Pater Familias

Colly and I walk into camp to discover that the handcart and all of the belongings of the unfortunate group of previous inhabitants of this space was all piled neatly into one corner of the area. Among the stuff was a cracked block of marble I’d noticed earlier, probably being transported for a sculptor in Grumentum. That block must have been over two hundred pounds! I look to the place where it had been and to where it sat now and then to Cassie who was at Catalus’ side gently brushing his neck.

She thumbs over to Rosa. “Magic.”

“Ah.” I say. “Still getting used to having a mage in our midst.”

“I’m not a wizard.” Rosa says. She sat cross-legged right next to the fire, her sleeves rolled back her slender hands hovered closer to the flames than any human would dare, with Danae curled behind her over her slowly wagging tail. “I’m…different.”

“That you are, my Lady.” Nodding to the remains from the previous camp I say. “Any clue as to who they were?”

“None.” Cassie says. “Looks like they were transporting a few minor luxuries. Nothing that valuable or special. No papers or anything either.”

“Probably with the bodies.” I say grimly, imagining those corpses now rotting in some dark and stinking harpy nest. I mutter a low prayer for the deceased.

Colly and I put the gear we’d brought beneath a pine. It might get some sap on it but if some rain blew through the tree ought to keep our stuff mostly dry. Colly makes straight for Catalus once her load was down and I am close behind to talk to Cassie.

I step close, running a gentle hand down Cassie’s back. “How bad?”

“The wound?” She nods to Cat’s opposite shoulder.

I lean around to see…smooth skin where once there had been a deep cut! There was still an indentation where the talon had sliced him but the skin was unblemished. I reach for it.

“Careful.” Cassie says. “It’s still tender. The muscle is healing below the surface.”

“How?”

“Remember that sewing needle Rosa and I found at the market? The one that can mend without leaving a stitch behind?” She says. “Seems it works on horse flesh as well as fabric.”

I turn my head to Rosa who sat quietly, her large unseeing magenta eyes staring into the flames. “That’s incredible!”

Cassie shifts closer, her voice low. “I’m not sure that’s really how that item is supposed to work but…in her hands it does.” She pats my chest with two stiff slaps. “The ankle is the real problem.”

“Sprain?”

“Yep.”

“At least it’s not broken.”

“Mm.” Cassie says flatly. “Is it really much different? For our purposes I mean. He won’t be able to carry a load for a few weeks. And he’ll slow us down.”

“Shit.” I hiss, looking at the pile of our belongings Colly and I had brought and thinking about the rest of it still piled out on the road along with our own personal packs.

“We’re going to leave stuff behind. A lot of stuff.”

“I know.” I curse under my breath. “Come on, Colly. Let’s get the rest of it.”

As we ferry the rest of our effects from out on the dimming road back to our bright and warm camp I assure Colly that Catalus was going to be okay, though I make no other promises.

“That’s the last of it.” I say as I set down a bundle of bedding among our worldly possessions.

Across the fire from me Rosa now knelt preparing some cold dinners of flat bread, cheese and oil laid out on a small square canvas sheet. Danae was nowhere to be seen. The ‘sight’ she was using came from the dozen cooling tessarae she had placed evenly around the cloth. The false vision she got from manipulating the cooling magic was vague but with her motions slow and deliberate it was enough to allow her to perform the task without aid.

I look to our horse who Cassie had tied to a rope stretched between two stunted trees. The proud animal stood stoicly, his eyes close as he struggled with the pain from his wounds. He had been rejected by the military for his attitude but behind his irascible nature stood a fine warrior indeed.

The shadows growing deep among the trees and the stars blinking into view one by one in the sky above I join my ladies in the warm light of our fire. At our dinner ‘table’ for the evening I sit on the ground between Colly and Rosa with Cassie across from me. I lay my sword close at hand. Quietly Rosa shifts closer, my arm moving by its own instinct I slide my hand around her and pull her close. Her tail hugs possessively around the back of my butt, a horn scrapes my shoulder, and she rests her cheek upon my chest. Her eyes closed she takes a big breath in…then slowly out again. In all the chaos I had forgotten to check in with my Lady. Her fear of monsters went deeper than merely the normal terror they evoked. And harpies had a special place among those fears.

“We’re okay.” I whisper and kiss the tip of her nearest horn while taking her hand. “We were ready this time, Rosa. We aren’t those same two **** targets that first harpy picked out.” My eyes glide to the glinting steel the lay on the ground beside me. “They picked on the wrong group of travelers. We’re okay.”

“Not all of uth.” Colly sighs, staring over at Catalus. “Can we at leatht eat him if we have to put him down?”

