Coventina (4 page)

“Yes,” he said, with a longing sigh.

“I must go or someone will come.”

“Yes, go, we will remain here.”

She returned to the house where Layla was waiting at the door. “It’s ok honey, I was able to control the one with the dagger,” she whispered.

“Got a minute?” Layla asked, taking Denise by the arm to the bedroom.

What’s up?

You plan on telling Lucilla?

Yes, at this point I am afraid I must.

That’s going to open up a can of ravioli.

She will never need to remember if we don’t want her to.

Ok, you’re the boss Inquilina.

Thanks baby.

After making and serving coffee Denise spoke. “Lucilla, what if today, rather than lessons, I were able to treat you to something really unique, something I believe might be out of this world for lack of a better way of putting it?”

“I’d be honored. What did you have in mind?”

Denise went on to explain, in brief detail, what she’d been experiencing, and why they really chose to learn Latin and all things Roman. “I don’t know how it’s possible, I don’t know where they have traveled from or how they found me, but I believe that somehow, some way, I have a few members of the Ninth Legion in my barn.”

“That is an amazing story,” Layla said, speaking in between giggles.

“Would you like to meet them, or at least a few of them?”

“Yes, yes by all means, I would love to meet them,” Lucilla said, still unable to control her giggles.

Think she’s ready?
Denise said.

Go for it, while she’s still giggling.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

Denise stepped outside and walked back out to the barn. “Have you all eaten, are you hungry?” she asked.

“We have not eaten today,” Marcus said.

“Well don’t worry, I am going to feed you. My tutor, Lucilla, wants to meet you. I must warn you, she thinks I am not telling the truth, about you being from Rome and members of the Ninth Legion, so don’t get angry or do anything rash if she laughs because she thinks it is a joke or a prank ok?”

“Is she royalty?”

“Yes, treat her like royalty, that would be perfect. I would recommend just two of you for now. Do you trust me?”

Quintus stepped forward with Marcus and told the others to remain hidden. “We will follow you.”

“Good. Please try to understand, she has lived in Rome in past lives, and will be in awe of your presence.”

“Lead the way, please.”

Without hesitation she led them out of the barn and across the large yard back to the house, turning to get a good look at them in the sunshine. They were wearing long deep red cloaks, almost Saluki colors, the hoods still lying back over their shoulders. She could see they were concealing weapons when the wind blew Marcus’ cloak aside.

“Come in, please,” she said, walking in through the door followed by the two warriors. Layla was on her feet and ready for anything. “Lucilla, allow me to present Quintus and Marcus, just arrived from the Gods know where, members of the Ninth Legion.”

Lucilla’s mouth stayed open and speechless as she gazed at the two legionnaires.

Barbeque

Layla looked at Denise before she got in the car. “They use to rape and pillage too you know,” she said.

“I must stay here, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be back as fast as I can but we are going to have to start shopping for food as if we had an army to feed.”

“Haa. Supergirl, I hope they never have to experience first hand what you are capable of.”

Layla got in the black Mustang and sped to town. Denise noticed three heads sporting various lengths of black hair peaking out the barn door.

Could have used these boys in Lubbock,
she thought.

When Marcus saw Denise lifting a fifty pound bag of charcoal briquettes out of the trunk of the burgundy Mustang he ran over to help her carry it. “Thank you Marcus.”

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“You can leave it over here by the grills,” she pointed, walking over to them.

Lucilla and Quintus were walking along the western tree line talking. Denise could see that Lucilla was genuinely entertained. She could also see that Marcus seemed to have more than a curious attraction to Lucilla.

“Marcus.”

“Yes.”

“You all do eat meat don’t you?” Denise asked.

“Yes, if it is roasted or boiled, and it must be fresh.”

“It will be fresh. I just wasn’t sure since history books say your main staple was grains.”

“Indeed it was, but fresh meat properly prepared is allowed.”

