Usual disclaimers apply.

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Chapter 54

"At Amphipolis in this fateful hour,

"I place all Heaven with its power,
"And the sun with its brightness,
"And the snow with its whiteness,
"And the fire with all the strength it hath,
"And the lightning with its rapid wrath,
"And the wind with its swiftness along its path,
"And the sea with its deepness,
"And the rocks with their steepness,
"And the Earth with its starkness
"All these I place
"By God's almighty help and grace

"Between myself and the powers of darkness".

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Moving slowly, I noticed the lack of people as we made our way towards the inn. The people who were out of their homes or walking along the road were obviously uncomfortable to downright scared. My waves mostly went unreturned and I wondered how long the Romans has been in Amphipolis.

Reaching the inn, I sighed heavily. As happy as I was to be off the road, I wasn't looking forward to what awaited us inside the inn. Rory and I made quick work of putting up the horses and parking the small buggy in a corner of the barn. Picking up the few satchels we had left out of my locket I turned to Rory. "Ready?"

"Yep. The question is, are they?" She tilted her head towards Arion and Melodia and I nodding in understanding.

Kneeling before the hay bale where they sat, I took a hand from each child into my own. "I want you to remember, that Rory and I will protect you. I am not going to let you be hurt again. I don't want them to know that you've already had a run in with a contingent from the army…"

"We remember, Sam." Melodia's voice was quiet but strong. "We were in a wagon accident and our parents will meet us here shortly. We wanted to travel with our older cousins instead of our parents this time to visit our uncle."

"That's great, kid." Rory smiled at the twins. "You let us do the talking but," she lowered her voice. "if you recognize any of the bastards that hurt you, let us know."

"We will," Arion smiled widely at that. "We will."

"Good. Let's go then," Rory directed. "I'm hungry this time and I bet Tauris will have something in the kitchen for us."

"He better," I agreed as we began the trek inside. "After all, he knows how hungry it can make a person when they're traveling."

"And he does make a pretty good stew," Rory added.

"And don't forget his gravy," I smirked. "That special gravy."

"Yeah," Rory smiled as we entered the kitchen proper. "It tastes amazing."

"What tastes amazing?" Tauris's voice came from the stove and I moved to hug him. "Your gravy." I whispered in his ear.

"My gravy? The special recipe I got from Joxer?" Tauris smiled at me and nodded slightly to the swinging door leading to the dining area.

"Yep. Made any lately?" Rory asked.

"I have." He confirmed. "I've got some special guests."

"Ah, well you'll have to tell us about that later," I informed him. "Right now, I'd like to get Melodia and Arion in your old room. It still has two beds, right?"

"It sure does," Tauris moved to the twins and smiled in welcome at them. "What happened to you?"

"Wagon accident, uncle Tauris." Arion's voice was just loud enough to be heard by the soldier listening at the door and Tauris nodded in understanding.

"Let's get you and your sister to bed then. I'll bring some trays in and make sure that you get some of my special desert."

"Sounds good," Melodia agreed. "As much as I don't want to, I think I need to lie down."

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Rory and I got the twins settled and then dropped our bags in Mama's old room. Tauris had made quick work of making up a snack for all of us and we met in the twins' room. He had quickly informed us that the Romans has arrived three days before us. They had pretty much taken over the inn and had told the leaders of the town they had two choices, allow them to stay without a fight or watch Amphipolis burn to the ground.

The leaders chose to be prudent and I was grateful that the Romans had yet to renege on their part of the bargain. I knew they'd set fire to the town the minute they thought it would be useful.

Rory and I had changed from our leathers into soft tunics and pants, keeping our boots as footwear. Ares' dagger was still in its proper place in my boot and the one at the small of my back was ready as well. I decided to keep my staff with me, and hid my sword under the bed mattress. The last thing I wanted was for the Romans to guess we were Amazons before I had a chance to size things up at the inn.

"So," I turned to Tauris as the twins began to yawn. "Who's the leader of this contingent?"

"Some guy named Aetius, a general who's a little miffed to be here. Apparently, he defeated someone called Attila the Hun and expected more than to be sent to Amphipolis. I hear that he was sent by the higher ups specifically. Something is going on, but I don't know what it may be, I mean, what does Amphipolis have to offer?"

"Xena." Rory's voice was soft and I noticed the twins were beginning to drift to sleep. "It has Xena."

I nodded, "They know they can't get anywhere near the Amazon village, but nothing in that treaty said they couldn't come here." I offered.

"But it said that they needed to leave your family alone, Sam. So, who has decided a treaty with a god should be broken?"

"That's an interesting language," a deep voice at the doorjamb caused us all to turn around.

Standing I beat Tauris to any explanation of Rory's English. "Yeah, it's something my mothers picked up in Britannia." Moving forward I extended my right arm, "My name is Sam and you are?"

"General Aetius," the man looked me in the eye and then to the room at large. "And they are?"

