Page 16 of Scorched Earth

“Yes.” Nic met her gaze, brown eyes serious below his helmet. “But less nervous than the very certain fate we’d be facing if we were stuck with Hostus.”

“Sir,” Pullo said, the primus and his men guarding their legatus much the same way Gibzen always did with Marcus. “The consul approaches.”

Sweat pooled beneath Teriana’s breasts as she caught sight of an approaching litter, eight men straining to carry the red and gold monstrosity. Men of the Twenty-Ninth walked in escort around it, and her stomach tightened as she recognized the familiar cloak and helmet of a legatus. Hostus was with him.

“Don’t let him provoke you,” Nic murmured, and his men all gave tight nods, though Teriana was fairly confident the advice was for her.

The litter stopped before her. Cassius’s skinny servant climbed out and then helped his master exit.

“Good, good, you’re here.” Cassius straightened his garments before striding toward her. “All is in order for you to meet with your people and make a decision about our agreement. Hostus, would you serve as my representative inside? I’m afraid I have no tolerance for the smell in these places. It clings.”

“Of course, Consul.” Hostus gave Teriana a smile that was all teeth as Cassius climbed back inside the litter. The Twenty-Ninth’s legatus was well into his twenties, white-blond hair cut short, hisemerald eyes vibrant against his golden Cel skin. A face to inspire sculptors, she had no doubt, but from the moment she’d met him, Teriana had sensed the monster lurking within.

Hostus clapped Nic on the shoulder so hard that the boy staggered. “Wait out here, puppy.”

“No.” Nic’s voice was cold, but though he showed no visible signs of nerves, Teriana could sense his apprehension. She suspected Hostus could as well. “The Commandant’s orders are that I am to remain with Teriana at all times, under full guard.”

“Don’t you trust me to take care of her?” Hostus’s gaze was feral, his smile still showing far too many of his white teeth. “I’m starting to feel a little hurt, puppy. First you abandon my care to tie yourself to the Thirty-Seventh’s apron strings, and now you throw doubt upon my ability to manage a prisoner.”

“Feelings are irrelevant,” Nic answered. “I’m following orders.”

“He’s coming with me,” Teriana snapped. “If for no other reason than to keep me from cutting your throat.” She patted the hilt of the knife at her waist. “I’ve still got the blade I took from you.”

Hostus met her stare. “Let’s see how well that little thing serves you in the dark, girl.” He gestured to the building. “Shall we?”

The prison was cool, and as Teriana’s eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, she frowned in confusion. Rather than rows and rows of cells, as she’d anticipated, the prison appeared exactly like one of the state buildings. All columns and high ceilings, the tiled floor sparkling clean, and the domes painted with scenes of marching legions. Banners of red and gold hung from the walls, and it was incredibly quiet.

“It’s underground,” Nic said softly. “The upper level belongs to the administrators and the warden, and this is their entrance. There is another one for the prisoners.”

Underground.

Teriana swallowed her nausea as Hostus strolled past, leading them down the main corridor before stopping in front of a heavy door flanked by six legionnaires with the number 29 stamped on their breastplates. He muttered something to them, and one extracted a thick key and unlocked the door. Hearing the clack of legion-issue sandals behind her, Teriana glanced over her shoulder to see more of the Twenty-Ninth following them in, weapons in hand.

“My people aren’t to be harmed.” Panic rose in her chest because she realized she hadn’t been specific that the hundred bealivewhen they set sail. It was just like Cassius to look for such a loophole.

“As long as they are peaceable, they won’t be,” Hostus replied. “I’m merely being cautious.”

There was zero chance she’d trust Hostus at his word, but Nic gave a small nod of affirmation that partially eased the tension in her chest.

Then the door swung open.

A wave ofstinkwashed over her, and Teriana recoiled, gagging. It smelled worse than a legion camp latrine, for it was tinged with vomit and…rot.As though not everyone in the prison below was alive.

“Gods.” She pressed her sleeve to her mouth and ignored the dark glares the legionnaires gave her, because her people were trapped in that horror. She tried to shove past Hostus, to sprint down into this underworld to find them. To help them. But Hostus’s hand latched on her wrist.

“There are protocols,” he murmured, the bones of her wrist grinding beneath his grip. “Walk.”

Then he pulled her through the entrance. The staircase was wide and made from square-cut stone blocks, sconces filled with burning oil both illuminating the space and filling it with a haze of smoke that mixed with the miasma of human waste as they descended, passing yet more legionnaires as they circled into the bowels of the structure. Behind them, the door slammed shut.

Teriana’s heart throbbed with the same speed it had when she and Marcus had been chased by wolves across Sibern, her ears now filled with cries and moans of pain and despair, the stink so terrible her eyes burned.

“You get used to it,” Hostus said with a chuckle, maintaining his grip on her arm. Nic and Pullo followed behind them as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

A corridor lined with steel bars stretched out before her. She peered into the darkness, dread filling her at the sight of dozens and dozens of holes in the ground. Perhaps four feet in diameter, they looked like wells with bars overtop, except they didn’t contain water. Weeping emanated from the space, and she clenched her teeth against the sourness rising in her throat at the thought of being kept in the tight, dark space for days. Months. Gods, it was possible some of the prisoners might have been in there foryears. “If my people are—”

“They’re not,” Hostus interrupted. “Those are for individuals who have done truly despicable things, not sad little sailors who put their faith in the wrong girl.”

Her chin trembled. “Seems a fitting place for you.”