Chapter Nineteen
Junius opened his eyes and found himself staring up at a wooden ceiling. He raised himself onto his elbows and noticed that he was lying amongst furs on the floor of a small hovel. From the shards of light spilling in through the cracks, it looked as if it was daytime and not yet dark. He frowned: that couldn’t be right. After last night, he should be sleeping like the rest of the Kin. He moved a little to gauge his reaction, but to his surprise, his body responded quickly without any sign of lethargy.
He glanced over to the slumbering figure nestled beside him. In the darkened room, the girl’s skin glowed with a faint luminance, but next to hers, his own looked natural and healthy. That wasn’t right, he’d ingested large quantities of her blood and in return she’d taken an equal amount of his. He should be at least in the first stage of Becoming, and from what she’d said, possibly even more, given the permanent physical changes from his first encounter with the Kin.
Yet there was no denying that despite everything, he was awake and in little danger of going back to sleep. He shifted and slid out of the bed. More memories of last night came back and he realised that at no time had he felt the power of the moon and the prickling sensation in his mouth, which were indications of transformation. He hadn’t really noticed that last night, there had been other things on his mind and he’d been fully occupied with rediscovering what it was like to be one with the Kin.
He found his discarded his tunic on the floor, and studied it disdainfully. It had been clean last night when he’d feasted with the general and his officers, but that seemed like an age away. Now the material was stained and covered with dirt from the forest floor. Realising that he had little choice, reluctantly he put it on, then moved towards the entrance. Hesitantly, he opened the door, understandably wary of the daylight beyond.
It was a typical Dacia day, grey and overcast, but that wouldn’t stop sensitive Kin skin from burning. He undid the latch and peered out. The street was quiet, which indicated that it was still early. Tentatively, he stuck his hand out, anticipating pain when it made contact with daylight. But to his surprise he felt nothing. He extended his arm, and yet still felt no discomfort, in fact if anything it was cooler. Perplexed, he opened the door and stepped out into the street, then remembering the girl still inside, he carefully closed it behind him.
He could stay here and wait for tonight, but that wouldn’t be fair, he really ought to go to the fort and tell Marius what had happened. It would be hard, Marius wouldn’t understand and would try to dissuade him, but it wouldn’t be right to simply disappear without a trace and no explanation. He owed it to his friend to inform him that the Kin were back, but they would also soon be gone again.
As he’d suspected it was still early and few people were up and around, yet at the fort, it would be already well into the day and new passwords would have been issued. He’d have to wait outside until someone came for him.
Sure enough at the gate, the sentries refused his entry, commiserating at his plight, because oversleeping was a common occurrence. Nearly every soldier, no matter what rank, at least once in their career overslept in the vicus and were denied entry the next morning. A few even made a habit of it.
As Junius stood in the grey light waiting for the tribune of the day to come and allow him entry, the sun peeped out from behind the clouds. He braced himself for pain, and was surprised when, again, he had no adverse response to sunlight. Carefully, he scrutinized his arms, but found that they looked as they had before: tanned and healthy from their frequent exposure to the elements. Not at all like the arms of the Kin or even someone Becoming.
Eventually one of the junior tribunes came to his aid and Junius was finally allowed into the fort.
“Jupiter,” the young man said. “That’s the one for the gateway today. Good night, was it?”
Junius nodded, somewhat embarrassed, though it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d missed the password change, but that had been in Parthia where he’d known the men. “I overslept.”
“We’ve all done it,” the tribune said, smiling. “I don’t blame you, General Rufus is known for his less than stimulating feasts. You weren’t the only one to seek alternative entertainment.” Junius glanced at him and the young man smirked back. “Only they got back in time.”
They came to the practice yard and stopped to look out at the men who were engaged in various training sessions.
“Do you know where the Tribune Marius Tullius Varens is?”
The young man gestured with his head. “Over there throwing the pilum.”
Junius turned. “Thank you. I’ll find him and then clean up. My thanks to you. You will be discrete?”
The tribune smiled. “I’m sure it’s the same in every fort, in every province and has been for years.”
Junius nodded his thanks, then he made his way through the soldiers to find Marius.