“Fire the buildings.” Dumnoc ordered looking around at the villa.
Varro left the guardroom at sunrise and looked around for Brenna. At first he didn’t see her, but as he walked she moved away from a stable block and slowly came towards him.
“This had better be good.” He said, she didn’t reply. “We’ll go to the stalls, they’ll be open but it will be quiet for a while and we can talk.” She nodded and followed him.
“Morning Centurion Varro.” The fat man wearing a dirty looking apron said as they approached. “And who is this fine looking young lady with you?”
Varro turned and looked at Brenna, “Morning Fiscus,” he said, “this is an acquaintance of mine from a few years ago. We used to be good friends.”
“Well welcome good friend, do you have a name lady?” Fiscus asked.
“I am Brenna.” She replied sheepishly, her head dropping to the ground.
“Well any friend of young Centurion Varro here is a friend of mine, what would you like? It’s just warm wine for the time being I’m afraid. I was a little late opening up, it was a late night.” Fiscus said rubbing his head and smiling.
“Watered wine will be fine thank you.” Varro said.
“Take a seat please. I’ll bring your drinks over.” He waved a hand at the empty seating area under a large canvas sheet. “As you can see, you have plenty of choice.”
Varro guided Brenna through the chairs and tables and took a seat where Fiscus and his ears wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. “Well?” He said.
Brenna took her seat and put her head in her hands and began talking. She told him that after they had split up, she and Decimus had come across a camp fire. She had told him to wait on the track with the horses whilst she went to see who they were and what they were doing. She had thought it strange that they were in what looked to be the middle of nowhere especially when the Romans were under siege on the mountain. They were the males from a large family group, they had explained, who were on their way to join Caratacus but after getting lost they had decided to camp for the night. As darkness fell the sound of battle was carried to them through the valleys, but they knew that could have meant an hour away or a full day, as the sound was carried so far on the wind. “That was when I appeared out of the dark,” she continued, “they offered me food and the warmth of their fire. I had intended to slip away as they slept and to find Decimus but then he just appeared from nowhere, I couldn’t believe it. Straight away the men knew he was a Roman soldier there was nothing else I could do.” She began to sob. Varro stared at her until she went on.
She got herself together and continued. “The men had wanted to torture him before taking his life but I told them that I would deal with it.” She tried to dry her eyes. “I got up before the men could and walked quickly to Decimus. I knew we couldn’t outrun the men because they had horses and my mind raced because I knew that whatever happened, Decimus would die one way or another. If the men had got to him, he would have been butchered.” She sobbed again, tears now rolling freely down her dirty face.
“I walked straight up to him and took his life, as quickly as I possibly could. I killed him Varro and if that means that I have to pay for that with my own life now, then so be it.” She said. “We were alone and walked straight into a situation we weren’t going to get out of. As it was we would have both died, they would have killed us both and only the gods know what they would have done to me before they sent me from the world. I was a Briton wandering around the mountains in the company of a Roman soldier. Do you know what that means? Do you know what my people do to such people?” She stared down at the table looking completely lost. “I know what I did was wrong but could see no other choice.” She sat sobbing as Fiscus appeared with their drinks.
“Are you alright lady?” He asked.
“Leave us.” Varro said harshly without hesitation, it wasn’t a request. Fiscus looked at the centurion, nodded and quickly made his way back to the stall.
Brenna waited until Fiscus was back behind his bar before continuing. “Why do you think it’s taken me so long to be able to face you? I nearly stayed with them because I was so afraid of how you would react when I told you” She looked up at his face.
“I was there.” Varro said.
“What? What do you mean you were there?” She asked confused.
“I heard everything you said.” He paused. “I wandered around for a long time and lost my bearings. After what seemed like an age, I saw a campfire and crept through the trees until I was close enough to hear the conversation.”
Her mind raced as she thought back to that night, to thoughts she had banished from her mind until now. He saw her thinking, he continued. “Imagine my relief at finding you and then the horror as I heard your words as you described that you had prostituted yourself to me, lied, and lived amongst us.” He paused rubbing his head. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I felt like everything was a corrupt diseased lie. I wanted to run into the camp and start hacking away at you and those you were with, I nearly did. I was so close to throwing my own life away but then I stopped myself. I looked around the tree and saw the head of Decimus, my friend on a fucking stick Brenna with you and them laughing and joking about how you had killed him. I decided then that I would wait and that if somehow I lived through the hell of that place, I would take vengeance on you and everyone else that stood against us.” His eyes were cold. “And here you are, right in front of me.”
“If that’s how you truly feel then kill me now.” She raised her head and turned to the right revealing her neck. “Put an end to this living nightmare I have suffered since that night. If you feel that way, I don’t want to live anymore.” Tears continued to roll freely down her face though her words were calm. She had accepted whatever fate Varro had decided for her.
“I should report your return to the Legate.” He said coldly.
She hesitated and then asked, “Did you tell them what happened, did you tell them that I killed Decimus?”
“I should have, I should have told them everything.” He took a large gulp of wine. “But I couldn’t,” he said. “I was going to, you have no idea, but I couldn’t.”
She reached out to touch his hand on the table but he withdrew it. A silence fell between them. “Why didn’t you tell them?” She finally asked.
He grimaced. “How would it look if I had told them? They would think me a fool, a fool taken in by a woman because she had opened her legs for me.” She didn’t look hurt by his words, she was too numb. “It wasn’t because of some misguided love for you if that’s what you’re thinking. It was to save my own reputation. They would have destroyed me maybe even had me crucified for being such an utter cunt.” He finished his drink. “Fiscus,” he shouted, “more wine, no water this time.”
“Yes sir and for the lady?” He asked.
“She hasn’t touched hers yet.” He told him, his eyes still fixed on Brenna.
“So what do you want to do?” She asked.
He shook his head. “How should I know? I thought you had died long ago or were fucking some hairy arsed barbarian bastard, I never thought I’d see you again.” He put his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to do. Do you have any idea what you were beginning to mean to me? I never thought I’d find someone like you here of all places and yet I did. I’ve never felt like I did with you, I’ve never experienced such warmth such….”
“Love?” She asked. He said nothing. “I felt it too.” she said. “But I never told you. I told Tevelgus of course and at first he wasn’t too happy that I loved a Roman but as he got to know you he came to accept it and that meant so much to me. I even talked of going to see your country and he asked if he could come and visit.” She reached out again, this time he didn’t pull his hand away.” She sobbed. “My brother died fighting for you, not for Rome or the Emperor, but you Varro and your men. That’s how much he had come to respect you and he paid for it with his life.” She squeezed his hand. “Would I have let that happen if we were really on the side of the enemy? Would we have put ourselves in a position where there was even a chance of that happening? We helped you, we fought side by side. I freed you when you were captured, remember? Are these the actions of a traitor?”