“Eat him!” I laugh.

“No point letting all that good meat go to wathte.” She says. “He would want it that way. To help with the journey, ya know?”

“I’m not sure he wants to help us that much!” Cassie quips.

I reach over and rub my goblin’s silly head. “Colly, I already told you he’s going to be okay.”

“Okay.” She says. “It’th juthte, he lookth like he’th hurting.”

“He is hurting, Colly. But he’ll get better.”

Cassie takes one of the breads, dips it oil, then chomps it down with some cheese. As she chews she says. “I don’t mean to speak an omen, Fortuna forgive, but…we don’t need him anymore. He’s going to slow us down.”

“What!?” Colly sputters. “We jutht bought him! And he’th a hero!”

Cassie raises her hands, her right fingers gleaming with olive oil. “I’m just saying. We don’t have the time to wait for him to heal. And passage for a horse?”

“Neapolis to Athenae?” I mutter. “Probably 100 denarii at least.”

“Nearly enough to buy a new horse when we get there.”

“Yeah.” I say, my gaze drifting to our wounded warrior. “But not one like him.” Though I could not see it, his black fur melting into the deepening night around him, my mind’s eye could trace that deep wound that had sliced into his shoulder. Unconsciously I rub the scar at my ribs. If that talon had done that to a horse…what would it have done to me? “That talon was meant for me.” I whisper.

“Exactly!” Colly says with two oily globs of cheese dripping from her hands. She stuffs them into her mouth to gobble them down then sucks her entire right hand then left hand clean with two big sucking slurps. “Total hero. That’th worth more than thilver.”

“But our silver is a limited resource.” Cassie says, looking to Rosa. Specifically, Rosa’s belly. “It’s all we have to build our new life.”

“It was your dowry, Cassie. If you…” I begin to say before getting cut off by a withering stare from Cassie.

“It is OURS.” She says fiercely. “ALL of ours. Family money.”

I nod, appreciative that she had said that so plainly. “Family money.”

“Then the pater familias chooses.” Rosa whispers, her slender hand rubbing lightly back and forth across my broad chest.

“To Hades with that!” Cassie snaps. “I’m done with all this pater familias, head of the household, father knows…best…” Her anger cuts off in a soft sob, her eyes flitting back toward the road, as she remembered her father’s final gesture of love before she was cut off from her family for good.

I reach across, offering my hand. Blinking tears from her eyes she takes it and gives it a quick squeeze. A little nod was all the proud woman needed to express her thanks to me. Collywaddle looks back and forth between us then crawls over to cuddle against Cassie’s side. Slowly Cassie slides an arm around Colly and begins to gently stroke one of the goblin’s braids.

Her voice calm and controlled again she says. “All I am saying is that the funds we have will be more important than ever. We’ll be leaving most of our stuff here. Unless you wanted to try to come back for it?”

I shake my head, arm tightening around Rosa. “We have to get Rosa out of Italy and out of the Empire as quickly as we can. We cannot delay for back tracking. Especially back toward Grumentum.”

“You said…Athenae?” Cassie’s brows furrow, eyes narrowing.

“Just one option.” I say. “But…Rosa knows Greek. Might make it easier to move among the locals along our way. I don’t know how long we have or how wide the news will travel once it breaks but…word of a branded Amazon demon **** wielding magic is bound to cause ripples far and wide. They’ll probably send real wizards after us. And if it is revealed what she did to…well, let’s just say we should keep our interactions with actual Imperial folks to a minimum.”

“So nice of you to share this plan with us, oh pater familias.” Cassie says.

I chuckle. “I just said it was an option! I was thinking about it on the road while you were busy missing hares.”

“Missing…!? Pbbst!”

“Pfft! He he he he!” Colly chortles as Cassie sputters beside her.

“It is a wise option.” Rosa says softly. “You’ve got my support, Master.”

“Mine too, Mathter Quin!” Colly cheers. “And we keep our puppy horthe, Cat!”

“That wasn’t decided!” Cassie gives Colly a vigorous shake, which gets a giggle and a jiggle out of Colly.

“Hey, easy over there.” I say. “My family farm is only a few days away. If he can walk let’s at least get him that far and assess from there. It’s not like we’ll be able haul any more or less with him along. Maybe we can at least leave him with…family.” With a playful smirk I add. “That okay with you, mater familias?”

Cassie points at me. “The sass on this boy! I am gonna whip that ass pink tonight! Lady Rosa…?”

“Not tonight, my dear.” Rosa giggles and nuzzles my chest. “We can’t have BOTH our stallions limping tomorrow.”