by Paul Finch
The ragged optio rose to his feet and approached. Ursus was aware of the stony silence from the Iceni, of the Briton coolly fingering the blade of his gladius. Unobtrusively, as gently as he could, the engineer reached out and took the sword from Jusci’s hand. At first the tribesman seemed unwilling to relinquish it, but when Ursus insisted, he did not resist. Oblivious to this, Livius came up to them. He was pale and bore ugly welts around his throat, but in the short time he’d been out of the water, he had regained much of his arrogant posture, his aura of cool confidence.
“So … we’re all that’s left,” he said. “Fourteen dead … yet we again proved Man can master even the worst the wilds can throw at him. And you?” He looked at Jusci. “I suppose we owe you a debt of thanks. We misjudged you.” He nodded. “It’s a good thing your people no longer follow the blood-feud.”
“It’s almost a shame,” Ursus put in.
Livius glanced round at him. “What?”
The engineer gave a broad shrug, then drove the gladius forcefully between the optio’s second and third ribs.
In all the running, fighting and swimming, the rivets in Livius’s armour had come loose and a single segment of plating had fallen away. It was only a section, only a slender strip of torso was exposed, but it was all Ursus needed. He grunted and spittle escaped his lips as he thrust hard, pushing the sword in to its very hilt. The optio swayed where he stood, too startled to react. His mouth fell open, and his eyes bulged like duck-eggs. He tried to speak, but couldn’t.
Jusci said nothing. He watched dispassionately as Livius finally toppled over, his jaws still locked open but his eyes glazing with death. At length the tribesman glanced at Ursus, who had now stepped away to the very edge of the island.
The engineer surveyed the vast primal sweep of marsh and broad, the ancient wetland paradise burning gold and ruby as the hot sphere of Sol descended in flames beyond it. “The balance had to be restored,” he said quietly. “It had to be.”
Sources
(With the odd snip and change and twist - these are the director's cuts)
The Blood Month was originally published in Darker Ages, 2004
Flibbertigibbet was originally published in The MammothBook Of Historical Whodunnits, 2001
The Gods Of Green And Grey was originally published in Paradox #7, 2005
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