Page 158 of Scorched Earth

He’s going to drive her away from you.

The voice in his head was so loud it made his skull throb, and Marcus pressed fingers to his temples, desperate to silence the voice and its endless fucking orders.

The voice went quiet, his mind still, and then it softly said,It doesn’t have to go that way. You command the legions. You could make the Empire bend to your will.

It was madness to consider. And yet…

You are the one in control. You are the one who will decide how this will go.

Schooling his face, Marcus turned back around to face them. “We should get ready to greet him.”

58TERIANA

Leaving Marcus and Felix to their plans for the senator’s arrival, Teriana stepped out into the corridor where Quintus waited with the rest of Marcus’s guard, none of which were Gibzen’s men. She’d not seen the primus since Felix had dismissed him, and she wondered if Marcus would allow the order to stand when he learned of it.

Either way, it was a problem for another hour, and catching hold of Quintus’s arm, she hauled him around the circular corridor of the tower to where her own rooms were located.

Kaira’s rooms,her conscience reminded her.Which you stole from her.

Shoving away the thought, Teriana said, “What do you know about Grypus?”

Her friend blinked. “Plotius? That old fart is still alive?”

“Apparently he’s arriving in Emrant in a matter of hours.” She slammed the bedroom door shut behind them. “Marcus isn’t happy.”

“Of course he isn’t. Grypus outranks him. By a lot, if he’s still a proconsul.” Abandoning his helmet on a table, Quintus flopped onto a divan, nearly disappearing into the pile of pillows decorating it. “He has good taste in wine, women, and olives, but I don’t think that’s the information you’re interested in.”

Exhaling a steadying breath, Teriana perched on the edge of a chair and shook her head.

Quintus extracted himself from the pillows and rested his elbows on his knees. “Hydrilla was a long siege. The rebels holding the fortress went into it well-supplied and their defenses were good. They repelled our attacks at every turn, although months in, they were starving. Most of what I know is rumor and hearsay, but apparently Marcus was of the opinion that the rebels would surrender, and it was only a matter of waiting them out, but Grypus wasn’t satisfied with that approach. He wanted a glorious battle that would be talked about in Celendrial, never mind how many of us had to die to achieve it. Hostus was primed for a big attack, and the Thirty-Seventh would’ve been on the front lines. Marcus went to Grypus behind Hostus’s back and convinced him to allow Marcus to direct the attack. No oneknows quite how, but Hostus found out about it. Cut Marcus up good and he nearly bled out, but he rallied enough to command the battle, which went exactly as planned. The victory was one for the history books, which made Grypus happy. He granted the Thirty-Seventh autonomy from the Twenty-Ninth, and we set off for Chersome.”

An old memory of the conversation she’d had with Marcus after she’d been caught climbing into her mother’s room in Celendrial rose in Teriana’s mind. When he’d bandaged her injured hand.It wasn’t until we were stationed in Bardeen that I had moved up enough in the Senate’s eyes to take command,he’d said.It was an easier campaign than any we’ve had since—quite clear what had to be done from a tactical standpoint.

Only Marcus would claim a campaign waseasywhen he’d been half-dead while orchestrating it. “How did you win it?”

“By being smart.” Quintus explained what had happened, and Teriana’s eyes widened as she listened.

“There’s a whole lot more to the story,” Quintus said. “But if I had to hazard a guess, Marcus is unhappy because Grypus cares more about glory than he does lives, legion or otherwise. Grypus can’t claim this victory as his, so he’ll be looking for something else to fight over that will make him the talk of the Hill.” Quintus sighed. “It means expanding our reach, probably using force because Grypus hates negotiation.”

Which was the exact opposite of hers and Marcus’s goal to negotiate a peaceful arrangement with Gamdesh. And it was all happening so quickly. Teriana pressed her fingers to her temple, feeling panic starting to rise. “Is there a way to control him?”

“I imagine that’s the exact thought running through Marcus’s mind right now.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Quintus rose, hand going to the weapon at his belt. “Yeah?”

“Senator came early,” a male voice called through. “He’s on his way to the fortress with his escort. Legatus wants Teriana with him.”

Quintus glanced at Teriana, and after she nodded, he called back, “All right.”

Sweat broke out on her palms, and Teriana glanced at herself in the large mirror on the wall, taking some confidence from the composed woman looking back at her, even if it wasn’t how she felt. “Let’s go, then.”

Quintus donned his helmet, then opened the door. Glancing in both directions, he nodded and led her down the corridor. The sandalsshe’d taken from Kaira’s closet made soft pats against the stone as they descended the tower stairs, walking through the maze of corridors until they reached the courtyard. Marcus stood with Nic and Servius, heads bent together in discussion, expressions grim.

Servius raised an eyebrow at the sight of her. “Enjoying the spoils of war?”

Shame over her decision to wear the Gamdeshian princess’s clothing flooded Teriana’s veins, and she quietly prayed that word of it would never reach Kaira’s ears. She’d needed clean clothes. Had wanted to look pretty. Hadn’t even considered the signals that it would send, and her naivety abruptly caused her to call into question whether it was madness to believe she could take on this role. To believe she could stand between the most powerful nations in the world and move them to peace rather than war.

Someone called down from above that the party was approaching, and the chaotic mass of legionnaires and officers moved without hesitation into position in the courtyard. Marcus stepped to the center before the closed gates, Felix and Nic just behind him.