“So how many other men have you been with, whore? How will Quintus ever be able to trust you knowing what you did to Vibius?” I said this both for Quintus and for Juno, although it was more to hurt Juno than anything, but I saw that my words scored a hit on Quintus, his expression immediately changing. It was clear he had never thought about this, yet now that I planted the seed, I knew it would take root and grow, and he would never look the same at Juno again. It did not feel as good as I thought it would, but I had already uttered the words, so it was too late to bring them back now. Juno, if it were possible, looked even more hurt and wounded than she had a moment before. Despite the look on her face, I am a professional, and have learned to finish the job even if I find it distasteful, so while I found I was losing the taste for this, I was determined to deliver the killing blow.
“Know this, Juno. I’m not a religious man but I’m going to make an offering to Dis to curse this marriage, and to your namesake Juno, as well as to Lucina that you’re barren and bear no children. I wish on you nothing but pain and sorrow for what you did to Vibius, who was more true and faithful to you than you obviously deserved. As of this moment, you’re dead to me.”
I turned to Quintus. “Quintus, I bear you no real malice, but know this. The next time I see you, you better run the other way, because I'll kill you where you stand.”
Without another word, I grabbed Gisela’s hand and pushed past them, leaving Juno standing white-faced and trembling in fear, with Quintus in much the same condition.
For a few moments, neither of us spoke as my temper cooled, before Gisela finally said quietly, “Remind me never to make you truly angry.”
Gisela and I spent several more days in the inn, and every day I would go to the house, only to be told that Vibius was not accepting visitors. Finally, I had enough, waiting only long enough for the crone to intone the by-now familiar words before I roughly pushed past her to enter the house. On this day I decided to wear my uniform, so that Vibius’ family would know that I was here on official business as Vibius’ commanding officer and not as his friend. I did not take this action lightly, because I knew that it was going to cause perhaps an irreparable rift, if not with Vibius himself, then his family. His mother was standing in the main room, alerted to my intrusion by the sound of the crone’s calls for help that someone had broken into the house. She was clutching a kitchen knife, a defiant yet fearful look on her face, but when she recognized me she sagged in relief.
“Titus Pullus, you nearly scared me to death,” she gasped, clutching her heart.
However, I did not smile, or try to give her any comfort in any way; I had hardened my heart to do what I needed to do. “I’m here on official business, Domitia,” I was using what I thought of as my professional voice, which had the desired effect.
The smile froze on her face, the impact of my words sinking in. “Wha…what does that mean, Titus?”
“It means I’m here to fetch Sergeant Domitius back to return to the Legions. Our leave is almost up, and we’ll have to hurry to get back to the Legion on time. We can delay no longer.”
“But he’s not ready to travel, Titus,” she protested, making a move to block my way when I began to move towards Vibius’ room.
Staring down at her, I held my gaze until her defiance withered under my glare. “Don’t try and stop me, Domitia. I’m doing what's best for Vibius.”
“You’re doing what’s best for yourself, Titus,” she hissed, her anger and mother’s instinct getting the better of her composure. “You don’t care a rotten fig for Vibius, it’s your precious career that means more to you, and that’s the only reason why you’re here.”
My surprise at her words evidently was written on my face, because it clearly gave her courage. “Oh yes, don’t think I don’t know. Vibius has been writing for years, and he told us how you turned your back on him to pursue your precious career, so don’t pretend that you care what happens to him now.”
I felt like I was struck in the gut, but falling back on the discipline instilled by my years in the Legion, I kept my face a cold mask. “If what you say is true, then you know that I’ll stop at nothing to bring Vibius back,” I replied coolly, stepping past her to walk to Vibius’ room. Without bothering to knock, I kicked the door open, causing a satisfying crash as it flew against the wall. The room was dark and stank to high heaven, and I could just make out a lump lying in a bed in the corner that scarcely stirred at the noise.
“Sergeant Domitius, on your feet,” I roared, but I was rewarded only with a slight movement. Once my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I walked over to the bed, seeing just the top of Vibius’ head poking out from underneath the covers. Kicking the foot of the bed with my boot, I was rewarded with a low groan.
“Go away Titus, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“There’s no Titus here,” I told him coldly, “and you’ll get on your feet when addressing your senior Centurion.”
I had hoped that this would be enough to give Vibius the needed impetus to get up, but he had always been stubborn. “Don’t pull rank on me,” his voice was muffled by the covers, yet I could hear plainly enough the beginnings of anger in his voice. Good, I thought, that's a start. Instead of kicking the bed again, I reached down, grabbing one corner to give it a good yank, turning the mattress over and dumping Vibius out on the floor. His nightclothes were stained with wine and I did not want to speculate what else, yet he got to his feet quickly enough, letting out a huge roar of anger as he turned on me. Before he could get any closer, I lashed out with my vitus, striking him hard in the ribs, causing him to gasp with pain. Despite the blow he kept his feet. Any other man would have buckled under that, I thought with some pride, but not Vibius. For his part, it just made him angrier and he charged at me headlong, his speed once again catching me by surprise. Even as I fell backwards, I thought with some chagrin that I always forgot how fast he really was. Tumbling into a heap on the floor, the combination of my armor and the weight of his body forced the air from my lungs in an explosive gasp. Encouraged by this sound, Vibius began to thrash at me, but I was able to block most of the blows with my arms, although a couple landed along my body, sending shafts of pain shooting through me. I was content to let him tire himself out and was glad to see that at least the slack living and moping about had sapped his conditioning, because it was only a few moments before I felt his strength flagging. Once he paused, I heaved him off of me, throwing him across the room while leaping to my feet, crossing to him before he could recover. I did not use my fists, because that would have been personal, instead thrashing him with my vitus, using it like he was a tiro in his first month of training and I did not stop until he was curled up in a ball, trying to protect himself. Finally finished I stood panting over him, and said harshly, “I won’t enter this into the official record Sergeant, since you know the penalty for striking a superior officer is running the gauntlet, followed by crucifixion,” I heard his mother gasp at this, “but I’m not going to tell you again. We’re leaving to return back to the Legion in a third of a watch. I expect you to be standing outside this house, fully packed and in full uniform, ready to go. Do you understand me?”
It seemed like forever, but was probably only a few heartbeats before he answered, “Yes, Pilus Prior. I understand. And I will obey.”
I grunted. “Very good. Now,” I turned to leave, “clean yourself up and say goodbye to your family. The 10th is waiting for us.”
Ignoring his mother’s poisonous stare as I left his room, I exited the house. I knew that there was a good chance that our friendship was now ruined beyond repair. But Vibius’ mother was right; I would not jeopardize my career for anything, or anyone.