Giving her a look of complete innocence, I made my eyes as wide as I could, not fooling her a bit. Walking casually over to the group, none of them seemed to know exactly what to do, choosing to look to Marcus and Aulus for an indication. For their part, we had stared across our shield into the eyes of our enemy enough to read exactly what was going through their minds, and it was not that different than what we had seen in the faces of Lusitani and Gallaeci. Their instinct was screaming at them to make a hasty retreat, while their pride was cementing their feet in place, suiting us just fine.
“Salve ladies,” Vibius called out, causing both Marcus and Aulus to flush with anger and embarrassment, yet both of them wisely bit back a retort.
Instead, Marcus tried to sound pleasant as he responded. “Salve Pullus and Domitius. It’s good to see you back safe and sound. We’ve heard of the licking you applied to those savages up north. I’ll bet you both saw plenty of action, neh?”
I felt myself smiling; I can guess that it was not very convincing. “You could say that,” I replied coolly. “But at least we faced real men. Better than anyone we’ve beaten before.”
I knew how insulting this was, yet somewhere along the short distance walking over to them, I went from wanting to mildly humiliate them to deciding to provoke them enough to give me an excuse to kill them. All of them if I could find enough of a reason for it.
I saw the look of surprise flit across Vibius’ face as well, but he instantly quashed it and like the good friend that he was, waded in by my side. “Yes, Marcus. Titus is telling the truth. The men we killed make everyone we ever faced before that look like their mother’s afterbirth.”
Both Marcus and Aulus went white with rage and I saw Aulus’ hand move to his belt. Underneath his tunic, concealed from sight, I could make out the outline of a dagger of some sort, and the smile on my face widened as I realized that I might be getting my wish. Vibius continued as I watched and waited. “So what have you……boys been up to since we’ve been gone? Been beating up on cripples?”
Finally, Marcus could take no more, though as I look back, I truly wonder if he realized just how much danger he was in the instant he uttered his next words. “Why don’t you ask Juno what I’ve been up to?” he shot back. “She and I have gotten to be very…..close.”
I did not even see it happen; as I’ve said before, Vibius was always much quicker than I was, but even for him this was the fastest I had ever seen anyone move. Before I could blink, Marcus was standing rooted to the ground, eyes open in shock as the point of Vibius’ dagger pushed into the soft area just at the base of Marcus’ jaw where it met the throat. Vibius pushed hard enough that a trickle of blood began to flow down Marcus’ throat, and despite himself, I heard Marcus whimper in fear. If it had ended there, it would have been enough to keep Marcus and Aulus from misbehaving, at least for the whole time we were on leave, but then Aulus had to do something stupid. Seeing his hand closing on the hilt of his dagger, while I was and never would be as quick as Vibius, I was still very fast, so before he had gotten his blade halfway out of his scabbard, I pulled my sword to make a perfect thrust, blade parallel to the ground and aimed at more or less the same spot where Vibius had pinned Marcus, except I did not stop at his throat. The point exited the back of Aulus’ skull, striking the side of the building where they were standing, burying itself an inch or two deep into the wood. That mark would remain there for the next several years before the building was torn down and replaced, the blood staining the wood around it, reminding me of that day every time I came home. As my blade struck, there was a collective gasp and a couple of the toadies let out a shout, while Marcus’ whimpering became a moan of fear, and the air filled with the smell of fresh urine as he lost control of his bladder. Aulus’ eyes remained open, bulging out as they stared at me while I watched his animus flee his body, a sight I had seen happen so many times before in the previous months, and his dagger clattered to the ground, making the loudest sound to this point. He remained standing only because I supported him on the end of my blade, and I reveled in the feeling of strength as I maintained my form, my arm out and parallel to the ground, with Aulus more or less dangling from my sword. After a moment, I quickly withdrew my blade and he collapsed in a heap, while I became aware of the heavy silence of the crowd around us, yet I refused to act concerned. Somehow I knew our future rested on how we conducted ourselves in the next few moments; if we behaved like we had done something wrong, then the chances were high that we would have trouble. However, if we acted like we had done nothing more than defend ourselves, and in a sense we had done just that, then I was sure all would be well. Acting deliberately, I wiped my blade off on Aulus’ tunic, my nose wrinkling at the smell as his body lost control of its functions and his bowels emptied. Any shock Vibius felt at what I did he instantly covered up, seemingly realizing the same thing, that this was all going to hinge on the next few moments.
Saying loudly enough for everyone to hear as I bent down to pick up Aulus’ dagger, I waved it in the air, “Your friend should have been more careful who he tried to kill, Marcus.”
Helping our cause was the stark terror, not only on Marcus’ part, but on his half-dozen followers, none of whom seemed inclined to point out that we had started the argument. Behind us, we could hear the beginning of talk, followed by the sounds of feet running towards us. I turned, quickly but with deliberation, sheathing my sword while holding onto Aulus’ dagger, in time to see three men of the city watch come trotting up, stopping when they saw two Legionaries standing in front of a body. The oldest one, a man of about 40 with a long white scar down the side of his face, approached us, hand on the hilt of his own sword while taking pains to show that he was not inclined to pull it.
“What happened here, Legionary Pullus?”
I remembered his name was Cornuficius and that he had been a member of Pompey’s Legions that retired in this area, deciding farming was not to his liking and taking the job as commander of the city watch. We had spoken a few times, but I held no opinion of him one way or another, and he seemed to be of a like mind.
Pointing down to Aulus, I responded calmly, “This man was stupid enough to try pulling a dagger on me. I killed him before he could use it.”
Eyes narrowing, he stared at Aulus’ body then looked me in the eye, obviously sensing that there was more to the story, but I was not willing to say anything more until I was asked. By this time Vibius had dropped his arm, although he still held his dagger in his hands, never taking his eyes off of Marcus, who was just now seeming to come out of his trance. I realized that for all their bluster and swaggering, neither Marcus nor his gang, and certainly not dead Aulus, possessed any experience in this kind of deadly action, and in fact this was probably the first time they ever faced a sudden death or seen one of their own die violently.
Turning his attention to Vibius, Cornuficius asked him quietly, “And what’s your part in this Domitius?”
Vibius shrugged, though he still did not take his eyes off of Marcus. Nodding at Marcus, Vibius replied, “This man insulted my betrothed. I took exception to it, and as we were talking, it’s like Titus said. Aulus decided to pull his dagger. Titus was quicker.”
His voice was flat, without emotion, a simple recitation of facts given in the manner in which we were trained; no flourishes, no commentary, just a plain and simple action report. It was a method of communicating with which Cornuficius was clearly familiar and he nodded as if it confirmed his suspicions. I thought we were in the clear, when finally Marcus came out of his trance.