Page 169 of Scorched Earth

“I don’t want to leave you.” They’d reached the tiny harbor town, her toes squishing in worse than mud as they walked through the streets. “I promised you.”

“Miki and I are safe enough here,” Quintus said. “Whereas your people are with Hostus. Get them out and then we’ll talk promises.”

“I’m sorry.” She could barely speak. Could barely breathe.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for.”

Teriana hadeverythingto be sorry for. Even if she spent the rest of her life trying to atone for her mistakes, she’d still die begging for forgiveness.

Gamdeshian civilians filled the town, going about their usual business while coming to terms with their change in regime, and many of them recognized her. Spit in the mud at the sight of her. Teriana wanted to fall to her knees before them. Wanted to scream at them to run, to escape, because the man who now ruled them was a monster.

But she kept walking, the docks appearing ahead.

“Almost there,” Quintus said, then a Forty-First centurion appeared in front of them, his arms crossed.

“Didheapprove of her being here?”

Quintus dropped Teriana’s hand, and she knew that he’d fight to get her on that ship. But then a voice from behind said, “It’s approved.”

She turned her head to find Felix striding up behind them, Bait’s wrist firmly in his grip. “Get on your ship, Teriana,” he said as the centurion stepped aside to allow them to climb the steps onto the dock.

The planks were rough beneath her feet, splinters digging into her flesh, but it was all Teriana could do not to run to theQuincense. As though being on her decks would be salvation, all her pain left behind in the ship’s wake.

“How quickly can you get to Celendrial?” Felix asked, voice toneless.

“A week.” She gripped Quintus’s arm.

“That letter you have should be all you need, but if you run into trouble, try to get word to me. I know our help is the last thing you want, but I can force the issue.” Felix shoved Bait ahead of him.

Her friend stumbled on his crippled foot, and Teriana knew that Bait had told Felix what Marcus had done.

Rounding on her, Felix caught hold of Teriana’s hands. “Grypus’s death has bought time, but Cassius will send another governor soon enough, and then it will be war. Get your people, and then find whatever place is left on Reath that is out of the Empire’s reach.” Felix’s fingers tightened. “Take care of yourself, Teriana.”

Turning on his heel, Felix strode down the docks. Though Teriana hadn’t thought there was room in her heart for anything but grief, her chest tightened at this act of kindness from a man she’d once thought her enemy.

“Don’t give anyone a chance to change their mind.” Quintus nudged her up the gangplank.

Her crew waited. Herfamilywaited, faces she’d not seen in so many long months, all of them staring at her as Teriana stepped onto theQuincense’sdeck for what felt the first time in eternity. They all knew what she’d done, and Teriana waited for them to turn their backs on her as her mother had. Waited for the moment she was rejected by the people she’d fought so hard to save.

“Welcome home, Teriana,” her aunt Yedda said.

Teriana’s knees buckled, and she pressed her lips to the deck of the ship that had been her home all her life, hearing the voices of her family welcoming her back.

They still accept me, despite everything that happened. One good thing in a sea of darkness.

“Get up, girl,” Yedda said. “Those decks ain’t been swabbed since those boys took their injured. Might be a good first job for you since you’ve likely gone rusty on gauging the winds.”

“Gladly,” Teriana sobbed. “I will gladly clean every inch of this ship because it feels good to be home.”

Being on the decks and feeling the faint swell of the sea beneath her feet gave Teriana back her strength, and she rose. Quintus stood next to the rail, and in two steps, she flung her arms around his neck. “I wish you could come with me.”

“Only because you don’t realize that I don’t know anything about sailing a ship.”

A smile worked onto her lips. “Never in my life did I expect to call a legion boy a friend, but you have been one of the best, and truest, friends I have been privileged to have.” Holding him at arm’s length so that she could meet his blue eyes, she said, “Find Miki. Tell him you love him. And then get out of this nightmare and find me.”

Quintus pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “You’re going to regret that when you see how seasick Miki gets.” He pushed her gently away and climbed onto the gangplank. “Go to Celendrial, Teriana of theQuincense. I’ll see you on the other side.”

Then he was gone.