Page 35 of Scorched Earth (Dark Shores #4)

TERIANA

Sitting in Quintus’s tent, Teriana squinted in the faint light, trying and failing to write a letter to her aunt Yedda.

There were a million things she needed to tell her, not the least of which was that she was alive, because she had no idea if her crew had been informed that she was missing, and no one in either legion seemed inclined to tell her.

None of them seemed inclined to talk to her at all.

It seemed an eternity since she’d last seen her ship.

Her crew. Her family. Closing her eyes, she imagined the vessel running on the wind, blue sails taut, spray filling the air.

At sea was where she was meant to be, but the vision felt faded.

As though the time she’d spent apart from all that she held dear had lessened their hold on her mind and heart, which made the guilt she felt all the worse.

Drumming her fingers against her thigh, Teriana stared at the blank page, then started detailing the facts of what had happened, leaving out anything that was best communicated in person.

Or not at all.

Teriana didn’t know whether her crew had heard the rumors about her and Marcus, but if they had, she could only imagine what they would think.

Part of her wanted to scream that it was only because they didn’t understand, that they didn’t know him, that the situation was complicated.

Yet despite all of that, most of her people would see her falling in love with a Cel legatus as a betrayal.

Maybe they’d turn their backs on her, as her mother had.

Maybe she deserved it.

I’ve secured freedom for a portion of those captive in Celendrial, but many remain imprisoned. They will be released when xenthier stems are found that are to the Senate’s satisfaction. Mum is still safe in Senator Valerius’s care, and he assures me that she is well.

She mused over whether to tell her aunt that she’d been given the opportunity to rejoin her crew but decided against it.

I wish it were possible for me to see you, but I hope that we’ll be reunited, permanently, sooner rather than later.

Her eyes flicked up to where Quintus was reading a book, a bottle of rum sitting next to him.

If you are able, please find an injured legionnaire named Miki. He was hurt keeping me safe, and I owe him my life. Please let him know that I’m sharing a tent with Quintus, who is doing well but misses him terribly.

Teriana

Folding it up, she shoved it into her pocket to give to Servius for delivery later.

The camp, which had been empty while the legions trained on the plains outside, was now filled with voices and chatter.

Though she’d heard Servius had assigned the Fifty-First labor-intensive duties, they still seemed flush with energy, groups of them racing through camp with a ball, playing some form of game.

“Did you used to play games like them?” she asked Quintus. “The Thirty-Seventh, I mean.”

Setting down the battered volume, he glanced out the open flaps of the tent.

“Yeah, at first. Not after Hostus took command. Under his leadership, the Twenty-Ninth made us do everything while they drank, gambled, and whored, so there wasn’t much time left for fun.

And fun was always on their terms. Here. ” He handed her the bottle of rum.

She took a mouthful, watching as the boys, dressed only in mud-splattered undergarments, ran and laughed, the older legionnaires watching with amusement and occasionally kicking the ball back when it went out of play.

Then a ball soared directly at her.

Reflex made her jerk sideways so that the ball flew into the tent rather than hit her in the face. After the ball followed a sprawl of boys, the lot of them landing on top of the ball in front of Quintus. Her friend did not look amused. “You little shits.”

“Hello, Teriana,” Nic said from the bottom of the pile. Crawling out from under his men, he handed off the ball to the other boys, who closed the tent as they departed, leaving their mud-smeared legatus alone with her and Quintus.

“What’s this about?” She exchanged a confused glance with Quintus.

“After Titus’s funeral we had a brief meeting with Marcus in Aracam where he gave all the officers orders not to speak to you about his plans.” Nic sat cross-legged. “Said anyone who did would have the skin whipped off his back.”

Marcus giving such an order shouldn’t have hurt, but it did. Because apparently he needed her so far removed from his life that he refused to tolerate anyone he knew having anything to do with her.

“Marcus doesn’t make idle threats,” Quintus warned. “You get caught, you’ll not be able to sit a horse for a month, sir .”

Nic shrugged. “I won’t get caught.”

“Just so you know,” Quintus said, “Servius has eyes on the back of his head for misconduct.”

“They’re more interested in the Forty-First. We’re just children.” The irritation in Nic’s voice was palpable despite that being an unarguable fact.

“What did you want to say to me that’s worth the risk of pissing off your boss?” Teriana asked.

