Page 263 of Scorched Earth

“I have no doubt they want the gold, but what good are mines thatare overrun with poison? Everyone they send to mine them will die and rise a blighter, then joinRufina’sarmy.”

“Lydia,” Killian muttered. “He’s made no secret of his desire to see her dead.”

“Then send assassins, not your whole damned army.”

Lydia sighed. “The answer is evil, Agrippa. Both the Corrupter and Lucius Cassius desire to rule Reath, and they care little for the costs that come with doing so. Indeed, I think they relish it. Just as Rufina is the Corrupter’s general in this fight, so too is Marcus that of Lucius Cassius. Caught in the thrall of their masters, though in truth, I think their masters are becoming one and the same. The blighters do Rufina’s bidding because they must. So too do the legions. They are same.”

It was nothing she hadn’t said before, but even now, Agrippa struggled to believe the men who’d once been his brothers were under the influence of evil. That they would be the hammer against the anvil of the blight.

Yet as the thunder of marching men grew louder, Agrippa fell silent, the truth now impossible to deny.

The first ranks crested the hill, thousands upon thousands of men walking in neat rows, armor gleaming, and crimson and gold banners flying overhead. Centurions and the other officers rode horses, all of them straight backed, helmets concealing their faces. Drums sounded a slow, ominous beat, and behind her, Lydia heard her soldiers shifting uneasily.

“The Six have mercy,” Malahi said softly. “There are so many of them.”

“That’s a gods-damned work of art,” Agrippa said by way of answer. “Look at those ranks. I can barely get my men to walk in the same direction, much less in a straight line. We’re fucked, by the way. This is what it looks like to be well and truly fucked.”

Killian cleared his throat. “Is that him?”

Agrippa was quiet for a long moment, then he said, “Yeah. The Thirty-Seventh is the vanguard, and Marcus is the one wearing the red cloak riding the gold horse. I’d recognize that massive ego anywhere. That’s Felix next to him. The big one with the standard is Servius. I was sure they had to be dead for him to have fallen this low—they’ve always tempered his tendencies.”

Lydia had already seen Marcus, her eyes drawn to him the moment he’d crested the slope. He rode as straight-backed as his centurions, but he kept his horse to an ambling walk, radiating a total lackof concern even across all this distance. The nosepiece on his helmet hid his face, but Lydia could picture it easily in her mind’s eye, her heart beating a rapid staccato as old fear rose in her chest.

More and more men poured over the hilltop, marching in their perfect lines, the front ranks parting in flawless synchronicity to move around the white tent. Marcus and his mounted officers and guard reached the tent, and he drew his golden horse to a stop, holding up one hand.

Horns blew, rippling over the sea of men, and as one, the marching men stopped.

“Showoff,” Agrippa muttered. “He’s showing off, and the worst part is that he’s doing it well. I hate this. I hate all of it.”

Not one of the legionnaires among the tens of thousands moved, standing still as statues as Marcus dismounted. Without a backward glance, he walked inside the tent.

One minute passed. Then two, then three, and not a single one of the legionnaires shifted from the position he’d put them in. Almost as though Marcus possessed the same power as Rufina did over her army of the dead, though Lydia could see that every one of them was of the living.

“Thoughts, Agrippa?” Killian asked, and Lydia looked sideways at him.

Killian absently twisted a lock of his horse’s mane around his fingers, showing none of the agitation the rest of them were displaying. But she could feel his anger simmering beneath the calm surface. The desire to ride down and have vengeance on the one who’d done her such harm. Who’d done harm to so many people who Killian cared about.

“Slaughtering our rear guard must have sated his need for revenge, because he’s giving us the opportunity to treat,” Agrippa finally answered. “But what he’s expecting is for us to surrender without a fight. He’s putting his full might on display; no tricks, no ruses, because he wants us to see that we can’t win this. That to fight would be the greatest form of stupidity. You can call it intimidation, but that’s not really it. Intimidation is a strategy for an uncertain victory, and Marcus is, right now, entirely assured that he can win this.”

“Fair.” Killian shifted his weight in the saddle, narrowing his eyes at the gleaming ranks.

Lydia could smell the scent of sweat and men as the wind blowing over the legions reached her, humanity at its most deadly, and shewanted to scream and scream and scream because they’d fought so hard, and it had still come to this.

“Marcus speaks Mudamorian fluently, because it’s a common trade language in the East,” Agrippa said. “So you can send anyone. He’ll give them terms and then send them back to report everything to you. Waste of time because I can tell you what he’ll tell them.”

Killian shifted in his saddle. “Which is why you’re the one who is going to go talk to him.”

Agrippa stiffened even as Malahi gasped, “No! Absolutely not!”

“She’s right,” Lydia said, feeling Malahi’s rising panic. “Agrippa is a deserter. At best, they’ll take him prisoner. At worst, they’ll kill him while we watch.”

“No, they won’t.”

Agrippa’s horse began pawing the ground, ears pinned to its head as Agrippa said, “You know I’m not one to back down out of fear, Killian, but Lydia’s right. The second the Thirty-Seventh realizes it’s me, realizes that I’m fighting on the side that just killed several hundred of their ranks, they’re going to come for blood. I’m not going to learn anything interesting for you, because I’m going to be nothing more than a red splatter across that nice green field.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“No!” Malahi rode her horse in front of them, her back to the watching legion. “No, Killian. I’m not allowing you to send Agrippa to his death because your gut says it will be all right. I’m not risking him when you could sendanyonewith total surety that they’d come back alive.”