Sunbeam Lair singulus

lady meadow's laugh reminded germanicus of the lightness that had left with ruenna.

he stooped studiously to learn, committing the sight and sound of each herb to mind. aloe. oregano. blueberries. the latter was edible and often a supplement to a hard march. you learned to live without meat.

the imperator suddenly and viscerally longed for those harsh days during which he was only another face, another troop.

"you are an apt teacher," he commented, having carefully shelved the components of her education into his mind. and then the woman revisited their earlier conversation. sorrow. grief. he had watched ruenna be pulled away.

some part of him, a masculine and unenlightened part, said he should have forbidden it. germanicus could not and would not have done it. he saw the desperation of that thought and found himself ugly for such.

"i have learned to live without miracles and beneath the duress of time, lady meadow," and this time the roman did meet her eyes for a long moment.