“Wonderful, because you will love Layla’s cooking then.”

“You are most kind.”

“Thank you. I must admit, having Lucilla here makes this all much easier on me.” She watched his gaze turn towards her.

“She is a remarkable woman, more knowledgeable than our scholars.”

“I bet she looks a lot better to.”

“She is a beautiful woman.”

“Does she look like a Roman woman of your day?”

“Yes.”

“Your comrades don’t have to stay in the barn do they?”

“No, they do not.”

There is a tall stack of white chairs they can use to sit down on inside the barn that you can have them bring out with them.”

“Thank you.” Marcus called to them to join him in the yard and bring the stack of chairs.

Denise was in the middle of explaining what to do with the charcoal when Layla came speeding up the drive.
Just in time for Lighting a 21
^st
Century Grill 101,
Denise giggled.

I’ve been a mental wreck. I hope I remembered to bring everything.

“Marcus, can you spare a few hands to help Layla bring the food into the house?”

“Of course Inquilina.”

With all the food now in the kitchen, Layla started in to preparing a large feast for nine adults, six of them hungry looking males.

Denise had the men loading a large cooler with ice, per Layla’s request, so they would not need to come into the house for drinks or water. She was still wary of their presence and ready for anything.

“Ok, the grills are grilling, the cooler is waiting. What can I do to help?”

“Leave, with me, now?” she laughed.

“They are actually being very helpful and well behaved.”

“They should be if they were able to build roads, bridges, forts and walls, but first and foremost, they are, or were, warriors.”

“Good point.”

Lucilla offered to help them prepare the food, but Denise thought it best to keep the troops entertained and learn as much as she could about them and why exactly there were here now.

“Marcus has a thing for Lucilla,” Denise said, looking out the kitchen window.

“That is understandable, she is a beautiful and brilliant woman.”

“Ok, I have all the salads and stuff in the fridge ready to go when you are finished grilling.”

“Let’s start grilling for our army,” Layla laughed.

They each carried a large tray full of shish kabobs, burgers, chicken breasts and wings out to the waiting table near the grills.

Venutius gave Denise a hand bringing out cans of soda pop, juice and water for the cooler.

When the meal was ready, Denise laid all the food out on a table, explaining as each warrior came by what everything was. “This is chicken, try it, you’ll love it. This is the very best shish kabob. This is from a cow called a burger, very popular. Here you have potato salad, this is coleslaw from cabbage, macaroni salad, which will be very popular in Italy once noodles are introduced to you from Asia.”

Layla watched them and could not help but wonder what a meal around the campfire was like when they were still attached to the rest of their legion.

Eventually the conversation turned to what happened to them, why they appeared more than 1900 years later looking as if they had barely aged.

“We were stationed at Eboracum,” Marcus started.

“Present day York in Britain,” Lucilla said.

“Yes, the place of the Yew trees,” Lucius said.

“We,” Marcus said, motioning to his comrades and himself, “were on patrol.”

“Patrol? Near your camp?”

“Yes. It was necessary to send patrols out for a variety of reasons. Britannia was not a safe place for Romans when we were there,” Quintus said.

“We were always prepared for battle,” Lucius said.

“Eventually a permanent civilian settlement grew because of us, leading to streets being laid out, houses built and spread out over terraces on the steep slopes along the river,” Petilius said.

“So, Romans were good for local business,” Denise smiled.

“Very good for business. Not all Britons hated us.”

“Many of them loved us dearly, and we loved them,” Quintus said quietly.

“So, how far away from your fort was the patrol?” Layla asked.

“We were on our way back to the fort,” Marcus said. “I sensed that we were being watched, being followed, but we could not tell who or what, or from where. The sun was setting, the sky, filling with stars, when a light appeared above the tree line to the south.”

“A light?” Lucilla asked.

“Yes. It moved towards us,” Marcus continued. “We seemed to be frozen in the moment. It was as if one of the gods was paying us a visit.”

