Lucius chuckled, thinking of his share of plunder from Dacia, then he sighed. “I guess so.”
The men returned to their silence until it was broken by a third party.
“Lucius? Ambeltrix?” Verlia called out. “Oh, where are you two?”
Lucius looked over at this father. “I suppose it’s time to go home. We don’t really want her angry at us.”
“Smart lad. Now, help your old man up.”
Lucius stood and extended his arm down to his father. Grasping it, Ambeltrix used his son’s strength to pull himself off the ground.
Verlia crossed her arms and scowled at them, its potency robbed with the smile threatening to tug up the corners of her lips. “There you are! What am I going to do with both of you out here counting clouds?”
Lucius walked over to his mother and clasped the small woman in a tight hug. He released her and held one of her hands. Ambeltrix joined them, taking her other hand, and together, they began the trek home.
“We’d have come in by suppertime,” Ambeltrix said.
“Of course, the belly must be fed,” Verlia teased. “Can’t a woman miss her son and husband?” She emphasized it by squeezing Lucius’s hand and leaning her head against his arm as they walked hand in hand through the bluebell covered meadow.
“I’ve missed you too, mother.”
“You were always a good boy, Lucius. But the reason I came looking for you is there’s a messenger here for you. A nice boy in armor.”
“What does he want?” Lucius asked, brows furrowing.
“He didn’t say, and I figured he wouldn’t answer if I asked,” Verlia replied.
Despite someone waiting for him, Lucius didn’t increase the pace of the casual stroll through the wood back to his parents’ house. It wasn’t his home anymore. The legions were his home. But for now, enjoying a walk through the woods he’d grown up in with his mother and father on a glorious spring day was all he wanted. If a messenger waited, he had no doubt he was being recalled before the end of his furlough. Before that, he wanted to absorb as much of this feeling of domesticity as he could, not knowing how long it would be until his next visit or even if there’d be anyone there to greet him when he returned.
As the trio approached the house, the hive of activity changed from bees flitting about in the bluebells to servants moving about Ambeltrix and Verlia’s property. Ambeltrix and Lucius slipped off their caligae and set them by the door, then put on the slippers they wore in the house.
“Where’s the messenger?” Lucius asked.
“He’s right here, Lucius. Or I guess I should say Optio Ferrata,” a man with a familiar voice said, stepping out of the shadows of the kitchen door. He looked slightly ridiculous in his full kit, helmet under his arm, contrasting with a set of spare house slippers on his feet.
“Sego!” Lucius rushed forward and clasped his friend in a robust hug. “It’s good to see you. What are you doing here?”
“I ran into Brabo when he was looking for a messenger to send out. I volunteered. Figured it would be worth it to get out of the fort and have a nice ride.”
“I didn’t know you could ride.”
Sego shrugged. “I’m Batavi; my father served with the Ala Gallorum Petriana in Brittania. I grew up on a horse.”
“Let me introduce you.” Lucius turned to his parents. “This is my friend Segomaros, signifier of the II Centurio, VIII Cohors of the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix. Sego, this is my father Ambeltrix Gaius Silvanius, Centurio of the I Cohors Tungrorum, retired. And this is my mother, Verlia.”
Sego saluted Ambeltrix before clasping the older man’s hand. He gave Verlia a respectful bow. Ambeltrix turned to his son.
“Optio Ferrata?”
“You didn’t tell your parents?” Sego turned to face Lucius’s parents. “Your son has done well. By the end of the war, he’d been promoted to Optio in the V Centuria, I Cohors. He caught the eye of the Imperator who bestowed Ferrata on him and awarded him the Corona Civica.”
Lucius blushed as his father caught him up in a crushing hug. “Corona Civica? I’m so proud of you, son.”
“Thank you, father.”
“Corona Civica?” Verlia asked.
“It’s one of the highest honors bestowed on a common legionnaire. We must celebrate!” Ambeltrix stalked off to the kitchens.
“Can you stay, Sego?” Verlia asked. “We’d love to have you as a guest until you have to leave.”
“I’d be honored, ma’am. I don’t have to go back immediately.”
“Excellent. I’ll get a bed setup for you and leave you boys to talk.” She fondly touched her son’s shoulder as she left to find a servant to set up a place for Sego.
“When do you have to go back?” Lucius asked.
“I’m to take you with me. Sorry to cut your furlough short, but you need to be back at Noviomagus in eight days. Rumor is this order came all the way from Roma.”
Lucius tipped his head to the side. “Really? Any other rumors along with it?”
“Not that I can interpret. My guess, though, is that Brabo is going to need a new optio.”
Lucius’s eyebrows shot up before furrowing around his brow in confusion.
Sego grinned at his friend. “Word came in they’re returning the I Adiutrix back to full strength. They’ve been training new recruits up and down the Germania border to send to the staging point in Pannonia Superior. They’ll probably need qualified men to lead them. They could be promoting you to Centurio.”
Lucius shook his head and pursed his lips. “I’m too young. I’m not even close to thirty yet.”
