5 Chapter 5

Once out of the presence of Caesar, she released a shaky breath. She and Carla leaned on each other for support.

"You were really brave," Carla commented quietly.

Her stomach flipped at a nauseating speed. "I don't feel very brave right now." With no legionnaires around, her bold mask fell away, and her body rocked with the aftermath of being completely terrified.

"Thank you," Carla told her.

She shrugged off her thanks and dusted off her shawl before handing it back to her.

Carla shivered, clutching Baby Craig closer to her chest. "He took Craig, grabbed him right out of my hands."

"Caesar?" she asked, appalled.

"No, not Caesar. The other one. Vulpes Inculta, the most evil man in the Mojave."

She thought of the other Legion officer present in the tent. His cold, almost serene nature did not suggest an evil stature. When she had first entered Caesar's tent, his gaze had been piercing, which was unnerving in and of itself. But he did not have the same bold cruelty as Silus did when the centurion tightened the slave collar around her neck. If Vulpes Inculta was truly so evil, then he kept it restrained and subdued better than any other man in the Legion.

For the sake of Baby Craig, she no longer stole food for Carla, but she did continue to halve her own rations, even at the expense of her own ravenous hunger. Siri's glances were disapproving but no longer accompanied by disparaging comments.

Silus the Centurion arrived at Fortification Hill as Siri had promised. She saw him crossing over the drawbridge and actively avoided him since. With his arrival came a new influx of legion soldiers. She avoided those too.

In addition to her healing duties, she also helped Carla wash clothes and linens and repair legion armor. The legion quartermaster recognized her technical skills and would frequently call her back, much to Siri's annoyance.

But the addition of soldiers meant that the healer's tent required more of her time. Her fingers were perpetually stained red from her endless stitching of skin. She thought she understood what Siri meant about getting used to the sight of blood.

One Legion Explorer entered the tent, and despite all of their best efforts, he lost one of his legs. It didn't matter which one. Though she and Siri had saved his life, the legionnaire just kept shaking his head. His comrades handed him a machete.

She left the tent almost too late, belatedly realizing their intentions. An honorable suicide. She could have scoffed.

A legionnaire with one leg had no purpose left. He couldn't fight. There was only one alternative for him, and a derisive laugh threatened to bubble from her lips.

She wasn't amused. It was horrible. And the Legion value of life angered her to the point of recklessness, so she almost missed Siri following her to the howitzer.

"Don't storm off like that again," Siri warned in a low voice.

"I won't stay around for that," she said, almost yelling. Still too loud.

"Then close your eyes next time," Siri snapped. "You march off like that again and some captain might think you're being disrespectful. You know what happens then? You won't get the courtesy of a quick blade. You'll be crucified and left alive for too many agonizing days."

"Because my life means so much to the Legion right now?" she argued. She couldn't help fighting with Siri. Her irritation had reached peaked levels.

"That's right. Your life means shit to the Legion, and if you keep it up, you'll be no better off than the man you just abandoned. We may be slaves but you choose your own fate here."

Siri stormed off then, and she was glad to see the healer gone.

She hid her face in her hands, a deep resentment suffocating her chest. She couldn't stay here. She had to leave or the Legion would be the death of her.

"You might want to mind your words, or at least your volume," warned a voice, not unkindly.

She looked up to see Vulpes Inculta standing before her. She imagined Siri instructing her to bow or incline her head to him, some gesture of subservience. She did none of those things.

"Your concern is not misplaced," he continued. "But the Legion expresses a different system of values and honor, primarily militaristic. As you have already deduced, you and the other slave women do not stand very high on that list."

He sounded intelligent, incredibly educated. Perhaps that was what made him dangerous. Caesar himself fashioned an empire of Pre-war history, hinting himself to be n extremely well-read individual. But she could not fathom Vulpes Inculta's reason for speaking to her now.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. Something about him sparked a primal fear, a restless anxiety.

"You should take care of who hears your thoughts. Not many are as open-minded as I. While your bravery is indeed admirable, individuality for a slave means getting noticed. A slave woman getting noticed is a dangerous venture, especially for one so young and pretty, one with spirit."

"And that means?" she asked in a thick voice. Despite the fear he incurred, Vulpes Inculta was inexplicably inspiring.

"Your friend warned you of our crucifixions but she wasn't entirely correct. That's merciful compared to the other fates you could suffer here. I'm told that spirit can be so much fun to break."

She hadn't realized he had drawn close enough to be inches away from her face. She hadn't realized she had been shaking so violently. Both became apparent to her only after Vulpes Inculta turned his back and smoothly strode away.

After her first personal encounter with Vulpes, she sought out Carla and Baby Craig and spent the remainder of the day entertaining Baby Craig to get her mind off of things.

At one point, she looked up and saw Silus watching her from a distance. Where Vulpes had been calculating, Silus was smug and hungry. In spite of this, she didn't look away. She might regret that later.