Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (61 page)

I halted, mere feet from the wide doors that lead to the outside world, eager to do just as he’d suggested.  But instead of being overly dramatic, I turned so that I could see him.  “We aren’t going anywhere yet, Galba.  There’s still a few more things we need to do.  We’ll be around, but I promise we’ll stay out of the way.”

“Such as?”  He asked, taking a step toward me.

I sighed as I offered him one last annoyed look before stepping through the entrance, calling out over my shoulder as I vacated his presence for hopefully the last time.  “Just a few personal errands.  I wouldn’t worry about it.”

***

The first of which was to lead my friends to a nearby park on the Esquiline Hill where we could discuss our futures.  Everyone was here except our pair of Romans, and we all had decisions to make.  I assumed most had already made up their minds regarding where they wanted to go from here, but we’d all agreed to remain silent on the matter until now.  We hadn’t wanted to share our plans with each other until we were certain we could just walk away from it all.  Had Galba, Vespasian, or some other entity denied us our freedom, or forced us into a fight, or somehow managed to take the orbs from us, certain hopes from one individual or another may have been shattered.  So, we’d thought it best to wait.  Obviously, our caution had been unnecessary – Galba and Vespasian had done exactly what we’d hoped they’d do – but now we were faced with a slew of choices, and it was time to share our decisions.

The walk was short, and refreshing.  For the first time in over a half decade, I felt free of responsibility and internal torment, with one caveat: the blue orb still nagged at me, its presence a constant reminder of what I had done, who I had been, and how far I had come to destroying my entire world, both literally and figuratively.  I would never forgive myself for having that village of Druids burnt to the ground, for ordering the execution of prisoners, for abandoning my friends and family in my darkest hour, and I would never forgive or allow myself to forget what I’d done to Vincent.  I’d stolen a beautiful life from this world, one full of knowledge, wisdom, and compassion, a man who had opened his heart on a number of occasions just to help my own feel better.  He’d been the closest thing I’d had to a father since I was in middle school.  He’d been a husband, an adoptive father, a biological father, a man of deep faith haunted by a mistake he’d made in his youth that had driven him to surround himself in penance.

He was irreplaceable, and I’d never forget him.

But there was still the orbs to consider.  They were my responsibility now, and if I wanted to truly atone for what I’d done, I had to keep the world safe from them.  It was a dangerous duty, the risk of exposure to one or the other always present, but it was something that had to be done.  Merlin had entrusted them to me, offering them to me so that I could use them to go home, but he hadn’t needed to do that.

So now we were here.  At a crossroads.  I knew what I was going to do and I knew what Helena wanted to do.  I suspected what the others wished to do as well, but I didn’t know for sure.  Today, I would, and we would start the process of returning our lives to whatever semblance of “normal” we wanted. 

The sun was shining, the air was thick with late summer humidity, and despite the sweat on my brow and dripping down my back, I felt more comfortable than I had in ages.  My bones were still defrosting from their time in Britain, my mind continued to clarify from my time under the blue orb’s spell as well as my withdrawal from it, and my muscles and limbs were rebuilding.  The local Romans seemed cheerful and exuberant and there was a taste of rebirth in the air, as though the entire public was aware that with Agrippina’s passing, life in the empire was bound to change for the better.

It was a pleasant enough façade, but it was just that.  Sure better days lay in the future, but so too did dark times loom.  Perhaps not in my lifetime, but there was something to the predictability of a life lived in Ancient Rome that bothered me.  I hadn’t a clue what was in store beyond the year 2021, even with my newfound ability to peak into the future, but it’s where I felt I belonged.  There was nothing left for me in Ancient Rome.

I was going home.  And soon.

But first things first.

We’d just made it to the park.  It was large but private, one of a number of public parks or gardens that dotted the Esquiline Hill, and also one left untarnished by Romulus and Remus’ brawl to end all brawls.  There was a small pool at its center complete with a fountain, where a small group of young children splashed and played without fear of adult intervention.  Flower gardens and latticed walls of vines bordered the location, and at its far end was a large building that contained a library.

Our small group found a series of benches off in a corner near the library, and most of us plunked ourselves down atop them while Wang, Santino, and Stryker fell to the tidy grass.  Stryker shifted to his back, entwining his finger together behind his head, while Wang and Santino simply sat on their butts, picking at the grass as though they were already bored.  I smiled to no one in particular, leaned back against the lattice frame that was surprisingly sturdy, and felt Helena place her hand on my thigh.  I turned my head so that I could look at her but found her looking away, off into the distance, her eyes just as distant as the view.

I didn’t try to get her attention.  I knew what that look was for and why her hand was on my leg.  She wanted nothing more than to keep me close but her heart couldn’t quite let her pretend everything was back to normal – if anything had ever truly been
normal
between us.  I would never forget how dedicated she’d been to saving me, but that steadfastness had taken its toll on her.  It had taken her to the brink of despair, compounded as it had been with the loss of our son, and it had taken a miracle that she hadn’t succumbed and given up completely.

Actually, it hadn’t been a miracle, it had been Artie.  She’d kept that group together, kept them focused, kept them on task.  Helena may have been the rallying call behind my rescue mission, but it had been Artie who had ensured that the lot of them hadn’t given up completely.  A part of me wanted to be hurt that some of them, even Wang and Bordeaux, had wanted to abandon me, but I didn’t blame them.

If only I could thank Artie.

Some day.

And then Helena turned and looked at me.  Her expression remained neutral, but I could see the love in those green eyes of hers, so I smiled, hoping to remind her that I felt the same.  She squeezed my thigh in return and she leaned back into the crook of my arm, exactly where she belonged from now until the end of time.

