Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,5
he were vermin. I shall be a centurion again, he thought, and perhaps I will be the one to wipe that look off her face.
He knew protocol demanded he report the appearance of Magnus and his wife to his superior officer, the centurion Caius Galba. But Sextus reminded himself of all he had suffered because of his double dealing superiors. News of this magnitude could not wait, and he decided to deliver the information in person to the one who would most appreciate it.
Feigning illness, Sextus asked to leave the guardhouse. The centurion granted him permission to go back to his bunk, but, instead, he slipped away and headed in another direction.
He found himself grinning in anticipation. His fortunes were about to turn.
• • •
Honorius ran a lazy hand over Baha’s magnificent brown body. She had come to him from the lands beyond the Indus, a gift from his nephew, Theodosius, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. She had arrived on a ship from Constantinople just the week before, and he was already besotted with her exotic beauty.
She opened her pale green eyes and smiled at him.
Glorious! He buried his face in her hair and she wrapped her legs around him.
“You please us, Baha,” he said as he nibbled her ear.
She giggled. “There are not two of you here, sire.”
Perplexed, he stared at her, but then he understood. He was struck by her charming innocence and her lack of fear when it came to conversing with him. He grinned. “We rule as a God-given right, acting conjointly with the Lord, hence our use of the royal we — ”
“Is your god here, too, sire?”
He laughed. “You little minx, that is blasphemy,” he said, and then thrust into her. He started pumping, enveloped by her wet warmth, needing to come.
There was a sharp knock at the door, but Honorius ignored it and pumped harder. Another knock sounded, and he went still, his anger flaring. Who dared disturb his fucking?
“Venerabilis,” a muffled voice called out from the other side of the door. “Forgive my impertinence, but there is important news, news I felt you would want to know immediately.”
Honorius grumbled and pulled out of Baha, then threw a silk sheet over her. “Enter.”
He didn’t bother covering himself when his minister came in with a legionnaire, and was amused when the men averted their gazes from his erection.
He rose, tied another sheet around his waist, and then sourly addressed his minister, “What is so important?”
The man indicated the legionnaire. “This is Sextus Betto. He is a guard on the Porta Nuova.”
Sextus removed his helmet and went down on one knee; hand on his breast, his eyes downcast and deferential.
Honorius nodded, anxious to get on with it. “Speak. Tell us your important news.”
The legionnaire lifted his gaze, then remembered himself, and looked down again. “O most illustrious Emperor, I have just seen Quintus Pontius Flavus Magnus and his wife leave out of the Porta Nuova, heading south.”
Rocked to his core, Honorius burst out, “What? That is impossible! Their burned corpses were delivered to us years ago.”
Sextus blanched. “I, uh … but Great One,” he stammered, “it was Magnus. I swear. He and his wife escaped the baptistery back then, and Sarus had to cover — ”
“Are you saying it was a lie?” Livid, Honorius grabbed him by the throat. “You were there? All these years you’ve known of this sham?”
Sextus’s eyes widened with terror. “But,” he croaked, gasping for air as Honorius squeezed, “but I … following orders … the bodies … slaves — ”
“You worthless fuck!” Honorius screamed as he thrust his minister aside and dragged the legionnaire into the hallway. He shouted to his Germani guards, “Kill him! Kill him!”
Honorius let go and backed away as a guard swung with the flat of his axe, smashing the man’s head open against the marble floor, blood and brains splattering everywhere.
A high-pitched scream rent the air.
Honorius turned and saw Baha at the door, horrorstruck. His vision blurred red at the thought she’d witnessed the slaughter, but he choked back his fury, for it was too late.
Seeking to mollify her, he removed the yellow diamond ring from his pinkie and gave it to her. “Go back inside.”
She looked at him, trembling. Her beautiful green eyes were deep pools of agony, loving and sad. He was touched by the depth of her emotions, laid bare for him. His feelings for her were delicious, new and intense.
He smiled. “Baha, go.”
Nodding, she placed the ring on her