I think I can tell where this is going?
Denise said.

I wonder where the gods are at this moment?
Layla said.

“When it was directly above us, it seemed to sing to us. The sound was like that of a dozen young females,” Odumnus said.

“That is when it emanated a light that was blinding. It seemed brighter than the sun. We were frozen in place, unable to move,” Marcus said.

“Unable to move in any direction but up, into the light,” Quintus said.

“All of you were pulled up at once to the light?” Layla asked.

“Yes. We struggled fruitlessly but continued to rise,” Marcus said.

“How large was the source of the light?” Denise asked.

“Like the Amphitheater of Pompeii,” Venutius offered.

“Yes, but the light that IT rose to was larger than Rome itself,” Marcus said.

Time

Lucilla and Layla sat outside under the stars with five men, bringing them up to date on present day Earth as much as they could in a way that they might understand. When Lucilla explained that to this day, the fate of the Ninth Legion remained a mystery, they did not speak for some time.

Denise and Quintus shared a bottle of wine in the house.

“So she was going to have your child when you were taken away?” Denise asked.

“Yes,” Quintus said quietly.

“Then there is a good possibility you have family somewhere, if they survived through the ages.”

“A dream too good to be true perhaps. Before meeting Coventina I was a warrior. All I knew was the Roman Army. She touched and nurtured that part of every person, even a warrior, who knows first hand the horrors humans are capable of, that ability to love.”

“You have not explained why you search for Coventina now, more than 1900 years after time spent with her.”

“Those that took us know she is back. Lucilla speaks of living past lives as a Roman. Coventina lives here on Earth again, now.”

“She’s back, ok, I get it now. How can they be certain?”

“I cannot say. They have returned us, to stay here if we choose, or return with them to age at a far slower pace, on a new world, with mates.”

“They have returned here with you to find mates?”

“Yes. They know we are incomplete without them. They know now that we are not heartless killing machines because we are warriors, because we have killed many times in the name of honor and duty to Rome.”

“Why are you here, with me now? Do they know where Coventina is?”

“No. They brought us here because you received our message. It is believed that you can help us find her.”

Denise pondered that for a moment in silence. The last time it was a search and rescue mission with ample help from advanced beings. How could she possibly find one woman who could be anywhere? She had Layla. She had a broken record of past lives of legionnaires; she had a walking Roman Encyclopedia in Lucilla and nothing else.

“Where are they now?” Denise asked.

Quintus looked up at the sky full of stars. “Out there, somewhere.”

“Can you communicate with them?”

“We can’t but the one who brought us can.”

“Who is that? Are they here? Can I meet them?”

“I can ask.”

“Let me guess, it is the small arena size craft that comes from the one the size of Rome?”

“Yes. There are only three of them on it. When we return tonight after we leave here, I can ask them to give you an audience.”

“How do you communicate with them?”

“It is unnecessary to speak. They know what we would say before we could say it and respond, up here,” Quintus said, tapping his finger against his head.

Layla came walking in to the house. “Pee pee time,” she giggled, seeming a little tipsy from the wine they were drinking.

“Layla is my mate, my lover, and wherever I go she goes, so explain to them that if an audience is given it must be for both of us or none.”

“I shall.”

“Layla, please join us,” Denise said when she came out of the bathroom.

“Sure baby, what’s up?”

Denise explained to her what Quintus had told her and asked for her thoughts.

“Wow. What would Sherlock Holmes do? I guess we need to start in England, where his family would have lived, if they survived, for quite some time, before relocating, if they have at all,” Layla said.

“We will start this search in Britannia at York,” Denise said, “even though there is no certainty that if she is back in this lifetime, she is even a part of the same family in the same place.”

“Be nice to arrive there with the Mustang and all of its unique features,” Layla said.

“Yes. Quintus. Is this vessel large enough to transport us and our vehicle, our chariot?” Denise asked.