Night had fallen over the camp like a heavy blanket. The battle and the mission were now echoes mingling with the crackle of the fires. Sextus sat beside one, bandaged, his arm resting on his knees and his gaze lost. Titus arrived with two bowls of food.
"Don't get too excited, there's no wine," he said, setting one down at Sextus's feet. "But at least it's hot."
Sextus gave a tired smile.
"Thanks."
They ate in silence for a while. Titus was the first to speak.
"You know the worst part? I almost enjoyed it. The fight. The chaos. The luck."
"And surviving," added Sextus.
"That too. Especially that."
Titus glanced at him, suddenly serious.
"Picking me… was insane. But thanks."
Sextus looked back calmly.
"I didn't pick you for your discipline. I picked you because I knew we'd come back."
Titus burst out laughing.
"That's the stupidest, most arrogant thing I've ever heard."
"And yet here we are."
A horn sounded from the center of camp. Voices called for formation. Something was coming.
They left their bowls and stood up.
At the heart of the camp, the legionaries stood in a semicircle. Torches cast long shadows. In the center, beside the standard of the Thirteenth, Caesar himself stood watching with arms crossed. Beside him were Labienus and Tribune Fonteius.
"Sextus and Titus!" came the clear voice of Centurion Scaeva. "To the front!"
The two walked through the ranks. Some smiled at them. Others gave light pats on the shoulder as they passed.
They stopped before Caesar. The general looked at them closely, like a sculptor studying a block before shaping it.
"Two young men. One with a bandaged arm. The other with his pride intact," said Caesar, half smiling. "Together, they returned with a tribune thought dead. And they brought back an enemy alive."
He turned to the rest of the legion.
"This is Rome. This is the Thirteenth."
A roar of approval swept through the camp. Sextus felt a chill down his spine. Titus raised an eyebrow.
"See? We're marble now," he muttered.
"Marble with mud still on our boots," Sextus replied.
And they both smiled. Because they knew there was still a long road ahead… but today, they had walked it together.