Beneath the Iron

V. Auribus Teneo Lupum

Though her own body was in a constant state of exertion and bruising from the brutal training regimen imposed on First Cohort's soldiers, Helva never missed an opportunity to train Eirlys. If Helva had been more introspective, perhaps she would have considered her motivations and found warning signs in her heart. However, the soldier seldom spent much time examining her own rationale without outside prompting.

Sallustius had only warned her to be careful and reminded her that duty forever came first. Whatever comes of her, her decanus said, there can be no loyalty above that to the legion and the Imperium.

Helva had nodded, but wasn't particularly concerned. What did the legion have to fear from some scrawny barbarian girl?

"Shield up!" Helva barked. Gone were the days when Eirlys flinched at a raised voice. Being in army camps had a way of desensitizing to noise, particularly shouting.

Eirlys obeyed immediately. She was small enough still that she couldn't use Helva's shield, but she could manage the smaller round shield carried by some auxiliaries. Sallustius had found one for her, made of a light, but hard and durable metal comparable to that of a legionary's. To Helva, it weighed nothing, but it was heavy to Eirlys. The five legionaries she trained with gave her chances to rest frequently. They couldn't break her the way they might have a prospective legionary—there was no angel to put her back together.

Here in the auxiliary section of camp, there were many people and this training was lost amidst the noise of everything happening all at once, though the auxiliaries gave Helva space, as they did all legionaries. Sacred black was a color that demanded the utmost reverence, because those who wore it had earned their station since the founding of the Imperium. Even those who had arguments with a legionary remembered well that they were representatives and servants of the gods of the Imperium and tendered their complaints in an accordingly courteous fashion.

Helva knew that such a truth had a complement: an Imperial legionary was expected to conduct themselves with discipline and courtesy until given an order to the contrary, though there were exceptions. The Imperium was only as good as its laws.

"What if behind from?" Eirlys asked after Helva adjusted the girl's stance.

Helva almost said her automatic thought aloud: that is what a contubernium is for. But...was that a solution possible for Eirlys? She would never be a legionary, though she could probably become an auxiliary one day. "Friends will help," Helva said. She'd learned not to launch into complicated thoughts. Eirlys was still learning the language, if quickly. Taurus's friend could speak both Imperial and a different dialect of the tongue shared by Eirlys's tribe, which made the process much easier on the girl.

Eirlys nodded and Helva could almost see the gears turning. Then the girl nodded and straightened up a little. "Friend you?"

Helva didn't know what to say. Legionaries, in her experience, were only to have bonds with other legionaries. The legion's true soldiers tolerated auxiliaries, but kept them at a healthy arm's length. There was less than no room for barbarians in all of that. And yet, here she was. "I'm teaching you," Helva answered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and back.

Eirlys's brow furrowed. "Teach why? Save why?" She seemed more perplexed than hurt.

"Because..." Helva sighed. "You are worth teaching, worth saving." The Fosii were utterly obliterated short of Eirlys, though the legionary was certain that at least a handful had probably escaped to neighboring tribes. Those neighboring tribes would probably immediately trade them to the Imperium hoping to preserve their own people from the wrath of the Divine Princes. Helva felt no regret for her role in carrying out the will of her god, particularly since the barbarians had attempted to kill Eirlys in an act of spite.