Vulcan's Fury: The Dark Lands by Michael R. Hicks Read Free Book Online Page A

told him in an uneasy voice. “Or mine, for that matter.”
    “I’m not trying to,” Marcus replied bluntly. “I just want you both to understand the reality of the world you live in. If you don’t, you won’t survive when the knives come out.” His mouth turned down in a frown. “And mark my words, children, come out they will. It’s only a question of when.”

CHAPTER FOUR

    “Oh, at last,” Valeria breathed as the road they were following crested one last hill and came in sight of Augusta Viromanduorum, the tenth largest city in the Empire, which was cast in silhouette by the setting sun. “I’ll thank the gods with the sacrifice of a dozen bulls for getting me this far.” After a brief pause, she reconsidered. “Or perhaps just a sickly goat for giving me such foul treatment.”
    Paulus laughed out loud, and Marcus grinned. Even the normally dour Septimus managed a smirk. The journey from Rome had taken twenty-seven days of hard travel and had spanned just over a thousand miles. The caravan bearing the princess to her destination had crossed the frontiers of three provinces, forded five rivers, and been taken by ship across the New Aegean Sea. Pelonius had told her early in their journey that the route from Rome to Aquitania was one of the most spectacular in the Empire, from the crystal blue waters of the New Aegean to the dense forests of Duria Minor, the thundering waterfalls of the River Nura, and the snow-capped peaks atop the Etruscan Mountains, which rose from the earth like titanic teeth.
    Despite the breathtaking scenery, Valeria had been miserable nearly every foot of the way. She had suffered chronic saddle sores on her horse and motion sickness in the carriage, fallen into the freezing River Iria when her attempt to shove Paulus in as a prank had gone awry, and had been overcome with seasickness aboard the ship in the Aegean from the moment it left the pier. At one point, Pelonius had grown quite concerned for her, as she had begun to lose weight, but Valeria had steadfastly refused to slow the caravan’s pace. If anything, she made her escort move faster, eager to end the horrid journey as soon as possible.
    She had, however, used her frequent indisposed status to politely refuse to meet with most of the provincial leaders who had sent forth couriers laden with gifts and invitations. “You are your father’s daughter,” the scribe had grumbled more than once as he’d penned the responses bearing her “heartfelt disappointment” at not being able to meet with this governor or that rich merchant. She had accepted two such invitations, but only because at the time she was suffering no particular affliction and Pelonius had managed to shame her into it.
    Valeria’s respite had been the handful of times when she had broken her vow and ridden Hercules, who happily bore his human charge without any fuss. Unfortunately, that practice had come to a sudden end when a deer had charged across the road and Hercules, hungry from not having hunted for two days, had instinctively charged after it, leaving Valeria flying through the air to land in a large puddle of mud along the side of the road. For that, she had earned a private scolding from Marcus in her carriage that had left her ears and pride burning for the next two days.
    With that indignity and the other miseries of the trip behind her, the mysteries of Aquitania now drew her on more strongly with each step. “Enough of this,” she announced as she took her horse to a canter, pulling ahead of the soldiers. “The baggage can catch up to us.”
    Stifling a curse, Marcus and the other soldiers of her personal guard charged ahead to catch up, with four breaking into a gallop, running ahead of the princess in case trouble should be lurking farther along the road. With a happy grunt, Hercules broke into a trot beside her, easily keeping pace with Valeria’s horse, his great eyes glowing in the gathering darkness. The carriage bearing her things