Christina Phillips - [Forbidden 01] (16 page)

“Sir.”

“How old are you, Maximus?”

The commander knew exactly how old he was, considering he was his father’s second cousin. “Twenty-seven, sir.”

“Five years older than Faustus.”

Again Maximus remained silent. It was an undisputed fact the commander’s nephew, Faustus, was indeed a full five years Maximus’s junior.

The older man tapped one finger on his desk. “The Emperor has seen fit to promote you into the vacant position. Congratulations, Maximus.”

“Thank you, sir.” He was now second-in-command of the Legion. A tight knot of pride glowed deep inside his chest, but he kept his features clear of any such expression.

“Of course, if you’d gone about your career in the right way, you’d be looking toward your own quaestorship by now.” The Legatus gave him a dark scowl, which almost instantly broke into an approving grin. “You’re old to be appointed Tribunus, but what the fuck. Your experience makes up for it.”

Nine years fighting his way up the centurion ranks more than made up for it. “Can I recommend my successor?”

“I thought you might.”

“Aquila.”

“His record is impressive.” It was obvious the Legatus already had Aquila in mind for the position of the senior centurion. “Faustus is moving out within the next couple of days, so you can take over his quarters then.” A gleam lit the older man’s eye. “Now you’ve finally acquired a rank befitting your birth, I’ve no doubt you’ll soon also be acquiring a suitable Roman wife.”

The thought held little appeal. He had no need of a wife. Not when he had his wood nymph.

His groin tightened as he recalled the intense sexual pleasures of the previous night. He doubted a Roman girl of his patrician class could ever come close to satisfying him so thoroughly.

“I’d rather not.” There was great feeling in those words.

The Legatus laughed, as if Maximus had shared a great joke. “Most of us would rather not, boy. But the might of the Empire must flourish, and for that we need wives.”

Maximus grunted. His Celt had made it very plain she wouldn’t share. Even now her vehemence had the power to stun. He’d never come across such passion from a woman before. A part of him couldn’t help thinking a lady of noble birth—there was no doubt his Celt was of noble birth—shouldn’t even consider such violence, let alone display it.

But another part of him—the greater part—secretly basked in the knowledge she possessed the capacity to feel so strongly.

“So long as you’re discreet, there is no need to give up your mistress.”

“I don’t—” Maximus sucked in a breath and struggled not to scowl at the Legatus. This was what happened when commanding officers also happened to be relatives. They presumed.

For most of his military career he’d been unencumbered by such familiarity. It was only after being transferred and promoted to the rank of Primus almost a year ago, directly under the command of his father’s second cousin, that he’d confronted such interference and tasted the accompanying nepotism firsthand.

Tasted, and rebelled. The same way he’d rebelled at eighteen and enlisted as a bottom-rung centurion, instead of allowing his family connections to acquire him a tribune office, as his father’s consul rank demanded.

The commander laughed. “Deny it if you wish, Maximus. But it’s your duty to produce legitimate heirs, and for that need you need an advantageous marriage.” He shrugged. “Happens to us all. And you may strike lucky and be given a wife you learn to care for. Just don’t allow her to feel threatened by any mistress. That’s all.”

Carys wrapped her arms around her knees and watched her last patient leave the Cauldron. Only two had visited this morn. One woman had come for her sister, whose pregnancy was causing her great sickness. And the other because she feared pregnancy and wanted to ensure such catastrophe wouldn’t come to pass.

Carys hadn’t probed, but received the impression the potential father wasn’t the woman’s husband but a Roman.

As she prepared the necessary concoction, and gave the distraught woman detailed instructions, her mind nibbled incessantly at her own fertility potential.

Maximus was virile. There was no doubt of that. Even now his seed could be implanting within her, drawing her blood to his, creating the first spark of new life.

And instead of filling her with horror, the thought filled her with a strange, dreadful delight.

If she was destined to have a child, then she wanted it to be her Roman’s. It would be something to remember him by, as if she would need reminding, when the time came for them to part.

Carys knew that time would come. Even if the Morrigan had tacitly bestowed her approval upon the liaison, there was no future for them together. How could there be when he was a Roman and she not merely a Celt, but a Druid?

Yet the raven had touched her with its prophetic eye, and in that moment of clarity she had seen new life spring from the carnage of war.

A warm, soothing ribbon of peace fluttered through her heart, settling her soul. She worshipped the wise Cerridwen; she believed in the truth of the raven’s foresight and, suddenly, despite every obstacle between her and Maximus, she had a certainty that, somehow, their destinies were inextricably entwined.

And the only way that could possibly be was if she conceived his child.

Carys slipped through the narrow entrance between two massive oaks that marked the single passage into the sacred spiral. The wave of vertigo shimmered through her mind, as always, but vanished within a heartbeat.

