Being out in the open country again felt liberating. We were passing through hills, lush valleys, old forests and isolated villages. In evenings we pledges joked around the fire while eating dinner. In those days I often thought of the queen and wondered of her well-being.
On the tenth day we arrived at the bank of river Rubicon, a border between Porosia and the League. We followed the bank north for most of the day. In the afternoon we arrived to a bridge that connected the two realms. It was a wide construction built with dark gray stones. The Porosian side was wide open with no guards or towers or any kind of obstacles. The League’s side however was protected by two high towers connected by a wall. Three guards above watched our every move. Under the wall was a closed portcullis, almost as wide as the bridge itself. When we arrived to the portcullis, it remained closed. Tiberius lifted his head towards the guards up on the wall. One of them spoke:
“Forgive me, Vetulonians! I know the sun is burning and that you’re eager to be on your way, but the mechanism broke and we cannot lift the gates! My comrade is fixing it as we speak! I know it’s a warm day, so if you’re thirsty I can splash some water on you?”
He then lifted a large bucket and grinned.
“No need for that, soldier, we’ll wait,” Tiberius answered and glanced towards Julia. “Let children have their fun, we’ll wait and rest a bit,” he added. Julia smirked, but remained quiet. The same guard spoke again:
“You have a lovely wife!” He pointed towards Julia.
That enraged Tiberius. He looked at the rude guard, not blinking once as he said:
“From now on you will speak when spoken to. If you fail to do so, I will mention your lack of manners to your chancellor and insist they throw you in shackles. When they bring the three of you before my knees, I’ll cut off your heads and have them delivered to your families. Do you understand my words, you pathetic worm? Answer me!”
“Yes!" the guard trembled.
“Yes, MY LORD!”
“Yes, my Lord!”
“Open the bloody gates.”
The guard on the wall motioned two colleagues and they started turning the big wheel on their left. The portcullis was lifted and we passed.
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“Let it go,” said Julia after we left the bridge behind us.
“Whatever do you mean?” asked Tiberius and smiled. Letting some poison out did him well.
“Tell me you’re not thinking of taking a few legionaries with you, going back and teaching them some manners. Let it go.”
“If I entertain a thought, it doesn’t mean I’ll act on it," he smiled. "Does anyone know me as well as you do?”
“Good thing they don’t or they’d overthrow you!”
In the evening, an hour before sunset, we set up camp on a little hill with woods close by. At the bottom of the hill ran a small creek with a fast current. It was getting colder by each day, so we set up tents. After I was done with mine I went to search for Marius. He was one of the ten legionaries ordered to cook for the whole company. I found him building a fire, while his fellow soldiers were dragging a large pot from the donkey cart.
“Kind sir, can you please tell me what’s for dinner this fine evening?” I asked and made a face.
He laughed and answered:
“A stew! Beans, carrots, onion, potatoes! And a cup of beer!”
“Mmmmmm!” I continued my mockery by rubbing my belly.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, how long till we reach Abydos?” he turned serious.
“Haven’t they made you read the summary of our travels?”
“I do recall being handed something, some papers, but I didn’t bother reading them!”
“Gods, Marius. You do realize with this attitude you’ll never advance beyond a foot soldier.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t knight you either, with this attitude of yours!”
“Gods, Antonius, you’re worst than my mother. Can you answer a question without a life-long lecture about responsibility? Enough!”
“In three days we’ll reach the League's capitol, Abydos, soldier! We could get there sooner, but we’re taking the longer, less populated route.”
“There you go. Wasn’t so hard now, was it?”
Later we were joined by Otho, as well as Cecilia and Flavia. We all helped with the cooking and joked around with the legionaries. Then we distributed the food and after that we finally sat down and ate. A warm meal and fire made me drowsy, so I left the band and headed down the hill towards the creek, where I washed my face. Before heading back to my tent I looked up to the night’s sky. The beauty of the heavens overtook me and I stood there longer than I intended. I wondered what stars were and what their purpose was. Some Vetulonian scientists argued stars were merely far away suns, that there were many more worlds out there in the black void. But the majority mocked this idea, arguing that it didn’t make much sense. I found it plausible, if not even beautiful. I lingered for some time, until it got colder. Then I left the creek and headed to my tent.