“Marcus plans to try to use diplomacy to try to get the Gamdeshians to give him control of Emrant peaceably. He thinks that they know enough about the threat the Empire poses to concede the city rather than risk all-out war.”

Teriana blinked. “There is no chance they’ll agree to that. None. It would be lunacy to give Emrant up without a fight, and Kaira, in particular, doesn’t give up anything without a fight.”

“So you think the strategy is weak?”

“I—” She glanced to Quintus, who shook his head. “I struggle to imagine Kaira agreeing to it. And the Sultan doesn’t counter her military advice.”

“We’d be revealing our target if we pursue diplomacy. How do you think Kaira will react?”

Teriana bit the insides of her cheeks. “I suppose logically it would allow her time to bring in reinforcements to defend the city.”

“Which would make our fight all the more challenging? Higher casualties?”

“I… I suppose, yes.” She was no military strategist, but that seemed logical. “Except Marcus knows all this. It was the first thing he said when I told him the stem was in Emrant. It has to factor into his plan somehow.”

“When I questioned him, he told me ‘diplomacy first,’” Nic said flatly. “There’s chatter around the camp that going through so many xenthier stems damaged his thinking. That he’s not coming up with a better strategy because he can’t. Or worse, that he’s lost his nerve.”

“Careful now, puppy,” Quintus warned. “Those are fighting words, and you and yours can’t back them up.”

“I’m not looking for a fight,” Nic retorted.

“But I’m not putting my men at risk for the sake of blindly following a commander who has lost his edge and will give up his greatest advantage in the hopes that posturing will spare him a fight.

A commander who refuses to use his best resource”—he pointed at Teriana—“because he was foolish enough to break the rules and get involved with her. Tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll piss off.

Except I don’t think I’m wrong. Not when he can’t even walk in a straight line, he’s so addled. ”

The world was spinning, and Teriana realized she’d been holding her breath. Sucking in a mouthful of air, she willed her heart to calm and said, “I don’t think Marcus has lost his nerve.”

“Well, there’s always the chance he doesn’t care about not meeting Cassius’s deadline.”

She didn’t believe that. Refused to.

“Unlike Marcus, I was in Celendrial’s prison with you,” Nic said.

“I saw what you saw, and your people are still there, still being pissed on, starved, and beaten by Hostus’s twisted legion.

Are you sure you’re willing to risk them being stuck there until they are executed because you put blind faith in the ex-lover who might not be capable of strategizing further than a path to the latrines? ”

Quintus drew back his arm, obviously intending to punch Nic in the face. She caught hold of her friend’s wrist. “Don’t.”

“You aren’t serious,” Quintus snapped. “Marcus is an asshole, you’ll get no arguments from me on that, but he’s proven himself more times than I can count. The Thirty-Seventh would follow him into fire if he said it was the right path, because he’s never wrong!”

“I’m not denying that he earned his reputation,” Nic shot back. “Except he shouldn’t even be breathing after that stunt. He looks awful. He would have fallen twice today if Felix hadn’t caught him.”

“He’s exhausted.” Quintus wrenched his arm out of Teriana’s grip, looking ready to fling himself at the boy. “Give him a bloody minute to recover. Also, keep in mind that he might not be telling you his actual plan. Have a little trust in your commander, sir .”

Gods, she was so dizzy. Why couldn’t she remember to breathe?

“I want to trust that Marcus has a better plan than this,” Nic said. “I want to believe that I can trust him with the lives of my men. But I can’t do that if he keeps me in the dark.”

“It’s his prerogative to keep you in the dark.” Quintus narrowed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter if you like it. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I can send my own messages to the Senate,” Nic retorted.

“Explain the situation and request reinforcements that include someone who can take over command. Or—” He scrambled away from Quintus’s reaching hand, her friend looking ready to throttle him.

“Or Teriana can get the information out of him. If she can talk to him and get the truth, if she feels he’s on the right course, I’ll trust her. ”

“He won’t talk to me, Nic.” Teriana’s eyes stung, and she blinked rapidly, unwilling to cry in front of this child. “He’s made that clear. I don’t think you should undermine him by going behind his back, but I also don’t think you should rely on me to get the information you need.”

Silence stretched, then Nic said, “Cassius told me that you were the key to controlling him, and I hated that. Hated that the legatus who had been held up before us as the ideal could be controlled by lust. ”