Page 35 of Scorched Earth
“I’m not allowing them to kill him for a crime he didn’t commit.” Felix took the keys from Servius and unlocked the cell. When Servius made a noise of protest, he said, “Think, Servius. Titus tried to drown him during the crossing in an attempt to secure command. It was apparently Titus who gave away Teriana’s location to Ashok, his goal to undermine Marcus’s authority. Now he’s destroyed all proof Marcus isn’t a deserter so that the Thirty-Seventh will murder him, ensuring his authority remains uncontested. We can’t let him get away with it.”
“I don’t see how we are going to stop him.”
Servius had to shout the last because the noise outside was deafening.Thousands of legionnaires chanted Marcus’s name, but where once it had been to honor victory, now it was to demand his death.
Marcus remained sitting on the floor of the cell, listening to Felix and Servius argue about what to do, knowing how this would go. Knowing that even if he had proof, it wouldn’t be enough to save him, because there was no hate more intense than one birthed from love. If his friends tried to stop what was to come, they’d be painted by the same brush as he was and killed for their troubles.
Leaving the Thirty-Seventh entirely at Titus’s mercy.
Rising to his feet, Marcus swayed as dizziness hit him. He rested a hand against the wall of his cell until his vision cleared. Then he said, “Let’s get this over with.”
Felix broke off in his argument. “Pardon?”
“You think they won’t realize you tricked them?” Marcus asked. “You think they won’t kill you for it?”
His friends were silent, then Felix said, “In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never once seen you give up.” His voice shook with anger. “If this is all it takes to get you to lie down and die, I fail to see why you bothered coming back at all.”
“To play my last card.” Shoving aside his exhaustion, Marcus squared his shoulders, knowing that he needed to make a choice. Knowing that he couldn’t save everyone. “Above all things, a good legatus protects the lives of his men, and that’s what I’m doing now. You are going to take me out there and give me to the Thirty-Seventh. Then, with them at your back, you are going to take power from Titus and find those gods-damned xenthier stems so the Maarin can be freed.”
Felix went pale. “But—”
“As a last favor to me: please free theQuincense,” he said. “Tell them Teriana is with Senator Valerius in Celendrial. Also… tell Yedda to tell her that I’m sorry.”
For all that he’d done. And all that he would be leaving undone, for he knew they would cause her grief in equal measure.
“I’m not letting them kill you for a crime you didn’t commit!” Felix shouted. “I’ll tell them you’re innocent. That proof is coming!”
A loudbangechoed from the front of the building, and Servius grimaced. “They’re pulling out the door.”
Marcus’s heart hammered, sweat dripping down his back, and he gripped Felix’s shoulders. “They are past reasoning with, and you know it. If you stand with me, they’ll kill you.”
“So be it. I’m not condemning you.”
“Pull!” Gibzen’s voice filtered through the door. “Heave, you lazy sons of bitches!”
They had seconds before the decision was made for them.
Drawing in a ragged breath, Marcus pressed his forehead to Felix’s. “I know I never said it. I know I never showed it. But I’ve always cared, and I’m sorry that you’ve spent all these years believing otherwise.” Squeezing his eyes shut, he gripped his best friend hard. “I won’t order you to do this, but for the sake of all that we have been through together, please promise to see this through.”
A tremor ran through Felix, and Marcus heard him swallow hard before he said, “Yes, sir.”
“Thank you.”
The door on the building exploded outwards, light pouring in right as Felix twisted Marcus around, gripping his wrists. “Let’s do this, then.”
Gibzen rushed in, a dozen men on his heels, all with rocks in their hands. They slowed at the sight of them.
“Not only will you be fixing that door, you’ll be digging shit holes for the next year for this behavior,” Felix barked. “Outside. Now!”
Clearly having anticipated a different reaction, Gibzen blinked. “What are… Are you condemning him?”
“Obviously.” Felix’s voice dripped with irritation, and he shoved Marcus down the hall. “But this is legion justice, not satisfaction for your personal grudges. Now outside, or you’ll be digging those holesafterI have you whipped for insubordination.”
Gibzen’s eyes narrowed, a low growl exiting his lips, but he slowly backed up out of the building. Whether it was vestiges of discipline or the promise of blood to come, Marcus didn’t know, only that the primus’s eyes were feral with rage.
And…grief?
Marcus met Gibzen’s gaze for only a heartbeat before Felix dragged him past the other man, but the intensity in his expression was unnerving. Marcus had known they’d be angry, but this… this was infinitely worse than he’d imagined.
