bird, but she held her ground. She needed to provide a distraction, for these men were just instants away from surging forward and coming at her father with their daggers. The commander was a formidable fighter, but even he couldn’t withstand such an assault.
Inhaling sharply, she let the moment draw out. She had to speak carefully now. The wrong word would get her killed. She couldn’t talk down to them or manipulate them—instead, she had to remind them of why they were here on the frontier, of the common purpose they shared.
“Wait!” she called out, her voice echoing across the courtyard. “Think about what you’re doing.” Dozens of hard stares bored into her, yet she plowed on. “I understand why you’re angry. You should have received your wages two months ago. Life is hard up here … and without coin to spend, you wonder what the point of it all is.”
Angry rumbling rippled across the crowd, but Colombia pressed on. “Yet thereisa point … there is a reason you’re all here.” She broke off then. Her heart was beating so fast it was difficult to think. But she had to. Everything depended on what she said next. “None of you signed up to further the glory of Rome.” Her gaze slid across the faces amassed before her. Indeed, few of them were swarthy Romans like her father and his officers. Most of them didn’t hail from Italia, but from its colonies. There were copper-skinned soldiers from Numidia, with dark hair that curled tightly against their scalps, and big fair-haired men with ruddy complexions from Germania and Gallia. “You did so for a chance at a better future.”
A few of the men at the front of the crowd nodded, and one or two of them lowered their daggers slightly.
“You agreed to give the empire five and twenty years of your lives … and in return, we promised to clothe you, feed you, and pay you.” She paused then. “I know it’s not easy on the frontier. You’re all far from your homelands, and Britannia can be bleak and unwelcoming … but look at all you’ve achieved.” She gestured around her then. “This magnificent wall, worthy of the Gods themselves. It will stand long after the last of us is gone.”
“What do we care about that, woman?” An aggressive voice carried across the crowd. A tall legionary with dark-tanned skin and hawkish features had stepped forward. “The Wall is meaningless to us.”
“No, it’s not,” she replied, meeting the soldier’s eye. “It’s a symbol of your bravery … your resilience.” She dragged in a deep breath then before plowing on. “You will be paid as soon as the pay wagon arrives—you can be sure of that. And if you remain loyal, and once your service ends, you will receive a parcel of land or its equivalent in coin. You will be a prominent member of society … and you can settle anywhere you choose within the empire. Isn’t that worth your loyalty?” She drew in another deepbreath. “Step away now, return to the barracks, and I give you my word no punishment will fall upon you.”
Silence fell then, swelling as the moments passed.
Colombia didn’t glance over her shoulder at where her father’s gaze bored into her back, or right at where Aedan no doubt watched from the shadow of the portico.
Instead, her attention remained on the men before her.
“My daughter speaks boldly.” Severus Juventus spoke then, his voice hard-edged. “But Iwillhonor her promise. Stand down and the most you’ll get is a grade decrease and extra duties.” He bit out these words as if they cost him dearly—and they likely did.
Those were soft punishments, indeed.
Another hush settled over the principia, and then—one by one—the legionaries sheathed their pugiones. Some of them still wore disgruntled expressions, but the danger that had crackled in the air when Colombia stepped before them had lifted.
They were no longer out for blood.
Colombia watched, hardly daring to breathe, as the crowd filtered out of the courtyard.
And only when the last legionary departed did she turn to face her father.
Severus was staring at her, his smoky eyes wide, his lips parted. Colombia had a moment’s satisfaction of knowing that she’d rendered her father speechless.
Likewise, the officers that flanked the commander all looked poleaxed. Linus was staring at her as if Medusa stood before them.
Colombia didn’t care. Her knees were starting to wobble now, as the fire that ignited in her veins, that had propelled her between her father and the mob, subsided.
“Colombia,” Severus finally rasped. “I can’t believe you did that.”
Neither could she.
“It looks like you have a glittering career ahead of you in the senate, Lady Juventus,” one of the officers, Optio Carbo, murmured, a wry edge to his voice. “With oratory skills like that, you’d go far.”
Colombia gave a soft snort. Women didn’t speak in the senate; they all knew that. Nonetheless, she appreciated the sentiment.
“You took a great risk, daughter,” Severus said gruffly then. “One that could have ended badly.”
“I know,pater,” she whispered. “But I had to do something. They were a heartbeat away from savaging you. I couldn’t stand by and let that happen.”
Her father’s gaze shifted right then, and Colombia tensed.
He’d seen Aedan.
Indeed, her lover now moved to her side. Aedan’s expression was shuttered, his tall, lean body tense.