Final Campaign

unanswered questions I plan on bringing withme across the river. Rather than either a compliment or a slur, Ithink Charax was putting a curse on me, because as I said, his faceis burned into my memory. I granted his request, mainly because Idid not know how to say no without appearing to be either squeamishor needlessly cruel. Naturally, I required assistance, not for theact itself, but to hobble over to him, while Lucullus and the twoLegionaries that had come along to guard Charax looked on with acombination of interest and unease. As I hopped over to face him,he stood, head high, eyes unblinking as I looked into them, and Iwas struck by the thought that Charax was fortunate in one respect,that it was not Marcus Primus from whom he asked this favor. I hadto lay the crutches down on the ground, and I gingerly tested myleg; most of the power from a good sword thrust comes from belowthe waist. One thing I did not want to do was make this man suffer.The truth is, I had nothing against him, and I suspect underdifferent circumstances, there was much about Charax that I wouldhave admired based on the example he was setting now. Realizingthat there was no way to avoid putting weight on my leg, I toldmyself that it was the least I could suffer for bringing thisdestruction to his town and people. Although he had no way ofknowing it, the actions of Aderbal were ultimately inconsequential;Naissus was going to fall no matter what had happened. For a briefmoment, I considered actually telling Charax this, my initialthought being that it might ease his anguish to know that there wasnothing he could have done to stop my men from taking Naissus. Idecided not to, because I was not sure that it would bring him anycomfort at all. Once I was as steady on my feet as I was going toget, I drew the Gallic blade that I had carried for more thanthirty years.

"That is a fine blade." Charax's voice washoarse, but was clearly understandable.

"I paid a small fortune for it," I admitted."And I've had it a long time."

"So it's seen the deaths of many of Rome'senemies." For the first time, his gaze tore away from my face as helooked down at the dull sheen of the blade.

"Yes, it has," I agreed. "But I will admit,never quite like this. But then," I do not know exactly why I addedthis, "I don't consider you an enemy of Rome."

Charax actually laughed at this, and stillhad the presence of mind to quip, "Then I do not even want to thinkabout what would have happened if we had been."

"I know none of this is your doing," I toldhim. "That this is all because of Aderbal's actions."

"Aderbal," Charax spat into the dirt afterspeaking the name. "He was always a fool. I've had pigs that weresmarter than he was. But I at least have the consolation of knowingthat he's dead."

That interested me, and I felt compelled toask, "Really? How do you know? Did you see it happen?"

He nodded, and replied, "It was when yourmen first came through the breach of our wall. He was in the frontrank. It's true he was a fool, but he was a brave fool, and youcould always count on Aderbal to lead from the front. That's why somany men followed him."

"That will do it," I agreed, and it wasalmost as if we were having a quiet chat over a cup of wine, whatwas about to happen temporarily forgotten as two warriors talkedover a battle.

"So when your men came charging out of thesmoke, Aderbal immediately went for the Centurion leading thecharge."

It felt like the blood in my body froze, andI stared hard at Charax as he continued, obviously oblivious to thefact he was discussing the fate of my own family.

"For a moment, I thought Aderbal had him.Your Centurion slipped and fell, but before Aderbal could finishhim, one of your other men threw himself over your Centurion's bodyand took the blow meant for him."

Without thinking, I grabbed his shoulderwith my free hand, squeezing it hard, and he looked at me withsurprise and a little pain.

"What happened then?" I demanded. "Whathappened to the Centurion?"

"I know that you Romans prize yourCenturions," Charax replied. "But you have many of them in aLegion." His eyes narrowed, and he searched my face. "Why is thisone special to you?"

In that moment, my first instinct was tolie, because I was sure that if I told Charax the truth, then hewould tell me something that he thought would hurt me, as his lastrevenge. After all, I remember thinking, what better way to strikeback at an enemy against whom you are otherwise helpless than bytelling him something that will wound his heart? But I did not, andI am not sure why I did not, other than for the simple reason thatI respected, and trusted, Charax, a man who was supposed to be myenemy.

"He's my nephew," I finally broke the longsilence.

Charax's eyes opened wide, clearly surprisedby this, but then he nodded.

"I see. Now I understand, and I can see theresemblance, at least in his height. He is almost as tall as youare, although he is not as heavily built." He paused for a moment,as if he was considering something, then continued, "And I assumethat you personally trained him to use a sword?"

"Yes," I said tersely. Then, "Over many,many watches."

"Ah." Charax's face gave nothing away, and Iwanted to shake the words out of him, but somehow I managed toavoid doing so, because he finally concluded, "Well, you trainedyour nephew well. As soon as he regained his feet, he attackedAderbal with a ferocity that I have rarely seen before and, likeyou, I have been in many battles."

As much as I tried, I could not stop my bodyfrom sagging in relief.

"Aderbal put up a brave defense," Charaxresumed. "But your nephew was relentless, and he struck Aderbaldown. Not long after that, I received a blow to the head, and I wasstunned. So I am afraid I cannot tell you anything about