Foreign Devils Read Free Page A

not have thought they would be found so far east.’
    I stepped forward. ‘We are still in the Hardscrabble Territories. The vaettir travel fast, as you all know. Time was, they were seen in the thousand-acre wood. We are not so far east yet to be out of their territory.’
    Cornelius glanced at me, sniffed, no doubt slightly perturbed that I had the temerity to pipe up during his first drink, yet Fisk and I were the experts in these lands.
    ‘It shouldn’t be much longer, Father,’ Secundus said. He caught Lupina’s eye and removed a crystal tumbler from a tray. She hustled around the table to pour him a measure. ‘If our maps are correct, after we manoeuvre around this gulch it’s a straight shot to the Dvergar spur.’
    Cornelius harrumphed. ‘For years I told Gallius that we’d need a mechanized baggage train line south! Years! He was too intent on scratching all of the taxes he could out of the protectorate and spending all his free time whoring in Novorum.’
    ‘Gallius?’ Fisk asked, eyebrows raised.
    ‘Oh,’ Cornelius said, beginning to smile. Secundus joined him. ‘A little nickname for Rutilius.’
    ‘The commander at Fort Brust?’
    ‘The same.’ Cornelius’ smile had taken on monumental proportions.
    ‘I imagine there’s some shared history between you,’ Fisk said, noncommittal.
    ‘An unfortunate matter.’ Cornelius’ smile grew predatory. ‘When we were both legates during Nerva’s governorship in Gall, he became smitten with a dancing girl in one of the theatres there.’
    Fisk stared, sipping. ‘That doesn’t quite explain that particular nickname.’
    ‘A Gallish girl, she had flaxen hair and was quite thin and he spent a fortune on her, lavished her with gifts, attended every performance where she pantomimed Loumdima’s capitulation to Aemilianus’ army.’
    ‘I’d think they’d prefer Our Heavenly War , what with all the Rumans getting bloodied in that one,’ Fisk suggested.
    ‘No, the Gallish people do not bear us much umbrage for the events of a thousand years ago. However,’ he chuckled. ‘They take their revenge in smaller ways.’
    Secundus laughed out loud. ‘Of course, I wasn’t there, though I’ve heard this story enough times to tell it myself. After wooing her for weeks, he had her brought to his villa for a private audience.’
    ‘Private?’ Fisk said, shaking his head. It doesn’t take a Pandar to know what that means.
    ‘Alone, he disrobed her. Trembling.’ Cornelius slurped more whiskey and then giggled, a surprising sound coming from a proconsul who once ruled Rume itself under Tamberlaine’s watchful eye. He dipped his index finger in his whiskey, licked the tip, and then made it rise like a growing erection. ‘The tension grew. Rutilius’ spear, ever the symbol of the legions, became rampant.’ Cornelius laughed again and drained his glass. ‘Imagine his surprise when he realized that the Gallish lass possessed a spear of her own.’
    Secundus slapped his knee, howling with laughter. Cornelius was overcome with mirth, unable to call for more whiskey. When the laughter subsided and the senator reclaimed control of himself, he brushed his moustache, smoothing the errant hairs, and popped his cigar back into his mouth. ‘Afterwards, he had her – I mean him – crucified.’
    ‘Ia help us, Father, you’re worse than a child,’ Livia said. ‘You shouldn’t be repeating such stories of your peers.’
    ‘Oh, Rutilius is a good chap, reliable as stone. A shame his one bit of foolishness ended so … pointedly.’
    Father and son erupted with laughter again.
    ‘Well, love,’ Livia said, placing her hand on Fisk’s. ‘I will leave you to my father and brother’s dubious company. I hope they’ll act befitting their age.’ She glanced at Secundus and stood. As she passed her father, she laid a hand on Cornelius’ shoulder. ‘Or rank.’
    With that she disappeared in the folds of the tent to retrieve her medical kit and remove herself