A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 45: His Story

"Come on, Marcus, you owe me. I didn't spend almost an entire year looking for you just to have you clam up when it counts. Tell me what happened to you." I demanded in the most caring way possible.

He didn't want to look me in the eye. He was now leaning forward with his head hanging low, rubbing his sweaty palms together. He was nervous. He didn't like being on the other side of this interrogation.

"After I assisted in Camilla and Valoria's escape, the Galacians took the rest of us deeper into their territory. We wound up in a large city that encompasses a training facility. The men were taken out of the caged wagons and herded into a padlocked enclosure like cattle. The women and children remained in the wagons. I assumed that they were taken to another facility for different purposes."

This didn't surprise me, not after everything we've heard over the years about our Galacian enemies. "So the rumors are true? Gaius takes women to train as whores and children as slaves? He really is a monster..."

"Not quite." My brother finally looks at me. He seems determined to prove Gaius' innocence. "At first I thought so too, but I later found out that the women and children were trained for less unpleasant positions. The women assisted with farming, fishing, hunting, cooking, and any other profession that was once held by a man who was either currently at war or who had died in the fight. They filled the void left behind by the young men who left their families and life behind to partake in the war. Those who were not as adept to manual labour were trained as seamstresses, merchants, or guardians for the children that were either taken from Romallia or left as Galacian orphans. They weren't whores."

I didn't entirely believe this. "What about the vile words those Galacians said to us while in Kent?! The man I fought in Grams' home inferred that I would make an excellent sexual partner."

"I can't account for what the soldiers do behind Gaius' back. Perhaps they did keep a woman or two for themselves before handing over the rest. Or maybe they had fun with them while travelling before they even crossed into Galacian territory. Some are probably worse than others. All I know is that the women who were taken from Kent weren't attacked by our captors, at least not while I was still with them. Maybe you killed the one bad seed of the bunch?"

"Evander killed him." I admit.

"Either way, Gaius does his best to ensure that the women are respected members of Galacia. He needs them to want to be Galacian citizens. If they were all forced to be whores, they would certainly rebel and find ways to escape back to Romallia. Gaius shows women that they are worth more than what Maximus makes them out to be. Women are just as useful and cherished as men, and they deserve to be educated and given a trade to make their lives worth something. They are more than just whores and wives in Galacia. You would like it there, being as strong-minded as you are." He points out with a smile.

I had to admit that it did seem ideal. Before all of this happened, my only prospects at a decent life were hanging in the balance of the Bonding Ceremonies. I could only hope to become someone's wife, and perhaps a mother. My husband would be in charge of everything else; farming, fishing, trading, and so forth. I would be trapped in my own home, slaving away for the happiness of my husband and children. What about my happiness? Where's my purpose? All things considered, I was one of the lucky few Romallian females who had the pleasure of becoming more.

But I didn't tell Marcus any of this. I didn't want him to think that I approved of Gaius' tactics. "That doesn't make it alright, Marcus. Gaius is still kidnapping people! He's taking away their choice to join his Empire willingly. Just because the life he gives them seems worthwhile doesn't mean he's absolved of this crime. The people he took from Kent still had family members, and those Galacians killed a great deal of them during the invasion!"