doubts that could not be overturned with a few careful words.
Paullus knelt down and kissed Julia softly on the lips. As he did so, Gaius fell back behind the cover of the door, his heart racing, and his face flushed with bitter jealously.
As Paullus pulled away from Julia, he did not see Gaius as he briskly walked down the hall, heading for the front of the house, and out into the courtyard.
Julia stayed where she had been, her sight once again fixed outside.
Gaius tried to steady his breathing as he glanced around the bend one last time. He wanted to leave. He couldn’t recall why he had come to see her in the first place, and now regretted that he had ever come at all. However, before he could step carefully beyond the threshold, Julia spoke.
“I know you are there, Gaius. Do not pretend otherwise.”
Gaius sighed heavily before he stepped into view.
“How did you know I was here?” he asked.
She smiled. “From the smell of your armor: the scented oils you use. You smell better than most men, I must say.”
Gaius blushed. It hadn’t been the first-time someone had said such to him. Now that he knew it gave away his position, he might have to reconsider his daily routine.
“I have not seen you for a while, well, at least privately. Why have you not come sooner?” she asked as Gaius joined her.
“I am sorry. I have been busy preparing my men. I would have like to see you more. I should have made a better effort,” Gaius answered, a bit flustered, only telling half the truth.
“You do not need to make apologies, Gaius. I understand the life of a soldier better than you might give me credit. Your presence this afternoon is a wonderful surprise. That is all.”
“I thought I should come and say goodbye before we march from the city this evening. I wanted to see you.”
Julia took his arm and wrapped it around her own, glancing up at him with a warm smile, which Gaius hadn’t realized how much he missed, until now.
“Then, it brightens my day that you made the time to see me.”
Gaius did not reply nor was she expecting him to. They both enjoyed these quiet times together without the need to fill the empty silence with unneeded conversation.
“Is it true what they are saying?” Julia broke the silence after a momentary pause. “Is the army truly as large as they say, and as powerful?”
“It is perhaps a bit embellished. However, it is the largest force Rome has ever fielded, and more are still expected to join us,” Gaius answered.
“Will it be so easy to defeat Hannibal, do you think?”
“No, I doubt it will be,” he answered honestly, a rare sentiment that he wouldn’t share with anyone else.
Julia directed her attention high into the sky, watching as a group of birds flew over the city.
As Gaius looked at her, it seemed her mind was lost in another time as an odd smile, one that reminded him of the girl she used to be, crossed her face.
“Do you remember when we were children, and we used to play in my father’s field? You were the brave hero — never a villain, and you were on a quest to find and save the princess from one of your stories. Even then you gave your all, not at any time straying from your quest, regardless of the danger.”
“I do remember,” he answered with a smile. His mind at no time left those days far behind. Some days, when the world was hard and brutal, he would escape to those fantasies — reliving his youth with Antony and Julia, wishing those times would never leave.
“It was only games, played by young children who thought nothing of the world or their place in it. I know that now. However,” she looked up at him, clutching him tighter in her grip. “I knew when I was with you, I was safe. Not just from practical dangers, but from anything. I knew you would never surrender under any circumstances, and that gave me hope.”
Julia’s eyes filled suddenly with sadness as she reached up and touched the side of his face, staring for a long while into his deep brown eyes.
“You promise me, Gaius, the day you left home that you would grow up strong, so you could protect me from the monsters of the world. I fear, no matter what my father or Paullus says, the coming days will be dark. Terrible things are going to happen, and I’m frightened, Gaius. I’m fearful what may happen to you. Just promise, even if it is a lie that you will come back for me.”
Julia drove her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, waiting for his answer as she demanded once more, “Promise me!”
Gaius was silent as he held her, afraid to speak. However, like he did when he was a boy, he swallowed his fears and said what needed to be said.
“I swear it, my love. I swear I will always be here for you.”
PART THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Late July
Gaius’ attention was focused as he came within a hundred paces of his target, a pair of men on horseback racing away from him as quickly as their animal could run, impaired by its heavy load. One of them frequently glanced back, yelling at the other to push the horse faster, which was impossible.
Both were Carthaginian, or more so, dark-skinned Numidians that served Hannibal on his crusade, and these men were raiders, which were part of a party that had attacked the outstretched Roman supply lines for going on a month now, since the legions left Rome.
The vulnerability to the consuls Paullus and Varro’ vast army was apparent. There simply were not enough men to protect every stretch along the road as the caravans that traveled across it, tasked with feeding the legions, were under constant attack.
Hannibal had tried his usual tactics, which had worked for him against the previous legions sent against him. He kept his troops on the move, using the natural topography of the land to his advantage, and with fewer numbers, around forty thousand, he had been able to stay ahead of the legions that pursued him relentlessly.
Gaius and some of his Wolves had been recently charged with protecting the lines. It was not his preferred duties, but after the cavalry, prefect had been injured during a previous encounter, he had been ordered to take the man’s place until a suitable replacement could be found. And while Gaius preferred marching with the legions, he had always had a knack for horsemanship, which made him a quantified choice.
Gaius closed the gap between him, and his target that he could see the terrified expression on the rear rider’s face as he glanced back once again.
They had belonged to a group of a dozen other riders, but when Gaius’ men broke them, they scattered. He’d given the order for pursuit, and to cut them down. At the moment, however, he feared that he was alone in the chase as he dared not to lose momentum by glancing behind him to see if he was followed by his men.
Reaching back and grabbing one of the three short spears in a satchel behind him, Gaius quickly brought the weapon to bear, holding it high as he aimed, and waiting for his target to come within range. And when he narrowed the gap between him and the two Numidians to less than twenty-five paces, he let loose his spear.
The man in the rear looked back just in time to see Gaius throw his spear. He could do nothing to prevent the point from tearing threw his back, which was unprotected, save for a loose tunic.
Blood shot out his mouth from the force of the spear impacting through him, pushed him forward, which unbalanced the driver who lost control over the horse, which veered violently, throwing both men to the ground, hard.
Gaius’ own momentum carried him past the two riders before he could rear his animal back around.
