While I had ducked the subject of our futuretogether, in the moment, I was satisfied that this settled theOstia question, Bronwen agreeing somewhat reluctantly, althoughthis time, we did put in for the night, whereupon Bronwen prevailedupon me to escort her around Ostia before dark, which is not aninconsiderable size. She never said as much, but I believe thatthis voyage also opened her eyes to something that the Britontribes are somewhat insulated from: the true, raw power of Rome.Not that I believe they will remain ignorant for much longer; atsome point, Rome will turn its eyes to that island, and then theywill learn firsthand what we’re capable of. Hopefully, this won’thappen during my time under the standard, since I cannot imaginethat Bronwen would be happy that I was going off to slaughter herpeople. That, however, is a problem for the future.
One thing that the voyage did, not just forBronwen, but for all of us, I believe, was to give us an idea ofjust how much of our world Rome rules. It took almost four days toget from Ostia to Messana, where we resupplied. To this point, theweather had held, although it was often gray for most of the day.At Alex’s suggestion, and with Bronwen’s prodding, I wasreluctantly convinced to allow my beard to grow.
“When you set foot on the dock inAlexandria, if you look like you do now, you might as well wearyour full uniform. And that,” he indicated the tablet containingSaloninus’ pass that we had used to such good effect, “won’t beworth an amphora of piss. You know how Divus Augustus guardedEgypt, and Tiberius will be no different. A man from the Legionswho doesn’t belong there is going to draw immediateattention.”
It was impossible to argue with that,so I did not try, but I was not happy about it. Otherwise, thevoyage to that point was largely uneventful, and neither I nor anyof the others had any complaints about how we were treated byDemeter and his crew. In fact, somewhat to my surprise, I foundthat I liked the Rhodian a great deal, although I still did nottrust him, and I took some steps to reinforce that his opinion ofme was a wise choice. With help from one of the crew who was theirwoodworker, we fashioned a crude rudis, and I resumed my practice of training atthe stake, using the main mast, stripping to the waist despite theweather, which, although it was cold, was nowhere near what I hadbecome accustomed to in Germania. Demeter and I had a bit of adisagreement, for which I was at fault, because the first time Itrained, when I struck the mast, it left scars in thewood.
“I don’t need you chopping down mymast, Centurion!”
I thought that was a bit of anexaggeration, but the marks were plainly visible, and keeping inmind the possible role Demeter might be playing, I at least triedto appear contrite, though he did not seem fooled. It was on thesecond day that I got the idea, and I prevailed on the crewman tomake three more rudii.
“I want to see just how well youhandle a rudis,” I toldSeptimus, but before he could respond, I turned to Alex and saidsharply, “and you’re out of practice.”
The truth was that I was not concerned aboutthem, at least, not deeply, but for once, my plan worked toperfection.
“What about me?” Gaius spoke up. “Imight need to handle a gladius!”
Rather than betray my satisfaction, I rubbedmy chin, looking at him doubtfully.
“I don’t know about that,” I said,partially to send a message to the other two, “I’m not sure you’reready.”
“Why?” he asked, not in a belligerentmanner, exactly, but it was certainly challenging.
“Because these two,” I jerked my thumbat Alex and Septimus, “have already done some training, so it’s amatter of just practicing and knocking the rust off.”
Rather than reply to me directly, Gaiuslooked instead to Septimus, who spoke up. “Actually, Gnaeus, we’vebeen working a few times a week since you and Alex left lastyear.”
This surprised me, but it shocked Alex, whoblurted out, “Mama let you work at the stakes? How did you managethat?”
It was plain to see that this pleased Gaius,but he tried his best to appear nonchalant as he shrugged and said,“I just told Mama that I’d make her life miserable if she didn’tlet me do it. I,” his voice changed suddenly, as he declared, “am aPullus too! And the Prefect’s blood is in my veins, just like you,”he indicated Septimus, then me, “and you!”
This was certainly the truth, but I stillworried that this might hurt Alex, but his face registered nothingthat might indicate that.
“Well,” I said, “that’s good.Because,” now I walked to the mast, where I had hidden hisrudis, and in one motion, reacheddown, grabbed, and tossed it to him in a test of his reflexes, “Ihad this made for you.”
He was clearly surprised, but he wasnot the only one as he still managed to catch it deftly by thehilt, giving me a hint about his reflexes. I led them to the mast,placing them around it so they were far enough apart to practicetheir forms, then began barking out the position, the order tothrust, the recovery, over and over and over. Since I had solvedthe problem Demeter complained of by using sacking that was held inplace by pieces of rope, under which were layers of thick clothwound around the mast so that he did not have to worry aboutmarring the wood, I barked at them to put their power into each ofthem. First position, over, and over, and over, while I circledaround them, watching as they thrust, recovered, and thrust. I wasdetermined not to show it, but before Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Iwas impressed by what I saw. Alex was the best, which I expected,but Septimus was not far behind him. It was young Gaius Gallienus,however, who astonished me, and it was more difficult to hide mytrue feelings, as he twisted his hips with a ferocious power, whilecompletely extending his arm, despite knowing that the jolt hewould receive up it is
