Page 30 of Taming the Eagle
“We’re going to re-establish our presence around Lake Taus,” Justin replied, deliberately not answering Marcus’s question directly. He paused then, his jaw tightening. “It’s time to take back Dalginross and Bochastle. I want our outposts strong once more … before the first of the snows. If Toutorix intends to stir up more trouble, we need to be ready for him.”
Marcus nodded, his gaze gleaming in the lantern light. “Losing those forts was a real blow,” he agreed. “We can’t let the Picti continue to control them.” Indeed, earlier in the year, they’d lost the two smaller forts that had been built to watch over the glens and straths leading into the mountainous north. “However … we’re going to need more men for the campaign,” Marcus continued, swirling his calix of wine meditatively.
“There’s a detachment coming from Eboracum,” Justin assured him. “It should be here in a few days.”
Justin had made the request as soon as he returned from Lake Taus. Eboracum had the resources, for Hadrian had moved the Sixth legion into the large fort in northern Britannia, after the decimation of the Ninth.
Marcus flashed him a smile. “I’ll prepare my cohort to march then.”
Across the table, the camp prefect’s face had tensed. Felix shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “What if the Wolf manages to rally the northern chieftains, General?” He paused then, frowning. “Can Dalginross and Bochastle hold them at bay? The men speak of ill-omens of late … of a change in the wind. They fear we will end up isolated and sacrificed … like the Hispana.”
An icy finger trailed down Justin’s spine. Like his men, he marked omens. Nonetheless, he had to stand firm. “We won’t,” he countered firmly.
All the same, he’d noted the change at Ardoch over the past year. The men were quieter, and he’d caught mutterings on the walls. They were all out here on a limb, on the very edge of the empire. Trajan had sent the Ninth into the wilds, to their deaths, to bring order and secure peace. Would Hadrian use the Twentieth in the same way?
Raising the calix to his lips, Justin took a sip of wine and pondered their situation.
Men like Toutorix the Wolf could easily spell their downfall.
That was why they had to be ready for him.
Felix and Marcus departed after cena, but Justin remained within the triclinium, finishing his calix of wine. Fenella came and went, clearing up the empty plates and cups. She’d just wiped down the table, and was about to retreat to the kitchen, when Justin caught her eye.
“Fenella … how are you settling in?” He used her tongue. Kahina had told him she was slowly learning Latin. However, it was too soon to expect her to converse with him in his language.
Fenella halted mid-turn before swiveling back to face him. Her expression was now carefully blank, even if the sharpness of her gaze gave her mood away.
“Well enough,” she replied.
“Are your lodgings comfortable?”
Fenella nodded before her brow furrowed. “Why is it that you can speak my tongue?”
“Aedan taught me.”
She pulled a face. “Why make the effort at all?”
Justin shrugged. “You can’t rule a people if you can’t communicate with them … and I don’t trust interpreters.”
Fenella eyed him before she folded her arms across her front. It pulled the material of her tunic tight, revealing the fullness of her breasts. He could still see the hard outline of her nipples, and despite that he’d been talking easily with her until now, Justin’s nervus—his member—sprang to attention.
Mithras spare him, this woman had a visceral effect on him, one that seemed to be growing in intensity with each passing day. His senses sharpened whenever he saw her. He looked forward to their exchanges, however brief. Unfortunately, Fenella’s attitude toward him hadn’t thawed. He’d hoped that once she settled into his household, she’d lower her guard. But she hadn’t.
“Am I to be kept forever locked up in this house?” Fenella asked, a brittle edge to her voice.
Justin shifted upon his reclining couch, in an effort to ease his pulsing groin. “Don’t you like this residence?”
Fenella’s features tightened. “I’m used to having freedom of movement. Now the only contact I have with the outside is a patch of sky in the courtyard.” Her throat bobbed then. “I miss seeing the world around me.”
Their gazes fused, the moment stretching out.
Jupiter, he could stare into those midnight-blue eyes for eternity.
“Well then, we shall remedy that,” Justin replied. “Once you’ve finished in the kitchen, you and I shall take a walk on the walls.”
XI. UPON THE WALLS
FENELLA FOLLOWED AQUILA up the wooden steps to the top of the walls.