She leaned against a tree, shaded from the sun, and flexed her injured hand. There were a multitude of pain inhibitors she could take, but she would take nothing that might disrupt her body’s rhythm and potentially dislodge Maximus’s seed.

“Carys?” The whisper floated in the air and she swung round to see Morwyn, followed by Gawain leading two horses, emerge from deeper within the forest, both wearing dull, ragged cloaks over their richly decorated garments.

“Are you going to the settlement?” It was an open secret that over the last few moons—since the Druids had realized their flight wasn’t transitional, that they weren’t making active plans to launch a covert assault on the occupying forces—more and more had begun to slip down to the settlement and assist their people in more unobtrusive ways.

And for all his power, Aeron never appeared to see what was happening in front of his eyes. Sometimes Carys wondered whether he even knew many of the hamlets and villages were now dead and abandoned, their occupants having discovered more opportunities awaited them around the Roman fortification.

Morwyn gave a brief nod, and then gave her a speculative look. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Carys didn’t bother to hide her surprise at being asked. No one had ever asked her before, and it wasn’t because they all knew Aeron considered her his private property and as such should never set foot outside the spiral’s boundary.

“With these eyes?” She raised her brows in disbelief. No one ever forgot her mismatched eyes. And when Druids mingled so close to the enemy, the ability to blend into nothingness was essential.

Morwyn waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Then keep your eyes lowered.” She nodded to the ancient blanket Carys held, which she used at the Cauldron for her patients to lie upon while being examined. “Use that to cover your head and gown.”

Excitement surged through Carys, curling her stomach into knots, sending shivers along her limbs and tightening her nipples. While she visited the spring every morning, it had never seriously occurred to her to venture into the heart of the enemy’s lair.

No female Druid went there alone. And no Druid had ever wanted Carys to accompany them before, in case she drew unwanted attention.

But now, with both Morwyn and Gawain, there was no reason for her not to visit the settlement. To see the finished fortification with her own eyes.

And to seek out Maximus on his invaded turf.

Morwyn smirked. “Precisely, Carys. He won’t be expecting you, and you can discover whatever you wish if you confront him in his home environment.”

Carys shot Gawain a sharp glance. Curse Morwyn and her big mouth. She had promised to keep silent about Carys’s secret lover.

As if she could once again read Carys’s mind, Morwyn threaded her fingers through Gawain’s.

“Gawain swears silence also, Carys. Don’t worry.”

“It’s time you broke free of Aeron’s hold,” Gawain said. Three years older than Morwyn, he was a fully trained Druid. Had the Romans not invaded, he’d now be responsible for the training of young acolytes gifted in truth and judgment.

Instead his future, like all their futures, had been suspended in time within this sacred spiral. Forbidden to fight for their people’s freedom, and denied the freedom to settle claims of injustice.

Gawain, Carys knew, had been one of the first Druids to defy Aeron’s edict of total isolation from their people.

She could trust him.

They took the hidden paths from the spiral, careful to leave no obvious trail that a sharp-eyed scout might discover, and wonder about, when such trail apparently led nowhere.

Carys sucked in a shocked breath as the fortification finally came within sight. It was so much larger than she had imagined. Solid.
Impenetrable
. Made of stone as if the Romans intended never to leave, and positioned so warriors stationed in the turrets had an uninterrupted view across the countryside.

“It’s as if they’ve been here for years.” Awe threaded her tone.

“They don’t waste any time.” Gawain, astride the other horse behind Morwyn, sounded grim. “And the longer they remain, the deeper their poison sinks into the minds of our people.”

Carys couldn’t argue with that. She noticed how her patients had dwindled over the last two or three moons. As if they were receiving medical advice elsewhere.

Only the women hadn’t completely deserted her. Many still came when they were in need of another woman’s wisdom.

Some distance from the settlement, they dismounted. The proud beauty of their horses disguised beneath layers of mud and debris, they led them into the town.

Because it was a town. Carys had expected makeshift slums consisting entirely of ragged tents, but instead there were also many stone and timber dwellings, and more people crowded in one area than she had ever seen in her life before.

Morwyn grasped her arm and pulled her to a halt. “Hide your jewelry and dagger. Don’t give any reason for the Roman bastards to glance twice in your direction.”

Carys slid the earrings from her lobes, the bracelets from her wrists and the golden torque from her throat, and along with her distinctive Druid dagger buried them deep within her medicine bag.

Gawain took the reins from her. “Your blanket is slipping.” He nodded to her head, and she hastily straightened the material as he thrust a stick into the ground and measured lengths of the shadow. “We’ll meet here.” He scrawled a line in the ground across the shadow, indicating how long before they left the settlement.