Final Campaign

thevanguard of the mounted contingent. Arrayed on either side was theTribunes and Flavianus. Oblivious to anything but the sight of me,young Titus ran right into the middle of the street. I clearlyheard Iras' scream, but even before I could react, Ocelus suddenlymade a sharp turn, directly across the front of Lucullus’ andLibo's mounts, into whose path little Titus was running. The twohorses had little time to react, and both reared up in the air,almost throwing both Tribunes. I was faced by the sight of two setsof hooves, rising in the air to the level of my head, but I wasonly barely aware of this threat, because I was bending over in theopposite direction in an attempt to grab my grandson off the groundand save him from harm. I was too late. Before my hand reached him,he was suddenly jerked from out of my vision, somewhat obstructedbecause of my helmet, so that one instant little Titus was there,the next he was simply...gone. I heard a shriek, and the soundwrenched a moan from my own lips, but then it registered in my mindthat what I was hearing were not cries of pain, but peals ofchildish laughter. Twisting my head, I saw young Titus, suspendedin the air, the back of his little tunic held firmly by the teethof Ocelus, who had plucked him from danger. Dangling off theground, Titus was shouting with delight, waving his arms and legsin the air and, an instant later, he was joined by that part of thecrowd who had witnessed this remarkable event.

"Avus! Look at me! I'm off theground! Ocedus picked me up!"

"I see that," was all that I managed to sayas I waited for my heart to slow down. Leaning forward, I held outmy hand again. "But now it's time to come see your Avus,don't you think?"

His little arms reached out for me, and Iplucked him from Ocelus' grasp, who surrendered him with a delicacythat told me that my horse had not only understood the danger posedto Titus, but how important the boy was to me. Pulling him onto thesaddle with me, his arms shot around my neck, and it was the mostwonderfully painful moment I had experienced in many, many years asI thought about another pair of sturdy little arms that had donethe same thing, long ago. By this point, the Tribunes had reined intheir mounts, and I could easily predict what kind of treatmentTitus would have received at their hands if he had not been mygrandson, but they smiled at us, even if it was forced. I can onlyimagine what kind of picture I presented at that moment, but I didnot care. Iras was already standing a few paces away, her facestill white but with the relief clearly showing, and I nudgedOcelus over to her. I waved at the procession, which had come to atemporary halt because of the excitement, and they resumed theirmovement, heading toward the camp outside of town.

"Here's your son." I started to hand Titusdown to Iras, but he struggled mightily.

"No." He was surprisingly strong, holdingonto my neck with both hands.

"That's his favorite word right now," Irassaid, somewhat sheepishly, but I was not irritated.

"I want to ride with Avus!" Titusdeclared, and I looked down at Iras and gave a slight shrug.

"You heard him." I grinned.

"Where's Gaius?" Iras asked, and while shewas smiling, I felt the intensity in her question.

I mentally kicked myself for not thinking toinform her immediately that Gaius was fine. Instead, I tried tosound casual, as if we had just been on a training march.

"Back there, safe and sound."

"Tata is here too?" Young Titus suddenlylooked hesitant, and I could see he was torn.

"Why don't you ride with me to the gates ofthe camp, then we'll wait there for your tata?" I told him, whichhe thought was a fine idea.

"But aren't you supposed to lead them intothe camp?" Iras asked.

I waved a hand dismissively.

"I'll give the Tribunes that privilege," Isaid carelessly, but I could see her eyes narrow.

Before she could say anything, I nudgedOcelus into a trot and called over my shoulder to meet us at thegate. Titus whooped in delight at the sudden speed, and I enjoyedthe feeling of his solid little body bouncing against me as weregained our spot. Just then, reaching the outskirts, we hadperhaps a mile to go to the camp, which was enough time for me totell the Tribunes that they would be leading the army into camp.Although they all looked pleased, I saw Lucullus and Libo exchangea glance, but as I had with Iras, I ignored it. What I was doingwas very unusual, especially for me, but the truth was, my mind waselsewhere, and I did not really care about all the pomp andceremony that is part of a returning army, a triumphant one atthat. Frankly, I found listening to Titus recount all of the greatadventures and hair-raising escapes from the clutches of his motherand little sister to be much more interesting. By the time wearrived at the camp gate and I pulled off to the side, I wasthoroughly engrossed in Titus' story about the dog he had watchedhaving puppies, and how he had asked his mother if he could keepone, but she had said he had to wait for his father to comeback.

"Will you talk to Tata, Avus?" Helooked up at me anxiously, and I tried to hide my smile, knowinghow deadly serious he was.

"I will see what I can do, Nepos," Iassured him. "I think I can talk him into it."

It turned out that Norbanus was no moreanxious to see me than I was to see him, but it was not for thereason I initially assumed.

"This is a bad business, Pullus. A bad, badbusiness," he told me from behind his desk once I had finallyreported to him.

"Yes, sir," I said automatically, fallingback on the tried and true approach of saying nothing whileagreeing with whatever came out of a superior's mouth.

However, Norbanus and I had developed a goodworking relationship, and I saw him glaring at me through hiseyebrows.

"Cut the nonsense, Pullus," he snapped.