"Well, you know our uncle, Tauris," I began. "The sleeping ones are Arion and Melodia and this," Rory had taken a position next to me, "is Rory. They're my cousins."

"You still haven't told me who you are." His dark eyes had turned cloudy and I turned to Tauris. "Will you keep an eye on the twins for us? I think that the General wants to talk."

Nodding, Tauris finally gave me a small smile. "No problem, Sam."

"Thanks." I smiled and winked at him before turning back to the general. "I'm sure we can finish this in the dining room? I don't want to wake my cousins, it's been a rough trip for them."

Nodding, the man turned on his heel in military precision and led us into the dining room. I took a seat at one of the round tables before he could lead us to his obvious usual table. I didn't want my back to the door or the room proper and Rory immediately sat down next to me leaving the general little choice but to join us.

"So, what brings you to Amphipolis?" I asked.

"Orders. What brings you to Amphipolis?" He countered.

"Family." Looking around the room, I noticed four soldiers in each corner of the room plus three more at a table near the door. Listening, I could hear at least two more on the porch. Deciding to throw him some attitude to see what he would do, I spoke again. "I'd advise you to make sure none of your men try to bother our horses. They are very well trained and I'd hate to see someone hurt because he thought it would be easy to steal them."

"Not steal," Aetius's eyes flashed again. "Let's say, drafting, shall we?"

"Let's say that if any of you try to steal our horses, they will lose a hand or more." I countered.

"Oh?" the general leaned across the table and put his face close to mine. "And how will you mange that? After all, all I see are two teenage girls who have yet to tell me anything about themselves, yet feel confident enough to threaten a Roman general."

Leaning back, I took up a relaxed posed trying to resemble my warrior mother as much as possible. Saying nothing I waited in silence for a candle drip or two before finally speaking. "You, general, have yet to tell me why you've taken over Amphipolis. This town shouldn't even be on Rome's list of places to visit, yet take over. The way I see it, you are here on a mission that you have no idea about other than being told to wait for something. I just can't figure out why you picked this inn, there is another after all, and it's bigger and more posh that this one."

"This one is better strategically," the general replied lying through his teeth.

I nodded as did Rory, "He has a point, Sam." She added. "I mean if he's supposed to stay here, I guess he'd pick the best place from a general's viewpoint, right?"

"Exactly," the general smiled at Rory. "So, tell me…"

"Rory," Rory smiled again.

"Ah yes, Rory," the general's voice became softer and he snapped his fingers in the air. A few moments later a pitcher of cider and three cups were brought to our table. We waited until he drank first, and then followed suit. "So, Rory, how far have you traveled and where are your parents?"

"We've traveled five days," Rory replied giving him the answer of our journey from the small town where we'd picked up the wagon and horse to Amphipolis. And our parents will be joining us in a few days to a week's time. We wanted to try the journey on our own this time."

"And the twins, how were they hurt?" He prodded.

"Wagon accident." Rory's eyes clouded and it was all I could do to not respond to her innocent routine. "It rolled and they were thrown. They'll be okay, just need a bit of extra bedrest and attention." Rory gave a tentative smile to the Roman. "How come they have a general here?" She asked quietly. "I mean Tauris told us you defeated some big Hun and I'd think you'd be leading a big army someplace more important than here."

Holding my snort at her blatant flattery I finally spoke again, "Yeah. I actually would think that as well."

Turning to me, the general narrowed his eyes and then nodded at both of us in a more relaxed state. "As I told you, orders brought me here. I'm not privy to the reasons behind the orders, but being a general in the Roman army means that I must obey them. My men and I will know the reasoning behind them soon. I'm just waiting for a messenger to bring me the rest of my orders."

Rory's eyes went wide, "Really? I've heard Roman messengers are some of the best horseback riders. Will he be here soon?"

"Three to five days' time," the general replied easily not realizing he'd given us a very important piece of information.

"I hope I can see him ride," Rory continued before the man could realize his mistake. "After all, it's not every day you get to see a Roman messenger riding."

"If not," Aetius smiled fully at Rory, "I will make sure he provides a demonstration for you."

"Thanks!" Rory smiled fully and I saw something shift in the way the general looked at her.

"Rory reminds you of someone?" I asked.

Nodding the man took a sip of his cider, "My daughter. She's growing up so quickly and I've missed so much of it. I thought after defeating the Huns that I would have more time in Rome with my family. Perhaps after this campaign, whatever it may be, I will finally be able to spend half a season at least with my wife and children."

"I hope so too," I replied. I truly meant what I said at that moment. The last thing I wanted was for him to be here, and I'd much rather he be at home with his family than fighting here or dying here.

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**Thanks to all who have reviewed and sent messages about Sam. I know it's been a while between posts and I appreciate you staying with me. Sam is far from over and I'm hoping to write on a more regular basis now.

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. (And yes, there is a reason for the rune)