Free Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome by Edward Crichton

hidden beneath a fold of animal skin.  I reached in and gripped something solid. I had to yank on it roughly as it was caught in his clothes, and it finally tore free, revealing a rather nasty looking battle axe.
    I presented it to Agrippina, who nodded at it, and I tossed it aside.  The rest of his body was as clean as the first man’s, but when I set to work searching the third man, I immediately found a grouping of five money purses strung along his belt along with a pair of sharp daggers concealed along his waist band at his back.  Pulling one from it sheath, I cut the string of one purse and caught it before it spilled its contents to the earth beside him.  Peeking in, I found an impressive number of Roman coins mixed with bits of gold and silver and other coins that could have come from anywhere.
    I held it up for Agrippina, who peeked inside.
    She flicked her eyes at me.  “Assassins?”
    “Possibly,” I conceded, scooting over so that I could grab my pack.  I opened it and placed the money purse inside, then began cutting the others loose as well.  “But more likely mercenaries or maybe just members of a local war band up to no good.  I don’t think they were looking for us specifically.”
    “How is that you are so certain?”  She asked, offering me a hand to help me up, which I gratefully accepted.  She looked up at me as I shouldered my pack again.  “You’re still a wanted man, and your beard is hardly an adequate disguise.  And it would not surprise me to find myself hunted by some as well.”
    “I’m not certain,” I said, clasping the pack’s support strap together across my chest.  I leaned down and picked up my M4 and tossed its sling over my neck.  “But even if I’m wrong, it doesn’t matter.  They clearly weren’t upstanding citizens of the Roman Empire, and we probably did some poor sap in the future a big favor by taking care of these guys.”
    “Is that how you’ve justified the past six years of your life?”  She asked, a bit of vitriol in her voice.
    I couldn’t help but snap at her.  “You’re damned right!” 
    I glared at her for a moment but she returned my stare without concern, so I quickly turned away and set off back toward where we’d tied up our horses and stashed our gear.
    Agrippina ran up and fell into step beside me.  “Is that so?”  She demanded, stomping her feet as she walked.  “How is it so easy to be flippant about your continued interference in my world?  Interacting with those whose destinies never had anything to do with you at all, and those who were supposed to have lives that did not include you in them?  Going against the will of the gods as you see fit, acting the part of juror and executioner in tandem, for no other reason than to mitigate your ill feelings over your own poor choices!”
    Instead of trying to contain the anger welling deep within me, as I had often done in recent months, I whirled on Agrippina and backhanded her.  An action like that would have eaten me up inside only a few months ago, but now I no longer seethed with continued self-hatred nor felt distraught over the act of striking an unarmed woman.  I simply felt the sweet release the action had offered, and waited for what would happen next.
    Agrippina took the hit like a champion, reacting to the blow by moving with the direction of the strike, and refusing to fall to the ground.  She simply raised a hand to her struck face and turned angry eyes on me, eyes that didn’t seem hurt or even pained in the slightest, and I was again reminded of how much I appreciated the fierceness in her.  I hadn’t held much back from my blow, and I knew it should have hurt her incredibly, so either she was tougher than she looked or I’d lost more strength than I wanted to admit.
    She stared at me, her eyes no longer filled with lust and seduction.  “You know I am right, Jacob.  You no longer care about anything but your own self-pity.  All you want to do is