The group was quiet, odd since Santino normally interrupted uncomfortable or lingering silences, but a quick look at my friend confirmed he was distracted, his eyes and hands focused only on the rampant destruction of each individual blade of grass in his vicinity, one at a time.  I took a deep breath and promised myself I’d talk to him sooner rather than later.  There were many things I
needed
to do, and ensuring Santino returned to his previous self was among the foremost.  If there was one universal constant, it was that Santino would always be Santino, and I couldn’t afford to let the fate of the universe rest on the fact that such a law could possibly be broken.

I figured I’d start by playing his part.

“So,” I said, heads lifting or turning as my voice cut through the silence, “who’s going home?”

No one said anything for quite a while until Helena spoke up first.  “I am,” she said quietly, almost reluctantly, but I already knew she had no qualms or regrets about her decision.  Ancient Rome was the last place she wanted to be, echoing my own thoughts.

I nodded, giving her hand atop my thigh a squeeze at the same time.  “Me too.”

Heads bobbed, acknowledging or accepting what they all probably already suspected.  A stillness settled in again between us until Wang broke it.  “I as well,” he said, not bothering to look up from the small clump of grass he’d accumulated in front of him.  “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the food here.”

Santino coughed out a small laugh.  “Says the British guy…”

Wang’s head perked up with a smile and he shoved his friend to the side, but Santino stayed upright like one of those blowup clown dolls that were impervious to being knocked over.  Santino’s small smile grew just a bit, but he didn’t look up.

“And you, Funny One?”  I asked.

“Well…” he started, as though he was still considering, “…there certainly aren’t many women left in Ancient Rome for me.”  He shrugged.  “And, well, let’s just say I’ve grown tired of how they all lack certain hygienic attributes I’ve come to…”

Georgia, seated next to me on the bench, reached out with a foot and succeeded where Wang had failed, and knocked him over.  “Actually,” she said, “let’s not say anything about that.”

Helena clapped her hands lazily from her reclined position as Santino rolled back onto his butt, his smile having never wavered.

“So I take it you’re coming home?”  I asked.

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“All right,” I said, bouncing a fist off my thigh a few times, “that’s four of us.”

That’s when Bordeaux chimed in.

“I will remain, Jacob,” he said, one of his massive arms wrapped protectively around Madrina.

“I suspected you’d want to,” I admitted.

“There’s nothing for me there,” he said, shifting his eyes to Madrina, “while
everything
for me is here.  And my family would also have no place there.  Spending so much time with my children recently has reminded me that they do not belong there.  Our life is here, and I believe it will be a long and happy one.”

Helena shifted beside me.  “Back in Gaul you mean?”

Bordeaux smiled knowingly.  “
Viva la France
.”

I rolled my eyes and I heard a grown or two as well, but then I nodded all the same, accepting his decision.  “We’ll miss you big guy but if I feel it’s safe, perhaps we can arrange for a visit.”

He looked happy at that decision.  “You would be most welcome.”

“All right,” I said, shifting my attention now to Cuyler, who sat on a bench near Stryker on the ground.  “And y…”

I was interrupted by the sight of Gaius and Marcus approaching the gardens.  They spotted us immediately, but still I waved them over.  Marcus waved back and the pair walked over.  I turned back to Cuyler while they were in transit.

“And you?”

He sat rigidly upon the stone bench, his hands on his knees, his back razor straight.  He rarely looked relaxed, and the sight of him now was no different.  However, his eyes were soft, almost apologetic over what he was about to say next.  “I’d like to go home.”

“Whose home?”  Santino asked.  “Yours or ours?”

“Mine,” he clarified immediately.  “Our mission may have been to find a way to change the course of our world’s history or bring back an orb to use against the enemy, and while we have failed at both objectives, the latter purposefully so, I might add, home is… it is still home.  It’s where I belong.  I’d see myself as a deserter if I never returned.”  He immediately shifted his attention to both Stryker and Brewster, nodding at them both.  “But you’re free to make whichever choice you wish, and I won’t think any less of either of you for your decision.”

Helena shifted uncomfortably beside me.  Not because Cuyler’s speech may have been the longest string of words any of us had ever heard from him before, but because of the implications of his decision.  We’d already known one or more of Artie’s team would want to go home, and we’d both already decided what that meant.  It meant I’d have to take them home, and that meant using the orbs.  Each and every time I used them brought risk, not just because of their own particular dangers, but because of the dangers I might find myself in on the other side.  Even if the whole time jump and reality shift occurred without a hitch, there was always the risk of being clubbed over the head before I was able to return.

But I couldn’t deny Cuyler the risk.

By now, Gaius and Marcus had seated themselves between Stryker and Wang, wedging themselves in like a couple of children, eliciting jeers and protestations from both men already comfortable on the ground.  But the two of them separated just enough for the two Romans to sit comfortably, although Stryker tried to playfully push Gaius to the ground but the Roman was too well trained to succumb to such an attack, and managed to deflect Stryker’s playful blow.  They smiled at one another, and the friendship they’d struck up in the short time they’d known each other was as evident as the same friendship between Gaius and Wang or Marcus and Santino, or some other combination, despite the far longer time those individuals had known one another.

I shook my head at the display but did little to discourage it, choosing instead to hurl a small rock at Stryker to get his attention.  It bounced harmlessly off his burly chest, but he looked at it on the ground as though hurt, turning that hurt expression on me as though to say, “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”

Honestly, I couldn’t wait to go home just to be rid of these clowns.

“What about you?”  I asked.

“I’m staying?”

“You are?” I asked, but so too did a second voice that joined my own.  It took me a moment, but I realized it had come from Brewster beside me.