Trust
Marcus watched his father's remaining legionaries disappear like ghosts into the mist.
"You were wrong. The dead can live."
He felt a swell of pride. It came not from their victory of the battle, but the perseverance of those men to regain their honor. If not for Esca's perseverance above all, Marcus would have been killed, the Eagle forever lost and his father's men never offered the chance to redeem themselves.
He turned to look for his former slave, who he was now proud to call his friend. He had been standing by him a moment ago. He was no longer there. He saw him further upstream at the end of where they had laid the dead, kneeling at the edge of the water.
The boy.
Limping a bit more now, the adrenaline from the battle wearing off and his wound aching, Marcus made his way over to Esca, halting a few steps behind him. Esca didn't turn, only continued looking down at the child's body.
The cut across the boy's throat was deep. Marcus could see the white of bone. He looked back to Esca. His friend's posture made him look defeated. His shoulders and head were low, his face unreadable.
The boy had taken a liking to Esca and Esca to him. He hadn't been able to kill the rogue warrior boy that attacked them near the start of their journey, and Marcus hadn't been able to forget the look on Esca's face when he himself did. It had been more than an uncertainty of trust between them. Esca's friendship with the Seal Prince's son was not merely a form of atonement for that incident, or because Esca's own people were gone. He was a boy not unlike Esca himself, before he watched his family die and had his home and freedom taken from him. Esca placed a hand atop the Seal boy's head.
"I shouldn't have asked that of him," Esca said quietly.
"If you hadn't, we'd be dead," Marcus replied.
"He trusted me."
Marcus heard something more in his tone. Guilt. Not just guilt one feels because he thought he should have been able to prevent something, but true guilt, the kind felt for having knowingly wronged someone. Suddenly Marcus understood.
"You didn't do this," he stated.
Esca's hand left the boy's hair, wet from the creek he died in. He stood and turned. His eyes flashed and his jaw bounced. He looked at Marcus. Marcus just stood there, an earnest conviction about him. Esca let out a small breath, his body deflating, eyes softening. He looked away.
Marcus could see the loss-stricken and burdened young man behind that hardened and stoic face. He saw the weary man that had reached his limits and accepted death in the amphitheater, and the one with whom he had felt connected, though he hadn't known why at the time. Esca's guard was down, and he was letting it fall. He realized he trusted Marcus, and Marcus knew that Esca hadn't been able to trust anyone in a long time. It was something that Marcus had taken for granted. He had trusted his fellow soldiers and his country with no question. Now he saw that it wasn't everything he had thought it was. There was more to everything. Just like his friend in front of him.
"Do you trust me?"
It was his trust in Esca and Esca's intense conviction to uphold his bond that they were alive. After all they had been through it had become more than a matter of settling a debt of honor.
He could see something worth putting his trust in right in front of him.
Marcus stepped closer and placed a hand on Esca's shoulder. "He wasn't wrong to trust you. You didn't do this, my friend." He repeated firmly but sincerely.
A moment passed, and then Esca's eyes met his once more. There was a solemnness to them now, a quiet gratefulness. Marcus' hand slid up to give the back of Esca's neck an affirming squeeze. He noted the blood trailing its way down Esca's arm.
"Sit," he said nodding to a rock nearby. Esca did and Marcus tore a piece of cloth from the bottom of his shirt. As he wrapped the gash made by the Seal prince's blade on Esca's arm, Marcus searched his eyes as they watched the water flow by.
They spoke wordlessly. Esca raised his head. He nodded and gave a small smile that reached his eyes. At this, Marcus smiled back and gave Esca a light clap on his good arm. He picked up the Eagle as Esca waited. Then they began the rest of the journey home side by side.
"You could stay you know," Marcus offered as they reached the outskirts of Hadrian's Wall. After all, this is where Esca had come from, where he could still fit in and be free again. Esca looked at him.
"There's nothing to keep me here," he said thoughtfully, smiling afterward. Marcus felt a swell of admiration. He didn't want to go on without him, and Esca all but affirmed the same. They'd been through too much. They had become brothers. Neither of them had been able to fully perceive just what it was until now. Marcus smiled in return and nodded appreciatively.
They could feel the eyes of everyone they passed on them as they reentered Rome, but they paid no mind. They knew what they had done. They had their purpose. When they reached the house of the Senate, Marcus was about to enter but halted, suddenly noticing he was alone. He turned. Esca had stopped behind him at the bottom of the steps. He gave him a questioning look.
"I can't go with you," Esca stated, but it was because of something more than not being allowed due to social status.
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked, bewildered.
"This was your quest; Your right to reclaim your family's honor," he said.
"Esca," Marcus said incredulously, stepping towards him, "I could not have done it without you."
Esca lowered his gaze, seemingly habitual of his time before now. Marcus ducked his head to gain his attention. "You deserve this just as much as I do." Esca raised his head.
"I will not go without you. You are my brother." Marcus said the word aloud, solidifying it. Esca's eyes brightened with a stunned surprise. He regarded the Roman, saw the resoluteness in his eyes and nodded firmly. Marcus waited until he was at his side, and they went on as equals.